day fifty-seven and in S.M.I.R.K.'s lair

"Get down!” shouted Benny for the second time that morning. He and Ron both ducked and the rotor-sledge's rotor-blades smashed into the top of the slit and the sledge bits crashed into the bottom of the slit. Ron and Benny shot through the middle of the slit and skidded and rolled along the flat floor of a cave-like hangar, coming to a stop in front of the autogyro, which was now parked near the back. The slit was now fully-closed and the hangar was just lit by a string of fairy-lights around the walls. The Spy was not there. There was a door which she must have exited through.

“Must be locked, and I haven't got any spices this time,” said Benny, rattling the doorknob. “Oh! It's open! Come on!”

Benny and Ron ran up a very dark, narrow, winding staircase. It seemed to go up and up forever, but finally they got to another door.

Very quietly, Ron and Benny opened the door about two centimetres and heard voices echoing around. They tilted their heads sideways to look through the gap. 

They could see the Spy standing in the middle of a large cave-room. There was a stove and a bigtable with a lot of pots and pans and utensils on it and several large cupboards with shelves full of provisions of every description: pineapples, coconuts, bails of wheat, tins upon tins, cans upon cans upon tins, packets and boxes and bottles and jars and everything. And there was an octopus wearing a chef’s toque.

“Well, that’s enough small talk, Agent 246,” said the octopus. “Let’s get down to business! Tell me the beetroot soup recipe!”

Agent 246, the Spy, started reciting the recipe that Benny had told her and the octopus got to work.

“Is he S.M.I.R.K.?” whispered Ron.

“Yes, it looks like it,” whispered Benny.

They watched a little while longer, then Benny said, “Actually, I didn’t tell her the beetroot soup recipe exactly.”

“So, what did you tell her?” asked Ron.

“I told her the recipe for exploding soup,” said Benny. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

They heard the Spy say, “And that’s it! Beetroot soup!”

“Are you sure this is beetroot soup?” said the octopus, looking at the pan which was starting to shake. “Perhaps we should let our two visitors sample it first!”

© David Severn 2012