15 Hi-Fi

15. HI-FI Mayor Harvey Carrot didn't realize how sophisticated Matilda's plan was— or that it hadn't played itself out yet. She had enlisted the help of Norbert Grimes and her dad, experts in rat catching and stereos respectively. Matilda had given her dad some very detailed instructions when she had dropped by his office earlier that day. She knew that the

Pirate Piper's ship would lie empty in the harbor while he held the children in the cave and chased Jim Lad around the dunes, and this was crucial to her plan. She had asked her dad to call Norbert Grimes, but to tell nobody else of the plan, and most definitely, definitely, definitely, not to tell Mom. An hour or so earlier, while the Pirate Piper was still playing his pipe to the children in the cave, Matilda's dad had parked his car on the wharf. He was wearing black gloves, black sneakers, black socks, black jeans, black underpants, and a black sweater his wife had given him as a Christmas present three years earlier. He'd never worn it because it was a bit

clingy, especially around his tummy, but he had seen plenty of spy movies, and he knew that espionage and sneaking about called for appropriate clothing, even if it did make him feel a bit self-conscious. It was also the first time he'd worn the black leather gloves his mother-in-law had bought him for his fortieth birthday. "Good evening!" said Arthur Poppy- cock, arriving for his shift. "New sweater? What are you doing here?" Matilda had mentioned this in her plan, and her dad was expecting Arthur to arrive. "Oh, I just thought I'd do a bit of fishing," he said. "By the way, have you heard that double-chocolate brownies are

on sale at Super-Duper Market? Buy one, get one free, apparently. And their finest spiced rum is half-price too. You'd better be quick— they close soon." "Oh, that is interesting," said Arthur. He dropped his bag in the harbor office and rushed up the street. "Keep an eye on the harbor, could you please? I'll be back in half an hour!" Matilda's dad was very impressed with his daughter's attention to detail.

He unloaded his car, pushed his wheelbarrow up the rearmost gang plank of the Pirate Piper's ship, and set about the work Matilda had asked him to do. A few minutes later, Norbert Grimes joined him below deck, glancing nervously at his watch.

"Looks like you know what you're doing," he squeaked, admiring the coils of wire and brass plugs that Matilda's dad was connecting so adeptly. "I'd better get to work." By the time Arthur Poppycock arrived back at the harbor office, laden with two bulging Super-Duper Market shopping bags, Matilda's dad was relaxing on a dock, waiting for a nibble on his fishing line. A short while later, he saw the Pirate Piper appear, marching across the wharf in a rage. The piper boarded the Black Death, then reappeared moments later, pipe pressed to his lips and followed by a plague of rats, which was just what Matilda had said would happen.