E-MAIL found.'' Brian looked at the address and then his expert hands started flying across the keyboard. When he was done he quickly scanned the letter. It read: "Opal, meet me at the usual spot. Very urgent. Garnet.'' Brian punched in the address and hit the enter button. He stood and grabbed his laptop off his bed, then he walked over to his locked box, opened it and pulled out a red square package. He put the square into his laptop case along with the portable computer, picked his jacket off the back of his chair, and strode out of his room. He locked his bedroom door and then headed out to meet Cindy. "You have mail. You have mail. You have mail.'' Cindy Walsh was wakened by the sound of her computer's voice. Cindy pushed off her covers and cleared her throat.

"Computer, read mail,'' Cindy said in an authoritative manner. "Opal, meet me at the usual spot. Very urgent. Garnet.'' Cindy sprang out of bed. When Brian used her code name she knew it was important -- and very secret. Cindy pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a cropped top. She swept her hair into a bun on top of her head and seized her laptop before running out the door with her sweater trailing behind her. Front Street, Hamilton was bustling with people as Brian walked quickly to the ferry terminal. As his shoulders brushed against the happy, smiling people on the streets doing their last minute Christmas shopping, Brian realised how important his newest assignment was.

Then he saw Cindy sitting on the bench outside the terminal, hunched over her laptop. He sat down beside her and she looked up at him with an anxious smile on her beautiful face. When he didn't say anything she spoke up. "So what's so important?'' she asked in a hushed voice. Brian opened his laptop case and pulled out the red square and handed it to Cindy. She opened the package and removed a disc, inserted it into her laptop and then her hands began moving deftly across the keys. Her eyes widened as an extremely confidential file appeared on her screen. Her eyes moved down the page and then she turned them on Brian. "Where did you find this?'' she asked in an incredulous voice. "I was doing some scouting over the internet when I noticed this tiny red box in the left hand corner of my screen. When I couldn't click it open I started working on a password to get me into it. Three days later I found a relevant password, and this baby appeared on my screen. What I don't understand is why someone would want to smuggle money out of all the Bermuda Christmas charities. It can't be that profitable.'' Cindy sat for a minute with a frown on her face and them she said with light dawning in her eyes, "What if this is just one file, maybe the person is smuggling from Christmas charities in the States too.'' "You're right,'' said Brian. "If that's the case, then it is definitely profitable. Let's go back to my house and see if we can find anymore files.'' The smell of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven greeted the two as they walked into Brian's house in Paget. As the door slammed shut behind them, Brian's mum peeked her head around the corner from the kitchen. Brian and Cindy greeted her. Cindy ran upstairs to Brian's bedroom with the key to unlock the door. Brian gathered milk and some of the cookies onto a tray and then went up to his room. When he entered, Cindy was plugging her portable into his modem so that they could search for more files at the same time. Brian sat down and put the tray between them and then he started punching buttons. Soon the red icon appeared on the screen. "Now the Bermuda charity file was under the password BDAH. I suppose that's because BDA is sort of an abbreviation for Bermuda and Bermuda's capital begins with `H'.

I say we start by trying out more passwords like that.'' "O.K. I've got one.

Computer, what is the capital of New York State?'' "Searching, searching, found. The capital is Albany.'' "Great, Brian type in NYSA!'' Brian's eyes opened wide as another file appeared on the screen. It read: "You have accessed a private, confidential file. Do you wish to continue?'' Brian clicked `yes' with his mouse and yet another screen flashed before the two. It listed big amounts of money transferred out of all the Christmas charities in New York State. They had done it. They had cracked a secret set of codes. They both sat for the next half hour, the passwords flying back and forth between them. Funds had been smuggled in Washington, Utah, Arizona, Massachusetts, California, Florida and many others. Brian was about to enter another password when he saw a flashing signal at the bottom of the screen. Brian read the words, which said that the line they were using was insecure. "Quickly!'' Brian exclaimed anxiously. "Shut down. Someone knows we have accessed the files.'' Both sets of hands started flying acutely across the keys. Cindy had a light sweat on her hands, and Brian wiped away the bead that was trickling down his forehead. Two minutes later, they sat back breathing heavily. They had saved all the files on two discs and had typed up and printed all the passwords. "Do you think it was the smuggler who knew we were listening?'' asked Cindy nervously. "I would think so. He must have gotten back home and accessed his files only to find that someone else had broken into them.'' The two hackers sat staring at each other for a long time and then Cindy spoke up.

"I've got to get home,'' Cindy said. "I'll do some more research with my copy of the files, mail me if you can find out anything else.'' "Alright, let's use `The Grinch' as the smuggler's code name over the internet.'' "Good idea! See you tomorrow at six for Christmas dinner.'' And with that, Cindy turned on her heel, only pausing to give Brian a faint smile. "Merry Christmas!'' exclaimed a happy voice to an extremely groggy Brian. He had stayed up late working on his computer, mailing Cindy many times to tell her of new developments. Brian plopped down in front of the brightly lit, beautifully decorated tree, his heavy eyelids feeling much lighter at the sight of the presents and his parents' smiling faces. "Merry Christmas!'' Brian returned, while throwing his arms around them. Three hours later the three were sitting at the kitchen counter eating a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and orange juice. The family had exchanged gifts and opened their stockings. Brian had received many new clever devices to use with his computer. He had given his mother a bottle of her favourite perfume and his father a book he had wanted. Now they were discussing the Christmas dinner at their house that evening. It was their family's year to hold it. For the rest of the day, Brian helped his mother. She had baked a cassava pie and a Christmas pudding gently steamed on the stove. There was also turkey and ham, potatoes, carrots and many other goodies. Brian and his father laid the table for twenty and hung the mistletoe above the front door. Preparing for the party took up the rest of the day. Then finally Brian and his parents went upstairs to get ready. At exactly six, Brian descended the stairs. He was freshly showered and was wearing a white dress shirt, black dress pants and shoes and a snazzy Christmas tie. He was ready for an evening of fun. `Ding dong', went the bell in the hall. Brian's dad looking crisp and neat in a similar ensemble to Brian's, opened the door. In came Mr. and Mrs. Walsh followed by Cindy who looked stunning in a forest green dress with her hair twisted into a French roll, but like a Trojan, she had her laptop case swinging at her side. Brian greeted her and they immediately went into the Family room. One after another the families arrived. The house was full of Christmas joy. Everyone exchanged gifts with their friends and they all danced to Christmas songs. The buffet dinner was delicious. Brian's mom went all out.

After dinner, a game of charades was started, but Cindy and Brian slipped up to his room so he could show her some of the new files he had found. As they stepped into the room, Cindy let out an audible gasp as she looked around.

Brian's room was trashed. His modem had been stolen, along with his laptop.

Drawers were pulled out and clothes were all over the place. His locked box was open on the floor, the disc and the passwords were gone from it.

Wordlessly, Brian flew down the stairs. He returned a few minutes later with a small black computer chip with a plug. He grabbed Cindy's laptop and inserted her copy of the disc into it. Then he plugged in the chip and typed in a few passwords to open the secret files. "Thank God we made an extra copy of the disc and you kept it at your house or we would have no way of tracking `The Grinch'.'' "What do you mean tracking him?'' asked Cindy confused. Brian explained that the chip he had plugged in was used for tracking transactions.

Wherever the smuggler was, if he made a transaction using any computer then they would have his exact co-ordinates in 22 seconds. "Now what we do is wait.'' So they waited and waited and then, "Bingo!'' Brian cried. A countdown flashed across the screen -- 5,4,3,2,1. The exact co-ordinates of the transaction were in the Hamilton Princess, room 321. Brian turned toward the stairs and five minutes later, they were on his bike heading towards the Princess Hotel. When they arrived, Cindy called the Police and explained the whole situation. "The Police will be here in ten minutes,'' she said. "It better be a quick ten minutes,'' he said before rushing towards the elevator.

Before Cindy could say anything he was gone. Half an hour later, a pale girl was brought out of the elevator with her hands cuffed behind her back, Cindy was showing the files to a computer specialist who was working for the Police department and Brian sat with an ice pack over his eye, his hand rubbing his neck. Cindy walked over and he smiled a sad smile. After all that research, all they had come up with was a hired computer ghost. They still didn't know who had thought of the smuggling idea. The hired expert was paid for and given information about what to do, completely over the computer. The real `Grinch' was still a mystery. Brian was a little upset because when he burst into room Charities benefit thanks to heroes in a headlock. This had surprised him considering that his assailant was a pale, female, computer nerd. In the end though, they had succeeded in stopping illegal fund transfers and all the money was returned to the proper Christmas charities. The next day, after speaking with the head of the Police department, Brian hung up the phone with a big smile on his face. His unhurt eye opened widely and he ran upstairs to his room. He and Cindy would have to testify in court, but they would also receive an award that would be wired by computer into their college funds. But Brian had a better idea. He now had his modem and his laptop back. He went to his computer and typed in a message. It read: "Opal we will receive money over the computer for our college funds as a reward but I think we should give it to some of the Bermuda Christmas charities. How about you? Garnet.'' He typed in Cindy's E-MAIL address and hit enter. A message flashed across the screen a few minutes later. It read: "Garnet, I totally agree. After all, we know what trouble you can get into when you try to transfer money over the computer. Opal.'' SHORT STORY CONTEST CPN