by Andrew Cope
‘Very sensible,’ said Brad, pulling their black harnesses from his coat pockets. ‘Shall we get started?’
14. Chilled Out
Behind Chad, Lara staggered to her feet. She still wasn’t seeing straight, but she had to do something; the Cooks were in danger. Maybe if I bite Chad’s bum hard enough, he’ll let them out of there! Taking a deep breath, she crept forward.
‘Don’t move another centimetre, you ugly mutt!’ said Chad, putting his thumb on the red button which would open the outer gate. ‘I’ve programmed it to open in ninety minutes, but I can just as easily let the bears out now!’
Lara froze instantly, one paw in the air. She knew she had no choice but to do what Chad said.
‘That’s better,’ said Chad, stepping away from the button.
Lara sagged with relief, but the relief didn’t last long. When Chad turned to face her, he was holding a gun in his hand. ‘Sit!’ he ordered.
Lara sat down and tried to look defeated. In fact, she was watching Chad like a hawk, waiting for him to look away so that she could make her next move.
Chad seemed to be reading her mind. He knew she was a Spy Dog so he kept his eyes and his gun trained on her while he walked across to a giant freezer and hauled the door open. ‘In,’ he ordered, motioning with his gun. ‘Or you and your beloved family get it.’
Lara’s thoughts were racing. I don’t have any choice! He’s got a gun pointing at me and, even worse, a flick of that red button and the kids will be polar bear supper! Lara walked towards the freezer, exaggerating her limp.
‘Nice doggie,’ cooed the villain.
Lara took her chance. She launched herself at Chad’s gun arm and sank her teeth into his wrist. She growled and tightened her jaws until she could taste blood. The gun went off as Chad staggered backwards. The bullet hit the steel table, ricocheted past Lara’s head and embedded itself in the door frame.
Phew! Too close, thought Lara as Chad crashed to the ground with her on top of him. It parted my hair for me!
The gun flew from Chad’s hand and clattered under the table. Lara let go of Chad’s wrist and chased the gun, with him scrambling after her. He grabbed her back leg, but she yanked it from his grip and put on a burst of speed. Scrabbling under the table, she snatched the gun from the floor.
Got it! Now to put it out of harm’s reach. She settled the gun more firmly in her jaws and burst out from under the table, heading for the door.
‘Look out, Lara!’ yelled a muffled Ben from behind the glass.
Too late. Chad cracked her across the head with the metal bowl, knocking her off her feet.
Lara saw stars. Everything went into slow motion. The gun drifted from her mouth and Chad caught it as it flew upwards. Lara felt a pang of regret as she floated through the air. It was a good try – I nearly made it. She slammed on to the tiles so hard, the breath was knocked out of her, but she felt no pain. She was vaguely aware of the Cooks shouting her name as Chad grabbed her by the collar and dragged her over to the freezer.
Bags of fish and meat flew past her head as Chad cleared a Lara-sized space inside the cooler. Weakly, she tried to get away from him, but it was no good. Chad picked her up by the scruff of her neck, stuffed her into the freezer and slammed the door. His nostrils flared with fury. He looked at his bleeding wrist and turned the dial to ‘maximum chill’.
The pups knew there was no time to lose. They crouched in the shadow of the museum wall, watching two men climb from a plumber’s van. Star glanced over her shoulder, saw the glow of Onkers’ mobile phone in the shadows and shuddered. If she and Spud tried to run, Brad would call Chad, and the Cook family would be the main course on a polar bear menu.
‘Get ready, sis!’ hissed Spud. ‘They’re coming!’
The men walked across to a door just in front of the pups, put down their toolbags and pressed the intercom button.
‘Go!’ Spud went for the right-hand bag and Star scrambled inside the other one. They wriggled down inside, trying not to rattle the tools. Both dogs flicked on their cloaking devices.
Fingers crossed the prof’s invention actually works, thought Star.
‘Oooch! Ouch!’ breathed Spud as a large spanner poked him in the tum.
‘Who is it?’ squawked the intercom.
‘Plumbing the Depths, here to fix the kitchen dishwasher,’ said one of the men.
From their hiding place inside the toolbags, Star and Spud heard a buzz and then a click as the door opened. Here goes, thought Star as the bag she was in was picked up. The start of our criminal career!
‘You know the routine, guys,’ said a bored voice, once they were through the door.
‘Sure do,’ said one of the plumbers. ‘We’ve been here often enough.’
Spud and Star braced themselves. Agent Onkers had explained to them that every bag going in or coming out of the museum was put through an X-ray scanner. Spud held his breath as his bag was lifted up and plonked on to the scanner belt. If this works, Prof, you can stick as many needles in my bum as you like, and I won’t complain!
‘OK, guys, you can retrieve your bags,’ the bored voice said. ‘Now, how about a coffee before you start?’
The bags were dropped and then kicked across the floor.
Spud winced as a hammer bashed him on the nose. Ouch! Watch it! This bag has a soft centre!
Star heard chairs scraping across the floor. Warily, she prised open the bag and lifted her head enough to peer out. The first thing she saw was Spud’s eye, peering back at her. Together, they eased out of the toolbags as quietly as they could. They were under a table, surrounded by three pairs of feet. The door between the kitchen and the dark, empty museum cafe was open.
That’s where we need to go, thought Star, remembering the plan of the museum Onkers had shown them on his phone. The puppies waited for their moment. As the feet shuffled towards the kettle, they crept out of the kitchen.
‘That was easy, sis!’ yapped Spud.
‘It was a good start,’ Star agreed as they headed into the darkened museum. ‘But the most difficult part is yet to come.’
The only light was from a small, round window and all Lara could hear was the hum of the freezer. The cold hit her instantly, jolting her wide awake. Her doggie eyes tuned into the darkness and she could see her breath. Lara lay on her side and kicked at the door with all four paws. The door was firmly shut. Lara got to her feet. She stood on her hind legs and peered out of the porthole. She could see the Cooks all waving their arms and shouting at Chad. Chad was sitting at the steel table, ignoring them while he calmly ate an apple.
Lara began to shiver. Quickly, she did a mental check of her injuries. Her head was throbbing and she could feel a lump the size of a plum just behind her sticky-up ear. At least there’s no need for a cold flannel, she thought, looking at the icy walls around her. What else? She could taste blood in her mouth and two of her teeth were hurting. She probed them with her tongue and they wobbled alarmingly. Hmm, no toffees for a while, and I probably have concussion, but I’ll survive. At least, I would do if I wasn’t stuck in a freezer.
Lara had passed a first-aid course as part of her Spy Dog training. She knew exactly what happened when the body temperature dropped too low. She would shiver to start with, as her muscles tried to keep her warm. Then her muscles would give up and she would slowly sink into a sleep too deep to wake up from. That’s if the lack of air doesn’t get me first, she thought, looking at the rubber seal round the freezer door.
Lara’s shivering was getting worse. She tried doing a few jumps, but it was no good. She curled up as tight as she could, tucking in her paws and covering her nose with her tail. I’ve been in worse situations! she thought. I just can’t think of one right now. Come on, Spud and Star. It’s all down to you now. I only hope you get here in time …
15. Museum Madness
The pups were prowling the corridors of the museum. Star looked at the gift shop on the other side of the corridor. ‘I just need to p
op in there.’
‘This is no time for shopping!’ yapped Spud, but Star was already moving.
She had found a bag with ‘I ♥ Museums’ written on the side. ‘Here, hold this,’ she woofed, handing it to Spud. ‘We’ll need something to carry the mask in.’
‘Good thinking,’ said Spud, glancing over his shoulder at a spooky-looking mummy whose shrivelled bandaged face seemed to follow their every move. ‘Shall we go?’
But Star was flicking through an exhibition catalogue. ‘It says here the Janus mask weighs half a kilo. We need to find something that weighs exactly the same.’
Spud headed straight for the sweets. ‘Let’s see,’ he muttered, filling a paper bag with an assortment of sweets. ‘Cola cubes, toffees, mints – my mouth’s watering! Ah, there we are,’ he woofed, looking at the scales. ‘Exactly half a kilo.’ Star folded the bag into a neat parcel and slipped it under her harness straps.
‘There,’ she giggled. ‘Now I look as round as you!’
‘I’m not round!’ protested Spud. ‘I’m well built.’
‘Shhh!’ Star pointed to the gift shop doorway.
Spud listened and heard dragging footsteps in the corridor outside.
The mummy! The mummy’s coming to get us!
They ducked behind a bin of dinosaur toys. Spud closed his eyes as the dragging footsteps drew nearer, reached the door and stopped.
‘Oh, m-mummy!’ he quavered, opening one eye.
A cleaner was bent over in the doorway, picking up a piece of paper. The man straightened up and carried on down the corridor, pushing a broom in front of him.
Spud heaved a sigh of relief. Together, they crossed the corridor behind the cleaner and scurried over to the tunnel that would take them into the Janus mask room.
‘There’s our first challenge,’ woofed Spud, nodding at the slanting red beams criss-crossing the tunnel. ‘Laser beams. Only this time we can’t go round the edge like we did in the FBI test lab.’
Star studied the beams. ‘They’re meant to detect a human, though, not little pups like us. They might just be far enough apart for us to squeeze through. Ready?’
‘We don’t have a choice, sis.’
Star went first, and Spud followed in her paw prints. They slid under the first beam without any problem, but then they had to rise up on to their back paws and edge sideways until they could dive over the second beam. A forward roll took them under the third, but the next few beams were criss-crossed together in a tangle of red light.
‘We can do it,’ breathed Star. ‘It’ll be just like playing Twister, and we beat everyone last Christmas, remember?’
They stepped, tumbled and scissor-jumped their way across, sometimes with less than a centimetre to spare. The only way to beat the very last beam was to edge under it like limbo dancers. Star went first, but when Spud tried to follow, he ran into problems.
‘Watch your tum!’ hissed Star.
Spud sucked in his breath and shuffled under.
‘Watch your nose!’
Spud groaned, bent backwards another few centimetres and then collapsed on to his back. Star grabbed his hind legs and dragged him out of the tunnel like a sack of potatoes.
‘No problem,’ panted Spud, jumping up with a flourish and surveying the room. A security camera winked from the ceiling, but they weren’t worried about that. Agent Onkers had sent a signal from his phone to the museum cameras, putting them on a loop which repeated the same five minutes of footage. Anyone watching from the security office would think the Janus mask room was empty.
The mask gleamed on its pedestal, but Spud and Star were more interested in the circle of floor around it.
‘There’s the top of the cylinder,’ yapped Star, pointing to the steel circle in the floor around the pedestal. ‘If anything hits the floor on the other side of this barrier rope, the cylinder shoots up and seals the Janus mask inside.’
‘So we don’t let anything drop!’ woofed Spud, helping his sister to pull the museum bag out of her harness straps. They took one handle each and then switched on their hovers. The propeller blades opened out and they were lifted into the air. ‘Remember, they have a very short battery life,’ said Star.
They stuck their hind legs out and pushed off from the wall so that they drifted out into the middle of the circle.
‘Here we go,’ said Spud, looking down at the Janus mask. Carefully, they let themselves sink down until they were centimetres above the mask. Spud lifted the bag of sweets and Star got ready to grab the mask.
‘Remember, it has to be seamless,’ said Star. ‘The instant I lift the mask, you have to drop the sweetie bag.’
Spud nodded. The smell of the sweets under his nose was starting to make his mouth water. A drop of drool appeared at the corner of his mouth.
‘The pressure pad under the mask is very sensitive,’ Star continued. ‘If it senses the slightest change, it will trigger an alarm.’
Spud waved his paws frantically. Get on with it! The drop of drool was getting bigger by the second. Soon it would fall from his jaws and on to the floor, and then the cylinder would shoot up through the floor, trapping them inside!
‘OK, here goes.’ Star wiggled her bum and took a deep breath. Spud sucked hard, trying to keep the drool in place just a little longer.
Star grabbed the mask, Spud let go of the sweets, the pressure pad alarm stayed silent, but the drop of drool fell from his mouth. In slow motion, he watched it tumble towards the floor.
‘Nooooo!’ Desperately, he swished his tail and whacked the drop of drool. The puppies watched as it landed just outside the security ring. Phew! Spud nearly fainted with relief.
Star eased the mask into the bag and they began to do doggy-paddle in the air. At first, nothing happened, but then they began to move jerkily through the air back to the barrier rope. As they went, they sank nearer and nearer to the floor as their hover power cells ran down.
‘Close one!’ gasped Star as they scraped over the rope and landed in a heap. ‘In fact, far too close for comfort!’
Wrapped up in the bag, the Janus mask fitted snugly against Star’s chest under the harness straps. ‘Much flatter,’ she yapped, patting her tummy. They set off, weaving and dancing through the lasers for a second time. Diving over the last beam, they rolled out into the corridor. ‘We made it!’ whispered Star.
‘Not quite,’ replied Spud, pointing to the clock on the wall. ‘We only have a few minutes before they take out the rubbish!’
They raced down the stairs to a small room stacked high with black rubbish bags. They heard footsteps. ‘Quick! Someone’s coming!’ panted Star, pulling open the top bag.
‘Pooey!’ choked Spud. ‘Mouldy cheese and rotten tomatoes!’
‘No choice,’ hissed Star, taking a deep breath and diving in. Spud groaned but followed Star into the stinking mess. His paws sank into something squishy and a worm of cold spaghetti slid down his back. Star grabbed him and they clung together with the Janus mask sandwiched between them.
A second later, the top of the bag was pulled open. Spud felt his heart stop. It was all over – they were about to be discovered. We were so close! What’ll happen to Ma and the Cooks now?
‘Phwoar!’ They heard the cleaner cough. ‘That stinks worse than this does!’
Spud and Star slapped their paws over their noses as the cleaner dumped a carton of disgustingly sour milkshake over their heads and tied the bag shut. The pups clung together, hardly daring to believe their luck as the cleaner flung their smelly bag out through the basement door. They were out!
16. The Gold Trail
‘You really stink!’ said Brad Onkers for the third time in as many minutes.
‘Yeah, well, at least we can wash the smell off,’ muttered Spud. ‘You’re stuck with being ugly for life!’
They followed Brad through the zoo grounds. Chad had left the gate unlocked for them. They passed barking sea lions at the entrance, and then a pool with plexiglass walls, where penguin
s swam past them at eye level.
‘Get a move on,’ Onkers ordered, bounding up some steps. ‘I can’t wait for Chad to see this!’ He held up the bag with the mask inside.
‘And I can’t wait for you both to see the inside of a prison,’ yapped Star as she and Spud trotted up the steps after the FBI agent. To their right was another window, showing a deep, empty pool. ‘I wonder what that belongs to?’ she wondered.
‘Them,’ yapped Spud as they reached a viewing platform at the top of the steps. The pool shone green below them and, over at the other side of the enclosure, two huge polar bears crouched in a small cage. Ollie, Ben and Sophie were huddled together on the concrete platform beside the cage, watching Mr and Mrs Cook pound their fists against the wall of reinforced glass behind them.
‘At least Chad hasn’t opened the cage yet,’ breathed Star. ‘Come on. Time for Bonkers to keep his side of the bargain.’
When they reached the zoo kitchen, the pups saw Chad munching an apple while Mr and Mrs Cook still hurled their fists at the glass. Mrs Cook wailed even louder when she saw Star and Spud. ‘Help!’ came her muffled screech from behind the glass. ‘We’re in here. And poor Lara’s in there,’ she said, pointing to the freezer.
Spud ran to the freezer and scraped at the door. He leapt up at the handle, but it was far out of his reach. ‘Let her out now, Bonkers!’ he barked at Brad.
The two brothers laughed their identical laughs.
Chad looked at his brother. ‘I think these stupid mutts actually …’
‘… believed us,’ chuckled Brad. ‘They thought we would let everyone go home! I love …’
‘… happy endings,’ laughed Chad. The brothers looked each other in the eye and their smiles were gone. ‘And there’s nothing happier than everyone dying together,’ remarked Chad.
‘But – you promised,’ whimpered Star.
‘Time to die,’ snarled Brad.
Chad pulled a gun from his jacket. Brad put the bag with the Janus mask on the table and moved towards them at a crouch with his arms spread. ‘Come here, mutts!’