Billy Angel by Sam Hay Read Free Book Online Page B

and a porch. I even found myself wondering whether it had its own loo. (Mental note: must stop thinking plumber-type thoughts: personally I blamed the bag – it seemed to be infecting me.) Anyway, Thelma and the trolley disappeared inside.
    â€˜Let’s go and look in the window,’ whispered Gaby.
    But before we could move, Thelma shut the curtains.
    â€˜Bother!’ snapped Gaby. ‘How are we going to find out what she’s doing now?’
    â€˜Maybe we should just go home?’ I said hopefully.
    Gaby scowled at me. ‘You’re such a wimp.’
    â€˜Me?’ I was taken aback – I thought I’d been pretty brave, all things considered. I suddenly felt cross. ‘Oh, shut up! Why don’t you get back on your broomstick and buzz off.’
    â€˜No, you buzz off,’ snapped Gaby.
    â€˜All right then, I will,’ I hadn’t meant to say it, but now I had, I sort of had to carry it through. So I stood up, wiped the mud off my jeans and stalked off. Really, Gaby was the most infuriating girl I’d ever had the misfortuneto meet. And if she wanted to spend her evening spying on Thelma Potts then that was her lookout. Personally, I was quite glad to be rid of them both. And my heart lifted at the thought that yes, I could actually just go home…
    I was halfway over the wall when I suddenly felt a hand on my ankle.
    â€˜Get off, Gaby!’ I growled.
    But it wasn’t Gaby.
    â€˜Hey, plumber boy. Where do you think you’re going?’
    I looked back, and was immediately blinded by the bright, white light.
    â€˜I… er… well…’ Actually, I didn’t have an answer.
    The hoodie-angel hauled me back into the garden. And I landed with a bump in a particularly nasty bramble bush.
    â€˜That hurt!’ I howled.
    â€˜It was meant to,’ the hoodie-angel sneered. ‘Now, what do you think you’re doing legging it when Thelma is on the edge of oblivion?’
    What a drama queen! I plucked a thorn out of my thigh and tried not to get cross.
    â€˜Look,’ I said, smiling as politely as I could. ‘Whatever Thelma’s up to, there’s nothing I cando to stop her.’ I shrugged. ‘It may have escaped your notice, but I am not Spiderman. Or Superman. Or any other bloke in silly tights you might have muddled me up with. I’m an eleven-year-old schoolboy…’
    The hoodie-angel scowled. ‘Well, if you want to stay being an eleven-year-old schoolboy, you’d better start following orders – otherwise you’ll be looking at a trip upstairs, permanently!’ He pointed skywards and had an exceedingly menacing look on his face.
    â€˜What?’ I gasped. ‘But I don’t want to go to Heaven. Not yet. I’ve got sinks to unblock, toilets to fix…’ (
What
? What was I blethering about? I was completely losing it. I definitely had to ditch the tool bag at the earliest opportunity.)
    The hoodie-angel was unmoved. ‘Well, you should have thought about that before you signed the contract…’ He fished inside his pocket and withdrew a crumbled bit of white paper. ‘Look, it says here quite clearly: “Failure to comply with direct Heavenly orders will result in an Earthbound angel being reassigned to other duties, elsewhere, permanently”.’
    â€˜But you didn’t tell me that,’ I squeaked.
    â€˜You should always read the small print,’ he chuckled. ‘Now, are you going to get in that shed and sort out Thelma Potts, or do I need to get heavy?’
    I didn’t really have much choice. I was caught between the wrath of Heaven and a zombie-making pie slasher. What would you have done?
    I gathered up my tool bag and legged it to the other side of the garden, where Gaby was still hiding behind the compost heap totally oblivious to the menacing I’d just received from the feathered freak.
    And that’s when Thelma spotted