The Splendid Six Series

Jack was determined to find another mystery to solve - after all, that was what he and his secret friends did best. But perhaps a space adventure wasn't quite what he had in mind, with Aliens, a Death Ray, a Mad Professor (actually their friend Professor Fletcher, who was more Confused than properly Mad), Lost Continents and a Rocket Ship. Still, it should keep Eric and Roy happy ... Hoorah! Against one wall was a row of black chairs, and above each chair was a large glass helmet with wires attached to the top. Several of the little robots were whizzing busily around. Martin thought it looked like the hairdresser's where his mother went. Apart from the robots. 'It's not too bad,' he assured the others. 'I've seen it done before.' 'What are they?' Jo asked, pointing at the chairs and helmets. 'They are part of the Mind Sucking Machine. They will suck all the information out of your brains,' the alien said. 'The process is quite painful, and will leave you as mere husks - empty shells.' 'My mother goes every month,' Martin said. 'I think these aliens are turning out to be rather beastly after all,' Sophie announced. 'I should say,' Jack agreed. 'It's probably because they're not British.' A fourth curious and surreal romp through the world of six deluded and at times borderline psychotic children - welcome to the world of The Splendid Six.

It looked as if Easter might be a complete washout this year, since Eric had to spend the holiday with his Uncle Hank instead of with his secret friends. But then Jo suggested that they might all spend Easter with Eric's Uncle Hank. Before they knew it the children were up to their necks in a new adventure with bandits, Indians, dynamite, some black people, a rattlesnake and miles and miles of genuine grit. Hoorah! 'They hang out in Lurch Creek. That's a town about twenty miles to the west of here.' 'And how will we recognise them when we're there?' Jo asked, sensibly. 'One of them has a green eyepatch,' the old man explained. 'We call him One Eyed Jack.' 'Gosh!' Eric exclaimed. 'Has he only got one eye, then?' 'We don't rightly know,' the man said. 'But in living memory, no-one's ever seen his right eye. So it seems a fair assumption.' 'Yes well, let's not jump to conclusions,' Jack said. 'Perhaps that eye is just sensitive to sunlight.' Welcome to the world of The Splendid Six.

When Sophie didn't get a place on her school trip to Paris, her only option was to solve a mystery (ideally one that was baffling the police) and become famous. But were Martians really drilling for zinc off the coast... ? As far as Eric was concerned, things would be much more straightforward if they simply poisoned one of the other girls. Hoorah! 'What do you think happened to him?' Sophie asked. 'He probably drowned, judging from the way he's lying face-down in the water,' Jack said. 'I'm not sure,' Eric said. 'Why not?' Jack asked. 'Well, what about that knife?' Eric pointed to a large black-handled knife, embedded in the man's back. 'What about it?' Martin asked. 'I think he was murdered,' Eric said. 'Murdered!' Jack exclaimed. 'How exciting!' 'I'll go and keep Roy company,' Martin volunteered. Eric's imaginary friend would be getting bored and lonely. Also, Martin didn't like the idea of being so close to a murder victim: soon people would be looking for someone to blame. A sixth curious and surreal romp through the world of The Splendid Six.

Most children's magicians can make dogs out of bendy balloons. Ali-Kazaam, on the other hand, sacrifices goats to the Lord of Darkness (though not as part of his act). That, coupled with the child kidnapping, leads the Splendid Six to their strangest adventure yet - into the very depths of Hell. And because they aren't Orpheus, no-one wants to let them out again ... Hoorah! 'I think he's blind,' Martin said. He was stand­ing beside the man and waving his hand from side to side in front of the man's face. 'Excuse me,' Jack asked. 'Are you blind?' 'Yes, I am blind,' the man said. 'Who is it that wishes to cross the river?' 'Oh all of us, I should think,' Eric said. 'We're the Splendid Six,' Jack added. 'You may have heard of us.' The blind man did not answer that. Instead he turned to face Jack and demanded, 'Who pays the Ferryman?' 'Ooh, a riddle!' Eric exclaimed. He enjoyed a good riddle. Welcome to the darkest visit to the world of The Splendid Six.

Eric and Roy were already looking forward to their holiday, and that was before the adventure even started - an adventure with pirates, smugglers, onions and most importantly new friends. The sort of new friends who didn't mind about Roy ... Hoorah! Jack had been canoeing with the school in the Lake District, but there hadn't been any waves like this. The biggest danger on Windermere was people skimming stones from the shore. One of the boys in his dormitory, Titch McEwan, had been hit on the head by an eight-bouncer and knocked unconscious. He had flipped over and drowned before anyone had a chance to reach him. The rest of that year there had been an empty bed in the dorm. Empty, that is, except for Titch's favourite toy on the pillow - a penguin called Red Rum. A curious and surreal romp through the world of six deluded and at times borderline psychotic children - welcome to the world of The Splendid Six.

Sophie wasn't at all sure about Sundays, and this one was worse than most. She met her strange friend Eric, his strange (and imaginary) friend Roy, their even stranger friend The Professor, a collection of dangerous Cats and a Caveman - and to top all of that, there were The Men from the Ministry ... Hoorah! 'Queer looking sort,' Stinky observed as the caveman crawled out and stood up. 'He's my cousin,' Jack improvised. 'From out of town.' 'How d'you do,' Stinky shot out his right hand. The caveman retreated from it nervously, and grunted. 'He doesn't speak any English,' Jack added. 'Oh bad luck, old man,' Stinky sympathised. 'Foreign national?' 'I should say so, yes.' 'Heir to a distant throne, I'll be bound.' 'More than likely,' Jack conceded. A second curious and surreal romp through the world of six deluded and at times borderline psychotic children - welcome to the world of The Splendid Six.