Spy Cat by Andrew Cope

fixing itself to her face.
    A shot rang out. And a muffled scream.
    The lady dropped the weapon and used her hands to tug at the furry intruder. Shakespeare dug in, his claws sinking into the back of Jess’s head. He was thumped.
Ouch.
And again, this time much harder. All the breath was knocked out of him and Shakespeare was forced to let go of Jess’s face. He landed on the floor, gasping for breath. Jess kicked out, catching him on his already bad leg and Shakespeare gave an agonized yowl.
    ‘A cat!’ screeched the woman, fumbling for her pistol. ‘Soon to be a dead cat!’
    Shakespeare was away, his back leg trailing. He followed the rail track down a slope and sprang into a rusty carriage. A shot rang out, sparks flying from the cave wall. And another, this time pinging against the metal carriage.
The bullet ricocheted and the carriage shunted forward, slowly at first but gradually gaining speed. The screeching of the wheels on the rusty track was like a hundred cats yowling at midnight. Jess was sprinting, trying to get aboard. Shakespeare peered over the back of the truck, willing it to speed up.
    The prisoner was gaining. She shot at the blinking red light of Shakespeare’s collar, thankfully missing again. The wheels screeched as the carriage gained speed.
    Suddenly, she caught the back of the rail truck. Shakespeare sank his claws into her flesh in desperation. The lady looked at him and smiled, their eyes too close for comfort.
    Not good
, he thought.
They are seriously evil eyes. She’s gone beyond crazy.
The truck was still gaining speed as it wound down into the mine.
     

     
    Jess heaved herself aboard, first one leg and then the other, climbing menacingly into what had been the safety of Shakespeare’s speeding carriage. It was dark, but Shakespeare could make out her shining eyes and white teeth. Her hand swiped at the cat.
    ‘Where’s my money?’
    Shakespeare ducked.
    She closed in on the flashing red light and swiped again. ‘My money, evil cat! Where is it?’
    She missed again!
But she won’t miss a third time
.
    The evil criminal closed in on the injured cat. Shakespeare knew that a cat’s eyes were better
than a human’s so he decided to take advantage of the dark. He reached with his paws and unclipped his collar. The light stopped flashing. He removed it from his neck and re-clipped it shut. The flashing light started blinking as the carriage tore downwards and round a bend. Shakespeare dropped the collar at the back of the carriage. Jess leapt at the light and Shakespeare used every ounce of effort to leap up and out, landing in a crumpled heap on the track.
    Shakespeare lay on his side, pain shooting though his head, mouth and leg. Even his good eye was blurred. All he could see were sparks flying and Jess shaking a fist as the carriage disappeared round the corner.

19. Ward 19
    The professor and Lara gasped as they entered Ward 19.
    ‘Goodness me, GM451,’ remarked the old man. ‘Seems like there’s been a bit of action while we were away.’
    Ben, Sophie and Ollie ran to their dog, hugging Lara tightly. ‘Quite,’ remarked the professor as Ollie turned his attention and hugged the professor, his face buried in the man’s cuddly tummy.
    Dad lay in bed number one, his head bandaged and an arm in plaster. Mum was in bed number two, two black eyes and a puffy face. Shakespeare was in bed number three, lying on his back, both back legs jutting upwards encased in plaster. Part of his left ear and two front teeth were missing. His left eye was closed.
     

     
    ‘My heroes,’ began the professor.
    ‘He’s the hero,’ said Sophie, stroking Shakespeare’s tummy as softly as she could.
    Ouch
, thought the cat.
That hurts. But it’s still nice.
He managed a slight purr, looking at Sophie affectionately.
My first in months!
    ‘It’s all your fault, Professor,’ croaked Mum through cracked lips. ‘You and your stupid spy gadgets.’
    ‘My fault?’ exclaimed the scientist,