30 Inside the Janitor's Closet

Chapter 30 Inside the Janitor's Closet The darkness was the can't-see-your-own-hand- in-front-of-your-face kind. Three more seconds passed before Peanut, Rockwell and Little-Bit heard a door in the corridor open and some fast-moving footsteps. 'I'M HOLDING YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, ALAN.' It was Mr White. He was shouting, so his already shrill voice was a couple of octaves higher than usual. 'I'm s-s-sorry, sir. B- but it wasn't actually me that left the p-pencil on the—'

'THIS IS NO TIME FOR NITPICKING!' shrieked Mr White. 'DO YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THAT PENCIL IS? THE WHOLE PLAN DEPENDS ON MY HAVING IT! I STILL HAVE ONE MORE OF THE ORIGINAL PORTALS TO RUB OUT. GAH! WE'RE SO CLOSE TO PUTTING A STOP TO THIS WHOLE CHROMA THING ONCE AND FOR ALL!' 'Yes, sir. I realise— AND DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT PENCIL COULD BE TO US IN THE WRONG HANDS? EVERYTHING WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS IS AT RISK!' 'Y-yes, sir. Of c-course, sir. I just—' 'HOW ON EARTH DID THEY GET INTO MISSION CONTROL ANYWAY?' 'Th-they must have followed you, sir. I noticed when we entered the room that the Paris portal was open. 'NONSENSE!' shrieked Mr White. 'I RUBBED IT OUT AS USUAL, JUST AFTER I THREW THE PAINTING BACK THROUGH THE DOOR.' 'Not that portal, sir. The n-new one.' 'OH! YES, I KNEW THAT!' bellowed White. 'I WAS JUST CHECKING THAT YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION. SO THEY MUST HAVE FOLLOWED ME THROUGH THE ORIGINAL PORTAL IN THE NORTH DRAW AND THEN ACROSS PARIS

The voices trailed off as Mr White and Alan continued down the corridor. 'So the Markmakers were right,' whispered Peanut. 'Thank goodness you spotted the pencil, Rockwell. Now we at least have a chance of stopping him. Great job!' Rockwell felt his cheeks redden. Just as he was thinking how glad he was that the girls couldn't see him blush, light filled the room. He looked over at Peanut, who was holding a slightly wonky-looking pencil drawing of a lightbulb.

'Yeah, it's not great, is it?' she said, smiling. 'That's what happens when you draw in the dark. Right, let's get out of here before Mr White and Alan come back, shall we?' 'Before we go, will you do me a favour?' said Rockwell. 'Would you draw me another shoe?'