Froghopper: Part 4

By JOY COWLEY

Flea folded her arms. 'Call the police,' she said.

'What?'

'Go ahead! Phone the police! They help lost kids. I'm a kid. I'm lost and you won't help me.'

The man went still and his concrete look shifted. He sniffed, coughed and then spat less than a metre from her feet. 'Come inside,' he growled, holding open the door. 'Sit where I can see you, and don't touch a thing, you hear?'

As if I would, thought Flea. The office was a mess and it didn't smell too good. Maybe it was the man who ponged, of maybe it was last week's sandwiches. No. it was definitely the man. As she perched on the edge of a wooden chair, Flea changed her mind about being a famous surgeon. If people smelled like this on the outside, what were their insides like?

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $12.95

Age group: 7-10 yrs

Want to win this book?

Send us all six of this week's Kids into Books coupons from the print edition of the New Zealand Herald and you'll go into the draw.