There's a Yeti in the Playground! Read online

  Once we reached the Big Doors me and Jodi and Zach put the stolen coats and scarves on over our own clothes. But Maisie didn’t because she was already wearing two of her own coats AND a huge SNOW COAT that looked a bit like a giant, fluffy, duvet cover that had been made into a coat.

  And that’s when I realised something. Maisie’s snow coat was WHITE.

  So that’s when I explained that we might not be able to SEE Maisie once we got outside because her coat was so big and so WHITE that it was like SNOW CAMOUFLAGE.

  And Zach GASPED and said that I was right and that it was lucky I’d noticed that now before we went outside otherwise WHO KNOWS what could have happened.

  Zach said that he had an idea and he ran off and then came back two minutes later with a HUGE Post-it note block. I thought that he must have taken it from one of the classrooms without asking because none of our teachers let you have any of their Post-its (not even the yellow ones that no one likes) and I think it must be a rule or something that pupils aren’t allowed them even though I’ve never seen it written down anywhere and it DEFINITELY isn’t on the

  poster in our classroom.

  But Zach said, “ASK ME NO QUESTIONS.” So we didn’t. Then he said that his plan was to COVER Maisie in colourful Post-it notes so that we’d be able to see her in the snow. And that’s when Jodi smiled.

  Zach ripped the block into three smaller blocks and gave one to me and one to Jodi and told us to cover Maisie’s white coat so that we’d be able to see her in the snow. So we did. And when we were finished it looked like Maisie had loads of colourful feathers like a tropical parrot or something!

  And Maisie said that she LOVED IT and that if we made it out of this ALIVE she was probably going to do it to all her coats.

  We were just about to form a HUMAN CHAIN and go out through the Big Doors when someone shouted, “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

  We GASPED and spun around and I was SURE it was going to be Mr Graves and that we were all going to get

  for not going to class AND for trying to go outside AND for stealing the Year 6s coats and blocks of Post-its!

  But it WASN’T Mr Graves. It was annoying Gary Petrie!

  And he said, “HA! You thought I was a teacher, didn’t you?”

  And we didn’t say anything because when you speak back to Gary Petrie it just ENCOURAGES HIM to say something else and something else and SOMETHING ELSE and to be honest, we didn’t have the time.

  But then he noticed that we were wearing all the coats and scarves and he said, “You’re not going outside, aren’t you?! You ARE. Aren’t you?”

  I just KNEW what the next thing out of Gary Petrie’s mouth was going to be before he even SAID IT.

  And I was right because he said, “I’m coming!”

  And Jodi said, “No way!”

  And Gary said, “WAY! Or I’m TELLING.”

  So Jodi said, “FINE! But you have to do EXACTLY what we say.”

  But Gary Petrie just smiled and we all knew that meant he WASN’T going to do exactly what Jodi said because that’s what Gary is like.

  So we all did the HUMAN CHAIN THING and Jodi pushed open the Big Doors with both hands.

  And then she turned and looked at us and said, “Buckle up, people. LET’S DO THIS!”

  As soon as we got outside Jodi said, “GO! GO! GO!” and we all held hands and ran towards the PORTACABIN LIBRARY because that was the plan.

  It felt like it took AGES to get across the playground to the PORTACABIN LIBRARY even though we were running! And that was probably because the snow was DEEP and also because Maisie kept THROWING herself to the ground every time the wind made her Post-it notes flutter because she thought the noise was the YETI.

  Then when we were almost at the cabin Gary said,

  and Jodi got annoyed because it is usually Jodi who takes charge and tells us what to do and uses words like

  Jodi said, “What is it?”

  And that’s when Gary said that he didn’t actually know what we were doing or where we were going and also that he wanted to go back for his MONSTER MUNCH because he was hungry.

  That’s when Jodi said, “We don’t have time for this! It’s not SAFE out here!”

  And Maisie said, “Gary. We can’t go back to get your Monster Munch. There’s a Beast from the East. We’re going to the library to find out more. OK?”

  But Gary didn’t say anything back. He just STARED at Maisie with his mouth WIDE OPEN.

  Then all of a sudden Zach said, “What’s that?”

  And he pointed to the ground. And that’s when we saw the

  We all bent down and looked at it closely and we saw that there were little bits of HAIR around the edges of the footprint.

  Then Gary said, “Um… That’s a pretty big footprint. What KIND of beast are we talking about here?”

  But we didn’t even get a chance to answer because Jodi hissed, “Did you hear that?! GET DOWN!”

  So we HIT THE DECK and listened closely but I couldn’t hear anything because my heart was POUNDING. Then Jodi said that she’d heard a weird wailing sound off in the distance but it had stopped now.

  So we all got up and kept moving through the snow as quickly as we could and when we reached the library cabin, Zach wiped the snow off one of the windows and peeked inside.

  Then he turned to us and said, “The lights are off. Mrs Bottery isn’t here.”

  And he put his hand on the door handle and pushed down. But the handle didn’t move.

  That’s when I realised that the library cabin was LOCKED and that we were going to have to go back the way we came and risk getting EATEN by the YETI.

  But then all of a sudden Maisie said, “Excuse me, please.”

  And then she reached forward and pressed 1234 into the little keypad above the handle and it WORKED! The door opened!

  We all STARED at Maisie because what she had just done was actually

  and we had no idea how she knew the code!

  Gary said, “AWESOME!!”

  And Maisie did a little smile and walked inside and we all followed her.

  Once we were inside Jodi said that we should keep the lights off so that no one knew we were in there. And she gave me a bit of a SIDE LOOK when she said it and I knew that she’d meant that she didn’t want the YETI to know we were in there but that she’d just said PEOPLE so that Maisie wouldn’t freak out.

  Then she said that Gary should stay at the window by the door and be the LOOK OUT.

  And Gary said, “Is the BEAST really a YETI? That’s so cool!”

  And Jodi said that it WASN’T cool, actually. And that it was actually

  But Gary wasn’t listening. He was too busy STARING out the window, trying to see the YETI.

  We all watched as Maisie went behind the librarian’s desk and came back with a REMOTE CONTROL. And then she pointed it at the wall and pressed a button and hot air started blowing down on us which was good because my whole front was soaking wet from when Jodi had made us lie in the snow.

  Maisie sat down on Mrs Bottery’s seat and started tapping away on the computer.

  I was a bit surprised at how well Maisie was COPING and how she was taking charge and I knew that it must be because she LOVES the library. And one time when Miss Jones told us to make a poster about our most favourite place in the whole world I remembered that Maisie had chosen the library.

  And Maisie is actually the one who made me join the library outside of school. And it’s brilliant because I’m allowed to take out TEN BOOKS AT A TIME and I don’t even have to pay or anything.

  So anyway, we all went behind the desk too and watched as rows and rows of book information flashed in front of Maisie’s eyes really quickly.

  Maisie said that she was looking through the LIBRARY CATALOGUE to find out where the YETI book was.

  And then she said, “GOT IT!” and she jumped down and disappeared behind a bookcase.

  That’s when Jodi grabbed me and Zach by the arm and whispered, “I defini
tely heard something out there!”

  But then Maisie came back and Jodi let go of our arms and gave Maisie a little smile.

  Maisie sat down on the floor and started flicking through a book called “EVEREST EXPLORERS” until she eventually stopped and said, “THERE!”

  We all got down on the ground and looked at where Maisie was pointing and saw a picture of a man in the snow next to a

  That’s when Maisie started reading aloud from the book and she said, “A photo taken of a possible YETI footprint near Mount Everest.”

  We all STARED at the photo and Zach said that it sort of looked like a human footprint would if the human wasn’t wearing any socks or shoes and was also a hairy giant. And I knew what he meant because you could see the pinky toe, and the big toe was

  Jodi asked if there was anything else in the book about YETIS and then Maisie started reading out loads of stuff and this is what we found out:

  Then Jodi said, “I think I know why everyone is calling the YETI the BEAST FROM THE EAST.”

  And then she got up and went to get an ATLAS (which is a book with all the maps of the whole world in it). Then she showed us one of the maps and pointed to ASIA and said that she remembered Miss Jones telling us that that was where Mount Everest was. And then she pointed to the four corners of the page and said,

  (which is a WORD THING we use to remember what is NORTH, EAST, SOUTH and WEST). Then she said, “Asia is in the EAST! The BEAST FROM THE EAST!”

  And that’s when we found out that the YETI must have come all the way from Mount Everest to our playground.

  Then Zach started reading from the book and that’s when we found out that some people said that they smelled a STRONG SMELL just before a YETI SIGHTING and that some people believe that YETIS have a DISTINCT ODOUR (which means a terrible smell that only YETIS have).

  Then he said, “It says here that in 1970 a British mountaineer was climbing in the Himalayas when he heard some odd high-pitched cries.”

  And AS SOON as Maisie read out that bit I looked at Jodi and her eyes were WIDE because she’d heard weird noises when we were running across the playground.

  And then Maisie kept on reading and she said, “The next day he saw an ape-like creature looking for food.”

  That’s when I noticed that Jodi had gone a bit pale.

  Then Zach said, “Maybe that’s the sound it makes when it’s

  Then all of a sudden Jodi said she didn’t feel very well and Zach shook his head and said that BAD NEWS was always HARD TO TAKE.

  Maisie took a THERMOMETER out of her bag and started taking Jodi’s temperature. But Jodi didn’t have a temperature. She just had a sore tummy. So Maisie gave her some water and told her to lie in the RECOVERY POSITION. But Jodi said that there WASN’T TIME and she stood up and looked around at the portacabin.

  Then she said, “We need to get out of here. I don’t think this place is strong enough to keep a hungry YETI out.”

  And that’s when Maisie said, “Where’s Gary?”

  And we looked and saw that Gary wasn’t being the LOOK OUT any more and also that the door was WIDE OPEN.

  We all RAN over to the door and looked outside but the blizzard was SO BAD we couldn’t see a thing.

  Then Maisie said, “Where did he go? Why would he go out there on his own? What if the

  But we didn’t know the answer to ANY of those questions.

  So I said that he’d probably just gone back to school to get his Monster Munch and that calmed Maisie down a bit.

  And that’s when Jodi whispered to me and Zach that Gary was in GRAVE DANGER because THE EAST was a REALLY long way to travel from with no food. And Zach’s eyes went WIDE and he nodded loads. And I gulped.

  Because we were all thinking the same thing.

  Gary might well have been hungry. But the YETI was

  When I walked out of the portacabin I knew that we were in DEEP TROUBLE because the snow was blowing and swirling EVERYWHERE.

  Maisie was the last person in the HUMAN CHAIN and as SOON as she stepped outside, the blizzard blew ALL of the Post-it notes off her coat and made a sort of COLOURFUL TORNADO. And it was CHAOS!

  Jodi was shouting at everyone to HOLD THE LINE because Zach had let go of Maisie’s hand and was jumping around trying to catch the Post-its and I had let go of Jodi’s hand so that I could get to Maisie because she was SHAKING VIOLENTLY and screaming. “IT’S A WHITE-OUT! IT’S A WHITE-OUT!” at the top of her lungs over and over.

  And THAT’S when I heard something.

  A weird WAILING SOUND!

  I spun around but I couldn’t see anything because of the blizzard. So I looked to see if Jodi had heard it and that’s when I realised that I couldn’t see Jodi or Zach any more! And it was IMPOSSIBLE to tell what was ground and what was sky because everything just looked COMPLETELY WHITE.

  That’s when Jodi yelled, “IZZY?”

  And Maisie started shouting, “Is anyone there? IS ANYONE THERE?!” So I grabbed her hand and squeezed so she would know I was there – at least I thought it was her hand but its hard to tell with four pairs of gloves on.

  And that’s when Maisie screamed at the top of her lungs,

  After that it was TOTAL CHAOS.

  Zach was screaming, “WHERE IS IT? I CAN’T SEE!”

  And I was trying to tell him that it WASN’T a YETI that had touched Maisie’s neck and that it was ME. But he wasn’t listening.

  And Jodi was shouting, “HUMPBACK WHALE! HUMPBACK WHALE!” (because Humpback Whale is Maisie’s CODE NAME that we use when things go SERIOUSLY WRONG).

  But Maisie was GONE. She must have run away from me REALLY FAST and I knew she could be MILES AWAY by now.

  And that’s when we all heard it.

  A high-pitched YETI CRY!

  And it sounded CLOSE.

  So Jodi shouted, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!”

  So we did.

  As soon as we burst through the Big Doors to the school, Jodi yelled, “TOP FLOOR!”

  And Zach yelled, “WE CAN’T LEAVE MAISIE OUT THERE!”

  But Jodi said that we WEREN’T and that she left “NO MAN BEHIND” and then she ran up the stairs.

  I had no idea what was going on and I was starting to PANIC because it really DID seem like we were leaving Maisie outside with a HUNGRY YETI! And we still didn’t know if Gary had made it back safely or not!

  But then Jodi yelled, “TRUST ME!”

  And I looked at Zach and he looked at me and I nodded because I know that Jodi is a bit of an EXPERT in

  So we ran after Jodi and none of us stopped until we reached the top floor.

  I was EXHAUSTED when we got to the top and I actually had to lie down on the ground a bit and catch my breath.

  That’s when Zach said, “What’s going on, Jodi?”

  And Jodi pointed out the window. And that’s when we realised why Jodi had brought us up there. You could see the WHOLE PLAYGROUND FROM THE TOP FLOOR!

  We all STARED out into the snow.

  And Jodi said, “We probably won’t be able to see Maisie because of her coat. So look for FOOTPRINTS.”

  And then Zach pointed at what looked like a bunch of footprints halfway between the cabin library and the school and said, “That’s us! Look!”

  And he was right because if you looked really closely you could see the footprints coming back towards the Big Doors.

  Then Zach said, “We need to get down to the next floor. I think I can see something!” And then he ran off. So we followed him and when we got there Zach pointed and said, “YES! LOOK! Tiny footprints!”

  And that’s when we saw a pair of tiny footprints going all the way from the bit where we had been standing to the OLD BIKE SHED!

  And then I noticed ANOTHER pair of footprints near the library cabin that went out for a bit and then disappeared behind the cabin.

  And I said, “LOOK! That must be Gary. He’s still out there.”

  So Jodi said, “LET’S GO!”

  But Zach said,
“WAIT! Follow me!” and he ran off in the OPPOSITE direction and I had no idea where he was going and I wished everyone would stop saying “FOLLOW ME!” and then running off without actually saying where we were going!

  So we followed Zach all the way to the gym and watched as he went into the store cupboard WITHOUT PERMISSION and came out with a GIANT NET.

  And then he looked up at us with WIDE EYES and said,

  Then he ran back into the cupboard and came out with two badminton rackets and said that explorers in the book had had TENNIS RACKETS stuck to their shoes to make it easier to walk in the heavy snow but that we didn’t have any tennis rackets since tennis got banned from our school after someone accidently hit a tennis ball at the head teacher’s car and broke the little mirror thing on the side.

  But then Jodi said that the explorers in the book HADN’T had tennis rackets tied to their shoes and that that was RIDICULOUS.

  So Zach said, “Oh really?”

  And Jodi said, “Yes.”

  And Zach said, “Oh REALLY?”

  And Jodi said, “YES!”

  And Zach said, “OH REEEEEEEALLY?”

  And I’d had ENOUGH of all this so I said, “Just show us, Zach!”

  So Zach opened the book and pointed to the picture and Jodi didn’t say anything after that because the explorers DID have tennis rackets tied to the bottom of their shoes so Zach was right.

  Zach said that he needed some string to tie the rackets to his shoes but Jodi said that there wasn’t TIME to look for STRING and then she opened her bag and brought out a roll of REALLY THICK Sellotape and said that Zach would just have to use that instead.