Free Alligator Action by Ali Sparkes Page B

brown envelope, “and that it should be handed directly to you two and nobody else. That’s why I’ve had to stand around in this doorway waiting for you to come along.”
    â€œIt’s a letter for us?” Danny queried.
    â€œThe clue is on the envelope!” snapped the lawyer.
    â€œNo need to be snarky,” Josh said, taking it from her. “When did Petty ask you to give us this?”
    â€œShe didn’t ask me,” the lawyer said, closing her case with a click. “She left me instructions many weeks ago to deliver this to you two if she ever failed to call me and check in. Most weeks she makes a phone call on a certain day and gives me a code word, so I know all is well. If she doesn’t make that call, I have to wait forty-eight hours . . . and then deliver this to you. Well . . . she hasn’t called, it’s been forty-eight hours . . . and here I am. Now, if you don’t mind, I must be on my way to another client. Good-bye.” Her heels clicked away down the sidewalk, and then she was out of sight.

    Josh and Danny stared at each other across the brown envelope. Josh tore it open. Inside was a piece of lined paper. He expected a letter—some explanation, maybe, about where she’d gone and why. But it wasn’t a letter. It was a list in Petty’s scrawly handwriting.
    He and Danny sat down on Petty’s tiled doorstep to peer at the list.
    1.   DADDY LONGLEGS DISCO—COLLECT.
    2.   IF UNSEEN, ENTER.
    3.   DUCK. FAST.
    4.   WALK THE STAINS.
    5.   AFTER THIRD STRIKE, DO NOT BREATHE UNTIL THE BIRD CALLS.
    6.   WASH UP. USE GLOVES.
    7.   EXIT BACK ON ALL FOURS.
    8.   ONE MINUTE FROM RED DOOR.
    9.   WORKING LUNCH.
    10. ONE MINUTE FROM RED DOOR!
    â€œWhat on earth does all that mean?” squawked Danny.
    Josh was creasing his brow trying to figure it out. “It’s instructions. Something we have to do.”
    â€œWalk the stains?” Danny said. “Daddy Longlegs Disco? She’s lost it. Completely. I mean, we always knew she was bonkers, but now she’s totally gaga!”
    â€œNo.” Josh smoothed the paper out on the step. “There’s logic to it. It’s like crossword clues. We have to get one or two of them and then the others will start to make sense.”
    â€œOK,” Danny said with a shrug. “Let’s start with Number One . . . Daddy Longlegs Disco . . .”
    Josh puzzled. Danny puzzled too. They flopped down on Petty’s doorstep with big sighs. It had been a freaky enough day already without having to figure out cryptic clues!
    Then Josh’s eyes widened, and he gave a shout. “Whoa! Wait! This is EASY!”
    â€œWhat?” Danny sat up straight.
    â€œDaddy Longlegs Disco!” Josh said. “Don’t you remember? When we were daddy longlegs, we went out, didn’t we? We flew toward the light where loads of other creepy-crawlies were boogying about and head-butting the bulb.”
    â€œYeah—that hurt,” remembered Danny. Joshwas looking up. Right
up
above them. At the little square porch light over their heads. “It’s where we found a REPTOSWITCH cube, isn’t it?” Danny jumped to his feet. “She’s hidden something else in there! Quick—help me up!”
    Checking first that nobody was watching, Josh hoisted Danny up on his shoulders. “Eeeeeugh!” he heard Danny call down. “There’re dead things in here!”
    â€œDon’t be a wuss!” hissed Josh. “Find the thing . . . whatever it is. Quickly. You’re breaking my neck!”

    Danny made a few more whimpers as some disembodied legs and wings floated down. But then he whispered, “Got
it
!” He jumped off his brother’s shoulders and waved a door key.
    â€œRight,” Josh said, consulting the list. “Number Two. ‘If unseen, enter.’”
    Danny looked around again and then shoved the key