Chapter 10

Sunday Hulk has been missing for a whole day. I double checked his hutch this morning just in case he had come back. He hadn't, but what I did find was crucial evidence! When I looked closer I found Evil Twin-sized jammy fingerprints all over the hutch. So it WAS them that had let him out! I showed Oli but he was more concerned about getting told off by his school. I told him not to worry as I am

sure they wouldn't want that mangy old thing back scaring all the kids. I haven't told Mam and Dad yet as they will most likely have a different view altogether about losing school property. They won't be happy at all, knowing it was their responsibility as parents to supervise Oli's pet handling. Oli has been ordered not to say anything to them either. Sundays are their rest days when Mam likes to do a seven-mile run followed by one hundred press-ups and Dad likes to construct some monumental feat of engineering in his shed. In the meantime, if Hulk turns up, we can pretend he has only just escaped and act surprised. That's if EVIL TWINS aren't holding him hostage somewhere. We tried to keep the secret from Jack too but he got

suspicious when he caught me waving a courgette around inside the cupboard under the stairs. I told him it was an ancient witchcraft ritual to ward off spirits but he didn't believe me. Then Oli came over and blurted out, 'Those cucumbery things give Hulk diarrhea!' which gave the whole game away. BRILLIANT.

they make his who go all running.

Jack demanded to know what was going on so I had to tell him everything. I couldn't think of any other excuses as to why I was waving a courgette around otherwise. I described how I was going to use Hulk for my magic trick at the variety show and how EVIL TWINS had let him escape. 'It was my job to make Hulk disappear, not theirs!' I told Jack they were trying to sabotage my plans and had either kidnapped Hulk and were holding him hostage or just let him run free to get mauled to death by FUZZFACE. 'Nah, he's more likely to get pecked to death by crows,' he said.

Oli started blubbing so I assured him it wouldn't come to that. Crows wouldn't waste their time on anything so scrawny. I asked Jack if he would assist in our search and to my surprise he agreed. Pre-book club, he would have laughed in my face, blabbed to our parents and headed straight to his bedroom for a round of Ninja Banana 2 on his computer like a typical moody teenager. Instead he was incredibly mature and took over the proceedings with great enthusiasm and leadership. I expect that is the effect wearing a cravat has on you. We had already looked for Hulk around the house. Our next step was to extend our search out into the neighbourhood. Oli was