2-Power Read online

  Pete Johnson is a bestselling author for children and teenagers. His books have been translated into twelve different languages, and he has won a number of prizes, including the Sheffield Children’s Book Award and the Calderdale Children’s Book of the Year.

  He was inspired to become a writer by Dodie Smith. He wrote her a fan letter, at the age of ten, after reading The Hundred and One Dalmatians. They went on to write to each other for many years.

  Pete thinks the best time for writing is first thing in the morning and he likes to get started by 7 a.m. Whenever he is stuck he takes his mad King Charles spaniel, Tilly, for a very long walk.

  Books by Pete Johnson

  2-POWER: THE KORSKI CODE

  2-POWER: THE CANINE CONSPIRACY

  PIRATE BROTHER

  For older readers

  THE COOL BOFFIN

  THE EX-FILES

  FAKING IT

  THE HERO GAME

  2 POWER THE CANINE CONSPIRACY

  PETE JOHNSON

  Illustrations by Rowan Clifford

  PUFFIN

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

  Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  puffinbooks.com

  First published 2007

  1

  Text copyright © Pete Johnson, 2007

  Illustrations copyright © Rowan Clifford, 2007

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  EISBN: 978–0–141–90055–1

  Contents

  1. The Magic Begins

  2. A Terrible Discovery

  3. Where is Spike?

  4. Shock in the Kitchen

  5. Whistling for Spike

  6. Sam’s Mistake

  7. The Dog Snatcher Strikes Again

  8. Sam Makes a Promise

  9. A Very Important Clue

  10. News of Mrs Rice

  11. Patch in Trouble

  12. Ella to the Rescue

  13. Finding the Dog Snatchers

  14. Danger!

  15. The Very Best Part of All

  The Magic Begins

  ‘Oh no! We’re going to be very late,’ cried Ella, rushing to the door.

  ‘Who cares,’ replied Sam, her twin brother, strolling after her. ‘Oh, but I forgot, perfect Ella is never late for school… why, you might even get told off for the first time in your life.’

  ‘I’ve been told off at school before,’ said Ella.

  ‘When?’ demanded Sam.

  ‘I can’t remember exactly.’

  Sam laughed. ‘Anyway, it’s your fault we’re late. You spent about ten years saying goodbye to Patch.’

  Patch was an abandoned dog who they’d discovered in a terrible condition. They’d taken him to the vet but no one had claimed him and now Patch belonged to them.

  ‘It’s just he hates to see us go,’ said Ella. ‘Aunt Joy complained that he howled for twenty minutes after we left yesterday.’

  ‘And wouldn’t you howl,’ replied Sam, ‘knowing you had to spend the rest of the day with those two ghastly crones?’

  Sam and Ella’s parents were dead and they’d been sent to live with Uncle Mike and Aunt Joy, who ran a little hotel by the sea called the Jolly Roger. Ella and Sam loved living by the seaside in Little Brampton, but they hated all the chores their uncle and aunt made them do. Every day the twins had to wash hundreds of dishes and clean the guests’ rooms.

  ‘Uncle Mike was really moaning about Patch yesterday,’ said Ella. ‘He said what a nuisance he was – and how his howling annoys the guests. You don’t think he’ll make us get rid of Patch, do you?’

  ‘I’ll punch him if he does,’ said Sam so fiercely that he made Ella laugh.

  Then she looked at her watch again. ‘We’re going to be really, really late now.’

  Sam gazed at her. ‘There is one way we can still get there on time…’

  Ella smiled and a tingle of excitement ran through her.

  She and Sam shared a magical secret. When they both concentrated hard they could actually hear each other’s thoughts. So Ella could be far away from Sam and still hear his voice inside her right ear. They could chat away for ages without anyone ever knowing. Whenever they had one of their secret conversations they called it ‘going online’. And recently they had made an incredible discovery.

  When they were online together they stopped being ordinary. All at once they had special powers. For a start, they were mega strong – able to lift really heavy objects without blinking an eye. They had incredible hearing, and all their other senses were much sharper too.

  Sam declared once, ‘We’ve turned into superheroes!’ and that’s exactly what it felt like. But the moment they stopped being online their special powers vanished instantly.

  Ella was as thrilled by this discovery as Sam. But she was also eight minutes older than him and always saw herself as the sensible one. She knew they must keep their super powers hidden, for if Uncle Mike and Aunt Joy ever discovered their secret, they’d do something really horrible – like allow people to do loads of experiments on them.

  So Ella was always trying to stop Sam showing off. Still, if they ran to school along the seafront when hardly anyone was about yet, that should be all right.

  She smiled at Sam and said, ‘Come on then. Let’s have some fun.’

  Luckily the Jolly Roger was just across the road from the beach. It was a bright morning and the sea gleamed and flashed in the sunshine.

  Ella took a deep breath. The air smelt so strongly of seaweed she could almost taste it. Then she closed her eyes tight. This was how she started going online. She began picturing Sam in her head, with his silly grin and hair that always looked a mess, even when he’d just combed it.

  And then… Ella always thought there should be a burst of light when the magic was about to begin. But nothing like that happened. Instead, sometimes her nose started to twitch as if she were just about to sneeze. And then there came a funny buzzing noise, which meant you were getting through. And just a couple of seconds later Sam’s voice rang out in her ear, although his mouth didn’t move at all.

  ‘Hello, Freckles.’ He said that deliberately because he knew she HATED every one of her million freckles.

  ‘Hello, most annoying brother in the entire universe,’ s
he replied.

  Then a little shiver ran through her as she realized she wasn’t poor little Ella any more, who got a stitch after she’d run a few metres and came last in every one of her races. She’d changed into someone incredibly powerful and strong. No wonder everything looked extra bright now.

  ‘Shall we go for a run then?’ asked Sam.

  ‘Oh yes,’ said Ella.

  And they didn’t run – they flew along that seafront.

  ‘This is the only way to travel,’ said Sam.

  ‘We’re going so fast,’ replied Ella, ‘yet I don’t feel the least bit out of breath.’

  ‘And normally you have to rest if you run down the stairs,’ teased Sam.

  The beach was practically deserted at this time of the morning, save for some seagulls swooping and screaming above their heads – and old Tom, the beach treasure hunter. He was already out with his metal detector and he called after Ella and Sam: ‘What on earth have you two had for breakfast? Never seen anyone move so fast!’

  ‘Oh, we’re world-champion runners – didn’t you know?’ boasted Sam as he surged past old Tom. ‘Look out for us on the telly.’

  ‘Will you stop showing off,’ cried Ella.

  ‘I’m not. I bet we really could be champions at the speed we’re going right now.’

  And they’d raced along so fast they actually arrived at school three minutes early. As they came through the school gates Sam looked back. With his mega hearing he’d just picked up something. He saw by Ella’s face that she’d caught it too: a dog yelping in fear. Tiny little cries that even somebody nearby wouldn’t have heard. Only Sam and Ella, online, could have detected those sounds.

  ‘It sounds very frightened,’ said Ella. ‘Poor little dog.’

  ‘How do you know what size it is?’ demanded Sam.

  ‘It just sounds little,’ replied Ella.

  And then they heard it again: a tiny yelp that even their magnified hearing only just picked up.

  ‘We’ve got to find it,’ murmured Ella.

  Sam nodded. ‘The sound is coming from the park… let’s go.’

  A Terrible Discovery

  The park was just down the road from their school, so Sam and Ella reached it very quickly. One part was very popular with dog owners, for here they could let their pets off the lead to play ball or just tear about madly.

  An Alsatian was being trained by its owner: ‘Sit. No, sit,’ cried the woman, while the Alsatian just stood staring at her. But then Sam and Ella heard a voice they recognized.

  ‘Oh, come on, Spike! Where are you?’

  ‘That’s Lauren’s voice,’ said Ella. They knew Lauren had a corgi called Spike. Sam and Ella had never actually seen him but they’d heard how lively and friendly he was. Lauren and her dad were peering in all the hedges and bushes at the top of the park. Ella and Sam charged over to them.

  ‘We can’t find Spike anywhere,’ Lauren wailed when she saw them.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Sam.

  ‘We were playing ball with Spike, as we always do before school, when I got a call on Dad’s mobile,’ said Lauren. ‘It was my nan ringing to wish me happy birthday –’ she gave a little gasp, ‘– and suddenly we couldn’t see Spike. We thought he was just off having a sniff around somewhere, so I’ve been calling and calling him – he always comes when he hears me – but he’s vanished.’

  ‘He’s just gone off after a rabbit,’ said Lauren’s dad firmly. ‘He’ll turn up.’

  ‘Of course he will,’ said Sam. ‘He wouldn’t want to miss your birthday.’ Lauren managed a weak smile at that. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find him for sure,’ Sam went on.

  Lauren and her dad continued to rush around the park calling Spike’s name, while Sam and Ella searched through the undergrowth. Of course they stayed online. Suddenly Sam’s extra-strong sense of smell picked something up.

  He crouched down and found – a piece of meat. The meat had string tied on to it. Had this been used to lure Spike away, where someone pounced on him? Sam shuddered.

  ‘Oh no.’ Ella was standing beside Sam now, looking really upset. ‘Do you think someone’s stolen Spike?’

  Sam didn’t answer as Lauren had joined them, looking pale and scared. Lauren pointed at the meat, and then let out a cry of horror.

  ‘Oh, my poor Spike,’ she gasped.

  Where is Spike?

  Lauren didn’t turn up for lessons until the middle of the morning, and the class had been told not to bother her with lots of questions. So Ella and Sam just smiled sympathetically at the red-eyed girl, who couldn’t eat a single thing at lunchtime.

  At the end of school Lauren’s mum and dad both turned up. They wanted to have a talk with her class.

  Lauren’s dad told them Spike had still not been found. There were groans of disbelief from everyone. ‘So I’m afraid it does look as if Spike has been stolen,’ said Lauren’s dad. ‘We do have one important clue, though.’

  Everyone leant forward. ‘The park keeper, Mr Westbury, saw a man leave the park at around the time Spike disappeared. Mr Westbury noticed this man because he was wearing a very bulky brown jacket on such a warm day. He was walking briskly and he didn’t get into a car, just went on down the road.’

  ‘I bet he had poor little Spike hidden inside his jacket,’ Sam whispered to Ella. ‘That’s the dog snatcher all right.’ Then he asked out loud, ‘Can Mr Westbury describe this man at all?’

  ‘Well, Mr Westbury, who’s been very helpful, says he didn’t get a good look at him, especially as he left so quickly. All he can tell us is that he was bald and very tall.’ Lauren’s dad added, ‘We’re going to find this dog thief.’

  Everyone cheered then.

  Lauren’s mum spoke next. ‘We’ve already contacted our vet. She said it was a shame Spike hadn’t been microchipped. It only takes a few seconds and is a good way of identifying your pet. So, if you haven’t microchipped your dog yet, please think about doing so, to keep him safe.’ Her voice fell away for a moment. But then she said, ‘Spike has got a blue collar with his name and our address and telephone number on. We’ve also contacted the police and the lost-dog website, and we’ve made some posters.’ She held one up, which read:

  WHERE IS SPIKE NOW?

  Underneath was a picture of Spike and then:

  PLEASE HELP US FIND

  OUR DOG.

  HE WENT MISSING

  FROM TEMPLE PARK

  AT 8.40 A.M. ON MONDAY.

  There followed some more details about who to contact. And it ended by saying:

  WE MISS SPIKE TERRIBLY AND

  WANT HIM SAFE WITH US

  AGAIN, SO PLEASE KEEP A

  LOOKOUT FOR HIM.

  THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

  ‘We’d be so grateful,’ said Lauren’s mum, ‘if you could put these posters up in the window of your house and give some to neighbours and friends…’

  Sam took a huge pile of posters. ‘We’ll stick them up all over the hotel,’ he said.

  ‘That’s very kind of you,’ said Lauren’s mum.

  Then Sam looked at Lauren. Her lip was quivering and she was trying hard not to cry. ‘Don’t you worry, you’ll see Spike again – very soon,’ said Sam.

  Lauren looked at Sam. ‘Didn’t you catch a jewel robber recently?’

  ‘I certainly did,’ replied Sam, swelling with pride. ‘The police had been after him for years, but it took me to track him down.’

  Ella, standing beside him, coughed loudly and indignantly. Sam seemed to have totally forgotten he didn’t catch this thief on his own.

  But now Lauren was gazing at Sam really hopefully. ‘If anyone can get Spike back for me, it’s you.’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Sam. ‘Now, what I need…’

  ‘Yes?’ said Lauren eagerly.

  ‘Have you got a dog whistle that Spike knows?’

  ‘Yes, I have,’ cried Lauren, digging into her pocket. ‘Here it is. He knows this whistle so well and always barks when he hears it.�
�� Lauren’s lip started to tremble again.

  ‘Could I borrow it?’ asked Sam.

  ‘Of course.’

  Sam took the whistle. ‘And, don’t worry, just leave it all to me.’ He grinned at her, still not noticing Ella frowning beside him.

  On the way home, though, Ella snapped. ‘So you found the jewel thief all on your own, did you?’

  ‘No, of course not… you helped.’

  ‘Oh, thank you. So why didn’t you mention that little fact to Lauren?’

  Sam really had meant to say something, but somehow the words had just got stuck in his throat. He said quickly, ‘Don’t go on about that – the main thing is that we find Spike.’

  ‘And how exactly are we going to do that?’

  Sam stopped and grinned at her. ‘I’ve got it all worked out. The park keeper said the man who’d stolen Spike practically ran out of the park. He didn’t get into a car either. So that means the man probably doesn’t live very far away. He might even be living in one of those houses right next to the park. So, this evening, you and I will walk around there blowing on the dog whistle, and, if Spike is anywhere nearby, he’ll answer, won’t he?’

  ‘But will we hear him?’ asked Ella. ‘He could be locked away somewhere.’ Then she stopped. ‘Oh, I get it, we wouldn’t normally hear Spike, but if we go online…’

  ‘…then our supersonic hearing will pick up Spike’s tiniest cry. Now go on, admit it, that’s a great idea,’ interrupted Sam.

  ‘Well, it might be,’ said Ella cautiously. They’d reached the Jolly Roger and she gazed up at the hotel. ‘But our lovely uncle and aunt will never let us go out tonight.’

  ‘They won’t be able to stop me,’ said Sam. ‘Come on.’

  Shock in the Kitchen

  Patch fell on the twins as if he hadn’t seen them for years. (In fact, most lunchtimes one of the twins came back to take him for a walk.) He yelped with happiness, and licked them madly.

  Then Aunt Joy announced from the doorway, ‘That dog is going to have to go.’