Molly Moon & the Morphing Mystery

Another raven flew past. “What’s in?” he cawed. “Wormsies?”

Molly glanced below and behind and saw Black’s large form charging across the muddy grass of the park. “Oh, no, Micky! He’s after us.” She didn’t see that to his rear, waddling and hobbling as fast as they could, and out of breath, were Miss Suzette and Miss Teriyaki. Beside them trotted their red-haired tourist, and ahead of them ran two cats. And a little distance behind them was AH2, who was watching the whole procession in fascination.

With difficulty, the ravens carried the swinging bag through the rain toward Westminster Abbey. Diving toward an arch into a large, tree-edged square beyond it, they found themselves surrounded by scores of schoolboys. Then they flapped and fluttered through another, smaller arch into what looked like an ancient courtyard.

“This is perfect,” Micky croaked. “Let’s morph into some of these boys.”

They dropped the bag and hopped territorially onto it. In the distance, they heard the sirens of police cars. A slow clap of thunder rolled through the sky above.

“Maybe the queen reported Black,” Molly the raven said. “Maybe he’s been caught.”

“Come on, let’s change. Who are you going to be?” Micky asked. Molly picked a boy with dark hair.

“I’ll be him,” said Molly. “And there’s a good pattern in the doodle on his schoolbook.”

“Okay,” agreed Micky. “And I’ll be him.” He nodded at a freckle-faced boy. “And remember, we have to see them as babies because they’re not adults.”

In a jiffy, the twins had morphed. Molly became a soccer fanatic called Max.

For a moment, Molly paused. She was shocked. This was the first time she’d ever been male. And it felt very different. Her body was tougher, with parts she’d never had before. Her blood felt hotter and coursed through her veins in a wilder way. Her feelings were less bothersome and seemed deeper inside her. And when a soccer ball was kicked past her, she had an urge to kick it, in the same way that as a dog, she’d wanted to chase cats.

Micky, now a boy called Jo Jo, shooed the dazed ravens off the bag. “Molly? Are you there? What are you waiting for?” Molly snapped to and picked up the bag.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said.

But as she turned, Black came charging into the courtyard. To make things worse, two sly cats and Miss Teriyaki and Miss Suzette followed him. It was then that Molly saw that none of the other boys about her were carrying bags, and so the bag she held, with the precious book in it, was easy to spot. Theobald Black, Miss Suzette, and Miss Teriyaki all moved toward her. Molly saw that she was cornered. Students began pointing at the white and ginger cats.

Molly thought quickly. She couldn’t run, but she could morph. A camera-bearing Chinese tourist had meandered into the courtyard. For one thing, she was athletic looking. For another, she was closer to the arch that led to the road. She was, Molly realized, the best person to morph into. Molly began to change. As she did, she lobbed the black bag high up into the air, over the heads of the cats, over the schoolchildren, and over Miss Suzette, Miss Teriyaki, and Black, toward the Chinese woman. Her plan was to arrive in the Chinese woman’s body, catch the now falling bag, and then run.

As Molly morphed, she was unaware of Miss Suzette’s words that were shouted into the damp air. “Allez, allez!”

As Molly’s spirit washed into the redhead’s body, she felt her arms reach up for the bag. But at the same time, she was aware of something else—something odd. The Chinese woman’s character hadn’t sunk out of sight. She hadn’t relinquished control of her body or her mind at all. To Molly’s horror, it was as if the woman had expected Molly’s arrival.

And she had. For this was Miss Suzette’s “little trap.” She had predicted that Molly might need a perfect getaway body. So she had hypnotized the Chinese woman to expect Molly’s invasion. However hard Molly shoved at the woman’s mind and tried to spread out in her brain, nothing happened. It was impossible to destabilize the woman’s position, to dislodge her, and to take command.

“Eeeeeeek!” the Chinese redhead shrieked. To the students in the courtyard, she looked like a person fresh out of the madhouse. She jumped about clutching a big bag, shaking her orange locks, and wriggling about as though she was doing some sort of crazy dance. And a slim Japanese woman in a red raincoat, walking with a stick, stepped toward the odd Chinese woman. She relieved her of her bag and calmly made off with it. Miss Suzette waddled after her, and two cats followed them, their tails in the air.

Molly, meanwhile, was stuck. Stuck in the Chinese woman’s body, neither able to take control of it nor to leave it. For just as Miss Suzette had hypnotized the woman to withstand Molly’s body borrowing, she had also instructed her not to let Molly go, to hold her for as long as she could. The woman was like a dog with a bone and wouldn’t let go.

“I WILL NOT LET YOU GO!” the Chinese woman shouted at the sky. “I WILL NOT LET YOU GO!” Then Molly felt something else happening. Something super strange. Someone else was morphing into the Chinese woman’s body, too.

For a few seconds, Molly was terrified, for she had no idea who had come to share the tourist’s mind and body. She simply felt this person’s arrival, like a massive downpour of water. It was overwhelming, breathtaking, and shocking. And it sloshed in the space that was already uncomfortable with both Molly and the Chinese woman fighting for command. It joined them there like some unwelcome, uninvited guest.

“GET OUT!” Molly shouted. These words came out of the Chinese tourist’s mouth. “GET OUT!” the woman yelled at her hands. Students about her thought that she was having a fit. One hurried off to fetch the school doctor.

As Molly struggled, it was as if a veil lifted. Because as the person who had joined them settled, Molly saw who it was. The person was Theobald Black.

Fourteen

Molly could hardly believe it, but it was true. Sharing the same head space proved it. Theobald Black was a good person.

He really did run a charity that raised money for children’s homes. He really had wanted to put the book in the queen’s Tower of London, so that it was safe. And he