by Andrew Cope
‘I’m making good progress,’ said the old man. ‘Not too long, I hope.’
‘We never really believed you’d turned bad,’ admitted Ben. ‘We knew there’d be a logical explanation.’
The professor looked at Lara, who was wagging enthusiastically. ‘I think GM451 had her doubts,’ he replied, grinning. ‘It must have looked a bit strange, especially when you heard me talking to those evil people on the train.’
Just a bit, thought Lara. I didn’t want to believe it but it sure looked fishy.
‘But I had to go along with them, you see, because I needed to protect Ben. That was the only deal I did. To think, Benjamin, they wanted your brain on a plate!’
Ben grimaced and ruffled his hair, reassuring himself that his head was still attached. ‘They were going to use my brain in their formula. How gruesome. I hope Dame Payne stays behind bars for a long time.’
‘She’s plain old “Miss Payne” again,’ the professor reminded him.
‘Did they catch Mr Wilde?’ asked Ben.
‘He was still tied to his chair,’ laughed Professor Cortex. ‘He and the other teachers will be severely punished.’
‘And what about Christopher Bent?’ asked Sophie. ‘He’s dead rich. He won a million pounds on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, although I guess it was your formula that helped him, Professor.’
‘Ah, yes. Not exactly Employee of the Month,’ the professor admitted. Then he smiled. ‘There’s an old saying,’ he added, ‘that a fool and his money are easily parted.’
‘What does that mean?’ asked Ollie.
‘Basically, Mr Oliver, it means that Christopher Bent is back to being as stupid as he was before. He’s already gambled his fortune away. He will be spending the next few years in prison.’
‘I’m so glad Dame Payne is behind bars,’ sighed Ben. ‘She was horrible. Do you really think she would have used my brain? I wonder who we’ll get to replace her? We’ll need loads of new teachers now.’
‘Oh, I don’t know about the new head teacher,’ said the professor, smiling, ‘but I’ve heard a rumour about your new head of science. Starts on Monday, apparently.’
‘Who?’ asked Sophie, her eyes sparkling.
Professor Cortex couldn’t control his grin. ‘Who do you think?’
‘No way!’ yelled Ben.
‘Absolutely,’ beamed the professor. ‘I’ve always wanted to teach. It turns out that my brain formula does work on humans, but only for a while. It needs tweaking otherwise we only get temporary geniuses. And that’ll never do. Wouldn’t it be good if we could work on it during science lessons?’ The professor’s eyes were alive at the thought of having so many willing helpers. ‘And I won’t be needing any brains as ingredients,’ he added, raising his eyebrow at Ben. ‘But the real reason is that your mum says she wants to keep me where she can see me. She says she doesn’t want any more dangerous scrapes and reckons we’ll all be safer if I steer clear of Spy School.’ The old man looked round at the children, whose faces were filled with delight. He winked at them. ‘Not sure I can promise to stay away completely, but I’ll certainly be keeping busy at my new school!’
Ben, Sophie and Ollie grinned at each other before all eyes rested on Lara. The family pet sat upright and puffed out her chest. She knew her odd ears looked a bit foolish, especially the one with the hole. But Lara was proud of her bullet hole. She was proud that the professor now had one too, because he cared about her. He called me Lara, she reminded herself. I’m a family pet first, she wagged. But a Spy Dog second. If adventure comes calling then what’s a dog supposed to do?
Thanks to:
Will Rawling – for the ending. I knew it was right as soon as you suggested it!
My family – for allowing me endless hours sitting at a laptop when I should have been helping with homework or listening to clarinet practice!
The brilliant team at Puffin for making it all happen. Especially Sarah, Shannon, Sophie, Reetu and Jennie.
Mark, Ju, Pid, Mick, Pat, Bail and Woody – for bringing me back down to earth every Thursday night.
Jacqui Stone – for exporting the books to her rellies in Oz.
All the children who have emailed or written to me – I grin so much it hurts!
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Published 2008
Text copyright © Andrew Cope, 2008
Illustrations copyright © James de la Rue, 2008
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-0-141-91698-9
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