dear?” she said in her soothing voice.
“Yeah, we used to watch it together on my phone all the time. It wasn’t that long ago that we were in this playground, shouting for Big Al to win,” said Max.
Really? It seems like ages ago for me , thought Jimmy.
“We can’t wait for you to win it, Jimmy, and bring the championship back to Smedingham!” Max said, holding up a big sign that read: ‘GO, JIMMY!’
Then the TV went blank once again.
There was a long silence as they all thought about the family and friends they had seen on the tablet.
Then Horace got to his feet and dusted off sand from his expensive trousers. “Well, I hope you all have your runner-up speeches ready!” he said with a gloating grin. “Zoom and I will be hot on your heels tomorrow, and I’ll bet my boots that we take first place!”
Jimmy rolled his eyes. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen between Horace and Mr Pelly earlier. If Horace is up to his old tricks again, I’m not going to let him get away with it , he thought to himself determinedly.
“This time tomorrow, I’ll be at the top of that podium and you lot will be eating my dust!” Horace continued.
“Horace, if I thought for a moment that you stood a chance of winning, it’d keep me awake all night,” said Missy. “But I think you’ll find—” She pretended to fall asleep on the spot and fell backwards into the sand, snoring loudly. The other racers laughed, and Horace shot Missy a scowl.
“You’ll be laughing on the other side of your face, McGovern! My father says—”
“Scorpion! Behind you!” cried Sammy. Everyone turned to look where he was pointing, and Horace leaped to his feet like he’d had a firework lit under his bottom.
“What! Where? Kill it! Trap it! Somebody do something, quick!” Horace screamed.
Jimmy’s heart jumped, but as he looked around the camp he spotted Sammy putting a hand over his mouth. Jimmy looked closer and saw that his friend was trying to hide a smile. His shoulders shook, his head bobbed and then he burst out laughing, unable to contain himself any more.
“He’s just playing a prank,” shouted Chip, who’d also noticed Sammy’s expression.
“Ah, strewth, Sammy, that was a good one. You really had me goin’ for a second,” Missy giggled.
The others laughed too, and settled themselves back down. All except for Horace. He was still on his feet and his face was bright red in fury and embarrassment.
“Listen here, Bahur!” said Horace, almost spitting the name into the camp fire. “No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it! You’ll pay for this!”
And with that he stormed off into the darkness in the direction of his tent.
“Well, he sure had his pants in a twist, didn’t he,” Missy commented with a grin.
Soon after, everyone agreed it was time to get some sleep. They said their goodnights and walked away across the camp to their own beds. Sammy and Jimmy headed over to their Bedouin tents, still laughing about the scorpion.
“ It’s ... it’s a ... SCORPION! ” Sammy laughed, then imitated Horace’s high-pitched scream. “That was funny, yes? His face was – how do you say? A picture!”
Jimmy smiled too, but dropped it when Horace walked by, scowling at Sammy.
“Oops,” said Sammy.
“Horace is angry with everyone, all the time. I wouldn’t worry,” said Jimmy, trying to reassure his friend. Secretly he thought that Sammy should be careful. He wouldn’t put it past Horace to look for revenge once they were back out on the race track. And he’d already been acting suspiciously all evening.
I need to find out what he’s up to , thought Jimmy. He said goodnight to Sammy, but instead of going into his own tent, where he could already hear Grandpa snoring, he crept towards Horace’s tent. Slowly he moved nearer and nearer, until he could almost press his ear to the canvas.
“Receiving? Over,” came a voice from inside. It had an electronic crackle to
“Yeah, we used to watch it together on my phone all the time. It wasn’t that long ago that we were in this playground, shouting for Big Al to win,” said Max.
Really? It seems like ages ago for me , thought Jimmy.
“We can’t wait for you to win it, Jimmy, and bring the championship back to Smedingham!” Max said, holding up a big sign that read: ‘GO, JIMMY!’
Then the TV went blank once again.
There was a long silence as they all thought about the family and friends they had seen on the tablet.
Then Horace got to his feet and dusted off sand from his expensive trousers. “Well, I hope you all have your runner-up speeches ready!” he said with a gloating grin. “Zoom and I will be hot on your heels tomorrow, and I’ll bet my boots that we take first place!”
Jimmy rolled his eyes. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen between Horace and Mr Pelly earlier. If Horace is up to his old tricks again, I’m not going to let him get away with it , he thought to himself determinedly.
“This time tomorrow, I’ll be at the top of that podium and you lot will be eating my dust!” Horace continued.
“Horace, if I thought for a moment that you stood a chance of winning, it’d keep me awake all night,” said Missy. “But I think you’ll find—” She pretended to fall asleep on the spot and fell backwards into the sand, snoring loudly. The other racers laughed, and Horace shot Missy a scowl.
“You’ll be laughing on the other side of your face, McGovern! My father says—”
“Scorpion! Behind you!” cried Sammy. Everyone turned to look where he was pointing, and Horace leaped to his feet like he’d had a firework lit under his bottom.
“What! Where? Kill it! Trap it! Somebody do something, quick!” Horace screamed.
Jimmy’s heart jumped, but as he looked around the camp he spotted Sammy putting a hand over his mouth. Jimmy looked closer and saw that his friend was trying to hide a smile. His shoulders shook, his head bobbed and then he burst out laughing, unable to contain himself any more.
“He’s just playing a prank,” shouted Chip, who’d also noticed Sammy’s expression.
“Ah, strewth, Sammy, that was a good one. You really had me goin’ for a second,” Missy giggled.
The others laughed too, and settled themselves back down. All except for Horace. He was still on his feet and his face was bright red in fury and embarrassment.
“Listen here, Bahur!” said Horace, almost spitting the name into the camp fire. “No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it! You’ll pay for this!”
And with that he stormed off into the darkness in the direction of his tent.
“Well, he sure had his pants in a twist, didn’t he,” Missy commented with a grin.
Soon after, everyone agreed it was time to get some sleep. They said their goodnights and walked away across the camp to their own beds. Sammy and Jimmy headed over to their Bedouin tents, still laughing about the scorpion.
“ It’s ... it’s a ... SCORPION! ” Sammy laughed, then imitated Horace’s high-pitched scream. “That was funny, yes? His face was – how do you say? A picture!”
Jimmy smiled too, but dropped it when Horace walked by, scowling at Sammy.
“Oops,” said Sammy.
“Horace is angry with everyone, all the time. I wouldn’t worry,” said Jimmy, trying to reassure his friend. Secretly he thought that Sammy should be careful. He wouldn’t put it past Horace to look for revenge once they were back out on the race track. And he’d already been acting suspiciously all evening.
I need to find out what he’s up to , thought Jimmy. He said goodnight to Sammy, but instead of going into his own tent, where he could already hear Grandpa snoring, he crept towards Horace’s tent. Slowly he moved nearer and nearer, until he could almost press his ear to the canvas.
“Receiving? Over,” came a voice from inside. It had an electronic crackle to
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