Big Brother (7 page)

EJ looked back but GG22 wasn't following them as they rode out of the CAT.

‘Look, EJ,' said HJ, shining a torch on the ground. ‘Horse poo! It's probably Trojan's. Let's go in this direction.'

EJ and HJ rode on. They saw more poo and then some broken branches, as if something had pushed through roadside bushes.

‘Perhaps a car frightened her off the road. And look, in there! More horse poo. Let's turn off here,' said EJ as she pulled on the left rein to guide Lucinda off the road and into the bush.

They moved more slowly through the bracken
and fallen trees in the bush but even in the dark, Lucinda was sure-footed and steady. Then, suddenly, the bay stopped. There was a noise, a squeaking noise. Lucinda shook her head and snorted. Her ears twitched forward.

‘Did you hear that, HJ?' asked EJ.

‘I think so,' said HJ. ‘Is it a cry?'

They heard the noise again.

‘Something's in trouble,' said EJ. ‘But it's not Trojan.'

‘It's smaller,' said HJ. ‘We've been learning animal noise recognition in training and that is a small animal, probably a baby, in pain.'

Lucinda began to move now, slowly, then she swung her head down, pushing into some long grass.

‘I think she's found something,' said HJ.

EJ climbed down from Lucinda and shone her torch down through the grasses to see a small baby kangaroo lying in the grass. The joey's right leg was limp.

‘It's a joey,' said EJ. ‘And I think it's broken its leg.' EJ shone her torch out beyond the joey. ‘There's no sign of its mother.'

‘We need to bring it with us,' said HJ. ‘It won't survive out here.'

HJ took a CHARM from her bracelet and twisted. She passed a soft, brown bag down to EJ.

‘It's a baby animal-care pouch,' explained HJ. ‘It will keep this little one warm until we can get back to the CAT.'

EJ gently lifted the joey into the pouch and up to HJ and then put her foot back in the stirrup and swung herself back on to Lucinda. She then took the joey and held it nestled in front of her in the pouch. EJ gave Lucinda a little kick to the sides and they walked on.

‘Well, we found one animal that needs our help,' said EJ. ‘But it's not the one we're looking for. There's no sign of Trojan.'

But Lucinda must have sensed something. She flared her nostrils again and pricked her ears
and then turned sharply off to the right. Her pace quickened and she weaved between trees. She headed straight towards a large mass of thick bracken.

‘Whoa,' said EJ. ‘Not through those bushes, Lucinda.'

But the old bay persisted. EJ and HJ ducked as the horse pushed on.

‘She's heard something else,' said HJ. ‘Look, her ears are twitching again.'

Now both agents heard what Lucinda was hearing. It was an awful sound, a panicked whinnying; the sound of a horse in distress. Lucinda pressed on and then stopped. Now EJ and HJ could hear something thrashing around in the bushes ahead. EJ took out her torch and shone it in front of them.

‘Trojan!' cried EJ and HJ at the same time.

The dark horse was jerking her head wildly as she tried to untangle the lead rope that had become caught in the bushes. She looked around at them,
her eyes wide with fright, and stood breathing hard.

‘The poor thing,' cried HJ. ‘We need to carefully untangle her.'

HJ climbed down from Lucinda and walked slowly towards Trojan. For a few minutes she just spoke softly to the horse and then slowly began to untangle the lead. Lucinda whinnied quietly and Trojan quietened and her breathing slowed. It was as if she understood that they were all there to help her and, soon, HJ had Trojan freed from the bushes.

‘Now we have to get the spy-flies out of her coat!' said EJ.

‘But I can't see anything,' said HJ. ‘How will we find them?'

‘With this,' said EJ, taking off her brush-scan charm and twisting it. ‘Here, HJ, I think you should do it.'

HJ took the brush and slowly, gently, began to stroke Trojan's coat. As soon as she did, the brush-scanner beeped and HJ stopped and gently removed a robotic fly from Trojan's coat. The horse
stood completely still and didn't protest at all. Isi had been right: HJ was perfect for the Animal Training Division.

‘I can't find any more,' said HJ. ‘I think she's clear now. We can send the data to
SHINE
.'

EJ took the brush and plugged her phone into a small socket on its side.
SHINE
would now receive the results of the scan and be able to analyse the flies. She had just removed the brush when her phone sent an alert.

There was a message on EJ's phone, another message intercepted from
SHADOW
.

EJ quickly converted the pig Latin and looked at
the jumbled letters on the screen.

EJ tried writing it backwards again but that didn't work.
It's still a mess,
thought EJ.
Hey, hold on, is that it? Is it is a mess, are the words all messed up? Can I un-mess the letters?

EJ easily picked out some of the jumbled words: EJ12, AND, OUT, THE. The longer words took a little more time but soon EJ cracked the code.

It was the last line that scared EJ.

‘The foals!' she cried. ‘They're taking the foals. That's what the “pick up” of the last message was about. Well, they're not taking them! And what have
they done to Agent GG22?'

EJ spoke into her spy-talker in her helmet.

‘Agent GG? Come in, this is EJ12!'

There was no answer.

‘I have to get back to the CAT, HJ,' said EJ. ‘GG is in trouble and the centre is in danger.'

‘So GG isn't a double agent?' said HJ.

‘No,' confirmed EJ. ‘I was wrong about that, but someone there is and I'm guessing it is HH33 and II44. I need to get back there to stop them.'

But then HJ cried out in pain. She dropped the four spy-flies as they began to buzz furiously and self-destruct in her hand. Sparks flew to some dried leaves on the ground and EJ saw them catch alight. She leapt off Lucinda and stamped out the fire.

‘They've set off the self-destruct on the spy-flies,' she said. ‘They could start a fire at the CAT and everyone is still in bed. It could even start a bushfire. We have to get back there!'

‘Trojan is exhausted,' said HJ12. ‘We'll have to walk her because I don't know if she'll let me ride
her. We won't make it in time.'

‘But maybe I can,' said EJ. ‘You can walk back with Trojan and the joey.'

‘Will you be able to ride by yourself?' asked HJ.

‘I have to,' said EJ.

‘And you can,' said HJ. ‘You really can.'

EJ looked into Lucinda's deep brown eyes and knew that this horse would look after her. And she had something that would help Lucinda go even faster. She took her horseshoe CHARM from her bracelet and twisted four times to produce four horseshoe pads. She handed them to HJ who bent down by Lucinda's front leg and ran her hand down the fetlock. Lucinda responded by lifting her leg. HJ took the hoof and slipped on the horseshoe slip. She gave Lucinda a pat as she moved on to the next hoof. In no time, all the slips were fitted. Now Lucinda would be able to go even faster.

‘It's just you and me, Lucinda,' said EJ putting one foot in the stirrup and swinging up and over into the saddle. ‘Let's go.'

EJ held the reins down at the pommel of the saddle. She took a deep breath and gave Lucinda two sharp kicks. Lucinda understood. The horse began to walk, pushing back through the bushes.

‘Good luck, EJ,' cried HJ. ‘See you back at the centre.'

EJ and Lucinda quickly made their way back on the road. EJ gave the mare another short kick and she responded, breaking into a trot, then a canter and then a gallop. As she rode, EJ realised that she wasn't scared at all. She felt her body and Lucinda's working together. EJ pulled Lucinda's reins to turn but she didn't really need to because the old horse was already taking them home.

The wind was hot and strong. It whistled through the trees, picking up leaves and swirling them in the air and blowing dust up into EJ's face as she and Lucinda rode in through the gates of the CAT.

‘We've made it,' she cried. ‘Good girl, Lucinda! But let's hope we're in time.'

But then EJ smelt the smoke. Not strong but definitely smoke, and there was a dim red glow in the dark sky.

‘Oh no, a fire has started,' EJ cried, her worst fears about the self-destructing
SHADOW
flies realised.

She took out her phone and sent an emergency message to A1.

EJ heard sirens sound ahead of her at the CAT as she and Lucinda galloped down the track. Approaching the buildings, she could see that one of the gum trees near the stables was burning and red-hot embers were floating in the wind. EJ heard the crackle and hiss of the burning gum leaves. EJ watched in horror as one of the burning branches from the tree broke off and blew into the next tree. The embers caught the leaves and that tree too
quickly began to burn.

Agents were now running from the sleeping quarters towards the stables. EJ watched as each agent ran to a stable box and led a horse out into the paddock far away from the fire. EJ saw Agent EL12 return to rescue another horse.

She's getting HJ's horse too
, realised EJ, impressed.

‘Where are agents HH33 and II44?' she asked, riding up to MY12.

‘I don't know. I haven't seen them,' replied MY12.

‘GG22 is missing too,' said VS12.

‘GG22!' cried EJ. ‘Come on, Lucinda!'

EJ pulled Lucinda around back towards the CAT buildings calling out for GG22. As they passed the office, EJ could hear a muffled sound. She jumped off Lucinda and ran to the door. It was locked. She quickly took her skeleton key charm, twisted it and opened the door. On the floor was Agent GG22, her mouth gagged, struggling to loosen the knots of the ropes tied around her wrists. EJ took off GG's
gag and began to untie her.

‘Agents HH and II!' spluttered GG. ‘They've taken my CHARM bracelet. They're working for
SHADOW
!'

‘I know,' said EJ. ‘Did you see where they went?'

‘I couldn't see,' said GG, staggering to her feet. ‘But they mentioned the foals.'

EJ remembered the rest of the last message. ‘They're taking the foals!' she cried. ‘I've got to stop them!'

‘Go, EJ12,' said GG22. ‘I'll take Lucinda to check all the other agents and horses. Hurry!'

EJ sped out of the office and around to the foal enclosure. The sun was coming up now and EJ could see that the foals weren't there but, in the corner, near the gate leading to the main drive, was a horse float and EJ could see Agents HH33 and II44 bolting the door.

They've got the foals
, she thought desperately.
In all the confusion of the fire, no one will notice.

EJ watched as II44 ran towards a truck parked
across the path. She knew she didn't have much time before II hitched the float to the truck and they drove away. EJ wouldn't let them take the foals. She had seen what they'd done to Trojan.

‘Stop!' she shouted. ‘Stop right there!'

HH33 turned around. ‘And who's going to stop me, EJ12? You?'

EJ advanced. Would she be able to overpower HH33 with the karate skills she'd learnt on her last mission? Maybe not but she would at least be able to slow her down. And then EJ saw HJ12 and Trojan walking up the drive behind the float. She knew HH33 couldn't see them. She put her finger to her lips and Hannah mouthed, ‘Okay.'

‘What?' sneered HH. ‘Are you shushing me, EJ? Is that the best you have?'

EJ had to stall HH. ‘They're not your foals,' she told the
SHADOW
agent. ‘Let them go!'

‘And leave some of the fastest horses in the world to
SHINE
?' HH said. ‘What a waste!
SHADOW
will clean up with these horses, we'll
win every race in the world! But they need to be toughened up; we'll soon whip them into shape with
our
training.'

‘Like the way you “trained” Trojan?' said EJ, challenging HH.

HH sneered. ‘She's only a dumb horse,' she snapped, moving towards EJ, her arm raised. EJ knew HH was going to strike her and she readied herself.

But Trojan had also seen HH33 advancing towards EJ. The horse broke free from HJ12 and reared up in front of the
SHADOW
agent.

‘Trojan?' said HH, stunned. ‘But how?'

Trojan reared up again and HH33 stumbled, tripping and falling to the ground. EJ saw a CHARM bracelet fall out of HH's pocket.

EJ moved quickly. She snatched the bracelet from the ground as she ran to the float. She unbolted the horse float door and rushing in, she and HJ grabbed the foals' leads and ran them out of the float towards the main paddock and the other
horses. EJ left the foals with HJ and ran back to the float. But it was too late. She had saved the foals but HH33 and II44 had driven away in the truck. EJ sighed but she knew she had made the right choice. The
SHADOW
double agents had escaped but the CAT—and the foals—were safe.

EJ walked up to Trojan and put her head against her neck.

‘You are a good luck charm after all,' she told the mare.

Trojan snorted and pushed her head into EJ. EJ stroked the mare's forehead.

And neither of them minded one bit.