Whiffy Newton in The Affair of the Fiendish Phantoms

By Rebecca Lim

There are disturbing developments going on at Chez Newton - the messy home that Whiffy Newton shares with his father.

His dad's started dating again (er, yuk), and Whiffy's not sure if he trusts his dad's new girlfriend, Vonda, who's just a bit too interested in Dr Newton's

• Language: English
• Publisher: The High Street Publishing Company
• Release date: Apr 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9780648039280

Rebecca Lim

Rebecca Lim is an award-winning Australian writer, illustrator and editor and the author of over twenty books, including 'Tiger Daughter' (a Victorian Premier's Literary Award-winner), 'The Astrologer's Daughter' (A Kirkus Best Book and CBCA Notable Book) and the bestselling 'Mercy'. Her work has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Queensland Literary Awards, CBCA Book of the Year Awards and Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, shortlisted multiple times for the Aurealis Awards and Davitt Awards, and longlisted for the Gold Inky Award and the David Gemmell Legend Award. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Turkish, Portuguese, Polish and Russian. She is a co-founder of the Voices from the Intersection initiative and co-editor of 'Meet Me at the Intersection', a groundbreaking anthology of YA #OwnVoice memoir, poetry and fiction.

Book preview

Rebecca Lim

Whiffy Newton in The Affair of the Fiendish Phantoms

First published by Rebecca Lim in 2017

Copyright © Rebecca Lim, 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

Find out more at reedsy.com

Contents

Cover

About the Book

About the Author

Praise for Whiffy Newton

Also by Rebecca Lim

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Who was Charles William Beebe?

I Don’t Like Mondays

Girl Trouble

The First Visitation

Vonda Takes Over

A Bit of Mumbo Jumbo

The Second Visitation

Alarm Bells Ringing

The Third Visitation

The Chimaera Conundrum

Like Chalk and Cheese

The Invisible Menace

Watching the Watchers

A Mess of Leads

The Fourth Visitation

The A.C.E. Denies Everything

Another Funny Turn

Unmasking the Culprits

Are You There Mum? It’s Me, Whiffy

Cover

About the Book

There are disturbing developments going on at Chez Newton - the messy home that Whiffy Newton shares with his father.

His dad's started dating again (er, yuk), and Whiffy's not sure if he trusts his dad's new girlfriend, Vonda, who's just a bit too interested in Dr Newton's work for Whiffy's liking.

And there's a mysterious force at work in Dr Newton's laboratory. Whiffy's almost convinced that it's the ghost of his late mother, trying to tell him something - or is it?

Can Whiffy get to the bottom of the spooky goings-on before his father's laboratory and the whole Newton way of life are utterly destroyed?

About the Author

REBECCA LIM is a writer and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. Rebecca is the author of seventeen books, including The Astrologer’s Daughter (a Kirkus Best Book of 2015 and Notable Book, CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers), Afterlight and the bestselling Mercy. Shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, Aurealis Award, INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award and Davitt Award for YA, Rebecca’s work has also been longlisted for the Gold Inky Award and the David Gemmell Legend Award. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Turkish, Portuguese and Polish. She is a co-founder of the Voices from the Intersection initiative.

Praise for Whiffy Newton

'A very amusing book. Whiffy Newton would give even Mma Ramotswe a run for her money!' - Alexander McCall Smith, bestselling author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Also by Rebecca Lim

Mercy

Exile

Muse

Fury

Wraith

The Astrologer’s Daughter

Afterlight

FOR YOUNGER READERS

The Sweet Life

Cover Girl

Sista Fashionista

Star Style

Whiffy Newton in the Case of the Dastardly Deeds

Whiffy Newton in the Riddle of the Two-Tone Trousers

Whiffy Newton in the Affair of the Fiendish Phantoms

Whiffy Newton and the Mystery of the Marble Beach Mugger

Five-Minute Tales Messiest Monster Ever

Five-Minute Tales Bravest Princess Ever

Title Page

Whiffy Newton in The Affair of the Fiendish Phantoms

by Rebecca Lim

Copyright Notice

Published by The High Street Publishing Company

Copyright © 2006 Rebecca Lim

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

First published in 2006 by Funtastic Limited

Written and Illustrated by Rebecca Lim

Author: Lim, Rebecca

Title: Whiffy Newton in the affair of the fiendish phantoms

ISBN: 978-0-6480392-8-0 (ebook)

Dewey Number: A823.4

1

Who was Charles William Beebe?

Paz had just asked that impossible question.

Whiffy almost spat out the chips he was snorkling through in disgust. ‘Are you kidding me?’ he growled.

Paz Colón (real first name Pasquale) and Whiffy Newton (real first name Alfred) were lying on their stomachs in Paz’s room, glaring at each other tensely over the game board. Paz had already collected all his colourful wedgie things (to Whiffy’s one). Only this question stood between Paz and the race for the finish line in the deadly, high-stakes game of Trivial Pursuit they were playing.

‘Have a guess,’ said Paz, trying hard not to grin. Whiffy would never get this. Even Paz wasn’t sure if he knew the answer. He flipped the card over and shook his head. Yup, impossible.

Still, Whiffy had a red-hot go. ‘Something to do with, um, tonsils,’ he bluffed.

Paz scooped up the dice happily, saying: ‘American scientist, 1877-1962, inventor of the Bathysphere, a kind of submersible diving chamber thingy. I feel another win coming on.’ As luck would have it, he roared into the winner’s circle with his next roll. ‘Hit me,’ said Paz delightedly.

‘Don’t tempt me,’ Whiffy snorted, selecting a card and studying the questions. He began to beam. ‘What are the four main rivers of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar?’ Whiffy asked with a flourish, reaching for more chips.

Paz’s pale-blue eyes began to gleam with arcane knowledge. ‘The Mangoky, Betsiboka, Onilahy, and Tsiribihina Rivers,’ he said jubilantly as Whiffy’s mouth fell open, displaying disgusting bits of mashed-up chip inside. ‘It’s your turn to dry all the dishes!’ And Paz got up and victory-danced all around the room while Whiffy did what he did best when he wasn’t entirely happy about something.

He ate.

***

Whiffy had been staying at Paz’s place for the weekend while his dad—Dr Bruce Newton, inventing genius—was at some obscure conference on quantum chromodynamics (don’t ask) for particle physicists (scientists who are into particles smaller than atoms and, yes, there really are people like that).

This suited Whiffy just fine, because three times a day he got three excellent meals. For instance, on Friday he had pandeyuca for breakfast, frituras for lunch, and arepas de chocolo y carne en polvo for dinner. Not to mention several outstanding snacks a day including, but not limited to, chips.

The food situation had pretty much continued in this marvellous vein until Sunday afternoon, when Whiffy began repacking his dingy sports bag. He quailed at the thought of what awaited him at home for dinner. At best he might expect a takeaway meal from Dial-a-Dinner (purveyors of fine cuisine in your local area—free delivery for orders over $15). At worst, spag bol, tuna mornay, or roast lamb. (The only three things in the world—besides fish paste or jam sandwiches—that his dad, a single parent since the tragic loss of his wife Marlese, knew how to make).

As Whiffy got out of Paz’s dad’s car outside Chez Newton, the exceedingly messy home Whiffy shared with his dad, even Paz’s dad, Pedro, was wondering what sort of diabolical meal Whiffy’s father was whipping up inside the kitchen.

Whiffy thanked Mr Colón politely for a lovely and highly informative weekend, waving, as they drove away with a toot. He opened the front door at the same time his dad came up the hallway in his best clothes: a tweed sportscoat with leather elbow patches (possibly purchased around the time dinosaurs last roamed the earth), a phlegm-yellow business shirt, and