Pete Johnson

2Power: The Midnight Menace

A Shocking Sight

‘Do you know what I wish I was doing now?’ cried Sam.
  ‘Go on, tell me,’ replied Ella, his twin sister.
  ‘I wish I was playing a terrific computer game. And beside me was a massive bar of chocolate just waiting to be eaten.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Instead, you and I had to get up at five o’clock today, clean the lounge and then make breakfast for everyone. Now we’re buying all these boring groceries – and it’s not even nine o’clock yet.’
  ‘It’s three minutes past nine actually,’ corrected Ella, who liked to get things exactly right. But she agreed with Sam. This was an awful way to start Saturday morning.
  Sam and Ella’s parents were dead. So now they lived with their Uncle Mike and Aunt Joy at the seaside town of Little Brampton. Their uncle and aunt owned a hotel called the Jolly Roger. But life wasn’t at all jolly there for Sam and Ella, who were kept busy every second. And weekends were the worst of all.
  The twins stood slouched against the supermarket window, three huge bags of groceries beside them.
  ‘When we get back, the fun really starts,’ said Sam. ‘I’ve got to wash the kitchen floor and you’ll have to hoover –’
  ‘Don’t say another word,’ interrupted Ella, ‘because you’re upsetting Patch.’
  They both grinned at the small, white terrier with a black patch over his right ear. He wagged his tail a little uncertainly. Sam knelt down. ‘It’s all right, Patch, don’t look so guilty. We’re not mad at you – and we never could be.’
  Patch was a dog they’d found abandoned and in a dreadful condition. But with the help of Carl, the trainee vet, they’d changed him into a really happy, healthy dog. And no one had claimed Patch so now he belonged to Sam and Ella.
  ‘I suppose,’ said Ella, ‘we’d better start going back before Uncle Mike sends out a search party for us.’
  Sam nodded gloomily.
  ‘But how about if we go online first?’ asked Ella, with a little smile.
  ‘Do you know,’ exclaimed Sam, ‘I was feeling so fed up – well, for a few seconds I forgot all about that.’ Then he shook his head in astonishment. How could Sam forget that he and Ella shared the most incredible secret ever?
  For when he and Ella concentrated they could actually pick up each other’s thoughts. So they were able to talk to one another without anyone else hearing. Whenever they had one of those secret conversations they called it ‘going online’.
  Then one day they made a truly sensational discovery.
  The moment they were online Sam and Ella became incredibly strong. They could also run as fast as any Olympic champion (faster, in Sam’s opinion) and even their hearing and eyesight suddenly became extraordinary.
  But the second they stopped being ‘online’ their super powers vanished instantly – and they just became ordinary again.
  Ella whispered to Sam, ‘Ready?’
  ‘Oh yes,’ he replied.
  And going online was so simple. That, thought Ella, was one of the most amazing things about it. She just had to close her eyes and picture Sam as clearly as she could. After a few seconds her nose often felt incredibly itchy. Then she heard that odd buzzing noise in her ear. This meant the magic was about to begin.
  Moments later she heard Sam’s voice deep in her ear. ‘Do we have lift-off?’ he asked, just as if they were about to go up into space or something.
  ‘We certainly do,’ she replied. All at once she could feel this new energy tingling inside her.
  Sam sensed it too and yelled, ‘Well, no one had better mess with me now, because I’m the strongest boy in the entire world.’
  He picked up two massive shopping bags and swung them about over his head. ‘Mighty Boy strikes again!’ he cried.
  ‘Be careful,’ hissed Ella. She was always worried that someone else would discover their super powers. They’d had a narrow escape recently and Ella dreaded to think what Uncle Mike or Aunt Joy would do if they ever found out.
  Still, it was so exciting. She took a deep breath. Even smells were sharper. So that breeze coming in from the sea smelt wonderful now.
  Sam went on waving the shopping bags around. A special parcel delivery van drove past. The driver grinned at Sam and gave a cheerful wave. Sam did a little bow.
  Then he and Ella watched the van turn down a nearby road. ‘I bet he’s going to deliver someone a massive birthday present,’ announced Sam. ‘Let’s go and see.’
  ‘But then we really must go back,’ said Ella. ‘Uncle Mike’s in a terrible mood today.’
  ‘So what’s new?’ muttered Sam.
  They followed the van and found themselves at the top of a steep hill. Halfway down the man had parked his van outside a large house. They watched him as he walked up the long drive with a massive parcel.
  ‘That’s a present all right,’ said Sam. ‘Wish someone would send me one,’ he added.
  ‘But it’s not your birthday,’ said Ella.
  ‘They could still send me a present,’ cried Sam.
  The man stepped right inside the house with the parcel.
  ‘What do you suppose it is?’ asked Sam.
  Ella didn’t answer; instead she pointed wildly. ‘Sam, look!’ she shrieked.
  Neither of them could believe what they saw. For the delivery van had started up all by itself. And now it was speeding down the road.
  Suddenly Sam and Ella saw a little boy – he didn’t look any older than two or three – wander into the road at the bottom of the hill, bouncing a ball.
  ‘No! No!’ Sam and Ella yelled out to the little boy. But he didn’t react at all and just went on playing.
  ‘We’re probably too far away for that boy to hear us,’ cried Ella. ‘What can we do?’
  They quickly looked round. No one else was about.
  Without another word Sam tore after the van.

2Power: The Midnight Menace © Pete Johnson, 2008. Published by Puffin Books.