Odin Blew Up My TV! by Robert J. Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

we’re no further forward, are we?” Lewis complained. “What’s going to happen when Mum and Dad get back from Dunfermline? Are they going to fall into a gigantic hole in the ground where St Andrews used to be?”
    “Maybe there’ll be some kind of dimensional barrier that nobody can get past,” Susie suggested.
    “Never mind about that just now,” said Greg. “The point is that Loki’s stolen our town and he’s not getting away with it. We’re on a mission from Odin and nothing is going to stop us.”
    “I’d feel a bit more unstoppable if I knew what the mission was,” said Lewis.
    “Well, the first step,” said Susie, “is to find out what Loki’s up to and then think of a way to trip him up.”
    “Good plan,” said Greg. “Messing things up for Loki is what we do best.”
    “Look, I’m totally with you on this whole plan thing,” Dave the Lobster put in, “but can somebody please explain what’s going on? For a start, who is this Edwin guy you keep talking about?”
    “That’s Odin ,” Greg corrected him.
    He was about to say more when Lewis dug him in the ribs and signalled for quiet. “There’s somebody coming up the stairs,” he whispered.
    They all shrank back into the shadows and crouched there. Lewis could hear the stairs creaking beneath two pairs of footsteps. He held his breath as one uniformed figure wearing sunglasses appeared first, then another.
    “Hello? Is anybody here?” enquired a female voice.
    “It’s okay, it’s the police,” said Lewis, heaving a sigh of relief.
    Kenny and Iona stood at the top of the stairs, gazing around the room, their eyes hidden by dark glasses.
    Everybody stood up and came out of hiding.
    “Oh yeah, they were down at the harbour,” Dave told Greg and Susie.
    It did seem odd to Lewis that they should be wearing dark glasses indoors, but Dave stepped forward to greet them. “Good to see you, officers,” he grinned.
    “I thought you were both frozen by the mist,” said Lewis.
    “Don’t be dim, Elvis,” said Dave. “They must be immune, just like me.”
    “Yes, we’re immune,” said Kenny in a flat voice.
    “We’re really glad you’re here,” said Susie. “My cousin Gina is a police officer in Glasgow.”
    “Yes, she is,” Iona agreed woodenly.
    It worried Lewis that the two police officers didn’t sound like themselves. He stared at them, trying to see their eyes, but all that showed in the dark lenses was a reflection of the room and its eerily flickering lights.
    “You must come with us,” Iona instructed.
    “To a place of safety,” Kenny added.
    “What about Loki and his guard dogs?” asked Greg.
    “And that giant bird?” said Lewis.
    “The emergency services have taken control,” said Iona.
    “Yes, everything is under control,” Kenny agreed. “Now follow us.”
    Without another word the two police officers turned and headed back down the stairs.
    “Well, that’s a relief,” said Dave the Lobster, as he and the three youngsters followed. “I hope they’ve got some grub at this emergency station. I’m famished. Did you know lobsters have two stomachs? Just think how hungry they must get.”
    There was a white van waiting outside the museum entrance. Kenny opened the back door and waved them inside.
    “You will be safe in there,” Iona assured them.
    The four of them climbed inside and sat down on small benches that ran up both sides. Kenny slammed the door shut and they heard it clunk.
    “Did they just lock us in?” Lewis asked.
    “Relax, Lewis,” said Greg. “It’s probably just a safety precaution.”
    The two police officers climbed in the front where only the backs of their heads were visible through a tiny grille. The engine started up and the van moved up the narrowroad through the park and into the street.
    “Well, I’m glad all that nuttiness is over,” said Dave the Lobster. “You know what? I’ll bet it was just a hallucination, like the weird dreams you have when you eat too