The Warrior Sheep Go West Read Online Free PDF Page A

hands and tut. He hated being rushed.
    â€œOK,” he said, “I’ll get the brain scanner from the car.”
    â€œThere’s no time for that,” said Holly. “This is illegal. And the pilot wants us to go. Now!” She pushed open the shed door and hurried inside. Five pairs of eyes turned toward her. “Which two do you think?”
    Stanley followed her in and shut the door peevishly. “I don’t know by just looking at them, do I?”
    â€œI did tell you they’re all bright,” his wife reminded him.
    â€œI know, but I’m a scientist. I have to conduct some sort of intelligence test.” Stanley looked irritably round the shed. “Ah.”
    He’d seen a pile of buckets by the wall next to a bin of animal feed. He hurried across, took three buckets, and stood them in a row. Then, while the sheep watched, he took a handful of feed from the bin. With a flourish, he dropped one of the round, grape-sized nuts of food into the first bucket. Then he dropped two nuts into the second. The third he left empty.
    â€œPass me that newspaper, honey,” he instructed.
    Holly glanced at her watch but fetched the old newspaper her husband was pointing at and handed it to him. He placed a folded page over the top of each bucket.
    â€œThe smartest animals,” he said to Holly, “will remember which bucket has the most food and head straight for it.” He folded his arms and stared at the sheep.
    They stared right back.
    â€œWhat’s all that about?” asked Oxo.
    The sheep had eaten well on the plane and not even he fancied a snack yet.
    â€œNo idea,” said Wills.
    Jaycey suddenly noticed that the empty bucket was shinier than the other two. She trotted across to it.
    â€œOhmygrass…” she moaned, peering at her reflection in its side. “Just look what this heat is doing to my fleece already…”
    Holly was standing beside her husband with the clipboard she always carried in her briefcase.
    â€œCross that one off,” said the Professor. “It went straight for the empty bucket.”
    Wills followed Jaycey. With his teeth, he gripped the newspaper from the top of the empty bucket and dropped it on to the floor.
    â€œIf I can find a map,” he said, “I might be able to tell exactly where we are.”
    â€œJust as stupid as the first one,” declared the Professor. “Cross it off.”
    â€œAre you sure, darling?” Holly was watching Wills. “It actually looks quite bright to me.”
    The Professor raised his eyebrows. “Honey, do I tell you how to go about organizing things?”
    â€œSorry, darling.”
    Holly bit her lip. Stanley only ever contradicted her when they were talking about something scientific. And she always let him. He was, after all, the cleverest scientist in the world. Or so she believed.
    They watched the sheep silently for a few moments, then Holly glanced at her watch again and began tapping her fingers anxiously on her clipboard. Links got to his feet and walked away.
    â€œShe got no rhythm, man,” he muttered. “That is painful on the ears.”
    â€œCross it off?” asked Holly.
    â€œCross it off,” said Stanley.
    â€œSo we take the remaining two?”
    â€œJust let me make quite sure.”
    The Professor dredged a handful of feed nuts from the bin, held them high in the air, then dropped the lot noisily into the empty bucket. Then he opened up another sheet of newspaper and with a dramatic flourish laid it across the top.
    Something scarily familiar caught Oxo’s eye. He stiffened.
    â€œDo you see what I saw?” he asked.
    Only he and Sal had been watching.
    â€œA red tongue,” she breathed. “On the bucket.”
    â€œJust like the one on the laptop thingy?” asked Oxo.
    â€œExactly like it,” said Sal. “Is it a pop-up?”
    â€œNo,” growled Oxo. “It’s a