[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
him quizzically. Really? There are definite traces of animal here somewhere, he said, looking down at his dog. Thomas has detected some- thing, and Thomas is seldom, if ever, mistaken. Mind if I take a look around? He didn t wait for a response and headed straight into the kitchen. Isla was jumping up and down frantically and Nikki looked at her thoughtfully before turning to her dog. Izzy, why don t you go and wait for me in the car? The little dog disap- peared and Nikki turned back to Isla. I think we need to go in, don t we? 97 * * * Meanwhile, inside Isla s room, Heather was peacefully standing on the newspaper waiting for her new coat to dry. She could see herself in the mirror and decided she looked rather smart, although she might have preferred to be all one shade of black rather than slightly patchy. Still, maybe it would be better when Isla put some pink on her. Where was Isla anyway? She d been ages. Heather decided to go and listen more closely at the door, to see if she could hear anything other than the televi- sion. When she tried to move, though, she found she couldn t lift her trotters. They must have got paint under them, because all four of them were stuck firmly to the newspaper. At that very moment, the noise from the television went off and her heart nearly stopped as she heard Isla s voice urgently shouting the code just outside the door, But my room s far too messy, in fact, it s a pigsty! Outside her bedroom, Isla was almost frantic as Mr. Horn- buckle and Thomas sniffed their way around the apartment, getting closer and closer to her room. Every once in a while the dog would stop and bark and his master would drop to the floor, pick up something tiny and hold it up to the light before smiling in a satisfied way, popping it into a little plastic bottle and getting back on the trail. They were speeding up now; they ignored the living room and were heading straight toward her as she stood blocking the path to her bedroom door. Both man and dog were concentrating so hard that they 98 didn t notice she was there, and the man s head was so low as he followed his dog that he only stopped when the dog went between Isla s planted feet and the top of the man s head bumped into her tummy. He looked up, slightly puzzled, and stretched past Isla to open the door to her bedroom. Isla moved to block him. He moved sideways and she moved with him. He moved the other way and again Isla blocked him. He dodged back but she was too fast for him; he pretended to go one way but Isla guessed what he was doing and thwarted him again. Finally an exasperated Mr. Wolstenholme intervened. Let the man in, Isla. The sooner he sees your room, the sooner he can be done and leave us in peace. Isla shook her head; she had tears in her eyes and didn t trust herself to speak, but she wasn t going to give in. She clutched at the door frame and then, just as both her dad and Mr. Horn- buckle stepped forward to move her, another voice spoke. Nikki had been watching Isla all this time and now she put her hand on the man s shoulder. Horatio, we don t need to see inside her room. Busby s hardly going to be in a girl s bedroom now, is she? She gently but firmly turned the man around and propelled him and his dog back along the hall toward the doorway. Isla and Mr. Wol- stenholme followed and when they all got to the door, Nikki turned around and shook Mr. Wolstenholme s hand. So sorry to have bothered you, and thank you for your time. Then she bent down and, making sure that nobody else could see, she gave Isla a big wink. Good-bye, Isla. She said it 99 slowly before adding very deliberately, You don t need to worry about Busby. I m sure she won t bother anyone again. Perhaps she s gone somewhere she ll never be found. Like a safari park, for instance, or even the zoo. Mr. Hornbuckle was giving his dog a candy from a packet and looking rather sad. He got to his feet, and as Isla was grin- ning at Nikki, the man saw his chance. He ducked around the two of them, strode along the corridor to Isla s room with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |