Near Extinction
Page 15
The other guard lunged for her. Dr Banfield ducked, slammed her elbow into his solar plexus, delivered an uppercut to his jaw and took off running.
She vaulted over the X-ray machine and sprinted back out into the check-in lobby. It would take a few seconds for reinforcements to arrive. She had to get out of there. Unfortunately, 2 pm at any airport is a busy time. People were moving slowly, dragging unwieldy luggage behind them.
Dr Banfield ran, picking up speed as she hurdled bags, bounced off passengers and dodged around trolleys, until suddenly she slammed into a brick wall. At least, that’s what it felt like. She soon worked out from the grey polyester jacket pressed into her face that she had been crash-tackled. She was hoisted to her feet. The man in the suit was holding her tightly by the upper arm. He looked dishevelled.
‘Dr Banfield, you are under arrest,’ spat the man.
‘But I’m just an academic,’ said Dr Banfield, with bumbling innocence. ‘A scientist. I study dinosaur bones.’
‘Don’t give me that,’ said the man. ‘You are a spy.’
R. A. Spratt is the author of The Peski Kids, Friday Barnes and The Adventures of Nanny Piggins. In her previous life she was a television writer. Unlike the Peski kids, R. A. Spratt never fights with her brother, but only because he moved to Tokyo to get away from her. R. A. lives in Bowral, NSW, where she has three chickens, two goldfish and a dog. She also has a husband and two daughters.
For more information, visit raspratt.com
Books by R. A. Spratt
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins
Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan
Nanny Piggins and the Runaway Lion
Nanny Piggins and the Accidental Blast-Off
Nanny Piggins and the Rival Ringmaster
Nanny Piggins and the Pursuit of Justice
Nanny Piggins and the Daring Rescue
Nanny Piggins and the Race to Power
The Nanny Piggins Guide to Conquering Christmas
Friday Barnes: Girl Detective
Friday Barnes: Under Suspicion
Friday Barnes: Big Trouble
Friday Barnes: No Rules
Friday Barnes: The Plot Thickens
Friday Barnes: Danger Ahead
Friday Barnes: Bitter Enemies
Friday Barnes: Never Fear
The Peski Kids: The Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach
The Peski Kids: Bear in the Woods
The Peski Kids: Stuck in the Mud
The Peski Kids: Near Extinction
PUFFIN BOOKS
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, in 2020
Text copyright © R. A. Spratt 2020
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, published, performed in public or communicated to the public in any form or by any means without prior written permission from Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd or its authorised licensees.
Cover illustrations by Erica Salcedo
Cover design by Tasha Dixon © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Internal design by Midland Typesetters © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
ISBN 9781760147099
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