a Monster Surprise! Read online

  When the plastic cards had first appeared on his key-ring, Spinosaurus had explained to Harry that he could make dinosaurs appear in any size he wanted. They would be solid but leave no footprints. They could be heard and smelled and touched, but never seen unless Harry gave the command.

  When the powerboat reached the channel through the reed beds, it finally began to slow. Altogether, it had taken no more than ten minutes to reach the place where the van was parked alongside Wedge’s truck.

  As Mister Misery turned off his engine and let the powerboat drift towards the slipway, an ambulance appeared. Blue lights flashed through a cloud of dust by the water. Harry saw the driver lower his window to have a word with a man in a grey rowing boat with green trim.

  That must be Mike’s boss, Brian the bird-warden! thought Harry.

  Mister Misery looked flustered for a moment and he spun round, as if looking for somewhere to escape to. That was when he caught sight of Harry bobbing downriver in the kayak. A cunning smile appeared on the man’s face. For some strange reason, he looked delighted to see Harry. He cut his engine, stooped and looped a rope over a mooring bollard by the slipway. He brought his boat to a smooth stop just below his waiting van.

  The bird-warden spotted Mister Misery and rowed within hailing distance, shouting, ‘Hey! You told me there was a gang of vandals out on the mudflats doing damage! But there’s no one there!’

  Mister Misery was positively friendly. ‘Oh, hello again,’ he said, actually smiling. ‘Didn’t you catch any of the little monsters? They were chucking stones at a bunch of curlews when I saw them. I told them off but they took no notice of me.’

  ‘So you said,’ panted Brian. ‘Well, I rowed all the way down to Dutchman’s Creek but I didn’t see hide nor hair of any kids disturbing birds.’

  ‘Sneaky young things, eh?’ said the man. Then he turned round. ‘But look! There’s one of them now – bold as brass!’ He pointed at Harry.

  Brian turned and saw Harry. ‘And that’s Mike Lines’ kayak!’ he shouted. ‘He must have pinched it! Grab him!’

  ‘Did you say Mike Lines?’ yelled one of the paramedics, who had jumped down from the ambulance. ‘That’s the name of the casualty we’re looking for!’

  Mister Misery drowned him out by revving up his boat’s engine with a roar, and moving away from the slipway. This was all too much for bad-tempered Plesiosaurus. He plunged forward, and with a growling snort he sank his teeth into the body of the powerboat and shook the life out of it.

  The engine exploded with a bang that made everyone crouch and cover their ears. Mister Misery was thrown high into the air. He came down with a howling scream and hit the water with an almighty splash.

  It was a good thing Harry kept his head – otherwise Mister Misery wouldn’t have kept his. As he came up spluttering out of the shallow water, Plesiosaurus opened his monster jaws and got ready to bite the man’s head off. But Harry’s thumb moved quickly over the little card on his key-ring tail-to-nose, the reverse of what he’d done before. Like a puff of steam, the monster evaporated, leaving Mister Misery in the water and the warden bobbing about in his boat in the wild waves Plesiosaurus had stirred up.

  ‘What was that?’ exclaimed one of the paramedics, as they both rushed down the slipway to help.

  ‘Was it the engine? Or a gas canister, maybe?’ yelled Brian. He had jumped out of his boat and was wading through the chest-deep water towards Mister Misery. ‘Help me get him out, quick! He’s knocked the wind out of himself!’

  Together the three men pulled him out of the river and laid him gently on the bank. They were careful to support his head and to place him in the recovery position. ‘Let’s get his wet jumper off,’ said one of the paramedics. ‘We’ll get a warm blanket on him.’

  That was how they uncovered the strap around his middle and the pouches.

  ‘Good grief!’ exclaimed Brian. ‘These are socks filled with packing of some kind, and …’ He put his hand inside one and felt around.

  ‘Ahoy there!’ came the excited voices of Jack and Charlie. They had made excellent time towing Siri and the injured Mike Lines, thanks to the mighty muscles of Wedge.

  ‘What are those, then?’ asked the ambulance driver. The warden was holding up an egg in each hand for him to look at.

  ‘This one’s a marsh harrier’s egg – and this one, if I’m not mistaken, belongs to a red-billed chough! We’ve got the only breeding pair outside Wales and Scotland. They’re nesting on the cliffs down towards Eastbrook right now. This is unbelievable! Their nesting site was supposed to be top secret.’ The warden looked down at Mister Misery, who was coming to, looking dazed and moaning to himself. ‘I think I’d better call the police right now!’

  Chapter 12

  Wedge, the GOGOs and Brian the bird-warden were all gathered on the riverbank. The ambulance had long gone and the police car had followed close behind. Mike Lines was on his way to hospital and Mister Misery – real name James Staples, egg-thief – was on his way to the local police station.

  ‘Very well done, you guys!’ the bird-warden was saying. ‘You did an excellent job with poor old Mike. And boy, am I glad that we caught that man red-handed. What a bit of luck that his boat went bang! I still haven’t got a clue how it happened.’

  ‘Just as well,’ Harry mumbled to himself. I would have had a bit too much explaining to do!

  Everyone looked at the crates stacked in the back of the van. They were packed with cotton wool and neatly lined with hundreds of eggs – all in different shapes and sizes and colours!

  ‘That’s what they’re like, these egg-stealers,’ the warden explained. ‘They get hooked on collecting. The man who stole these has probably been trying to get an egg from every species of bird in the country. The police say he’s already got a record for this sort of thing.’

  Siri snapped his fingers in frustration. ‘This is a big story!’ he said with a groan. ‘Rav should be here getting this on camera!’

  ‘Well, he can’t be in two places at once,’ Jack pointed out.

  ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me …’ said Brian. He explained that he had to go because the police had asked him to drive the van and trailer over to the police station. They needed them as evidence. He shook hands with Wedge and all the children, inviting them to come back for a private guided tour of the bird sanctuary any time they liked.

  ‘I wonder what happened to the powerboat,’ said Charlie as they all watched the trailer disappear with the flattened wreck of the orange dinghy strapped to it.

  ‘Yeah, that was weird,’ said Jack. ‘Any ideas, Harry? You must have been pretty close when it blew up.’

  ‘Er, well, it just sort of … happened,’ stammered Harry. ‘It must have been something to do with that big motor.’ And then, to change the subject, he added quickly, ‘Shouldn’t we load up now?’

  ‘Look at the time!’ gasped Wedge, checking his watch. ‘I need to get home and changed for the party. I mean, just in case … you know …’ He couldn’t quite bring himself to add that he was hoping Sam would forget their argument and go with him. ‘Heave-ho, you lot!’ he said.

  They were checking the ropes that secured the two kayaks to the roof of the truck when a car with the words HEARTLANDS TELEVISION printed all over it arrived.

  ‘Oh no!’ wailed Siri. ‘It’s Rav! And he’s missed all the excitement!’

  As he spoke, a very smart-looking Sri Lankan man in his early twenties stepped out on to the dusty track. There was no mistaking who he was. He had exactly the same broad, bright smile as Siri. He said hi to everyone and introduced his cameraman, Ron.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ asked Siri.

  ‘Didn’t you have any luck with the rustlers?’ asked Wedge.

  Rav shook his head. ‘It was all over by the time we got to Jenkins Farm. Your dad had got a message that a butcher from Stapleton was organizing the thefts from farms all round the county.’

  ‘Stapleton!’ exclaimed Harry. ‘Hey, that�
��s less than ten miles from our village!’

  ‘Right,’ said Rav. ‘So within half an hour Mr Jenkins had arranged for all the members of Farm Watch to keep an eye on every bridge and crossroads within twenty miles of the unit where the pigs were stolen from. The result was they caught the rustlers red-handed just before lunchtime today.’

  ‘So did you manage to file a report?’ Siri was eager to know.

  ‘Well, we did a nice little chat to camera with Mrs Jenkins about what’s been going on,’ said Ron, ‘but we missed all the action.’

  ‘What? Mum on the telly!’ Wedge laughed. ‘She’ll be chuffed to bits!’

  ‘But it wasn’t exactly what you’d call headline stuff,’ said Rav. ‘Never mind. At least we finished early. So we thought we’d drop by the river and find out how you guys were getting on with the birdwatching.’

  The GOGOs looked at one another, wondering which of them should break the news that Rav and Ron had just missed yet another really good story. And then they all spoke at once.

  ‘Wait! Wait!’ cried Rav, trying to get the details into his notebook. ‘And you say this guy is being questioned by the local police right now? And that the van with all the rare eggs in it is at the police station, too? Then maybe it’s not too late to film a story! Come on, Ron!’

  ‘Hey!’ yelled Siri as they made a dash for their car. ‘How about an interview with some eyewitnesses? Don’t forget it was Wedge and Harry who discovered that the marsh harriers’ eggs had been stolen from their nest. And it was us lot who rescued the deputy warden!’

  ‘Good idea!’ said Rav. ‘We’ll have to be quick but I’ll get my microphone.’

  Ron set up his camera. ‘Now, can you all stand here by the slipway with your backs to the river?’

  While Rav was interviewing Wedge, asking how he got interested in rare birds, Harry’s fingers were feeling for the cards on his key-ring. One of them, he was pleased to note, was still warm. He could feel the raised outline of Plesiosaurus under his thumb. Gently but firmly, he stroked it nose-to-tail.

  ‘Show yourself!’ he said under his breath. ‘But not too clearly … You know what I mean!’

  Chapter 13

  Sam had slipped out to see her friend Bekka, so she wasn’t at home when Wedge dropped Harry off at his house and crept in behind him to say hi to her.

  Mum and Nan were both very interested to hear about their adventures. They ooohed and aaahed about poor Mike Lines and his broken leg and they tut-tutted about the egg-thief.

  The back door slammed just as Nan was saying, ‘So you think you might all end up on the news, do you?’

  Sam had obviously just seen Wedge’s pick-up and she was clearly still in a mood with him. She stormed into the room just as Nan added, ‘It should be on in a couple of minutes. Shall we turn the telly on and have a look?’

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Sam hissed at Wedge.

  ‘Wedge and Harry are going to be on the news,’ said Mum.

  ‘What! What for?’

  ‘Just sit down for a moment, dear, and you’ll see.’

  Sam sat down on the sofa as far away from Wedge as she could and peered at the screen. First, they had to watch ten minutes of normal, boring news. Then the newsreader started talking about a man who had been caught red-handed with hundreds of rare birds’ eggs and Harry shouted, ‘Here we go!’

  The report started with Rav at the police station and there was a shot of all the eggs packed in the van. Then there was Rav talking to the camera.

  ‘It turns out that the suspect carries ladders on his van everywhere he goes,’ he said. ‘And what’s his job? He’s a builder and decorator! A perfect cover for a man who needs a ladder to rob nests in high places. He also had a powerboat that he used to get to birds nesting on the marshes or on cliffs. I say he had a powerboat …’ Here Rav gave a wink and a flash of the family smile. ‘Because today his luck ran out when his boat exploded! Earlier I spoke to a group of young birdwatchers who were nearby when this happened.’

  And there they all were … Wedge, Harry, Siri, Charlie and Jack. They were all looking very proud, apart from Harry, who kept glancing towards the river. Just at the point when there was a handsome close-up of Wedge explaining how he got interested in kayaking and birdwatching, Sam gave a little gasp and a squeal. She dived at Wedge and threw her arms around him.

  ‘Oh, come on!’ said Wedge with a little laugh. ‘I ain’t that good-looking!’

  ‘I wasn’t looking at you!’ she croaked, hardly able to speak. ‘Well, I was, but there was something behind you. Didn’t you see it?’

  ‘See what?’

  ‘Are you kidding? It was swimming in the river behind you! A huge sea-monster!’

  Chapter 14

  The GOGOs were all sat round the table in Siri’s dining room, sipping delicious mango drinks and nibbling on crisps. Harry’s sister and Wedge were there, too, and Sam had her arm round Wedge’s waist. So were Siri’s parents, cousin Rav and Rav’s mum and dad. Everyone was trying to get a good view of Rav’s laptop screen.

  The scene where Rav had interviewed Wedge and the gang by the river had been posted on the Internet. Rav played it five times. At first, there were shouts and showers of crumbs as people yelled, ‘There!’ and, ‘That is definitely the river-monster’s head!’ and, ‘Yes, but it could be just the movement of the waves!’ But then all the adults insisted on no shouting, especially with mouths full. After that, there was a lot of muffled grunting, sudden nodding, pointing and jumping out of seats.

  ‘At last my boy has had some luck!’ cried Rav’s mum, grabbing his face in both hands and planting a noisy kiss on his cheek. ‘He lands himself in the right place at the right time and the phone has not stopped ringing!’

  ‘It looked to me like a plesiosaurus’s neck rising out of the river,’ said Siri’s dad, who was a professor. ‘Wouldn’t you agree, Harry? You’re the one with the bucketful of dinosaurs, so you should know!’

  ‘Not any more,’ mumbled Harry, blushing. ‘I got rid of that bucket ages ago.’

  ‘Well, with those humps rising behind the head in the water, it looked like the Loch Ness Monster to me,’ declared Siri’s mum. ‘But whatever it was, it was very strange and quite remarkable!’

  Rav beamed with delight. ‘The silly thing is, none of us saw the beast at the time. And now a lot of people are saying that we faked it. Or they say the shapes might just be waves or low trees or shadows. But the important thing is – millions of people are talking about it, and the report has got my name on it!’

  ‘And Wedge gets a nice mention!’ said Sam, giving him a squeeze and the kind of look she normally saved for fluffy kittens or puppy dogs.

  ‘Yes, but not us!’ complained Siri.

  ‘That’s because you’re too young,’ explained Rav kindly. ‘Sorry, but at least your friends will know who you are.’

  As usual, Jack didn’t say much until the gang was heading down to the park for a go on the skateboarding ramps. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t see anything, Harry,’ he said, tipping his weight back so that his BMX flipped on to its back wheel. ‘You were next to the powerboat and you’re the only one looking towards the river right before Nessie – or whatever – popped up. And yet you didn’t see either the explosion or the sea-monster. Unlucky!’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Charlie, flipping her dragon-skateboard to one side to avoid a drain-cover. ‘You must be really annoyed.’

  Siri was puffing along on his bike, trying to keep pace with Harry, who kept making little spurts forward by standing on his pedals. The same sort of questions had crossed his mind.

  ‘How come? Explain yourself, man!’ he demanded.

  Harry knew he couldn’t tell the truth. But the GOGOs would need a good reason why he hadn’t seen anything. Up ahead was a thick hedge. As they got closer, he suddenly steered straight into it.

  ‘Whoops!’ Harry said as he tumbled off his bike and sent Siri’s into a wild skid. ‘Sorry, Siri! I didn’t realize the he
dge was that close!’

  ‘That explains it!’ exclaimed Siri, rubbing a bruised knee. ‘You obviously need glasses!’

  ‘I think you may be right,’ said Harry, smiling.

  At the same time, he was thinking: And if you’d seen what I’ve seen lately, I reckon you might have your eyes tested!

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  First published 2011

  Text copyright © Ian Whybrow, 2011

  Cover illustration copyright © Adrian Reynolds, 2011

  Text illustrations copyright © Puffin Books, 2011

  Character concept copyright © Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds, 2011

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  The moral right of the author and illustrators has been asserted