The Secret Society of Very Important Post by Alexandra Page

Author:Alexandra Page [Page, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526644305
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

‘Let us just take a peek?’ said Bonvoyage. ‘Otherwise ’ow can we be sure?’

Penny used the basket lid for cover and carefully unfolded a corner of the waxy covering. She glimpsed cream-coloured paper, and – in another flash of lightning – something red. Her heart stuttered as she peeled back more of the cloth, to reveal a circular wax seal on the envelope, as large as a saucer.

She caught her breath in wonder. ‘It’s the Monarch’s Seal!’ she said.

13

Return to Sender

Penny and the Sorters huddled in the shadow of the falcon statue and gathered around the letter. Penny pulled her torch from her satchel and shone it upon the seal. The red wax was embossed with a lion and a unicorn, just as Lady Vellum had described. She ran her fingers over it, hardly daring to believe they had really found the Monarch’s Seal.

Even so, a shiver of excitement ran through her. Wishyouwas and Bonvoyage’s eyes were shining too. But Cartolina wore a slight frown, her head tilted sideways. She leaned down and sniffed the envelope, her whiskers twitching. ‘When was this letter written?’ she asked.

Penny frowned in thought. ‘The old King wrote it, so it must have been years ago.’

‘But the envelope, if I am not mistaken, is new,’ said Cartolina.

Wishyouwas smelt it too and his nose wrinkled. ‘You is right,’ he said. ‘Something smells fishy.’

‘Eh?’ Bonvoyage blurted. He gave it a long sniff. ‘I do not smell fish, and I would know, I am a champion sea swimmer!’ He flexed his arm muscles.

‘Wishyouwas means something doesn’t seem right about it,’ Penny said. A memory bobbed in her mind, of when she had visited the Bureau for the very first time. Thiswayup had solved the lost letter she’d brought with her straight away. With a single sniff, the clever Solver had worked out that the letter was really written by her and not lost at all. Might this letter also not be what it seemed? Either way, she was determined to help Wishyouwas succeed. ‘We have to find a way to be sure,’ she said. ‘Lady Vellum told us to take it straight back to the Bureau. Maybe the Solvers there can help us.’ She wrapped the envelope back inside its rainproof cover and slid it inside her satchel. Then she turned to clamber back on to the bicycle – and went rigid.

In a series of lightning bolts, she saw the silhouette of a hooded figure in a long cloak outside the Abbey, standing as still as stone and staring directly at her.

‘The spy!’ she said in a strangled voice.

Wishyouwas leaped on to her shoulder. ‘Where, Dear Penny?’

‘There!’ She pointed, but in the next flash the figure had vanished. ‘We have to go – now!’

The Sorters scrambled inside the basket and Penny pushed off, leaving the statues behind and standing on the pedals to go faster. She swerved and skidded through puddles, not thinking which direction she was going and hardly able to see in the rain. She shuddered with the horrible, spine-prickling fear of being chased.

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