“What a relief!” said Mom.
I smiled behind my sunglasses.
“Anyway, I’ve been on the phone all morning. People are already moving back to the village,” added Ms. Bloom, excitedly. “Oh, and they’ve asked me to look after the dogs until homes can be found….”
“Can I help?” I asked, sitting up eagerly. A calm and quiet vacation isn’t really for me. I’d rather keep busy. And I’d grown quite fond of those cute little devil dogs. I just had to make sure they stayed away from my backpack!
I was really looking forward to our first science lab at school. I figured I’d learn something that could help my secret-agent activities. But the new teacher, Mr. Gumble, had other ideas.
“Perfume and stink bombs!” he declared, handing out worksheets to the class.
The girls were given a pink worksheet called How To Make Perfume. The boys were given a blue worksheet called How to Make a Stink Bomb. I didn’t want to make perfume or a stink bomb, so I put my hand up.
“Amelia Kidd?” said Mr. Gumble, looking down at the attendance book.
“Um, is there a worksheet called How to Make a Smoke Bomb?” I asked. A smoke bomb might come in handy on secret-agent missions, to create a diversion or conceal a quick getaway.
The teacher obviously thought I was joking. He rolled his eyes disapprovingly.
“A smoke bomb!” scoffed Trudy Hart. “What a typically stupid idea!”
“Oh, mind your own business,” I said.
Trudy is my arch nemesis at school. She’s not an evil genius or a criminal mastermind. But she is really annoying. Trudy’s also very popular and sees herself as a bit of a school celebrity.
“I’m going to create my own perfume called Love Hart,” Trudy bragged to her two sidekicks. “A brand-new scent that will smell almost as pretty as me!”
“Then you might want the stink bomb worksheet,” I chuckled.
“Just for that, I’m going to ban you from buying it!” snapped Trudy.
“Good!” I said. “I wouldn’t want to smell like you anyway—”
“Everyone needs to get into pairs for this project,” interrupted Mr. Gumble. He was glaring at Trudy and me. “And as you two already have such good chemistry, I think you should make very interesting lab partners.”
“Huh?” I said, as Trudy’s jaw dropped.
After the class had shuffled around in a chorus of chair shrieks, each pair got a measuring beaker and a rack filled with test tubes.
The girls’ racks were filled with scented oils, and the boys’ racks were filled with something murky and unpleasant looking.
Mr. Gumble wrote a bunch of instructions and diagrams on the whiteboard. Then he explained that one student would do the lab experiment while the other took notes.
“I don’t want your fingers contaminating the creation of Love Hart. It might end up smelling like unpopularity,” sniffed Trudy. She gathered the apparatus to her side of the desk. “But I will allow you to make notes while I select the formula.”
“Whatever,” I sighed. Science lab had turned out to be the worst class ever.
“I shall begin with a hint of rose,” said Trudy, lifting a test tube from the rack and waving it under her nose. Then she tipped half of the oil into the beaker and gazed at it forlornly. “I think roses will remind everyone of my beautiful rosy cheeks.”
I was about to say something about Trudy’s thorny personality, when I noticed Mr. Gumble acting very suspiciously at his desk.
He was fiddling inside his very large briefcase and peering over the top to make sure no one was watching.
Last week I’d run a background check on Mr. Gumble. I’d also carried out basic surveillance on him, as I do with all new teachers. And I’d been particularly vigilant because scientists are really clever and often have thoughts of taking over the world. At the time, I was convinced the new science teacher was fine and not an evil genius or a criminal mastermind. But judging by his shifty behavior and the oversized briefcase, I suspected Mr. Gumble had slipped under my radar.
You can’t trust scientists!
I was wearing sunglasses under my safety goggles, so Mr. Gumble couldn’t see me watching as he carefully closed the case and glanced around the room. He also didn’t notice my eyes narrow when he tiptoed through the door clutching his briefcase!
Teachers aren’t supposed to leave classrooms unattended unless it’s an emergency. Even then, they usually say where they’re going and warn the class that the teacher in the next room will be looking in. Mr. Gumble just slid away without a word. He was definitely up to something.
“Um, I just need to ask the teacher a question,” I said. I slipped out of my seat and rummaged inside my backpack under the desk. I pulled out the first wig I laid my hands on and tucked it in the pocket of my combat pants.
“But who will record my glorious creation?” Trudy demanded.
“Do it yourself, rosy cheeks!” I said. Then I chased after the suspect scientist.
I stepped into the hall just as Mr. Gumble turned the corner. I sprinted after him and skidded to a halt before the turn. When I peeped around the corner, the teacher was hanging up his lab coat and ducking out through the main doors.
Mr. Gumble was leaving the school grounds!
I knew I wouldn’t get far sneaking out of school looking like a kid, so I grabbed the lab coat and pulled it on. The wig I’d chosen turned out to be frizzy disco hair. Lots of mad scientists have crazy hairdos, so I pulled that on too.
Stepping off school property, I did get a few odd looks from people, but I ignored them and followed Mr. Gumble. He was walking very fast, but I’m used to tracking suspects. I managed to keep up without being spotted.
The sneaky scientist shot into the local supermarket, so I slipped in after him. We both took carts. I made sure to stay low and keep my distance as I followed him through the aisles.
I didn’t believe for one minute that the teacher had skipped out of class to do grocery shopping. He wouldn’t need a huge briefcase for that. This made me think that whatever he was up to was probably inside the case!
Mr. Gumble stopped in the breakfast cereal aisle. He looked around suspiciously and then began loading his cart with box after box of SugarPop Hoops. He was drawing lots of attention from the other shoppers.
I’ve been on patrol in a supermarket before. I know you have to shop and put different stuff in your cart to pass for a regular shopper.
Watching from behind a box of Oaty Lumps, I realized Mr. Gumble was terrible at deception. I decided I could use this to my advantage and nab the briefcase!
The teacher was becoming more and more flustered as the other shoppers gave him strange looks. I ran down the aisle with my cart. I positioned myself on the side for a high-speed grab.
Ducking down, I grabbed for the briefcase as the cart zoomed past. In the same moment, Mr. Gumble whipped his cart around, causing me to swerve and crash into the nearest display.
Luckily it was a display of toilet paper rolls that provided a soft, bouncy landing.
Standing up and adjusting my wig, I couldn’t see Mr. Gumble because a crowd had gathered around me making a fuss. I didn’t have time for lengthy explanations, so I made use of my disguise.
“Everybody out of the way, I’m a doctor!” I yelled. I barged through the crowd.
Running down the aisle, I saw Mr. Gumble leaving the checkout lane with four bags of groceries. When I say groceries, I mean a dozen boxes of SugarPop Hoops! I slipped past the cashier and followed the teacher back to the street.
This was turning into a very complicated mission, but I tried to stay focused.
If Mr. Gumble wasn’t planning anything tricky in the supermarket, then he was planning something tricky with what he’d bought from the supermarket and the contents of his suspiciously large briefcase … probably.
My suspect was heading back into school, so I stayed by the gates and spied through the bars as he hurried up the sidewalk. But instead of en
tering the building, he ducked around the side to where the teachers park their cars.
I followed, using the bushes for cover. I watched as Mr. Gumble opened the trunk of his car. He began filling it with SugarPop Hoops.
I don’t mean he loaded the bags of groceries into the trunk. He was actually opening the boxes and pouring the cereal. He acted like the car was a giant breakfast bowl!
From the bushes, I could hear chomping sounds coming from the trunk, which was bouncing up and down as some mysterious creature ate the cereal! I couldn’t see what it was, but I immediately suspected a diabolical experiment.
Evil scientists can’t resist a diabolical experiment.
I had to confront the strange Dr. Frankenstein and find out what kind of monster was lurking in his car. But without my trusty backpack, I had no gadgets to defend myself.
When you’re a secret agent, you have to improvise in sticky situations. I grabbed the nearest thing that could deliver a good wallop. Unfortunately the nearest thing was a sunflower. But the stem was stiff and the head was heavy and I didn’t really have a choice.
I crept along the row of parked vehicles with the sunflower. I tiptoed along the side of Mr. Gumble’s car. With the trunk lid up, the teacher couldn’t see me. This was handy, because a girl with a giant flower needs all the cover she can get.
“AHA!” I yelled, leaping into the open and wielding my floral weapon.
“ARGH!” yelled Mr. Gumble, hiding behind the SugarPop Hoop box.
This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting, but I stood my ground.
“I’m not sure exactly what you’re up to, Gumble,” I said. I waved the flower at him. “But you’re not going to get away with it!”
“Amelia Kidd?” frowned the teacher. He lowered the cereal box. “Is that you?”
“Well … yes, actually!” I said. My cover was blown, so I pulled the wig off and shoved it in my pocket.
But I wasn’t going to let him change the subject that easily. “As I was saying, I’m here to stop you—”
“And is that my lab coat?” Mr. Gumble asked uncertainly.
“Er, yes,” I said. I pulled off the lab coat and dumped it on the floor.
I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Evil geniuses and criminal masterminds usually turn pretty nasty when confronted. Or they try to make a quick getaway. Or they start ranting about their fiendish plans.
Mr. Gumble just seemed startled and a bit confused.
“Pay attention!” I yelled, before he could interrupt again. “I’m here to stop you from taking over the world!”
“Taking over the world?” he gasped.
“Yes,” I said. I jabbed the sunflower in the direction of the trunk. “You’re planning to take over the world using this diabolical monstrosity….” I glanced into the trunk for the first time. I saw a dozen balls of pink fluff peering back at me.
“They’re not monsters,” said Mr. Gumble. He seemed a bit offended.
“What are they then?” I frowned. “Man-eating pom-poms?”
“I don’t know what they are,” Mr. Gumble confessed. “They grew by accident in my lab. But they don’t eat people,” he added quickly, waving the cereal box. “They eat SugarPop Hoops.”
I propped my sunflower against the car, reached cautiously into the trunk, and picked up one of the small fluffy creatures. It was warm in my hand and giggled when I tickled its fur.
“My wife usually looks after them, but she’s visiting her mother,” explained Mr. Gumble. “So I had to bring them to school for their morning feeding. You see, we have no children of our own and have grown awfully fond of them….”
“Can I feed them?” I asked. Mr. Gumble shrugged and handed me the last box of SugarPop Hoops.
“When the scientific world discovers that I’ve accidentally created a new species, they’ll want to take them away,” he said sadly. “They’ll put them in a cage and poke and prod them….”
“You can’t trust scientists,” I said, shaking the cereal into the trunk. The pink, fluffy creatures jumped up and down excitedly as they chomped on their food. “But how will they find out you have them?”
“When you tell people, of course,” said Mr. Gumble. “Word will spread very quickly.”
“Oh, I won’t tell anyone,” I said casually.
“You won’t?” gasped the teacher.
“No,” I said. I knew that my first impression of Mr. Gumble had been correct. He wasn’t an evil genius or a criminal mastermind. “As long as you promise not to take over the world with them.”
“Why would I want to take over the world?” he frowned.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’ve met a lot of people who do….”
I suddenly realized I’d said too much. For a moment it looked as though Mr. Gumble was about to quiz me about my part in all this. But then he nodded and smiled kindly.
“I promise not to take over the world,” he said, holding out his hand.
As we shook hands to seal the deal, I could tell the teacher and I had an understanding.
I wouldn’t mention his adopted pompoms, and he wouldn’t mention my secret-agent activities.
With the fluffy creatures fed, Mr. Gumble opened his large briefcase. They jumped in one by one. I gathered the empty cereal boxes and stuffed them in the shopping bags for recycling.
Then the teacher pulled on his lab coat and led me back to class.
The science room was very different from the one we’d left behind!
Standing in the doorway, I noticed that the first difference was the noise. All of my classmates were yelling and screaming. The second difference was the smell, which was REALLY bad. It reminded me of rotten eggs and moldy cabbage mixed with perfume.
“SILENCE!” roared an angry voice behind us.
Mr. Gumble and I jumped The principal, Mrs. Marshall, stormed into the classroom. Then everything immediately went quiet. But the lab still smelled like a landfill.
“What on earth is going on in here?” Mrs. Marshall demanded.
She scanned the room and then turned to Mr. Gumble for the answer. “I saw you strolling down the corridor. I can only assume you have an excellent excuse for leaving the classroom unattended?”
I looked up at Mr. Gumble. He had a familiar startled expression on his face. It was the same expression he wore when I confronted him with the sunflower. I could tell he was about to confess again!
I didn’t want the pom-poms to get poked and prodded, so I quickly spoke up.
“It was an emergency, Mrs. Marshall!” I gasped. I remembered the rule about unattended classrooms.
Then I remembered I was still holding the grocery bags filled with empty cereal boxes. “I ate too many SugarPop Hoops and was sick!”
“Oh,” said the principal. She took a bag and peered inside.
Mrs. Marshall bought the story. She left Mr. Gumble in charge. The teacher gave me a grateful nod as he placed the briefcase carefully on his desk. Then he took control of the classroom.
I went back to my seat next to Trudy and lifted the beaker of Love Hart to my nose.
“URGH!” I shuddered. “Is this what you smell like?”
“Of course not, you unpopular fool!” growled Trudy. She glared at me as though everything was my fault. “The boys poured something else into the beaker, something that smelled like manure!”
“Well, manure is very good for roses,” I smiled. I looked at Trudy’s furious face, which was now scarlet with rage. “Perhaps that explains why your rosy cheeks are positively blooming!”
“I just can’t understand why you’re still sulking about it!” said Mom, as we entered the local department store. “We’re here now, and it’s not as though you’re likely to need anything.”
“Hmph!” I said, folding my arms defiantly.
We’d spent the whole car ride arguing about my backpack. Mom insisted that it was too big and heavy for a shopping trip. I’d failed to offer a good enough reason why I needed it.
“Now, what is it we’re looking for again?” Mom asked cheerily. She wanted to change the subject. “A teddy bear and a pair of roller skates?”
“Turbo Ted,” I sighed. “A remote-control teddy bear on roller skates.”
“Oh, yes,” Mom smirked, “I remember now….”
Mom hadn’t really forgotten.
She was just trying to get me talking.
My cousin had been going on and on all week about getting Turbo Ted for his birthday. It was the latest toy craze for younger kids.
Unfortunately, when we found the Turbo Ted display, it was empty. There was not a single bear for sale. Dozens of disappointed kids gathered around. One of the disappointed kids was much bigger than the rest, and she was making a much bigger fuss!
“THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!” she squealed.
Trudy Hart was standing next to the display with her tired-looking dad. She was causing a bit of a scene. The store manager was trying to calm her down. He wasn’t having much success.
#3 Hypno Hounds! (Agent Amelia) Page 2
