The door closed behind him, and this time he didn’t look back.
Denzel turned the corner at the end of the road, gave his eyes another wipe, then plonked himself down on a low wall.
“How was it?”
“About what you’d expect,” said Denzel.
Smithy nodded. “Oh well,” he said. “Least you’ve still got me.”
Denzel laughed. “True. Still can’t believe you turned down the Spectral Realm, though.”
“Are you nuts?” said Smithy. “Did you see that giant monster thing? It would have eaten me alive!”
They stood up, shoved their hands in their pockets, then strolled in perfect time along the street. “Yeah, but you’d been searching for it for, like, hundreds of years,” Denzel said. “And it was right there.”
Smithy shrugged. “I was only searching because I was alone,” he said. “And I’m not alone any more.”
He turned so he was walking backwards ahead of Denzel. “So, it’s official? We’re really going to be Spectre Collectors?”
“I’m going to be a Spectre Collector,” Denzel corrected. “The Elders said you could help out.”
“Same thing,” said Smithy.
“Not really,” said Denzel.
“More or less,” Smithy insisted.
“Well, less, certainly,” Denzel replied.
Smithy turned and fell into step alongside Denzel again. “OK, here’s one for you,” he said.
“Go on.”
“What would you rather fight, right? Fifty bears, all the size of chickens, or one chicken that’s the size of a bear?”
Denzel laughed. “D’you know, Smithy?” he said, putting his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “That is a very good question.”
Copyright
First published 2017 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row
London SE1 1YW, UK
www.nosycrow.com
ISBN: 978 0 85763 961 5
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text © Barry Hutchison, 2017
Cover and inside illustrations Rob Biddulph, 2017
The right of Barry Hutchison and Rob Biddulph to be identified as the author and illustrator respectively has been asserted.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in the UK by Clays Ltd, St Ives Plc.
Typeset by Tiger Media
Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in
sustainable forests.
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