Free Spider Stampede by Ali Sparkes Page B

scoffed Josh. “We’ve never got one of those back from her before, have we? No…I think…we can almost…”
    Josh wriggled and dug down through the warm, moist dirt and leaves between the back of the compost pile and the fence. The wood around the small hole was old and rotten. As Josh pushed against it, more fell away. He squeezed his head and shoulders through, getting a face full of overgrown grass. Then he crawled right into Miss Potts’s yard. With a few grunts and complaints, Danny followed. He tried not to notice anything scuttling in the heap. The tickly feeling on his skin was just grass…probably. With a squeak of revulsion, he knocked off a centipede. Then he hurtled through the gap after Josh, grazing his left ear.
    â€œPiddle! Piddle!” Josh was calling, softly. No reply. No patter of little clawed feet. No yap.

    The weeds grew up to their waists, filled with invisible chirruping grasshoppers. As Josh and Danny crawled through the high grass and nettles, they heard one shrill little bark. “He’s in her shed!” gasped Danny.
    â€œAnd she’s in there!” said Josh, with a gulp. “She’ll be going nuts! We have to go in and rescue him.”
    The shed door was open. They tiptoed in. At first it all looked quite normal. There was a rake propped up by the door. A wheelbarrow under some old shelves, full of gardening stuff. An old sheet was hung up on nails at the back.
    â€œIt doesn’t smell like a shed,” whispered Danny. “It smells like…like…”
    â€œLike school,” said Josh. “Sort of…” But he couldn’t figure out exactly why.
    â€œYes…something at school,” agreed Danny, not bothering to whisper now. “But they’re not in here, are they?”
    Then there was another bark. It was definitely coming from inside the shed. Danny and Josh stared at each other in confusion. Then Danny strode to the back wall, grabbed the old sheet hanging on the nails, and pulled it aside. Behind it was a red metal door.
    The door was ajar. Pushing it open, Danny saw gray stone steps leading a short way down to a passage. “Come on!” Danny went through. Josh followed, staring around him. Wobbly metal panels—corrugated iron, thought Josh—curved up over them in an arch. At the end of the passage was a well-lit room as big as their bedroom and Jenny’s put together. And in the middle of it, right ahead of them, was a sort of square plastic see-through tent. And in the middle of that was Piddle.

    The room smelled strange. Very strange. It still reminded him of school. Like the room where they did science. And there was a hissing noise. Piddle was standing very still with the fur on his back sticking up. He was scared. “It’s all right, Piddle. We’ve found you!” said Danny. And pushing the plastic sheeting open, he went into the strange tent. Josh gave a swift glance around, noticing some odd machinery and a kind of glass booth, glowing green, off to the left. He hurried in after Danny.
    â€œCome on. Let’s get out of here! It gives me the heebie-jeebies,” he said. Danny gathered the shivering Piddle up into his arms.
    Then the hissing got louder. Something cool sprayed across their bare legs.
    â€œWhat was that …?” gasped Danny.
    â€œDon’t know! Don’t care! Let’s go!” replied Josh. They pushed out of the weird tent thing.
    Suddenly, Miss Potts’s voice rang out. “Who’s that! Who’s in my lab?”
    Danny grabbed Josh’s arm. They hurtled back along the dark, damp passage.
    â€œHEY! STOP! Come back here!” yelled Miss Potts. They could hear her thumping across the wooden floor of the weird secret room behind them.
    Josh and Danny leapt up the steps, two at a time. Piddle yelped excitedly over Danny’s shoulder. His ears were flapping around, and his pink tongue was hanging