…how an ordinary schoolgirl became an

INTERNET VOYAGER!

"All right" said Dot. "Let's do it!"

She felt a bit guilty even as she was saying it. Going off to see the Head Mopple to get a PTR (Permission To Remain) for the little squidglet sleeping in her hand meant even MORE delay in helping her Dad.

First there'd been the crash in Adrienne's Search Engine... then all that stuff with losing Wizzie in the Search Zone and then finding him all turned inside out by Blackshanks the Baron, that nasty little Information Inverter... then dealing with Blackshanks (Dot giggled to herself as she remembered Cursor the Cat making the crow-like creature go "Boing!"), and going into Void to rescue Luis de la Zarpana... and then all the trouble Adrienne had had with her ZITS overload, and how Ron and Deirdre her new Mopple friends had sorted all that out... and then the HyperDataStorm and the blackdown, and losing Adrienne and Mr Mouse - Dot's heart gave a little jump as she remembered that - would she ever see them again?

And NOW, she was looking after a squidglet just because he was so sweet!

"Brrrrrrrrrr" went the little creature again, still fast asleep. He'd snuggled down so tightly in Dot's hand that all you could see was part of his big bushy orange eyebrow, in the middle of his shiny, soft black fur. But he was warm and soft and breathing gently in - out, in - out, just like Wiz had when he was a puppy and had come to her home from the kennels where he'd been born. Dot remembered how she'd been able to get him to go to sleep after he was crying for his mum and his brothers and sisters, on his first night away from them. She'd been so proud it was only her who could make him feel better.

"Right!" said Ron, banging his hand down on the bonnet of his dirty white van with a "CLANG!" that made them all jump. "Orff we go then! Ought to get moving, anyway, 'cos of that Full Muster Call! Forgotten that Dezza hadn't you, eh now?"

"Oh lor'! " said Deirdre. "I had and all - went clean out of me head 'cos of the storm and the blackdown! And that Open Port virus must be doing real bad things by now too! Just think - EVERYTHING on the Internet straight into those Search Engine computers! The poor dears!"

"But what about seeing the Head Mopple and getting Permission To Remain for our squidglet?" said Dot anxiously. "Can't we do that first?"

"No need!" said Ron, flicking up the top of his baseball cap with a grin. "If it's a Full Muster - Old Hieronymus will be there! He's our leader and he always leads from the front! No hanging about in Mopple Towers for him when there's big work to be done, you mark my words!"

"Mopple Towers?" went Wizzie, stretching and yawning after his sleep. "Where's that?"

"Well - everywhere!" said Deirdre proudly. "It's wherever old Hieronymus Mopple decides to be! He can just make it you see - it's his home but it's our special place too. Kind of like your school assembly hall but much MUCH bigger - all the Mopples can fit into it at our annual Moppling. And because Hieronymus is Head Mopple he just carries it round with him in his special moppletop!"

Dot started feeling dizzy. Here I am, she thought, standing in the middle of the Internet Search Zone, all round me and Wiz for miles in every direction, with big searchlights beaming up into a dark blue sky millions and millions of little lights flashing on and off all round me. The ground I'm standing on is all soft and springy so it isn't really ground at all... it's more like the mattress on Mum and Dad's bed at home... and I'm listening to an owl called Deirdre dressed up like cleaning lady telling me - whaaaat?? I mean... how can you carry something bigger than a school Assembly Hall round with you? And what on EARTH was a moppletop??? And as for something called the annual Moppling... it just...

"Well come on then!" said Ron impatiently. "Hop in! If we're going to get this little chap Permission To Remain from our Head Mopple and do our bit at Full Muster we need to get a wiggle on."

"Krrrp... birrrp" went the squidglet. He'd woken up too. He looked up at Dot and gave her his biggest wink again - and then stuck out his tongue at Wizzie and went... you know. So RUDE! (But at least it wasn't smelly...) Then he gave Dot's thumb a little lick. It was nice. Felt more like a kiss really, thought Dot, smiling down at him. I think I'll call him... Callum, she said to herself.

"Orl right?" said Ron.

"Yes - all right!" said Dot. "But what does - "

"All in good time said Ron. "In we all get - and we'll be off!"

So they did - and they were! Off I mean. Back up into the wide-open skies of the Search Zone once again!