The Querulous Effect Read Online Free

enthusiastic, can work well with Tim and Ella and also, I have to say, keep a secret because this is very secret scientific work.”
    â€œNow, at this point,” continued the Prof, “I owe you a further explanation – perhaps, even, an apology. You see I met your aunt recently when I was in the post-office and she mentioned that you were coming to stay. From our discussion, I thought you might be just the fellow we needed. But we had to be sure that you were keen and up for an adventure or two. We had to establish, first, that you had the initiative and drive to respond to an opportunity. Secondly, that you would fit into the team. So Tim, who is, I suppose, the ‘brains’ of our little unit came up with the idea of the advertisement. We hoped you would respond and depended on Miss Spratt to ensure that no-one unsuitable applied. So, you see, we rather targeted you. I hope you don’t mind.”
    Jay didn’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed by this revelation. It did not, in any event, tell him anything about the job itself. So, rather than saying whether he minded or not about the advertisement, he asked what he would be expected to do.
    â€œWell, there is some hard work,” said the Prof. “Lots of watering plants, collecting specimens – plants, insects and so on. Running errands, helping look after the animals. We have a horse and some hens and a goat or two. But there is a fair bit of adventure too. Expeditions into the countryside, bug-hunting. And occasionally, very occasionally, some work in my laboratory.”
    The Prof looked across at his young assistants. “I get the impression that Tim and Ella think that you’d be a good team member.”
    Both nodded in agreement.
    â€œThen that’s unanimous from our side. Pay is a little pocket-money, some good food prepared by my house-keeper, Mrs. Stiggles, whose scones you’ve already sampled, and, I hope, some fun too. Well, what do you think, Jay?”
    With these words, the professor smiled at him, looking intently over his spectacles. Ella also looked at him eagerly and even Tim interrupted his demolition of a third scone to peer at him across the table.
    Jay’s mind was ticking over very fast. It seemed a great place. They all seemed very friendly. The scones had been delicious. On the other hand, Jay still did not really know what the secret experiments mentioned in the advertisement were. But, then, after all, they were secret. That was the whole point. No doubt he would find out if he became a member of the team. He thought to himself that it could be a lot of fun; at the very least a lot more fun than he had expected from a holiday in Frimton.
    Jay looked up and surveyed the smiling faces awaiting his answer. He was just going to reply positively when he had a most strange sensation. He sensed that in addition to Tim, Ella and the Prof looking at him across the table, he was also being watched by someone – or something – else. He glanced quickly around the kitchen and suddenly the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. From the top of a Welsh dresser in the corner of the kitchen, two large, saucer-shaped eyes were staring unblinkingly back at him. A shiver ran through him. His smile froze and his mouth dropped unceremoniously open. It was some sort of large lizard. To his confused and startled mind, he wondered in that split second if that creature was the subject of the secret experiments. Was it perhaps some kind of miniature dinosaur?
    Tim broke the silence by laughing out loud. “Oh, it’s only Charlie. I wondered where he had got to.”
    At those words, the creature blinked. A long, slow blink as its eye-lids came down and went up like slow-motion shutters.
    â€œCharlie is Tim’s pet chameleon,” explained Ella. “You probably didn’t notice him earlier because chameleons can change colour to camouflage themselves. He probably turned himself