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Friday, 4 June 2010




Missing Believed Crazy EXCLUSIVE book extract

By nwilliams

Read this exclusive book extract from Missing Believed Crazy by Terence Blacker which is in the shops now...

JADE

 

Picture it. Trix was marching ahead of us, carrying this cardboard box. Holly and I were tagging along out of curiosity. Speccy Boy was there too, still looking as if someone had just hit him on the head with a plank.

Trix headed for the park, a bit of woodland which is part of the grounds where Cathcartians are meant to look at the birds and the trees and do the whole joy-of-nature thing.

She knows what she’s doing but the rest of us – even, I swear, Wiki Church – have one thought on our minds.

It goes: Uhhhnnn? What the – ????

 

WIKI

 

The four of us were walking down this path between two rows of rhododendron bushes when we saw Mark Bliss and his friend Tom Parkinson coming towards us.

Trix walked straight up to them. ‘Lighter,’ she said.

Mark and Tom looked confused for a moment. Then Mark (a well-known smoker) reached into his pocket.

‘Cheers.’ Trix took the lighter and brushed past the boys.

‘Hang on,’ Mark called out, but Trix was on her way.

‘What’s up with her?’ he asked but, because none of us knew the answer to the question, we walked past trying to look as if we knew what was going on.

Deep into the park, Trix led us into this clearing. She put the box down, crouched beside it and set fire to the newspapers. Soon there was a nice blaze going.

We four stood watching it for a moment.

‘What exactly was this great plan?’ Holly asked.

Trix’s face was more alive and happy than it had been for weeks. She looked up at us, the flames reflected in her sparkling eyes.

‘We’re going to commit a crime,’ she said.

 

MARK

 

Hey, I needed that lighter.

At least, that was what I told Tom a few moments after Little Miss Save-the-World mugged me for my lighter in the park.

The truth was that I sensed that something interestingly freaky was coming down with those three girls and Church. So I doubled back on my own and followed them.

When I found them, they were standing around this little fire. Trix was talking and whatever she was saying was so interesting that I was able to sneak up on them and hunker down behind a bush.

 

JADE

 

There’s only one thing scarier than Trix when she’s angry and that’s Trix when she’s happy. A weird grin settles on her face. Her eyes sparkle as if, at any moment, she’s going to break down and cry with excitement. She’s like some religious wacko who thinks she’s seen a miracle and wants to tell the world about it.

‘Er, crime?’ This was me. ‘Any danger of your being a tad more specific?’

‘It’s simple,’ she said. ‘One day there’s this fourteen-year-old girl at the start of her holidays. The next day there isn’t. She vanishes. Because –’ She paused like someone about to give the punchline to a joke – ‘she’s been kidnapped.’

 

HOLLY

 

‘Kidnapped?!’

The word came blurting out of my mouth more loudly than I had intended.

Trix put her hand to her lips.

‘What exactly are we talking about here?’ I whispered. ‘You’re speaking in riddles, Trix.’

‘OK, so here’s the broad outline,’ she said. ‘You guys kidnap me. There’s this big fuss when it’s discovered I’m missing – daughter of famous actress, yaddah yaddah. Money is raised to find me. At a certain point, the kidnappers – that’s you – say you’ll release the victim – that’s me – if the money is sent to Africa.’

‘Broad outline is right,’ Wiki muttered.

Jade gave a panicky little laugh. ‘You have some serious issues, dude,’ she said.

Trix held up a hand. ‘So now we get down to the details,’ she said.

 

MARK

 

I listened. At first I thought that Trix was telling some sort of story but that was hardly her style. Someone said the word ‘kidnap’. As they huddled together, I looked at the faces of Jade, Holly and Wiki.

This was no story. Whatever that little gang was planning, it was for real.





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35 Comments


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  • schwam (Age 13) wrote on Tuesday, 8 June 2010 @ 13:01

    i dont understand clue3

  • sooty122 (Age 12) wrote on Thursday, 10 June 2010 @ 07:38

    me either

  • Borland99 (Age 12) wrote on Friday, 11 June 2010 @ 20:20

    well that was pretty easy

  • kittykat (Age 12) wrote on Friday, 11 June 2010 @ 20:43

    weird

  • pokemonkid (Age 14) wrote on Monday, 14 June 2010 @ 16:54

    lol common sense???

  • pokemonkid (Age 14) wrote on Monday, 14 June 2010 @ 16:55

    read it again i'm sure you will get it!

  • pokemonkid (Age 14) wrote on Monday, 14 June 2010 @ 16:55

    read it again i'm sure you will get it!

  • nibbles (Age 13) wrote on Tuesday, 15 June 2010 @ 08:58

    think. why are certain bits in the clue DIFFERENT?

  • nibbles (Age 13) wrote on Tuesday, 15 June 2010 @ 09:00

    im gonna buy the book.Does waterstones sell it coz i got a book voucher

  • nwilliams wrote on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 @ 09:51

    hi Nibbles - yes, Waterstones does sell it. Nic :)

  • kiki_drops (Age 13) wrote on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 @ 19:03

    I don't get clue 1 or 2 lol :/

  • Itamar (Age 11) wrote on Saturday, 19 June 2010 @ 16:44

    I fount Trix. All the clues were simple Just go to news in pictures and you'll see it.

  • jcrovers (Age 13) wrote on Friday, 25 June 2010 @ 19:27

    I think I've worked it out:)

  • Lizziexxx (Age 12) wrote on Monday, 16 August 2010 @ 09:05

    I LOVE THE LOOK OF THIS BOOK! I AM SOOOOOO GONNA GET IT! Thanks Nic!! Lizziexxx (age 11)

  • Lizziexxx (Age 12) wrote on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 @ 08:58

    Hi Nic, I LOVE your avatar! Where did u get it?

  • nwilliams wrote on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 @ 09:00

    Thank you Lizziexxx. I think I just Googled 'free avatars'. If you send me an email, I will email it to you and you can have it. Nic :)

  • redhorse10 (Age 14) wrote on Monday, 13 September 2010 @ 16:48

    That looks like a good book actually!

  • redhorse10 (Age 14) wrote on Monday, 13 September 2010 @ 16:48

    That looks like a good book actually!

  • RoRo22 (Age 12) wrote on Thursday, 23 September 2010 @ 19:49

    READ IT!!!!

  • gummybear (Age 10) wrote on Sunday, 17 October 2010 @ 08:59

    thats long

  • SuperSuze (Age 13) wrote on Friday, 12 November 2010 @ 20:27

    Looks great!

  • Anya2000 (Age 11) wrote on Sunday, 26 December 2010 @ 18:43

    cool! what d'u mean by these clues, like each person speaking?

  • amidala676 (Age 13) wrote on Sunday, 20 February 2011 @ 12:18

    I wanna read it!

  • bb77 (Age 13) wrote on Friday, 25 February 2011 @ 09:46

    i've read this book and it is AMAZING!!!

  • bb77 (Age 13) wrote on Friday, 25 February 2011 @ 09:46

    i've read this book and it is AMAZING!!!

  • Eveline (Age 13) wrote on Monday, 9 May 2011 @ 19:09

    The book sounds really interesting and confusing. Confusing books are the best!

  • hollykind (Age 11) wrote on Saturday, 21 May 2011 @ 12:31

    um dont get ut

  • Zorua101 (Age 13) wrote on Wednesday, 25 May 2011 @ 20:58

    Haven't seen you anywhere pokemonkid!

  • Catlover78 (Age 10) wrote on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 @ 20:12

    I've read the whole book and it is AMAZING! :-)

  • millieboo (Age 10) wrote on Friday, 12 August 2011 @ 19:01

    COOL! I'm going 2 get it now!

  • millieboo (Age 10) wrote on Wednesday, 5 October 2011 @ 20:05

    Actually I'm not D:

  • nicpick (Age 9) wrote on Monday, 17 October 2011 @ 18:29

    i agree with eveline

  • shoeless27 (Age 10) wrote on Friday, 9 December 2011 @ 22:02

    kittykat, i love your avatar

  • superdog7 (Age 12) wrote on Friday, 20 January 2012 @ 12:45

    cool it sounds like a good book!

  • heathy (Age 12) wrote on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 @ 19:26

    Sounds good............