Chapter 12

Wednesday– Hulk missing, day four I checked the cake first thing this morning. It was still untouched. I was worried Jack or Oli would have prodded it or licked some of the filling out. They can be absolute animals when it comes to scrounging around for other people's food. It helped that Mam had stored it in a locked cupboard overnight.

Mam thinks I have finally found my talent in baking. I forgot to remind her that Dev did half the work, but I didn't mind taking all the credit. Mam has put the cake in a decorative box that Dad pillaged from someone's wheelie bin. Mam was worried about germs but Dad told her he had steeped it in bleach for a week. He said it was as clean as a whistle. (I can't see how a whistle can be clean when it is covered with spittle half the time.) The cake looks brill. It will be the best one at the care home tonight. Agung is off on his birdwatching trip today. He is hoping to see the Flaming Lycheebill at long last. Mam bought him a new Arctic puffer jacket. She worries about him catching a cold. It is spring and twenty

degrees outside. He is more likely to suffer from heatstroke, padded up in all that goose down! Agung wanted noodles in his lunchbox. Dad said they were too messy and made him char siu sandwiches instead. Agung was chuffed with his Chinese version of a ham sandwich. Dad also made Agung a full flask of tea and told him that under no circumstances was he to use the SOS button on his phone for refills. Agung also has a new spectacles holder. It hangs around his neck so that he can't lose them. The last thing he wants is to miss the Lycheebill because he is emptying the entire contents of his bag in order to find his glasses... and getting heatstroke while he's at it!

After school I went to watch telly in Agung's room. He wasn't back from his trip yet. I thought it would be nice for him to see the Lycheebill and be reminded of his homeland. Dad said Agung misses Hong Kong and wants to plan a trip back. Mam pointed out he has enough trouble getting in and out of the bath with his sciatica, never

mind surviving a non-stop, fourteen-hour flight. I went to find Oli, who was in our room scribbling something in his sketchpad. 'What's that?' I said. 'I'm making "LOST" posters to put up for Hulk,' he said. 'No, you don't need to,' I said, in a panic.

'But I'll get into trouble with the school, and so will Mam and Dad, and you're not doing anything about it!' he whined, bolting for the door. I tried to stop him but he dodged me and thundered downstairs. 'MAAAAAAAAAM!' I raced after the blabbermouth. Mam was in the kitchen, on her mobile. She gestured at him to shush. She looked very worried. When she hung up she said, 'I knew it! That was the birdwatching guide. Agung's gone missing and they've sent out a search party!' 'Oooh, I like PARTIES!' Oli squealed.