by Steve Cole
In a flash of light, a large box appeared on the Time Shed’s floor.
“Tea bags!” cried McMoo in delight. “A new supply of delicious twenty-sixth century tea!”
Yak waved and winked, and the screen went dark.
McMoo started kissing the tea bags. “Let’s brew them up at once,” he suggested. “I’m parched!”
“But, Professor,” said Pat anxiously, “you made us leave the farm in such a hurry that Bo broke a fence. Back in our own time, Bessie Barmer’s on the rampage.”
“That’s true,” Bo remembered. “She was about to barge in here when you took off.”
“Oh no!” moaned McMoo. “She’ll want to threaten us and shout at us … I won’t get my tea for ages!”
“Chill, Professor,” Bo told him. She blew another gum bubble in his face. “A good plan is always worth reusing …”
The Time Shed landed back on the farm just a split-second after it had left. Bessie blinked and so missed the little glitch in reality – she never noticed a thing. She lumbered up to the wooden doors, braced herself, and then threw them open …
“Right, you beefy beggars,” she snarled. “I’m gonna—”
Suddenly she stopped, and frowned, and stared all around. The shed was empty.
“Bah,” she said. “I could have sworn they came in here.” She bunched up her fists. “Well, I’ll just have to search every inch of this farm! I’ll get them in the end – especially the girl! Oooh, I’d like to be like my famous ancestor Bessium. I’d cook her up Roman-style – then I’d really be glad-I-ate’er …”
Chuckling at her nasty little joke, she thumped away with her stomach growling. And so she didn’t notice that right above her head, McMoo, Pat and Bo were stuck to the rafters – thanks to blobs of Bo’s bubble gum on their hooves!
Bo chuckled. “She’ll be searching for us a long time!”
“More than long enough for us to put the kettle on,” McMoo agreed happily, unpeeling his hooves from the roof. “We deserve a cuppa after solving that Roman moo-stery.”
Pat and Bo dropped down to join him.
“I hope we get sent on another mission soon,” said Pat.
“We will, little bruv, you’ll see,” Bo told him. “Yak will be getting on to us again in no time.”
“No time? Nonsense!” McMoo grinned at her as he dropped tea bags in three cups. “Time is something we’ll never run out of. We’ll go on roaming through history for the C.I.A. for ever and ever – just you wait and see!”
THE END
About the Author
Born in 1971, Steve Cole spent a happy childhood in rural Bedfordshire being loud and aspiring to amuse. He liked books, and so went to the University of East Anglia to read more of them. Later on he started writing them too, with titles ranging from pre-school poetry to Young Adult thrillers (with more TV and film tie-ins than he cares to admit to along the way). In other careers he has been the editor of Noddy magazine, and an editor of fiction and nonfiction book titles for various publishers. He is the author of the hugely successful Astrosaurs, Cows in Action, Astrosaurs Academy and Slime Squad series.
Also by Steve Cole:
[ASTROSAURS]
Riddle of the Raptors
The Hatching Horrow
The Seas of Doom
The Mind-Swap Menace
The Skies of Fear
The Space Ghosts
Day of the Dino-Droids
The Terror-Bird Trap
The Planet of Peril
The Star Pirates
The Claws of Christmas
The Sun-Snatchers
Revenge of the Fang
The Carnivore Curse
The Dreams of Dread
The Robot Raiders
The Twist of Time
The Sabre-Tooth Secret
The Forest of Evil
Earth Attack!
The T-Rex Invasion
The Castle of Frankensaur
[ASTROSAURS ACADEMY]
Destination: Danger!
Contest Carnage!
Terror Underground!
Jungle Horror!
Deadly Drama!
Christmas Crisis!
Volcano Invaders!
Space Kidnap!
[COWS IN ACTION]
The Ter-Moo-nators
The Moo-my’s Curse
The Roman Moo-stery
The Wild West Moo-nster
World War Moo
The Battle for Christmoos
The Pirate Moo-tiny
The Moogic of Merlin
The Victorian Moo-ders
The Moo-lympic Games
First Cows on the Mooon
The Viking Emoo-gency
The Udderly Moo-vellous C.I.A. Joke Book
[SLIME SQUAD]
Slime Squad Vs The Fearsome Fists
Slime Squad Vs The Toxic Teeth
Slime Squad Vs The Cyber Poos
Slime Squad Vs The Supernatural Squid
Slime Squad Vs The Killer Socks
Slime Squad Vs The Last Chance Chicken
Slime Squad Vs The Alligator Army
Slime Squad Vs The Conquering Conks
For older readers:
Z. Rex
Z. Raptor
Z. Apocalypse
THE ROMAN MOO-STERY
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17477 5
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2013
Text copyright © Steve Cole, 2007
Cover illustration © Andy Parker, 2007
Interior illustrations copyright © Woody Fox, 2007
First Published in Great Britain
Red Fox 9781862301917 2007
The right of Steve Cole to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
