In The Dark by Susannah McFarlane Page A

to go to sleep or you will be grumpy and tired for school in the morning. You can take Pip with you to keep you company.’
    So Emma and Pip walked back to her room. Emma checked under her bed and in her cupboard and then under her bed again just to make sure, then she jumped under the covers. Pip jumped in too, taking up her secret position under the doona next to Emma. Her dad would have a fit if he saw her. He would declare it ‘a hygiene issue’.
    The sound of the television from the living room made Emma feel closer to her parents and with Pipsnuggled next to her on one side and her favourite soft toy, Floppy, on the other, it was quite cosy. It was best to keep Floppy and Pip separate. Pip loved Floppy in a chew toy kind of way. Emma felt comfy, sleepy even, and her eyes slowly closed. Then from outside there was a rustling. Then a noise.
    Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssss!
    Emma’s eyes shot wide open and she froze. Gee whizz, lemonfizz, what was that?
    Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssss!
    There it was again. Emma didn’t wait to hear it a third time. She jumped out of bed and ran back into the living room. Pip, thinking this was a hilarious new game, scampered behind her, barking.
    â€˜Em?’ said Mum in a decidedly irritated voice.
    â€˜Why are you up again?’ asked Dad.
    â€˜There’s something right outside my window,’ said Emma breathlessly. ‘Something really noisy, something really angry. I think it is trying to get in.’
    â€˜Emma, are you...’
    Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
    Emma jumped onto the sofa between her parents. ‘There it is again!’ she squealed. ‘Mum, what are we going to do?’
    â€˜It’s okay, Emma,’ said Mum. ‘That’s a possum.’
    â€˜That is not a possum,’ said Emma, fearing her mum had gone completely mad. ‘Possums are cute, they have little pink noses, they nibble on things. The thing outside making that noise is some mean creature that’s coming to attack us.’
    â€˜No Em, really, it’s a possum,’ said Mum, almost laughing. ‘They make those noises to scare predators away.’
    â€˜It certainly scared me.’
    â€˜Why don’t we go outside with a torch and find it so you can see for yourself?’
    They went outside and Emma’s mum shone the torch on to the back fence. Sure enough, halfway along the fence was a ring-tailed possum with big eyes and long tail with a white tip. The possum was sitting perfectly still, staring unblinking at Emma and her mum. Much to Emma’s delight, a baby possumwas clinging to the possum’s back.
    â€˜See,’ said Mum, ‘a possum, two possums actually.’ She turned off the torch and the possum scuttled along the fence and up a tree.
    â€˜They were soooooo cute,’ said Emma. ‘How can something so cute make such a horrible noise?’ Emma felt a bit silly. She wondered if they had possums at Hannah’s house. She was starting to think about other noises that might scare her at the slumber party when her mum interrupted her thoughts.
    â€˜Look up,’ said Mum. ‘It’s a beautiful star-bright night.’
    Emma looked up. It was true. Stars were flickering, like fairy lights, all over the black night sky.
    â€˜Maybe another night we can do some stargazing,’ said her mum, ‘but now it’s back into bed, madam.’
    This time Mum came with Emma to the bedroom, tucked her into bed and gave her a big hug. ‘Sleep tight my little one,’ she whispered in Emma’s ear.
    Emma snuggled down again, too tired to be scared anymore. Little one is right, silly little one, thought Emma. I can go on missions all over the world and I am afraid of the dark? What would A1 say if she knew?
    But before she could answer that, she was, finally, asleep.



A1 was the head of the SHINE agency, a secret