The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders Read Free Book Online Page B

just slipped away into the water and she was gone. The SMU recruited me the next day. You wouldn’t believe all the unexplained stuff in that river!”
    “Are there many mermaids?”
    Alan said, “No, I was lucky—you only get a sighting every hundred years or so, when the weather’s very bad and they get washed in from the sea. But I’ve seen giant octopuses, I’ve towed away a dead sea dragon, I’ve threatened the captain of a ghost ship with arrest—it’s the most interesting job I’ve ever had.”
    “How could you arrest a ghost?” Oz asked.
    “Ghost ships have to abide by regulations, same aseveryone else,” said Alan. “And I was working with a ghost policeman. You meet all sorts in this line of work.”
    He was driving south, toward the river, and stopped suddenly at a large, dull building like a school, tucked away in a dull side street.
    “Head office,” Alan said. “It doesn’t exist officially, of course. Come on.”
    They all got out of the car. Alan opened the trunk and found Spike fast asleep on Lily’s backpack. His unsavory little body left a smear of dirt, which Lily tried not to mind about; he got enough telling-off from Demerara.
    Alan led the three children and two talking animals into the SMU’s officially nonexistent building.
    “First things first,” Alan said cheerfully. “You’ll be issued ID cards, and someone will take your measurements.”
    Caydon pointed at Spike. “Do they have special tiny equipment for him?”
    “I don’t need it.” Spike laughed wheezily. “A bit of drowning never did me any harm.”
    “Stop showing off,” Demerara said. “You should be down in the sewers—you don’t want to keep your fans waiting.”
    “OK, old girl.” The good-tempered rat waved a paw and trotted out into the street. “See you later!” he said, slipping down the nearest drain.
    The policeman at reception handed Alan a cardboard box. “The cat needs to sign for this—it’s the stuff she requested from the secret vault.”
    “Oh, yes.” Demerara made one of her leaps up to the desk. “I hope it hasn’t gone bad.”
    Lily, despite her nerves, was interested to watch the cat “signing” a thick book by putting her paw on an ink pad and making a print in a thick ledger. The strangest thing about this place was its lack of strangeness—it was like a very ordinary office, and none of the staff were at all surprised to meet animals who talked.
    Alan took the cardboard box. He opened the lid to reveal three glossy chocolate coins. “These are safe, right?”
    “It’s one of Pierre’s recipes,” Demerara said proudly. “I moved his leftover magic chocolate into the ministry’s high-security preservation vault—to be honest, I didn’t trust Spike not to eat it. These are Duck Drops, which improve people’s swimming.”
    Lily was relieved to hear they would be getting some magical help; these sounded like just the thing for someone like her, who couldn’t even swim a whole length at Washford Waterworld.
    “Well—” Alan looked at the chocolate coins and smiled. “I’m jealous—they smell great.”
    They did have a lovely rich, sweet scent, and were made of the very best creamy, glossy chocolate—you’dnever think it had been languishing in a vault for years. Oz and Caydon ate theirs quickly, but Lily let her chocolate coin dissolve slowly on her tongue; the taste was wonderful.
    And she did feel a bit less scared of being underwater.

7
The Tram in the River
    “OK, let’s run through it one more time,” Alan said. “You three stick close to me on the way down, and when we get to the tram, watch for Ms. Demerara’s signal to join hands—just like we practiced.”
    It was just past two o’clock in the morning, as they could see from the face of Big Ben looming above them. Oz, Caydon, Lily and Alan stood on the deck of a small motorboat. They were all wearing wet suits, oxygen tanks, large goggles, nose clips and mouthpieces.
    No amount of Duck