Monster In The Dark: Book 2 of 'The Mustela Secret Service'

By C.J. Darling and Linda Cappel

The ferrets' Human pets have gone away for Christmas, and they're having fun playing. Suddenly they see a horrible ugly face in the window. It's a monsterand it's trying to get into their house!

Goliath might be the biggest ferret in the Mustela Secret Service, but he's really just a frightened baby. How can he protect old Nova and his friends? Somehow he has to be brave and strong!

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

It was a monster! A gigantic ugly face was staring into the room. It had little black eyes, a big black nose, and strange little ears that flopped down on either side of its head. Its whole face was a mass of floppy brown and white wrinkles. Sharp white teeth pointed in all directions as it pushed its nose against the clear window glass.

Suddenly it threw its head back and howled again. It was a sad, lonely sound that sent the ferrets into a panic. Taz threw himself on top of Nova to protect her. Maggie and Zephyr dashed to the other end of their cage so fast that they fell down the ramp, and tumbled over each other. Goliath let out a single shrill scream, but he was too scared to move.

Down at the bottom of the cage, the older ferrets shivered and hid under their blankets. Zephyr finally stopped tumbling when she landed right on top of old Gonzo. Maggie fell against her, and poor Gonzo yelled at both of them to Get Off!

"Let me see." Nova was buried under Taz, who was shaking so hard that the entire cage was swaying. "Taz, get off me!"

Taz didn't move. "It's gone now! Where did it go?"

"Taz!" Nova tried to wiggle free, then reached over and bit his foot hard. "Off!"

"Ouch!" Taz jumped, and Nova crawled out from under him. "Nova, that hurt!"

"I couldn't breathe." Nova rubbed her whiskers against his sore foot in apology. "You're heavy."

"I'm sorry, Nova. I don't mean to be."

She nudged him in the ribs, and smiled up at him. "You can't help being big. It means you're healthy."

Poor Goliath was still standing frozen, staring at the window with huge eyes. "Wh-where did it go?"

Nova climbed up onto his shoulders so she could see the window better. The monster's big nose had left a wet smudge on the glass, but Taz was right. The monster was gone.

"I don't know. But it's gone now, Goliath." Gently she rubbed at his trembling ears with her nose. "You're safe. Nothing can get into the house unless Mom Human or Dad Human let it in."

"They'll never let a monster into the house." Maggie had climbed back up to the top level. Goliath got scared so easily that sometimes she got mad at him. But this time, she had been scared, too. So she didn't laugh at him, or make fun of him. "They'll never do anything that might hurt us."

"That's right." Zephyr was just behind her. "They take good care of us." She rubbed against Goliath, and felt him relax. "We're all safe as long as we stay inside the house."

Taz was still staring at the window, but his fur had calmed down again. "You've been outside without a Human guard, Zephyr. What do you think it was?"

Zephyr loved to talk about the time she'd snuck out of the house, and had romped all around the farm for two whole days before Dad Human had finally caught her in the barn and brought her back into the house. "There are lots of wild animals outside," she told him with big, serious eyes. "I've never seen anything like that before. It was too ugly to be a farm animal, so it must have been something wild."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Boruma Publishing
• Release date: Jul 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463947777

C.J. Darling

C.J. Darling was raised on a remote farm in rural Indiana. Since she was an only child and neighbors were few, she developed a rich and colorful imagination that became her closest loyal friend. Together they roamed the hills of her home, 'finding tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing.' Her literary tastes have been shaped by the inspired works of Anne McCaffrey, Robert Heinlein, and Nora Roberts—all of whom she hopes to become when she grows up. She has been publishing since 1994, and has written nearly 200 books and short stories under various pen names. Her love of animals has led to rescuing a wide variety of handicapped animals, including birds, ferrets, reptiles, and a semi-paralyzed cat named Phantom. She has been blessed with two sons who actually acknowledge her existence, and an incredibly tolerant husband who indulges her whimsical flights of fancy without calling for the guys with butterfly nets. Recently she was lucky enough to find her long-sought birth family, and was reunited with her older brother who was adopted out separately as a baby. Now they're making up for a lot of lost time, and every day is a joy of new discoveries. Though she has traveled extensively and seen many beautiful and wondrous things, the home of her heart will always be lovely Ireland. She dreams of emigrating to that glorious land of magic and mystery...and once there, shall nevermore stray.

Book preview

The Mustela Secret Service

Monster in the Dark

By C.J. Darling

Copyright 2019 @ C.J. Darling

To my mother, who taught me to read

and write—and to love doing both—

and to her beloved bulldog, Scarlett O’Terror,

who helped to make her life complete.

Chapter 1

Are we all here? Good. Then let tonight’s meeting of the Mustela Secret Service begin.

Old Nova calmly groomed her long whiskers while four small furry bodies emerged from the darkness and formed a half-circle around her sleeping mat. Bright little eyes stared at her in the dim red light cast by a nearby heating lamp.

The farmhouse seemed strangely quiet as the five agile ferrets who made up the Mustela Secret Service happily chirped out their nightly ritual. We are Mustela, we are ferrets. We are small and we are fast. We were given life to play and have fun. Our sacred duty is to cause mischief whenever we can. When we cross the Rainbow Bridge at life’s end, we will pass over happily, knowing we have lived full and playful lives.

Above them, Quincy the Iguana groaned. Every night, it was the same old routine. Those annoying little dust-mops woke him from a sound sleep and chanted the same stupid thing. Why couldn’t they ever think of something new to say? He wished the Humans had put his tree on the other side of the house, so he didn’t have to listen to them.

Now they’d boast about all the trouble they caused that day, as if it was something to be proud of. He couldn’t see why the Humans let them get away with stealing toys and crunchy treats, or making nests in their clothes drawers. He couldn’t see why the ferrets wanted to do it, either. An Iguana spent his time sleeping in the sun, eating when he was hungry, and sleeping some more. That was the proper way to spend a day.

Before cinnamon-furred Taz could start talking about his day’s pranks, Nova cleared her throat. I know some of you are wondering where the Humans have gone, she said, and looked straight at Goliath. The black-coated giant was their youngest member, and had never seen a Christmas before. Every year, the Humans take Smudge Dog with them, and go to visit their Cousins who live up north. This year, they also took Spot Dog, his mate Missy Dog, and their new puppies with them.

Why? Maggie, their clever white thief, was several months older than Goliath, but she was just as curious.

What are Cousins? Zephyr chimed in. Her silvery coat gleamed in the dim light. She was very proud of her ability to see further and run faster than any of the other ferrets. When the Mustela Secret Service had a Mission, she was their Scout.

Taz was the only ferret who could talk to any animal, even young Boy Human. He’d spent all that morning talking with Boy, so he knew the answer to Zephyr’s question. "Cousins are Humans, too. They’re friends