enough being a spider! And anywayâweâre not thinking about any S.W.I.T.C.H.ing, are we? Weâre just having a vacationâhundreds of miles away from Petty Potts and her secret lab and her S.W.I.T.C.H. spray . . .â
âYeahâI sâpose,â Josh said, lying back on the beach mat and putting his hands behind his head. âWe probably do need a break from all that excitement and danger. Getting turned into insects and spiders and frogs and lizards is amazingâbut it wears you out.â
âA nice, peaceful holiday,â agreed Danny. Piddle returned to his hole and carried on digging for a while before heading off up the cliff path, obviously hoping to get some lunch from Mom or Dad at the cottage.
âYup,â Josh said. âWith
nothing
getting S.W.I.T.C.H.ed and
no sign
of Petty Potts and her genius experiments anywhere.â
And that was when a parachute landed on the beach next to them.
For a second Danny thought it was a reckless sky diver landing dangerously off course. And then he realized heâd just gotten the scale wrong. It wasnât a
big
parachute, far awayâit was a
small
parachute, close up.
Josh was already on his feet and running across to the billowing yellow chute, which was in fact about the size of a playground merry-go-round. Danny ran to it too and began to gather up the fine silk in bunches to stop the sea breeze from tugging it along the beach.
âWhat is it?â Josh peered beneath the chute. âA teeny weeny thrill-seeker?â
Attached to its web of fine white cords was not a tiny skydiver but a silver cylinder with a screw top, about the size of a jam jarâbut much lighter.
âAluminum, probably,â Josh said, picking it up.
âWho dropped it?â Danny scanned the high cliffs above them but could see nobody.
Josh was looking around too. âAnd were they dropping it for
us
?â
There were very few other people on the beach. Their holiday was during school term, so no other kids were around at allâjust adults, dog walkers, and a couple of surfers. And they were all a long distance from where the parachute had landed.
âGo on thenâopen it!â Danny said.
Josh shrugged. âWell . . . if nobodyâs coming to claim it, we might as well.â
He struggled with the lid. It was very tightly screwed shut.
âHereâlet me, you wuss!â Danny grabbed it off his brother and twisted with all his strength. Then he paused. âYou donât think itâs full of toxic gas, do you?â
Josh laughed. âUmâno! Weâre not in Pettyâs lab now!â
âOK.â Danny gave another twist and the lid gave.
Inside was a piece of folded yellow paper.
Danny stared at Josh, his heart suddenly beating hard. âYou know what this is, donât you?â
Josh could hardly believe it. âHere? Two hundred miles away from home?â He felt slightly panicky.
Danny stared at the canister and then up at his brother. â
Not
Petty Potts. And now I sort of wish it
were
Petty Potts. Even if she was barmy enough to follow us all the way down here, at least sheâs the kind of barmy we know. But this . . .â He opened the paper with the familiar spidery writingon it, just like the other ones. âThis is . . .â
â . . . from the Mystery Marble Sender,â whispered Josh. âNow Iâm freaking out.â
Danny opened the note out and read aloud.
GREETINGS, JOSH & DANNY. ARE YOU READY FOR CLUE 3?
He gulped. âWhoever this is, they are definitely watching us. Following us. Tracking us. I mean . . . when they sent the first two clues it was all at our house and that was freaky enoughâbut following us here?â
Josh felt shaky too. The Mystery Marble Sender had been in touch with them over the past month, sending clues to get them to find marbles. But not just any marbles. These marbles contained a hologram and a
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