On The Ball

by Susannah McFarlane

‘Please, A1,’ said EJ. ‘We can do this.’

  ‘Yes,’ said A1, ‘I think you can. Okay then, listen carefully. Here’s the plan.’

  It was early the next evening. Everyone was in position. Waiting. That was the plan. They would wait for Caterina to call Blackie again. There were two charms left and she was sure to come for them. When she did, SHINE would be ready for her.

  EJ, CC and KM would be able to follow Blackie to Caterina. EJ was just outside the dog yard. She would watch Blackie go to the fence and then decode the Morse message. They expected the same FETCH BOX command but needed to make sure. CC was on lookout near the dining hall to watch Blackie take the charm and KM was positioned at the camp gate ready to take the lead in following Blackie. Both EJ and CC would follow behind KM. A1, BRK9 and IQ400 were in a hastily assembled mission command in the kitchen.

  The girls had been fitted out with night-mission gear. Dressed in black with night goggles and head torches, they would also be able to talk to each other via spy-talkers, special ear and mouthpieces that fitted around their heads. Once activated, you simply talked as usual. The spy-talkers also had a homing device so that A1 and IQ400 could track the girls and follow them on IQ400’s laptop. The girls weren’t the only ones with a homing device: IQ400 had also put one into Blackie’s tag. By the time Caterina realised it was there, it would be too late. EJ also had a SHINE special-issue, night-light pen, a pen with a torch, just what she would need for night-time code cracking. Everything was ready.

  The girls were nervous. This was no longer a drill. It was real—no more teddy bears on rock ledges but Caterina Hill in a tree house, and Caterina Hill was certainly no cute teddy bear. She would let nothing—and no one—stand in her way.

  But then EJ remembered that someone had stood in Caterina’s way and had stopped her evil scheme. She had.

  I’ve beaten her before, EJ told herself, and I will again. All the same, the waiting in the dark made her a bit jumpy. It would be good to get going. EJ checked her equipment: her spy-talker was in place and her whistle charm was secure in the other ear. She turned her head torch off and waited. She was ready.

  Then they heard it. Three sharp whistles coming from the direction of the tree house. It was Caterina. It was time.

  ‘Good luck, KM and CC, ‘ whispered EJ into her spy-talker. ‘We can do this.’

  ‘You too,’ came KM’s voice. ‘Of course we can do this. Here come the under-twelves.’

  EJ watched, her pen and notepad ready. Within seconds Blackie had slipped through the hole in the dog yard and padded over to the camp fence. A few seconds later, there was a light from high in the trees outside the camp fence. The light began flashing. EJ worked quickly writing the message down. As she wrote, she could tell it wasn’t the same command as last time.

  ‘Guys, we may have a problem,’ EJ whispered into her spy-talker. ‘There is something different about this message.’

  ‘What?’ whispered KM back.

  ‘Well,’ said EJ, ‘it starts with YOU, not BLACKIE and then...’

  ‘EJ?’ whispered CC, ‘what then?’

  EJ had stopped talking while she worked out the next word. ‘And then the next word is C-A-N-T, which means CAN’T. The first two words are YOU CAN’T.’

  ‘You can’t? Who can’t?’ said CC. ‘What does that mean? It doesn’t sound like a dog command.’

  ‘Quick EJ,’ said KM, ‘we need the rest of the code.’

  EJ worked furiously, quicker than she had ever decoded a message before, but as she did, she started to feel sick. It was almost as if CC and KM could feel something was wrong.

  ‘EJ, what is it?’ said KM.

  ‘Guys,’ broke in CC, ‘something’s wrong. Blackie’s not moving. I don’t think she understands the command.’

  ‘Oh no,’ cried EJ. ‘Blackie might not but I do.’ She had just cracked the code.

  ‘What is it, EJ?’ said KM.

  ‘It’s not good,’ said EJ, looking down at what she had written.

  ‘It says, YOU CAN’T CATCH ME EJ ZERO. Caterina knows we’re trying to trap her. Our plan won’t work!’

  ‘But she might still be in the tree house,’ cried KM. ‘Quick, if we run we can still catch her!’

  The three girls ran headlong out the gate and along the track towards the tree house. KM, who had been on lookout at the camp gate, had a good head start.

  ‘I’m nearly at the tree,’ she panted into the spy-talker. ‘About another hundred metres.’

  ‘We’re right behind you,’ cried EJ as she ran. Her legs were hurting but there was no way she was stopping now. She switched to speed boost on her trainers and shot along the track. CC came up beside her.

  ‘Let’s go, EJ. One more speed-boost and we will be at the tree.’

  ‘I’m here,’ KM’s voice came over the spy-talker.

  A1’s voice came through on the spy-talkers. ‘Do not approach Caterina by yourself. Wait until you are all there.’

  EJ and CC hit the speed boost and in seconds they were at the bottom of the tree with KM. They switched to jump mode and all jumped together. Up towards the tree house and Caterina Hill.

  BOING!

  They landed on the platform. But there was no one there. Caterina had gone. There was however a note pinned to the tree, a note written in sharp, pointy handwriting.

  ‘We’re too late,’ said KM glumly. ‘Caterina’s escaped. She even had time to leave a note.’

  ‘But how? Where?’ said EJ. ‘We would have seen her running away, wouldn’t we? Where could she have gone?’

  ‘This way,’ said CC, who had been looking around the other side of the tree. ‘We must have missed this last time.’

  CC had found a flying fox, a strong steel cable leading steeply down from the tree to—to where? They couldn’t see, but the cable was definitely connected to something at the other end.

  ‘What are we waiting for?’ cried KM. ‘Let’s follow it!’

  ‘But we don’t know where it goes,’ said EJ.

  ‘There’s only one way to find out,’ said CC. ‘But Caterina will have the grip at the other end. How will we travel on it?’

  ‘Activate our rope charms,’ said EJ. ‘We can use the rope as a grip. Here, I’ll show you.’ EJ took her rope charm and twisted it. As the rope began to glow, EJ looped it over the flying fox.

  ‘Will the cable hold us?’ asked CC.

  ‘It held Caterina,’ said EJ. ‘Let’s go.’

  EJ went first. She held onto her rope, pushed off the platform and, whoosh, the rope glided along the steel, speeding EJ down rope and through the trees. She felt the flying fox straighten up and as it did, it began to slow down. EJ was approaching another tree and another platform. Had Caterina built a network of tree houses?

  EJ let go of the rope and jumped, landing with a thump on the platform. Seconds later, KM and CC landed as well. The girls looked around. This platform was much bigger than the first and had a roof and walls, almost like a little room. And in the middle of the floor was a chair, a large, white, egg-like swivel chair with its back to the girls. EJ gasped. She remembered that chair. She knew who would be sitting on it.

  ‘Thanks for dropping in yet again, EJ12. I’ve been expecting you and your little friends.’

  The chair spun around. It was Caterina Hill. She was just as EJ remembered her: tall with straight, almost white-blonde hair pulled back from her long narrow face. A cold, mean-looking face with black eyes and eyebrows arched in two thin black lines. Caterina was wearing a tight black sweater over camouflage combat pants, and at the end of her long fingers were long almost claw-like nails painted dark green. Little Blackie was sitting in her lap. The puppy moved to go to EJ but Caterina yanked her back. Blackie yelped.

  ‘I’ll take your spy-talkers, thank you, children. We wouldn’t want A1 to ruin our little tree party, would we?’ said Caterina in a cold, clipped voice. ‘Give them to me.’

  EJ, KM and CC stood still.

  ‘Give them to me now,
’ repeated Caterina, ‘or I will throw the dog out of the tree house.’

  ‘You wouldn’t,’ gasped CC.

  ‘She would,’ said EJ, taking off her spy-talker.

  ‘Yes, I would indeed,’ said Caterina taking the three spy-talkers. ‘What do I care about a puppy? But since you have obeyed me, I will just throw these instead.’ With a flourish Caterina threw the spy-talkers over the edge of the tree house.

  Blackie broke loose and ran to EJ, who quickly scooped her up.

  ‘That makes four standing on the trap door,’ laughed Caterina.

  Trap door? EJ, KM and CC looked down at the floor.

  Caterina took a remote control from her pocket. ‘One push of this remote,’ she said ‘and you will all fall down, a long way down. I don’t need you, I already have enough SHINE knick-knacks.’

  And then CC nudged EJ and gave a tiny nod towards a table made out of a section of cut log. On it were some black boxes and a soccer ball and a little bottle. CC nudged EJ again and Caterina saw.

  ‘Oh so you noticed that did you, CC?’ said Caterina. ‘Clever you. Yes, I have IQ400’s precious charms. Well, they were IQ’s but now they are mine. You see, I am an evil inventor and evil inventors must have inventions to sell, but thanks to little Miss EJ Zero here I have been out of action for a while. So, I stole some of SHINE’s and now I will sell them instead.’

  ‘You can’t do that,’ said KM. ‘They are not yours, they belong to SHINE.’

  ‘Don’t be so ridiculous, you silly girl,’ laughed Caterina. ‘Finders, keepers. Anyway, I‘m not selling them all.’

  ‘You’re not?’ said EJ.

  ‘No, I am keeping this one all for myself,’ said Caterina, picking up the little bottle from the table. ‘I am not sharing TD1000 with anyone. I am already cleverer than everyone but imagine how much cleverer I will be when I drink this. No one will be able to keep up with me. My plans will be so brilliant they will be unfathomable to mere ordinary people. I will rule the world!’ And with that, Caterina pulled the stopper from the bottle.

  ‘I really wouldn’t drink that if I were you, Dr Hill,’ said EJ.

  ‘Oh wouldn’t you, EJ Zero? Who’s going to stop me?’

  Caterina put the bottle to her lips. As the girls watched, she began to drink. First she closed her eyes then she wrinkled her nose, as if she were about to sneeze, then she looked as if she was going to spit the murky drink out. But she didn’t. She drank the whole bottle.

  Setting the bottle on the table, Caterina burped. Then she giggled and turned to the girls with an enormous grin on her face.

  ‘Hi, I’m Caty,’ she said in a little girl’s voice. ‘I wanna play! Will you big girls play with me?’

  Caterina began to play with her hair, twisting it in her fingers. EJ, CC and KM watched, stunned. The TD1000 had turned Caterina’s mind into that of a three-year-old, at least for now.

  ‘Want to play ball with me?’ asked Caty, and she picked up the ball-cam and threw it at CC’s feet.

  ‘Quick CC,’ shouted KM moving off the trapdoor and towards Caterina, ‘the ball-cam, it’s going to roll out of the tree house!’

  CC managed to stick her foot out but rather than stopping the ball she kicked it straight up in the air, above EJ.

  ‘EJ, use your head,’ cried CC.

  ‘Watch the ball, EJ,’ shouted KM.

  EJ jumped, still holding on to Blackie and keeping her eyes locked on the ball. She arched her back and stretched her head up towards the ball. She met it perfectly and headed it across to KM, who caught it. Ball-cam was safe. And, EJ realised, she had done a perfect header.

  ‘That was fun!’ said Caty, clapping her hands. ‘Will you take me home now please?’ said Caty. ‘I want to go night-night.’

  ‘No problem,’ said EJ. ‘I think we know somewhere where you can get plenty of rest.’

  She passed Blackie to CC and took Caty’s hand to help her climb down the ladder to the ground. She never imagined that she would be holding Caterina’s hand!

  CC and KM collected the stolen charms and they even found the spy-talkers in the bush below. One was still working. CC used it to call A1 and let her know what had happened.

  ‘Will you be my friend?’ said Caty, as they walked down the track.

  ‘Let’s not push things,’ said EJ.

  It was late when EJ, CC, KM and Blackie arrived back at camp with their new ‘little friend’, but the whole camp was there to greet them. People were a little surprised to see Caterina skipping along, but EJ quickly explained.

  ‘Interesting,’ said IQ400, ‘a very interesting reaction. We have never seen what happens when someone drinks a whole bottle.’ She took Caterina’s hand. ‘Come with me. I’ve got some nice toys for you to play with in this van.’

  ‘Oh goodie,’ squealed Caty, giggling as she took IQ400’s hand. ‘Bye-bye, EJ. See you later!’

  ‘Bye-bye, Caty!’ cried EJ as she watched IQ put Caty into the van. ‘A lot later I hope,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Here are the spy-charms, A1,’ said CC, handing them over.

  ‘And the spy-talkers,’ said KM.

  ‘Well done, girls,’ said A1. ‘You kept your heads and saved the day. Who knows what we would have done if all those inventions fell into the wrong hands.’

  ‘We nearly lost the ball-cam,’ said CC, ‘but EJ saved it.’

  EJ blushed. ‘We all did it,’ she said, ‘it was a team effort.’

  ‘Go on, say how you saved it,’ said KM, who looked proudly at her spy-buddy.

  ‘It was nothing,’ insisted EJ. ‘Just something off the top of my head.’

  A1 looked puzzled but the girls all laughed.

  ‘Well, however you did it, we’re proud of you, all of you,’ said A1. ‘I don’t think the older divisions will mind when I tell you the winner of the Shining Star Camp points is the under-twelve division.’

  The other agents began to cheer. EJ, KM and CC couldn’t stop smiling.

  ‘And we have something else for you,’ continued A1 holding three little charms. ‘I think you also deserve your dog-trainer charms. They aren’t spy charms, they are more like a certificate, an award for achievement. SHINE awards them for exceptional results in different areas and I think you three qualify.’

  ‘Thanks, A1!’ cried the girls in unison. They immediately put the charms on each of their bracelets. Now they would have something that reminded them of their mission together as well, almost like a friendship charm, a spy-buddy charm.

  ‘And now it is past everyone’s bedtime,’ said A1. ‘It’s been a big day.’

  The girls walked back to their cabin arm in arm.

  ‘We never did get to have our midnight feast,’ said EJ.

  ‘I know,’ said CC. ‘Maybe next time.’

  ‘Or maybe right now,’ cried KM. ‘Look!’

  On the table in their cabin was a cake, a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. There was writing in icing on the top.

  ‘How did A1 know about our feast?’ cried CC.

  ‘I don’t know but I’m pleased she did!’ said EJ. ‘Let’s eat!’

  The three girls sat in their pyjamas, eating cake and talking about the mission.

  ‘Your header in the tree house was awesome, EJ,’ said KM. ‘You did it perfectly.’

  ‘I couldn’t have done it without your help, CC,’ said EJ, serving her friend another slice of cake.

  ‘Hey, do you think A1 will let us go on missions together now?’ asked CC.

  ‘I hope so,’ said EJ.

  ‘Me too,’ said KM.

  ‘She won’t if you don’t go to bed now,’ said A1, poking her head around the door. But she was smiling. ‘Go to sleep now, Shining Stars.’

  And the three girls did. Their heads had barely touched their pillows and they were fast asleep. EJ was so fast asleep that she didn’t notice that Blackie had made one final night walk: the little puppy had again crawled out of the hole in the fence, but this time to their cabin and EJ’s bed. The litt
le puppy jumped up and snuggled into EJ, who turned over, smiling in her sleep.

  With the unexpected mission over, the girls spent the last morning of the camp playing soccer with the puppies and, much to their delight, riding through the bush on dirt bikes. Agent REV1 showed the girls how to work the gears and accelerator and, after a few wobbly starts and jolty gear changes, EJ, KM and CC were scooting around the camp and then out along the Mount Globe track. KM had a knack for finding puddles to ride through and the girls returned to the camp much muddier than when they had left.

  ‘That was so much fun,’ said EJ as she took off her helmet and bike jacket. ‘Let’s go round the track one more time!’

  But there wasn’t time as the train back to SHINE and home would soon be leaving. The girls barely had time to give the puppies one more cuddle before joining the other agents and heading back up the mountain to the railway platform.

  The train ride home was denitely quieter than the one to camp but EJ, CC and KM still had lots of energy to chat and swap apps and phone numbers. They chose a special ring-tone so they would know when it was one of them calling.

  ‘I’m going to miss you guys,’ said EJ.

  ‘Me too,’ said CC.

  ‘Me three,’ said KM.

  ‘Maybe A1 will send us all on a mission one time?’ said EJ.

  The girls all smiled at each other. How good would that be?

  ‘Good luck with the soccer try-outs, EJ,’ said KM. ‘You will be great, I know you will.’

  The soccer try-outs. Tomorrow. EJ had forgotten about them but now that she remembered, she wasn’t worried at all.

  Emma was at school early the next day. She wasn’t the only one. Lots of kids had turned up before school for the try-outs.

  Ms Tenga blew her whistle. ‘I think we’ll play girls versus boys again. That seemed a good close game last time. Okay, everyone in position, let’s play!’ Ms Tenga blew her whistle again and the game was on.