Super Sleuths and the Magical Parrots of Flambeau: Super Sleuths, #5

By E.M. Clarke

The Super Sleuths are back!
Follow the exciting adventures of the Super Sleuths the child detectives. Join the twins Zelie and Zav, their cousins Sam and Sofie and their friend Milo as they hunt for treasure and capture pirates. Meet their magical talking parrots as they solve mysteries in the faraway places of Sandopolis and Red Cove. They live by the beach in a place where it's never cold giving them more time for fun on land and sea.  
Book 5 brings you lots of new adventures! The Sleuths master the art of disguise to trick the Black Cross Gang and they travel deep into the jungle to the Enchanted Valley of the Parrots of Flambeau. The evil Countess Rosina has cast a spell to block the parrots' magic and the Sleuths must try to get it back. They come face to face with Ferenc and Festia, Prince Igor's ruthless allies in one of their most nail-biting moments yet! Can the Sleuths escape? Read on to find out! 
 "Super Sleuths, Super Sleuths,
Always searching after truth. 
We fear no danger or any foe;
Where there is mystery there we go!"

Super Sleuth Adventures;
Book 1 Super Sleuths and the Pirates Plunder
Book 2 Super Sleuths and the Royal Captive
Book 3 Super Sleuths and the Smuggler's Gold
Book 4 Super Sleuths and the Black Castle
Book 5 Super Sleuths and the Magical Parrots of Flambeau
Coming soon....
Book 6 Super Sleuths and the Cabin Boy's Secret
Book 7 Super Sleuths and the Sunken Treasure
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lexi
• Release date: Apr 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393636762

Book preview

Chapter 1:

Masters of Disguise.

Night was settling over the kingdom of Sandlandia.

In the shadow of Isla Grande, off the coast of French Town, a ship called the Challenger waited. This proud vessel was commanded by Nica the Navigator and though she was anchored close to the shore, the ship was hidden in a cove, camouflaged with palm fronds and seaweed. Lookouts had been posted, floating inside ‘spy logs’ which bobbed innocently by the shore. The logs looked completely normal but they were very special indeed. They were the ingenious invention of Buster, the Challenger’s Science Officer.

The waters around Isla Grande were infested by Jaca, vicious creatures which looked like crocodiles but which were actually spies for the evil Prince Igor. If they had spotted the lookouts, the game would have been up in seconds. But the spy logs had been designed so that there was no way to get inside them at either end. On the top of each log was a circular trap door just big enough for one of Nica’s Navigators to wriggle through so they could hide inside the log. They would pull the trapdoor down and peek through the specially designed spyholes. They could see and hear everything but no one had any idea they were anything more than an innocent log. And, most importantly, the spy logs were totally Jaca proof.

Aboard the Challenger, Nica the Navigator and Buster were preparing to leave their spot by Isla Grande and row ashore to infiltrate French Town and spy out the land.

Nica drew out her talker/listener and pressed the number for the super sleuths back in Sandopolis.

‘Hello me hearties!’ she said, her face splitting into a grin, the golden rings on her ears glinting in the moonlight. ‘Nica reporting in. We’re ready to go ashore. Over.’

‘Hi Nica, sleuths here,’ crackled Zav’s voice from the talker/listener. ‘Urgent message - we think you should abort the mission, it’s too dangerous. The House of Barbosa are on red alert - you’ll be recognised!’

Nica laughed and winked at Buster. ‘Oh, don’t you worry my friends,’ she said reassuringly. ‘We are in disguise. Even you wouldn’t recognise us.’

‘Just like Sherlock Holmes!’ crackled a different voice, Milo’s this time.

‘Elementary!’ replied Nica.

‘My dear Watson!’ was the instant reply.

‘If Sherlock can do it, we can too,’ Nica reassured the sleuths. ‘So don’t worry,’ and she grinned at Buster, who looked completely unrecognisable!

Nica and Buster had spent the last two hours completely transforming their appearance. Buster normally had floppy fair hair which hung over his face: now it was smooth and coal black, scraped back into a pony tail, completely changing the shape of his face. He had rubbed a handful of dirt into his face and hands to make him look grimy and unwashed and had also put a large pebble in his boot so he walked with a pronounced limp. Nica wore a battered hat pulled low over her eyes which she had stuffed her dreadlocks into and she was wearing long sleeves to make sure her turquoise hummingbird tattoo was completely hidden.

That was the first rule of disguises: hide any distinguishing features which could easily give you away. Nica had made her skin grimy like Buster’s, wore an eye patch and had painted some of her teeth black for good measure. To complete her disguise, Nica walked with a stooped back, and had given her tummy a bit of extra padding. Together, these two changes made her body shape and walk completely different. Dressed as they were in filthy, tattered, smelly clothes, anything less like their usual swashbuckling appearance was hard to imagine! Nica and Buster looked like two good for nothing sailors who were down on their luck and not worth a second glance. Which, of course, was precisely the look they had worked to achieve.

‘Roger that,’ came Zelie’s voice through the talker/listener. ‘But be careful!’

‘We’ll stay under the radar,’ replied Nica. ‘The aim of this operation is to find out what those trouble-making pirates are planning. And to see how much support Igor has gathered.’

‘If Igor and the pirates still have their spy in the King’s inner circle, they’ll know we’re planning something and could be suspicious,’ said Milo.

‘And if we know anything about the Black Cross Gang it’s that they’ll stop at nothing to get power and money,’ added Zav. ‘We know they’re in cahoots with Igor so watch your backs!’

The Black Cross Gang were a group of evil pirates and were old adversaries of the Sleuths. Together with Price Igor, they were trying to take over Sandlandia and make freedom a thing of the past.

‘Roger that, understood,’ replied Nica. ‘Over and out.’

Nica and Buster silently climbed down the rope ladder fixed to the side of the Challenger. Ready for them in the dark water was their rowing boat. The moon had moved behind a cloud, making the night even darker. They had painted the rowing boat black and, with their dark clothes, they were perfectly camouflaged. They muffled their oars as they rowed with barely a splash across to French Town.

As they neared the shore, grey walls rose up out of the water on the quays, high and forbidding. ‘Stay out,’ they seemed to say, frowning down at any visitors.

What little light there was came from the occasional dim lamp and it only added to the ghostly atmosphere. But worse was soon revealed. As Buster and Nica approached cautiously, they saw a huge flag draped proudly over the walls of French Town showing the letter