I wrote The Mystery of the Vanishing Frog specially for the pupils of Princethorpe Junior School in Birmingham - one of my two fantastic Patron of Reading schools - following their World Book Day adventure story writing competition last year. The child characters are based on the brilliant winners of the competition. The adults - both good and bad! - are all fictional.
As this story has an Easter theme, this seemed like a good time to share it again - with everyone this time.
The story
is not complete. I've left it for you to decide what happens next.
Why not try to write your idea for the rest of the story or draw a picture to
go with one of the chapters (or both). How about a picture of that Royal Easter Egg?
I'd love to see what you come up with. E-mail your work to me at helen@castlekey.org.uk and I'll add
your contributions to the story below. I'll even send a signed Adventure Island book prize for my favourite picture and story ending . . .
The Mystery of the Vanishing Frog
A Princethorpe Junior School Adventure
by Helen Moss
April 2019
Chapter 1: Let’s Go!
‘Hooray!’ shouted Logan from the back of the bus. ‘Let’s go,
go, go!’
It was the last day of term before the Easter holidays and a
group of children from Princethorpe Juniors was setting off on a trip to
Cadbury World. And this wasn’t just any
old group. These were the thirty keen writers who had entered the school’s adventure
story competition. Logan’s story, The
Quest – as he enjoyed telling anyone who would listen- had been the Year
Six winner and the overall winner.
‘That makes me a V.I.P.’ he joked to his friends. ‘Everyone must bow before
speaking to me.’
But they weren’t quite ready to go yet. Mr Dawson was still
walking down the aisle of the bus counting heads. He lost count as he passed a
group of Year Three boys having a lively discussion about who was going to scoff
the most chocolate at Cadbury World. ‘I’m going to eat a tonne of creme eggs!’ said one. ‘I’m going to eat a hundred tonnes,’ bragged a second. ‘I’m
going to eat a bazillion tonnes!’
bellowed a third boy. ‘And then I’ll do a spell with my Harry Potter wand and
make another bazillion eggs appear.’
Logan grinned. That was Vinnie. The kid had a great
imagination. No wonder his story had been the Year Three winner.
Lexie in Year Five was standing up waving a piece of paper. ‘It’s
like when Charlie Bucket goes to Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory,’ she giggled.
‘Look, Mr Davis, I’ve made a golden ticket with pictures on and everything.’
‘Great work, Lexie,’ said Mr Dawson with a smile, but he
looked a little worried as he started the count for the third time. Perhaps,
thought Logan, Mr Dawson was hoping that their trip wouldn’t be quite as eventful as Charlie And the Chocolate Factory. Logan
had read the book and seen the film. One
kid got sucked up into a pipe and another girl turned into a giant blueberry .
. . not the kind of thing the school would want to explain to parents when they
got back!
At last, Mr Dawson finished the headcount. He looked at his
watch ‘We’re just waiting for Mrs Kareem to join us. Hmm, she should be here by
now.’
The children groaned with impatience. A few began to sing, why are we waiting?
Near the front, Fatoumata sat quietly. She was thrilled to be
the Year Four winner, and excited about the trip, but she did wish the bus
wasn’t quite so noisy. She swung her
feet and gazed out of the window. A woman was running across the car park
towards the bus. But it wasn’t Mrs Kareem, the Year Five teacher who was meant
to be coming with them. This was a younger lady, with curly blonde hair. She
wore a long coat and a bright red scarf and matching red handbag and red boots
with red sparkly stars down the side. Fatoumata looked down at her own boots – her
favourite comfy black ones with studs on. She really liked those red ones the
lady was wearing . . .
The Red Boot Lady climbed up the steps of the bus and started
a long, whispered conversation with Mr Dawson and the other teachers. Finally,
Mr Dawon made an announcement. ‘It seems that Mrs Kareem has been taken ill and
can’t come with us.’ Lexie gasped and dropped her golden ticket. She was
worried about Mrs Kareem, of course. She was her favourite teacher. But, on top
of that, if they didn’t have enough adults, their trip to Cadbury World would
be cancelled.
The chatter level on the bus reached fever pitch. Mr Dawson held
up his hands for quiet. ‘Don’t worry!’ he shouted. ‘This is Miss Henley. She’s
a supply teacher. She’s kindly stepped in at short notice, so the trip will go
ahead.’
‘Everyone cheered. ‘Hooray for Miss Henley.’
Miss Henley blushed almost as red as her boots. The bus
driver started the engine. Vroom! At
last, they were off.
If this were a Roald Dahl story, thought Logan, there would
be all kinds of crazy adventures ahead. But this is real life, not a book,
he reminded himself. Vinnie making
himself sick on creme eggs will probably be the major incident of the day .
. .
Little did he know how wrong he was!
Chapter 2: The Royal Egg
Cadbury World was not far away. The children were soon streaming out of the
bus and into the huge building. Vinnie looked around the reception area hoping
to see where they actually made the
chocolate. He wasn’t a baby; he knew
it wasn’t going to be like Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory, with massive waterfalls of chocolate and lollipop
trees and Oompa Loompas bursting into song, but he had been expecting to see
some sort of complicated machines and big vats of chocolate bubbling away –
maybe like the potions lab in Harry Potter. The reception area of Cadbury World
was all about bright glass and glossy purple walls - more like a fancy office
or hotel.
A young man with round glasses and a pointy beard ushered
them all into a big room especially for school groups. He introduced himself as
Sam and explained that he was their guide for the day. They’d be watching a 4D
film, he said, and having a talk about the history of chocolate, and exploring a
rainforest where cocoa was grown, and doing a workshop with a chance to create
their own chocolates. It all sounded very exciting. Everyone was wriggling in
their chairs with impatience to get started, when a giant green frog peeped
around the door. It was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with the letter F on
the front. ‘Ooh look!’ the children
whispered to each other. ‘It’s Freddo Frog – from the chocolate bar . . .’
Sam was still talking about the visit. All of a sudden, Freddo
Frog bounced up behind him and croaked in his ear.
Sam jumped out of his skin.
‘Don’t worry, Sam!’ Fatoumata cried out. ‘It’s just a person
in a costume.’
Logan was sitting behind her. ‘Phew! Thanks for clearing that
up,’ he said. ‘I thought for a minute we were really being attacked by giant
mutant reptiles!’
Everyone laughed. Fatoumata felt a bit silly. She had just
been trying to help. She really had thought that Sam was scared of
Freddo. But, of course, she could see now that it had been an act. Sam and
Freddo were just clowning around.
And now they had been joined by another costumed character –
an Easter Bunny this time. ‘As it is Easter time,’ said the bunny in a funny
high voice, ‘you have an egg-stra treat
in store. This afternoon you will see our special display called World of Easter Eggs.’
‘Easter Eggs from every corner of the planet,’ Sam chipped
in. ‘Egg-straordinary eggs of
every flavour, from dragonfruit to doughnut, baked bean to blueberry!’
‘And, the centrepiece of it all,’ trilled the Easter Bunny, ‘is
The Royal Egg – a priceless gift, which will be presented to the Queen on her
birthday. It is made from the most egg-spensive
chocolate in the world, coated in real gold and encrusted with precious
jewels! It’s so valuable, a special guard watches over it twenty-four hours a
day!’
Freddo Frog hopped up and down. ‘This is so egg-citing! Come one everyone. Let’s scramble!’
Logan made a face at his friends. ‘Do you think they’re
having a competition to see who can make the cheesiest egg jokes?’ Then he
grinned. ‘Or should I say, egg yolks?’
But secretly he couldn’t wait to see The Royal Egg. Anything that had its own round-the-clock security
guard had to be pretty cool!
Chapter 3: Just An Accident
Cadbury World was so much fun that Fatoumata soon forgot her
embarrassment about telling Sam that Freddo was just a person dressed up! The film was amazing, and the rainforest was
just like being in a real jungle, full of animal noises and strange, exotic
plants. By the time they came to the chocolate-making workshop her head was
spinning with new information. She couldn’t wait to get home and write a story
about it.
The workshop took place in a big white room, like a cross
between a high-tech kitchen and a space station. The lady in charge did a
demonstration, pouring liquid chocolate into different shaped moulds and
decorating them by swirling in melted chocolate of other colours. ‘Now, it’s your turn to give it a try!’ she said.
‘Find a partner to work with . . .’
Since only a few children from each class were on the trip, Fatoumata
was paired with Lexie. That made her a bit shy at first. She didn’t know Lexie
very well; she was in Year Five, super sporty, and always in a big group of
friends. But Fatoumata needn’t have worried. Lexie was really nice. She was
also arty and creative, and showed Fatoumata how to make beautiful patterns of
flowers and stars . . .
CRASH! CLATTER! AGGHH!
The two girls were so engrossed in their work that they almost
fell off their chairs. They whisked round to see what the uproar was about.
A metal tray had flipped up from one of the workbenches. Jugs
and bowls of liquid chocolate were flying through the air.
‘Vinnie!’ exclaimed
Miss Henley. ‘I told you to be careful with that tray!’
Vinnie stared in horror at the mess. Okay, so he had been goofing
around a tiny bit, sneakily scoffing scraps
of chocolate creations that had gone wrong, but he was sure he hadn’t tipped the tray up. One moment he was showing Miss
Henley, the nice, friendly supply teacher, the magic wand pattern he was
making. The next minute, his tray was taking off and firing chocolate in all
directions – mainly, all over Freddo Frog, who was hopping about nearby. The
large green figure was now spray-painted with rainbow- coloured chocolate.
Vinnie often wished he was Harry Potter, but never more than
at this moment. He would put on his invisibility
cloak and disappear . . . ‘Sorry,
Freddo,’ he stammered. ‘I didn’t mean to . . .’
Freddo’s face was hidden by the costume, of course, but from
the way he was stamping his foot and shaking his head, he was not a happy frog.
‘Never mind!’ said Miss Henley kindly, wiping a blob of
chocolate from her scarf. ‘It was just an accident. Come along, Freddo, I’ll
help you get cleaned up.’ With that, she picked up her handbag, grasped the
giant frog by the arm and bundled him out of the room.
The workshop was over. The children stacked their chocolates
in the fridge to set. Then the lady in charge told them all to go to the
cloakrooms next door to hang up their aprons and wash their hands.
‘That was fun,’ said
Lexie, making space for Fatoumata next to her at the wash basin. ‘I can’t wait
to see how our chocolates turn out.’ Fatoumata smiled. She was a quiet girl – the opposite of me really, Lexie
thought, - but Lexie had enjoyed working with her. And she admired the way that
Fatoumata had spoken up earlier to tell Sam that Freddo wasn’t a real giant
frog - even though everyone had laughed at her. It showed that she was kind. Lexie
always tried to be kind too. ‘I think those unicorn shapes you made will be the
best,’ she said.
‘And your butterfly ones,’ said Fatoumata.
Still happily chatting about their chocolate designs the two
new friends realised that everyone else had already left the cloakroom. They
quickly dried their hands and hurried back to the workshop.
‘Hang on!’ said Lexie as she threw open the door. ‘This isn’t
the room we were in before.’
Chapter 4: Lost And Found
‘We must have turned the wrong way out of the cloakroom,’
whispered Fatoumata. Instead of a workshop full of children, they were in a
meeting room, with chairs and a big round table. An important-looking lady in a
pinstripe business suit was sitting hunched over a lap top. The girls swiftly backed out
through the door before he looked up and noticed them.
Lexie opened another door. But that didn’t lead into the
workshop room either. Nor did the next one.
Fatoumata was getting worried. What if they never found the others?
They could be wandering the corridors of Cadbury World for ever. They’d be
found in a hundred years’ time, as ghosts . . .
‘Thank goodness!’ breathed Lexie. ‘Look! There’s Freddo.’
To Fatamouta’s relief, the familiar green figure was standing
at the end of the corridor. She wasn’t
going to be a ghost after all . . .
‘Come on,’ said Lexie. ‘We’ll ask him the way.’
But before the girls could approach Freddo, a security guard
came out of the door behind him – a door that was marked; WORLD OF EASTER EGGS
- SPECIAL EXHIBITION.
The guard was as big as an American footballer, dressed in a
police-type uniform. He began talking with Freddo – in that way that adults do
when they don’t want anyone to hear their argument – sort of half-whispering,
half-shouting. Lexie couldn’t hear what they were saying, but something told her that she and Fatoumata
could be in big trouble if they were spotted lurking in the corridor. They’ll think we’re spying on them or
something, she thought, pulling Fatoumata back into the shadows.
Luckily at that moment, rescue arrived. ‘Ah there you are!’ came a voice from behind
them. The girls turned to see Mr Dawson. ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you!
Come on, it’s lunchtime now.’
As they followed Mr Dawson towards the cafeteria, Lexie and
Fatoumata both glanced back.
The security guard was hurrying away from the door, along the
corridor in the other direction.
And Freddo Frog was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 5: Eggstra-Ordinary
Lunch passed quietly - if a cafeteria packed full of thirty over-excited,
slightly-sticky-with-chocolate children can ever
be called quiet! Some people were having a hot meal, while others had brought
packed lunches. Logan was in the packed lunch group. He was almost regretting
that decision when everyone started coming back from the serving hatch with
delicious-smelling chicken and sweetcorn and cheese and tomato pizzas. He unzipped
his lunchbox. ‘Oh yeah!’ he crowed. ‘Result!’
Wrapped in film was a big slice of nan’s special lasagne saved from last
night’s dinner.
That was even better than pizza!
Logan took a big bite and a swig of water and looked across
to the teachers’ table to see what they were eating. Mainly cakes and biscuits
from what he could see. And gallons of tea and coffee, of course.
The only excitement was when Miss Henley came rushing in, her
red scarf flapping behind her. Logan strained his ears to hear what she said to
Mr Dawson. He wasn’t nosy, just
interested in stuff. He wanted to be an author (or play for Birmingham City; he
hadn’t quite decided yet) and he’d heard you had to keep your eyes and ears
open to write good stories.
But Miss Henley wasn’t saying anything interesting; just
something about why it had taken her so long to get back from helping Freddo
Frog to clean Vinnie’s chocolate volcano off his costume. She’d been flagged
down by one of the Cadbury World people to say that they would have to cut
their visit to the World of Easter Eggs exhibition a bit short because of
cleaning work or something . . . Logan sighed. If only there was something a
bit more eggstra-ordinary going on,
he thought. Like aliens landing on the roof, to take all the Cadbury supplies back
to their own chocolate-starved planet. Or an ancient time-travel portal opening
up in the middle of the cafeteria . . .
He had been planning to write a story about this trip. But
how was he meant to weave an action-packed blockbuster around a minor scheduling
change?
At this rate he was going to have to make something up!
Chapter 6: The Big Reveal
Vinnie was almost bursting with excitement. They had looked
round all the other eggs in the World of Easter Eggs exhibition, and now it was
time for the grand finale. They were about to see The Royal Egg, at last!
The children and teachers crowded around a fancy metal stand.
On top, was a shiny gold box with a purple velvet curtain covering the front. A
massive, fierce-looking security guard stood right next to it, making sure no
one got too close, and glaring a bit at the Easter Bunny, who was hopping about
in ‘egg-citement’.
Sam, the guide, launched into a long speech. The Royal Egg
was going to be presented to the Queen on her birthday on April 21st at Buckingham
Palace. It was bejewelled with ninety-three precious gems, he explained – one
for each year of the Queen’s life. Decorated with the finest gold leaf by
master craftsmen, the chocolate was made from cocoa beans that only grow on a
single tree in the heart of the Ghanaian rainforest . . .
Vinnie shivered. Not just with anticipation. The display room
(as Sam had explained at length) was kept cold and dimly lit to stop the
chocolate eggs from melting.
‘And now,’ announced the Easter Bunny, cutting Sam off in
mid-sentence. ‘The moment we’ve all been waiting for. The Big Reveal! A little
bird tells me that you’ve had a story competition lately. So, would the winner like
to come up and do the honours?’
Grinning from ear to ear, Logan stepped up. The guard handed
him a gold rope with a tassel. With a dramatic flourish, Logan pulled the rope.
Slowly, slowly, the purple curtain slid open.
Everyone gasped.
Chapter 7: GONE!
Nestling on a purple cushion was the most fabulous object
Vinnie had ever seen. Rubies, emeralds and sapphires sparkled in the light. Intricate
swirls of gold embellished the surface, the chocolate as smooth and glossy as a
black racing car. It looked, he thought, like a magical dragon’s egg. Something
that would be kept in a special casket at Hogwarts, with secret powers that
only Harry would know how to harness.
But wait! Something
was wrong. The security guard was shaking his head and peering at the jewels.
‘This is a . . . fake!’ he stammered. ‘Those
jewels are just coloured glass. The real Royal Egg has . . . gone . . . someone has stolen it!’
A stunned silence filled the room. The only sound was the hum
of the air conditioner.
Lexie craned her next to see over the shoulder of an
annoyingly tall Year Six boy in front of her. The egg looked real enough. Shiny and fancy and totally bling-tastic! Had
the guard gone crazy? she wondered.
But then the Easter Bunny pulled down the mask part of his
costume – revealing a rather hot and bothered looking plump grey-haired lady - and sniffed
at the Royal Egg. ‘It’s true!’ she cried. ‘This egg’s not made of rare
single-source Ghanaian cocoa bean chocolate. I’d know the aroma anywhere! It’s cheap
stuff.’ She wrinkled her nose in horror. ‘It’s
not even Cadburys!’
Chaos broke out.
The guard shouted into his radio for back-up. Cadburys World
staff swarmed into the room, herding the children and the teachers back into
the cafeteria. ‘You must all stay in here while we carry out an investigation,’
boomed a tall lady in a pinstripe suit. Lexie recognised her as the one
with the laptop from their accidental detour to the meeting room. ‘This is an extremely serious incident.’ Suit Lady’s eyes swept laser-like from
child to child, as if she suspected every last one of them of being criminal
masterminds.
‘Does she think that we have lessons on stealing priceless
jewelled eggs at our school?’ joked Logan.
‘Dream on!’ laughed the annoyingly tall Year Six boy. ‘They
don’t teach us anything that
interesting.’
Everyone began talking at once, trying to make sense of what
just happened. Lexie sat down next to Fatoumata. ‘Wow!’ said Fatoumata, her
dark eyes as wide as Frisbees. ‘Who could have stolen it?’
Behind them, Logan and Vinnie were discussing the same
question. ‘I bet it was the security guard,’ said Logan. ‘He’d have the perfect
cover story. You pretend to be looking after the thing, but you steal it
yourself . . .’
Lexie couldn’t resist turning around to join the conversation.
‘No way! It was the guard who told everyone
that it was a fake egg. Why would he do that if he was the one who stole the
real egg and put the replacement there? He’d have kept quiet about it.’
Logan nodded slowly. ‘Fair point.’
‘I think it was Sam, the guide?’ said Vinnie. ‘He’s an evil
genius in disguise. He’s wearing a false beard and nose – he’s like Voldermort
underneath.’
Lexie giggled. ‘You’re a total Harry Potter superfan aren’t
you? Me too.’
Fatoumata cleared her throat. ‘Erm, getting back to reality.
It couldn’t have been Sam. He’s been
with us the whole time.’
‘Yeah,’ said Logan. ‘That’s true. And anyway, how could anyone have got their hands on that egg
when there was a massive great security guard stuck to it like super-glue,
watching over it every minute—'
Suddenly Lexie jumped up from her chair. ‘Oooh!’ she cried.
‘Oooh!’
Logan grinned at Vinnie. ‘Definitely too much Harry Potter.
She’s turning into an owl . . .’
Lexie waved her hands to shush him. ‘The guard hasn’t been with the egg every minute.’
She turned to Fatoumata. ‘Remember when we got lost? We saw the guard leave the World of Easter Eggs,’ she whispered. ‘With.
Our. Very. Own. Eyes,’ she added, for dramatic effect.
Chapter 8: Who’s With me?
Fatoumata’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh yes. We did see the guard leave. He was talking
to Freddo Frog by the door. Then he rushed off down the corridor. And Freddo
just . . . vanished.’
Logan whistled under his breath. ‘Wow! So Freddo’s our egg thief.
I bet he made up a fake reason to get the guard to leave. Then he sneaked in
and nicked The Royal Egg. This is serious. I’m going to tell the teachers.’
Logan began to get up, but Fatoumata pulled him back by the
arm. ‘We need to be careful,’ she whispered. ‘If Freddo really is the thief,
and he realises we’re on to him, he could make a run for it and get away.’ She
smiled shyly. ‘The person inside the
Freddo costume, that is. I do know
he’s not real.’
Fatoumata glanced around the cafeteria in search of Freddo.
She couldn’t quite believe that he had
really stolen the egg. It made a good story. And she and Lexie had seen him talking to the guard near
the door of the exhibition. But that could have been perfectly innocent. Then
again, where was Freddo? A giant
green frog was hard to miss, but she couldn’t spot him anywhere. That was pretty suspicious. And then it occurred
to her. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘Has anyone even seen
Freddo this whole afternoon?’
The others shook their heads. ‘Not since he left the workshop
with Miss Henley to get the chocolate off his costume,’ said Logan.
‘And then, a few minutes after that, we saw him talking to the
guard,’ said Lexie. ‘So . . .’ she said, scrunching her eyebrows in thought, ‘he
must have got cleaned up, parted from Miss Henley, and then dashed straight off
to the World of Easter Eggs to get the guard out of the way and steal the egg.’
Lexie looked at her watch. ‘And that was nearly two hours ago. We’ve not seen
him since.’
‘We can’t let him get away with this,’ said Logan. ‘Especially
not when that boss lady in the business suit seems to suspect that we all have
something to do with it! I say we should
track Freddo down ourselves and protect the honour of our school! Who’s with
me?’
‘But what can we do, stuck in here?’ asked Lexie.
All four looked blank. No one spoke. What could they do?
Vinnie burped. ‘Oops. sorry. I ate too much chocolate in the
workshop this morning.’
‘Brilliant!’ said Logan. ‘You’ve just given me an idea.’
Chapter 9: On The Trail
Logan put his hand up and called out to the nearest adult. ‘Miss
Henley. I think Vinnie’s about to throw up.’
Vinnie got the message and clutched his tummy and make a
gurgling noise.
‘Shall I take him to the bathroom?’ Miss Henley glanced around,
fiddling with her handbag. She looked a bit flustered. Not really surprising, thought Logan. This was the first day she’d
worked at Princethorpe School and she was caught up in a major crime scene.
‘Er, yes thank you, Logan, isn’t it?’ Miss Henley replied
vaguely. ‘That’s kind of you.’
Logan nudged Lexie, but she already knew what to do. She shot
her hand up. ‘Fatoumata’s feeling sick as well, miss. It must be the shock. I’d better take her to the loo too.’
And before Miss Henley could ask any questions, Lexie was
steering Fatoumata out of the cafeteria, hot on the heels of Logan and Vinnie.
They hurried a few paces along the corridor. Logan checked
that there was no one around. ‘Good work, team,’ he said. ‘Now, start looking
for clues.’
Fatoumata wasn’t a hundred percent sure they should be doing
this. ‘What sort of clues?’ she asked nervously.
It was a perfectly reasonable question. Now he thought about
it, Logan didn’t know either. But someone had to take the lead. ‘Just use your eyes.’ The words came out a
little more sharply than he meant them to. ‘Listen for suspicious croaking
noises or something,’ he added with a grin.
Suddenly Vinnie bent over and dropped to his knees.
‘Oh no! You’re not really going to barf, are you?’ groaned
Logan. ‘Not on my trainers. Please. They’re new!’
‘No! Look!’ Vinnie. was pointing to a brown smudge on the floor.
The others gathered round. The brown was chocolate. And, stuck in the middle,
was a little tuft of green fluff.
‘It’s a froggy footprint,’ whispered Lexie in amazement. She
took a step. ‘And there’s another one here. And here!’ She beamed at Vinnie. ‘Well
spotted.’
Fatoumata forgot her worries. Footprints! This was just like the Famous Five stories she loved to
read. ‘They must have been left by Freddo after he got splattered with
chocolate,’ she whispered. ‘The fluff is from his costume.’
Logan clapped Vinnie on the shoulder. ‘Genius, my man! By firing
that tray of chocolate all over him, you’ve made that fiendish frog leave a
trail for us.’
Vinnie still didn’t
think he’d knocked the tray over, but he decided to keep quiet and take the
credit. Following the others, he took off down the corridor on the trail of the
chocolatey frog.
Chapter 10: Criminal Method
The froggy footprints led straight to a door. Not, as the
children had expected, to the door of the World
of Easter Eggs exhibition, but to an ordinary wooden door with a sign that
said: BATHROOM SUPPLIES. STAFF ONLY.
‘The trail stops here,’ said Lexie, with a small kick at the
door. ‘No more footprints. We’ll have to think of something else.’
Fatoumata reached out and tried the handle. She’d expected it
to be locked, but the door swung open.
‘There’s no point looking in there,’ said Logan. “Freddo
probably just went in to get some paper towels. He’ll be long gone by now . .
.’
Fatoumata was about to close the door and follow the others
when something caught her eye. Sticking out from behind a big pile of toilet
rolls was a foot.
It wasn’t a frog’s foot.
It was a human foot, wearing a blue Converse baseball boot.
‘Wait!’ She called after the others. Her heart was beating double-time, and was
now trying to climb out through her mouth. She couldn’t get another word out.
All she could do was hold the door open and point inside.
Logan, Lexie and Vinnie looked in.
Slowly they entered.
The door clicked shut, plunging them into total darkness.
‘Aggh!’ squeaked Lexie, grabbing Fatoumata’s arm.
‘Ooof!’ gasped Vinnie, backing into the toilet paper mountain.
Rolls started tumbling down on their heads, buffeting them with cushiony
softness.
Logan found the light switch. Blinking in the sudden
brightness and hardly daring to look, they crept towards the foot. Gradually,
another foot, legs, body, head – a whole
person - came into view. Slumped in a corner was a young, skinny man, little
more than a teenager. As well as the baseball boots, he wore a Minecraft
t-shirt and surfer shorts.
His hands and wrists were tied with bungee cords.
‘Is he… d…d…dead?’
gulped Fatoumata.
Lexie knelt at the man’s side and checked his pulse and
breathing. ‘No,’ she said, looking up. ‘He’s just knocked out. We learned all
about First Aid at tennis camp.’
Fatoumata’s knees wobbled with relief. ‘What do you think
happened to him?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Logan, ‘but I think this may have had something to do with it.’ He pointed at a tiny
dart sticking out above the neck of the man’s t-shirt.
‘Ooh,’ breathed Vinnie. ‘A tranquiliser dart.’
As Lexie stood up, she brushed something from her hands. She
stared down at her palms. ‘I’ve got some of that green fluff on me.’ Then she
looked at the man again. ‘It’s from this
guy’s arm. He’s got green fluff all over him. Oh! Hang on! That means this must
be . . .’
‘Freddo Frog!’ said all four voices at once.
Logan grinned. ‘Yep. That explains why he’s in shorts. It
must be boiling inside that heavy costume.’ He looked around. ‘Which leads us to our next
question. Where is his costume? I
can’t see it in here.’
Vinnie shrugged. ‘Obvious, isn’t it? The bad guy took it. He crept
up behind Freddo, knocked him out with the tranquiliser dart, tied him up, took
his costume and put it on, and then – in the perfect disguise - zoomed off to
steal the Royal Egg. Simples!’
Logan whistled. ‘For a Year Three, you have a disturbingly advanced concept of criminal
methods!’
Lexie giggled. ‘Vinnie’s right though. Which means that the Freddo
that me and Fatoumata saw talking to the guard was actually was the thief – not
the original guy.’ She glanced down at the young man in the corner. ‘And look,’
Lexie added, pointing to a pile of. chocolate-smeared paper towels. ‘Our baddie
even used those to wipe the chocolate off the costume. That’s why there are no
footprints leading out of this storeroom
again. The frog feet were clean again.’
Logan frowned and slowly tapped his chin. ‘So, we know how the thief did it. What we don’t know is who he is.’
‘Or she,’ murmured Fatoumata.
Logan did a double take at Fatoumata. While they were talking,
she’d been busily gathering up a pile of toilet rolls and making them into a pillow
for the poor guy on the floor. ‘Yes, OK,’ he said. ‘In theory, it could be a
male or female thief. He or she.’
But Fatoumata just stared back at him, a strange expression
of shock on her face, Held between her finger and thumb was something small and
red and sparkly. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet the others had to lean
down to hear.
‘Not in theory,’
she said. ‘It’s definitely a she. I
know who stole The Royal Egg.’
Chapter 11:Falling Into Place
‘It was Miss Henley,’ whispered Fatoumata, looking over her
shoulder, as if she expected the supply teacher to walk in at any moment.
‘Miss Henley?’ gasped Lexie. ‘No way! She’s a teacher.’
Vinnie stared at her. ‘Miss Henley is a baddie? Like
Bellatrix Lestrange? How do you know?’
Fatoumata placed the little red sparkly star on her palm and
held it out to show her friends. ‘It was
on the floor near the man’s head. It must have fallen off those red boots Miss
Henley is wearing, when she was tying him up.’ She looked down at her own
studded boots. ‘I like boots. I noticed them as soon as she got on the bus.’
Logan narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. ‘I can’t believe
it.’ But then his expression changed. The pieces were falling into place. Of
course! Miss Henley had leaped on the
chance to take Freddo to get cleaned up. She must have followed him into this storeroom
to get paper towels. She could easily have shot the dart into his neck while he
was busy wiping the spilled chocolate off the costume. She must have been
carrying the tranquiliser gun in her handbag. And the bungee cords too . . .
‘I told you I
didn’t knock that tray of chocolate over,’ said Vinnie, punching the air with
both fists. ‘Miss Henley was standing right by me. She did it on purpose and made out it was me. She tipped it all over Freddo so she could get
him alone and nick his costume.’
Logan grinned. ‘Yeah, okay, we’ll believe you.’ He turned to Lexie
and Fatoumata.’ So, when you two saw Freddo talking to the guard, that was Miss Henley in the costume. She must have
been tricking him into leaving his post by saying there was an emergency phone
call or something. After she stole The Royal Egg, she must have quickly taken
the costume off and hidden it, before running back to join us in the cafeteria
again.’ Logan suddenly remembered how Miss Henley had hurried up to the
teachers’ lunch table, saying she’d been talking to the Cadbury World people
about the schedule. No doubt that was
a fib too – she just made it up to explain why she’d taken so long to get back.
Lexie’s thoughts were in a whirl. ‘But how would a random
supply teacher even know about tranquiliser guns and stealing jewelled eggs and
. . . ‘
‘Because,’ said Logan. ‘Miss Henley is not a supply teacher. It’s obvious now. She must have arranged for
Mrs Kareem to be off work today somehow, so that she could turn up and pretend that
the supply agency had sent her – all so she could come to Cadbury World with us
while The Royal Egg is on display.’
That makes sense, thought
Lexie. Mrs Kareem was never ill, and she’d been really looking forward to this
trip. Miss Henley must have tricked her into phoning in sick today.
‘Oh yes,’ said Logan. He was starting to really enjoy himself
now. This was better even than Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory. Who needed aliens? This was going to make the
best story ever. ‘This was all carefully planned,’ he said. ‘For a start Miss
Henley must have been carrying the fake egg in her handbag, ready to switch
with the real one.’
Lexie nodded. ‘But she made one big mistake. She didn’t expect
the guard to notice that she’d replaced the real egg with the fake straight
away. She probably thought that she had ages
before anyone spotted the difference – by which time we’d have all gone
home. And she could be making her getaway.’
‘In her helicopter,’ said Vinnie. ‘Evil baddies always have helicopters.’
Meanwhile, Fatoumata had carefully wrapped the red sparkly
star in toilet paper. She gave it to Logan – as the oldest - to look after. She
felt just like one of the Famous Five or the Scooby Doo gang, working with her
team to solve the mystery. It had been a bit scary - but exciting too.
‘Sorry I made fun of you about Freddo being a person in a
costume earlier,’ said Logan as he put the evidence in his pocket. ‘I didn’t
mean to make you look stupid or anything. It was just so funny.’
Fatoumata smiled. ‘That’s OK. It was funny.’
‘And,’ added Lexie. ‘It turns out that Fatoumata was making a
very important point. The person inside the costume is the key to this
mystery!’ She stood up. ‘Now, we need to stop sleuthing and go and tell an
adult and get a doctor to help this guy.’
Vinnie was already heading for the door. ‘And fetch the police to arrest Miss Henley.’
‘Wait!’ Fatoumata grabbed him by the jumper. She could just
imagine Vinnie and Logan bursting into the cafeteria, yelling Freeze, punk! and Hands up, villain! ‘We still need to be careful. We can’t let Miss
Henley escape in all the confusion, while the adults figure out that we’re telling
the truth.’
‘Good point,’ said Logan. ‘OK. Here’s what we’ll do.’
‘Chapter 12: Don’t Look Now!
Moments later, Lexie was walking back into the cafeteria, her
arm around Fatoumata’s shoulders. Fatoumata kept her head down and dragged her
feet as pathetically as she could.
Nervously, Lexie glanced across at Logan and Vinnie who were
sitting near the door. They had come back in a few moments earlier; if all four
of them had got back from the loos at the same time it would have looked
suspicious. Then, even more nervously,
Lexie glanced at Miss Henley. She was sitting with the other teachers, her big
red handbag on her lap. A handbag full of priceless Royal Easter Egg, no doubt!
Lexie took a deep breath and walked up to Mr Dawson. She had
to tell him what they had found out, without
Miss Henley hearing. She glanced at Logan and Vinnie. They gave a secret nod.
They were on standby to jump up and block the door if Miss Henley made a run
for it.
‘Mr Dawson!’ said
Lexie. ‘I think Fatoumata is really
poorly.’
‘Oh dear, what’s the matter?’ he asked.
Fatoumata mumbled something in a voice quieter than a
mouse-whisper.
‘Sorry, I can’t hear you.’ Mr Dawson scooted his chair away
from the table of chattering teachers. ‘It’s quieter here.’ He leaned down and put
his hand behind his ear. ‘Do you have tummy ache?’
Fatoumata shook her head. ‘We have something urgent to tell
you,’ she muttered.
Mr Dawson looked serious. ‘What’s wrong?”
‘Don’t look now,’ said Lexie through her teeth. ‘But Miss Henley stole The Royal Egg.’
Mr Dawson did his best. But he was taken by surprise. He did
what everyone does when they are told
not to look. He looked. Not in an
obvious way. Just a quick double-take. But it was enough. Miss Henley had been watching
them. She saw that look. Her face changed. The smile slipped. She leaped up,
her blonde curls bouncing, and bolted for the door.
The boys ran to stop her, but she was too fast. She swung her
handbag at Vinnie and pushed a chair over in front of Logan. Vinnie staggered
back. Logan tripped over. But they didn’t give up. Both were on their feet in
seconds and running after her with a cry of ‘Stop! Villainous egg-thief!’
‘What on earth is
going on?’ spluttered Mr Dawson.
Fatoumata and Lexie looked at each other, then took off
across the cafeteria to join the chase.
To be continued . . . .