Superhero Squad Page 9

  “Aurora,” Cherry said gently, “we’d completely understand if you’d taken it just to make sure it was safe. We know you wouldn’t want it for yourself” – she shot a pointed look at JJ, who blushed – “but maybe you took it because you thought it might be in danger at the conference? Is that why you were hanging back on your own in your parents’ room before breakfast? You can tell us; we’d understand.”

  I shook my head, swallowing the lump building up in my throat and fighting back tears.

  “I didn’t take the Light of the World. And if you knew me like my friends the Bright Sparks do, you would know that I would never do that.”

  David Donnelly had by now run up to the stage with a pair of cymbals and, prompted by a sharp nod from Mr Vermore, he clashed them loudly together, making everyone jump and fall to a sudden silence.

  “Thank you, David. I thought those might come in handy,” Mr Vermore said, before taking a deep breath. “Superheroes, I have just instructed David to put the conference into lockdown. The building is completely secured. No one can get in or out. We will search the building until the Light of the World is found, and commence crisis talks.”

  “What about Aurora?” someone called out.

  “What about her?” Mum seethed.

  “Perhaps for peace of mind, Aurora should go to her room,” Mr Vermore said carefully. “Just until we find the stone. If she’s innocent, then she has nothing to worry about and all this will be cleared up.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Crystal said, glaring at him and receiving a grateful look from Mum and Dad. “She doesn’t look like a mastermind thief to me.”

  “I think Mr Vermore has a good point! Aurora Beam is the main suspect,” another superhero insisted from the back of the room. “We should put it to a vote!”

  “Good idea,” a woman with bright green spiky hair nodded. “She should be sent to her room until we find out where she’s stowed the precious stone.”

  “That way, we’ll know for sure and keep Aurora safe from further rumours, too,” Mr Vermore said to my mum who was looking at him so angrily, her eyes had narrowed to slits. “I’m sorry, if there was another way…”

  “I didn’t take the Light of the World!” I wailed, springing to my feet and clenching my fists. “Mr Vermore—”

  “Let’s put it to a vote!” The man at the back declared, speaking over me and prompting a murmur of agreement from the audience. “All those in favour of shutting Aurora Beam safely in her room until the crisis is over, stand up.”

  Slowly, people began to rise to their feet. It was an overwhelming majority. At least Cherry and JJ stayed firmly sitting in their seats.

  “This is ridiculous!” Dad yelled, exasperated. “How can any of you possibly think this has anything to do with Aurora! She’s just about to turn twelve years old!”

  “The heroes have spoken!” the spiky-haired lady announced. “Mr Vermore, escort Aurora to her room at once and please make sure that she is locked in there for the time being. We can do a full search of her room.”

  “Sorry, Beams.” Mr Vermore sighed. “My hands are tied.”

  He gestured to David to do as she said. Under everyone’s scrutinizing watch, David walked through the audience, and gently ushered me down the row and towards the door.

  “I haven’t taken the stone!” I protested. “Ask Mr Vermore!”

  “Aurora, everything will be all right,” Dad called out as Mum stood next to him, completely gobsmacked. “We’ll sort it, don’t you worry.”

  David led me back through the silent, empty dome to my bedroom and hesitated at the door as I slumped on my bed, a tear rolling down my cheek.

  How had this happened?!

  “Don’t worry,” he said sympathetically, looking pained at his task. “This will all be over soon, I’m sure. They’ll hold a big crisis meeting and then we’ll be able to work out what’s happened to it.”

  “I didn’t take it,” I whispered, burying my head in my hands.

  There was a pause before David said quietly, “I believe you.”

  And then he shut the door, turned the key in the lock, and the sound of his footsteps disappeared down the corridor.

  14

  Someone rapped their knuckles gently on the bedroom door.

  “Aurora? Aurora, are you there?”

  I slid off my bed and pressed my ear against the door. “Cherry?”

  “Hey,” she said, “it’s me and JJ. Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” I lied.

  For the past half an hour I’d been knocking on all the walls of the room, trying to work out if there was a secret hidden escape route. I’d even tried picking the lock with some hair clips but it turned out that picking locks is a LOT harder in real life than they make it look in movies.

  “We wanted to tell you that we believe that you didn’t take the precious stone,” Cherry continued, as I sat on the floor with my back against the door listening to them. “We’re so sorry that we doubted you.”

  “Yeah,” JJ jumped in. “There’s no way you would have had time to work out how to break into the safe and take the stone in those few minutes you held back before breakfast.”

  I then heard JJ hiss, “Ouch!” and guessed that he’d received an elbow in the ribs from Cherry.

  “Obviously, that’s not the reason we believe you though,” she corrected pointedly, as JJ grumbled about bruising easily. “We believe you because you’re our friend.”

  “Thanks,” I said through the door. “That means a lot. But I’m still stuck in here and nobody else believes me. And more importantly, the Light of the World is missing. Any updates?”

  “All the grown-ups are having a crisis talk in the conference room, so I can’t hear anything that’s going on,” Cherry explained. “But I was able to listen in on Mr Vermore talking to David and your parents as they walked along a corridor a few minutes ago. Apparently, it’s all over the press and the internet.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, it’s bad,” JJ said. “It’s all over social media. They know everything now about the secret Superhero Conference and about the Light of the World going missing. Cherry could hear Mr Vermore complaining about how he was going to have to hold a press conference to discuss how the most precious stone on the planet got stolen under the best security measures in the world. He’s furious.”

  “How could anyone possibly know?” I asked, shaking my head. “How would anyone be able to leak the news to social media? There’s no signal anywhere … except in Mr Vermore’s office!”

  “Someone in here is up to something,” Cherry said firmly. “Aurora, someone is trying to frame you.”

  “All the news reports online are stating that you’re the main suspect,” JJ added.

  “And I think I know who it is,” I said firmly. “Mr Vermore is behind all this.”

  There was a hesitation before Cherry spoke. “But, Aurora, why would he make himself look bad? His safe is supposed to be unbreakable. He’s furious about the leaks to the press; he said his company’s name is being dragged through the dirt.”

  “I have a gut feeling about him,” I argued.

  “You’re going to need more than a gut feeling to persuade everyone,” JJ pointed out. “He’s a bit slimy and annoying, yeah, but don’t you think if he wanted the stone, he’d have done it in a more … I don’t know … publicity-friendly way?”

  “He genuinely looked upset that the stone was missing,” Cherry said.

  “He made sure that I got the blame AND he went ballistic just at the idea of cancelling the conference, probably because he had planned out exactly the right moment to steal the stone. And the only place you can get signal to leak the stories is his office,” I said stubbornly. “Thanks to him, everyone in the world now thinks that I’m a thief!”

  “Not everyone,” JJ said quickly. “We don’t. We’re going to help find the truth!”

  I smiled as I pictured him on the other side of the door in a pro
ud superhero stance as he said that. I could practically hear Cherry giving him a dramatic eye roll.

  “How can I help find the truth when I’m locked in here?”

  “Aha!” JJ said. “We were getting to that. Move away from the door, Aurora. We’re coming in!”

  “What?”

  “Hang on,” Cherry hissed grumpily at him, “we need to check the coast is clear.”

  “The coast is clear.”

  “I need to double check that no one is coming down the corridor,” Cherry argued.

  “Well, hurry up then!” JJ huffed. “Get your headphones on and have a listen!”

  “Stop bossing me about. I’m older than you!”

  “Guys?” I said, clearing my throat. “Any chance you can tell me what’s going on?”

  “Everybody quiet for a moment,” Cherry said, and JJ and I fell into silence.

  After a minute or so, she spoke.

  “OK, no one is coming for a bit. Now’s a good time to give it a go.”

  “Good. Aurora, stand back from the door!” JJ instructed.

  I leapt to my feet and hurried over to my bed, jumping up on to it with my back against the wall, holding my breath in anticipation.

  “Here we go!” I heard JJ yell.

  There was a sudden patter of very fast footsteps and then a loud CLUNK!

  After a moment’s silence, Cherry exploded into shrieks of laughter and I could hear JJ groaning in pain.

  “That … was … brilliant!” Cherry wheezed in between infectious giggles. “Aurora … if … you … could … have … seen…”

  “What happened?” I asked, running back to the door and pressing myself up against it.

  “Stop laughing! Stop laughing!” JJ yelled. “It’s NOT FUNNY!”

  “Cherry, what happened?”

  “He just ran straight into the door!” Cherry said, bursting into a fresh round of laughter. “You should have seen his face! Oh man, I wish I’d filmed it.”

  “Why did you run into the door, JJ?” I asked in confusion.

  “He was trying to break it down with his super-strength,” Cherry chuckled. “I’m crying with laughter! I’m crying!”

  “Mr Vermore must have made these doors very strong,” I heard JJ huff. “How was I supposed to know?”

  “It was brave of you to try,” I said, stifling a laugh just at the thought of JJ running at the door full force. “Thanks anyway.”

  “Yeah, well, what are we going to do now?” JJ mumbled. “That was our only plan of getting you out.”

  “We’ll have to think of something else,” Cherry said, still giggling.

  Suddenly, I heard another voice floating down the corridor in the distance.

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  Cherry stopped laughing and I could make out two pairs of footsteps, one heavier than the other, coming towards them.

  “Who is it?” I whispered.

  “Who … who are you?” Cherry asked.

  There was no response, just scuffles of noise as Cherry and JJ were seemingly ushered away from the door.

  “Cherry? JJ?” I squeaked. “Who is it? What’s going on?”

  But there was no answer. I looked down at the lock as I heard the satisfying clicking of it being opened. I stepped back fearfully, with no idea about what was happening.

  Suddenly, the door swung open and standing triumphantly in the doorway with a hair pin in his mouth was…

  “ALFRED!” I cried.

  I was so happy to see him that, for a moment, I forgot that he was the grumpiest ostrich in the world and I ran full pelt at him to give him a hug. His eyes widened in horror at the sight of me hurtling towards him and he immediately lifted one of his legs up in front of him, halting me in my tracks and holding me at bay with his scaly bird foot.

  “Well,” I sighed, moving back from him and holding up my hands. “It’s good to see you anyway.”

  He dropped his long leg and then ruffled his feathers irritably, stalking past me into the bedroom to inspect the beds and peck at the pillows. Today, he was wearing a white panama hat and a pink-and-white striped jacket draped over his shoulders.

  “Alfred has always been adept at picking locks,” Aunt Lucinda said, stepping into the room behind him and fondly watching him rip my pillow apart.

  She held out her arms and ushered me in for a brief hug.

  “Careful, darling,” she said, patting me on the head. “You’ll crease my jacket – a prince gave this particular one to me, so it’s really one of a kind.”

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  JJ and Cherry had wandered in behind Aunt Lucinda and were glancing back and forth between Alfred and her in complete amazement.

  “Alfred and I were having a marvellous time lunching on the Southbank when we heard the news about the Superhero Conference. So much for a big secret. The whole world knows about it now,” she explained with a long sigh. “Your name is everywhere, Aurora, and I’m afraid it’s not good.”

  “They think I stole the Light of the World.”

  She grimaced. “Yes, that is what everyone is saying,” she said. “My name has been dragged into the mix as well. A lot of comments about us being in it together, which frankly I find particularly vexing.” She shook her head. “If I was going to steal the Light of the World, I wouldn’t do nearly such a sloppy job of it and I certainly wouldn’t have waited until now.”

  “Are you a superhero, too?” JJ asked, cutting in.

  Aunt Lucinda raised her eyebrows at him and tutted.

  “Hardly, darling. Do you think I could maintain this fabulous hairstyle being a hero? But if you’re asking if I have superpowers, the answer is yes. Like all the Beam women. I just chose to use mine in a much more efficient manner than saving the world.”

  “How did you get into the conference so late?” I said, trying to ignore Alfred as he wandered through the door to JJ’s room and started examining the pile of clothes on his bed.

  “Oh, very simple,” Aunt Lucinda said with a wave of her hand. “Before the conference, Crystal and I had a long conversation about how to get into it, should I change my mind and decide to turn up a day or so late. She gave me full instructions about the lamp post and made sure the entrance didn’t lock after the last superhero had arrived. Crystal and I go way back,” she added, smiling. “For her last birthday, I bought her a poodle, Fluffles. He really is very sweet.”

  “Hey! That’s mine!” JJ said suddenly, narrowing his eyes at Alfred.

  JJ marched over as Alfred picked up one of JJ’s favourite T-shirts with his beak. JJ grabbed hold of one end and attempted to prise it away but the ostrich held fast against his super strength.

  “I wouldn’t bother,” Aunt Lucinda said breezily. “If he wants it, he has to have it. That’s just how it is with ostriches. So, what is the lowdown? I assume Aurora has been locked up in here since the accusations began to abound.”

  Cherry nodded. “The other superheroes are all in the main conference room holding a crisis talk about what to do.”

  Aunt Lucinda looked troubled. “All of them?”

  “Yes,” Cherry replied, glancing at me.

  “That’s a big mistake.” Aunt Lucinda sighed, shaking her head in disappointment.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if it was me who had stolen the Light of the World, right about now I’d be hoping to escape with it. And how better to escape than to make sure all the superheroes are locked up in one room, unable to stop me from leaving?”

  “But they’re not locked up in there,” Cherry assured her. “They’re just holding a meet—”

  Suddenly, a loud alarm bell began ringing through the building and a computerized voice echoed through the speakers.

  “Conference Room Lockdown Activated. Conference Room Lockdown Activated.”

  “Right on cue,” Aunt Lucinda said. “Honestly, haven’t any of these superheroes stolen anything before? They’ve been very naïve about all this.�
�

  “What’s happening?” JJ said, giving up on retrieving his T-shirt. Alfred promptly ripped off and ate one of the sleeves.

  “What’s happening is that all the superheroes have been locked in a superhero-proof conference room,” Aunt Lucinda explained. “Someone very clever is about to escape with the Light of the World.”

  I looked at Cherry’s and JJ’s panicked expressions and took a deep breath.

  “And we’re the only ones who can stop them.”

  15

  “We have to get out of here,” I said, throwing open my suitcase. “Whoever has stolen the Light of the World will be escaping as we speak. Is the way we came in the only way out?”

  Cherry nodded. “Yes, we get the Superhero Express back up to the Houses of Parliament.”

  “Aunt Lucinda, you and Alfred find the main control room for the security here and try to work out a way of deactivating this lockdown,” I instructed.

  “We’ll see what we can do,” she said, heading for the door. “Come along, Alfred!”

  The ostrich stalked out of the room behind her, now wearing JJ’s sunglasses.

  “Will I ever get those back?” JJ sighed, watching Alfred’s bottom feathers disappear down the corridor.

  “No chance,” I replied truthfully, before leading them out of the room. “Let’s go!”

  “I’ll go ahead and get the pod ready,” JJ said, suddenly speeding up into a blur and racing through the door leading to the Superhero Express platform.

  He was standing beside a waiting pod as Cherry and I ran towards him before we all strapped ourselves in and braced for the rollercoaster journey back up to the pavement.

  “Cherry,” I said, as the doors of the pod began to close. “Can you hear anything strange at all?”

  She quickly lifted her headphones over her ears and then we were jolted forward, speeding and twisting through the underground tunnel upward until the pod came to a sudden stop. I noticed JJ looking a bit peaky.

  “I hate this thing,” he wheezed, gripping the sides of his seat.

  “Aren’t you used to going super-fast?”

  “Yeah, but when I can control it,” he said, taking deep breaths. “It’s unnatural to hurtle through tunnels underground.”