Swamp Race Read Online Free Page A

help me,’ Caz spat. ‘I had it all under control.’
    ‘Really?’ said Zac, raising an eyebrow.
    Caz glared at Zac, but was silent.
    ‘Look,’ Zac said, trying to keep calm. ‘You’ve got the hovercraft, but no idea where the plastic toad is. I’ve got a map to the plastic toad but no way to get there. The only way we can get out of here is if we work together.’
    Caz stared at him, weighing up her options. Then she let out a groan of disgust.
    ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Get on.’

The hovercraft tore across the surface of the swamp, towards the island where the X-Beam blueprints were hidden.

    Even though it was Zac who knew the way to the island, Caz had refused to let him drive. So Zac sat looking over Caz’s shoulder, shouting directions over the roar of the engine. He kept his SpyPad hidden in his pocket, and only checked the map when he was sure Caz wasn’t looking.
    Apart from that, they kept silent.
    They may have been working together now, but they both knew that their agreement would be over as soon as they stepped off the hovercraft.
    Even now, sitting behind Caz, Zac was half-tempted to shove her overboard and drive off without her. But he sighed instead and checked the time.

    ‘Right!’ he shouted to Caz. ‘No, wait – turn left!’
    Everything looked so different from the ground. It was hard to figure out which way they were supposed to be going.
    But then he saw it. Up ahead was an island of mud with two big trees knocked down and arranged into the shape of an X.
    X marks the spot, thought Zac. This had to be it.
    ‘Over there!’ he called.
    Caz guided the hovercraft over to the island and brought it to a stop.
    Zac stood up and reached for his SpyPad, ready to check the map one last time.

    Caz lashed Zac across the back with her whip. Zac’s Electro-Armour sparked and kept him from getting hurt, but the impact was enough to send him staggering overboard.

    Zac got to his feet and clambered up onto the island, right behind Caz.
    Caz raced around the island, searching frantically for Voler’s plastic toad.
    Zac, meanwhile, headed straight for the centre of the X-shape made by the fallen trees. He found a patch of long, brown grass and started digging through it.
    His hand caught on something that was sticking up out of the ground. Brushing the grass aside, Zac saw that it was a rusty metal lever. He took a deep breath and pulled.

    Caz ran over and shoved Zac aside, knocking him to the ground. She grabbed the lever for herself and started heaving at it with all her might.
    Zac scrambled to his feet and tried to pry Caz’s hands off the handle.
    ‘Get off, Rock Star!’ growled Caz. ‘Those blueprints are mine.’
    Both of them were holding onto the handle now, trying to shove each other away and pull on the lever at the same time.
    Slowly the lever started to shift.

    They dragged it up and over, until it was pointing away in the opposite direction.
    For a moment, nothing happened.

    Zac and Caz let go of the lever and stepped apart from each other.
    Then, a few metres away, the swamp started to bubble and churn. A strange clattering sound came up from under the water. Then something big and round started rising slowly up out of the swamp.
    At first, the thing was so covered in mud that they couldn’t see what it was. But then the mud started dripping back down into the swamp, revealing a big glass dome.
    Inside the dome, sitting on top of a stone platform, was a neatly folded Chopper Suit. It was just like the one that Zac had used to board Voler’s jet that morning.
    Walking to the edge of the island for a closer look, Zac noticed something else sitting on the platform.
    It was a small plastic toad. The blueprints must be hidden inside!
    Zac glanced at Caz. She had seen it, too.
    But before either of them could react, they were distracted by another sound.

    Someone was coming down out of the sky towards them, wearing a Chopper Suit. It was Professor Voler.
    Voler touched down on the