The Dark Giants Read Free

watching her, concerned.
‘He’s lost, actually.’
    ‘Oh, no,’ Sophie F moaned. ‘You poor thing, when? You must be so worried.’
    ‘I am.’ Amelia was relieved. Even though her friends couldn’t ever know the full
story, they understood how she felt.
    ‘Do you think he’ll come back?’
    ‘I hope so. Actually, that’s where Charlie and I were when you arrived – out in the
bush, looking for him.’
    ‘I don’t blame you,’ said Sophie T. ‘If Arabella Moonglow went missing’ – that was
her white rabbit – ‘I wouldn’t do anything else until I found her. I wouldn’t even
go to school.’
    There was a sad little pause in the conversation out of respect for Amelia’s situation,
and then Sophie T, who didn’t like silence very much, patted Amelia’s hand and said
brightly, ‘I know! I can help you look for him tomorrow. We’ll do a proper search
party.’
    ‘Thanks, Sophie.’ Amelia smiled. As much as Charlie thought Sophie T was the biggest
pain in the world, she really was a good friend. After all, anyone who hated getting
dirty, thought all bugs and insects were repulsive, only ever wore the nicest clothes
and yet still volunteered to go bush-bashing to find an (alien) dog she’d never met
before was pretty special.
    Suddenly, both Sophies’ heads swivelled around as though magnetised and Amelia saw
James walking toward them. She looked at her tall, gangling, super-sarcastic brother.
What did the Sophies see that was making them blush and sit up straighter, she wondered.
    ‘Hey, sis,’ he said, plonking himself down in the chair next to Sophie F. ‘Who’re
your friends?’
    Amelia introduced them, and watched as Sophie F shrank into herself and tried to
become invisible, while Sophie T flicked her blonde hair back over one shoulder and
made her eyes so big and focused on James that Amelia blinked twice as fast to compensate.
    Luckily, before it got too weird, Mum signalled Mary in the kitchen. A minute later,
Dad came out with an enormous sheet cake covered in lit candles. He was singing ‘Happy
Birthday’ and one by one, Mum, Mary, and the kids at her table joined in. Some of
the guests did too – the human ones, anyway. The guests eating tinned spaghetti with
ice-cream just observed, fascinated.
    ‘Hip-hip,’ said Dad, setting down the cake in front of Amelia.
    ‘Hooray!’ shouted all the humans in the room.
    Amelia took a deep breath and blew out her candles. And there were a lot of candles,
spaced out unevenly all over the surface of the cake. By the time the last one sputtered
out, Amelia was gasping.
    Sophie T did a quick count. ‘ Twenty candles? But you’re not twenty!’
    Amelia grinned. ‘No, look – it’s marking out the constellation of Sagittarius. My
star sign.’
    Mrs Flood gave Dad a funny look. ‘I thought you were a science man.’
    ‘I am,’ said Dad eagerly. ‘Astro-physicist, actually, and Sagittarius is a great
set of stars to have in the sky for your birthday.’
    ‘Oh, really?’ said Mrs Flood, politely.
    Mum smirked and started handing out spoons as Dad got going.
    ‘Oh, yes!’ he beamed. ‘Did you know, Sagittarius is one of the forty-eight constellations
described by Ptolemy in the second century? And, even though we can’t see it with
the naked eye, it contains possibly the brightest star in our whole galaxy!’
    ‘Uh-huh.’ Mrs Flood nodded, unblinking, as Dad picked up the ginormous carving knife
and suddenly stabbed it into the cake.
    ‘Right there !’ he exclaimed. ‘The Pistol Star! Hidden by cosmic dust, but a blue
hypergiant so powerful it emits more energy in twenty seconds than our sun does in
a whole year! Not only that but –’
    ‘It tastes delicious, too,’ Mum finished smoothly.
    ‘Eh?’ Dad blinked, and then looked in surprise at the poor cake he’d just murdered.
‘What?’
    ‘Amelia’s birthday cake, dear,’ said Mum. ‘You were about to cut it up?’
    Sophie T’s eyes were as round as saucers. She had