LITMIR.BIZ

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must eat much ice cream to stay cool. Cool as a cucumber!” Notaspy said, and jumped on his hind legs.

      “I’ve already heard these words today! In the ice cream parlor,” the boy exclaimed. “Are you the same meerkat who asked for Butter Pecan? Is the gator your friend or partner?”

      “You ask too many questions for an 11-year-old boy,” the meerkat replied, and looked at him suspiciously.

      “How did you guess my age?” Colin asked in surprise.

      “There is nothing impossible for a secret agent,” he whispered. “Let’s go get some ice cream and talk about it!”

      They ran to the ice cream cart at the corner of the street. It wasn’t abandoned, after all. The vendor was napping behind the cart. He flapped his wings to finally wake up.

      “Hi! I’m Oscar the Stork. I’ll give you ice cream cones for free if you give me the correct answer to the question.”

      The boy and the meerkat exchanged glances and agreed.

      The vendor asked, “What is the best time for ice cream?”

      “The best time for ice cream is always!” Notaspy replied laughing. His bright eyes were glittering with delight.

      “That’s the right answer!” Oscar beamed. “What flavor would you prefer? I’ve got Vanilla, Mango, and Butter Pecan.”

      “Butter Pecan for me!” Notaspy yelled with joy.

      “I’ll take Vanilla!” Colin said to the vendor.

      They were racing to see who could finish the ice cream cone first, and the meerkat won.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      

      “Why are you wearing a beanie hat?” Colin asked Notaspy anxiously. “Aren’t you a bit warm this time of the year?”

      The meerkat’s bright eyes were glittering mysteriously. He looked around to make sure that nobody could eavesdrop on what he was going to tell the boy in strict confidence.

      “That’s a spy tool,” whispered Notaspy. “It increases the ability to think rationally. Emma left me a secret message in invisible ink. I can’t make out what she wrote.”

      “Who’s Emma?” Colin glanced inquiringly at the meerkat.

      “BCI Special Agent. Emma was the best student in the Defense Intelligence School. Now she’s the most successful and prolific undercover crocodile agent, best known for her undercover work on Ko Ta Pu or James Bond Island.”

      “What does BCI mean?”

      “The BCI stands for the Bureau of Crocodile Investigation. You’ve mentioned that you met Hunter,” the meerkat said in a low and worried voice, “What did he want?”

      “Hunter told me about the meerkat who had stolen the ancient jewelries. He asked me to call him if I saw a suspicious meerkat,” Colin said with caution.

      “Are you going to call Hunter and turn me in?” Notaspy asked. He was staring ahead; his pupils were pinpoints. He got up and started collecting his belongings.

      “No, I’m not,” the boy said in a confident voice. “You don’t look suspicious. I’ll call Hunter if I find the meerkat who stole the treasure. I’ve got no proof that you’re the one.”

      “Nice to hear it. I appreciate that you believe in me.”

      “At first, we must figure out who’s the thief!”

      “I’m out!” Notaspy said firmly, “I’m NOT a SHERLOCK!”

      “Based on?”

      “A number of things. My failures mostly. As a detective I’m useless. We don’t need to go around this topic again.”

      The meerkat pensively toyed with the tail. He was wearing sunglasses now. Colin could barely see his muzzle.

      “Don’t give up. A spy is always a detective. Remember?” Colin said, patting his paw. “Together we will find the thief!”

      “Never call me a spy. I don’t deserve that,” he added, and scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I can’t even read Emma’s message! I’m hopeless.”

      He put the sunglasses on the back of his head.

      “Are you checking for a tail or just want to look good?” The boy burst into laughter.

      “These are Rear-View Glasses! You must never be caught off guard. Knowing what’s happening behind you can mean the difference between life and death!” Notaspy was serious.

      “Nobody moves!” Hunter the Bat shouted in a loud voice. “Notaspy, you won’t escape. Not this time!”

      “The bats! They’ve been tracking us,” the boy cried out.

      The meerkat dashed to the box, took a corn cob, and threw it on the sidewalk. It spewed dense clouds of smoke reducing visibility to almost zero. The bats began sneezing and coughing. A chill of horror ran down the meerkat’s spine as he heard a snapping sound above his head.

      “Spinning knives,” he thought; the pain engulfed him. He took hold of the boy’s sleeve and crawled up to his shoulder.

      “They are trying to encircle us! Come on, Colin, run!” Notaspy shouted at the top of his voice.

      The boy darted away as fast as he could.

      CHAPTER FIVE

      

      Emma the Crocodile shivered suddenly, although the water was warm. She soaked in a tub. It was her day off. Emma got a job in the Crocodile World Amazement Park. Two performances every day, except Monday!

      Something was very wrong. Her instincts never lied to her. The crocodile wondered what had happened to Notaspy. She had left him a message in invisible ink, but she got no answer. Can he have failed to read it? Emma had been undercover for a month when she got a new assignment to investigate the theft at the Royal Jewerly Museum. She was grateful to Notaspy for doing a superb job of protecting her cover. Now it was time to take the risks of declassifying in order to help him.

      Emma looked out of the window and saw a bunch of BFI special agents up in the tree by the neighbor’s house.

      “Why are they setting up covert surveillance on the house? An ordinary family of three, no special agents there. The kid is interested in spy tools and stories. He couldn’t be involved in a spy game, could he?”

      She saw a boy coming out of the house. He was in a hurry. Emma decided to follow him in disguise. She took out her green Invisible Scarf. This was the spy tool she adored to use. It was so thrilling to walk invisible for everyone! She dried her paws with a towel because wet prints could betray her. Then she started snooping. Unseen and unheard.

      

      “Notaspy will be all right; he’ll be all right. I must apply a sterile dressing! I need disinfectant, pain medication, more bandages and plasters,” Colin said in grieve agitation.

      His hands were trembling in despair. He hurried to the nearest pharmacy. Emma heard the key word. The boy mentioned Notaspy. She raced to the house and found the meerkat. He was unconscious, his right forepaw was injured.

      “Spinning knives! That’s too old–fashioned,” Emma mumbled and reached for her spy first aid kit. “Hold on! Help is on the way! All these years I’d thought being a spy was challenging. Turns out, being a doctor is even more.”

      “I’m going insane!” She heard a troubled voice. Colin was standing in the doorway. He saw bandages and vials of iodine jumping over the meerkat. The boy rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Emma remembered that she had forgotten to remove the Spy Scarf. She was invisible to him.

      “Don’t be scared. I’m Emma. I followed you here. I’ll become visible in eight seconds,”

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