He was a large boyâtaller and broader than Alfie. âHarry,â he said. âI like PE best. And the assault course.â Hestarted to sit down again, then changed his mind and stopped halfway between standing and sitting. âOh, and my dadâs infiltrated SPUD. Again.â
There was a hushed silence.
âReally?â Sam said, impressed.
âYou canât tell us that,â Jack hissed in a loud whisper.
âYeah,â Chloe told him. âAnd you canât tell us your dad is head of the Secret Service, but you do.â
âNever!â Jack shot back.
âLike, all the time,â Alice said.
Miss Jones held her hands up for silence. âAlfie,â she said, âwhy donât you tell us a little bit about yourself?â
Alfie was still trying to make sense of whateveryone else had said. âSPUD,â he said at last. âIsnât that a potato?â
âHeyâgood one!â Jack said. âAlfie thinks Harryâs dadâs a potato!â
âDonât be silly,â Sam said from his wheelchair. âAlfie thinks Harryâs dad has infiltrated a potato.â
âWith a knife and fork?â Beth suggested.
âChildren!â Miss Jones shouted above the noise. âPleaseâwe are welcoming a new member of Class 3D. Alfie was about to tell us about himself.â
âSo whatâs your dad do, Alfie?â Chloe asked. âBet heâs not as important as my dad.â
Alfie looked at her. He looked at all the children, staring back at him expectantly. He felt nervous and alone and it was a struggle tosay anything at all. âWell, actually,â he said at last, âmy dadâs a postman.â
The class collapsed into laughter. Even Miss Jones was having trouble keeping a straight face. âI can see you have a great sense of humour, Alfie,â she said. âYouâll fit in just fine with Class 3D.â
Chapter 4
Miss Jones taught Alfieâs class all the ordinary subjects that Alfie recognised and remembered from his previous school. Class 3D stayed in the same room with her for Maths and Literacy, for reading and for history topic work. But for other lessons they had other teachers, and went to those teachersâ classrooms.
Alfie tagged along with the other three boys in his classâJack, Harry and Sam, whose wheelchair was motorised so no onehad to push it. âMum fitted a turbo boost during the holidays,â Sam said quietly. âBut donât tell Beth. Iâm going to race her on her roller skates at afternoon break.â
âWhy not do it now?â Harry asked.
âBetter not. From top speed, it takes me a hundred metres to stop.â
âSo whatâs this SPUD thing if it isnât a potato?â Alfie asked when the others had stopped talking.
âYou really donât know?â Jack said.
âI really donât know,â Alfie admitted. âSorry.â
âActually no one knows who they are,â said Sam. âBut we do know that SPUD stands for Secret Partners for Undertaking Destruction. Theyâre the bad guys.â
âMy dadâ¦â Harry began slowly. Then he stopped. âNothing,â he said quickly.
Jack slapped him on the shoulder. âItâs all right, we know.â
âThis is a very strange school,â Alfie said quietly.
Alice had come up behind them. âIsnât it?â she agreed. âItâs great! So, your dadâs a postman?â
âThatâs right.â
Alice shook her head in obvious admiration. âWhat a fantastic cover story. I mean, a secret identity and everything. Wicked!â
The next lesson was Codes. Alfie thought that might be about how to find books in theschool library, or maybe something to do with programming computers. He liked libraries and he liked computers. You could work quietly and on your own with both.
âIt should be double Camouflage