How Ali Ferguson Saved Houdini (13 page)

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Chapter 25

Dave drove them back to the flats just as the sun was setting. Ali and Caitlin hardly spoke on the ride home. Ali felt that there was too much inside his head for him to be able to talk about the zoo animals or how nice lunch had been, or any of the other things that Mum kept going on about.

As soon as they'd unclicked their seat belts, Ali and Caitlin jumped out. Caitlin skipped away from the car. ‘I'm just going to play out for a little while, Dad,' she said.

Dave nodded and walked towards the flats.

‘Me too,' Ali said. ‘If that's OK.'

Mum paused. Her forehead creased. She held Ali's shoulder and looked at him closely. ‘Is everything all right?' she asked. ‘You were really quiet today.'

‘I'm fine, Mum. Honest.'

‘Listen. I know it must be weird for you. A day out with someone who isn't your dad. But you should give Dave a chance, you know. Perhaps we should chat about it?'

Ali's eyes widened. He'd discovered that Dave was the criminal mastermind of an international animal-smuggling ring, and Mum wanted to talk about
feelings
. There was nothing to talk about! ‘Mum. I'm fine. I just need to see Gez for a bit. I won't be long.'

‘Ali, do you like Dave?'

Ali looked towards the flats. Dave was holding open the main door. He was too far away to hear.

How could he tell Mum that it wasn't a question of
liking
Dave? Perhaps Dave was a lovely person,
if
you ignored the fact that he took animals from the wild. Perhaps he was lots of fun,
if
you ignored the fact that he had Miss Osborne locked up somewhere. Perhaps he was really kind,
if
you ignored the fact that he told lies to his own daughter.

‘Mum, please . . .'

Mum shook her head. ‘Oh, go on then. But don't be late. Fish fingers for tea in an hour.'

.

They found Gez in his den. He had arranged action figures along the top of one of the crates; they were firing down at a battalion of woodlice below.

‘Gez,' Caitlin said, as she pushed her way through the brambles, ‘we've worked it out.'

‘Well, good for you,' Gez said. ‘I hope you've had a lovely day investigating.'

‘What?' Ali asked.

‘I hope you've had a brilliant time together, working it out. I'm glad I wasn't there to get in the way of all that hard thinking.'

‘Gez?' Caitlin said, sounding hurt.

Ali grinned. ‘You're cross with us because you missed us!'

‘I did not.'

‘Yes, you did!' Ali said.

‘I've been too busy even to notice you two weren't here. Look –' he pointed at the crate – ‘my soldiers are defending the last tower as the alien army advances. We were just about to defeat them when you two showed up and distracted the general. I'm the general, by the way.'

‘Oh, don't be cross,' Caitlin said. ‘We only went to the boring zoo. Dad wanted us to
bond
. And it helped us to work things out, but apart from that it was really rubbish.'

‘Honest?' Gez asked hopefully.

‘Yes,' Ali said. ‘Totally rubbish. Now listen.'

Ali took a few minutes to explain to Gez all that he had worked out. He was careful not to mention Dave's name in front of Caitlin. He didn't want Caitlin and Gez to be upset with him at the same time. Gez sat down heavily on the crate, knocking what was left of the defending soldiers on to the ground.

‘So,' Gez said, ‘pumas and monkeys and . . . and who knows what else were being smuggled past my den in the middle of the night by an evil gang. And
I slept right through it!
' His voice rose in disbelief.

‘Yup,' Ali said. ‘But right now we need to know two things –'

‘How to stop them,' Gez interrupted.

‘And how to rescue Miss Osborne. She only has until the day after tomorrow,' Caitlin added.

‘Exactly. It's been nearly a week since Gez first saw them,' Ali said. ‘Perhaps they come every weekend.'

Gez grinned. ‘It's the weekend tomorrow. We should be there as a welcoming committee. Tomorrow night we take them down.' He reached for one of the action figures and aimed its gun towards the river. ‘Pow, pow, pow. No one smuggles wild beasts past my house and gets away with it.'

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Chapter 26

The next morning, Ali walked to Gez's house.

He found Gez in the back garden. He was kicking at the garden's spiky hedge.

‘What did it do?' Ali asked, pointing to the hedge. ‘Insult your mum?'

Gez grinned, then eased a battered football out of a hedge with the end of his trainer. ‘Nope. It ate my football, but I've got it back now.' He knocked it to Ali, who passed it back. ‘You here to plan tonight?' Gez asked. ‘What do you think the gang'll bring in? A jaguar? An elephant?'

‘Dunno,' Ali said.

‘You don't sound very excited!'

‘We have to tell Caitlin about Dave, we have to show her the D.O. note and we have to tell her that Falcon isn't with Miss Osborne's sister.'

‘I can't. I'm too young to die,' Gez said, heading the ball to Ali.

‘We have to. Even if she gets angry. She can't find out at the pet shop tonight. We have to do it now.' Ali tapped the ball back towards the hedge. ‘Come on.'

.

It took them a while to find Caitlin. No one answered the doorbell at her flat. They couldn't see her around the tower block.

‘Roof,' Ali said.

A few moments later, they were walking out on to the roof. Caitlin was there, sitting with her back against the wall, her head resting on her knees. Ali sighed, then walked towards her.

‘Wow! Wow! Wow!'

Ali turned.

Gez hadn't followed him. He was standing on the spot, his mouth hanging open. ‘Wow! Wow! And wow again! How come no one ever told me this was here? Hey, guys! How come you let me carry on using the hedge down there as a den when you knew this was here? This is amazing.'

‘Hi,' Ali said to Caitlin, ignoring Gez.

Nothing.

‘Are you OK?' Ali asked. Last time he had been up here, Caitlin had just found out that Falcon had gone. And he had found out that Dave was a liar.

Gez ran over to the railings. ‘You can see the sea from here. It's brilliant. I can see a ship!' he yelled. ‘A big green tanker, just out to sea. It could be them. Just think. That ship could have sailed from Borneo or Madagascar or Timbuktu with a cargo of beasts. And tonight the animals will be on a rowing boat coming up our river. Like a tiny little illegal Noah's Ark.'

Ali sat down next to Caitlin. ‘Has something happened?' Perhaps she had already found out about Dave. Ali almost felt relieved.

Caitlin shook her head. ‘No, nothing's happened. I just came to get some peace. To think.'

‘About what?' Ali asked.

‘Dad.'

She did know! Ali sighed. ‘It must have been tough. Finding out what he's been up to. I'm sorry.'

‘No, I'm pleased. I think.'

‘What? How can you be pleased?' Ali couldn't believe it!

‘But I am. I think it's nice that he's met someone he likes. You should be pleased too, for your mum.'

‘Caitlin, what are you talking about?'

Caitlin looked at him properly. ‘Dad and your mum, of course. He had such a nice time yesterday that he's asked her out tonight. And she's said yes. It's a date. A proper, official date. I just wanted to come up here and think about it for a while, that's all. I'm pleased really.'

Ali felt as though the concrete floor had slid away from underneath him. ‘Mum's going on a date tonight? With Dave?' He shook his head. ‘She can't!'

Gez ran closer. ‘Did I hear right? Dave's taking your mum with him tonight? Wow. She must be brave. What if it is a jaguar?'

Caitlin stood up, her hands wedged firmly on her hips. ‘What are you talking about?'

Gez bit his lip. ‘Oops.'

Ali took a deep breath. ‘Caitlin, there's something we should have told you before. Two things, in fact. It's just been hard to find a good time to say it.'

Caitlin scowled. ‘Come on then, spit it out.'

Ali looked towards Gez, who nodded solemnly. ‘OK, here goes. Dave took Falcon to the pet shop, not to Miss Osborne's sister. And we found the other half of the envelope. It said the gang were meeting someone with the initials D.O. at the river. Caitlin, I'm really sorry, but your dad
is
involved in this. Perhaps in charge.'

Caitlin laughed.

That was not the reaction Ali had been expecting. ‘It's true,' he said

‘No,' Catlin said firmly. ‘No, it isn't. No way.'

‘But it is!' Gez said. ‘I heard them talking about him.'

Caitlin stopped laughing as quickly as she'd started. ‘It isn't true.' Her voice was as cold as the air around them. ‘Dad would never do that. Never. He loves animals.'

‘Caitlin,' Ali said, ‘I saw him by the river, just standing and waiting at night. He was waiting for the gang.'

‘Ali! My dad got hurt by those men. Have you forgotten that? They attacked him!'

‘Mutiny,' Gez said, in little more than a whisper.

‘You shut up, Gez Brown! My dad is not a criminal. Well, not a big one, anyway. He wouldn't do something like this.' She glared at Ali. ‘You're only saying it because you don't want him to go out with your mum.'

‘No, I'm not,' Ali said.

‘Yes, you are. You don't think he's good enough for your mum. But at least he's
here
, which is more than you can say for your precious dad.' Caitlin's eyes widened and she held a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh.'

But she had said it.

Ali's eyes were suddenly hot and wet. He pressed his fingertips against his eyelids. He could see the piercing blue of his dad's eyes in the darkness. He tried to conjure the rest of his dad's face. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't remember what Dad looked like. He turned away from the others, walked towards the wall and pressed his hands against the cold, solid concrete.

‘Ali, I'm sorry,' Caitlin said. ‘I didn't mean that. I only said it because I was angry. But you're wrong about Dad. I know you are. And I'll prove it to you tonight.'

There was a silence. The cries of a seagull above them sounded like someone in pain.

Gez gave an embarrassed cough. ‘Well,' he said, ‘we'll need a plan.
Whoever's
holding Miss Osborne and bringing in the animals will be at the river. And we'll be there to watch them.'

‘No,' Caitlin said. ‘We'll be there to stop them.'

Ali breathed slowly. He turned back to the others. Caitlin looked at him shamed-faced. He tried to give her a smile, but it felt weak.

She smiled back. ‘Ali,' she said gently, ‘Dad's sorting out a babysitter for us tonight.'

‘Oh,' Ali said, wondering what she was getting at.

‘I'll tell him not to. Gez, you should have a sleepover. Invite me and Ali.'

‘OK, when?'

‘Tonight, of course. Then we'll be able to sneak out together. Will your mum mind us staying?'

‘No. There's always loads of people in my house. She probably won't even notice.'

‘Good,' Ali said. ‘What time should we meet? And what should I bring?'

‘Come to mine at six, for tea,' Gez said. ‘Wear dark clothes. We should dress like ninjas.'

‘And we'll need bikes. Let's store them in the den. I'll bring my mobile. We might have to call the police.'

‘Excellent,' Gez said. ‘This gang is going down!'