by Pete Johnson
He let the dog down. Lauren stood staring at him for a moment, and then gave a cry of joy. The dog, weak as he was, wobbled towards her, yelping excitedly.
Lauren crouched down and gathered him up in her arms, her eyes looking as if they were about to pop out of her head. ‘Oh, Spike, what have they done to you? It’s all right now – you’re home with me again. We’ll soon feed you up.’ Spike’s tail gave a little flick at this news.
Lauren looked up. ‘Oh, Sam, you did it! You rescued Spike, just as you said you would.’
‘The dog snatchers really shouldn’t mess with me, you know,’ began Sam. Then he looked at Ella and added hoarsely, ‘I mean, us. Ella helped quite a bit too, by the way.’
‘Well, thank you both so much,’ whispered Lauren, tears racing down her face now, ‘because this is, without doubt, the best moment of my entire life.’
As they left Sam whispered, ‘I can’t think of a better end to this adventure.’
And neither could Ella.
If you were a superhero, what powers would you have and what would you be called?
I’d love to be able to run incredibly fast. That would be brilliant: speeding around, without any need to bother with cars or trains any more. Also, and this is embarrassing, I’d like to have super hearing, just like Ella and Sam. You see, I’m very nosy and… well, just think what I could find out! As for names: how about ‘Mighty Pete’! Now, stop laughing…
Have you got a dog of your own?
Yes, she’s called Tilly. A mad King Charles spaniel, who’s three years old now but still thinks she’s a puppy. I’m afraid she’s not as well behaved as Patch. She’s very excitable, especially if the doorbell rings; then she goes mad. But she’s very affectionate and full of fun.
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Yes, I have a younger sister called Linda. We both loved ghost stories and we even pretended our shed was haunted. One of us would sit inside the shed telling our friends scary stories. And the other would hide outside making strange, tapping noises on the window and even throw in a few ghostly groans. It was brilliant fun.
Where did you get the idea of the twins and talking online?
I’ve always been fascinated by twins – and especially the idea that one twin will always know when the other is in trouble. I interviewed some twins and then imagined what it would be like if you could secretly chat to your twin all the time.
What are you scared of? And how do you deal with it?
I’ve never liked the night very much and how it changes everything. Sounds are louder at night and your room grows somehow, doesn’t it? But I’ve learnt to see that my fears really come out of my imagination and what I’m picturing in my head.
Which twin is most like you: Sam or Ella?
Sam, I’m afraid, especially when he does mad, crazy things and gets all carried away. That is very like me. But Ella is a great animal lover and so am I.
Have you ever met anyone as gruesome as Uncle Mike and Aunt Joy?
Happily no. But some of my teachers were quite scary. There was one who we nicknamed ‘Bullet’ and he was very bad tempered like Uncle Mike. He once gave a boy a double detention because he was breathing too loudly.
What was your favourite children’s book?
I’ve got so many. Two favourites were The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne – which I thought was better than Winnie the Pooh, even if the ending always made me sad – and The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith; friends would say, ‘You’re not reading that book again.’ I still re-read it regularly.
What do you like doing best of all?
Being on holiday. And the very best thing of all is when you wake up on the first day of the holiday with it all stretching before you.
How did you become a writer?
I wrote a fan letter to Dodie Smith when I was eight. She wrote back and put the idea into my head of being a writer. She encouraged me to enter writing competitions. And when I was twelve I won ten pounds (wow!); it encouraged me and then I started writing more and more.
