About the Book

  Meet Willa and Woof. Join these best friends for a story full of adventure, imagination and loads of fun!

  A very special pet is missing and it’s up to Willa and Woof to track her down. Can they find Mimi before it’s too late?

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One: Woof

  Chapter Two: A Secret

  Chapter Three: The Plan

  Chapter Four: Seeds of Hope

  Chapter Five: Too Many Birds

  Chapter Six: Help is on Hand

  Chapter Seven: Where’s Frank?

  Chapter Eight: A New Idea

  Chapter Nine: Have You Seen This Pigeon?

  Chapter Ten: Good News

  Chapter Eleven: But That’s Not . . .

  Chapter Twelve: Mimi

  Chapter Thirteen: Medals and Muddles

  Chapter Fourteen: A Celebration

  About the Author

  Jacqueline Supports

  Books by Jacqueline Harvey

  Imprint

  Read More at Penguin Books Australia

  For Phoebe Rose, who loves dogs (and everyone and everything else!)

  My name is Willa and I want to introduce you to Woof. He’s my dog. His real name is Wilfred Connal Tate, but when I was little ‘Wilfred’ never came out right. Mum and Dad thought it was cute that I called him Woof, so it stuck.

  I have three best friends. Woof is my best four-legged friend. My best same-age friend is Tae Jin, but everyone just calls him Tae. My best old-age friend is Frank. His last name is Pickles, which is funny because he loves eating pickles on his sandwiches. I’m not a fan.

  Frank is very old and very grumpy. He has crinkly skin and bags under his eyes. Sometimes when Woof and I visit him he tells us to go home. But I don’t, because my grandma says that I’m good company and my dad says that my grandma knows everything. It never takes long for Frank to be less grumpy and maybe even smile – especially if I tell him a joke.

  He makes me cracker biscuits with peanut butter, and lime cordial with ice cubes. Some days there’s cakes that Frank says he’s cooked, but I know he hasn’t. His neighbour, Mrs Best, brings them over in her Tupperware containers. Frank has a special bag of treats for Woof too.

  When I visit, which is pretty much every day, Frank tells me stories. I don’t always know if they’re true, but I hope they are. I tell Frank everything that goes on at school and at home. I love to make him laugh, but that’s like winning the lottery. It doesn’t happen very often and, as my mum says, the odds are against you – whatever that means.

  Before Frank came to live at Sunset Views – that’s the name of the retirement village, which is next door to our house at the end of Cricklewood Crescent – he had more than fifty pets. That’s at least forty-nine more than me. But they were all the same. Pigeons.

  Dad says Frank was a ‘pigeon fancier’, which means he liked them a lot (not just that they’re fancy birds). He has pigeon mugs and pigeon plates, pigeon wall hangings and pigeon paintings, and even a pigeon clock.

  Frank’s pigeons used to go in races, and not just against each other. There were pigeons from everywhere. A truck would drive them far away – at least one hundred kilometres and sometimes even one thousand – and then they would fly home. The first one back was the winner. He says that they’re the racehorses of the sky.

  The pigeons didn’t win gold medals like my brother, Sam, did when his cricket team won their grand final. Instead, they won all the pigeon stuff Frank has in his house.

  I don’t think pigeons would care that much about mugs and clocks. I’m sure they’d rather win birdseed, and swings and mirrors for the aviary.

  Fifty pigeons cooing and pooing in the same cage would be very loud and very messy. So it’s lucky Frank only has one pigeon now. Her name is Mimi. She’s grey with shiny purple and green feathers on her neck. But there’s a big problem.

  Mimi is missing.

  Mimi is missing because of me.

  Two days ago I was helping Frank clean out her aviary, which is really just a big cage in his back garden next to a little shed. When we were done, I closed the door but I couldn’t get the latch to hook properly. I meant to tell Frank, but then I got distracted showing him how to do cartwheels and round offs (I even did one over Woof and he’s almost the tallest dog in the world) and then I forgot.

  I haven’t told anyone and now it feels as if I’ve swallowed a rock. A big, sharp-edged one that’s cutting my insides to pieces.

  If anything happens to Mimi I don’t know what I’ll do. She’s really precious to Frank, like Woof is to me.

  Woof went missing once, but then he howled so loudly it didn’t take long to find him. He was accidentally locked in the Woods’ garage next door. They live on the other side of our house to Frank. Dad said it might not have been an accident because their teenage son, Michael, is always trying to steal Woof. That’s because he’s an albino Irish wolfhound, which is pretty rare. He’s also the best dog in the world.

  I found out that Mimi was gone yesterday when I went to visit Frank after school. I knocked on the back door, same as I always do, and a lady answered. She said Frank was doing a test, which is weird because he finished school about a hundred years ago.

  I said I could wait, but the lady shook her head and tapped on her clipboard, so I walked to the aviary to say hello to Mimi. That’s when I saw she was missing and remembered about the latch.

  Now I’m walking up and down the street looking for her. Again.

  ‘Mimi!’ I shout. ‘Coo, coo.’

  A magpie warbles and a cockatoo screeches, but there are no pigeons.

  A silver car drives past and parks at the two-storey house across the road from us. It’s Tae and his mum, Soo-Min. Tae’s wearing a fireman’s hat. I give him a wave.

  ‘What are you doing, Willa?’ Tae calls as he hops out of the car.

  ‘Looking for Mimi,’ I call back. I told him she was missing last night (our families had a barbecue). ‘Do you want to help?’

  ‘Sure,’ he yells. ‘Would you like me to bring a ladder?’

  I frown and check the street before I run across to Tae’s driveway. There’s never many cars because it’s a cul-de-sac. ‘No. We can come back for it later, if we find her.’

  ‘But a fireman always has a ladder,’ Tae says. ‘And this week I’m a fireman.’

  The name Tae means ‘person of greatness’ in Korean.

  Ever since I can remember, Tae’s been trying to decide what sort of person of greatness he’s going to be. Last week he was a cowboy and next week he’ll be something else.

  I think he puts too much pressure on himself. After all, he just turned eight last month. At his party I gave him a policeman’s uniform, which he loved. When I turned eight in March, Tae gave me a koala diary and pen. I write all my secrets and plans inside.

  Tae is the youngest kid in our year. Soo-Min says maybe she should have kept him back, but he would have been so sad if I went to school without him. And it doesn’t matter, because he’s smarter than almost everyone in our class.

  Tae and I walk along the footpath, looking up at the trees and the rooftops.

  ‘Pigeons like to walk on the ground as well,’ Tae says.

  I gasp. What if Mimi has been run over by a car or eaten by Mrs Best’s cat, Ginger Biscuit? He’s a serial killer.

  Rats, mice, birds – that cat is a menace to the neighbourhood. Now I feel sick.

  ‘Have you seen Frank today?’ Tae asks.

  I shake my head. I don’t want to see him until Mimi is back where she belongs. Frank used to have another pigeon called Norman, but he disappeared when I was four. I don’t remember much about him though and Frank won’t talk about what happened.

  ‘Probably for the best,’ Tae says.

  I look at him. What does he know?

  ‘Mum says that Frank was snappier than a crocodile last night.’

  The rock in my stomach grows twice as big. Soo-Min is a nurse at the retirement village. One of her jobs is to visit the residents to make sure that they’re taking their medicines and eating properly.

  ‘Come on.’ I scan the blue sky again. ‘I’ve got a plan.’

  I grab Tae’s hand and we run down the side of my house, to the gate in the fence that goes straight to Frank’s villa.

  Woof is lying down on the grass but he quickly jumps up and runs to meet us. I ruffle his head and straighten his coat. He gets sunburnt really easily – even in winter – so he wears a coat most of the time. He has lots in different colours (Woof’s a very fashionable dog). We have to put sunscreen on his nose too.

  Tae kneels down to give Woof a cuddle.

  ‘What are we doing?’ Tae asks.

  ‘I need to borrow something from Frank,’ I tell him.

  ‘I’ll just wait here with Woof,’ Tae says.

  I was expecting that. Tae hardly ever comes to visit Frank with me.

  ‘But I need you to keep a lookout,’ I say.

  Tae shakes his head. ‘I can watch from here.’

  Seriously, that is not going to happen.

  ‘No you can’t,’ I tell him.

  I walk through the gate and close it behind me before realising Tae’s still on the other side.

  I open the gate and he’s standing there, staring. ‘Hurry up!’ I urge. ‘You can’t be a scaredy cat if you’re going to be a fireman.’

  ‘You know I’m not,
’ Tae snaps, and runs to join me.

  A boy at our school named Ivan called Tae a wuss because he wouldn’t jump off the top of the monkey bars, but then Tae did and the whole of Year Three cheered. When it was Ivan’s turn, he jumped off and broke his arm and then he screamed and cried and said that he only did it because everyone made him, which wasn’t true at all.

  I bite my lip. ‘I’m sorry,’ I tell Tae. ‘I didn’t mean to call you a scaredy cat. It’s just that I really need your help.’

  We walk into Frank’s little garden. There’s no sign of him, which is good. On Saturdays, he likes to sit on his front porch in the sun and read the newspaper, so he shouldn’t be roaming the backyard now. The first thing I do is check the aviary in case Mimi has come home on her own. It’s still empty.

  ‘What are we doing?’ Tae asks.

  ‘You keep watch for Frank and give me a signal if he’s coming. I need to borrow some birdseed.’

  I hope that my plan will work. I didn’t sleep very well last night. My brain was going around and around in circles, worrying about where Mimi could be. Mum says that a worry shared is a worry halved, but I can’t make this worry into a fraction yet. I need to do everything I can to get Mimi back on my own first (and by that I mean without any grown-ups).

  ‘Why don’t you go and ask Frank for the birdseed?’ Tae says. ‘I’m sure he’ll be happy that we’re looking for Mimi. I can wait here.’

  I shake my head at Tae and his suggestion. Frank doesn’t know that I know Mimi’s missing. And he doesn’t know it’s my fault. My tummy hurts again just thinking about it.

  ‘I have to do this on my own,’ I growl. Tae looks sad.

  Maybe I said that a little too strongly. ‘On my own – with you, my amazing assistant.’

  Sometimes Tae is a bit sensitive.

  Tae smiles. ‘Okay. I’ve got this,’ he says, and hides in the bushes by the back door. Then he makes a cooing noise like Mimi does and I jump into the air.

  Frank must be coming. I run to Tae and grab his hand. ‘Let’s go!’

  ‘What’s the matter?’ he asks, wrinkling his nose.

  ‘You gave me a signal,’ I say.

  ‘I was practising,’ Tae replies.

  ‘Well, don’t.’ I frown at him, then run to the little garden shed. There’s a big bag of birdseed inside. I haven’t got anything to put some in, so we’ll have to take the lot. I’ll bring the rest back later, once Mimi is found.

  I drag the bag out and all the way to the gate, but Tae doesn’t meet me. I rest the bag up against the fence and run back to find him. He’s playing with a lizard on the path.

  ‘Tae!’ I whisper urgently. ‘We’ve got to go.’

  He looks up, then gives the lizard one last pat before we scamper to the gate and he finally helps me with the seed. We drag it to my cubbyhouse in the back garden, where no one will notice it’s there.

  ‘Willa!’ Dad calls from the back deck. ‘Do you want some morning tea? I’ve made Anzac biscuits.’

  Tae looks at me and nods his head. ‘Yes, please. Your dad’s the best cook ever.’

  That’s true (at least when it comes to baking). We bought him a fancy Mixmaster for his birthday and he got very emotional. He said he’d always wanted one, but they were too expensive.

  Tae and I have been busy, so we deserve a break. I close the cubby door and we charge across the lawn and up the back steps to where Dad has a plate of biscuits just for us. There’s hot Milo too. Woof gets up from his dog bed and wanders over, his tail wagging.

  ‘Hello, Tae, I see you’re ready for action,’ Dad says.

  ‘We’re on a mission,’ Tae replies. ‘To find –’

  ‘We’re doing a special patrol in the neighbourhood.’ I cut him off and give him my best googly-eyed stare. ‘To make sure that everyone is fire-safe for winter. We don’t want any accidents with heaters or electric blankets.’

  ‘That’s very grown-up of you,’ Dad says with a big smile. ‘Are you door-knocking the whole street?’

  Tae nods at the exact same time that I shake my head.

  I worry about Tae – for someone as clever as he is there are times when he just doesn’t get it.

  ‘Looks like you two need to work out your plans,’ Dad says.

  Inside, the phone rings. Mum answers it, then walks out onto the deck. Dad turns to her at the exact same time that Woof nudges a biscuit from the plate on the table and gobbles it up. I give him a wink. I’m sure he smiles back at me. Woof is not only the best dog in the world, he’s also the happiest.

  ‘It’s for you, Dan. Emergency. Blocked toilet at Sunset Views. Mrs Scott at number six,’ Mum says quietly.

  ‘She had a blocked toilet a couple of weeks ago after her great-grandson visited and flushed Batman,’ Dad says, making sure the mouthpiece is covered. ‘Maybe he’s been back.’

  ‘Poor Batman,’ Mum whispers. Tae and I giggle.

  ‘Smelly Batman,’ Tae says, and fans his hand in front of his face.

  I laugh out loud. My belly hurts again, but this time in a good way.

  ‘Good morning, Perfect Pipes Plumbing. This is Dan,’ Dad says, and walks inside with Mum behind him.

  I scoop another biscuit from the table and tell Tae we need to get moving. He follows me, then we hear the side gate creak open. ‘Tae, you have to come home, honey. Remember we’ve got lunch at Nanny and Pa’s,’ Soo-Min calls as she comes around the side of the house. Mum gives her a wave from the kitchen and walks back outside.

  Tae and I have already scampered to the cubby. We can see the two mums through the window. They’re talking, which means we might get another few minutes to finish our job. I look at what we’ve done so far. There seems to be about the same amount of seed on the floor as in the takeaway containers I borrowed from the pantry.

  ‘Sorry I won’t be able to help any more,’ Tae says.

  ‘That’s okay,’ I tell him. Maybe Woof can be my assistant (though he’ll probably try and eat the seeds, which might be bad for him). I really should finish the plan on my own anyway, seeing that the reason Mimi is missing is because of me.

  ‘Tae!’ Soo-Min shouts. ‘Hurry up, mate. You know if we’re even one minute late, I’ll be in trouble. Never mind that your father is always the one dragging the chain and Nanny is his mother.’

  Tae opens the cubby door and waves goodbye.

  ‘Good luck,’ he says with a smile. ‘I’ll bring you some of Nanny’s chocolate fudge.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I say. The next part of the plan won’t be too hard. I just have to carry the containers and put out the seed. Surely that will bring Mimi home.

  I wake up to the sound of the doorbell ringing and parrots screeching.

  ‘Willa,’ I hear mum calling. The clock next to the bed says it’s half past seven.

  I pull the covers over my head. It’s Sunday – sleep-in day.

  ‘Willa!’

  Mum is standing in the doorway. Suddenly, the rock in my tummy is back.

  I pull the covers down a little so just my eyes are showing.

  ‘Hello, Mum,’ I mumble. From the look on her face, she’s not happy. And I know she hates answering the door in her pyjamas.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ I ask.

  ‘Come with me,’ Mum says, and walks off before I have time to ask anything else.

  The bird noises are even louder than before.

  I can see Mr Woods from next door standing on the front porch. He’s in his dressing gown too. It has a crisscross pattern in red and black.

  I walk down the hallway, dragging my feet. Mum is telling him she’s terribly sorry and we’ll make sure that it never happens again. I have no idea what I’ve done wrong. Until . . .

  Mum turns and looks at me. ‘Willa, did you put birdseed everywhere – all up and down the street?’