Diary of a Super Spy: A Giant Problem! Read online

  Diary of a Super Spy:

  A Giant Problem!

  Peter Patrick

  William Thomas

  What happens on the mission, stays on the mission…

  Diary of a Super Spy: A Giant Problem!

  (Diary of a Sixth Grade Super Spy: Book 3)

  Peter Patrick, William Thomas

  Copyright © 2016

  2nd edition

  First Published 2015. This edition published 2016

  Published by Run Happy Publishing. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Also in the Diary of a Super Spy series:

  Diary of a Super Spy

  Diary of a Super Spy: Attack of the Ninjas!

  Diary of a Super Spy: Space!

  Diary of a Super Spy: Evil Attack!

  Diary of a Super Spy: Daylight Robbery!

  Diary of a Super Spy:

  A Giant Problem!

  Peter Patrick

  William Thomas

  Chapter 1

  School Camp

  Oh, the life of being a Super Spy in the sixth grade.

  I know what you’re thinking – it must be all thrills and excitement. Well, it’s not. Even though you save the world and battle nasty enemies, you still have to do all the normal sixth grade stuff.

  Like go to school camp.

  Ugh.

  I love the outdoors, but the idea of running around with the rest of the sixth grade for three days doesn’t thrill me. In fact, it scares me a little. Anything could go wrong…

  My name is Charlie Chucky, I’m in the sixth grade, and I love to jump over anything dangerous.

  This is me jumping over a massive, dangerous puddle of water.

  My best friend Harley has also come on the school camp.

  This is Harley.

  As you can tell, Harley doesn’t like the outdoors.

  He would rather spend his time indoors with a math test, the latest book, and his collection of extremely rare ant’s teeth.

  Our school camp is being held in the middle of nowhere – which is about a four-hour bus ride from our school. There are six cabins, two lakes, three tennis courts, one soccer oval, fourteen lost koalas, six Dodo birds, half a boat, and one very creepy looking forest.

  This camp is supposed to teach us about the wild, but how much is there to know? The Camp Leader asked me what I would do if I were lost in the woods, and I told him I would call my Mom. She always knows where to find me.

  Particularly when it is time to go to the Dentist, and I am hiding.

  But apparently, there is no mobile phone reception out here, so I couldn’t call my Mom anyway. The Camp Leader said I could survive by eating berries off the ice-cream tree. Sounds fine to me.

  To make this boring camp more interesting, I snuck some of Dad’s newest Super Spy gadgets into my backpack.

  My Dad is a Super Spy.

  And not just any Super Spy – he is the world’s best Super Spy. He works for a spy agency so secret that even he doesn’t know the name of it.

  He battles bad guys, and saves the world on a weekly basis, but is still home for dinner most nights. Last night, he stopped the battle with his enemy, Robyn Banks, to come home and eat pasta for dinner. Once he had finished his pasta, he went back to battling Robyn Banks, who was in the middle of robbing a bank. Dad says a Super Spy should never battle on an empty stomach. I like that idea.

  Recently, he has been teaching me the skills to become a future Super Spy.

  He even let me go to the mega secret ‘International Spy Building’ where he works. I was stoked about that.

  After we have set up our beds at the camp, I sneak out with Harley and show him all the cool stuff I brought in my backpack.

  “What’s that?” Harley asks as I pull out the first gadget.

  “It’s the latest type of mini-gun,” I respond. “This is the miniest mini-gun ever invented. It is half the size of the last mini-gun, which was half the size of the previous mini-gun, which was twice the size of the mini-gun before that one.”

  “It’s so super small. What does it do? Does it blow things up like a bomb?”

  “Nope. It does the opposite, Harley. This mini-gun makes things shrink. It’s called a Shrinking Ray Gun.”

  “It shrinks things? Like what I do when Mom puts a plate of hotdogs in front of me?”

  “No, Harley. The number of hotdogs on the plate shrinks because you eat them.”

  “Ha. Yeah. Good point.”

  “This mini-gun would shrink a plate of normal size hotdogs into a tiny plate of tiny, little hotdogs.”

  “Why would you want to do that? That’s a stupid gun. Who would want to eat tiny, little hotdogs?” Harley is confused. “Throw the mini-gun away, Charlie. It’s nasty.”

  “No, Harley. This mini-gun isn’t supposed to shrink hotdogs. It’s supposed to shrink bad guys!”

  “Oh… right. Yep. That makes sense. Totally.”

  “And check this out!” I pull out Dad’s newest gadget.

  “Cool. A helmet with glasses!” Harley is stoked.

  “It’s not just a helmet with glasses! This helmet allows you to see invisible things,” I smile. “It’s called the Invisible Detector Helmet.”

  “Invisible things? Like what? I’ve never seen anything invisible before.”

  “That’s because it’s invisible!”

  “Oh, right. Yeah. That’s some cool stuff, Charlie. You might need it for the forest over there.”

  We both turn to look at the forest next to our camp. Who would build a school camp next to the strangest, creepiest, spookiest, darkest forest in the world?

  “I heard that giants live in the forest, Charlie. And I heard that the giants are totally terrifying,” Harley whispers. “And I heard that anybody who goes into the forest never comes back out.”

  “That’s stupid,” I tell Harley. “Nobody can get stuck in a forest forever.”

  “The Camp Rules call it the ‘Evil Forest.’ Camp Rule number 112 says that nobody is allowed to go near the Evil Forest, and Camp Rule number 124 says nobody is allowed to enter the Evil Forest without their hat on backward,” Harley says. “We really must stay away from that forest, Charlie.”

  I’m glad he was listening to the camp rules. I got bored and stopped listening at Camp Rule 28: No child is allowed to put chewing gum in their armpits.

  I stare at the Evil Forest, and even though it is the middle of a hot and sweaty day, the forest still looks dark and cold.

  That is well scary.

  There is something seriously wrong with that forest…

  Chapter 2

  The Evil Forest…

  Once everyone in the sixth grade has settled into camp, the Camp Leaders make us play a soccer game against each other.

  There are three Camp Leaders for the sixth grade, and they are way too cheerful. They look like the smiles have been painted on their faces. They’ll probably get jobs as clowns when they grow up.

  Jack the Jock, Jim the Jump, and Jon the Jingle totally dominate the soccer game. I get to kick the ball twice, but that is as much action as I see.

  Those three guys train for sport every day of the week.

  Sometimes I wonder if they even sleep. They probably go to bed at eight o’clock, wake up at midnight, and start doing push-ups, sit-ups, and squats until it is time to go back to school where they play sport at every opportunit
y.

  They even tried to play baseball in Mr. Pale’s science class. Mr. Pale didn’t like his ruler being used as a baseball bat, but it was when they used his pet frog as a catcher that he really got angry.

  Halfway through the soccer game, the ball goes close to Harley.

  Harley is a nice kid, but he is one of the least sporty kids in the grade. To my surprise, he kicks the ball.

  And he doesn’t just kick the ball.

  He kicks it hard!

  Real hard.

  Like he was trying to punish the ball for going so close to him.

  And the ball goes flying.

  And flying…

  And flying…

  The whole class watches the ball go sailing way over their heads, way over the goals, and way over the camp.

  The ball keeps flying, bounces once, and then goes straight into the Evil Forest…

  Everyone freezes.

  In the sixth grade, all the boys think they are tough. Nobody wants to say they are scared of some little dark forest. I mean, it’s just some trees, and some darkness… and creepy sounds… and scary shadows...

  It is clear that we are all scared.

  Even the Camp Leaders look scared. They don’t want to go near the Evil Forest. Nobody runs after the ball.

  Except for Jack the Jock.

  He happily chases the ball right into the forest.

  He probably isn’t scared because he doesn’t even know what scary is. And he definitely wouldn’t be able to spell it. Actually, I would be surprised if he could spell ‘it.’

  All he cares about is sport, sport, sport, fairies, sport, and sport.

  Jack the Jock is usually very quick at everything he does. He is built for speed.

  Jack the Jock sprints into the forest to find the ball. The forest is so dark that I can’t even see him in there. Where is he?

  Maybe he is hiding in the shadows? Maybe he got confused and suddenly thought the whole school was now playing a game of hide and seek in the Evil Forest? Or maybe he is just doing some more push-ups?

  We wait a few minutes, but there is no sign of him. How long does it take to get a ball?

  Is the ball stuck in a tree?

  Maybe he tripped over?

  It is pretty dark in there.

  “He must have fallen,” my fellow sixth grader Mia says. “I’m sure he just fell over. He’s fine. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  Mia is the prettiest girl in school. She is so pretty that butterflies dance and flowers bloom wherever she goes. And she is totally nice, too. The other day she said, ‘I like your new shoes, Charlie.’ That was one of the greatest moment of my life.

  “He is just looking for the ball,” Harley says, nervously. “He’ll be back in a moment. It’s dark in there, and he is just looking for the ball. I’m sure nothing bad happened in the Evil Forest.”

  The whole sixth grade waits for Jack the Jock to come out of the forest with the ball…

  And we wait…

  And wait…

  And wait…

  But he doesn’t come back out.

  “Jack? Jack?” one of the Camp Leaders call out. “Are you in there, Jack? Are you ok? Did you find the ball?”

  Everyone is silent as we wait for a response, but there is nothing. Not a peep of sound.

  “Jack? Are you ok in there?” Mia calls out. “Jack? Can you please answer us? Are you still looking for the ball? Are you ok?”

  But there is no answer.

  What is in the Evil Forest?

  “Excuse me,” Mia says to the head of the camp. “As the Camp Leader, it is your job to go in there and find out if he is ok. You need to walk into that dark, cold, wet forest and find him. Jack the Jock is very important, and we cannot let him become lost in there.”

  “Um… but it’s the Evil Forest. I can’t go in there. It’s against the rules to go in there,” the Camp Leader looks like he is about to cry. He is so scared. “Nobody is allowed to go into the Evil Forest. And rules are rules. I can’t break them.”

  “But you have to go in there!” Mia protests. “Jack might have hurt himself. You have to go in there and find him. You cannot stand around out here and wait for him to return. What if he has tripped over a tree stump and hurt himself really, really badly? Jack needs your help. You must go in there and find him. That is your job as Camp Leader.”

  “Is it?” the Camp Leader looks so scared. “Are you sure that’s my job? Because I can’t remember it being my job. I’m not sure it is my job. It might not be my job. Actually, it could be anyone’s job. It probably isn’t my job.”

  “Yes! It is your job! You are the Camp Leader!” Mia shouts. “Now, be brave, go in there, and find Jack the Jock! Go and make sure he is ok!”

  “Of course,” the Camp Leader pretends to be brave, but we can all see his hands shaking as he starts to walk into the shadows of the Evil Forest.

  “Good luck,” Harley says as the Camp Leader starts to disappear into the shadows. “You can do it.”

  “I am brave. I am strong. I am brave. I am strong,” the Camp Leader repeats to himself as he walks in. “I am brave. I am strong. I have nice hair. I am brave. I am strong.”

  Slowly, he steps into the darkness.

  As he hikes deep into the Evil Forest, he calls out for Jack, “Jack the Jock, Jack the Jock, Jack, Jack, Jack…”

  Soon, we can’t hear or see the Camp Leader.

  So we wait…

  And wait…

  And wait…

  But he doesn’t return either.

  “Do you think he’s ok?” Mia asks me. “It’s been five minutes now. Do you think he is doing fine?”

  “Sure. He’s fine,” I respond, but I don’t think he is. I think the Evil Forest has got him. “We’ll just wait here until they come out. There is no rush to chase them. They are both very strong and capable people. They’ll be fine.”

  But they don’t come back out.

  And the Evil Forest starts to become even darker…

  Oh no…

  Chapter 3

  Going into the Evil Forest…

  When Jack the Jock and the Camp Leader don’t return from the Evil Forest, the rest of the Camp Leaders argue about who will go into the forest next.

  But nobody wants to go in.

  The whole sixth grade starts to look worried.

  We need to save Jack the Jock. He is the only reason our school wins any sporting event. He won every event at our last swimming carnival. And athletics day. And badminton day. And at the toe-wrestling championships.

  “We need someone really brave to go in there,” Mia says to the other Camp Leaders. “We need someone who is full of courage, strength, and bravery. If someone were brave enough to enter the darkness, then I would really admire them. They would be a hero.”

  Even at school camp, Mia looks like a Hollywood actress. I try not to think about her too much, but every night she comes into my dreams. In my dream last night, she was a princess eating ice cream at a fancy restaurant, and I was an astronaut who asked her if I could walk her pet kangaroo. Strange dream.

  “I’ll do it,” I say loudly. “I am brave. I’ll be the hero.”

  What?

  Why would I say that?

  I don’t know why I said that. I don’t really want to be the next to go into the Evil Forest.

  Actually, I don’t want to go in there at all.

  I’m scared of the Evil Forest. Real scared.

  “What are you doing?” Harley whispers to me. “You shouldn’t go into the Evil Forest. It’s too scary.”

  “And Harley will come with me,” I announce to the rest of the sixth grade. “We are the bravest kids in school, and we will rescue Jack the Jock and the Camp Leader.”

  Harley’s eyes almost pop out of his head.

  Harley isn’t brave. He gets scared when his Mom takes away his favorite teddy bear, named Squeezy Softy Bear. And when I saw him at lunchtime yesterday sitting in a corner looking worried, I asked him what
was wrong. He said, ‘I’m so scared. I was just thinking about a world without chocolate.’

  Actually, that is pretty scary.

  “You’re so brave, Charlie,” Mia smiles to me. “I love brave people. They are so excellent. You really are a hero.”

  Wow. She has a great smile.

  “Just come with me,” I whisper to Harley. “Mia will think that we are really brave and courageous. And if we can find Jack the Jock, and the Camp Leader, then we will be known as the bravest kids in school. I will be Mr. Brave 1, and you will be Mr. Brave 2.”

  “But we’re not brave,” Harley whispers back. “We’ve never been brave. And I don’t want to be Mr. Brave 2. I would be happy being Mr. Brave 198.”

  “There’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just a forest. It’s just a collection of trees, sticks, and dirt. How bad can it be in there?”

  “It’s not just any forest, Charlie. It’s the Evil Forest. It’s called the Evil Forest because it is evil. The forest could be alive, and if we walk in there, it will destroy us,” Harley says, looking really nervous. “Or it could be full of monsters, or ghosts, or trees!”

  “Um… yep. I think it is full of trees,” I say. “But don’t worry, Harley. I’ll look after you. Just stay near me. I’ll bring my backpack, which is full of all the Super Spy gadgets. We’ll be fine if we stay together.”

  Harley doesn’t know how to say no.

  So he says yes.

  “Good luck, Charlie,” Mia smiles again. “You are so courageous. I hope you come back.”

  “So do I,” I say, trying to be totally brave.

  Pulling out the flashlight from my backpack, I slowly creep towards the Evil Forest. Harley grabs hold of my backpack, and follows me into the darkness.