100% Hero (5 page)

Some time earlier, Mrs Mutton's snores were rattling
the floorboards of her bedroom in Farfang Castle.
She wasn't worried about Flasheart or Freddy;
those two would be running all night under the
moonlight.

Chester Puceley, however, was wide awake. He
was standing in the room that had been Sir Hotspur's
study, looking out at the bright moon and whispering
into the telephone.

'And so the wolf came, exactly as I told you?' He
gave a croaky laugh. 'You shot him with a tranquilliser?
Excellent.'

The small man stroked his moustache and
listened.

'No! I may need him alive, but if he tries to escape
– shoot him.'

Chester put down the phone and turned to his
daughter, who was sitting in the leather chair, yawning
loudly.

'Well, my precious jewel . . .' Chester chucked his
daughter under the cheek. 'Your plan worked. You led
him straight into our little trap.'

'Oh, Papa, it was sooo easy. That idiot Freddy would
do anything for me . . . and of course his
daddy
had to
protect him . . . how pathetic. But I'm so tired.'

'I know, my princess, but we don't have much
time. The wolf is out of the way but who knows where
that idiot boy is.' Chester pulled out an old piece of
parchment as he spoke.

Priscilla knelt up on the chair and looked at the
ancient piece of paper. It was like a set of plans for a
building, with several archways and what seemed to
be the outlines of four rooms. In three of the corners
was a symbol: a flower, a moon and a stone.

'What does it mean?' she asked with a frown.

'I believe it to be a plan of Farfang,' said Chester,
tracing his finger over the lines of the drawing. 'Not of
the castle we know, but what's underneath.' He pointed
to the archways. 'If we can find just one of these
entrances, nothing can stop us finding the Treasure of
Bane. We have a right to it as much as the Lupins.'

Priscilla's beautiful eyes shone bright with greed.

The ancient documents that Dravin had brought
to Boldovia had mentioned a great secret buried in
the vaults below the castle – the secret inheritance of
the Hidden Moonlight Gathering of Werefolk. Exactly
what the treasure was Chester wasn't sure, but he had
no doubt that it could bring power and wealth beyond
his imagining. And the Puceleys were desperate for
money. Priscilla could almost see the diamonds and
jewels that would decorate her shiny blonde hair; she
could see the looks of envy and jealousy in the eyes of
all who beheld her.

'How do we find the entrance?' she gasped.

'I'm not sure, my princess,' Chester confessed.

'Papa! I want those jewels,' she cried, slamming
her finger on the sheet of paper. 'They belong to me!'

'Hush, my sweet – Papa will get them for you, but
we have to search. The doors will be well hidden.
These are the clues.' He pointed to the three symbols.
'Did you find anything while exploring with that
idiot boy?'

'Only his slugs.' Priscilla shook her head. 'He's so
lame. I can't believe he's really a poodle . . . urgh.'

'Well, let's just be thankful that he's such a fool,'
Chester laughed. 'Horned toads! No poodle will get in
my way. But be quiet – we don't want to wake up that
hideous old trout, Mutton.'

Priscilla giggled and took her torch. She wasn't
scared of hunting through the dark old castle – the
vision of bright jewels lit her way.

Hundreds of miles away, in the far north of Scotland,
Flasheart's brother Hotspur stared at the bright,
beautiful moon, and his skin itched in frustration. The
Moonstone, chained around his neck as punishment
by the Fang Council, tormented him with shame.
There was no disgrace, no humiliation worse for a
Fangen than to stand under the warmth of the magical
beams of the moon and remain as a man. The winds
of the night carried the distant howling of wolves to
his spot in the courtyard of Dundaggard Castle. It was
Laird McDaggard and his sons, his jailers, running
free on the highland moors. How could a poodle have
reduced so noble a wolf to this? Sir Hotspur ground
his teeth in fury and vowed again his revenge.

'I will crush that foolster Frederick,' he cried.
'Crush him like a slimy snail, sir.' He glared in
frustration at the high walls of his prison. Somehow
he would escape, and when he did he would be
Grand Growler once more. And then he would
make Flasheart pay – his brother would regret ever
returning from the dead.

Freddy and Batty crept out of the woods that
surrounded Coldfax Fort. They lay on the floor,
catching their breath after the long run. The perfect
moon shone down on the many dark windows of the
now-deserted dog prison.

Three sides of the building surrounded a courtyard.
The fourth was a high iron fence, which housed a
gate and portcullis. The metal grille was raised a little
and the door to the cellblock stood open. The former
commander had gone to live in the retirement village
reserved for the grumpiest pet haters in Britain; no
dog was allowed even within sight of it.

Batty looked up at the walls, her ears flat with
nerves.

'I don't like it, Stinky. Something don't feel right.'
She growled quietly and sniffed the air.

Freddy, too, had a most uncomfortable feeling;
however, he shrugged it off and puffed out his chest.

'I am a wolf. I do not know fear,' he announced.

Batty laughed. She knew for a fact that Freddy did
know fear, and quite often.

'Come on then, Stinky – but are you sure you know
where to find the stone?'

'Yes, the one that was chained around my neck was
left in my dad's dungeon. The Fang Council collected
that and hid it away somewhere. But the one in the
ring that I stole from Cripp must still be down in the
drains. It's our only chance.'

Freddy was sounding more like a nervous poodle
again and less like a hero.

'No time to waste then, is there?' Batty whispered,
and she began to move forward, her stomach low to
the ground like a sheepdog rounding up its flock.

'Wait for me!' Freddy yipped and charged after her.
'I'm in the lead, it's my plan.'

'Shush, Freddy.'

He too tried running with his stomach to the
floor, but only succeeded in ramming his chin into
the ground.

'Ouch!'

'Be careful,' Batty hissed as she crept under the
portcullis and into the courtyard.

'But there's no-one to hear us,' Freddy yipped. He
scampered up to the main door of the building and
looked inside. In wolf form he would have been able
to see in the dark as you might in a room lit by a warm
red light. As a poodle, however, his eyes struggled.

Batty smelt the air. She didn't like it one bit –
there was something else alive in that place. Freddy
tiptoed inside and looked around, his eyes becoming
accustomed to the gloom. To his left was the office
and to their right was the long corridor, along each
side of which lay the empty cells. Their doors were
open and shafts of moonlight shone down from the
tiny high windows in long prisms of blue light. There
was total silence.

'Ha-ha-hardy-ha!' roared Freddy in triumph.

Batty jumped high in the air with fright.

'The return of the hero!' He began to parade down
the corridor, stepping his legs high with pride like a
prancing pony.

'Couldn't keep
this
wolf locked up, could you?' he
asked the empty air.

'No!' he answered himself when nobody else
bothered to.

Batty cringed. Why couldn't they have just crept in
and out without making a sound?

'Will you shush?' she growled.

One of the cell doors behind them slammed shut
with a horrible echoing clang. Freddy's tail immediately
fell and he and Batty swung around. The hair on his
head went tight with fright.

'Just the wind,' Batty said, and pointed the way
forward with her ear. 'Now keep quiet, will you?'

Freddy nodded. The two friends continued down
the corridor, a little more nervous now.

'This was our cell.' Batty paused at the door and
shuddered. They walked into the tiny room. The floor
was made of stone flags, and in the centre was a hole
around thirty centimetres square. They looked down
it into the large drain below. There was a slow trickle
of water. Somewhere down in that slime was the stone
that could save Flasheart from discovery.

Freddy suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of
danger. The last thing he wanted to do was to jump
down into that dark hole. Batty sensed this.

'Come on, Freddy, you can do it, follow me.' With
that the brave mongrel jumped down with a splash
and disappeared from view. Freddy took a deep breath
and, with his heart beating fast, followed her.

In the cell opposite, eight red eyes peered out from
a hiding place under the straw and gleamed in the
dark.

Freddy landed on his back in the slime with a
groan.

'Land on your feet next time,' Batty said helpfully.

'Oh, der, thanks for the advice.' Freddy looked
around in the gloom, unable to see anything. 'I hope
the poo has washed away by now.' He frowned at the
feel of the clammy water around his feet.

'What poo?' Batty asked, her pretty muzzle
wrinkling.

'You don't want to know.' Freddy laughed,
remembering how he had removed Dr Cripp's ring
from his bowels.

'I don't see the Stone of Moon,' Batty growled,
sniffing the floor. 'Perhaps the water has washed
it further down. Come on – let's go this way.' With
her nose to the ground and her black-and-white tail
swishing high, she scampered off into the dark.

'That's what I was going to say. I knew that!' Freddy
complained, chasing after her. It was
he
who was the
Plan Master.

They searched, following the trickle of water down
one tunnel and into the next for what seemed forever,
with no luck. Rats ran away from them, with a scurry
of jumping grey fur.

'That's right,' Freddy whispered to himself. 'Run in
fear from me – this hero never flees.'

Snails and slugs crawled up the dripping stone
walls. None of this bothered Batty or Freddy – in fact,
the longer they were in the tunnels, the less nervous
they felt. Their eyes were now quite used to the gloom
and they could see enough to search for the ring. The
only problem was that now Freddy could also see what
had at first been invisible in the dark . . . including
dark bundles of black fingers moving across the roof,
just above their heads.

'What's that?' he croaked, pointing his ear up.

'Oh, it's just spiders! That's what I could smell,'
Batty said in relief. 'Come on, this way.' She took a left
turn, following the stream.

'Spiders . . .' Freddy's ears fell in horror.

'Nothing for no wolf to worry about.' Batty laughed
at the idea.

'No . . .' Freddy mumbled, but his heart pounded
nonetheless. Of course, he could never admit to
anyone that he, Second Greatest Wolf Hero
Ever
, the
heir of Flasheart and Sir Rathbone, was 100 per cent
most absolutely terrified of spiders. He would happily
eat twenty slugs rather than have one spider touch
him. He would almost rather it was Cerberus in those
tunnels after all.

'Oh, great howls . . .' he growled and rushed on,
not daring to look up. How he wished he had never
disobeyed his father.

Batty stopped suddenly.

Freddy crashed into her.

'Look.' Batty nudged him.

There, ahead of them, a shaft of moonlight had
somehow found its way through a drain above,
probably in one of the courtyards. Lying in the dark,
slimy water was the ring and the stone within it was
lighting up the tunnel with a cold blue light.

'The Moonstone!' Freddy yapped and jumped up
in delight. 'Oh, ha-ha-hardy-ha. I was right. I am a
genius!'

Batty's eyes flew to the ceiling.

'Oh yes, my fans will tell many a tale about this
night,' he assured her. He puffed out his poodley chest
and struck a heroic pose, such as might appear in a
future statue of himself.

Batty's ears jumped high as she heard a sound – a
distant splash. They needed to take the ring and leave
as quickly and quietly as possible. Perhaps there was
something other than spiders with them in those dark
drains after all. She turned back to Freddy and her
eyes opened even wider in alarm.

'Oh yes, they will all talk of that great night when
Freddy Lupin showed his bravery in the tombs of
Coldfax!' the poodle elaborated.

'Stinky, I want you to keep very, very still and calm,'
Batty growled, her dark eyes narrow. 'And whatever
you do, keep quiet.'

'Why wouldn't I be quiet?' Freddy stuck out his
lower jaw, insulted. 'I am the king of calm, I'm always
quiet.'

'Good – 'cos I'm very carefully going to bash you
on the head,' Batty said, taking a step towards him.

'Why? What have I done?' Freddy yelled.

'Shush,' Batty groaned. 'It ain't a big deal, it's just
that there's an enormous spider on your head.'

Freddy's ears shot up in horror. 'A what – where?
There's a what on my
what
?'

Before Batty could help him, the huge black hairy
spider crawled down and looked into the poodle's
terrified eyes. Freddy could see its hairy legs and eight
red eyes. It seemed as big as a horse!

'Argh!' Freddy gave a series of high-pitched screams
of the girliest, most sissy variety. 'Argh!' he screamed
again, frantically shaking his curly head from side to
side.

As promised, Batty bashed the spider off him with
her paw. It landed with a splash in the mud and leapt
up, ready for a fight, and was quickly joined by several
of its friends. Freddy gasped and caught his breath,
and that's when he saw what Batty had been smelling.
The spiders parted to form a long corridor and there,
emerging from the gloom into the cold blue light, was
the largest of them all. A tarantula almost as big as
Freddy himself. Its red eyes turned to him, ready for
the kill.

'Argh!' Freddy screamed and, forgetting his friend,
his father, the Moonstone and his own fans, ran away
as fast as his pretty poodle paws could carry him. With
a quick bite, Batty snatched up the Moonstone and
chased after him, pursued by the angry spiders. Their
commotion rattled and echoed off the dank walls.

'Groof!' Freddy crashed to a halt. He had slammed
into a crisscrossed iron grate that covered the drain's
exit. He looked down. The water from the drain was
pouring out and down into a stream outside. The
moon, now lower in the sky, was no longer shining so
brightly. There was not much time left until dawn.

'Stinky, are you okay?' Batty woofed as she
caught up.

'Yes, of course . . .' Freddy was embarrassed.
He knew that he had not behaved like a hero. 'The
Moonstone . . .' His ears fell in shame.

'Safe and sound.' Batty dropped it on the ground
with a wink. 'Now let's get out of this place, before
they catch us.'