Fiction: Group 2
The Pearl River Pollution Plan
Western Academy Beijing, Zhou, Jerry -, Fiction: Group 2
ome on! Let's go! What are you waiting for? " It wasn't hard to feel the excitement in Kate
Carter's voice. "Okay, we're coming! Wait up!" said Kate's mom. "Hey, don't go too fast!
You're the only one without a bag to carry!" Said Jim Carter. They were going to Hong
Kong for the winter break, and to celebrate the new year with Ms. Carter's friend Ms. Vivian and her kids
John and Candace. They were going to the Pearl River Delta , to stay at a hotel near the river. Then, they
would go and meet Ms. Vivian’s family in time for the new year. "You said you'd carry my bag if I won the
contest!" "Well, You-“ Enough!" Shouted Ms. Carter, "Stop squabbling like squirrels! Let's have a pleasant
walk to the hotel, okay?" It was late afternoon while they checked in to their rooms.
That night, when Jim was sleeping, he heard a muffled voice saying something like: " When shall we do it?"
He tiptoed out of his bed, and glanced across the room, where his dad was sleeping. Mr. Carter was snoring
softly. Good, thought Jim, I’ll just crawl out and put my ear to the door… He gasped. Two people outside
were having a conversation about the Pearl River delta. "Mr. Plungett, when shall we make our move?
Tonight on the river?" Said a voice. " No. It will be the new year's eve… everyone will be too busy
celebrating to notice. Then, we will put the chemicals in…" said a second voice, much louder than the first,
but kind of muffled, like there was something in the speaker’s mouth, "We shall then go away and wait for
the money to come to us!! Hahahahaha!" "What is going on?" Thought Jim, "Are they scientists? But then
why would they want to wait for nobody to notice? This is all very strange…”
The next day, Jim told Kate about the voices last night. "Sounds like someone is planning to do something
with the river." said, Kate, "I think we should investigate. Tonight, let’s see who is talking. Meet you in the
hallway after dark!” “We shouldn’t be sneaking around like this!” replied, Jim, “What if we get caught? And
we can’t even prove that they are planning to do something bad!” “No, I have a feeling they’re planning to
pollute the water. We really should investigate!” said Kate. Jim wasn’t convinced, but he agreed to just
check if there was something wrong.
Luckily for Jim, he didn’t have to go investigate in the dark of the night. He had to investigate in broad
daylight! His family got an invitation to go to a party hosted by the manager of the hotel, Mr. Plungett.
They were going to have dinner while Mr. Plungett would make an announcement. But when they were at
the party, Jim suddenly realized something–Mr. Plungett was one of the people that was whispering to each
other last night! He quickly told Kate about his suspicion that Mr. Plungett was one of the people, or
“whisperers” as he liked to call them. Kate agreed that Mr. Plungett might be one of the whisperers, and
suggested that they eavesdrop on him after he made his announcement. “At last, we’re finally getting
somewhere!” exclaimed Kate.
When Mr. Plungett stepped onstage to make his announcement, Jim gasped—Mr. Plungett had a cigar in
his mouth! He was now sure that Mr. Plungett was one of the whisperers–He had a cigar in his mouth, just
like the second whisperer, who seemed to have something in his mouth! He listened to the boring
announcement while daydreaming , but snapped back into attention when Mr. Plungett brought someone
called Jernigan onstage to talk—he had the same voice as the first whisperer! He told Kate about his
discovery, and they agreed to eavesdrop on the two whisperers after the announcement.
After the presentation, Mr. Plungett and Jernigan went backstage—where Kate and Jim were waiting. They
started talking in hushed tones. “Sir, the firework show is going to be on the December 31st—the night of
the new year. Then, we shall pollute the river with the chemicals in room 307, yes?” asked Jernigan.
“Indeed. while everyone is busy celebrating, we will pollute the water, so that the fish would all die!” Said
Mr. Plungett, “Then, everyone would be forced to buy our Mangtze river fishing company’s fish!” Jim and
Kate gasped—They were trying to pollute the river so that they would have no competition! They had to
stop them—or millions of poor fishermen would lose their jobs! Luckily, Jim had a plan, which he discussed
with Kate, and both of them agreed to try it out.
“C
