The Warriors of Brin-Hask Read Online Free Page B

it was the Health Department coming,’ said Mum. ‘I didn’t
want you to act as though Mr Snavely were anything other than an ordinary, boring
government official. I thought it would be easier for you, avoid another pointless
argument with James, and show Mr Snavely that you didn’t know every thing that goes
on here.’
    Amelia thought about how she and Charlie crashing into the kitchen was exactly the
problem Mr Snavely had come to inspect. ‘Sorry.’
    ‘Don’t worry, cookie,’ said Dad. ‘By the time Mr Snavely saw those rats, there wasn’t
anything you could do to make things worse.’
    ‘Are they really rats?’ said Amelia.
    ‘I’m not sure,’ said Dad. ‘It was a stroke of genius Charlie caught one, though –
gives us a chance to find out what we’re dealing with.’ Charlie glowed with pride.
‘Ah, here’s Tom.’
    Tom stamped up the last rise, breathing heavily and looking harried.
    ‘I’m not sure I’ve got the calculations right,’ he called to Dad. ‘There are two
different ways to work out when the wormholes will align, but I’m getting different
answers with each method. I can’t be sure when the Brin-Hask –’
    ‘Tom,’ Dad interrupted. ‘Forget that for a minute. We’ve got something else to deal
with.’

    Between them, Dad and Tom managed to get Charlie’s rat out from under the colander
and into the glass aquarium that had last housed Miss Ardman’s preferred snacks –
giant centipedes.
    The rest of the rats had retreated back to their nest, abandoning the captive, and
– this was the most worrying bit – replacing the wooden floorboards behind them.
    In the library, the captured rat was at first frantic, searching for an escape. But
when it realised there was none, it sat down in one corner and stared balefully at
the watching humans. It twiddled the claws of its front paws, looking down at them
now and then as though thinking, and then flicking them again.
    ‘It’s counting,’ Tom said. ‘Look, it’s trying to figure something out.’
    The rat’s eyes glowed steadily, and Amelia saw a flash of silver by its ear.
    She pointed, ‘There, on the side of its head. It looks like –’
    ‘It’s a cyber-rat!’ said Charlie. ‘Can I keep it?’
    Mary swatted at him. ‘Get out of here!’
    ‘I was only joking.’
    ‘Well, I’m not. In fact, both of you – here, take some money and go buy yourselves
a hamburger or something down at the surf club. Leave us alone for a while to discuss
things.’
    Amelia wanted to stay and listen, particularly if there was any chance her dad was
going to jail, but Charlie had already snatched up the money and was out the door.
    ‘Don’t let my rat go,’ he called back. ‘I’m going to call him Hugo.’
    He was practically skipping over the grass, buzzing from the excitement of his rat
capture. Amelia was solemn by comparison. Catching a rat wouldn’t make up for anything
when Mr Snavely came back tomorrow.
    She was walking slowly, thinking hard, when she caught the flash of a dark shape
out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw the hem of a long, black coat flick
around the corner of the hedge maze.
    Without a second thought, she changed direction and sped toward the maze, not bothering
to call out to Charlie and not bothering to answer when he yelled, ‘Hey! Where are
you going?’
    She didn’t want to give whoever – what ever – was in the maze any tip-off that she
was coming. She heard Charlie’s footsteps behind her.
    She sprinted into the maze, running the first long, straight pathway, then pausing
in frustration at the corner where it branched in two. Charlie puffed up next to
her, and Amelia held a warning finger to her lips.
    ‘The guy in the black coat,’ she whispered. ‘He’s here.’
    Obviously, the only chance they had to find him was to each take a different path,
which meant they had to split up, but Amelia didn’t care right now. With everything
going to pieces up at the hotel, she was