Read Online Adam and the Arkonauts by Dominic Barker - Free Book Online Page A

didn’t give us any clues.’
    The Doctor picked up the letter his wife had sent them. Discreetly printed in the bottom corner were the words ‘Hotel Dormir, Calle Cama’.
    â€˜She did give us one,’ said the Doctor. ‘Let’s start walking.’
    There was a sudden flurry of activity and out of the hatch, his ears flopping like crazy, bounded Sniffage. He skidded up to the Doctor and Adam.
    â€˜Did someone just say walk? Yeah! Yeah! I know they did. I heard them! Let Sniffage come! Can we go down smelly streets with dead things? Yeah! Yeah!’
    â€˜You can come, Sniffage,’ said the Doctor, ‘but try not to do anything to attract the attention of the police.’
    â€˜The police!’ said Sniffage. ‘Don’t you worry about the police! I’ll chase ’em off! I’m a very scary dog! Look at my teeth! Yeah! Yeah! Oops! I mean, Grrr! Grrr!’
    Adam started laughing. He couldn’t help it. With his floppy ears and brown button eyes, Sniffage was the least frightening dog in the whole world.
    â€˜Come on, then,’ said the Doctor impatiently. ‘We must find the Hotel Dormir and see if anyone recognises your mother. I still have the last picture taken of her two days before she went missing.’
    â€˜But it’s ten years later,’ said Adam. ‘Will she look the same?’
    â€˜We will have to hope that ten years in the clutches of Scabellax will not have changed her too much.’
    With the sun burning hot above them, the Doctor, Adam and Sniffage headed down the gangplank and into the narrow, quiet streets of Buenos Sueños.
    â€˜Look!’ said Adam as they arrived at a crossroads. ‘There’s a sign for the Hotel Dormir.’
    But of course there wasn’t just one sign for the Hotel Dormir, there were four. Like the town hall, every road seemed to lead to the Hotel Dormir with no indication as to which route was the quickest.
    â€˜Pick a direction,’ said the Doctor.
    â€˜Yeah! Yeah! Left smells nastiest!’yapped Sniffage.
    So they went left.
    The route led them through darker and narrower streets than any they had seen before. When Adam looked up it seemed as though the tall buildings above him were leaning in towards each other. While he knew it must be an optical illusion, a part of him still felt that the houses were about to collapse in on them.
    â€˜Look out!’ the Doctor cried out.
    Adam looked in front of him and managed to duck just in time to avoid crashing his head into a low bridge which spanned the narrow road.
    Two men and two women stood on the other side of the bridge, gazing admiringly at it. They all had large angry red bumps on their heads.
    â€˜Greetings!’ said one of the women as Adam and the Doctor straightened up. ‘My name is Carla. Are you Bajapuentalists too?’
    â€˜Bajapuentalists?’ said Adam, looking at the Doctor.
    â€˜Si,’ said Carla. ‘Bajapuentalists. Members of the Society for the Appreciation of Low Bridges. Doubtless you can see that this is one of the city’s greatest examples. It arches perfectly across the street with a pleasing symmetry, combining flamboyant wrought-iron effects with a genuine lack of altitude.’
    Not wanting to offend the Bajapuentalists, the Doctor and Adam looked back admiringly at the low bridge.
    â€˜It is one of architectural jewels in the crown of Buenos Sueños,’ Carla went on. ‘Would you mind taking a picture of us in front of it?’
    Adam smiled and nodded. She handed him an ancient camera and the four Bajapuentalists stooped in front of the bridge.
    â€˜Try and get our bumps to stand out,’ said Carla.
    â€˜Why do you all have bumps?’ asked Adam.
    â€˜It is an occupational hazard of the Bajapuentalist,’ Carla explained. ‘Even one as experienced as me can stand up too early or crouch too late. But they show that we have suffered in our quest for lower