The Caper of the Crown Jewels (12 page)

“And then you'll never guess what happened,” gushed Lily, Jack's eleven-year-old cousin. She was visiting Jack's family from Devon, where Jack's Aunt Emma, Lily's mum, lived. “My friend Luke stood in front of the class to read his essay and didn't even know that his shirt-tail was stuck in the zipper of his trousers! Isn't that embarrassing?”

The whole family—Jack, his dad, his mum and Lily—were sitting around the dinner table finishing a delicious fish-and-chip supper. If the story had
been told by anyone else, Jack would have found it funny. But because it was told by his annoying cousin, he just rolled his eyes and looked at his mum.

“That's a nice story, Lily,” said Jack's mum to Lily. “Did anything exciting happen to you today?” she asked, turning her attention to Jack.

Just as Jack was about to tell his family about how he had scored a corker of a goal in today's football match, he spied the clock hanging on the wall above his mother's head. It read 7:28
PM
. He looked back at his mum and smiled before he leaped from his chair and headed for the kitchen door.

“Lots of stuff, Mum,” said Jack, “but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I've got math homework to do!” He left the kitchen and quickly climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

Jack's dad, who had up until now listened silently to the conversation at the table, said proudly, “It's wonderful that Jack has taken such an interest in math.”

As Jack began to open his bedroom door, he could hear his cousin talking again downstairs. “Guess what happened to my friend Frieda McCauley today?” she
squealed excitedly to her aunt and uncle. “Someone stole a hairbrush out of her bag!”

Poor Mum and Dad, Jack thought, shaking his head. Glad I have some math homework. He smiled to himself as he opened the door and stepped into his top-secret bedroom.

Jack entered the room, hung his
KEEP OUT
sign on the doorknob and closed the door behind him. There was always the possibility that a family member would walk in and discover something Jack didn't want them to see—like Whizzy telling him about his next mission, or Jack surveying his latest hi-tech gadgets.

Jack was a secret agent for the Global Protection Force. The Global Protection Force, or GPF, sent Jack around the globe in order to protect the world's most precious people, places, and things.

Protect that which cannot protect itself
was the motto of the Global Protection Force. The organization was started in 1947 by a man named Ronald Barter who decided he'd had enough of crooks trying to destroy things that mattered in the world. Things like beautiful pieces of art, endangered animals, famous buildings, or even famous people who were trying to do something positive. When he died in 1962 (in mysterious circumstances), his son Gerald took over and made the GPF one of the leading worldwide forces against crime.

Jack joined the GPF after his older brother, Max, disappeared. Although no one else in his family knew that Max was a secret agent for the GPF, Jack did. That was because Max had told him.

Max used to show Jack his secret-agent gadgets and explain how they worked as
he told him stories about using each one on his missions. Jack looked forward to those times with Max so he could hear all about the adventures. Although lots of brothers their age didn't get on, Jack and Max got on well. They were more like best friends.

Then Max was sent by the GPF to a supposed school in Switzerland.

When Jack received the anonymous note telling him his brother was in danger, he quickly signed up to join the GPF and dedicated his life to finding Max. As soon as he was on the “inside,” he asked the GPF about Max's whereabouts, but the GPF wouldn't tell Jack a thing. Everyone denied any involvement in Max's disappearance and immediately sealed Max's files.

Even so, Jack always hoped that one of his missions would lead to some information about Max. Who knows? thought Jack that evening, maybe this mission will be the one.

Find out more about
Secret Agent Jack Stalwart
at

www.jackstalwart.com

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