#1 Ghost Diamond! (Agent Amelia)

by Michael Broad

  American edition published in 2011 by Darby Creek, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  Copyright © 2007 by Michael Broad

  First published in 2007 by Andersen Press Limited,

  20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA

  www.andersenpress.co.uk

  www.michaelbroad.co.uk

  All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

  Darby Creek

  A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  241 First Avenue North

  Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.

  Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Broad, Michael.

  Ghost Diamond! / written and illustrated by Michael Broad. —American ed.

  v. cm. —(Agent Amelia, #1)

  Summary: Elementary school secret agent Amelia continues her efforts to save the world from evil geniuses and criminal masterminds, this time foiling a jewel thief, identifying some unusual cat burglars, and evading a weed army.

  Contents: The case of the ghost diamond —The case of the catnappers —The case of the whispering weeds.

  ISBN: 978–0–7613–8056–6 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

  [1. Spies—Fiction. 2. Precious stones—Fiction. 3. Stealing—Fiction. 4. Cats—Fiction. 5. Burglary—Fiction. 6. Weeds—Fiction. 7. Scientists—Fiction] I. Title.

  PZ7.B780834Gho 2011

  [E]—dc22

  2011002269

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  3 – BP – 3/1/12

  eISBN: 978-0-7613-8061-0 (pdf)

  eISBN: 978-1-4677-6402-5 (ePub)

  eISBN: 978-1-4677-6400-1 (mobi)

  The Case of the Ghost Diamond

  The Case of the Catnappers

  The Case of the Whispering Weeds

  I’M AMELIA KIDD and I’m a secret agent.

  Well, I’m not actually a secret agent. I don’t work for the government or anything. But I’ve saved the world loads of times from evil geniuses and criminal masterminds. There are loads of them around if you know what to look for.

  I’m really good at disguises. I make my own gadgets (which sometimes work), and I’m used to improvising in sticky situations—which you have to do all the time when you’re a secret agent.

  These are my Secret Agent Case Files.

  “What on earth do you have in that backpack?” Mom said. She leaned out of the car window as I heaved the bag off the backseat and onto my shoulders. It was pretty heavy, but I tried to pretend it wasn’t.

  “Stuff,” I said. I peered over my sunglasses to gauge her reaction.

  “Stuff!” Mom said, with a suspicious frown. And the way she said “stuff” meant she wanted to know exactly what kind of “stuff” and why I had so much of it.

  “Just boring school-trip stuff.” I smiled and headed for the school door.

  Being vague is the best thing to do when you’re under interrogation. Mom would have to really want to know what was in my bag to come after me and ask more questions, but I’d deliberately dawdled back at the house. I knew she was already running late.

  You have to think ahead when you’re a secret agent.

  “Well, have a nice time then,” Mom called out. Then she drove away.

  Phew!

  I couldn’t tell Mom my bag was full of secret agent stuff. She’d think I’d gone bonkers. When you’re a secret agent, you can’t tell anyone.

  They’d worry when you’re off saving the world all the time. Especially my mom, who gets worried whenever I go anywhere on my own!

  My class was already boarding the bus to take us to the museum.

  I stayed at the back and watched our teacher, Ms. Granger, ticking everyone off her list.

  Ms. Granger had been under my surveillance for a week. I was pretty sure she was a criminal mastermind posing as a teacher. I was also pretty sure something weird was about to go down at the museum.

  Ms. Granger had planned the museum trip so our class could see the famous Ghost Diamond. It was a pendant containing the biggest diamond in the world. Usually school trips are educational, but the Ghost Diamond had nothing to do with our schoolwork. It didn’t make sense. Then I snooped around the school library records and discovered Ms. Granger had recently checked out two very suspicious-sounding books.

  One was called Hypnotism for Beginners, and the other was called Ancient Jewels and Curses.

  The second one was a very strange subject for a book. It was a bit too much of a coincidence, if you ask me!

  My teacher was definitely up to something. I had to get to the bottom of it.

  When it was my turn to board the bus, Ms. Granger blocked my way with her clipboard.

  “Amelia Kidd, will you please take off those ridiculous sunglasses!” she shrieked. She shrieked it loud enough for the whole bus to hear, so everyone started giggling.

  If Ms. Granger suspected me of being a secret agent, then she’d just done a very good job of drawing attention away from herself and to me. This is definitely the sort of thing an evil genius might do. I took off my sunglasses. Then Ms. Granger prodded my backpack with her clipboard.

  “And what do you have in the bag?” she said. “The kitchen sink?” The whole bus giggled again, but I didn’t lose my cool.

  “My lunch and my big winter coat,” I lied. Well, I did have my lunch but not my winter coat. “Mom said I have to take a coat because it might turn chilly.”

  If a teacher starts questioning you, I’ve found it’s a very good idea to blame everything on your mom. They can’t say anything about it, and they never bother to phone and check.

  “Sunglasses and a winter coat?” Ms. Granger said. She waved me onto the bus with an exhausted sigh. “Amelia Kidd, you really have come prepared!”

  The other kids giggled again as I made my way down the aisle to the back of the bus. Under my breath, I said, “Yes, Ms. Granger, I’ve come prepared.” I slipped my sunglasses back on.

  Inside the museum I was keeping a close eye on Ms. Granger when I noticed she’d switched her shoes! She was wearing bright pink running shoes that looked very new. This was odd because the rest of her clothes were all dark and old-fashioned.

  I’d never seen Ms. Granger wearing running shoes before. She always wore boring black shoes. This was another clue pointing to something big going down at the museum. I had to keep alert and not let my teacher know I was on to her. If she suspected me, she may postpone her criminal activity for another day.

  “I like your shoes, Ms. Granger,” said Trudy Hart. She’s always kissing up to the teachers. I don’t like Trudy Hart. She’s very popular in school and is always mean to people who aren’t, like me.

  “Why, thank you, Trudy,” said Ms. Granger. “They’re new.”

  “They look very pretty on you,” Trudy added with a slimy smile.

  “Do you think so?” Ms. Granger smiled, turning her heel to admire the new running shoes. “Of course, field trips involve an awful lot of walking, so I’m wearing them mostly for comfort.”

  “Or to make a quick getaway!” I whispered.

  Ms. Granger’s head snapped up. She narrowed her eyes at me.

  Uh-oh!

  Ms. Granger told us to explore the museum on our own. She gave instructions to meet back at the gift shop in an hour. After my comment about the shoes, I knew she’d be keeping an eye on me. Bu
t I needed to keep an eye on her too.

  I went straight to the ladies’ room and propped a trash can against the door so I wouldn’t be disturbed.

  Then, in front of the mirror, I looked inside my backpack. I found a large flowery dress and a purple wig.

  I pulled the dress on over my other clothes and tucked my hair inside the wig. I adjusted everything in the mirror. Once I didn’t look like me anymore, I slipped my sunglasses back on and headed for the door.

  Someone was on the other side of the door trying to get in!

  “Amelia Kidd!” said a loud, angry voice. “I demand you let me in this instant!”

  It was Trudy Hart! And by the sound of giggling, I guessed she had a couple of her equally mean sidekicks with her. She must have seen me come in. With a quick glance at the barred windows, I realized I was completely trapped!

  “My needs are greater than yours because I’m popular!” Trudy squealed and kicked the door.

  I checked my disguise in the mirror again and wondered whether it would stand up to close scrutiny. Sometimes being a secret agent is all about thinking on your feet and taking chances. I pulled my shoulders back, grabbed my bag, and flung the door open.

  “Well it’s about time….” Trudy growled. Then she stopped when she saw me.

  “What a rude little girl!” I shrieked in my best grown-up voice. I eyed Trudy up and down. I prodded her with an authoritative finger. “I have a very good mind to find your teacher!”

  Trudy’s mouth fell open. Her sidekicks gawked at me with wide eyes.

  Before any of them could get a closer look, I stormed past like an angry adult. They didn’t say anything or come after me. They were definitely fooled. Which was good because I really did have to find the teacher and figure out what she was up to.

  Did Ms. Granger plan to steal the Ghost Diamond? And if so, why? Criminal masterminds and evil geniuses are only ever interested in world domination. What could she want with a silly old pendant?

  When I found Ms. Granger, she was leaving the gift shop with a small brown bag. This was very suspicious because she’d told everyone to meet there in an hour. Also, nobody goes to the gift shop first. Everyone goes afterward to buy souvenirs. You can’t buy a souvenir of somewhere you haven’t properly visited yet.

  I hid behind a pillar until Ms. Granger passed me. Then I followed at a safe distance, ducking and diving and blending into the crowd. As I suspected, she was heading for the room with the Ghost Diamond. She was also looking around her to make sure no one was following.

  Luckily, I’m used to tracking suspects so she didn’t spot me.

  In the Ghost Diamond room, I made two holes in a guidebook. Then I lurked close behind Ms. Granger. I watched her carefully as she studied the jewel. After a couple of minutes, she struck up a conversation with the security guard who was protecting the pendant.

  “… and why is it called the Ghost Diamond?” asked Ms. Granger casually.

  Something told me she already knew and was just killing time. Or she was trying to distract the security guard. But he was standing right next to the jewel case. She couldn’t do anything without him seeing.

  The security guard explained that the white center of the stone was believed to be the ghost of a very powerful spirit. The spirit had vowed to rule the world with any person who released it from the diamond prison.

  (That’s the sound of alarm bells ringing in my head.)

  My instinct was right. Ms. Granger did want to rule the world. Now she was inches away from a strange diamond that would let her do exactly that!

  While I was figuring all this out, I noticed that Ms. Granger had opened the brown bag from the gift shop. She was fiddling with something in her hands. But from where I stood, I couldn’t actually see what she was doing.

  Not wanting to risk getting closer, I rummaged inside my backpack. I pulled out my mirror-on-a-stick gadget. It sounds like an odd piece of secret agent equipment, but it has gotten me out of a lot of trouble in the past.

  I positioned the mirror so I could get a close look at Ms. Granger’s hands. I saw that she had an exact copy of the Ghost Diamond pendant! Ms. Granger must have picked it up in the gift shop. Now she was swinging it from side to side in a very peculiar way.

  I was so busy watching my teacher I hadn’t noticed the security guard. By this time, he had stopped talking and was staring at the fake pendant. He had a very glazed look in his eyes.

  Hypnotism for Beginners! I gasped.

  Ms. Granger turned around and gave me an angry glare. Then she sprang into action.

  With the security guard too hypnotized to notice, she smashed the lid of the jewel case with her elbow. Then she swapped the pendants and escaped in her new pink running shoes.

  Shoving the mirror back in my backpack, I chased after her. The big dress was weighing me down a bit, and it was kind of difficult to see through the long purple bangs of my wig.

  Ms. Granger was getting away!

  Up ahead I noticed Trudy Hart standing by the gift shop with her sidekicks. She was my only chance to stop Ms. Granger from getting away with the Ghost Diamond and taking over the world.

  “Stop her!” I yelled at the top of my voice.

  But Trudy just sneered and turned her nose up. I’m not sure whether she knew it was me or if she just didn’t want to help the angry grown-up who had yelled at her earlier, but it was obvious she didn’t intend to stop the sprinting teacher.

  Ms. Granger was almost to the exit. I had to think fast.

  Pulling the backpack off my shoulders, I swung it over my head to get up some speed. Then I threw it as hard as I could.

  … .and hit the floor at the teacher’s feet. The straps tangled around her new pink running shoes.

  Ms. Granger was running one minute, and the next she was sprawled on the floor. But she continued to slide along the shiny marble floor. She was like a bowling ball heading straight for Trudy Hart and her sidekicks. The girls watched in horror. They were frozen like pins in a bowling alley about to be toppled.

  Skidding to a halt, I snatched my backpack from the heap of groaning people and slipped away just in time.

  All the non-hypnotized security guards suddenly swooped on Ms. Granger. Because they weren’t sure exactly what had happened, they pounced on Trudy Hart and her sidekicks too.

  When you’re a secret agent, you can’t ever take credit for saving the world. If you did, everyone would know who you are and you wouldn’t be secret anymore. So by the time I got back from the ladies’ room, in my normal clothes and with my normal hair, Ms. Granger was being taken away by the police.

  All the kids in my class were waiting on the steps of the museum. I wandered cautiously over to Trudy Hart and her sidekicks. They were all looking a bit confused.

  “What happened?” I said, with as much surprise on my face as I could fake.

  One of Trudy’s sidekicks burst into tears. Trudy rolled her eyes.

  “Some crazy woman attacked Ms. Granger,” she said, matter-of-factly.

  “Oh,” I said. “Then why are they taking Ms. Granger away?”

  Trudy scratched her head.

  “I think maybe she stole something from the gift shop?” she said. It was obviously just a guess. “I saw the security guards fighting her for a necklace or something. She seemed very angry.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “The school has called our parents to come and collect us….” Trudy added. Then she stopped and frowned at me. She lifted a hand up to my hair and pulled out a long purple hair!

  Uh-oh!

  I snatched it back and let the wind blow it away.

  Trudy narrowed her eyes at me. She was about to say something when I heard the sound of a familiar car horn. I looked out to the road and saw Mom rolling down the window and waving.

  “Gotta go!” I said. I dashed off before she could draw any conclusions.

  I shoved my backpack onto the seat of the car and climbed in after it. Looking up at the museum s
teps, I could see Trudy Hart was still frowning. It looked like she was still trying to figure out what happened.

  “I’m sorry your trip was cut short,” Mom said, eyeing me in the mirror as we drove away. “Did you have time to see anything interesting at all?”

  “I guess not,” I said, tipping my glasses and peering over the top.

  “And you carried that big bag around for nothing,” Mom added sadly.

  I thought about it for a moment and then smiled to myself.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” I said, patting my faithful old backpack.

  “Amelia!” Mom yelled. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

  “Bird watching,” I lied, without taking my eyes off the target.

  “The point of binoculars is so you can see birds from the ground.” Mom sighed. “You really don’t need to be halfway up a tree. Now come down this instant before you snag your sweater!”

  “OK,” I said. “Just one more minute. I’m watching a very interesting bird.” I wasn’t really watching a bird—I was watching the trap I’d set earlier.

  Cats had been mysteriously vanishing on my street. It began with one, which wasn’t too suspicious. Cats wander off all the time. But then another one disappeared, followed by another. And within a week, there were no cats left at all!

  I was pretty sure a criminal mastermind was planning to take over the world using stolen cats. They’re always doing tricky stuff like that. So I put my stuffed cat Tiddles out on the sidewalk as bait and waited for the catnapper to nab it.