Free Extraordinary Ernie & Marvellous Maud by Frances Watts Page B

him for an athlete before.
    Desmond studied him for a minute. ‘Athletes and A students,’ he muttered to himself. ‘Ha! We can do better than that. What we’re looking for is guts and gumption—not the principal’s pet.’ He bent and pulled one of the pieces of paper from the bin, and handed it to the boy. ‘You might be interested in this. Maybe I’ll seeyou there.’ He set off down the corridor, whistling.
    Ernie, still lying on his back in the school corridor, began to read …

    Ernie looked up and down the corridor. Amazing Desmond was nowhere to be seen. Was this some kind of joke? He couldn’t answer ‘yes’ to a single one of those questions—but Amazing Desmond, who must be a superhero himself, seemed to think that he, Ernie Eggers, could become a superhero too!

THREE

    It was already past four o’clock when Ernie hurried down High Street looking for number 32. Passing a scruff laundromat—number 30— he stopped outside a florist—number 34. Looking behind him, he saw that he’d walked right past a vacant-looking shop.
    On closer inspection, Ernie noticed that the shop’s shabby brown door had the number 32 stencilled on it in small, neat letters. He tried to peer through the shopfront windows, but they appeared to have been papered over.

    Ernie knocked.
    After a few seconds the door was thrown open by a tall, thin man in blue tights. The letters ‘SW’ were stamped in red across his bony chest.
    He regarded Ernie sternly, taking in his rumpled shirt and dirty collar. ‘What do you want?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m here for the Superhero Contest,’ said Ernie.
    ‘Oh,’ said the man. He gazed over Ernie’s shoulder. ‘Is there anyone else with you?’ he asked in a hopeful voice.
    ‘No,’ said Ernie. ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘Oh,’ said the man again. ‘Pity.’ Then, taking a deep breath, he ushered Ernie into the room and began to speak very quickly in a jolly voice. ‘Welcome, welcome. I’m Super Whiz, and this is Housecat Woman and Valiant Vera. We’re the judges.’
    Ernie said hello to Housecat Woman, whowas in an armchair, and Valiant Vera, who was sitting on the far side of a large table. He couldn’t see Amazing Desmond anywhere.
    Super Whiz joined Valiant Vera at the table, and beckoned to Ernie, who moved to stand nervously in front of the table.
    ‘Well now,’ said Super Whiz, leaning back in his chair. ‘The fourth member of our little team, Amazing Desmond, is busy interviewing applicants for the sidekick position. That will be
your
sidekick, should you win this contest. Though I must warn you, the competition is very tough. Are you sure you’re qualified to be here?’
    Ernie was surprised. Amazing Desmond had been quite encouraging. ‘Well, I’m Ernie Eggers,’ he explained.
    The superheroes looked blank.
    Ernie paused as a thought struck him, and he looked around the deserted room. ‘Where are the other contestants?’ he asked.

    ‘Ah …’ Super Whiz looked uncomfortable. ‘They … haven’t arrived yet. But carry on, Ernie. Tell us a bit about yourself.’
    ‘Oh, right.’ Ernie tried to stand up a bit straighter as he faced the judges. ‘My name is Ernie Eggers, I’m ten, and I’m very good at …’ He paused again, trying to think of something, anything, that he was very good at. ‘Football.’
    ‘Football? Now that’s interesting,’ said Valiant Vera. ‘What are your strengths? Speed? Stamina?’
    Ernie slumped. ‘To tell the truth, I’m notthat good at it myself. But I watch it on TV a lot, and …’
    ‘What are your school marks like?’ interrupted Super Whiz.
    ‘Um, they’re not
that
good,’ confessed Ernie. ‘Just average, really.’
    ‘You do realise that this is the
superhero
contest, don’t you? The
average
hero contest is next door.’ Valiant Vera gave a snort of laughter, and Housecat Woman let out a brief giggle.

    ‘Oh. Okay. Sorry,’ said Ernie. He turned and walked towards the door.
    Super Whiz rolled his eyes.