Ctrl-Z by Andrew Norriss Page B

emergency, gave his name and address, and asked what would happen to his neighbour if anyone found out that he was keeping
     an African python. Would the snake be confiscated and would the owner have to go to prison?
    The answer was not good news. The woman on the phone told him that it was against the law to keep any exotic pet that was
     a danger to the public and that, yes, the penalties could involve confiscation, a fine and even imprisonment. Alex thanked
     her, put down the phone and went over to his computer.
    The first thing he needed to do was go back
five minutes to before he had made the phone call, but when he turned on the laptop, nothing happened. He pressed the On switch
     several times, but the screen stayed completely blank and there was no little green light to say the power was on. Alex felt
     a brief moment of panic before he realized what had happened. In all the excitement last night, he had forgotten to turn the
     laptop off and now the battery had run down. All he had to do was plug it into the mains and then he could use Ctrl‐Z.
    Except that he couldn’t find the lead. He searched his room for several minutes and then remembered he had left it at Callum’s
     house the day before. Using Ctrl‐Z took a lot of power and the laptop needed recharging at least every two or three days.
     It was no problem. He would walk round and get it.
    ‘Wish your mother luck!’ said his father, as Alex came downstairs.
    Mrs Howard was standing by the front door, wearing a smart black suit, a white blouse and a slightly nervous expression.
    ‘She’s off to a job interview,’ his father explained. ‘But she’s going to get this one, aren’t you, love?’ He beamed at his
     wife. ‘Don’t forget. If the car breaks down or anything, you ring and I’ll come and pick you up.’

    Alex waved his mother off from the pavement before walking up the road to Callum’s house. To his surprise, there was no answer
     when he rang the front doorbell, nor when he walked round and knocked at the back. There was no car in the drive either and
     it was clear that the Bannisters had gone out. Alex waited a bit in case they had only gone down to the shops, but no one
     turned up.
    He went next door to ask Mrs Penrose if she knew where they had gone, but she only knew that the Bannisters had all gone off
     in the car at about nine thirty. She had no idea when they might be back.
    He hung around the house a bit longer before walking home to find a policeman waiting for him in the kitchen with Mr Howard.
    ‘This is Constable Williams,’ said his father. ‘He says you rang the police half an hour ago.’
    ‘Um… yes,’ said Alex.
     ‘You said on the phone…’ Constable Williams consulted his notebook, ‘… that you wanted to know what would happen to your
     neighbour if he was found keeping a three‐metre African python without a licence, and it had eaten a dog. Is that right?’
    ‘Um… yes,’ said Alex.
    ‘Can I ask which neighbour you were worried about exactly?’

    ‘It’s not Mr Kowalski, is it?’ Mr Howard was staring at his son. ‘Is that who you meant?’
    ‘Um… yes,’ said Alex.
     ‘You’ve seen this snake, have you?’ asked the policeman.
    ‘Um… yes,’ said Alex.
    He thought about lying, but there didn’t seem to be any point. Once he got hold of the mains lead for his computer, none of
     this would have happened anyway, and in the meantime it would be useful to know for certain what the police would do about
     Mr Kowalski and his African python.
    Constable Williams turned to Mr Howard. ‘This Mr Kowalski lives at… ?’
    ‘Number sixteen,’ said Mr Howard. ‘Next door.’
    ‘Right.’ The policeman put away his notebook. ‘Well, I’ll go and have a word with him. See what he says.’ He smiled at Alex.
     ‘Don’t worry. You did the right thing!’
    An hour later, there were three police cars in the road outside and a large van with bars on its windows. Alex watched from
     the