Why-are-humans-so-slow o’clock?
Arms are not nearly as good as wings. Why do humans insist on having them? If Olive and Digby could fly, they would be at the hotel in no time.
As it is, I get there well ahead of them and land beside the back door.
The first thing I notice is that Delphine’s car is gone.
So is Clara.
And there’s no sign of Tracy.
I race around the yard three times, just in case they are hiding under a bush. ‘Tracy!’ I quack. ‘Clara, where have you gone?’
They do not answer.
My feathers are ruffled. My heart is beating too fast.
I compose a quick poem to calm myself down.
Find Tracy and Clara!
Right. But how?
Idon’t know.
Even poetry can’t help me
Now.
Drat!
What would General Ya do, if two of her friends went missing in suspicious circumstances?
First she would check for dead bodies, in case her friends had come to a bad end. Then she would tear the town apart until she found them.
I start with Delphine’s room.
There are no dead bodies, so I concentrate on tearing the nest apart. The destruction makes me feel a lot better, and by the time Olive and Digby run into the yard, panting, I have worked out my next move.
I must search the town.
But before I can begin, a car drives into the yard. Is it Delphine?
No, it’s Mum, who is a spy. That could come in handy.
Sitting next to her is Sweetheart. And to my relief, Second and Third Army are in the back seat.
Mum leaps out of the car, crying, ‘Where is she? What’s happened to my daughter?’
Shouldn’t a spy already know this sort of thing? Perhaps she is not a very good spy.
Sweetheart climbs out too, and spots me on the windowsill. ‘Is that Rita? What’s she doing here?’
‘She’s the one who told us about Delphine stealing Clara,’ says Digby. ‘She said Tracy had gone after them.’
Mum puts her hand over her mouth and makes a squeaking sound. Sweetheart grabs her other hand and says, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find her.’
Then he turns to Digby. ‘What do you mean, Rita told you?’
‘The duck?’ whispers Mum.
They are staring at me now. So I nod my head. ‘Will you be my boyfriend?’
Mum gasps. ‘She understands! She’s like Clara!’
Of course I am not like Clara. She is a chook. I am a duck. She is a detective, I am a poet.
These are major differences.
But I forgive Mum, because she is worried about Tracy.
So am I.
By now, Second and Third Army have escaped from the car and are roaming around the yard.
No one else has noticed. I decide to take advantage of this fact.
While Mum, Sweetheart, Olive and Digby try to work out where Tracy has gone, I follow Second and Third Army behind the water tank.
‘Now listen, troops,’ I begin.
But then I stop. Because there, right in front of me, are Tracy’s sandals.
Tracy is not wearing them.
For a moment, I forget where I am. I imagine I am back on the pond, in the early days of my training, when we first learned about the General Alert.
‘Enemy activity spotted!’ I quack. ‘Action stations! Prepare for battle!’
But instead of an army of ducks, I find myself surrounded by humans.
Mum sees the sandals and makes that squeaking noise again. ‘They’re Tracy’s! But – but what are they doing here?’
‘Maybe she left them for us to find,’ says Olive. ‘So we’d know …’
‘Know what?’ asks Digby.
‘Could she have gone in the car with Delphine?’ demands Sweetheart.
The humans all look at each other.
‘If she’s not here,’ says Olive, ‘but her shoes are …’
I don’t wait to hear anymore. I take to the air.
Half past where’s-Tracy?
I fly up.
I fly up and up and up.
And up and up and up and up and up. Higher than I have ever been in my life.
Then I find a spiral of warm air and float on it, peering in every direction.
Delphine can’t have been gone for long. Somewhere, on one of the roads out of Little Dismal, there must be a car.
A blue car …
A blue car! There it is, heading south!
I drop out of the sky so fast that I nearly go into a spin. But I manage to pull myself up at the last moment, and lose nothing but a few feathers.
‘They’re heading south!’ I quack. ‘Follow me!’
They stare up at me. ‘What’s she saying?’ asks Mum.
‘South!’ I shout. ‘S-O-W-T-H – oh for goodness sake!’
I fly a quick loop above them, then make myself into an arrow pointing south. ‘Get it?’ I shout as I whizz overhead.
No, they don’t get it.
I do it again.
Olive gets it! (Clara has trained her well.) ‘I think Rita’s seen Delphine’s car,’ she cries. ‘She’s going to lead the way!’
They pile into Mum’s car. I take careful note of what it looks like from above, so as not to lose it.
Then I set off to follow Tracy.