The Top Secret Diary of Davina Dupree Read Online Free PDF Page B

emergency – we heard a car swerve to a stop.
    Two of its doors crashed open and the unwelcome voices of Pike and Croaka filled the air like a bad smell.
    ‘Stand back, idiots, we’re coming in,’ Croaka growled. ‘Jacinta, bring the peelin’s.’ There were some rattling sounds, a few rude words, then a door creaked open. Pike and Croaka must have walked inside because seconds later the door slammed shut and there was silence.
    ‘Run. Fast. Now.’ I said to Arabella in a low voice. ‘This might be our only chance.’ We pelted off down the street, towards the bus stop in the village. I was so glad to get back to school and feel safe again, but poor Katie and Harriet! They must be so miserable and Harriet sounded really ill.
    So as you can see, Diary, we now know we are dealing with very serious stuff, a crisis in fact. We wanted to tell Mrs Fairchild yesterday afternoon after we got back so she could phone the police but the deputy head, Mr Longshanks, who always looks rather cross, said she was out at an all-day salsa dancing festival and that “whatever it was would have to wait till tomorrow”. So we’re off to see her now.
    Monday, 16 th September
    Honestly, Diary!
    I still think old Mrs Fairchild is a bit of a lamb but she’s also totally crackers. When Arabella and I went to see her yesterday afternoon she had her feet up on the day bed in her study as she said she was rather sore from all the salsa-ing she’d done the day before, but she invited us to come in for a chat.
    So in we went, perched on a couple of foot stools by the day bed and explained the situation as best we could, showing her Katie’s note at the end.
    She took her glasses off her head, stared at the note for a minute, then threw her head back and went in to peals of laughter. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it!
    ‘Oh you two nearly had me there,’ she said, wiping her eyes. ‘Such good larks, well done. It reminds me of the time when I was a girl at Egmont and we convinced the headmaster, Mr Crosby, that … Oh we laughed for weeks.’
    ‘Um, it’s not a joke Mrs Fairchild, everything we just told you is true. Surely you must recognise the handwriting on that note,’ I said.
    ‘Oh stop it! That handwriting is so shaky anyone could have written it.’ She was screaming with laughter again. ‘Oh you two are a good tonic. I haven’t laughed like this since old Bertie the caretaker got his head stuck through the cat flap when Tiddles was having a funny turn.’ Tiddles is her fluffy Persian cat who none of us like because he scratches anyone who tries to stroke him.
    ‘Honestly, Mrs Fairchild.’ Arabella had a go at convincing her. ‘We
know
that Katie Cherry and Harriet Wise are being held hostage in a bunker in Little Pineham because they talked to us through the door. Miss Pike and Miss Croaka are criminals.’
    ‘But, my dear.’ Mrs Fairchild chuckled. ‘Katie Cherry and Harriet Wise wrote their letters of resignation themselves. I’ve known them for years and I’d know their handwriting anywhere. That’s not to say I wasn’t shocked, of course,’ she went on and a little frown appeared on her forehead. ‘And a little hurt that they didn’t discuss such big decisions with me. But it must have been what they wanted and life goes on. Did I hear you say you’d slipped off to Little Pineham by yourselves, you cheeky monkeys?’ The frown had been quickly replaced by a grin. ‘Well I tell you what, if you run along now like good children, we’ll say no more about it.’
    ‘But –‘ I began.
    ‘Off you go, my pets,’ Mrs Fairchild waved us away with her papery hand. ‘You’ve given me a jolly good laugh but let me rest up now, there’s good people.’
    ‘Come on, Davina.’ Arabella looked as depressed as I felt. ‘Let’s go.’
    So here we are, still no closer to rescuing the old art teachers and with no idea why the new ones kidnapped the old ones!
    Arabella’s having another flying lesson at the moment