"What, what!" said Mr Mouse grumpily. He yawned too, just like Wizzy, and scratched his fat round tummy, smacking his lips.
Everyone seems to be asleep round here, thought Dot. Just when I need them to be AWAKE for goodness sake!
"Just there, just then!" she went, trying very hard to stay calm. "There, on the laptop screen! Didn't you hear it?"
"Hear what?" went Mr Mouse. "Looks like the same old screen to me!"
It was true - there it all was as usual, the icons in neat rows and the picture behind of Dot and Wiz and her mum and dad on holiday in Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, one of their fave places.
Just like normal.
"What did you see, Dot?" asked Wiz, popping his front paws up on her computer desk. Just like always, when she was logged on, he could talk to her and Mr Mouse changed from being a computer mouse to a real mouse. From Canada. With attitude. LOADS of attitude!
It was like magic - it had happened first of all when she was helping her Dad sort out his computer for work, so he could fix up all of Doggydo's computers. She'd created a web page for him and her own e-mail address and ping! All her adventures travelling into the net with Mr Mouse and Wiz had started. Maybe it was because of her name, Dot Com - .com. See?
She'd stopped trying to work it out now!
"Well... " Dot said slowly - it seemed silly now that everything was like it always was. "I switched on... and there were these two children... in white robes... and they were asking me to help them."
"Spooky!" went Mr Mouse, winking at Wizzie. "Just tell me though, Dot my friend, you didn't try some of Dad's wine at lunch did you? Remember what happened last time?"
"No I did NOT!" said Dot crossly. "I REALLY saw it! Honestly!"
"No Ribena?" said Mr Mouse, still teasing.
"NO!" said Dot, going red. It was true though - once she'd been really thirsty after playing with Wiz in the garden before Sunday lunch and she'd run in and grabbed a glass of Ribena and drunk it all down. But in about half a second she knew it wasn't Ribena at all - it was her Dad's red wine, yeucccch! How can grown-ups drink that! Ugh!
But then the room had started going round and round and she went all giggly and thought she could see two Wizzies. Or was it three? Anyway after a little bit she had a terrible headache and felt sick and had to go and lie down for hours.
She could still remember her Dad muttering about it being "the last of a fine old Reeocker" (?????) and her Mum ticking him off for using an ordinary glass and not a wine one, which was how everything had got mixed up.
And grown-ups actually liked that horrible stuff! BEE-zarre!
"Come on Mousefeatures" said Wizzie, giving the cheeky Canadian a prod with his paw. "Be fair! Dot must have seen something!"
"OK, OK!" said Mr Mouse, jumping out of the way. "Easy with those great paws of yours!" He glared at Wiz and pulled his T-shirt straight. "It's easy to check! Let's just restart the laptop, OK?"
Dot sighed. She just knew what was going to happen.
Off went the laptop ... back on it came.
"Dee - ding - dong" went the little tune.
Up came the screen.
There it all was.
Nothing. Just the same as ever.
"See?" said Mr Mouse. "You sure about that Ribena?"
But then -
"What's THAT?!" gasped Wizzie.
