Grk Undercover: Two Novels by Joshua Doder

Author:Joshua Doder [Doder, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-98221-6
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2

It was a sunny morning in the mountains and hundreds of hikers were setting out for hearty walks through the Alps, clasping sticks and carrying backpacks packed with provisions. Snow covered the mountaintops, but the lower valleys were lush, green and speckled with flowers.

Thirty thousand feet above them, an Alitalia flight cruised through the air. One or two passengers looked out of the windows at the mountains below them, staring at the sculpted peaks and crevices. The others were too busy sleeping, working, talking, playing games, watching movies or reading books. All of them had their own lives, their own worries, their own fears, their own reasons for traveling from London to Rome on a Friday afternoon. But we’re not interested in any of them. We’re just interested in a man, a woman and a boy sitting near the back of the plane.

The man was reading the Daily Telegraph. The woman was flicking through the pages of Vogue. And the boy was arguing with her.

He had been arguing with her all morning. He started arguing when she woke him up. He continued arguing while they had breakfast and finished packing their bags. He even argued with her in the car on the way to the airport.

In fact, the same argument had been continuing for more than three weeks now.

“It’s so unfair,” said Tim for the thousandth time. “You can’t put Grk in prison.”

“He’s not in prison,” replied Mrs. Malt. “He’s just staying in a kennel for a couple of nights.”

“A kennel is a prison for dogs,” said Tim.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Mrs. Malt. “Cuddles Kennel has been recommended in all the best guides. Grk will have much more fun than he does at home. He’ll be surrounded by lots of other lovely dogs. Anyway, he’s only going to be there for a couple of nights and then he’ll be back with us.”

Tim could hardly believe what he was hearing. “Would you want to spend two nights in prison? Of course you wouldn’t! No one would! It’s so unfair. Why can’t he come to Italy?”

“Because he can’t,” said Mrs. Malt. “You saw the invitation. Children are welcome, but pets aren’t allowed.”

“If Grk can’t come, then I don’t want to go either.”

“You don’t want to stay in a lovely hotel? And eat lots of yummy spaghetti?”

“Not without Grk,” said Tim. “I’d rather turn round and go home.”

“Well, you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re already halfway there. And even if we weren’t, you couldn’t stay in the house on your own.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not old enough to look after yourself.”

“Why not?”

Mrs. Malt sighed. “We’ve talked about this for days and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Because … because … because …” Mrs. Malt glanced at her husband, hoping for some support, but he was reading the business pages of the Daily Telegraph and hadn’t heard a word of their conversation. Mrs. Malt turned back to her son. “We’re not going to talk about this anymore,” she said in a firm voice. “I want you to keep quiet and read your book till we get there.

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