The Case of the Missing Cats (10 page)

And so they had an argument and forgot all about the strange clump of smoke that was now level with the top of the building.

Dirk touched down on top of the skyscraper and the smoke dissipated to reveal a breathtaking view of the city. He located the warehouse and pointed it out to Holly, who found it with her binoculars.

‘What am I looking for?' she asked.

‘Dragons,' replied Dirk.

Holly saw something grey emerge from the warehouse and jump to the next building. It moved quickly and she wouldn't have spotted it at all if she hadn't known where to look. ‘I can see one,' she said.

‘Yes, that's our Sea Dragon friend. That's one. Let's see where he goes.'

Following it with her binoculars she said, ‘So are you going to fill me in or what?'

Dirk looked at Holly. She knew so much already, he decided he may as well give her the full picture. It was against every rule in the book, but what were rules for if not to be broken?

‘Dragons have been around for a long time,' he said. ‘Since before the dinosaurs.'

‘You were around the same time as dinosaurs?' she replied.

‘Me? Do I look that old to you? No, I wasn't, but there are dragons old enough to remember them. Of course, the dinosaurs died out and there came a new species, smaller but even more deadly. It called itself mankind. For thousands of years dragons and man lived side by side. Men were too scared of the big teeth and the whole fire caboodle to cause any trouble, but over time they made themselves weapons and they got less scared and they developed a taste for dragon blood. It became like a sport for them. With every passing year they got cleverer and their weapons became more sophisticated. It was clear that the planet was no longer big enough to share. Look, there's another one.' Dirk pointed at a second dragon jumping across London. ‘Looks like a yellow-backed Scavenger. Best avoided.'

Holly peered carefully at the dragon. ‘Why?' she asked. ‘Are they dangerous?'

‘Dangerous, yes, but bad breath too. Pooh!' Dirk held his nose and Holly laughed. ‘Look, there are two of them,' he said.

Sure enough, there were two yellow-backed dragons moving in opposite directions.

‘Dragons were fighting back,' continued Dirk. ‘The world was on the brink of a full-scale war. Something had to be done. So Minertia, the greatest and oldest dragon of them all, called a conference high in the Himalayas. All of dragonkind came: Sea Dragons, Mountain Dragons, Tree Dragons, Snow Dragons, Desert Dragons, even Sky Dragons, yellow-backed Scavengers, pot-bellied Cave Dwellers, Shade-Huggers, Drakes, Wyverns, Kinghorns, you name it, they came and spread themselves over the mountains as far as the eye could see.'

‘Were you there?' asked Holly.

‘Yes, but I was very young. I remember Minertia, as big as a mountain herself, flying over and explaining that we had a choice. The biggest decision in our long history. Either we could eradicate mankind before their weapons got too powerful or we could bide our time, go into hiding until mankind went the way of the dinosaurs. It was put to the vote. Those in favour of fighting rose into the air. Those who wanted to hide stayed on the ground. Minertia counted the vote and announced that it had been decided that dragonkind would hide and let the human race run its course.'

‘So an up-airer is a dragon that wanted to go to
war?' said Holly.

‘Exactly, and it sounds like this Vainclaw dragon is claiming to be the first one in the air, which is impossible to prove, of course.'

‘What did you do?'

‘I stayed on the ground. Look, another.' Dirk pointed down at a fourth dragon.

Holly found it with the binoculars. ‘It looks like you,' she said.

‘Yes, it's the Mountain Dragon that I saw around your house. It's probably the one that picked up your cat.'

Holly watched the dragon head south, and asked, ‘So what's a Kinghorn?'

‘Well, before the great vote, a group of dragons calling themselves the Kinghorns organised attacks on human settlements. They were cowardly, mostly targeting the women and children of villages that didn't have armies or knights to defend them. They wanted to end mankind's reign before it started. The Kinghorns were all up-airers. After the vote the attacks were outlawed by the Dragon Council. Anyone found guilty of attacking humans was banished to the Inner Core.'

Holly said, ‘So if Vainclaw is calling his followers
the Kinghorns it means . . .'

‘Trouble,' said Dirk.

For another hour or so, they stayed watching the dragons jumping across the roofs of London. Holly grew cold and huddled close to Dirk's belly for warmth.

Eventually Dirk stood up and said, ‘Well, this is good news.'

‘What do you mean good news? There's a group of dragons in London planning to wipe out the human race,' exclaimed Holly. ‘What's good about it?'

‘Well, they don't even know that we're on to them, but we know where they're hiding, what they're doing, and that there are only four of them.'

Back in Dirk's office, Holly stroked Willow and asked, ‘So what next?'

Dirk sat, feet on the desk, flicking through the collections of cat puns that constituted the day's front pages.

‘I'm going to get into that warehouse and get to the bottom of this,' he replied, putting the papers down on the desk.

‘Great,' said Holly, spinning round on the chair, causing Willow to let out a distressed miaow and dig her claws into her lap. ‘Ow,' she said, pulling the cat off and putting her down on the floor. ‘How do we get in?'

‘Not we,' said the dragon. ‘
I
am going in. We're dealing with four genuine fire-breathing dragons intent on eradicating mankind. It's too dangerous for you. And don't even start with the pretend-crying again. It may work on your parents but . . .'

‘I don't use it on my parents,' Holly interjected angrily.

‘Well, you want to watch that. One day you'll be crying for real and no one will care because they'll think you're faking,' said Dirk.

‘I don't cry for real,' she replied. ‘And this is our case. You said so. I saved your life.'

‘And now I'm saving yours.' He stood up and peaked through the blinds at the street below. ‘Rats,' he said, standing back away from the window.

‘What is it?' asked Holly.

‘It's that man again. He was there before. He's watching the place.' Holly jumped up and looked out of the window. Leaning against a lamp-post across the road was a man wearing a wide-brimmed hat. ‘You think they're on to us?' she said.

‘Could be. There aren't many dragons who know about me, but if you know who to ask . . .'

‘And you have enough liquorice,' added Holly.

‘Exactly,' said Dirk, smiling. ‘And we know that this
Vainclaw character isn't above hiring humans to do his dirty work.'

Holly thought for a moment and then said, ‘I'll go and distract him.'

‘No, we don't know what these people are capable of,' Dirk replied.

‘Don't worry. I'll take Mrs Klingerflim. They wouldn't do anything in front of a little old lady.'

‘What will you tell her?'

‘I'll just say that we're playing a joke on an old friend of yours.'

Unable to think of a better plan Dirk said, ‘OK, but be careful,' before adding quietly, ‘And thanks.'

‘But I want a full report of what you find out,' said Holly.

‘Yes, sir,' said Dirk with a mock salute.

‘At ease,' responded Holly and, with a smile, she left the room. Dirk heard her call Mrs Klingerflim as she thudded downstairs. He didn't hear what she said to her, but after a couple of minutes the front door slammed shut. Peeking through the blinds, Dirk saw Holly and Mrs Klingerflim leave the building. On the opposite side of the road stood the man in the wide-brimmed hat. Dirk edged the window open a little to hear what was going on.

‘Excuse me, sir,' he heard Holly shout.

The man didn't reply, suddenly becoming very interested in his own shoes.

‘Excuse me,' she repeated. ‘Can you help this elderly lady across this road? She can't see very well and I'm too young to be crossing the road myself, but she needs to go to the post office to collect her pension.'

The man glanced up at the window for a second, then turned round and walked away as quickly as his feet could carry him.

‘Good work, kiddo,' said Dirk under his breath. He pulled up the blind, thrust the window open and jumped out. As he flew over the road he caught a fleeting glimpse of Holly looking up and smiling.

The streets surrounding the warehouse were deserted and Dirk stood in the shadow of a nearby building. Going through the roof was too risky with the dragons constantly going in and out. If he was going to get in he would have to enter the way the humans did. Through the door.

Checking that no one was around he scuttled across the road to the barbed-wire fence, where the gate was secured with an enormous chain, held in place by a huge padlock.
Not a problem
, he thought
and opened his mouth, put the chain between his teeth and slammed his jaw shut, biting straight through it.

‘Pah,' he said, spitting bits of metal out of his mouth and slipping into the yard.
So far so good
, he thought. Looking around he could see the pile of drainpiping that he had ripped off the wall. The caravan and the old once-white van sat deserted in opposite corners. Cautiously he approached the door to the warehouse.

He pushed the door, but it was locked. He examined it closely. Some locks he could pick with a claw, but this was a Yale. Too small. He walked around the building, but there were no windows. There was only one thing for it. He was going to have to shoulder the door. He stepped back to make a run up and was about to charge when he heard the sound of a toilet flushing, followed by a CLICK. He turned to see the caravan door opening. He dived behind the once-white van just as the door opened fully, and heard a voice.

‘You, Reginald, are an animal. An animal.'

‘It's only natural, ain't it, Arthur?'

It was the two crooks.

‘There is nothing natural about that smell. In fact,
I would go so far as to call it supernatural. Out of this world. And I thought we agreed that the mobile-home facilities would be exclusively utilised for the act of micturation,' said the tall, pompous man.

‘Eh?'

‘No pooing in the caravan toilet.'

Dirk raised his head so he could see the two men.

‘Sorry, Arthur, it was that curry I had last night.'

‘Much as I would dearly love to stand here discussing your bowel movements, we have more pressing duties.'

‘Oh yeah,' said Reg, scratching his head. ‘I'm not sure this is right. I mean cats is one thing . . .'

‘Thank you for your opinion, Reg,' interrupted Arthur. ‘And as fascinating as this lecture on the morality of criminality is no doubt going to be, could you please save it for after we have finished the assigned duties and been remunerated for our efforts.'

‘No, you've lost me again.'

‘Oh, never mind. Come on.'

Dirk ducked. They were not walking towards the warehouse. They were heading for the van.

He looked around desperately, but there was nowhere to hide. He edged round the back of the vehicle and pulled at the doors, but they were locked
shut. The crooks were getting nearer. In a second they would see him. The two men continued bickering, their voices growing louder and louder as the grew closer.

And then he heard a third voice, that of a young girl. ‘Ex . . . excuse me.' She sounded upset. ‘I've lost my mummy and I don't know where I am.'

The two men stopped and turned in their tracks. Dirk looked through the van window. On the other side of the fence, standing on the pavement, rubbing her eyes, was Holly.

The short, fat man walked towards her. ‘Don't cry,' he said.

‘I'm sorry. I just need some money, so I can phone my mummy,' she continued in what was proving to be an Oscar-winning performance.

‘I don't think we can help,' said the taller man coldly.

‘Oh, don't be so mean. She's just a little girl, all alone,' said the other. To Holly he said, ‘I'll get you some money, little girl. Hold on.' And he disappeared into the caravan.

‘Stay here,' added Arthur, following Reg in.

‘Go,' said Holly in an urgent whisper.

Dirk emerged from behind the van.

‘Quick,' she said. ‘They'll be out any second.'

‘Thanks,' said Dirk. ‘Looks like I owe you again. Now you get out of here too. Those two may be stupid, but they're still dangerous.'

‘Mrs Klingerflim gave me a lift,' said Holly. ‘You don't know danger till you've been in a car with that woman. Go!'

Dirk nodded, braced himself and ran at the warehouse door, which easily gave way. He shut the door behind him and looked around at the four large wooden crates with the words
DO NOT OPEN
written on the outside. Dirk noticed that there were air holes in them.