“Sure?” said Katzilow. “Quite sure? I can’t see any scratches!”

“Yes but of course!” said Fromage excitedly, scrambling up on top of Dot’s head, his little scritchy-scratchy paws giving her the tickles. “Zere!” he squeaked, making a dramatic gesture with a trembling, outstretched paw, then clutching frantically at one of Dot’s bunches as he nearly fell off. “Just zere! As plain as some pikestaffs!”

“It’s him OK!” said Wiz, panting with his long pink tongue sticking out.

“OK!” Said Walpurgis. “Select in Quadrant 4Z Black, one Cerulean!”

As he spoke, the flower-like silver stalk with the ‘Chocolate Orange’ globe on its end stretched out, waving slightly from side to side, and began to grow up towards the picture Dot had chosen. Up and up it went, bit like the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk, really!

“You’ll like this!” said Hombellyton, with a beaky grin.

Just as he spoke, the open golden petals at the tip of the stalk widened, and then took on a square shape just like the screen it w as heading towards. In the next instant it had formed a petal-like shape – only completely the same size as the screen – around its target.

Zvish!

A line of sparks, just like the ones you see on sparklers on bonfire night, ran down round and round the stalk, and into its “root” in the TracMapper keyboard.

“Good!” said Walpurgis. He gave a little push on the squidgy surface of the keyboard, and very gently, the silver stalk came down again, down, down and down, the golden globe at its tip now closed and small once more , till it was level with the surface of the keyboard.

Phwunk! Then it disappeared again.

Dot looked up and gasped. “Mr Mouse has gone!” she said, in dismay. “Where is… how do we…?”

“Oh no, not gone!” said Carmeramalita. “Far from it! Look at the TracMapper!”

And it was quite a sight! The global screen hovering above the TracMapper keyboard, suddenly lit up.

Then a line of picture frames shot round it – all in little sections like YouTube videos. Each one said – at first – “Extracting. Please have patience!” Zip zip zip the messages went, all round the globe.

And then it started. There was Mr Mouse – saving the Eden Project… with Dot at the court of King Henry VIII… in the book forest of Phargon.. helping Dot with her homework (well holding her up actually!)… arguing with Wiz (of COURSE)… posing for a picture with Fromage – “Regardez!”* said his cousin excitedly, still sitting atop Dot’s head “C’est moi!” ** - even holding forth on that first day, when he introduced Dot and Wiz to net-voyaging, and took them both to meet Floyd at 'Tommy's Diner', his mum’s hamburger restaurant in Texas!

It was all there - the story of Mr Mouse’s life. And hers and Wiz’s too.

Dot felt a prickling in her eyes – there was something about this Mr Mouse film show that really touched her. But she felt happy too. No doubts now!

“It’s him!” she said. She gave Walpurgis a huge hug, feeling his funny scratchy fur under her arms. “You’ve found him!”

“Then let’s go get him!” said Walpurgis with a big deep laugh. “Lucia – take it away!”

Gracefully, the Tracboat’s bows lifted up, pointing straight towards the black screen where the image of Mr Mouse had been.

We surely can’t go in there… Dot found herself thinking, once again. But then she gave herself a little shake.

This is Networld!

Yes - we - can!

* “Look!”

** “It’s me!”