Frank Wasdale: First Mission by Chris Lee Jones

Author:Chris Lee Jones [Jones, Chris Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-03-06T04:30:00+00:00

Chapter 7 - Back to Alaska

Our flight finally touches down in Anchorage at 10 am local time on Friday morning. Another hire car is waiting for us at the airport, and this time Stump insists that Dr Babbage drives, all the way back. It takes hours and hours. By the time we arrive at the base, my bladder has swollen to the size of a watermelon. The first thing I do when we get back to the house is spend a happy couple of minutes piddling in our little upstairs toilet.

“I might go straight to bed, Frank” yawns Dr Babbage as I emerge from the toilet. “I suggest you should do the same.” I can hear his chest wheezing as he breathes. He doesn’t look very well. “It’s Saturday tomorrow,” he adds, rubbing his eyes, “I’ll tell Linda that you’re coming.”

Linda is Benny’s mum, who’s not his mum. So that means I can play with Benny tomorrow! That’s cool. Even though I’ve only been away just over a week, I find myself getting quite excited at the prospect of meeting up with my old buddy again.

“Oh, and Frank...” Dr Babbage catches my eye, just for an instant, and says something that I’ll always remember. “You did a good job in London. I’m proud of you.”

I stand there staring at him with my bulging eyes, unsure how to react to the compliment.

“Anyway, goodnight Frank. Sleep well. And don’t forget to take your magic juice.”

I don’t forget my magic juice. Neither do I forget the fact that I’m a double agent with a tiny transmitter clamped to his teeth, who’s about to betray the man who’s looked after him all these years. I have a sweaty and troubled night’s sleep, and wake to find that I’m more exhausted than when I went to bed.

*

As I lumber across the short gravel driveway to his front door, I see Benny jumping up and down, waving at me through the big front window. He gives me a hug as I enter his house, wrapping his arms around my skinny waist and squeezing tightly. His Chinese mother scowls at me and orders me to take my shoes off. She seems even more grumpy than usual.

We play with Benny’s toy cars for a while, racing them around his front room, imagining they can fly. Then we play a pretending game, where Benny is a surgeon and I’m the patient. He removes my internal organs one by one and gives them a good wash with soapy water before putting them back in. Then he calls to his mother, asking for a glass of milk. We have bagels and milk in front of the TV, watching one of Benny’s wildlife DVDs. We’re both reduced to tears of laughter by the busy antics of the gibbons, and Benny spills his milk chuckling at one of the apes eating a spider whilst scratching its bottom.

We’re just about to switch the TV off and play with Benny’s action figures when a hard knocking on the front window makes us both jump.

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