APDL Public Domain 1

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ APDL Public Domain 1 / APDL_PD1A.iso / educate / scouts / briandog < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-10-01 | 69.8 KB | 3,106 lines

Note : ---- This is the full text of Brian and the Denby-Bottom Dog-Knappers. Yes - another 'Brian the Cub Scout Story' ! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Brian and the Denby-Bottom Dog-Knappers A Cub Scout Story Brian was famous ! Brian was a star ! What was it that made Brian think he was such a famous star ? It was all to do with the Friday Express. This was a free newspaper that was published every Thursday or Friday of each week. It was delivered to most of the houses in the town. Brian even helped to deliver it now and again. His scout group made money out of putting them through people's letterboxes. The newspaper contained a lot of advertisements. If you wanted to buy anything from garden fences through to goldfish, you looked in the Friday Express. If you wanted to find out about the opening times of the nearest chemist or church or youth club or cub pack, you looked in the Friday Express. The middle pages always had details of what was on tv at the week-end. This was the first thing Brian turned to when the paper came through his front door. The newspaper also had some - but not very much - local news on its front page. Brian thought that he was a star and very famous because his name and his photograph had appeared on the front page of this newspaper. They had appeared not once ! They had appeared not twice ! They had appeared three times ! ********** The first time that Brian's name and photograph had been seen in the Friday Express was something of a mistake. Brian just happened to be in a certain place at a certain time. That certain place was outside the council offices in the town centre. That certain time was a Saturday morning and Brian was on his way to meet Uncle George at MacDonalds. He was being taken there as a treat for getting a good school report. As Brian walked past the council office, he saw Mrs Donaghue, who lived on the same street as him. Mrs Donaghue was tying herself to the railings outside the council office. She called him across and said, "Cub scouts are good at tying knots, Brian. Could you be a love and finish this last knot for me ?" Brian, eager as ever to do a good turn every day, obliged and tied Mrs Donaghue's remaining free arm to the railings. Mrs Donaghue had opened a hedgehog and frog sanctuary in her house on the estate. The estate was surrounded by a very busy ringroad. Frogs and hedgehogs were always being run down by cars. The injured animals would be brought to Mrs Donaghue's house and she would care for them. Mrs Donaghue wanted the council to build a frog and hedgehog underpass or tunnel under the road, so that the animals could cross in safety. The council said that they did not have enough money to do this. Some of her neighbours did not like Mrs Donaghue looking after frogs and hedgehogs. They said that she should not be allowed to keep wild animals in her house. They reported her to the council. A few days later, a man from the council visited Mrs Donaghue and told her to close down her animal sanctuary. If she did not, she would be evicted. Mrs Donaghue had tied herself to the council railings as a protest at this. Just as Brian finished tying the last knot around Mrs Donaghue's wrist, a reporter and photographer from the Friday Express appeared. Mrs Donaghue had brought an injured hedgehog with her, or at least that's what she said it was. It looked just like a big football covered in bandages, thought Brian, as he lifted it out of a nearby cardboard box. The photographer got Brian to stand next to Mrs Donaghue, with the big ball of bandages in his arms. A photograph was taken. Brian appeared on the front page of the following week's Friday Express. It didn't actually mention him by name, but all of his mates at school knew that it was him behind the ball of bandages. All of his friends were impressed. His mother was impressed. His Uncle George was impressed. Miss Smith, his class teacher, was not in the least impressed and she kept reminding him that he should not let it 'go to his head'. ********** Two weeks later, Brian appeared on the front page of the newspaper again - and this time it mentioned him by name. It all started one Sunday morning. Brian was sitting downstairs in the the living room, in his pyjamas, watching cartoons on tv. Uncle George was sitting in a nearby chair reading the Sunday newspaper. His mother was upstairs cleaning the bedrooms. Brian could hear the sound of the vacuum cleaner and the noise of its wheels being pushed across the bedroom floor. Brian wished that his mother would not hoover when he was watching tv. It sent wavy lines up and down the tv screen. The vacuum cleaner stopped. There was silence for a few seconds, followed by the biggest, longest, loudest scream Brian had ever heard in his life. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh !" "Turn the tv down" ,said Uncle George. "It's not the tv" ,said Brian. "I think it's mother." There was another scream. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh !" This was followed by thud, thud, thud, as Brian's mother ran down the stairs, almost leaping them two at a time. She came to a stop at the living room door and stood there shaking. Uncle George walked across to her and asked what was wrong. Brian's mother opened her mouth and said in a whisper, "Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss." "What ?", said Uncle George. "In the bedroom", she whispered, pointing up. "I saw a ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss." Uncle George looked at Brian and said, "I think your mother saw a spider in the bedroom. I'll go and kill it." Uncle George took his slipper of and climbed the stairs, shouting, "Here spider, spider. Here, spider, spider. Come to Uncle George." Brian turned back to look at the tv screen. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh !" This time it was Uncle George's turn to scream. He only screamed once however and then came running down the stairs. He grabbed Brian's mother by the arm and dragged her to the front door and out of the house. Brian finished watching the cartoon on tv and then switched it of. He looked round for Uncle George and his mother. He got up and looked in the hallway. He looked in the kitchen. He looked out of the windows into the front and back gardens. He couldn't see them anywhere Then it clicked ! It would be Brian's birthday in a few days and this was part of a surprise that they had planned for him. They couldn't fool him, he thought to himself. Brian walked out into the hallway and climbed the stairs to his room. In the room his mothers vacuum cleaner was lying on its side. Brian reached down to the elctric socket to unplug it. As he did this, something crawled out from under his bed and slithered across the floor. It was the BIGGEST snake Brian had ever seen. Well, maybe not the biggest. Brian had seen bigger snakes on tv. He had also seen bigger snakes on the cub-scout-day-out at the zoo. The zoo keeper had let Brian hold a snake and Akela had fainted when he gave it to her. What Brian was looking at now on his bedroom floor was a python. There was a shelf full of books above his bed and Brian reached up and took one down called 'The World Encyclopaedia'. On page 668 it had a picture of a python. It said a python was 'a type of constricting snake, found in Africa and Asia. It lays eggs. Some pythons can grow to 10 metres in length.' The python on Brian's floor was about 2 metres long. Brian also knew that the snake was called 'Pinky'. It belonged to the 'student' who lived on the street and Brian knew that it had escaped before. Mrs Geefe at number 22 had nearly had a heart-attack the other month when she found it curled up among the clothes in her washing basket. Brian knew the student and had seen Pinky before. He bent down and picked Pinky up and then went downstairs to phone the student. As Brian dialed the number, the front door burst open to reveal a policeman, a fireman with an axe, an ambulance man, Brian's mother and Uncle George. A police car, fire engine, ambulance and large crowd of people were standing at the front gate. Not long after this, the reporter and photographer from the Friday Express turned up. A photograph was taken of Brian, his mother, the snake and Uncle George. When the article appeared in the newspaper, it mistakenly said that Uncle George was the 'hero of the hour' and that he had rescued the family from 'certain death'. To Brian, the story did not matter. What did matter, was that he had appeared twice in the newspaper. At school, three girls in the class wanted him to sign the newspaper photograph for them. At pack night, Akela got the rest of the cubs to sit round in a circle whilst Brian stood in the middle and told them about the incident with the snake. Little did Brian know, that he would soon make the front page of the newspaper again ! ********** It was a Friday night. Friday the 1st of December to be precise ! It was nearly midnight. Brian was in bed, but not asleep. In fact, Brian was most definately awake. He was lying in bed, holding on tightly to his pillow. He had pulled the covers over his head. He could hear the sound of the wind outside his bedroom window. Every so often it would make the blind on the window bang loudly against the window frame. Every few minutes the crash of thunder shook the house and lightening flashed through the room. This was the worst storm that Brian could ever remember. During the weather forecast on tv, a big sign behind the reporter had the words 'SEVERE WEATHER WARNING !' written on it. The reporter said that people should stay indoors and that they should make sure there was nothing in their gardens that could blow around. Now and again Brian could hear the noises of things breaking. Crash ! That was next doors wheelie bin being thrown against the garden fence. Smash ! That was the window of the shed at number 62 being blown in. Crunch, smash, crash ! That was the greenhouse at number 54 blowing over. Flutter and flap ! That was Mrs Delany's washing. She had not taken it in, but left it on the clothes line in the back garden. It didn't stay on the clothes line for long and was soon flying everywhere. "A cub scout has courage in all difficulties." Brian kept saying this to himself over and over again under the bedcovers. He peered out from under the covers for a few seconds. It was too warm and he thought he would suffocate. He saw a round, white light going on and of against the far wall of his bedroom. He shot back under the covers again. "A ghost", he thought. Then he thought a little bit more. "No, hold on. Ghosts don't flash on and of like that." He realised what the white spot of light was. Brian scrambled out of bed and looked out of the window, just in time to see Toby's dads garden shed blowing over, destroying Uncle George's garden fence. The gnome with the fishing rod, sitting in the middle of the rockery, had his head sliced of by the shed roof. Brian looked across the street. It was in total darkness. None of the street lights were working. The electricity must have gone of in the houses as well, because he could see candles in some of the windows. Brian could just make out a figure in Paul's bedroom window, which was opposite his. Brian and Paul were both in the cubs and in the same class at school. There was the flash of a torchlight from Paul's window. On, of, on, of, on, of. Brian got his torch from the bedside cabinet and replied to the signal. On, of, on, of, on, of. Brian pretended that this was morse code and that he was sending a message telling the world that he wanted to be rescued. If you had asked him, Brian would have told you that they had 'done' morse code at cubs, that it was named after a man called Samuel Morse and that it was made up of a series of dots and dashes. Unfortunately, Brian had found the morse code evening at cubs really, REALLY boring and had not paid much attention. He would have to send pretend morse code messages, he decided. Who know's, he thought, maybe I will be rescued by one of those big yellow RAF helicopters that you see on tv. Brian imagined a helicopter hovering above the house, a rope ladder being thrown out and himself climbing out of the bedroom window and up the ladder to safety. Brian and Paul carried on sending signals to each other for about 10 minutes. Toby from next door must have been awake as well and joined in, because Brian could see the spot from his torch flashing on the wall of the house opposite. An extra large bolt of lightening and a very loud clap of thunder sent Brian and his torch back to bed and under the covers, where he promptly fell asleep. When Brian woke up again it was still dark - but very, very, very quiet. The storm had ended as suddenly as it had begun. Brian got out of bed and went over to the bedroom window. The street lights had come back on and he could see rubbish lying everywhere in the gardens below. Toby's dads shed was lying upside down. Mr Brown's greenhouse had no glass left in it. Mrs Delany's knickers had blown of her washing line and were hanging from the roof guttering of Paul's house. A lampost was standing at a funny angle. Nothing moved. Well, not quite ! As Brian looked down, he saw the figure of a man walking along the pavement, keeping to the shadows of the fence. As he passed the crooked street lamp, Brian saw that the man had a thick white beard and looked quite old. The man was walking with a limp. Brian wondered if the man had hurt his leg in the storm. The man wa also carrying a small dog under his arm. Brian yawned. He got back into bed and fell asleep. In the morning, when he went downstairs, Brian found his mother and Uncle George sitting round a small gas camping stove in the kitchen, waiting for a kettle to boil. "There's no electricity", explained his mother, "It went out about an hour ago." Brian got washed in a basin of cold water, got changed, had a mug of cool tea and then went out to help Uncle George pick up the rubbish in the back garden. Brian held the broken slats of the back garden fence as Uncle George nailed them back into place. Brian thought it was funny when Uncle George missed a nail and hit his finger with the hammer. Brian did not think it was very funny when the same thing happened to him. Later that morning Brian, Toby and Paul set out to explore the neighbourhood and the damage that the storm had caused. On their way out at the end of the street, Mrs Delany asked them to 'keep an eye out' for her dog. It was missing. It was probably frightened after the storm and was hiding somewhere. As the boys looked round the town, they saw that the storm had broken a few windows, blown of a roof or two and scattered rubbish and bins everywehere. They were in for a big surprise when they got to the scout hall. ********** As soon as they walked round the corner of Acorn Avenue, the boys could see that the scout hall had suffered badly. A large beech tree - Brian knew it was a beech tree because he had done his Conservation Badge - which stood in the grounds had fallen across the middle of the hall. The roof had smashed to the floor and the hall had almost been cut in half. As they got closer, Brian could see Akela and some of the scout leaders standing at the open door of the hall, looking in on the damage. Brian thought that pack nights would be very interesting from now on. There would be no more climbing trees for leaves - they had their own supply now. Wood for campfires would not be a problem and they could have great games of spotlight amongst the branches of the tree. Brian thought all of these things, but did not say anything because now probably was not the best time to speak out. One of the sout leaders had a video camera and he was going round filming the damage and interviewing people. "We could sell this to Jeremy Beadle", he said. The other leaders were not impressed. Akela pinned a note to the door of the hall. The note said : "TUESDAY EVENING PACK. MEET IN CHURCH HALL ON CHESTNUT AVENUE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE." Akela looked round at the boys. "Ah, Brian. Next Tuesday we are going to practice our sketch for the Christmas Celebrations and I have thought up something for you to do." That was all that Akela would say on the subject. She told Brian that he would find out more at the carol practice on Sunday afternoon. Brian did not like the sound of this. On previous occasions, Akela had got Brian to do a number of really, really stupid things. At the last district swimming gala, she had persuaded him to take part in the 50 metres breast stroke race - despite the fact that he said he could not swim and had to be rescued from the deep end of the pool. The previous summer the pack had visited the local Sea Life Centre. They had to go dressed as fish or 'something to do with the sea'. Akela had borrowed an octopus costume and Brian was the one made to wear it. He felt really stupid dressed as an octopus all day and had panicked when he needed to go to the toilet but couldn't find the zip in the costume with any of his eight arms. At the last Gang Show, Akela had got Brian to dress up as a ballet dancer, in tights and a skirt, and perform Swan Lake on stage. Mrs Smith had been at that performance and she did not let Brian forget it. At the cub cross country, Akela had walked of with Brian's inhaler. He promptly had an asthmatic attack during the first race and had to be stretchered of the field by ambulance. So Brian had every right to be suspicious ! The boys spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the damage around town. By the time they got home, they had neither found as much damage as they expected nor had they discovered the whereabouts of Mrs Delany's dog ! At least the electricity was back on and Brian returned to a hot meal of jellied eels, chips and peas. In bed that night, Brian had some difficulty getting to sleep. This had nothing to do with being afraid of another storm.No, in his mind he was going over all the things that Akela could possible have planned for him. Brian soon found out ! ********** The following afternoon the cubs met in the church hall for carol practice. The vicar welcomed them and then said that she would be back later. Her dog had gone missing, she explained, and she was going out to look for it. The cubs were given out sheets with the words to the carols printed on them and they began their practice. Akela got a bit annoyed when they sang their own words, rather than the proper ones. "We three kings of Leicester Square, Wearing ladies underwear......" "That's quite enough," said Akela. "We will be singing to the senior citizens next week . The district carol service is the week after that. SING PROPERLY !" Six carols later, Akela brought the singing to a halt. "That's very good, boys and girls," she said. "We are going to try something really exciting and different this year at the carol service. I wonder if you can guess what it is ?" Brian gulped and tried to hide behind John Austen. "Brian, come here please," said Akela. Very slowly, Brian walked across to Akela. Akela took a towel and draped it round Brian's head. She placed a large sweatband over his forehead and pulled the towel back so that he could see. She gave him a broom handel to hold. "Now Brian, turn and face the pack." There were a few sniggers and laughs as Akela explained what was going to happen. "This year, as you sing your carols, we are going to act out the nativity scene. We will have real live sheep and a real live donkey." "What about camels for the kings ?", asked Paul. "No Paul, Farmer Bolfrey is lending us the sheep and donkey. He does not have camels on his farm." "My uncle keeps lamas on his farm," said Steven Giles. "I could ask him if we could borrow them." "No Steven, that's quite alright. I think sheep and a donkey will be enough for one night," replied Akela. "Now pack", she continued, "Can you tell me what member of the nativity scene Brian is going to play ? Put your hand up to tell me and don't shout out." "An angel." "A shepherd." "Mary." "The baby Jesus." "Darth Vader." "A king." "I said don't shout out", said Akela in a VERY loud voice. Akela put her right arm in the air. One by one the cubs did the same and gradually they kept quiet. "Brian", she continued when there was silence, "Is going to play the part of Joseph." "No I'm not", thought Brian. "There's no need to get worried, Brian", said Akela, placing a strangle hold grip on his neck so that he could not move. "I have already asked your mother and she thinks that this is a really good idea." Worse was yet to come. Akela announced that Abigail Griffiths was to play the part of Mary. Abigail walked across to Brian and tried to hold his hand. "Don't they make a lovely couple," said Akela. At the end of what was the most embarrassing hour ever in Brian's life, the vicar returned and treated them all to an orange juice and a biscuit. Brian asked the vicar about her dog. "No, I did not find her. She's a little Yorkshire Terrier. I let her out into the garden at the usual time this morning and she did not come back into the house. Still, I'm not worried. She's got a name tag on - her name is Jordan (as in the river) - and I'm sure if anybody finds her they will return her." Brian told the vicar that he would look out for her dog. She thanked him. Brian and Paul left the hall together to walk home. At this point, a missing dog was not high on Brian's list of priorities. He wanted to get home and talk his mother out of letting him play the part of Joseph. ********** The following day proved to be more interesting than Brian would ever have thought. He was trying hard to finish his Animal Lovers Badge at cubs. Brian had become interested in this when the man from the R.S.P.C.A. had visited the pack to give them a talk about his work. To get his badge Brian had to : - visit a zoo or wildlife park. The pack had visited the local zoo and 'adopted' one of the animals there, a duck-billed platypus called George. - make a poster about the dangers in the countryside that threaten wildlife. Mrs Donaghue, the frog and hedgehog woman, had helped him with this. She took him to a local 'organic' farm where the farmer talked to him about the dangers of using some chemical fertilizers on the land. - take care of a pet. Brian was looking after the class hamster. It was called Arnold and Brian had taken it home for the week-end. Miss Smith had decided that December was 'animal month'. This morning, members of the class were bringing in their own pets from home and Brian was supposed to talk to them about looking after Arnold. Certain things happened that morning to change these plans. The first of these involved Claire Harrison. She came rushing into the class a few minutes before Miss Smith. Claire was excited and out of breath. "You'll never guess what I've just seen ?" Nobody paid her the slightest attention. They were all too busy examining the various cages that each had brought into class. Hamsters, mice and gerbils were more interesting than Claire Harrison. Claire stood on a chair. "Shut up and listen", she shouted. Still nobody paid the slightest bit of attention. In an even louder voice Claire said, "I have just seen a man kissing Miss Smith." You could have heard a pin drop in the class. There was total silence now. "Miss Smith got out of this car. It was a red Ford Sierra, registration number C123 XDF. It had a bash on its left side and its right wing mirror was missing.", she said, out of breath. "As Miss Smith stood on the pavement, the driver got out of the car as well." "He was really tall, bald, wore silver glasses, black jeans and a blue sweatshirt and he hadn't shaved." "He walked round to the pavement and kissed Miss Smith on the nose." "He looked like an Egyptian and I think he is a criminal." The class did not have any time to react to this, because just as Claire jumped down of the chair, Miss Smith came into the room and sat down at her desk. She took out a pen and started to mark the register. Brian couldn't take his eyes of her nose. "Brian", said Miss Smith. "Nose, miss", he said. "What ?" "Eh, present miss", he replied. Miss Smith closed the register. "Now class, I have an important announcement to make before we start this lesson". This was it, thought Brian, we're going to get some details of this strange Egyptian criminal who kisses English women on the nose. Brian was wrong. "As you all know, I had intended to bring my little dog into class today." Miss Smith owned a little Shitzu dog called Barry (because it reminded her of Barry Manilow she said - Brian wasn't to sure who Barry Manilow was). "My little dog has been stolen." I wonder if she's asked the Egyptian about it, thought Brian. "I intend to offer a reward for its return and there will be an advert in the local press." And that was all that Miss Smith said. She gave no further details and made not one mention of the strange man she had been seen with that morning. "And now", said Miss Smith, "Let us carry on with this lesson." One by one the class stood up to show and talk about their pets. Brian was looking forward to his presentation, but he never did get to stand up in front of the class. The reason for this was Abigail 'Mary' Griffiths. Abigail had gone over to Michael to ask him if she could see his pet. Michael said he would take his pet out of the cage and she could stroke it. A few seconds later Michael held a fully grown white rat in front of Abigail's face. Abigil promptly screamed and fainted. The white rat jumped out of Michael's hand. Michael ran round the classroom shouting, "Watch out, my rat's escaped. Don't stand on it." There was almost a riot at this, with Miss Smith, all of the boys and most of the girls standing on chairs shouting. Order was restored when the headmaster entered the room, caught Rambo the rat and returned him to his cage. Miss Smith complained that her nerves were in shreads and the rest of the morning was spent in writing. ********** At breaktime, Brian and his gang met at a corner of the playground. "I think something suspicious is happening", said Brian. The group was silent for a few seconds. "I agree", said Toby. "There was a programme on tv last night that said the number of U.F.O.'s is increasing." "Yeah", said Matthew. "The Friday Express interviewed a man who saw an alien spacecraft landing in the park." "I know somebody who has been abducted by aliens", said John. "No. Look, shut up !", said Brian. "I'm talking about all the missing dogs." "You think maybe U.F.O.'s are stealing them ?", asked Toby. "Yeah", said John. "Maybe aliens are stealing them and experimenting on them and sending them back to earth as mutants". "Maybe these aliens think the dogs are intelligent and that they rule the earth", said Matthew. "Maybe they need guide dogs in outer space", added Michael. "All of you, SHUT UP !", shouted Brian. "Forget U.F.O.'s and aliens. I am talking about missing dogs." The group went quiet again and stared at Brian. "Mrs Delany's dog went missing early on Saturday morning. The vicar's dog disappeared early on Sunday and you all heard what Miss Smith said about her one." Silence. "It seems strange that this is happening all at once", said Brian. Silence. "I'll bet you the Egyptian has got something to do with it", said George. The bell sounded and they started to make their way back to the classroom. "I still think aliens are involved", said Matthew. "My brother says his girlfriend is a dog", said Toby. "I wonder if she will disappear as well". ********** On Tuesday night, Brian's suspicions were confirmed. The cub pack met at the church hall at 6 o'clock. Chil was one of the leaders in the pack and her brother was a policeman.She had arranged with him for the pack to visit the local police station and find out what being a policeman was all about. The police station was only a 5 minute walk from the church hall. Chil got the cubs to find a partner and they walked in a long line out of the hall and down the hill to the police station. At the station they were welcomed by P.C. MacDowell, Chil's brother. During the evening they were handcuffed together, had their finger prints taken, got locked in the cells and were allowed to sit in a police car and try the siren. P.C. MacDowell also showed them the computer in the police station and the kind of information that was kept on it. "If you give me the number plate of your dad's car, I can tell you where you live", he said to Paul. "It's D475 WXS", said Paul. The policeman typed these numbers into the computer and a few seconds later said, in a puzzled voice, to Paul, "Your dad isn't called Sarah Watson and he doesn't live in Manchester, does he ?" P.C. MacDowell wrote something down in his notebook and turned to face the rest of the pack. He was rather red in the face - probably the heat thought Brian. "Now, boys and girls", he said "Do you have any questions before you leave ?" "Do you think aliens landed in the park last week ?", asked Matthew. "No, I don't think so. The man responsible for that particular story is in the cells at the moment. You might have heard him talking to himself when you were down there." "Have a lot of dogs gone missing recently ?", said Brian. The policeman looked surprised. "Why, yes, they have. We've had six reported missing in the past four days and that does not include those from villages outside the town." The policeman looked at Brian and said "What made you ask that? " Brian explained about the three missing dogs he knew of. At the end of the evening, Chil and the cubs thanked P.C. MacDowell. They left the police station and walked back to the church hall. Akela was waiting for them. As they stood in a circle in the hall, waiting to be dismissed, Akela made a few announcements. "We will be meeting in the church hall for the next six weeks." "Brian, don't forget, there is a meeting here on Thursday for the nativity players. The donkey will be here as well and it will give you a chance to practice your little bit of drama for the carol service." "And finally", said Akela, "Those of you who are taking part in the night hike this Friday, make sure you meet here - and not at the scout hall - at 8 o'clock. Your parents should collect you at 10 o'clock on the Saturday morning FROM HERE." "Right, any questions ? No ? Right, pack, pack stand at ease." Brian stood with his hands behind his back and his feet apart. "Pack, pack alert." Brian brought his feet together and stood with his arms at his side. "Pack dismiss. Goodnight boys and girls." Akela saluted them. The cubs saluted back and replied, "Goooooooooodnight Akela." ********** The following day in school, Brian and his Six met at lunchbreak in a corner of the playground. "I think we should do something about these missing dogs", said Brian. Brian told them what the policeman had said. "My next door neighbour has just got a dog", said Michael. "Maybe he's responsible for all the missing one's." "I heard a dog barking in a shed at the end of our road", said Matthew. "There might be more dogs in there". "I still think that the Egyptian has got something to do with this", added John. "Don't you think its strange that he suddenly turns up and just as suddenly dogs start disappearing?" "They eat dogs in Egypt", said Toby. There was a shocked silence as this fact sunk in. "Are you sure", said Brian doubtfully. "Yes", said Toby. "We need a plan", said Michael. "Why don't each of us check out our different leads", said John. The rest of the Six look puzzled. "I don't mean dog leads", said John. "I mean the kind of leads that detectives follow. Why don't Toby and Brian find out more about the Egyptian. Matthew and I will check the shed where he heard the barking. Michael and George can deal with their next door neighbour." The plan was agreed upon. "It's Tuesday now," said Brian. "Let's find out as much as we can before the end of the week and report back here on Friday morning." ********** It turned out to be a very eventful week ! On Wednesday morning, Brian and Toby arrived in school early and hid behind the large clump of bushes at the entrance to the car park. It just happened to be a prickly hawthorn bush and Brian spent the rest of the day removing thorns from his jacket, trousers, socks and anywhere else that thorns could go. Fifteen minutes later a red car stopped at the entrance. Toby suggested taking its number plate down, but Brian doubted if the police would be able to help them at this stage in their investigation. Brian did not get a good look at the man in the car, but he did hear what the man said to Miss Smith. "I can't pick you up later. I've got to go to the kennels this afternoon, so I'll meet you in MacDonald's after school." Miss Smith closed the car door and turned to walk up the drive. She stopped beside the bush and said loudly, "Brian. I don't know what your doing in there, but you better have a good explanation when you see me later." Miss Smith walked up the drive into school. Brian groaned. Toby said, "He's definately Egyptian." "What ?", said Brian. "The man in the car", said Toby. "He is definately Egyptian." "How do you know ?", asked Brian. "He was wearing sunglasses.", came the reply. "You've got to be foreign to wear sunglasses in England at this time of the year." When they got into class, Michael and Paul came across. "We checked out my next door neighbours dog", said Michael. "Its a cocker spaniel and he got it from his sister who lives in Leeds", added Paul. "That's right", said Michael. "His sister was down at the week-end. I saw her. She knows my mother and they spent a long time sitting in our kitchen talking. I didn't get any dinner until late that day because of her." "Okay", said Brian. "Sausage and chips it was as well", continued Michael. "My favourite. I had to wait hours before I got it. I was really starving." Brian looked at Michael. Michael was going to say something else, but didn't. Toby explained to them what had happened that morning. "What are you going to tell Miss Smith?", asked Paul. "I'll think of something", said Brian. "The problem is, Toby and I were going to go to the MacDonald's after school and spy on the Egyptian. I can't do it now because if Miss Smith sees me she will get really suspicious." Michael and Paul and Toby agreed that they would track Miss Smith and the mysterious Egyptian after school. Miss Smith came into the classroom and they returned to their seats. Miss Smith called the class register. Matthew and John were absent. When Miss Smith came to their names on the register she explained that they would be absent for a couple of days because they had been bitten by a big dog and had to go to the doctor's for anti-tetanus injections. After calling the register, Miss Smith told the class to take out their readers. They would spend the first part of the morning reading quietly to themselves, she said. Miss Smith then called Brian out to her desk. "Now Brian, would you please explain to me what you were doing hiding in the bushes this morning ?" "Its the Lesser Spotted Russian Grebe, miss", he said. "The what ?", said Miss Smith with a puzzled expression on her face. "Well, you know I'm doing my animal lovers badge at cubs, miss?" "Yes." "I'm doing a survey of the local wildlife. I got into school early this morning, before anyone was about, to record what wildlife I could see." "And that's when you saw the Lesser Spotted something-or- other?", said Miss Smith. There was a few seconds of silence as Miss Smith stared at Brian. Her stare seemed to reach right into the back of his brain. Her eyes seemed to say, "What a pack of lies." "Brian, the headmaster is an ornothologist. I will ask him about the bird you spotted. If I find you have been telling lies, I will come looking for you and this time we will not be talking about birds." Brian went back to his desk and sat down to read his book. At breaktime, Brian, Toby, Michael and Paul met in their usual corner of the playground. Abigail Griffiths came across to talk to them. "Did you hear what happened to Matthew and John?", she said. Abigail went on to explain that they had been playing football outside John's house. The ball had gone into a neighbours garden. They had gone in to get it. In the garden shed there was a really, really, really, really big dog. It got out somehow, chased them and bit them. Just as Abigail finished, Brian heard his name being called. "Brian, come here." It was the headmaster. "Brian", he said. "Show me exactly where you saw the Lesser Spotted Russian Grebe. This is really quite exciting you know." Brian took the headmaster to the hedge. The headmaster explained again that this was really a most exciting thing to happen. The Lesser Spotted Russian Grebe was extremely rare. Only five had been seen in the country this century. This would really put the school on the map. Brian missed most of the next lesson whilst the headmaster gave him the life history of the Lesser spotted Russian Grebe. That evening, Brian met John and Matthew and discovered what had happened to them. "We were pretending to play football", said John, "and we kicked the ball over the garden fence." "I knocked on the house door, but nobody was in.", said Matthew. "We went to the shed", he carried on, "but couldn't hear anything. So we opened the shed door." "This huge dog"........, said John. "No", interrupted Matthew, "this incredibly huge dog that looked more like Frankenstein's monster than a dog......." "Alright", continued John, "this really huge dog leapt out of the shed and started chasing us round the garden." "I think it was only trying to play", said Matthew. "But we didn't wait around to find out", said John. "We climbed over the fence into the next door neighbours garden and ran home." "So why did you have to go to the doctors ?", asked Brian. "We cut our hands climbing over the garden fence", said Matthew, "but my mother said we should go to the doctors, just to be on the safe side, in case there was anything wrong with the dog." "Great", thought Brian, "that's two leads that are no use to us so far. That just leaves the Egyptian." "You can forget the Egyptian", said Toby, walking round the side of the fence. "We went to MacDonalds, just like you told us", he said. "The Egyptian was there, only he's not Egyptian !" "His name is Mr Lawson. He is a friend of Miss Smith's. He met her during the summer holidays when she was on holiday in Egypt. He runs the big kennels next to the railway station and last week two dogs were stolen from them." Brian was amazed. "How did you manage to find all that out?", he asked. "Easy.", said Toby. "It's just all part of being a good detective." ********** When Brian arrived at school on Thursday morning, there was a huge crowd of people standing outside the school gates. They had binoculars and note books. The headmaster was standing in the middle of this crowd, being interviewed by a woman with a microphone. The whole thing was being recorded by a man with headphones on and a camera strapped to his shoulder. On the camera were the initials BBC. "Just how important is this ?", asked the woman with the microphone. "Extremely important", answered the headmaster. "We have bird watchers from all over the country here, this morning, just waiting to catch site of the Lesser Spotted Russian Grebe." Brian left the scene and walked into school. In class, Paul and Michael explained how they had found out so much about the mysterious Egyptian who was now neither mysterious nor Egyptian. "We stood in the queue at MacDonalds to get something to eat", said Paul. "We couldn't see the Egyptian sitting anywhere." "Then I looked round", said Michael, "and there he was, standing straight behind us in the queue." "Toby started talking to him", said Paul. "Toby told him he had seen him at the school." "And that's when he told us who he was and what he did", added Michael. So much for great detective work, thought Brian. At breaktime, the subject of missing dogs was not discussed. Matthew, Paul, Michael, John and Toby were getting a bit bored with the whole thing. Brian was totally stumped. He didn't really know what to do next. The boys spent five minutes annoying Brian about his part as Joseph in the carol concert, something he had to practice for tonight at the church hall. They also talked about what they were going to bring with them for the night hike on Friday. ********** Brian didn't spend a great deal of time at the church hall that night. He turned up, at 7 o'clock, with the rest of the cast. At ten past seven Farmer Bolfrey delivered his donkey. At quarter past seven, whilst Brian and Abigail Griffiths stood with the donkey at the back of the hall, waiting for Akela to give them a signal to come in, the donkey stood on Abigail's toes and refused to move. Abigail screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed. Brian tried to pull the donkey to one side. Abigail screamed some more. Akela hurried up the hall, smacked the donkey on the nose and it moved a few centimetres. The rest of the evening passed in a flash. Abigail was taken to hospital to have her foot examined. Farmer Bolfrey was telephoned and he came to collect his donkey. Brian and the rest of the cubs were sent home. ********** On the following Friday afternoon, Brian hurried home from school. This evening he was taking part in a cub scout night hike and he wanted to get home and get ready for it. In his bedroom he had the letter that Akela had sent to all the parents. The letter said : Dear Parent, On Friday, December 8th, there will be a night hike for all cubs in the pack. Cubs should meet at the scout hall (Brian knew that this now meant the church hall) at 7 o'clock. Cubs will need a sleeping bag, pyjamas, wash kit, packed supper (which they will carry with them) and a torch. It was the torch that interested Brian. He was scared of the dark and there was no way that he would take part in a night hike without one. Brian had seen some of the Venture Scouts with torches that attached to their heads, leaving their hands free. He was going to spend the evening before the hike making one of these hat torches. He got his Manchester United baseball cap, a thread and needle and his torch and sat down to stitch the torch on to the top of the cap. Half an hour later he was finished and he had his very own head torch. He tried it on. The torch was very heavy and kept slipping over his left ear, but it would do. Brian then got his rucksack, sleeping bag and the other bits and pieces that he would need for the hike. His mother gave him a packed supper, which he squidged into the top of the rucksack. At half past six, Uncle George took his rucksack and they walked down to the church hall. At the church hall Akela told them to put their rucksacks in a corner. She then got the cubs to stand in a circle and told Paul that he could lead Grand Howl. Akela stood in the middle of the circle. She raised her arms up and then lowered them. As she did this the pack crouched down - this was supposed to be what wolves did, but Brian had never seen any of the wolves in the zoo doing anything remotely like this. Altogether, the cubs said loudly "Akela, we'll do our best." The pack then jumped up and stood at the alert. Paul saluted Akela and said, "Cubs ! Do your best !" All the cubs saluted and said "We WILL do our best." "Yes and I hope you will do your best tonight. You must be on your best behaviour and do what the scouts and venture scouts tell you." Akela explained that each Six would be going out with a Venture Scout and a Scout. Each six would have a map and compass and an envelope giving them details of the route they were going to follow. There would be bases along the route and also tracking signs to guide them. The cub and scout leaders would be at each base and tea/coffee/soup/hot chocolate would be dished up to those who wanted it. "So remember to take your mug with you if you want a hot drink." The scout who was going with Brian's Six was called Andrew. Andrew had been a Beaver and a Cub and he probably would become a Venture Scout as well. Andrew did not like night hikes. Andrew was scared of the dark. Andrew did not know how to use a compass. Andrew had difficulty reading a map. Andrew could not admit this because his dad was one of the scout leaders. Brian knew nothing of this. The Venture Scout who would be going with them was called Mark. Mark had joined Ventures because his girlfriend was a Venture Scout. Mark did not like night hikes, was also scared of the dark, didn't know how to use a compass and had difficulty reading a map. Brian knew nothing of this either. Brian looked at the scout and venture scout and felt quite happy about the night hike. After all, if the cubs got lost they would have these two to help them - they were bigger and older than cubs and obviously knew more about night hikes and maps and things like that. "Right", said Akela, "What Six wants to go out first ?" Nobody volunteered. "Brian", said Akela, "Get your Six together and go and sit in the minibus." When they were seated in the bus and had put their seat belts on, one of the scout leaders told them to take their scarves of and blindfold each other. The minibus journey seemed to last forever. Brian was sure that they were being driven miles and miles away from the town. John gave up trying to memorise when they turned right and left. Michael said he was going to be sick if he did not take his scarf of. Matthew said he really, really wanted to go to the toilet. Andrew the scout and Mark the venture scout sat quietly listening to their walkman's. The bus stopped. Blindfolded, they got out. "Don't take your scarves of until you hear the minibus driving away", said the scout leader. When the minibus had gone, they took their scarves of. It was pitch black, cloudy and had just started to drizzle rain. "What do we do now?", asked Brian. The venture scout and scout ignored him. "What do we do now?", he asked again. Still he was ignored. "What do we do now?", he shouted, pulling out Mark's headphones at the same time. "There's no need to shout", said Mark. "Here's a map of the area and an envelope with instructions in it." Brian gave the map to Toby and took the envelope and opened it. A piece of paper said, "BASE 1 PORECOMBE CHURCH." And that's all it said. "I've heard of Porcecombe Village', said Roderick. "My dad took me there once. It's supposed to be haunted." Roderick told them that the village had been full of smugglers over a hundred years ago. Men used to smuggle brandy. One night the smugglers were discovered by a soldier.They murdered him and put his body in the big barrel of brandy they had with them. They rolled the barrel, with the body in it, through the village and past the other soldiers who were on duty there. "To this day", my dad says, "The ghost of a soldier in a red uniform is seen round the village." Thanks, thought Brian. That's all we need, an alcoholic ghost chasing us ! How on earth were they to find Porecombe Church when they didn't have a clue where they were ? "I think I can see a church tower just along the road a little", said Toby. In single file, with all their torches on, the group walked up the road and towards the 'tower' that Toby said he could see. Half an hour later, it was clear that they were lost. Brian's hat torch kept falling forward and hitting him on the nose, so he took it of. An owl hooted - and they jumped in fright. A fox ran out in front of them across the road - and they jumped some more. There was no church tower. Toby passed the map to Andrew and said, "Your the scout. Your supposed to be good at map reading. Tell us where we are." Andrew looked down at the map for a few seconds. He turned the map round three or four times. "We are here", he said, jabbing his finger on a road on the map. "If we walk along this road, we'll come to this big river that crosses the map." "I agree", said Mark the venture scout. "That blue line", said Michael, "Is a motorway !" There was an embarrassed silence. "Let's just walk along the road were on", said Brian, "and see where it takes us." They walked on in single file. "I can hear footsteps", said Roderick in a whisper. "Maybe its the ghost." Andrew and Mark looked round and stood a little closer to each other. The cubs stood still and the sound of the footsteps stopped. They started walking and heard the sound of the footsteps once more. "Its the sound of our own footsteps, you plonker", said George, pushing Roderick into a big clump of nettles at the side of the road. They spent the next five minutes looking for dock leaves to rub on Roderick's stinging hands and nose. They carried on walking up the road. The road soon became a muddy track. The muddy track soon became a muddy track with a gate across it and a sign that said, "Denby-Bottom Farm. TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED. KEEP OUT - THAT MEANS YOU !" "I think we should turn back", said Andrew. "I agree", said Mark. "I think we should go to the farm and ask for directions", said Brian. The rest of the cubs agreed. They opened the gate and walked up the track. They could see light coming from the farmhouse windows at the end of the track. In the distance they could hear dogs barking. "Those sound like BIG dogs", said Andrew the scout. "VERY BIG dogs", said Mark the venture scout. Brian knocked on the door of the house. A few seconds later it opened and an old man limped out. "What do you want ?", he asked in a voice that was neither friendly or unfriendly. "We are lost", said Brian. "Can you tell us how to get to Porecombe village from here ?", asked Roderick. The old man limped out of the doorway and asked them to shine their torches on the map. "You are here", he said. He pointed to Denby-Bottom farm on the map. "If you go back down this track, turn left at the junction with the road and carry on for about a mile, you will come to the village." They all thanked the old man and turned and walked back down the path. At the junction with the road, they turned left and about half a mile later came to a sign that said "Porecombe Village. 1 mile". Next to the road sign there was a footpath sign, with a red arrow on it that pointed across a field. Next to the arrow it said 'Porecombe half mile.' George looked at the map. "If we take the footpath", he said,"It will take us straight into the village and we will not need to walk as far." They all agreed, with the exception of Andrew and Mark who thought it was safer to walk along the road. One by one they climbed over the style next to the footpath sign and into the field. The moon had come out from behind a cloud and they could see the path running across the field. "Full moon" said Michael. "Watch out for werewolves !" "Shut up", said John. "I can hear footsteps" said Roderick. "Oh, not that again", groaned Michael. But this time they really could here the sound of something moving behind them. They stopped. It got closer. They started to walk quickly along the path, away from the sound. It moved quicker as well. They started to run. It started to run as well. "Help", shouted Roderick, as they galloped along the footpath and bundled across another style at the end of it. They lay in a heap, looking over the style at the thing that had been following them across the field. Brian started to laugh with relief. The thing was a cow, which was soon joined by at least five other cows. "So much for your footsteps", said Brian. They stood up and started to walk along the footpath again. About half an hour later, they climbed a style, crossed a small stream, which Roderick fell into, walked up a narrow road and came to Porecombe village. The village was just a narrow road, with houses either side of it and a church at one end. Some of the scout leaders were sitting at a table outside the church. They had a gas cooker there, with soup boiling on it. They also had hot chocolate and orange juice. All of Brian's Six had orange juice. Nobody said anything about getting lost. They were then given an envelope with instructions in it on how to get to base two. The rest of the night passed quickly. Back in the church hall at the end of the hike, they were given soup and bread. Brian and his Six lay in their sleeping bags, talking about the events of the night. Michael managed to drop his mug of soup into his sleeping bag. He didn't tell anybody and spent the night sleeping in tomato soup. Some hours later, after many death threats from the leaders, the cubs started to keep quiet and fall asleep. Just as Brian was drifting of to sleep, a thought suddenly occured to him. The man at the farm was familiar. Brian had seen him somewhere before ! It was the way he limped that stuck in Brian's mind. And then he remembered ! The old man could have been the same man that Brian saw on the morning of the storm, when Mrs Delany's dog had gone missing. Washing up in the morning after an incredibly burnt fried breakfast, Brian told his Six that he might have a lead on the dog-knappers. " I wish you would stop using the word lead", said George."And anyway, what is a dog-knapper ?" Brian ignored him and carried on. "I think we need to go back out to that farmhouse tomorrow and investigate some more. Meet me outside the cub hall tomorrow afternoon at one." Brian was picked up from the hall by Uncle George, taken home and put straight into the bath. Downstairs he heard his mother complaining about the snails she had found in his rucksack. After getting something to eat, Brian fell asleep in the chair by the tv and did not feel Uncle George lifting him up and putting him to bed. **************** When Brian woke up, he realised that he had almost forgotten. Forgotten what ? He had almost forgotton what was sure to be THE worst and THE most embarrassing event in his life so far ! That event was the Cub Carol Concert, in which he was playing the part of Joseph, with Claire as Mary. Brain had not been able to persuade his mother to change her mind. "No", she said, when he asked her, "I'm quite happy with the mind I've got and I don't want to change it." Brian's mother had laughed and laughed at this. He didn't really get the joke ! He wondered if pretending to be ill might get him out of tonights production. The answer to that was probably no. Like all adults, his mother was naturally suspicious and would see straight through his illness. "Brian, get up and get ready." "Yes, mum", he replied glumly. Two hours later he was in the hall next to the church, changing into his Joseph costume. Looking in the mirror, he had to admit that the costume was not bad looking and that he looked a bit of a hero in it. He might even put up with Claire if the congregation thought the same. Farmer Bolfrey was standing in the entrance porch. He apologised to Akela for the lack of sheep. Somebody had left a gate open in his field last night and the sheep had wandered out. He had brought a different donkey to the one that had stood on Claire's toes. "This donkey", he said, "Is an incredibly well bahaved donkey." And, Brian had to admit, it did seem that way. It stood quietly whilst Akela helped to lift Claire onto its back. It stood quietly whilst Brian held its reigns. It stood quietly whilst the choir and congregation sang "Hark the Herald Angels" and the vicar welcomed them. As the first few lines to "O Little Town of Bethlehem" were sung, Akela opened the church doors and the donkey was obediently lead by Brian into the church. Brian took the donkey through the doors and down the aisle. "This is going really well," thought Brian. Five seconds later, Brian changed his mind. Two things happened at the same time. Thinking back on it later, Brian was not sure which of the two he had paid most attention to or even if the two were related or even if they had really happened at the same time." As Brian and the Donkey and Claire got half way down the aisle, one of the boys in the choir let out a scream. Candle wax had dripped onto his hair and he could smell burning. He could see smoke. His father, who was also in the choir, also smelled burning and also saw smoke. Quick as a flash, he grabbed his son, ran him over to the font and dipped his head in it. The boy shouted as he went in, was silent and then came out coughing and spluttering because he had tried to breath under the water. At exactly the same time as this, the donkey shook its head and reigns out of Brian's grasp and kicked out with its back legs. Claire, who had not been expecting this, did a kind of double somersault sideways into a pew and landed on top of Miss Smith who had been singing. Both went down with a thud, Miss Smith still grasping her hymn book in her hands. The organ stopped playing. The congregation stopped singing. The choir eventually stopped singing and sat giggling. The donkey turned round and fled from the church. Several men rushed forward to help. The vicar asked everyone to sit down, whilst the men helped Claire and Miss Smith from the church. Luckily - just my luck, thought Brian - both Claire and Miss Smith proved to be none the worse for their experience. **************** The following morning, Brian met the rest of his Six outside the locked doors of the scout hall. It was a bit pointless locking the doors thought Brian, because all you had to do to get into the hall was to clamber along the trunk of the tree. The boys had brought various items with them to help them in their invetsigation. Brian had borrowed a pair of army binoculars from Uncle George. John had brought a telescope that had 'present from Blackpool' written on it's side. He also had a compass built into the sole of his shoe - it was why he had wanted that pair when he saw them in the shop window. Michael had brought a stamp magnifying glass. This would help them search for small clues, he explained. Roderick had a camera, but no film as he later discovered. George had a copy of the cub scout handbook. The chapter on tracking would be useful, he said. "We can identify dog prints." Toby had covered his face in black and brown camouflage paint, so that he wouldn't be discovered easily. He offered it to the other cubs and they spent 5 minutes putting the paint on their faces. Brian had a copy of the night hike map. He had borrowed it from Akela and got her to show him the route that they had followed. The farm was not as far away as he thought. They had obviously been driven round in circles on the night hike, just to make it seem longer. They set of. They followed the public footpath outside the hall, down the hill and across the fields to the sewage farm. Here they turned right. George took his shoe of and told them it was east. Forty minutes later, they were hiding in a large clump of bushes, on a small hill, that looked over the entrance to Denby-Bottom Farm. Brian lookd through his binoculars, but there was not much to see. It was very quiet. There was a car parked outside the door of the house. A few minutes later the door opened and out came the old man with the limp, the one who Brian remembered seeing on the night of the storm. A younger man stood in the doorway speaking to him. The old man had two dogs on a leash, one of which looked a lot like Mrs Delany's little dog. He put them in the back of his car, got in and drove away. What were they going to do now ? "They are definately the criminals", said Brian. "This must be their base", said Michael. "You don' think its bugged?", said John. "You know, with cameras and trip wires." "Like the Man from Uncle", said George. "We need a plan", said Brian. "I've got to get home for my dinner in half an hour", said Matthew, "So it had beetter be a short plan." "My great-aunt Emily is coming down this afternoon, so I'll need to go as well", said Roderick. There was silence for a few minutes as they all thought. Brian was the first to come up with an idea. He told Michael to follow him and left the others still hiding in the bush. Brian and Michael walked down the hill and on to the track that led to the farm. They opened the gate and walked up the track to the house. "Do you think this is a good idea?", asked Michael. "Just watch and listen and say nothing", said Brian. They walked up to the door of the house and knocked loudly. Inside, Brian could hear a tv being turned down and a dog barking. The door was pulled open and a man stared out. He had the fiercest eyebrows Brian had seen on anybody. He hadn't shaved for a while and looked in a really bad mood.A little dog stood barking behind his legs. "Yes", said the man. "We're lost", said Brian. "Could you give us directions, please ?" Brian held the map up to the man. The man didn't look at the map. He simply said, "Go down the track, turn right on the road and that will take you back into town." The man turned to close the door. "You couldn't give my friend a glass of water, please. He's not feeling very well." The man grunted something that Brian could not make out and walked back into the house, leaving the door open, with the small dog, who had now stopped barking, sitting beside it. "I'm not thirsty and I feel fine", said Michael. "Look, just shut up and drink the water SLOWLY when he gets back", said Brian. A few seconds later the man came back with a glass of water and gave it to Michael. Brian started to stroke the small dog and said "This is a really nice dog. What's it's name ?" The man did not reply, but just looked at Brian. "It must be expensive", continued Brian. "My next door neighbour has just got one and it cost over 100 pounds." "Spock", said the man. "Spock what ?", said Brian. "Spock, that's what the dog is called", said the man. "My neighbours have called theirs Klingon", said Brian. "Isn't that funny." "Isn't what funny ?", said the man. "Well, that they have both got Star Trek names", said Brian. "Oh", said the man. "I'll tell you something else that I find funny", said Brian. "What", said the man. "You would think that my neighbours would keep their dog indoors. But they don't. They keep it in a shed in the back garden." The man held out his hand and said, "Give me your map and I'll show you the shortest way home". He took the map. Brian pointed out where he lived. It's number 50, he said. The man looked at the map for a few seconds and then showed Brian the footpath route that he and the cubs had followed earlier. Michael handed the man back his empty glass. He and Brian said "Goodbye" and "Thank you" and walked back down the track and out of the farm. He and Michael joined the rest of the cubs in the clump of bushes. "So, what happened", asked George. "Nothing much", said Michael. "The man gave me a glass of water and that was that." "We've laid a trap", said Brian. Michael's mouth opened and he stared at Brian. "I told the man where he can get his hands on another expensive dog." Brian then explained what he had told the man and set out his plan. "All we have got to do now, is keep watch on the shed in Toby's garden and wait for the dog- knappers to turn up". ************ Brian's Six were very excited by his plan, all of them that is except Toby. "We don't have a dog", he said. "I know", said Brian. "But you do have a garden shed. The dog- knappers will need to open the shed to see if there is a dog in there and that's when we can get them." On their way home they talked about the plan and realised that they now had a MAJOR problem ! Should they tell somebody about the trap they had set or would they try and catch the dog-knappers on their own ? "What if the man in the farm turns up to kidnap the dog that is supposed to be in Toby's shed ? How are we going to stop him ?", asked Michael. "We could dig a pit beside the door to the shed, cover it with grass and let him fall into it", said John. "My dad wouldn't be too happy about a big hole being dug in his garden", said Toby. "And somebody would wonder what we were doing", said George. "What if my mum or dad fell down the hole first?", asked Toby. The idea of digging a trap was forgotten. "We could electrocute the handle of the shed door, so that when the dog knapper touches it he gets zapped.", said Roderick. "He might be wearing gloves", said John. "What if my mum or dad touched the handle first?", asked Toby. The idea of electrifying the shed handle was forgotten as well. "Couldn't we get some rope from the scout hall and jump him when he tries the shed door? We could wait on the roof or inside the shed.", suggested Matthew. "The man looked quite big", said George. "The man looked quite big and strong", said Roderick. "He looked quite big and strong and brutal", said Michael. "What if he kidnapped us instead", said John. "My mum says she would pay somebody to take us away", said Toby."So she wouldn't pay the ransom." This was not a good idea, they decided. By the time they had reached the scout hall, Brian decided that they had to tell somebody and that somebody should be Chil's brother, PC McDowell. He had to be told as quickly as possible. The dog-knapper might strike tonight. As soon as they got back to the scout hall, the others went home, whilst Toby and Brian visited Chil. She listed quietly whilst they told her their story. Chil made a telephone call and a few minutes later the boys were sitting, telling their story once more to PC McDowell. In the next hour there were quite a few frantic telephone calls made. Toby's parents told. Brian's mother and Uncle George were told. It was agreed that PC McDowell would keep watch from Toby's kitchen window that night. **************** Toby was allowed to spend the night with Brian. Toby had his supper round Brian's that night and at 9.30 they went to bed. Toby had brought his sleeping bag with him and he was going to sleep on the floor next to Brian's bed. In the bedroom, they turned the lights of and pulled the curtains open. They both crouched down, looking out of the window, waiting for the dog-knappers to appear. "I'll never get to sleep", said Toby. "Me neither", said Brian. Five minutes later they were both asleep. They woke up to the sound of Uncle George knocking on the bedroom door. "They've caught somebody", he said. Both boys jumped up and raced downstairs to the back yard. PC McDowell was standing holding the arm of the man with the fierce eyebrows from the farm. A police woman was walking through the gate with the old man who had a limp. After the police had taken the criminals away, Brian's mother made them all a mug of hot chocolate. They sat at the kitchen table, talking about the events of the night. About an hour later, PC McDowell returned to say that the police had visited Denby-Bottom Farm. In a large barn they had discovered over twenty caged dogs. I'll bet you Miss Smith and her English Egyptian will be pleased, thought Brian ! ************ 'Courageous Cubs Catch Cowardly Criminals : Denby-Bottom Dog-Knappers Reign of Terror brought to an End !' This was how the Friday Express covered the story ! Underneath the BIGGEST headlines that Brian could ever remember seeing in the newspaper - although he was biased and maybe the headlines were not that big - there was a photograph of Brian and his Six. A small passage at the side of the photograph described the story. "Reports of missing dogs have had local police baffled. Thanks to the intrepid defective skills of a local cub pack, two men are now under lock and key, charged with dog-knapping !" On the last day of term, Miss Smith read this out to the whole of Brian's class. She laughed at the word 'defective', although Brian could not understand why. ************ It was the night before Christmas and Brian was lying awake in bed. He was determined not to go to sleep ! He had raised the pillows behind his head and was lying with his head upright. Why ? He wanted to find out exactly who or what was going to deliver the Christmas presents. His mother said that it was Santa Claus. She also said that since they did not have a chimney, she had to fill in a form booking the delivery of the presents and post it to Greenland. Brian did not really believe this ! Tonight he was going to get the proof he needed. It was a clear moonlight night. Brian could see around the room. It was almost midnight on his Sonic the Hedgehog bedside clock. And then it was almost two o'clock. He must have fallen asleep ! He looked across the room. On the chair opposite his bed he could see a dark figure sitting. He could see the moonlight reflecting in its eyes. Brian felt his body stiffen in fright. He breathed out very , very slowly, trying not to make a noise. What was he going to do ? There was obviously a stranger sitting in the chair opposite his bed. Who could it be ? It was too big to be Uncle George ! It wasn't the right shape to be his mother ! Maybe one of the Denby-Bottom Dog-Knappers had escaped from the police and was now waiting to get his own back on Brian ! Ever so slowly, Brian pretended to turn over in his sleep and he pulled the bedcovers up and over his head. He made a hole in the edge of the covers with his finger and peered out with one eye. He almost believed that he could hear the figure breathing. When Brian opened his eyes again it was daylight. On the chair opposite his bed he could see a big mound of presents and on top of the mound there was a cardboard box with a hole cut in its side. Looking out of the hole were two eyes - the biggest eyes on the smallest dog that Brian had ever remember seeing. A card on the side of the box said, "Happy Christmas, from Uncle George and Mum." THE END.