by Sam Copeland
‘Lola and Daisy both know,’ said Mohsen.
‘They don’t count,’ replied Flora. ‘They only found out after the disappearances started.’
‘Ah,’ said Wogan. ‘That’s not exactly true. There’s a small chance I might have actually told Daisy everything just after the first time you changed.’
The others stared at Wogan.
‘In fact, it’s more than a small chance. I’m pretty sure I told her. Definitely, I mean. I absolutely did tell her.’
‘Great! Now we have two suspects!’ groaned Mohsen.
‘It’s not Daisy!’ Wogan blurted out. ‘Daisy is sweet and lovely and like an angel!’
‘Aww thank you, Wogan! That’s sweet of you to say so!’
The friends all swung round to see Daisy and Lola standing right behind them.
‘How long have you two been there?’ asked Wogan, face glowing bright red.
‘Oh, ages,’ said Daisy.
‘And how do you keep managing to creep up on us like that?’ asked Flora.
‘So, Lola was wondering,’ Daisy continued, ignoring Flora’s question, ‘whether Mohsen would like to come to the dance with her.’
Flora slapped her forehead. ‘Oh, for goodness’ –’
Mohsen stared down at one of his two left feet and muttered ‘yes’.
‘Honestly,’ continued Flora. ‘I’m starting to think I might not even bother going to this ridiculous dance!’
The thought of Flora not being at the dance gave Charlie a sudden hollow feeling in his chest.
‘Anyway,’ Charlie said quietly, getting back to the matter in hand. ‘It has to be Dylan. He hates me and he’s been acting really weird lately.’
‘Weird how?’ asked Mohsen.
‘Well, he’s always sneaking around by himself for a start. And every time I see him, he seems to have some new injury.’
‘You reckon he’s been getting hurt stealing the animals?’ asked Mohsen.
‘Exactly!’ replied Charlie. ‘And I keep seeing him carrying sacks and looking really guilty!’
‘OK!’ said Flora. ‘We have a number one suspect!’
Mohsen suddenly let out a huge gasp and slapped his forehead.
‘The security cameras!’
‘What about the security cameras?’ asked Flora.
‘Who makes them all, Flora?’
‘Of course!’ Flora jumped up. ‘Van der Gruyne Industries! Dylan’s dad’s company! Dylan must have some way of controlling the cameras, so no one can see it’s really him kidnapping the animals! Why didn’t I think of that! Oh, Mohsen, you are clever!’
Mohsen blushed. ‘It was actually Wogan who gave me the idea. Back when we were watching the video of the bear. He said we should complain to Dylan’s dad about the security camera breaking. And then I remembered the cameras weren’t working at the zoo either.’
‘I knew it!’ said Wogan to Daisy. ‘I always thought I was the clever one in the gang and this just proves it!’
Daisy beamed. ‘Well done! Wogan, you’re a genius!’
‘People always call me that!’
‘People always call you a genius?’ asked Flora, incredulously.
‘No. People always call me Wogan.’
‘Anyway!’ Flora clapped her hands. ‘We have to find out exactly what Dylan is planning and why.’
‘Can we help?’ asked Daisy.
Flora thought for a moment. ‘Well, you two are very good at sneaking up on people,’ she said. ‘So you’ll make great spies!’ she added with a wide smile.
***
The six friends split into pairs to take it in turns to secretly watch Dylan. At Wogan’s suggestion, he paired off with Daisy, Mohsen paired with Lola and Charlie paired with Flora.
Flora and Charlie went first. For the rest of break, they sneaked around behind Dylan, following his every move. He seemed nervous, constantly looking behind him, but Charlie and Flora managed to stay hidden. Finally, Dylan reached the boys’ changing room, looked round once again and sneaked in. Charlie and Flora cracked the changing-room door open a tiny bit and peeked in. Dylan was at a locker and started rummaging inside, looking extremely suspicious.
‘We need to see what’s in there, Charlie!’ Flora whispered.
Charlie nodded in agreement.
Dylan slammed the locker shut before they could see anything and rushed out of the changing room, nearly knocking over Charlie and Flora in the process.
‘What do you two nincompoops think you’re doing, creeping round the boys’ changing room?’ Dylan sneered.
‘We know you’re up to something, Van der Gruyne! And we’re going to stop you!’ Charlie said, determination in his voice.
‘Stop me? It’s far too late for that! Your fate, McGuffin, has already been sealed.’
‘The only thing that’s going to be sealed is your mouth when we stop your plan!’ said Flora.
‘Oh! Charlie’s little girlfriend is sooo brave! I’m shaking in my boots!’
‘She is NOT my girlfriend!’ Charlie shot back.
‘Yeah, right.’ Dylan grinned meanly. ‘I hope you two lovebirds enjoy the school dance – it’s going to be wild!’
And with that, he stalked off, sniggering.
Charlie looked at Flora, ready to talk about what had just happened, but despite her smiling brightly at him, he saw there was a different emotion hidden deep in Flora’s eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was sadness.
And that caused a little shadow to pass over Charlie.
***
‘Right, guys! What do we know?’ said Mohsen, when they all met up at the end of the day. ‘Because Lola and I have discovered some crazy information!’
‘Great!’ said Flora. ‘Why don’t you go first and then we can tell you what we found out!’
‘Right, so me and Lola were following Dylan during lunch and you’ll never guess where he went.’
‘Erm … the roof of the school!’ guessed Wogan. ‘No! The … staff room! No … the swimming pool!’
‘Our school doesn’t have a swimming pool, Wogan,’ sighed Flora.
‘The goat pen then!’
‘We don’t have a goat pen, either.’
‘The … astronomy tower?’
‘Or one of those.’
‘Gah! Our school is rubbish! I don’t know! Where has Dylan been going then?’
‘Well,’ said Mohsen. ‘It was difficult to follow him because he was dead suspicious, but Lola and I were like proper spies, and we tracked him to that door at the end of the computing corridor.’
‘I know it,’ frowned Charlie. ‘The one that’s got a great big rusty lock on it.’
‘Yeah but Dylan has the key. We watched him unlock it and go in. And we followed him at second break, and he went there again. This time, he was carrying a big sack. We tried following him in but he had locked it from the inside.’
‘What IS that place?’ asked Flora. ‘I’ve always wondered.’
‘So had we,’ replied Mohsen. ‘So we asked Mr O’Dear.fn2 First he screamed at us to get lost and stop being so nosy, then he started ranting about how he’d lost the key, and then, just as we were walking away, he shouted after us “And you pesky kids better stay away from that basement!”’
‘Oh!’ cried Flora. ‘So that’s what Dylan’s up to!’
‘Of course!’ shouted Mohsen, jumping up.
‘Yes!’ shouted Wogan, jumping up too. ‘Hang on – what’s he up to?’
‘He must be hiding the stolen animals down there!’ said Charlie.
‘In the school basement?’ asked Mohsen. ‘Why?’
‘Well he needs to keep them somewhere. And he can’t keep them at home, can he?’
They fell silent for a moment.
‘Maybe he’s keeping the animals as friends,’ said Mohsen finally. ‘I haven’t seen him speak to a single person in ages. Anyway, what did you guys find out?’
‘Not a huge amount,’ admitted Charlie. ‘But he’s definitely hiding somethi
ng in his locker.’
‘Iiinteresting,’ replied Mohsen, ‘The plot thickens!’
‘So,’ said Flora, ‘we reckon Dylan is up to something suspicious with his locker AND he’s keeping stolen animals in the basement. Wogan, what did you and Daisy find out?’
Wogan looked around guiltily. ‘I don’t think we have time to talk about it, actually,’ he said, looking at his watch. ‘I think the bell just went. Did anybody else hear the bell? I’m sure I heard the bell. We should go.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Flora. ‘The bell didn’t go! It’s nowhere near time! Come on – what did you discover?’
‘Yes. Well. We didn’t see much of Dylan actually. He was somewhat elusive.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Flora. ‘Wogan – did you and Daisy actually do ANY spying at all?’
‘Not exactly. OK – no. Sorry. We didn’t do any.’
‘WHAT? NOTHING?!’ You could practically see steam coming out of Flora’s ears.
‘I’m sorry, Flora!’ said Daisy, her eyes filling with tears. ‘It’s all my fault! I asked Wogan to teach me how to street dance and that’s taken up all our time!’
‘Wogan? Street dance? As in this Wogan?’ Flora said, a very confused look on her face.
‘Yes!’ sniffed Daisy. ‘He’s been teaching me how to pop and lock. And some old-school b-boy steps … All the way up to more modern krumping.’
‘Let me be totally clear,’ said Flora. ‘You’re saying that Wogan can street dance?’
‘Yes. His electric boogaloo has to be seen to be believed.’
‘I’m sure. Wogan, why don’t – Hang on, where did Wogan go?’
‘Oh,’ said Daisy. ‘In return for my dance lessons, I’ve been teaching Wogan how to silently sneak in and out of places.’
‘Unbelievable,’ said Flora. ‘Anyway, guys, we have work to do! We need to get into the basement AND Dylan’s locker!’
‘I think we need to move quickly as well,’ said Charlie.
‘Why’s that?’ asked Mohsen.
‘Because of something Dylan said. He said that the school dance was going to be wild. I think that’s when he’s planning to do something.’
‘In that case,’ said Flora, ‘we only have three days to stop him. Charlie – we’re going to need you to do some changing!’
‘OK – so here’s the plan,’ Flora said to her three friends the next day. ‘At break time, as soon as the bell goes, we make a diversion to get Dylan out of the room and make sure he forgets his bag. Then, Charlie, you try and turn into something small. If you turn into something like a mouse, hide in his bag, and poke your head out and see what Dylan’s up to when he goes to his locker or the basement. If you turn into anything smaller, like a flea or something, you can just hop on to Dylan and spy from there.’
‘OK, Captain!’ Charlie said, smiling and giving a smart salute.
‘Can I create the diversion?’ asked Wogan, with his hand up.
‘You sure can,’ said Flora.
‘It certainly sounds like an excellent plan, Flora,’ said Mohsen. ‘Completely foolproof.’
‘That’s right,’ agreed Wogan. ‘I can’t see this going wrong at all. There’s absolutely no way it will turn into a disaster and put Charlie in mortal danger.’
The moment the bell went, the friends sprang into action. Flora and Mohsen went to guard the door as the class flocked out. Meanwhile, Wogan walked up to Dylan and poked him in the chest.
‘Oi – Van der Gruyne,’ he said.
‘What?’ Dylan sneered.
Only at that moment did Wogan realize he hadn’t yet thought how he was going to create the diversion he was supposed to be carrying out.
‘I … err … I … errrrrr …’
‘Come on!’ snapped Dylan. ‘I haven’t got all day!’
‘I … errrrrrrrrrrr … was … ermmmmm … wondering if you’d like to go to the school dance with me?’
‘If I’d WHAT?’ Dylan replied, a look of disbelief on his face.
‘If you’d like to go to the school dance with me?’ Wogan repeated, looking like he didn’t quite believe the words coming out of his own mouth.
‘No!’ barked Dylan. ‘I would not like to go to the school dance with you. In fact, I can’t think of a single thing I’d less like to do.’
‘Is it because you’re a rubbish dancer?’ asked Wogan gently. ‘There’s no need to be embarrassed if you are.’
‘A what? How DARE you? No, I am NOT a rubbish dancer! I’m a better dancer than you! WHO told you I was rubbish?’
‘Oh, you know, just people. But you don’t have to prove anything to anyone.’
‘I could prove it ANY time, you lanky wazzock!’
‘Well, you could show me how good a dancer you are right now. In the playground. Unless you’re too scared?’
‘RIGHT! Come on!’ shouted Dylan, standing up. ‘Let’s go! Right now! To the playground! DANCE-OFF!’
Dylan stormed out of the classroom and Wogan quickly followed, giving his friends two thumbs up behind Dylan’s back.
Once they had both gone and the room was empty, Flora said, ‘OK, Charlie, now’s your chance! Think SMALL!’
Charlie sat on Dylan’s desk so he wouldn’t have far to travel if he did manage to turn small.
He closed his eyes and remembered the previous evening: his father forcing smiles and jokes while he packed his belongings in boxes and suitcases; Charlie trying not to cry in front of his dad and making it worse.
That was when the realization had really hit Charlie – his dad was actually moving out. Nothing was ever going to be the same again, and none of his family was even asking if he was OK because everybody was too wrapped up in their own problems.
As Charlie began to change, he had one word in his mind: tiny. Because that was how he felt when he saw all the huge problems in his life – like a tiny worm.
Charlie began shrinking fast, his legs and arms disappearing.
And he kept shrinking.
And he kept shrinking.
More.
And more.
Until he was tinier than he had ever been. Smaller than a fly. Smaller than a flea.
Charlie had changed, he realized, into a tiny, TINY worm.fn1
Two thoughts hit Charlie in quick succession. The first was a burst of delight – he was closer than ever to being able to choose what creature he changed into!
Before, he had just tried picturing what the animal looked like but that hadn’t worked – he needed to feel how that animal felt. If he wanted to change into a gazelle, he couldn’t just think of a gazelle – he needed to imagine what it was like being a gazelle, running across the vast plains of the Serengeti, scanning the horizon for deadly lions. If he wanted to change into a bird, he couldn’t just think of an eagle or a magpie – he needed to feel the wind beneath his wings, his feathers ruffling silently as he glided, cradled by a current of air. Charlie had finally cracked it, he was sure.
The second thought that hit Charlie was that he was in BIG, trouble. Or, more accurately, tiny, tiny trouble. When he had changed, he had been sitting on Dylan’s desk. But now he was so tiny, the cracks and bumps on the plastic surface looked like chasms and hills.fn2 He glanced up but the size of everything, including his friends, made him dizzy.
‘Where’s Charlie?’ he heard Flora ask in panic. ‘He’s completely disappeared!’
‘He must be so small we can’t see him!’ cried Mohsen. ‘Be careful you don’t tread on him!’
I’m right here, thought Charlie. On Dylan’s desk! I must be really tiny if they can’t see me sitting here.
Charlie knew that he was never going to be able to reach Dylan’s bag, which was on the floor beside the desk – you might as well have asked him to fly to the sun and back. And there was no way he had time to change back into Charlie and then into another creature before Dylan made it back. How long could a dance-off last anyway? Probably not long enough, especially if Wogan was invol
ved.
Charlie had to think, and think fast. He looked around the enormous desk. The only thing on it was a vast green apple. It was Dylan’s break-time snack and, to worm-Charlie, it looked the size of a small moon.
It was his only hope.
If he could crawl over to the apple and cling on to it, maybe – just maybe – Dylan would pick it up and put it in his bag, and then … well, Charlie would have to think of what to do next when it came to it.
Charlie began wriggling, squeezing his little wormy body up and down like a tiny accordion. Slowly, he made his way across the desk, going around the bigger cracks, the apple getting larger and larger as he got nearer and nearer.
He could hear Flora and Mohsen still looking for him as he arrived at the bottom of the apple and began climbing up.
And it wasn’t a moment too soon, as Dylan burst back into the classroom, muttering furiously to himself.
‘I can’t believe it! How on earth did that dimwit know the electric boogaloo? Unbelievable. What are you losers gawping at anyway?’
‘Nothing!’ replied Flora.
‘None of your business!’ replied Mohsen.
‘Where’s Charlie, the king of the losers?’ sneered Dylan, as Wogan came in behind him.
‘He’s not the king of the losers!’ shouted Mohsen.
‘Yeah!’ said Wogan. ‘We’re all equal!’
Dylan gave a high-pitched laugh. ‘Whatever you say, equal losers.’
He grabbed his apple.
Yes, thought Charlie, as Dylan’s humongous hand swept him into the air. It’s working! Looks like my luck is turning for the better at last!
If you’ve been following Charlie’s adventures for a while, you know he has quite a lot of experience of being completely and totally wrong.
Well, this was a new record in wrongness.fn3 Charlie was spectacularly, extraordinarily, mind-bogglingly, pants-wettingly, universe-banjaxingly wrong.
Or, to put it another way, Charlie’s luck was not turning for the better, but turning for the worse.
The much, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, worse.
Because Dylan didn’t put the apple in his bag.
Oh no.
