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  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Andrew Norriss was born in Scotland in 1947, went to university in Ireland and taught history in a sixth-form college in England for ten years before becoming a full-time writer. In the course of twenty years, he has written and co-written some hundred and fifty episodes of situation comedies and children’s drama for television, and has written six books for children, including Aquila, which won the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year in 1997.

  He lives very contentedly with his wife and two children in a village in Hampshire, where he acts in the local dramatic society (average age sixty-two), sings in the church choir (average age seventy-two) and for real excitement travels to the cinema in Basingstoke.

  Books by Andrew Norriss

  AQUILA

  BERNARD’S WATCH

  THE PORTAL

  THE TOUCHSTONE

  THE UNLUCKIEST BOY IN THE WORLD

  ANDREW NORRISS

  THE PORTAL

  PUFFIN

  For my niece, Lucy, and her mum – either of whom could probably manage several star portals with both hands tied behind their backs …

  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 © Andrew Norriss, 2007

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author 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

  EISBN: 978–0–141–90232–6

  CHAPTER ONE

  You tend to remember the day your parents disappear. It’s one of those things that stick in the mind. Even years later, William found he could recall not only the day and the date, but things like what shoes his mother had been wearing, and the headline in the newspaper his father had been reading at breakfast.

  Most of that day had been perfectly normal. After breakfast, William and Daniel had gone to school as usual. At four o’clock, the bus had delivered them back to the bottom of the road, as usual. They had watched Mrs Duggan’s dog, Timber, collect Amy, as usual, then walked up the lane to the house, pushed their way in through the back door… and after that, nothing was ever normal again.

  On a normal day, there would have been bread and butter set out on the kitchen table, and Mrs Seward would have been standing by the stove, putting two eggs into a saucepan to boil as she smiled a greeting and told Daniel not to leave his bag on the floor. Then Dad would have appeared from his office and asked how things were in the big wide world of school, while he filled the kettle and made the tea.

  That was how it was supposed to be. That was how it had always been.

  Until now.

  ‘Where are they?’ asked Daniel.

  ‘Maybe they’re working,’ said William, and he buzzed the intercom on the wall, which connected to Dad’s office at the other end of the house. But there was no reply. Which could either mean he was busy, or that he wasn’t there.

  Daniel went out to the hall and pushed open the door to the dining room. Their mother’s plant books were spread out on the table – she was halfway through an Open University degree in botany – but there was no sign of Mrs Seward. The two of them went all through the house, calling for her, and then did the same outside, checking the barn and the outhouses before coming back to the kitchen.

  ‘Looks like they had to go out,’ said William, though without much conviction, because they both knew Mr and Mrs Seward never went out. Not together. They went out one at a time to the shops, or to take the boys to the cinema, but there was always one of them left in the house. There had to be, because of Dad’s work. It was why they never all went on holiday together. There always had to be someone in the house.

  William looked round the kitchen to see if there was a note or anything that might explain what had happened, but there was nothing.

  ‘Are you going to ring the number?’ asked Daniel.

  ‘Not yet,’ said William. ‘We don’t know if it’s a real emergency.’

  But two hours later, when there was still no sign of his parents, he gave in and picked up the phone.

  William wasn’t sure when Dad first told him about the number, but it must have been when he was very young. He could remember his father’s big square hands showing him how to push the buttons on the special work-phone in the hall, and explaining how the numbers he should press were written on a piece of card pinned to the wall above it.

  ‘If anything goes wrong,’ his father had told him, ‘if there’s any sort of emergency, that’s what you do, OK?’

  When he was older, William had asked what sort of emergency his father had in mind, but Mr Seward only laughed. ‘There won’t be any emergency,’ he had said, ‘but if there is, that’s the number of the people I work for. They’ll know what to do.’

  At half past six, William rang the number and was a little disappointed when all he got was an answering machine.

  ‘Hi,’ said a woman’s voice. ‘You have reached the office of Lawrence Kingston. Please leave a message, and he’ll get back to you as soon as he can.’

  William left a message. He said who he was, where he lived, and that he was a little concerned by the fact that his parents seemed to have disappeared. They might simply have gone out for a walk, but if they had it was unusual and… he was concerned.

  Two hours later, there was no reply from Mr Kingston, still no sign of his parents, and William did the only other thing he could think of and rang Mrs Duggan.

  ‘I was wondering if you knew what was going on,’ he said, after he’d explained the situation. ‘Like where they might have gone.’

  ‘No,’ said Mrs Duggan, who was a woman of few words.

  ‘They didn’t say anything to you about going out? Or something they had to do?’

  ‘No,’ Mrs Duggan repeated. Then, after a pause, she added, ‘You want me to come up?’

  ‘Yes,’ said William. ‘Yes, I would.’

  Mrs Duggan was a large, red-faced woman, with frizzy hair tied into a bunch at the back of her head, and dressed in bib-fronted dungarees tucked into a pair of wellingtons.

  ‘Still not here?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ said William.

  Mrs Duggan looked carefully round the kitchen. ‘They didn’t leave a note or anything?’

  ‘I’ve looked,’ said William, ‘but I can’t find one.’

  ‘Your dad’s office?’

  ‘It’s
locked.’

  Mrs Duggan nodded. The office was usually locked, whether Mr Seward was working in it or not. ‘Rung the number yet?’ she asked. ‘The emergency one?’

  William was surprised that Mrs Duggan knew about the number, but said yes, he had dialled it, and left a message.

  ‘Do you think I should ring the police or something?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ said Mrs Duggan. ‘Don’t think your dad would like that.’ She thought for a moment. ‘Might be a good idea if I stayed here tonight. That OK with you?’

  ‘Yes,’ said William. ‘Thank you.’ It was odd how much better he felt at the thought of having someone else in the house.

  ‘I’ll get Amy.’ Mrs Duggan headed for the door again. ‘And I’ll take a look around outside. Check everything’s OK.’

  Mrs Duggan’s daughter, Amy, arrived at the back door ten minutes later carrying a small overnight bag. She was dressed entirely in pink – pink shoes, pink jeans that hung low on her hips, a crop top decorated with glittering, pink beads, and a pink band in her hair framing a face that some would have thought had rather too much make-up for an eight-year-old.

  Timber, Mrs Duggan’s black-and-white collie, was with her. The dog waited until William had taken Amy inside, before going off to find his mistress.

  ‘Mum says we’re staying here tonight,’ said Amy, ‘because your parents have disappeared.’

  ‘Yes,’ said William.

  ‘What’s happened to them?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said William. ‘Daniel’s in his room, OK?’

  Daniel had bunk beds in his bedroom and Amy had often slept there before. The two children were almost the same age and spent a good deal of time together, though William sometimes wondered what a girl like Amy could possibly have in common with a boy whose main interest in life was collecting the skulls of dead animals.

  While Amy went upstairs, he waited in the kitchen for Mrs Duggan, who appeared a little later with Timber.

  ‘Done the henhouse,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, thank you.’ William had forgotten the chickens. His mother was the one who usually made sure they were locked up for the night.

  ‘Had a good look round while I was at it,’ Mrs Duggan continued. ‘All looks like it should.’ She glanced at the clock. ‘Nearly nine. Think I’ll make up a bed on the sofa and turn in.’

  William watched television in his bedroom for an hour before going to bed himself. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, his mind running through some of the things that could have happened to his parents, none of them very pleasant. It wasn’t easy to sleep, but he must have dozed off at some point because he was suddenly aware that he could hear voices. The clock by his bed said it was seven minutes past midnight and, throwing on a dressing gown, he came downstairs to find Mrs Duggan talking to a man in the hallway.

  The man was elderly, with a head of closely cropped white hair and a trim white beard that framed a pair of startlingly blue eyes. He was dressed in a loosely hanging, rather crumpled suit, and mopped at his face with a large spotted handkerchief. His face lit up in a smile when he saw William.

  ‘Well, well, well!’ He held out a hand in greeting. ‘Look at you! Almost a young man!’

  ‘Who are you?’ said William.

  ‘This is your Uncle Larry,’ said Mrs Duggan.

  ‘My uncle?’ William looked at her blankly. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m not, strictly speaking, a blood relative,’ said Uncle Larry, ‘but that’s what your father used to call me, when he was little.’ He shook William’s hand. ‘Lawrence Kingston. Your parents and I go back a long way.’

  ‘Do you know what’s happened to them?’ asked William.

  ‘I do indeed.’ Uncle Larry reached into his jacket pocket. ‘And I have a letter for you from them.’

  ‘They’ve gone on holiday,’ said Mrs Duggan.

  William stared at her.

  ‘It’s all in here.’ Uncle Larry held out an envelope. ‘When you read it, you’ll realize there’s nothing to worry about.’

  The envelope had To William & Daniel written on the front in his mother’s handwriting and inside William found a single sheet of paper, also in his mother’s writing. It said:

  My dearest boys,

  By the time you get this, your father and I will be somewhere in France! Dad suddenly decided this morning that what we really needed was a break and next thing you know he’s packing a suitcase and we’re heading for a campsite in the Alps!

  We’re not sure how long we’ll be gone. Probably only a few days (but you never know!) and Uncle Larry has very kindly offered to look after you both while we’re gone. BE GOOD! And remember he’ll be looking after Dad’s business as well, so try and help him in any way you can and make sure you do whatever he tells you.

  We shall miss you both, but we’ll send a card and maybe try and phone once we get there, but we shall have lots to tell you about when we get back. What an adventure, eh?

  With love,

  Mum.

  William read the letter twice without speaking.

  ‘They haven’t said how long they’re going to be away,’ he said.

  ‘No,’ Uncle Larry agreed. ‘I suppose that depends on how it goes. They might be back in a day or two, maybe a week. Let’s hope they enjoy themselves, eh?’

  ‘How did they get there?’

  ‘I’m sorry?’ Uncle Larry blinked.

  ‘To France,’ said William. ‘How did they get there?’

  ‘They flew.’ Uncle Larry took a deep breath. ‘Look, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. If I’d been here when I promised, you wouldn’t have had all these hours of worry. Unfortunately, after your parents had gone, I realized there were all these things I’d need from the flat. So I went home to get them, thought I’d just lie down for a few minutes to catch my breath and next thing I knew I’d… I’d fallen asleep.’ He gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘I still can’t believe I slept for that long, but I did. It’s been a heavy week, you see, and… and I was tired.’

  He looked tired, thought William.

  ‘I do apologize. The last thing I wanted to do was upset either yourself or Daniel.’

  Before William could reply, the telephone rang. It was Dad’s work-phone, not the ordinary one, and Uncle Larry answered it. He listened for a moment then replaced the receiver.

  ‘It’s back to work for me, I’m afraid!’ He turned to Mrs Duggan. ‘Perhaps you could make William a hot drink or something to help him sleep. I’ll be about an hour. If either of you wants to stay up and talk, that’s fine, but it might be better to save it till tomorrow.’

  He walked off down the hall into Dad’s office, and William noticed that he didn’t seem to need a key.

  Mrs Duggan led the way into the kitchen, Timber padding silently beside her. She collected a pint of milk from the fridge and a saucepan from the cupboard by the stove.

  ‘You’ve not met your uncle before?’

  ‘Not that I remember,’ said William. ‘Have you?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Mrs Duggan found two mugs and a jar of cocoa. ‘And for what it’s worth I reckon you can trust him. Your dad did.’

  William didn’t answer. Uncle Larry might be the sort of person you could trust and he might not, but he knew one thing with a cold certainty that sat in his stomach like an undigested meal.

  Whatever else he was doing, Uncle Larry was lying through his teeth.

  CHAPTER TWO

  At breakfast the next morning, Daniel had no trouble accepting the fact that his parents had decided on the spur of the moment to take a holiday in France. He read the letter from his mother, put it to one side, poured himself a bowl of cereal and asked if he would be allowed to go skull-hunting after school. He seemed all set to carry on as if everything was still normal.

  But it wasn’t.

  For a start, when they got back from school, there was still no tea on the table. Although Uncle Larry had found some butter, he had failed to find any bread or even to g
et water out of the tap to fill a saucepan and boil the eggs. Daniel solved the water problem by explaining how the taps worked – Uncle Larry had been pushing them like a button, instead of turning the handle – but neither of them could find any bread. They must have finished the last of it at breakfast and William remembered that Friday was the day his mother usually went shopping.

  ‘Shopping?’ Uncle Larry tugged thoughtfully at his beard. ‘What would that involve exactly?’

  ‘You go to Tesco,’ said Daniel, ‘and buy all the food we’ll need for the next week.’

  ‘I might need a bit of help with that one,’ said Uncle Larry. ‘Do either of you know where this “Tesco” is?’

  They took Dad’s car to the supermarket, and the drive was a nightmare. Uncle Larry gave a fair impression of someone who had never been in a car before in his life. You could almost see him working out where to put the key, and which pedal made it go forwards. For the first two miles, they went so slowly that they were overtaken not only by a tractor, but by a child on a bicycle and two women out jogging. It was embarrassing but, as Uncle Larry’s confidence increased and he began to speed up, it got worse.

  ‘Getting the hang of it now,’ he murmured, and a few minutes later was driving at seventy miles an hour, mostly on the wrong side of the road, still in third gear. Daniel sat in the back, shrieking with laughter, while William closed his eyes and prayed they would get there without killing too many pedestrians.

  At Tesco’s car park, Uncle Larry parked neatly in a bay for the disabled and peered over the steering wheel at the swarms of people moving in and out of the main entrance. ‘I think you might manage this sort of thing best on your own,’ he said, reaching into his jacket for a wallet. ‘How much money will you need?’

  William had no idea, so Uncle Larry gave him three hundred pounds from an astonishingly thick wad of notes, and told him to come back if he needed any more.

  Daniel had never been happier. On the odd occasions he had been shopping with his mother, Mrs Seward had refused to buy anything that wasn’t already on her list. Now, however, he could put whatever caught his fancy into the trolley. In no time, it was packed with frozen pizzas, pots of chocolate trifles, cans of cola and dozens of bags of crisps. William was the one who tried to remember they might need things like bread and pots of marmalade as well.