looking in disbelief at his garden shed. Smoke billowed out from beneath its door and through bothânow brokenâwindows. The door creaked open and they could see TJ standing inside with a smoking bottle of fertilizer. The beeping sound of the Morse-code machine echoed round the garden.
âCameron,â said TJ calmly, âyour shed is compromised. I may need somewhere else to hide.â
âWhat have you done?â shouted Cam.
âIt is not my fault,â said TJ. âThe contents of the shed are dangerous if mixed together and set on fire. There should be a sign explaining the danger, Cameron.â
Cam groaned. âThis is going to be worse than when I bought bath bombs for the goldfish.â
âIs your mum in?â asked Megan, genuinely worried.
âSheâs on backshift,â said Cam, âbut my dadâll be in.â He glanced nervously up at the house.
âLook,â said Megan, âIâll take some of the blame. We can say it was a science project that went wrong.â
Cam looked at the smoking hollow shell that used to be a shed. âI suppose if they think I was doing school work I might only lose one monthâs pocket money.â
âCam? Whatâs this? Whatâs going on?â Camâs dad was hanging out the window, looking tired and unhappy.
âWeâre ok Mr Molloy,â said Megan quickly, âbut I think we copied down the chemistry homework wrong.â
Camâs dad looked at the smoking garden shed. âCameron, what have we told you about paying attention in class?â he barked.
âSorry Dad.â
âGet it cleaned up,â he said. âYou can explain it to your mum. And whatâs that?â He pointed down to TJ.
âArt project,â said Megan. âWeâre doing sculptures.â
âFlippinâ sculptures everywhere,â muttered Camâs dad, disappearing back behind the curtains. âStupid Chronos bell always making me jump out of my skin at workâ¦â
âThere,â said Megan, turning back to Cam. âAll sorted.â
âOh, you think?â said Cam, scowling at TJ.
âNone of this would have happened if there had been a danger sign, Cameron,â said TJ.
Chapter 10.
Bricks and Mortar
Even if Cam hadnât just lost his next monthâs pocket money, it was pretty clear to Megan that Tin Jimmy would no longer be welcome at his house. It was time for a flit.
This time Megan and Cam decided to move TJ using a wheelbarrow. But after a few minutes of pushing, Megan was hoping for another lift from the police.
âThis is heavier,â said Cam. âHow can it be heavier?â
âAt least it has wheels,â said Megan.
âWould it help if I used my wheels?â asked TJ.
âYour wheels?â asked Megan.
A pair of ancient-looking roller skates popped out of the robotâs feet.
âYou have wheels!â shouted Cam. âWhy didnât you say that before we started carrying you round like a king?â
TJ clicked. âIt did not seem important.â
âCam, honestly, a roller-skating robot would probably have attracted even more attention.â
TJâs wheels clunked back in.
âWhere are we taking him anyway?â scowled Cam. âSomewhere he canât blow anything up, I hope.â
âYou know number two on Granâs map marks the old tobacco warehouses, down by the dock? I thought maybe we could leave him there when we check them out,â suggested Megan. âYou said they were lying empty.â
âYeahâ¦â said Cam, âbut I thought they were getting knocked down.â
âEven more reason to search the place soon then.â
Cam made the new face he had for whenever Megan talked about the map. It was supposed to make him look interested and pleased that they might be going somewhere dangerous, but it just looked like he had a dodgy tummy.
âItâll
Rebecca Alexander, Sascha Alper
Baibin Nighthawk, Dominick Fencer