Alligator Action Read Free

chime. Two chimes. Three.
    â€œHOLD YOUR BREATH!” squeaked Josh, remembering Number Five—“
After third strike, DO NOT BREATHE until the bird calls
.” With half a second to spare, he and Danny dragged in a swift lungful of air and held it, their eyes bulging with anxiety.
    On the fourth strike, there was a loud hiss, and two plumes of purple gas suddenly punched out of the wall on either side of the door. Danny could feel it stinging his eyes. He screwed them shut, desperate to hold onto the safe air in hislungs for as long as possible. The clock chimed on from the other side of the closed kitchen door—five . . . six . . . seven . . . Danny felt as if his lungs were going to burst. Eight . . . nine . . . ten . . . . Josh was twisting around, desperate to see some kind of bird somewhere through the fading purple gas. Eleven . . . twelve . . . thirteen.
THIRTEEN
? Danny felt his mind flip. Had he lost count? Or was the clock really striking thirteen? Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen . . . . Josh felt faint. He must breathe soon! But no bird had called. And the air might still be poisoned!
Eighteen . . . nineteen . . . .
    CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!
    Danny and Josh exploded with exhaled air and pushed through the kitchen door, gasping. Onthe wall was a cuckoo clock, from which a little wooden bird was calling.

    At last the cuckooing stopped. Josh and Danny stood, panting and shaking, ready for their next instruction.
    â€œ
Wash up
,” puffed Josh. The washing-up bowl was full of cold water and crockery. Little bits of orangey grease and lumps of unidentifiable food floated across the surface, along with a semi-submerged scrubby sponge thing.
    Danny stepped over and went to pick up the scrubby sponge thing.
    â€œSTOP!” Josh yelled. “
USE GLOVES
!” Danny paused. He grabbed a pair of limp yellow rubber gloves from the draining board.
    â€œThere’s no telling what Petty put in that washing bowl,” muttered Josh. “Skin-melting acid, I bet. Or a deadly virus!”
    Danny didn’t wash up. He took all the cups and bowls and spoons and forks out of the water. He laid them down in a scummy puddle on the draining board. He looked for something hidden underneath them. “Bingo!” he said, lifting up another key.
    â€œI’ve seen this before,” said Josh, taking the key as Danny carefully peeled off the gloves. “It’s the key to Petty’s shed . . . and her old laboratory.” He gulped. “The next instruction is ‘Exit back on all fours.’”
    Quickly, they unbolted the back door and crawled across the threshold. Two inches above Josh’s burnt hair, three arrows shot across from one side of the doorway, embedding themselves in the wooden frame. A foul-smelling liquid oozed from the wounds they made in the paintwork. “Poison tipped,” whispered Danny with a gulp.
    It was a relief to be in the back garden. The weeds grew above their heads, so they bashed a path through to the shed without any fear of being seenfrom nearby houses. The key fit into the padlock on the shed. In a few seconds, they were inside. They passed the neglected old lawnmower, the pointless wheelbarrow, and the never-used rake. They stopped at the hidden door at the back of the shed.

    It felt very odd to go down into Petty’s old underground lab, knowing that she was not in it. It had always smelled pretty weird. But now it also smelled neglected and damp.
    Josh found a switch on the wall just inside the door. He switched it on. Light flooded through the room. It had once been filled with Petty’s stuff, but now it was empty apart from some trestletables, shelves, and boxes. In a booth in the corner was a very old computer. Petty had new ones at the new lab, and this one now looked ready for the trash heap.

    â€œEeerm . . . how long have we been in here?” Josh asked, suddenly sounding panicky.
    â€œDunno,” Danny said,