Book excerpt: Gentleman adventurer Nick Ward has tracked down a third installment of Charlie Small’s incredible life story. The battered journal was found beneath the seat of a bus shelter in Pimlico. Passed into the hands of a collector of dubious repute, it took swift work from Nick to prevent the story from vanishing forever! Having finally escaped from the perfidious pirates, Charlie travels though icy waters and hair-raising mountains and encounters man-eating bats, a wild dog whose bark is worse than his bite, and ultimately finds himself ensnared by the evil Puppet Master, a figure of pure unadulterated evil. Will Charlie manage to escape his clutches, or will he remain a puppet forever, never to adventure again? Charlie Small is a keen amateur explorer. His interests include climbing trees, collecting things, playing computer games, and football. He also enjoys conversing in the secret language of the gorillas. His present whereabouts is unknown, but we understand that he’s hoping to be home in time for tea.