Free Treasure Hunt by Sally Rippin Page B

Billie. ‘A bird on a silver chain. OK. If I see it I’ll let you know.’ She pauses. ‘You’re Billie, right? You’re in Rebecca’s class.’
    Billie nods.
    ‘I’m Edwina,’ the girl says. ‘I live opposite the school. If I find the necklace, I’ll let you know.’
    Billie nods again. ‘OK, thanks, Edwina. I’m going to go back to my friends now.’
    ‘Wait!’ Edwina calls.
    Billie spins around. Edwina fixes Billie with her hazel-green eyes again. ‘If it’s something else you’re looking for, I might be able to help. I know a lot about this school,’ she says, smiling mysteriously.
    Billie doesn’t even answer. She races back to the others, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

Billie arrives at the tree, out of breath. ‘Guys!’ she says, panting. ‘We’re being spied on!’
    ‘What?’ says Mika. ‘But we’re the spies!’
    ‘Detectives,’ Alex corrects.
    Billie turns around to look at the drink taps. Edwina has disappeared.
    ‘Who’s spying on us?’ asks Jack.
    Billie lowers her voice. ‘It’s Edwina from Olivia’s class. She lives across the road and has been watching us all this time!’
    Mika gasps.
    ‘We have to be careful!’ Alex says. ‘What if she suspects what we’re doing?’
    Billie draws her friends in closer.
    ‘I think she’s already suspicious. When I told her the story about Mika’s missing necklace, she didn’t seem like she believed me at all!’
    ‘You’d better teach us that language, Billie,’ Jack says. ‘So we can talk in front of other people without them understanding.’
    ‘What language?’ Mika asks.
    ‘Pig Latin,’ says Billie. ‘It’s a made-up language my dad taught me. He said he and his friends used to use it when they were our age.’
    ‘How do you speak it?’ asks Jack.
    ‘You take a word, then move the letters that come before the vowel to the end of the word and add ay,’ Billie explains. ‘So, for example, rock would become ock-ray. Tree would become ee-tray. Dirt would become irt-day. Do you get it?’
    ‘I think so…’ Alex says. ‘But what if a word starts with a vowel? Like my name.’
    ‘Then you just add ay to it,’ Billie explains. ‘So you would become Alex-ay!’
    Mika grins. ‘Our-ay ew-nay op-tay ecret-say anguage-lay!’
    ‘You got it!’ Billie laughs.
    ‘What did she say?’ Jack frowns.
    ‘Our new top secret language!’ Billie and Mika say together, grinning.
    Jack smiles. Then he sticks his hand out, palm facing down.
    He scrunches up his face for a second, then crows slowly, ‘Ock-a-doodle-doo-cay!’
    Billie slaps her hand on Jack’s. Then Mika and Alex slap their hands down too. ‘Ock-a-doodle-doo-cay!’ they crow together.
    Billie laughs loudly, pleased her friends like their new secret language. But then she sees a funny look pass over Mika’s face.
    ‘Did you hear that?’ Mika says in a hushed voice.
    ‘Yes, I heard something, too!’ says Jack. ‘From behind the tree! A rustling sound.’
    All four of them fall quiet as they hear the sound of footsteps running away.
    Billie quickly peeks around the wide trunk of the old peppercorn tree. She is just in time to catch a blonde ponytail disappearing behind the school building. ‘Oh no!’ she gasps. ‘Edwina the spy!’

After a long day of metal detecting, the four members of the Secret Mystery Club go home with nothing but a handful of coins each. They are still no closer to finding the hidden time capsule.
    Billie is of course disappointed about not finding it, but at the moment she is more worried about what to do about Edwina.
    That night in the bath, Billie keeps thinking about the strange thing Edwina said to her by the drinking fountain. Does she know more than she’s telling me? Billie worries. What if she’s hunting for the time capsule, too?
    Billie squeezes her eyes shut, takes a deep breath and lies back under the water.
    She can hear bubbles gurgling up to the surface of the water as she slowly lets her breath out.
    If I