Casper Candlewacks in the Attack of the Brainiacs! Read Free Page A

cobbles. He stopped at the door to a boarded-up shop with a small sign that said Le Cheese Shop. He open tonight. He fiddled with the key, pushed open the door and shuffled inside. But that’s not important because Renée’s obviouslynot anyone to worry about and he’s certainly not hatching any evil plans or anything. Don’t even know why I mentioned him, actually.

The country lanes trawled by slower than a lazy snail. Casper smudged his nose on the window of the train and sighed. Summer was over and school was ready to take its place, filling his days with boredom and sums.
    Casper and Lamp sat at one of those four-seat tables opposite Milly and Milly Mollyband, the identical twins (who’d been given the same nameto save time and name-badges). They’d obviously heard about the alligators too because they both trembled so hard that Lamp thought there was an earthquake going on.
    Eventually, Lamp decided he liked earthquakes, so Casper had some more time to look out of the window. When he looked back, Lamp was scratching his oily black hair and then sniffing his finger. “Strawberry,” he said. “Must be Monday.”
    Casper frowned. “What?”
    â€œI invented a shampoo that knows what day it is. It changes flavour to match. Monday means strawberry.”
    â€œOh…” Casper frowned.
    â€œAnd you know I smelt of eggs yesterday?”
    â€œWas that the shampoo too?”
    â€œNope, I’d just been eating them. Got my lastthree here. Want one?” He pulled three boiled eggs from an inner pocket of his blazer.
    Casper took an egg to keep Lamp happy and placed it carefully in his backpack.
    Lamp licked his lips and saved his two for later.
    â€œOY! WOSSAT?” A shriek tore from the back of the carriage.
    â€œIt’s Anemonie!” whispered Casper. “What does she want?”
    â€œI want that! It’s mine!” A small, pointy-nosed girl with squinty eyes and dark hair stomped up the aisle, pointing straight at Lamp with her sharpened pink fingernails. Her sickly sweet perfume made Casper gag.
    Lamp plunged his eggs into his pocket and pretended to be asleep.
    â€œWhat were you holding? Give it.”

    â€œZzzzzz,” snored Lamp. Then he opened one eye and whispered, “Has she gone yet, Casper?”
    Anemonie Blight jabbed a few fingernails into Lamp’s side.
    â€œOuch! I mean… zzz. Oh, bother.” The game was up.
    â€œGive it.” Anemonie reached for a sharp-tipped pencil that she kept behind her ear. “Last warning, Flannigan. This pencil is leaded.”
    â€œFine. Didn’t want it, anyway.” Lamp withdrew his trembling hand from the pocket clutching one of the boiled eggs.
    â€œAn egg ?” Anemonie’s face wrinkled with disgust. She swatted the egg at Milly Mollyband, but it missed and struck Milly Mollyband.
    Anemonie snarled. “Now, gimme your lunch money.”
    â€œThat was my lunch,” said Lamp, staring hungrily at Milly Mollyband’s blazer.
    â€œHow ’bout yours, then, Candlewacks?” Anemonie swung the pencil towards Casper.
    Casper considered giving Anemonie his egg as well, but he valued not having a pencil sticking out of his face a bit too much for that. The two one-pound coins that he’d brought for lunch weighed heavily in his pocket. Begrudgingly, he handed them over.

    â€œThere. Not so hard, was it?” Anemonie smiled her sickly smile and skipped away back down the carriage to play ‘Ding Dong Bell’ on Teresa Louncher’s pigtails.
    Casper sighed. Anemonie had been stealing his lunch money for as long as he could remember, but for some reason he thought going to senior schoolwould change things.
    One of Teresa’s pigtails landed on his table with a plap . Evidently things hadn’t changed.
    â€œI miss my egg,” moaned Lamp.
    â€œHere. Have mine.” Giving Lamp his egg back cheered him hugely. He sang some