On The Ball Read online

  EJ, CC and KM looked at each other excitedly. The Shining Stars competition was SHINE’s spy of the year award and agents were always keen to pick up extra points. EJ, CC and KM would be in the same team, the under-twelve team. Could they beat the older girls?

  ‘There is one more thing,’ continued A1. ‘We have placed four objects along the course, objects that do not belong in the bush, that are out of place. A good agent, an agent on the ball, must notice things like this. Each team must correctly identify and take a photo of each of the four objects. Any team that finishes without finding them will be disqualified. Okay, now please line up at this first yellow flag.’

  The agents lined up, grouped in their teams, waiting. EJ looked at CC, who looked at KM, who looked at EJ. They were ready and determined to show what the under-twelves could do.

  ‘Agents,’ cried A1, ‘are you ready? On your marks, get set, go!’

  The agents ran out of the camp gates and into the bush. The race was on.

  EJ, KM and CC took off quickly, eager to make a good start, but it was hard work running on the track. The path was uneven and every now and then it was blocked completely by boulders that the girls had to scramble over. Sometimes they hit jump mode on their shoes and jumped over them but they were worried they might miss one of the objects if they did it too often. All the same, the trainers were excellent and fun—cross-country running at school was never like this!

  CC and KM were strong, fast runners and EJ had to work hard to keep up with them. She was also on the look-out for the four objects. She didn’t have far to look for the first one—they had only been on the bush track for a little while when they saw something red in one of the trees. A quick bounce with the turbo-trainers and the girls had found the first object—four red balloons tied to a tree.

  ‘That has to be the first one,’ said CC, taking out her phone and snapping a photo. ‘This one was easy, everyone would have got it, let’s keep going.’

  The track now pushed up the mountain, making the run harder, but using their trainers certainly helped. Even without the trainers, EJ was getting a lot of exercise. This has to be good for my soccer, she thought. They were nearly at the top of the hill, and out of breath, when they saw a pair of skis leaning against a tree.

  ‘That has to be strange thing number two,’ said EJ. ‘There’s no snow here.’

  The girls stopped to photograph the skis. Taking their water bottles from their packs, they had a drink.

  Further along the track, halfway down Mount Globe, EJ could see something moving through the trees. ‘We’re doing well but look, another group is ahead of us.’

  ‘How did they get there so fast?’ cried CC, wiping her mouth and putting her bottle back in her pack.

  ‘Let’s go!’ said KM.

  The three girls took off again. EJ was finding the going much easier now that the track was heading downhill. She was even able to keep up with KM. She and KM had just scrambled over another big set of rocks when CC called them back. She was still on top of the rocks when she looked up and saw a rock ledge above her. There seemed to be something sticking out the side.

  ‘Hold on, I think there is something up here,’ she cried, to KM and EJ and pointed up to the ledge. CC climbed up a bit further and there was a teddy bear sitting on a little rock.

  ‘How cute!’ exclaimed CC, taking a photo. ‘But it doesn’t belong here: it must be object three.’

  ‘Good spotting, CC,’ said KM. ‘I climbed straight past that.’

  ‘That’s why you are in the fast-transport division and CC is in surveillance,’ said EJ, laughing. ‘Come on, we only have one more object to find.’

  The girls set off again. The track was not so steep now and they crossed a dry creek bed. As the girls ran across, they noticed a school-crossing sign.

  CC snapped the photo. ‘That makes four objects.’

  ‘Time to speed back to camp,’ said KM.

  ‘Do you think we’ll catch those older girls?’ EJ asked.

  ‘I’ll use my trainers to check how far in front they are,’ said KM. She pressed the button with the arrow on it and jumped, bouncing high up into the trees and then grabbing onto a branch. ‘We’re nearly at the bottom and that first group is only just ahead of us now,’ she cried. ‘Hold on, what’s this? Come up here guys.’

  CC and EJ looked at each other, slightly puzzled, but they pushed their trainers for jump mode and bounced. As they jumped up among the trees, they could see what KM had seen. There was something like a tree house in one of the trees at the bottom of the mountain near the clearing.

  The girls leapt down and ran to find the tree. Just when they were about to give up, EJ found a tree with small pieces of wood nailed to the trunk. She called to the other girls.

  ‘Guys, over here, I think this is a ladder!’

  And it was. The girls climbed up and reached a wooden platform high up among the top branches of the tree. The same platform KM had spotted. It was a tree house.

  ‘This is so cool,’ said CC. ‘It’s a lookout. And see, the wood looks almost new. This hasn’t been here long. Hey, look over there, you can see the enclosures near the camp fence.’ She took a charm from her bracelet and twisted it to produce a pair of binoculars.

  ‘Cool charm,’ commented EJ. ‘Can you see anything?’

  ‘Yes,’ cried CC. ‘I can see puppies! Look!’

  CC passed the binoculars to EJ who looked and then passed them on to KM.

  ‘Maybe A1 made a mistake,’ said EJ. ‘Maybe there were five things.’ She took a photo of the tree house with her phone.

  ‘Make that six,’ said KM. ‘Check this out.’ She bent down and picked up a small, round metal disc with the SHINE logo on it.

  ‘It looks like a dog-tag,’ said EJ. ‘What’s it doing up here? We better take it back with us.’

  ‘And we’d better get back if we want to have a chance of winning,’ added KM.

  ‘No rush, we don’t have a chance,’ said CC, looking across to the camp with her binoculars. ‘The other teams are already running back through the front gates.’

  ‘We lost time up here in the tree house,’ said EJ a little glumly.

  ‘But if the other teams missed the tree house,’ KM pointed out, ‘we might still win on points. We only found it when I jumped to see how far we had to go. Come on, let’s get back.’

  The girls carefully climbed back down the ladder and jumped onto the track. They ran the rest of the way down the mountain, out of the bush and through the gates, where A1 was waiting for them.

  ‘Good job, girls,’ cried A1.

  EJ pulled up, puffing. It didn’t feel like a good job. She couldn’t help being disappointed. They had come last, after all.

  ‘Don’t be too disappointed,’ said A1. ‘Remember you are the youngest agents. Now, before you go into dinner, did you find the four things?’

  EJ brightened a little. ‘The balloons and the skis.’

  ‘Correct,’ confirmed A1.

  ‘And the teddy bear and the school crossing,’ said CC.

  ‘Well done,’ said A1 smiling.

  ‘And the tree house and the dog-tag,’ said KM.

  ‘I beg your pardon,’ said A1. ‘What did you say, Agent KM12?’

  ‘The tree house and the dog-tag, A1,’ repeated KM.

  ‘That’s why we took so long,’ explained EJ. ‘We were up in the tree house. Look, we took a photo and we found this disc, we think it is a dog-tag.’ EJ passed the tag to A1.

  A1 wasn’t smiling any more. Her eyes had narrowed and her lips were pursed. For once, EJ knew what she was thinking.

  ‘That wasn’t part of the hunt, was it?’ said EJ.

  ‘No,’ said A1, ‘it wasn’t.’

  For a moment no one spoke. Then EJ ’s eyes widened as she realised what that meant.

  ‘But if SHINE didn’t build it, doesn’t that mean someone outside SHINE knows the location of our camp?’

  ‘Yes, EJ12 it does.’

 
‘SHADOW?’

  ‘I don’t know, EJ12. I hope not,’ said A1 grimly.

  That evening over dinner all the agents could talk about was the tree house that the under-twelves had discovered. EJ, CC and KM were rather proud that they were the only ones that had spotted it. A1 had given them the same number of Shining Star points as the under-sixteens, who won the race. That made them even prouder. Everyone was talking loudly when A1 stood up at the front of the dining hall and tapped on her water glass with a spoon.

  ‘Could I have your attention please, agents,’ said A1.

  The room went quiet immediately.

  ‘Thank you. The camp program will continue as planned but, in the light of today’s discovery, all agents are to be on high alert. The older agents will now leave for their night camp. Be alert for any further signs of possible SHADOW activity in the area. The under-twelves need to get themselves to bed. They will report to Agent BRK9 in the morning for puppy training.’

  EJ, CC and KM blushed. The older agents were off to search for SHADOW agents and they were going to bed?

  ‘How embarrassing!’ said EJ, covering her face with her hands.

  ‘Why did A1 have to say that?’ groaned CC. ‘She made us seem like babies.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed KM, ‘but,’ she continued stifling a yawn, ‘I am tired and we do need to be up early for puppy training.’

  ‘I can’t wait,’ said EJ. ‘I wonder what work we will be doing with them?’

  The girls left the dining hall and as they walked towards their sleeping cabin, they could see the older girls heading off for their bush camp.

  ‘Lucky them,’ said EJ.

  ‘I still wish we were going too,’ said CC. But she was yawning as she said it.

  Each age group had its own cabin so it was EJ, CC and KM in one. They changed into their special SHINE-issue pyjamas—long grey and white stripy pants and white T-shirt with the SHINE logo on it—and cleaned their teeth. Even the toothpaste had the SHINE logo on it. By the time they were done, EJ, CC and KM were all yawning and they almost fell into their beds. EJ lay on her back and pulled her doona up towards her.

  ‘Hey, this is just like a sleepover,’ said EJ. ‘What should we do?’

  There was no reply.

  ‘Guys, what should we do?’

  There was still silence.

  ‘Guys?’

  Silence. Then she heard snores. Two different snores. KM and CC were fast asleep.

  EJ yawned. I’d better get some sleep too, she thought. Tomorrow will be a big day.

  EJ12 had no idea how big.

  The girls woke up early, rushed through their breakfast and tore over to the dog yards in the far corner of the training camp. The dogs began barking loudly. There were some beautiful huskies and EJ recognised them immediately: they were the huskies that she had rescued from SHADOW agent Caterina Hill’s Antarctica ice hotel. And, there were the puppies. The girls squealed again as they saw three little Labrador puppies, two golden and one black, all tumbling around playing with an old soccer ball in their pen. All the dogs had little SHINE tags on their collars.

  ‘These tags are the same as the one we found in the tree house,’ said EJ. ‘It was a dog-tag. But how did it get up in the tree house?’

  ‘Good question, EJ12,’ said a woman coming around the corner. It was Agent BRK9, the SHINE dog trainer. ‘None of our dogs are missing their tags. It’s a mystery.’

  ‘Good morning, BRK9,’ said EJ. ‘May I say hello to the huskies?’

  ‘Of course,’ said BRK9.

  EJ went into the husky yard. The big dogs gathered around her as if they were greeting her. Do they remember me from the South Pole? she wondered as she ran her hand through the long fur of one of the dogs.

  ‘You’re a good dog, aren’t you?’ she said, still patting the husky as she looked into its light blue eyes. Then, as she stroked the dog, EJ felt something small and hard, almost like a little disc, under the fur on its shoulder. EJ called to BRK9. ‘What’s this under the dog’s fur? There’s something hard.’

  BRK9 came straight over and felt the disc. ‘Oh, that’s okay, it’s only her microchip. Most dogs have them so you can trace them to their owner if they get lost. It doesn’t hurt the dogs at all. Now, come and join the others and meet your training partners.’

  BRK9 opened the gate to the puppy yard and the girls went in. The puppies leapt all over them, licking and pawing them excitedly.

  ‘They need some exercise,’ said BRK9 laughing. ‘Let’s get the ball rolling—it’s time for soccer.’

  ‘Soccer?’ asked EJ looking puzzled. ‘But I thought we were doing puppy training.’

  ‘You are, EJ12,’ replied BRK9. ‘Soccer is a great way to exercise the pups and to practise some of the commands they’re learning. You’ll see. Now girls, please activate your high-frequency whistle charm,’ said BRK9. ‘We use it for the puppies, along with a few voice commands.’

  The puppies were let out of the yard and they ran everywhere. When BRK9 blew her whistle, they stopped and sat down. BRK9 blew her whistle twice and the puppies began running around again.

  EJ took the whistle charm from her bracelet and twisted. Then she removed the plug and placed it in her ear. CC and KM did the same. This time when BRK9 blew, they could hear a sharp whistle. And so could the puppies, who sat down again.

  ‘EJ, you will be looking after Blackie, the little black puppy,’ explained BRK9. ‘CC, you will be with Bella, the golden lab with the black collar and, KM, you will be training Bessie, the golden lab with the blue collar. You will be playing soccer with the puppies. At any time, however, you may say the puppy’s name and blow the whistle once. Then the puppy must stop and sit. This teaches them control: they must obey the command rather than continue to play with the ball. That’s not easy for a puppy, so when they obey you must give them lots of praise. When you blow the whistle twice the puppy can continue playing. Although they’re still young, they can understand quite complicated sequences of commands. Do any of you have the dog whisperer charm?’

  ‘I do,’ said EJ, holding the bone-shaped charm. Once twisted it became a jar of little dog treats that all dogs found irresistible.

  ‘Excellent. Please activate it and give the other girls some chum chews.’ BRK9 threw the soccer ball up in the air. ‘Now, off you go!’

  KM stretched up and immediately headed the ball to CC. EJ was impressed. The girls kicked the ball around, passing it to each other as the puppies joined in, chasing the ball from girl to girl and trying to grip it with their mouths.

  EJ called, ‘Blackie!’ and blew her whistle. The black pup stopped, looked at EJ and then sat.

  ‘Good girl, Blackie, good girl,’ said EJ giving the puppy a little treat. The ball rolled past and the puppy dived after it. ‘No, Blackie,’ said EJ. She hadn’t blown the whistle twice so the puppy needed to stay sitting. Again EJ blew her whistle once. Now the puppy sat and was rewarded with another chum chew. Then EJ blew the whistle twice and Blackie took off, chasing the ball that was moving between KM and CC, with a little interruption from Bella and Bessie.

  ‘Here, EJ,’ cried CC, ‘take the header!’

  Oh, no, thought EJ, here we go again. EJ leapt up to the ball, aiming her head at where she thought the ball was going. It wasn’t. The ball sailed past and landed on Blackie’s head. Even the puppy could do a header!

  EJ must have looked a little discouraged because CC came up to her. ‘You nearly got it,’ she said. ‘But you do know the trick about heading the ball, don’t you?’

  EJ looked at her spy buddy. Was she joking? Did she look as if she knew the trick about heading the ball?

  ‘No,’ said EJ, ‘I don’t think I do.’

  ‘Don’t look at where you want the ball to go. Keep your eye on the ball.’

  ‘On the ball?’

  ‘Exactly. Then keep your chin in and hit the ball with your forehead in the direction you want the ball to go. Here, try again.’

  CC went back an
d kicked the ball up high towards EJ. EJ watched the ball and moved her head towards it. This time the ball made contact with her head but then it just bounced off.

  ‘That was better,’ said CC, ‘but you forgot to push. Now, kick me one.’

  EJ kicked the ball up in CC’s direction. CC ran to meet the ball and then, as it was coming down, she jumped, her eyes always firmly on it. Her chin tucked in, CC stretched her neck and then met the ball with the middle of her forehead, pushing it back to EJ.

  ‘That was great!’ cried EJ.

  ‘It’s just practice,’ said CC. ‘I missed them all the time when I first tried.’

  ‘Hello people, can we get back to the game?’ cried KM.

  CC laughed and kicked the ball towards KM, who didn’t quite get to it before Bessie rushed in and took it.

  ‘Bessie, sit,’ called KM, blowing the whistle once. The puppy sat.

  ‘Good girl,’ said KM. ‘If only we could make other teams sit and stay the same way!’

  The girls continued to play with the puppies and EJ kept trying the headers—one even went in the right direction, although not to the right person. It was a start.

  The puppies were doing well too. Sometimes they ran off before they were allowed to but the girls made sure to make them sit again. It seemed everyone was getting better with practice. Then something strange happened.

  Blackie was sitting. EJ blew the whistle to release her but accidentally blew three times rather than two. Blackie began running but then ran all the way back into her enclosure. She sat at the back of the yard looking over to the camp fence. It was as if she was waiting for something. EJ looked up to where Blackie seemed to be looking. She could just see the tree house in the distance. Is that where the puppy was looking? she wondered.