Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage Read Free

station this morning to get help, when I saw this.”
    She unrolled the newspaper from her bag and laid it on the table, showing the headline:

    Rory went pale. Lazlo sensed something was wrong, too. He ran down Rory’s arm and started biting the edge of the newspaper.
    “It gets even worse,” Elspeth said. Rory and Lazlo both stared at her, listening carefully. “Miss Crabb and Gladys Goulashbroke into my house,” Elspeth explained. “They got in this morning and stole the recipe for the Extra-special Sticky Toffee Sauce!”
    “WHAT?” Rory went even paler.
    “Yes,” Elspeth said. “I need to find them, so I can get it back.”

4
The Plan to Get the Recipe Back
    “Elspeth, you can’t! It’s too dangerous!” Rory said. “You can just put another copy of the recipe together, can’t you? You know the code now… Why would you go chasing after them?”
    “Think about it,” Elspeth said. “The most important thing is that there is only ever one copy of that recipe! Hart’s Extra-specialSticky Toffee Sauce won’t be so extra special if Crabb and Goulash know how to make it! I’ve GOT to get it back. I’m going after them.”
    “Elspeth,” Rory said earnestly. “I think you need to stay as far away from those two as possible. You’ll be safe here. We’ve got electronic gates and security cameras and everything.”
    Elspeth wasn’t a bossy person, but she could be very determined sometimes.
    “Rory, you know how important that recipe is to my mum and dad. And it’s my fault that Crabb and Goulash got their hands on it, so I have to get it back. I know exactly where we have to go to find it.” She flicked through the newspaper and showed Rory the article about the HMS Unsinkable .
    Rory started to read, looking nervous.
    Elspeth pointed to Miss Crabb’s scribbles. “See? They’re going to get on the ship pretending to be the ladies who work in the hair and beauty salon. We have to get on the ship, too!”
    Rory was much more cautious than Elspeth. From the look on his face, she could see that he’d need a bit of persuading.
    “Please, Rory. You’re the only one I can trust. Plus … it’ll be an adventure!” Elspeth gave him her most pleading look. “We need to go straight away, though. The ship sails tomorrow.”
    Rory stared at her. “You can’t be serious,” he said.
    “I am! We’ll need money for the train, then we just have to get on board the ship somehow,” Elspeth said.
    “You want to sneak on to a ship … that’s going all the way to America … in case that ship has Miss Crabb on it? Are you insane?”
    Lazlo hopped up and down on Rory’s shoulder.
    Elspeth nodded firmly. “I’m getting on that boat, Rory. It’s my only chance! I’ll go on my own if I have to, but I’d really like you to come with me. Together I know we can get the better of Miss Crabb and Gladys Goulash. Please? Pleeeeeease ?”
    Elspeth knew she’d persuaded Rory when she saw a tiny smile appear on his face.
    “OK, OK, OK,” said Rory, “I’ll come – I can’t let you do this alone. Even though I think it’s a mad idea.”
    “Rory! Thank you!” Elspeth gave him a hug and he blushed. Then she sat down and pulled her notebook out of her rucksack.“Right, it said in the paper that the ship sails at six o’clock tomorrow evening. It’ll be hard to sneak off without Mr Tunnock noticing. Maybe we should slip away tonight, when he’s asleep.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Rory. “He’d realize I was gone in the morning. Then he’d have to phone my mum and dad to say I’m missing.”
    “Hmm.” Elspeth thought for a minute. “You need an excuse to go away for a bit. That way, Mr Tunnock won’t be worried about you, and your parents will never know you’ve been gone. Hey, couldn’t we say we’re off to a summer camp? Like … a tap-dancing camp!”
    “Perfect!” Rory’s eyes lit up. “Tunners knows I wasn’t getting good marks in Tap last year. Yes, we’ll