The Great Brain Robbery Read Online Free Page B

must have left in a
hurry.’
    ‘That’s weird,’ frowned Frankie. ‘Why wouldn’t Wes tell us where he was going?’
    ‘I know!’ said Neet. ‘And there’s another thing too, Frankie. It probably doesn’t matter, but I thought I should tell you.’
    ‘What is it?’
    ‘Well,’ said Neet, ‘I heard that Snuffles escaped over the summer.’ Frankie stopped dead in his tracks.
    For those of you who don’t know who Snuffles is, let me explain. As I said earlier, there had been an awful lot of ‘trouble’ at Frankie and Neet’s school. Back then
Cramley Primary had been a very different place, a much, much scarier place called Crammar Grammar. The old headmaster, Dr Calus Gore, had been a mad scientist who used the school as his laboratory
and the children as guinea-pigs. He had wanted to use his scientific wizardry to turn every child in the school into an exam-passing robot with his terrifying Brain-drain machine. But luckily
Frankie, Neet and Wes had put a stop to his plans just in the nick of time. While they were at it, they accidentally turned the headmaster into a fluffy white rat called Snuffles – which was
a bit of a bonus. Ever since, Snuffles had been safely locked up in a cage in the first-year classroom. Or so Frankie had thought.
    ‘How did he get out?’ whispered Frankie, horrified.
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Neet, ‘but I don’t suppose we need to worry.’
    ‘Hmmm.’ Frankie’s brow crinkled up like a crisp. He wasn’t so sure. He hadn’t forgotten Dr Gore’s hair-raising experiments on his classmates, or the time when
the headmaster had locked him in a dark cupboard for hours on end. He hadn’t forgotten Dr Gore’s acid yellow eyes or his rasping voice. Dr Gore was as crackers as a parrot and as
dangerous as a snake. But Neet was right, wasn’t she? What harm could he possibly do now? Frankie shuddered and tried to shrug off the cold hand of fear that had gripped the nape of his
neck.
    ‘Come on, Frankie,’ said Neet. ‘We’ll be late for assembly!’

 

    The assembly hall was abuzz with excitement. Children were whispering frantically and every now and then a little squeal trilled round the room. Even Mrs Pinkerton looked
pinker than usual.
    ‘What’s all the fuss?’ Frankie asked Neet, as their class filed in.
    ‘No idea,’ she replied, ‘but stand back, that first-year’s about to explode!’
    Frankie looked at a little boy who was so excited Frankie actually thought he could see him swelling up like a party balloon.
    Mrs Pinkerton stood up on stage and clapped her hands. ‘Settle down, children!’ she called over the dozens of bobbing heads. ‘Settle down!’ The room hushed quickly.
‘We have a very special visitor here today.’ Mrs Pinkerton beamed like a luminous flamingo. ‘Can anybody tell me who it is?’
    Dozens of hands shot into the air.
    ‘Teddy Manywishes! Teddy Manywishes!’ yelled a nursery tot unable to control herself any longer.
    ‘Now now, Molly,’ frowned Mrs Pinkerton, ‘don’t shout out. And who knows why Teddy Manywishes is here?’
    ‘Toys!’ yelled Molly, who was too crazed with excitement to listen. ‘TOOOOOOOOOYS!’
    Neet and Frankie giggled at Mrs Pinkerton, who was doing her best to look cross.

    ‘Now as you all know, Teddy Manywishes is the store mascot for our wonderful new toyshop, Marvella Brand’s Happyland, and he is here this morning to tell you something very special.
So I’d like you all to give him a big Cramley School welcome.’
    ‘GOOD MORNING, TEDDY MANYWISHES,’ chanted eighty small voices.
    The lights turned a dim shade of green and an enormous teddy dressed as a genie appeared in a puff of shimmering smoke.
    ‘Oooooooooohhhhh!’ cooed the children, their eyes widening into round, sparkling pools. Teddy Manywishes took a low bow, a big furry smile on his big furry face.
    ‘GOOD MORNING KIDS!’ said the teddy, in a high cartoon-like voice that Frankie thought made him sound like a