by Andrew Cope
Ben, Sophie and Ollie flattened themselves against the cliff as the quad bike raced past, just missing their toes.
‘Quick!’ Sophie cried. ‘Head for the track! He can’t follow us up there.’
The three children began to run, but Gaz Guzzler was faster.
They’re not going to make it! Lara thought. Quickly, she measured angles, speed and distance. When she hit the rock again, she pushed off as hard as she could and then let go of the harness. Paws waving, she fell through the air and landed on top of Gaz Guzzler’s head.
‘Umphh!’ he gasped.
‘Direct hit!’ woofed Lara proudly.
The quad bike was still heading for Ben, Sophie and Ollie. Lara hooked her back paws under Gaz’s chin, stuck out her tail for balance and lunged for the handlebars. She managed to knock the quad off course just before it ploughed into the running children. Lara gave a sigh of relief. Her front paws lost their grip and she flopped down over the front of Gaz’s helmet.
Suddenly, Gaz could see nothing through his visor except Lara’s hairy belly. He slammed on the brakes, sending Lara sailing over his head. She hit the cliff and slid down to the ground.
‘You again!’ growled Gaz Guzzler, as his quad’s engine spluttered to a stop. ‘Pesky dog!’
‘Lara!’ cried Ben, kneeling beside her. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Never better,’ croaked Lara, staggering to her feet.
Ben gave her a fierce hug, squeezing her bruised ribs.
‘Ow,’ yelped Lara. ‘Ow. Ow.’ But she didn’t stop him.
‘What do you think you’re doing, Guzzler?’ yelled Andrew, reappearing at the bottom of the track.
‘Making your guests feel unwelcome, of course,’ said Gaz.
‘You big bully!’ shouted Andrew. ‘Pick on someone your own size!’
That might be difficult, thought Lara, eyeing Gaz Guzzler’s enormous belly.
‘If you have a problem with me, then you take it out on me,’ continued Andrew. ‘Not them!’
‘Oh, but I am taking it out on you,’ said Gaz with a cold smile. ‘If I get rid of all your guests, you’ll have to close down Tall Trees for good.’
‘All this because Andrew stopped you from opening one more gold mine?’ asked Sophie.
‘Who says he stopped me? You just wait! After tonight –’ Gaz stopped. Suddenly, he looked shifty, as though he had said too much.
‘Tonight? What’s happening tonight?’ asked Ben.
‘None of your beeswax,’ said Gaz.
‘Cooo-eee!’
Everyone turned round to see a thin, worried-looking woman running up the hillside towards them, carrying a rucksack.
‘Give me that,’ said Gaz, grabbing the rucksack from his mother and pulling out a triple-decker meatball sandwich.
‘Is something wrong?’ panted Mrs Guzzler, holding her aching sides as she looked round at the circle of unhappy faces.
Gaz was too busy chomping to answer her, so Ollie piped up instead. ‘He nearly ran us over with his quad bike!’
‘Oh dear. I’m sure he didn’t mean to,’ said Mrs Guzzler. ‘But you do drive your quad a bit too quickly, Garry. I couldn’t keep up with you, and I was running as fast as I could. Say sorry, son.’
Gaz gave a snort, spraying chewed-up meatballs all over Ollie. Then he started his quad and set off down the hillside.
‘There! All sorted,’ said Mrs Guzzler brightly, patting Ollie on the head.
‘That wasn’t an apology,’ protested Ben, but Mrs Guzzler was already sprinting away after the quad bike.
‘Don’t mind Garry,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘He’s a good boy, really.’
‘Good for nothing’ growled Lara. She hated baddies and Gaz Guzzler was as bad as they came.
9. The Beast Arrives
That night, Spud lay awake at one end of the sleeping shelter. Next to him, Star was twitching in her dreams. Next to her, Hero was curled up with her tail over her nose and, at the other end of the sleeping hollow, X snored softly.
Flubbalubbalubbahh, gurgled Spud’s stomach.
‘That’s why I can’t sleep – because I’m so hungry!’ he whined. He stared up at the roof of the shelter. The branches reminded him of breadsticks and the dead leaves looked like cheese and onion crisps. Quickly, he closed his eyes and thought about the day instead. They had learnt how to hide, follow a trail and signal for help. X had helped the puppies to spell ‘SOS’ in a clearing. ‘It’s an emergency signal,’ he’d explained. But all Spud could think of was that ‘SOS’ was short for ‘sausages’!
FLUBBALUBBALUBBLE! rumbled Spud’s stomach, as soon as he thought of sausages.
‘That’s it!’ he muttered, clutching his belly. ‘I have to find something to eat – and I know just where to go!’
He eased out of the sleeping shelter, tiptoed across the clearing and hurried downhill. He was aiming for the Tall Trees centre, where he planned to sneak into the kitchen for a quick midnight feast.
A white fog was rising from the lake when Spud stepped from the forest on to the shore. He peered around, trying to work out where he was. To his right, he could just make out the high boundary wall of Lakeside Mansion.
‘Evening, Boss,’ said a man’s voice from the other side of the wall. ‘When will the beast arrive?’
The puppy shrank into the shadows, his heart beating fast. A beast?
‘Any minute now,’ said the voice of Gaz Guzzler. ‘I expect you to have it settled in before the end of the night. Is that clear?’
Spud frowned. What was Gaz Guzzler up to? He waited, but everything was quiet again, except for his rumbling stomach, which got louder and louder. He shrugged, turned to his left and headed for Tall Trees. His mouth watered as he imagined the treats waiting for him in the kitchen. Priorities, he thought. I must find food first and sort the beast out later.
Spud stopped when he heard a swishing noise coming from the lake behind him. He turned round and gave a gasp of horror as a huge beast loomed out of the mist. It had a long neck and two red eyes that were glaring straight at him!
Spud stood frozen to the spot, too scared to run as the beast glided across the water. Soon it would be close enough to bend its long neck down to the shore and swallow him up in one gulp.
Spud’s short life passed before him. ‘Goodbye, Ma. Goodbye, Star. Goodbye, Ben, Sophie and Ollie!’ he whimpered, closing his eyes. I’m about to be eaten by the Loch Ness Monster!
The swishing sound stopped. Spud opened one eye. The beast had come to a halt in front of Lakeside Mansion. He held his breath, waiting to see what it would do next. The beast glared at him for a few more seconds before sinking beneath the waves with a mournful sigh. The surface of the lake bubbled and hissed, and then everything was calm again.
Spud let out his breath. All thoughts of food had left his mind. Slowly, he backed towards the forest, not daring to take his eyes off the lake until he had reached the safety of the trees. Only when he could hear leaves rustling above his head, did he turn round and race all the way back to camp with his tail between his legs.
10. Dogfish
‘I’m telling you, sis, I saw a monster last night!’
Star laughed. ‘Pull the other one!’
Spud scowled. He had been waiting all morning to be alone with Star so that he could tell her about his scary encounter, and now she didn’t believe him!
‘Come on,’ said Star, trotting off through the forest. ‘Hero and X are way ahead of us.’
‘I’m not joking!’ cried Spud, hurrying to catch up with her. ‘It was as big as a house, and it had a long neck and red eyes. Just like Nessie!’
Star shook her head. ‘Don’t be silly. The Loch Ness Monster isn’t real.’
‘How do you know?’ Spud demanded.
‘Because they’ve searched Loch Ness from top to bottom. If there was a monster in there, they would’
ve found it.’
‘Well, maybe they should come and search Clearwater Lake instead! There’s a monster in there, and it’s got something to do with Gaz Guzzler.’
Star stopped and looked at her brother. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’
‘I’ve never been more serious in my life!’
Star hesitated. ‘Spud, when I woke up this morning, you were whimpering in your sleep. It sounded as though you were having a nightmare –’
‘That monster wasn’t a nightmare! It was real!’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Well … It felt real,’ said Spud, but he was beginning to wonder whether he had dreamt the whole thing.
‘You always have nightmares when you go to bed hungry,’ Star reminded him.
Spud nodded. ‘You’re right. And my tum was very empty last night. Phew! It was just a dream. Thanks, sis.’ He gave a relieved laugh and pushed Star over. ‘What’re you lying down there for?’ he yapped, running after Hero and X.
‘Spud!’ shouted Star. ‘Wait till I catch you!’
Spud was still laughing when he burst out of the forest, but he soon stopped when he saw where he was. In front of him, the lake gleamed in the morning sun, and Hero and X were standing on the shore with Professor Cortex’s doggy diving suits laid out at their feet.
‘It’s a lovely morning for a swim,’ said X.
Spud gulped.
‘It was only a dream, remember,’ whispered Star, trotting past him down to the shore.
‘Only a dream,’ Spud repeated under his breath as he squeezed into his wetsuit, mask and flippers. ‘No monsters in this lake.’
‘Now, don’t stay under for too long,’ said X, as he checked their oxygen cylinders. ‘The lake water is very cold at this time of year, and we don’t want you getting hypothermia.’
‘Hypo-whatia?’ yapped Star.
‘Hypothermia,’ barked Hero. ‘It’s when you get too cold. It can be fatal.’
Spud cast a nervous glance at his sister. Monsters and hyper-whatsit, he thought. Not sure I fancy this!
But Star was wagging hard as she pulled on her scuba gear.
‘OK, pups,’ said X. ‘Just try a five-minute dive to test the equipment.’
Spud’s heart was beating fast as he flapped his flippered paws down to the water’s edge. He and Star paddled out and ducked under the surface. To start with, he tried to look everywhere at once, but soon he forgot all about monsters. It was beautiful under the water. Bright green weeds swayed, and hundreds of fish darted about. Crabs skittered across the bottom and an eel trailed through the water like a long brown ribbon.
All was quiet too, except for the sound of bubbles and doggy breathing.
When Star pointed upwards and began to swim for the surface, Spud followed reluctantly. He couldn’t believe that their five minutes were up. The time had flown by.
‘That was amazing!’ he yapped, spitting out his mouthpiece as soon as he surfaced.
‘I know!’ woofed Star, turning to wave to Hero and X. Her eyes widened with excitement when she saw an otter looking at her. It was lying on its back in the water, eating mussels.
Star paddled over. ‘Hello,’ she said, in her best Otterese.
‘What are you two? A pair of dogfish?’ The otter chuckled to himself and cracked open another mussel.
‘You live in a lovely lake,’ said Star.
‘Thank you. Most of it’s all right,’ said the otter. ‘But I’m not so keen on that bit round the bend.’
‘Which bit?’ asked Star.
‘The part in front of the big house. Stay away from there, little dogfish.’
Star felt a cold chill run down her back under the wetsuit. ‘Why? What’s there?’ she asked.
‘A village, under the waves,’ said the otter. ‘We used to play there, but not now. It’s haunted.’
Star shuddered. ‘Haunted?’
‘Yes. Strange things live there. Strange lights shine from the houses. And, last night, a beast arrived.’
‘A beast?’ squeaked Star, but the otter had finished eating its mussels.
‘Gotta go. Bye-bye, little dogfish!’ it cried, disappearing with a flip of its tail.
‘You look worried, sis,’ said Spud. ‘What did the otter say?’
Star swallowed. The monster could be lurking under her paws right now! ‘Um, you know that dream you had?’
‘Ye-es,’ said Spud, watching her face.
‘Well, it might not have been a dream after all,’ whispered Star.
‘What!’ yelped Spud.
‘That otter saw a monster last night too. In the lake in front of Gaz Guzzler’s mansion.’
‘Exactly where I saw it!’
‘The otter said there’s a haunted village down there.’
‘H-h-haunted?’
The two pups stared at one another.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ gasped Spud, breaking into front crawl.
Star turned and breaststroked for the shore as fast as her short legs would go.
‘You know what I think?’ said Star as they scrambled out of the water. ‘I think we’ve got a mystery to solve.’
Spud nodded. He stood proudly and puffed out his chest. ‘We are Spy Dogs, after all. And we know how to use our scuba-diving suits now. How about we pay that haunted village a little visit tonight?’
‘It’s a deal, bro,’ yapped Star.
11. ‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong?’
‘Ready?’ asked Andrew.
Ben, Sophie and Ollie gripped the bars of their windsurfer sails. ‘Ready!’ they cried.
‘Off you go!’ yelled Andrew.
Together, they hauled up the sails, bent their knees and leant backwards. Their sails caught the wind and they surfed across the water in a wobbly line.
‘Yay! We’re doing it!’ yelled Ollie. ‘Look, Lara, we’re windsurfing! Oops.’ Ollie’s sail flapped and jumped out of his hands. He tried to stay on his board, but lost his balance, fell off and disappeared under the water.
Lara stood up and took a step towards the lake, but Ollie quickly resurfaced, whooping with laughter. Ben fell off next, then Sophie. They waded to the shore together, dragging their boards behind them.
‘Well done, you three!’ said Andrew, pulling the boards up above the water line. ‘You managed to do some proper windsurfing after just one lesson; that’s pretty impressive. Did you enjoy it?’
‘It was brilliant!’ said Sophie.
‘Can we do some more?’ asked Ben.
‘Tomorrow,’ said Andrew. ‘The lake’s getting a bit cold now. Why don’t you have a rest, while I go and get the dinner ready?’
‘OK,’ said Ollie. ‘Can we stay by the lake, though?’
‘As long as you get out of those wetsuits and into some warm clothes. And you must promise not to go out on the boards on your own.’
‘We promise,’ chorused Ben, Sophie and Ollie.
I didn’t promise, thought Lara, as Andrew left. She raised a paw to her eyes and scanned the lake. Nobody about but us. I’ll just have a quick session while the children are getting changed.
When Ben looked up a few minutes later, he saw Lara whizzing across the water on a surfboard with the wind whistling through the bullet hole in her sticky-up ear.
Woohoo!
Mrs Cook had her binoculars trained on the windsurfing lesson. ‘Lifejackets? Check. Helmets? Check. Staying in shallow water? Check.’ She gave a satisfied nod. ‘Oh, look! Lara’s having a go now! They all seem to be having a lovely time.’
‘I wish I was,’ groaned Mr Cook, hobbling into the hotel conservatory.
Mrs Cook put down her binoculars and turned to look at her husband. He was wearing a spa robe and his bare legs were as red as boiled lobsters. ‘My goodness!’ she gasped. ‘What happened to you?’
‘I signed up for a full body wax,’
winced Mr Cook. ‘I thought it sounded rather nice. But it wasn’t. It was very painful!’
‘Yes, I can imagine,’ said Mrs Cook sympathetically. Mr Cook had always been proud of his hairy chest, but she could see that it was now as hairless and pink as a baby’s bottom.
‘Before the body wax,’ moaned Mr Cook, ‘I had some hydrotherapy, which I thought would be a nice, relaxing bath. Instead, they stood me against a wall and hosed me down with icy water.’ He shuddered. ‘And then I had a deep-muscle massage, which was …’ Mr Cook closed his eyes and tried to blot out the memory of being bent into the shape of a pretzel by a man who would not have looked out of place in a World Wrestling Federation ring.
‘Come on,’ said Mrs Cook, getting to her feet. ‘I’ll choose the spa treatments from now on.’
‘You mean, you’re going to come to the spa with me?’ said Mr Cook, brightening.
‘Yes, I am. You’re absolutely right, dear – it’s a waste of a holiday if I spend it stuck in here. Besides, they’re all having such a good time over there; what could possibly go wrong?’
12. The Haunted Village
A full moon was riding high in the sky as Star and Spud slipped into the water and began to swim to the bottom of the lake. Moonlight lit their way at first, but soon the water was so dark, they had to switch on their headlamps.
The deeper they went, the colder the water became. Star began to shiver. She looked across at Spud, but the freezing water seemed to be having no effect on him. It can’t be much further, she thought, feeling the tip of her tail turn to ice. This is a mission. I’ll just grit my teeth and keep going. A few seconds later, Spud nudged her and pointed. Star squinted through her mask and saw some pale yellow lights directly ahead. They were shining from the glassless windows of a group of ruined cottages.
The haunted village! Star turned off her headlamp and ducked behind a tumbled drystone wall. Spud joined her there and they gazed at the village. The cottages were clustered round what would once have been the village green. A church stood in one corner, with its stone tower pointing the way to the surface.