by Duncan Ball
‘So now are you going to stop worrying and get some sleep?’ Emily asked.
Malcolm didn’t answer. He was already sound asleep.
5.
Emily Eyefinger, Mouseologist
The next day Mr and Mrs Eyefinger and the Mousefinders put on their life jackets and piled into the big rubber raft. But Emily was sitting on a rock with her hand in the water.
‘Emily, what are you doing?’ her father asked.
‘There’s a whole school of little fish down there,’ Emily said. ‘Can’t I watch them just a little longer?’
‘No, you can’t,’ her mother said. ‘Now hurry up. You’re going to make us all late.’
‘It’s not fair,’ said Emily, but she climbed into the raft and helped to push it out into the river.
Soon the water got rough and the raft went faster. Everyone had to hang on to the sides so they wouldn’t be thrown out. The trees on the riverbanks raced by and Emily had a tickling feeling in her stomach. Professor Mousefinder was grinning, but Emily could tell that her parents were nervous.
‘How will we know when we get to Rodent Gorge?’ she asked Professor Mousefinder.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll recognise it. Hang on tight!’
They shot along going faster and faster and bumped up and down. Water sprayed all over them. Finally, the rapids ended and the raft slowed down.
‘Thank goodness we got through that,’ Mrs Eyefinger said. ‘Those rapids were too rapid for me.’
They heard a strange noise up ahead getting louder and louder.
‘Excuse me, Professor Mousefinder,’ said Mr Eyefinger. ‘But what’s all that noise about?’
‘I’m not really sure,’ Professor Mousefinder said as he studied the Eyefingers’ map.
Mr Eyefinger tried to stand up to see but the water was still too rough and he nearly fell out of the raft.
Emily had an idea.
‘Grab my legs!’ she said.
Emily’s parents held one leg and Malcolm and his father held the other one. Together they lifted her up as high as they could.
‘What do you see?’ Malcolm asked.
‘I don’t know. The water sort of disappears.’
Emily raised her left hand high over her head, shut her eyes, and looked through her eyefinger. Suddenly it got very windy.
‘It’s a waterfall!’ she screamed, but the noise and the wind made it hard to hear her.
‘A shopping mall?’ her mother screamed back. ‘Did you say there was a shopping mall? Thank goodness!’
‘No! Let me down. Paddle to the riverbank! Hurry!’
As soon as her parents put her down, they paddled furiously toward shore. After a few frantic moments they got there — and just in time. Straight ahead was the top of the waterfall.
‘We almost went over,’ Mrs Eyefinger sighed. ‘We would have been killed! Thank goodness for Emily’s eyefinger.’
‘That was too close,’ Malcolm said. ‘I’m not going out in that raft again.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said the professor. ‘We don’t have to go anywhere. We’re here. This is it, Rodent Gorge!’
While Malcolm and his father looked for signs of mice, Emily and her parents walked around the gorge taking photos of the waterfall. They couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Emily said. ‘The waterfall looks like a big blue wall made out of glass. And when it hits the bottom it gets all white and there’s a rainbow in the mist.’ (Emily liked to think thoughts like this.)
When they got back they found the professor looking very sad.
‘I’m afraid it’s all been a wild goose chase,’ he said.
‘More like a wild mouse chase, if you ask me,’ Malcolm said.
‘You mean there aren’t any mice?’ Emily asked.
‘Not a one,’ said Professor Mousefinder. ‘Not even common ordinary mice. If there were there’d be holes in the ground or in trees or something. Malcolm and I haven’t even seen a mouse footprint. I’m afraid we’ve come all this way for nothing.’
They got ready for the long walk back up the river. (They couldn’t paddle back up because the water was moving too quickly.) Then Emily had one of her bright ideas. She took off her shoes and waded into the river.
‘Emily! Where are you going?’ Malcolm shouted.
Emily was up to her waist in water, walking closer and closer to the waterfall. Then she stuck her eyefinger hand straight out and through the waterfall. There, right in front of her eye, was a hole in the rocky cliff. And looking out of the hole was a mouse with white stripes.
‘I’ve found one of the mice!’ Emily called back. ‘They must all live behind the waterfall.’
That afternoon, Professor Mousefinder asked Emily to put a trap behind the waterfall.
‘It’s better if you do it,’ he said. ‘You can see what you’re doing with your eyefinger.’
Soon Emily had caught a tiny striped mouse.
‘What a little cutey pooty,’ she said. ‘It was worth the whole trip just to see him. What are you going to do with him now?’
‘The usual,’ said Malcolm. ‘We’ll weigh him, measure him, take his picture, and then we’ll let him go back to his family.’
When Malcolm and the professor finished their work, they put the tiny mouse on the ground. He jumped into the river and swam right back under the waterfall.
‘I’m going to write an article for the International Journal of Mouseology,’ Professor Mousefinder said, ‘and tell about finding the Mice of the Up and Down Water. And of course I’ll tell everyone about that wonderful mouse-finding finger of yours, Emily. We never would have found the mouse without you.’
‘I’m always happy to help,’ said Emily.
‘But I still don’t understand the name,’ the professor said. ‘Those stripes don’t look anything like water to me, up and down or sideways.’
‘Oh, that’s easy,’ said Emily. ‘That’s how I knew where to find him. You see, Up and Down Water must have been another name for a waterfall. The water is up and down instead of side to side. The people who lived here called them the Mice of the Up and Down Water because they live under the waterfall.’
‘Emily, that’s brilliant!’ Professor Mousefinder said. ‘When I write my article I’ll put your name on it too. From now on you’ll be known as Emily Eyefinger, Mouseologist!’
‘Well thank you very much, professor, but I think I just want to be Emily Eyefinger, a lucky girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger.’
6.
Emily’s Frenemy
The telephone rang.
‘Emily Bemily, guess what?’
Emily knew that there was only one person who called her ‘Emily Bemily’.
‘I can’t guess, Wilbur,’ she said.
‘You’re not the only person in the world with an eye on their finger,’ Wilbur said. ‘I saw a man with one.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Sure I’m sure. I saw his show.’
‘What are you talking about? What kind of show?’
‘Marvellous Marvin’s Super Spectacular Magic Show. He came to our school today. He’s going to be at your school tomorrow. He talks about his eyefinger and shows everybody that it’s real! He’s great!’
Emily knew there was going to be a magic show at school but no one had told her that the magician had an eye on his finger. It was so exciting that she thought about it all afternoon.
‘Finally, there’s someone else like me!’ she told her father. ‘I want to meet him. I want to talk about our eyefingers. Maybe he’ll be my friend. We can start an eyefinger club.’
‘I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you,’ Mr Eyefinger said. ‘What if it’s only a trick? It is a magic show, after all. Magic shows are full of tricks.’
‘Oh, Dad,’ Emily said. ‘I’m sure it’s not a trick. It’s just got to be real.’
The next morning everyone at school was talking about Marvellous Marvi
n’s Super Spectacular Magic Show. But nobody mentioned his eyefinger. Emily was the only one who knew about it and she didn’t tell anyone.
After recess it was time for the show. Terry Meaney was trying out his own magic tricks. He tried to make a coin disappear. But nobody was interested.
Emily’s teacher, Ms Plump (who was a little bit chubby), asked the class to line up and walk quietly to the school hall. Emily found a seat next to Janey Star.
Marvellous Marvin did the most wonderful tricks. He pulled rabbits out of a box and pigeons out of handkerchiefs. Emily kept looking for his eyefinger but she couldn’t see one. Maybe this was because he had gloves on. One of the gloves had a shiny part at the tip but Emily was too far away to see if it was an eye.
‘Do you want to know how I do my tricks?’ the magician asked.
Everyone yelled, ‘Yes!’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t hear you,’ the man said again, putting his hand behind his ear.
‘YESSSSSS!’ the children yelled even louder.
‘Okay,’ the magician said, ‘you don’t have to shout, I’m not deaf, you know. My tricks are very easy to do because I’m not like you. I have something that you don’t have. There’s something special about my hand. Can anyone guess what it is?’ Emily didn’t say anything and neither did anyone else. ‘I have an eye on the end of my finger,’ the man said.
Some of the children giggled and they all looked at Emily. Marvin didn’t notice this. He just pointed the finger with the shiny tip around the room.
‘Under that piece of glass is a tiny eye. I was born with it. Believe me, when you have an eye on your finger there are lots of tricks you can do. But I can see you don’t believe me.’
Emily had a really wonderful feeling. At last there was someone else just like her!
Marvin tied a black blindfold around his eyes. He pointed the shiny finger of his glove at the audience and said, ‘Okay, somebody stand up. Don’t say anything just stand up.’
Annabelle Laws got up and stood there quietly.
‘Thank you, young lady,’ Marvin said. ‘I can see you perfectly through my eyefinger. You have red hair and you’re wearing a yellow shirt. Am I right?’
‘That’s right!’ Annabelle said.
Everyone clapped and Annabelle sat down.
‘Somebody hold something up. Anything,’ Marvin said.
Terry Meaney reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He waved it at the magician.
‘What a pretty blue and green handkerchief,’ the man said. ‘But it’s about time it had a good wash, don’t you think?’
Terry blushed when all the children laughed. He put the handkerchief back in his pocket and sat down.
‘Now I need a volunteer.’
A girl on the other side of the hall stood up. Marvin turned and pointed at her with his finger.
‘Yes, the young lady with the long blonde hair. Come up to the stage, please,’ he said, ‘and write something — anything — on the blackboard.’
The girl meant to write, ‘I like apples,’ but she left the ‘e’ out of ‘like’ and spelled it ‘lik’ instead.
‘You lick apples?’ Marvin said, pointing his finger at the blackboard. ‘I’d rather lick ice cream myself.’
Everyone laughed again, even some of the youngest children who couldn’t tell ‘lik’ from ‘like’.
Emily just sat there and, as she did, a big frown came over her face. Something was wrong, she thought. Suddenly she stood up.
‘Emily!’ Janey whispered. ‘What are you doing?’
‘All right, little girl,’ the magician said. ‘Would you like to write a message too?’
‘Yes, I would, Mr Marvin,’ Emily said.
‘Just call me Marvellous,’ the man said. ‘Come on up here. Don’t be shy.’
Emily wasn’t shy at all. When she got to the stage she went right up to the magician and reached for his hand.
‘Hey! What do you think you’re doing?’ he said, snatching it away.
‘I want to see your eyefinger,’ Emily said.
‘Never mind about that, kid. Either write your message or sit down,’ he said, and he wasn’t very friendly about it.
‘Okay, I’ll write a message,’ Emily said.
Emily took a piece of paper out of her pocket and wrote on it. Then she dropped it into the box that Marvin had pulled the rabbit out of.
‘If you really have an eye on the end of your finger,’ Emily said, ‘put your hand in there and read what it says on the paper.’
‘What is this?’ the man said. ‘Stop bossing me around. Who’s the magician around here?’
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you have a real eye on your finger,’ Emily said.
‘Then how can I see you right now, little miss smartypants?’
‘That blindfold is very thin. You can see through it,’ Emily answered. ‘That’s what I think.’
Some of the children laughed and the magician scowled behind his blindfold. He put his hand in the box.
‘It’s dark in there,’ he said. ‘I can’t read the paper because there’s not enough light.’
‘It’s not that dark,’ Emily said. ‘If you put a note in the box I’m sure I can read it with my eyefinger.’
‘Your what?’
The man took off his blindfold.
Emily pulled her hand out of her pocket and held up her eyefinger for him to see. The children all laughed. They all knew about Emily’s eyefinger.
‘Who are you?’ he whispered to Emily.
‘My name is Emily,’ Emily said.
‘Well, little missy,’ Marvin said scribbling something on a piece of paper and dropping it into the box. ‘Let’s see what you make of this.’
Emily put her hand in and looked at the paper through her eyefinger. It was dark in the box but she could still read the note. It said, ‘My teacher is a dag.’
‘Well?’ Marvin asked with a smile. ‘Are you going to tell everyone what it says?’
‘I could,’ she said, ‘but I won’t because it’s rude.’
‘Yeah, tell me another one, kid.’
Emily was suddenly very upset. She could feel the tears starting in her eyes — even the eye on her eyefinger.
‘My teacher is not a dag,’ she said. ‘She’s a very nice person. So there.’
Everyone burst out laughing again (except Ms Plump) and Marvellous Marvin went storming off. All the children stood up and clapped for Emily but she didn’t even notice. She just walked out the door and back to her classroom.
In a few minutes the rest of Emily’s class returned and Ms Plump sat down next to Emily.
‘I think you upset our magician,’ she said.
‘Well he upset me, too,’ Emily said.
‘He says he wants to talk to you. Could you please go have a word with him?’
Emily didn’t like the idea but she said she would anyway. She went back to the hall and pulled the curtain aside. There, sitting in a chair with his head in his hands was Marvellous Marvin.
‘You’re Emily Eyefinger, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘You’re the one who was in the newspaper. You found that snake at the zoo.’
‘That’s me,’ said Emily.
‘I got the idea of an eye on my finger from you.’
‘You did?’
‘Yes, I thought it would make my act more fun. And it did. Everyone loved it — but I didn’t know you were at this school. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I guess I was just embarrassed.’
‘I see,’ said Emily.
‘I promise not to pretend to have an eyefinger anymore,’ Marvellous Marvin said. ‘I’ll just go back to doing my usual magic tricks.’
Emily thought about this for a moment and then she said, ‘I’m sorry too. I’m sorry I ruined your show. I know that magicians don’t do real magic — everything is just a trick, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘But I wasn’t thinking. I got angry,’ Emily said. ‘I was hopin
g that you were just like me. I thought you had a real eye on your finger. I thought you could be my friend.’
‘And now you think I’m your enemy,’ the man said with a smile. ‘Why don’t you just think of me as your frenemy — part friend and part enemy?’
Emily laughed.
‘You say the weirdest things,’ she said. ‘But I really don’t mind if you pretend to have an eye on your finger. You keep on doing it in your show. It won’t hurt my feelings one little bit. And I promise I won’t tell anyone else that it’s not real.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ the magician said. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
‘Hey, that’s great! I’ve got an idea. How would you like to be in my show? We could be partners. I can see it now — Marvellous Marvin and Amazing Emily’s Super Spectacular Magic Show.’
‘Thank you very much,’ Emily said. ‘But I think I’m too young. Maybe when I’ve grown up.’
‘Well, when you do, give me a ring.’
Emily knew that Marvin was a real friend after all even if he didn’t have an eyefinger.
7.
Emily Eyefinger, Spyfinger
One of Emily Eyefinger’s most exciting adventures started one day when she came home from school. There with her parents were a man and a woman wearing long coats.
‘These people are from SOFSOS, Emily,’ her father said. ‘They’re on a very important mission and they need your help.’
‘What is “softsoap”?’ Emily asked.
‘It’s not softsoap — it’s S-O-F-S-O-S: SOFSOS,’ the woman said. ‘The Secret Organisation for Spying on Spies. It’s a very very strictly secret government organisation and that’s all we can tell you. We can’t even tell you our real names. You may call me Ms X and him Mr Y. Will you help us?’
‘If I can help you, I will,’ Emily said.
‘Good,’ said Ms X, smiling for a moment and then looking serious again. ‘First, we’d like you to meet King Crim of Slyvania.’
‘I see,’ said Emily.
‘Not yet you don’t,’ said Ms X. ‘Come with us and we’ll explain.’