Read Online The Pearl of Bengal by Sir Steve Stevenson - Free Book Online
Authors: Sir Steve Stevenson
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“With Dash, Watson, and Chandler. And Uncle Rudyard, too!”
This was greeted by sounds of distressed rumbling on the other end of the phone. Dash moved closer to listen.
“What’s the matter, Mom? Is there a problem?” asked Agatha.
“Oh, it’s nothing, dear…Just a bull elephant having a bit of a tantrum!”
“An elephant?” Dash squawked.
“We have a free day today,” Mrs. Mistery continued. “So we thought we’d take a day trip to the Taj Mahal on elephant back! Your father is doing a wonderful job with the steering…”
Agatha laughed while Dash covered his face in despair.
“Would you like to join us?” her mother asked in a bubbly voice.
“No, say no!” whispered Dash frantically. “Right now, all I want is a hotel with a swimming pool, a cold drink, and some time to chill out!”
“We’d love to join you!” Agatha replied. “I can’t wait to see the Taj Mahal!”
Dash slumped back, clutching his head. There was no such thing as time to chill out when your last name was Mistery!
L ondoners are famous for staying up late, and Dash Mistery was a total night owl. But the fresh air of Scotland, combined with a very big dinner, made him doze off at nine. One minute he was sprawled on the living-room couch with a plaid blanket over his knees, listening to his granddad Ian and younger cousin Agatha as they sat by a crackling fire, trading stories of their adventures in faraway places. The next, he was out like a light. Was he dreaming, or did someone lift him up gently and carry him into his bedroom, the way his mom used to when he was a kid?
Dash opened his eyes at seven the nextmorning. The room was eerily silent. Where were his seven computers and the hip-hop mix he always woke up to? For a moment, he had no clue where he was. Then he saw the emerald hills outside the window, crisscrossed with ancient stone walls, and it all flooded back. He was in his grandfather’s country house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, where the Mistery family was gathering for their traditional hot-air balloon weekend. There was no time to lose!
He and Agatha were joining Granddad Ian at noon for a balloon flight over the Scottish Highlands. But before they took off, he had a chore to get out of the way. He was already sorry he’d let himself get roped into it.
“Childhood friends are a pain in the butt,” he groaned, rolling over in bed. It would be sweet just to go back to sleep. Instead, he kicked off his five layers of blankets, like a deep-sea diver coming up for air.
He yawned and stretched, padding into the bathroom. He reached for the hair gel he always used to sculpt his floppy hair into a work of art, then paused in midmotion. “No London style around here,” he said to himself with a grin. “If I go to meet Aileen looking like a total slob, maybe she’ll quit stalking me with all those texts full of little hearts!”
Aileen Ferguson was fourteen years old, the same age as Dash. Her parents had sent her to a fancy boarding school in Edinburgh, but she was spending the weekend in the little Scottish town of Bowden, where Granddad Ian lived. As soon as she’d heard Dash was coming, she’d insisted on catching up with her old friend.
“Okay, make it Saturday morning,” Dash had finally agreed. “I’ll meet you for breakfast, but I’m warning you, I’ll have to leave in a hurry.”
Dash rummaged through bureau drawers until he found a heavy wool sweater that lookedlike the side of a sheep. He pulled on a pair of stiff corduroy pants and tucked them into a pair of bright green rubber boots. He looked at himself in the mirror. “I look like I fell off a haystack.” He grinned. “I bet this is the last time Aileen will ever want to lay eyes on me!”
Dash had met Aileen several summers ago, when he spent a few weeks with his granddad. Everyone in Bowden called her Dorothy, because she always wore a blue checkered pinafore with red shoes, and tied her two pigtails with ribbons,
This was greeted by sounds of distressed rumbling on the other end of the phone. Dash moved closer to listen.
“What’s the matter, Mom? Is there a problem?” asked Agatha.
“Oh, it’s nothing, dear…Just a bull elephant having a bit of a tantrum!”
“An elephant?” Dash squawked.
“We have a free day today,” Mrs. Mistery continued. “So we thought we’d take a day trip to the Taj Mahal on elephant back! Your father is doing a wonderful job with the steering…”
Agatha laughed while Dash covered his face in despair.
“Would you like to join us?” her mother asked in a bubbly voice.
“No, say no!” whispered Dash frantically. “Right now, all I want is a hotel with a swimming pool, a cold drink, and some time to chill out!”
“We’d love to join you!” Agatha replied. “I can’t wait to see the Taj Mahal!”
Dash slumped back, clutching his head. There was no such thing as time to chill out when your last name was Mistery!
L ondoners are famous for staying up late, and Dash Mistery was a total night owl. But the fresh air of Scotland, combined with a very big dinner, made him doze off at nine. One minute he was sprawled on the living-room couch with a plaid blanket over his knees, listening to his granddad Ian and younger cousin Agatha as they sat by a crackling fire, trading stories of their adventures in faraway places. The next, he was out like a light. Was he dreaming, or did someone lift him up gently and carry him into his bedroom, the way his mom used to when he was a kid?
Dash opened his eyes at seven the nextmorning. The room was eerily silent. Where were his seven computers and the hip-hop mix he always woke up to? For a moment, he had no clue where he was. Then he saw the emerald hills outside the window, crisscrossed with ancient stone walls, and it all flooded back. He was in his grandfather’s country house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, where the Mistery family was gathering for their traditional hot-air balloon weekend. There was no time to lose!
He and Agatha were joining Granddad Ian at noon for a balloon flight over the Scottish Highlands. But before they took off, he had a chore to get out of the way. He was already sorry he’d let himself get roped into it.
“Childhood friends are a pain in the butt,” he groaned, rolling over in bed. It would be sweet just to go back to sleep. Instead, he kicked off his five layers of blankets, like a deep-sea diver coming up for air.
He yawned and stretched, padding into the bathroom. He reached for the hair gel he always used to sculpt his floppy hair into a work of art, then paused in midmotion. “No London style around here,” he said to himself with a grin. “If I go to meet Aileen looking like a total slob, maybe she’ll quit stalking me with all those texts full of little hearts!”
Aileen Ferguson was fourteen years old, the same age as Dash. Her parents had sent her to a fancy boarding school in Edinburgh, but she was spending the weekend in the little Scottish town of Bowden, where Granddad Ian lived. As soon as she’d heard Dash was coming, she’d insisted on catching up with her old friend.
“Okay, make it Saturday morning,” Dash had finally agreed. “I’ll meet you for breakfast, but I’m warning you, I’ll have to leave in a hurry.”
Dash rummaged through bureau drawers until he found a heavy wool sweater that lookedlike the side of a sheep. He pulled on a pair of stiff corduroy pants and tucked them into a pair of bright green rubber boots. He looked at himself in the mirror. “I look like I fell off a haystack.” He grinned. “I bet this is the last time Aileen will ever want to lay eyes on me!”
Dash had met Aileen several summers ago, when he spent a few weeks with his granddad. Everyone in Bowden called her Dorothy, because she always wore a blue checkered pinafore with red shoes, and tied her two pigtails with ribbons,
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