The blasts from the whistle sent the swifts flying back up, high above the square. Adam turned round. Coming towards him was Officer Grivas. Behind him was Diego, with his paint pot.
‘Halt! Police!’ cried Officer Grivas. ‘You are under arrest.’
‘What for?’ Adam said. ‘I wasn’t doing anything.’
‘Not doing anything?’ shouted back Officer Grivas. ‘You were breaking the oldest law in the Buenos Sueños Crime and Punishment Code. Law 1, Section 1, Subsection 1, Paragraph 1. You were spreading plague.’
‘Plague?’ cried Adam. ‘I don’t have plague.’
‘A likely story,’ said Officer Grivas. ‘You were sneezing in a public place without using a handkerchief. Under the Buenos Sueños Crime and Punishment Code that constitutes an attempt to spread plague.’
‘But something flew up my nose,’ Adam protested.
‘Your nose is your own responsibility,’ said Officer Grivas. ‘Consider yourself under arrest. Diego, paint a juvenile spot for the little señor to stand on.’
Diego did as he was told.
‘Little señor, stand on the spot, please. You owe 224 pesos.’
‘Hey, there’s the blackguard who stained my trousers!’
Both Adam and Officer Grivas turned to see Señor Le Blacas emerging from the café.
‘Officer,’ demanded Señor Le Blacas, marching angrily across the square, ‘that boy is responsible for the staining of my trousers. Arrest him immediately.’
‘I’ve already arrested him,’ said Officer Grivas.
‘Arrest him again!’
‘I’m not sure I can arrest someone who is already arrested,’ said Officer Grivas, looking confused.
‘Can’t arrest him again? Pah!’ fumed Señor Le Blacas. ‘Liberal nonsense. Why, when I was young you could be arrested twenty or thirty times in a day. The whole of society is going to the dogs.’
It was unfortunate that at this moment Sniffage finally managed to liberate his head from the bin he had stuck it in. He heard Señor Le Blacas’s words and barked approvingly – society going to the dogs seemed a very good idea to him.
However, Sniffage’s enthusiastic bark had a decidedly unenthusiastic effect on Señor le Blacas. He looked at the dog and shook with rage.
‘That’s the beast that spilled coffee on my trousers. Arrest the boy again and shoot the dog!’
Adam gasped in horror. ‘Run, Sniffage, Run!’ he cried.
Sniffage didn’t have a clue what was going on, but the terror in Adam’s voice made it very clear that it was something extremely serious. Before Officer Grivas could unholster his weapon, Sniffage was running away at top speed.
‘He’s getting away,’ cried Señor Le Blacas.
Officer Grivas raised his revolver, aimed and fired. The bullet flew over Sniffage’s head.
‘Lower, you fool, lower,’ cried Señor Le Blacas.
‘Faster, Sniffage! Faster,’ shouted Adam.
Sniffage disappeared round the corner. Plaster was blasted off the wall where, a moment earlier, his head had been.
With Sniffage gone, Officer Grivas turned towards Adam again.
Adam looked frantically around for some means of escape, but found himself cornered. Then he looked up. Above him, the swifts still circled the small square. It would mean breaking his father’s golden rule, but surely even the Doctor would see that this was a special case where he was left with little option.
Adam opened his mouth and shrieked.
‘What are you doing?’ demanded Officer Grivas.
The swifts shrieked back and Adam called to them again.
‘Is he talking to them?’ said Señor Le Blacas.
‘Nobody can talk to – eurgh!’
A large white bird dropping landed on Officer Grivas’s collar.
‘Eurgh!’
Another landed on his shoe.
‘Eurgh!’
A further one landed on his head.
The swifts circled above.
‘Stop that!’ Officer Grivas ordered the birds.
While Señor Le Blacas and Diego retreated beneath the parasol of a table in the nearby café, more droppings rained down upon Officer Grivas. But the policeman stood resolutely next to Adam.
‘Why aren’t they pooing on you?’ he demanded angrily. ‘You’re the criminal.’
But the swifts diving and swooping over Officer Grivas showed no desire to change their target. Desperately, he raised his hands to ward off the plummeting poo, but to no avail. Swifts, it appeared, could poo with great accuracy.
‘Aaarggh!’ shouted Officer Grivas. ‘It’s stinging my eyes.’
‘Shelter over here, Officer,’ shouted Señor Le Blacas from under the parasol.
‘I’m blind,’ the policeman cried, staggering left and then lurching right. ‘I can’t see where I’m going.’
‘Follow my voice,’ Señor Le Blacas called.
Officer Grivas doubtless would have managed to reach the safety of the parasol had not the gurgling fountain lain in his path. He tumbled into it with a large splash.
‘Officer down! Officer down!’ he shouted, waving his hands wildly. ‘Call for backup! Officer down!’
Adam saw his chance to escape. He stepped off the spot and ran.
Though Officer Grivas couldn’t appreciate it at first, falling in the fountain was a very lucky turn of events for him. Until then he had been unable to depoo himself fast enough, but his sudden immersion in the waters of the fountain cleaned him up in an instant. He raised his head just in time to see Adam dash out of the square and down a street.
‘Officer backup!’ he shouted again. ‘Prisoner escaping!’
He clambered out of the fountain, reaching for his whistle as he did so. A loud blast would bring other officers of the Buenos Sueños Police Force to his aid in the pursuit of this dangerous felon. He put it to his lips.
Phep!
‘Your whistle is soggy,’ observed Diego.
Officer Grivas was crestfallen. But not for long.
‘Come with me, Diego,’ he shouted. ‘That boy will stand on the biggest spot in the world by the time I’m finished with him.’
Señor Le Blacas didn’t follow them out of the square. Instead he looked thoughtfully up at the swifts and stroked his beard.
.
CHAPTER 14
Pheeeep!
Adam ran. He turned left, then right, then left again. Surely he could lose Officer Grivas.
There were whistles from all sides now. Other policemen had heard the call and were determined to join the chase. Adam needed a miracle. He charged round the corner and ran straight into a bike.
‘Owww!’
The cyclist didn’t say anything. Adam realised why. It was the Mayor’s daughter – dark, pretty, mischievous Anna. She seemed to think riding her bike into Adam was funny. She rocked with silent laughter.
‘I’m glad you find it funny,’ said Adam, remembering that, although Anna was unable to hear or speak, she could lipread every word he said.
PHEEP! PHEEP! PHEEP!
‘The police are after me,’ he told her. ‘I’ve been running as fast as I can down all the narrowest, darkest roads, but they seem to be able to follow me wherever I go.’
Anna pointed behind him. Adam turned to see a line of red footprints. How could I have been so stupid? he thought.
He turned back to the dark girl.
‘This is really important, Anna. I’ve got to get away.’
PHEEP! PHEEP! PHEEP!
The police were very close now. Adam had no idea which way to run. With a dangerous smile, Anna stood up on her pedals, leaving the seat of her bike free. She nodded to Adam to climb on. He wasn’t sure he liked her smile, but h
e didn’t have any other option.
As Officer Grivas sprinted round the corner, Anna swung her bike away from him and pedalled for all she was worth. Two more policemen were running up the road towards them. As Anna swerved to avoid the first one, the second officer jumped to block their path. She swerved back the other way and sped past.
But there was worse ahead. Another two policemen had formed a human cordon. Only by riding into them could Anna hope to get by. She pulled hard on both brakes and her bike juddered to a halt. Officer Grivas was behind them. They were trapped.
Or maybe not. Spotting the door of a house slightly ajar, Anna whirled her bike round and cycled straight at it.
The Marquez family were sitting down to lunch. Señor Marquez was pouring the wine, while Señora Marquez was spooning out portions of fish stew to the children. In the corner, Grandma Marquez was knitting a scarf. It was a scene of domestic tranquillity . . . which was abruptly shattered when the door flew open and a young girl riding a bike, with a boy sitting behind her, shot through their living-room-cum-dining-area, accelerated into their kitchen and sped out through the open back door.
The Marquez family’s mouths dropped open.
Moments later four large policeman burst into the house.
‘I am Officer Grivas. These are other Officer Grivases. Hand over the criminals or face the consequences.’
‘Never!’ screeched Grandma Marquez, waving her knitting aggressively at the police officers.
The rest of the Marquez family, their mouths getting wider every moment, turned to her.
Officer Grivas was taken aback but swiftly regained his air of authority.
‘I insist you hand over the criminals hiding in this house.’
‘You’ll never take me alive!’ shouted Grandma Marquez. ‘I’ve got a thimble and I’m prepared to use it.’
‘What are you talking about, Mother?’ said Señor Marquez.
‘I said we should have put her in a home,’ said Señora Marquez.
‘I thought I’d got away with it,’ Grandma Marquez muttered.
‘Got away with what?’
‘Sixty-seven years I’ve been on the run,’ the old lady went on.
‘You haven’t run much in the last few years,’ said Señora Marquez drily.
‘On the hobble, then,’ she conceded.
‘But what have you done?’ said Señor Marquez.
‘I can’t remember,’ admitted Grandma Marquez. ‘I think it was something to do with peas.’
‘Peas?’ cried Officer Grivas. ‘I know of nobody in Buenos Sueños wanted for a pea-related offence.’
Grandma Marquez wasn’t listening.
‘Take one step nearer,’ she warned the policemen, ‘and I kill my hostage.’
‘You haven’t got a hostage, señora,’ Officer Grivas pointed out.
‘What do you call this?’ shouted Grandma Marquez, holding her scarf up in the air. ‘Try to arrest me and I’ll unravel it. I’m not bluffing.’
‘Now, now,’ said Officer Grivas, ‘let’s all stay calm. Just put the scarf down and . . . What am I saying? Destroy your scarf if you like. I don’t care. I want to know where the two criminals are who just cycled into your house.’
‘They went out the back,’ said Señor Marquez.
‘It’s a dead end out the back. They’ve got nowhere to go,’ Señora Marquez added.
The four policemen charged out of the back door. The yard behind the house was enclosed on all sides, and there were Adam and Anna astride the bike.
‘Arrest them!’ cried Officer Grivas joyfully.
Adam slumped in his seat. They were caught.
But Anna wasn’t giving in so easily. She stood high on the pedals for a moment and then cycled furiously towards the far wall.
‘You can’t escape,’ Officer Grivas crowed triumphantly.
‘What are you . . .’ began Adam. But he didn’t finish the sentence because he saw what she had in mind. An old plank was propped against a box at the far end of the yard. If Anna hit it right, and if she pedalled dead straight, and if it didn’t break under their weight, then it just might provide enough of a ramp to launch them over the wall.
These were way too many ifs for Adam’s liking, but there was no stopping Anna. He gripped the saddle tightly.
Would she hit the plank right?
Yes!
Would she cycle dead straight?
Yes!
Would it hold their weight?
Yes!
Would they have enough elevation to get over the wall?
No!
At least it didn’t look like it.
The bike rose but not fast enough. The wall seemed to be growing in front of them. If they hit it, it was really going to hurt. Adam closed his eyes and waited for the crushing pain of impact.
When it didn’t come, he opened his eyes again.
Anna had jerked the bike back at the last second and then jolted it forward. Like a horse jumping a fence, the bike flew over the wall.
‘Yessss . . . nooooo!’ shouted Adam.
The ‘yes’ was for getting over. The ‘no’ was for what was on the other side. They bike was heading straight down into a swimming pool.
An empty swimming pool!
There was nothing to stop the bike smashing into the tiles at the bottom of the pool . . . except, possibly, the diving board!
Could they land on it? Anna tightened her grip on the handlebars. The bike was plunging almost vertically down now, and with great speed. She crouched, ready for the impact and . . .
BAM!
She hit the board perfectly and pulled with all her might on the brakes.
They screeched along the diving board and stopped right on the edge, teetering over the empty pool.
Adam exhaled.
Anna turned round to him. And winked.
.
CHAPTER 15
‘Doctor! Doctor!’
Adam rushed up the gangplank of the Ark of the Parabola. When he reached the top he turned to give Anna a wave but was only in time to see the dark-haired girl on the bike disappear into the narrow cobbled streets of Buenos Sueños.
‘Where have you been, Adam?’ said the Doctor. ‘And why isn’t Sniffage with you.’
‘He hasn’t come back?’
‘No.’
‘But the shots missed him.’
‘Shots?’ snapped the Doctor.
‘Officer Grivas shot at him for being wild after Señor Le Blacas complained about the coffee on his trousers.’
The Doctor gave Adam a hard stare.
‘I warned you such behaviour would have serious consequences.’
It didn’t stop you wanting to see the hotel register though, thought Adam. But he didn’t say anything because he had more important things to ask, like . . . ‘Can I have an advance on my pocket money?’
‘What on earth for?’
‘Err . . . I got fined.’
‘Fined. Who by?’
Adam took a deep breath and told the story of what had just happened to him. Before the Doctor could launch into one of his lectures, Adam swiftly, and a little deviously, moved the subject on to the hotel register. ‘So did you find out anything about Mum?’ he asked.
‘I’m afraid not,’ the Doctor said sadly. ‘It turns out your escapade yesterday was all for nothing.’
Adam felt utterly deflated. He was saved from having to think of a reply by a sudden flurry of green feathers from above, as Gogo and Pozzo landed on the deck. The Doctor lost interest in Adam immediately and turned to the parrots.
‘Have you located the source?’ he demanded impatiently.
‘Do we get to tell a joke if you’re pleased?’
> The Doctor sighed. ‘I suppose so.’
‘OK,’ said Gogo. ‘We flew all the way up to the fair.’
‘There were lots of parrots there,’ said Pozzo.
‘None of them with a very good sense of humour,’ added Gogo. ‘My joke about millet went down like a lead macaw.’
‘Concentrate on telling me what you found out.’
‘We found out that the tastiest leftovers are from the takeaway kiosk near the log flume.’
‘And that you have to keep an eye out for the local sparrow hawk or your most recent squawk could be your last.’
Adam saw the Doctor bristle with impatience.
‘And that further up the mountain in a place called Tibidabo beyond the amusement park, where people never go, is a murky wood.’
‘Suddenly, a month ago, just as it was getting dark, this wood became a nest of activity, with people dressed in black going in and out carrying machines – they made sure that they moved about only during the siesta when the rest of Buenos Sueños was sleeping. But the parrots saw them, even though they didn’t have much to do with them because they didn’t leave any leftovers.’
‘The people were working in the forest every night for two weeks, and after that the alarm started.’
‘Eureka!’ cried the Doctor.
‘So would you if you’d been flying all morning in the sun,’ snapped Gogo indignantly.
‘That wood must be the location of the alarm,’ continued the Doctor. ‘Whoever built it would have done so far from the view of prying human eyes, but he would not have thought it necessary to conceal it from parrots. Yet again, the Arkonauts have discovered something humans could not. We will head up there immediately.’
‘We haven’t finished yet,’ squawked Gogo.
‘The parrots told us the edge of the wood is patrolled by guards. And they all have guns.’
‘Guns?’ gulped Adam.
Both parrots nodded.
‘Hmm,’ said the Doctor.
‘And now,’ said Gogo, ‘time for a joke.’
‘Did you say it’s time for a joke?’ said Pozzo.
‘I say, I say, I say! What’s the difference between a large bird of prey and a dog with mange?’
‘One’s a golden eagle and the other’s a mouldy beagle!’
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