A large man with a blank expression stood behind the counter, hands by his sides. Daisy thought she recognised him from her previous visit. Back then he had been so friendly that Daisy had wondered if he was going to leap over the counter and hug them, but this time he just stood there.
‘Hello,’ said Daisy, ‘I’m Daisy, Jackie Malone’s daughter.’ She left a pause for the man to start being friendly in, but he didn’t.
‘Um, I’m just wondering if my mum has been in lately. Have you seen her around?’
The man slowly leant his head forward so that he was looking down at Daisy, and in a robotic voice utterly lacking in emotion, inflection or life, he said, ‘We sell apples. We sell fruit. We sell pineapples.’
‘Yes, but have you seen my mother, Jackie Malone? You know, the archaeologist.’
‘We do not sell archaeologists. We sell fruit,’ said the man tonelessly.
‘O-kay,’ said Daisy, backing away.
‘We sell pears. We sell grapes. We sell sausages,’ he continued in the same expressionless voice. ‘No. That is incorrect. We do not sell sausages. The newsagent sells sausages. No. That is incorrect. I do not know who sells sausages.’
Daisy carefully backed out of the shop. Perhaps the friendly fruit shop man had had a nasty fall and hit his head and had gone a bit odd.
She tried the newsagent next door. It, too, was empty apart from a tall, thin woman with dark curly hair and a tattoo on her arm that read ‘Rats’. It doesn’t really matter which arm, so I’m not going to tell you.
‘Hi,’ said Daisy.
The woman had the same blank expression as the man in the fruit shop.
‘I’m Daisy Malone and I’m looking for my mum, Jackie Malone. Do you know her?’
‘Yes,’ said the woman blankly, staring at a spot above Daisy’s head.
‘Great. Have you seen her about lately?’
‘We sell paper. We sell pens. We sell motorbikes,’ she said robotically, then added, ‘One of those statements is incorrect but I do not know which one.’
Daisy tried three other shops and then a few people on the street. Each time she got the same empty looks and peculiar speech.
‘This is so weird,’ said Daisy. ‘It’s like the whole town has been hypnotised.’
‘Yes, master,’ Ben said tonelessly, looking straight ahead.
Daisy stared down at him. Not Ben as well!
‘Only joking,’ Ben said normally. ‘Who’d bother to hypnotise a dog?’
Daisy wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or angry. ‘Come on,’ she said in a tone that was sort of a mixture between the two. ‘Let’s get to the campsite.’
They headed towards the outskirts of town. There weren’t many people on the streets, but everyone they saw seemed to be going about their business while half asleep. They all walked slowly, talked slowly, drove their cars slowly and, going by the expressions on their faces, thought slowly too. Is that what a life without sunlight does to you? wondered Daisy.
After a few minutes they reached the road that led to the camp. Daisy had just about given up hope of finding anyone who could hold a normal conversation when she saw a thin, pale teenager dressed in a t-shirt and jeans walk onto the large verandah of a house. He pushed his long, lank, dark hair away from his eyes and stood rubbing them and blinking as if he had just emerged into bright sunlight, which, of course, this being Gloomy Gulch, he hadn’t. On his face was an expression of either irritated confusion or confused irritation.
Whichever it was, Daisy was intrigued because everyone else she had seen in Gloomy Gulch so far had had an expression of exactly nothing on their face.
‘Hello,’ called Daisy, crossing to his side of the road all friendly-like.
‘Like, hi, like, whatever,’ the teenager replied in the sort of lazy drawl used by kids who were cool or, more often, by kids who weren’t cool but were trying to pretend that they were.
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ continued Daisy, ‘but have you noticed that everyone around here is acting a bit, well, strange?’
‘Hey, like, I haven’t really noticed anything, ’cos, like, I’ve just spent the last two or three days – or actually, maybe four – smashing orcs and zombies on Doomfinder 4, and it was soooo awesome and I just blitzed level 7 – like, level 7! – so I haven’t really been getting into much talking to people or hanging out or even, like, eating or sleeping or leaving my room. Although now that you mention it, my mum is acting kind of strange. Just, like, staring at things. She’s, like, watching TV, but the TV’s not even on!’
‘But you’re okay?’ asked Daisy.
‘I’m awesome!’ he exclaimed. ‘Level 7 of Doomfinder 4 – like, level 7!’ He punched his fist to the sky. ‘NICE ONE, COOL MACHINE-MAN!!!’
‘Who?’
‘No, I meant me. It’s just, like, a thing I say.’
‘Right. Do you know the archaeological site over the hill?’ Daisy asked, pointing in its direction. The teenager nodded, and then tossed his head to one side to get his hair out of his eyes again. For the duration of his appearance in this story, he will continue to do this about every eight seconds, except when he is asleep.
‘Have you seen anything unusual going towards it, or coming from it?’ asked Daisy.
‘Sorry, man. All I’ve seen recently is, like, them orcs, sister. Getting deee-stroyed. Yes, thank you! But I have kind of noticed that my, like, dad, who works up at that site, you know, as a helper or whatever, hasn’t been around for a few days, and that’s kind of weird because he usually comes home each night to do, like, you know, boring dad stuff.’
‘I’m looking for my mum. Jackie Malone. Do you know her?’
The teenager stared blankly at her and then shook his head. ‘Nah. Sorry.’
‘We’re going up to the archaeological site now,’ said Daisy.
‘Hey, like, can I come with you guys? ’Cos now I’m not playing my game – which, by the way, I am not, like, addicted to at all like my mum says – anyway, it kind of occurs to me that, like, maybe something anti-awesome has happened to my dad, so maybe I should come and, like, look for him.’
Daisy couldn’t think of any reason why not. ‘Sure.’
‘Cool. So I’m, like, Oscar, but dudes call me Prawn ’cos it’s, like, way cooler than Oscar. Don’t you think?’
Daisy didn’t, but she wanted to be polite. ‘It’s a nice name. I’m Daisy and this is Ben.’
They climbed the winding road that led out of town and after a few minutes reached the top of the hill, from where they could see down into another green valley, and to one of the world’s most intriguing recent archaeological discoveries.
Or at least to the ground which covered it. It lay under another hill, covered by rocky outcrops, bushes and trees. Between the two hills Daisy could see the archaeologists’ camp, comprising about a dozen small tents and two larger ones.
‘Oh no,’ said Prawn suddenly, looking back the way they had come. ‘I forgot Henry. Oh, man!’
‘Who’s Henry?’ asked Daisy. ‘Your brother?’
‘Yeah, like I care about my brother. No. Henry’s my phone. Oh, man. Like, man. Like, really, like, man! I need Henry.’ Prawn looked forlorn.
‘I don’t think you get a signal out here anyway.’
‘Yeah, I know, but, like, it’s not about getting a signal, I just like having him nearby. Like, Henry, you know. I’m not addicted or anything – Mum is, like, so wrong about that – I just like to have Henry with me at all times, like, always!’ He swallowed nervously. ‘Except, obviously, like, when I’m in the shower, when he can sit on the sink and just chill.’ Prawn sighed. ‘Oh, man.’
‘Come on,’ said Daisy, heading off down the hill. Prawn hesitated, looking anxiously back over his shoulder, then ahead to Daisy. Finally, he hurried after her.
They lost sight of the camp as the road
wound down the hill through the trees. After a few minutes, Daisy could see the forest give way to a large open area at the bottom of the valley where the camp stood.
Suddenly, two figures stepped out from behind a tree. Daisy gasped. It was Sinclair and Dennis!
‘Hello, young lady,’ said Sinclair.
Daisy froze. Ben growled. Prawn waved and said, ‘Hey, dudes! Wassup?’
Dennis smiled and waved back. ‘Hi there!’
Sinclair shot him an irritated look.
‘Where did you come from?’ asked Daisy, still shocked.
Sinclair stared hard at Daisy. ‘I need to talk to you.’
‘No, you don’t. You just want to get that stone back. You don’t want to talk. You want to take.’
‘I need to explain what’s going on. You are meddling in things that you don’t understand,’ said Sinclair.
‘I don’t understand them much either,’ said Dennis with a smile.
Prawn was looking very confused. ‘Like, what … like … huh?’ he said, which didn’t really help at all, and in fact it was such a useless statement that I almost didn’t bother to write it down.
‘I understand just fine,’ said Daisy. ‘You want the stone because it’s powerful. I don’t know what you want it for, but if you’re sneaking round trying to steal it, then it can’t be anything good.’
Sinclair held his hands out. ‘Just let me explain.’
‘Have you got my mum?’
‘No.’
‘It’s true,’ added Dennis. ‘In fact, we don’t even have our own mums.’
‘Do you know where my mum is?’
‘No,’ replied Sinclair. ‘Daisy,’ he continued soothingly. ‘That’s your name, isn’t it?’ He stared intensely at her.
‘Oh no you don’t,’ said Daisy, looking away. ‘None of that hypnotism thing or whatever it is.’
‘All right,’ said Sinclair, holding up his hands. ‘But at least give me a few minutes to explain exactly what it is you have in your pocket there.’
Daisy’s hand shot to her pocket. How did he know it was there?
‘Then you can decide what to do,’ he went on. ‘That’s reasonable, isn’t it?’
Daisy looked at Ben, who slowly nodded. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Off you go then.’
‘Not here,’ said Sinclair, ‘anyone could see us. When I explain you’ll understand. Come off the track into the forest.’
‘So you can grab me and steal the stone? Yeah, great idea.’ Daisy felt her sarcasm was definitely improving.
‘If you’re worried we’re going to steal it –’
‘You mean steal it again!’
Sinclair sighed. ‘Yes, granted. If you’re worried about that then leave it here with your dog.’
‘Ben comes with me. For protection.’
‘Will he protect me too?’ asked Dennis. ‘I’m a bit scared of forests. And woods. Is this a wood or a forest?’
Sinclair glanced over his shoulder. ‘I don’t want to stand out here in the open much longer.’
Daisy looked around, searching for inspiration. Her eyes found Prawn and she had an idea. ‘Prawn is going to mind the stone.’
‘Huh?’ said Prawn.
Daisy walked over to him. ‘Prawn, this is all very confusing, but can you do me a favour?’
‘Er, what?’
‘I just want to give you a little bag of mine to mind while I go and talk to these men for a bit.’
‘Um, sure. Why not?’
‘Good. And maybe just get off the track so no one can see you.’
Daisy pulled the bag out of her pocket and pressed it into Prawn’s hand.
‘So what is it, then?’ he asked
‘It’s just a stone, but it’s kind of an odd stone so just leave it in the bag and leave the bag in your pocket and leave your hand out of your pocket and everything will be fine.’ Daisy smiled what she hoped was her sweetest smile. ‘Okay?’
Prawn nodded. ‘Sure. Like, whatever.’
‘And if I’m not back in …’ She turned to Sinclair. ‘How long do you need?’
‘Twenty minutes.’
‘If I’m not back in twenty minutes, or you hear me scream or you hear Ben barking, then go back up the hill and then off the track and hide the stone somewhere where no one will find it. Then go home. Okay?’
Prawn looked reluctant. ‘Um …’
‘It’s really important. But we’re going to be back in a few minutes, so it’ll all be fine.’ Daisy patted him on the shoulder.
‘Young man,’ said Sinclair. ‘It really is very important that you don’t put your hand in the bag. And that you stay hidden, off the track. Come this way.’
Sinclair led them into the forest. Once he was out of sight of the track he motioned for Prawn to stop behind a very large tree. Daisy gave Prawn a last smile and then turned to follow Sinclair. Behind her she heard Prawn mutter, ‘Man, I wish Henry was here.’
Chapter 12
A SURPRISING NECK
Ben walked beside Daisy. ‘Are you sure that was a good idea?’ he whispered.
‘We didn’t have too many choices,’ replied Daisy. ‘I didn’t want to bring the stone into the forest with me. At least this means we have to come out again.’
Sinclair led the way through the trees. After a couple of minutes he stopped in a small clearing and sat down. Dennis plonked down next to him. Sinclair motioned for Daisy and Ben to sit opposite them. Daisy hesitated a moment, and then did so.
Sinclair turned to Dennis. ‘Why don’t you tell them?’
Dennis puffed up with pride. ‘Me? Really? Wow! Okay.’ He gathered himself. ‘Here’s the thing.’ He paused dramatically. ‘You two … are aliens.’
This is what Daisy thought: What the heck are you talking about? How could I possibly be an alien? I’m from this planet. I was born here, I grew up here, I’ve never even been to another country, let alone another planet. I look like a human, I am a human, and you’re an idiot.
This is what Daisy said: ‘Huh?’
Sinclair gave Dennis an irritated look. ‘What he meant was, we’re aliens.’
Dennis looked shocked. ‘No we’re not! We’re native Hankaranians. I was born in Hankarania, I grew up in Hankarania and whenever I’m not lost on the other side of the universe like I am now, I live in Hankarania, so I am not an alien. They are!’
Sinclair sighed. ‘I suppose it depends on how you look at it. To us, you two are aliens. But from your point of view, we’re aliens.’
Daisy was again thinking lots of things at the same time, but again the only sound she could manage was, ‘Huh?’
‘I’m a scientist,’ continued Sinclair. ‘From Hankarania. I study the way creatures live, both on my own planet and on other ones. We came here to study your planet’s dominant species.’
‘So what did you find out about us?’ asked Ben, trying to show that even when someone had just told him something extremely astonishing, he could still be witty.
‘Not much, until now. You can talk? We weren’t aware that dogs on this planet could talk.’
‘They can’t, mainly. It’s just me, because I’m very clev–’ Ben shot a sidelong glance at Daisy. ‘Er, well, just because I can. Anyway, enough about me. So what did you find out about the so-called dominant species?’
‘Well,’ said Sinclair, ‘ants are amazing creatures. They –’
‘Wait! Ants? Not us?’ interrupted Daisy.
‘No. Sorry.’
Daisy felt quite offended. ‘Why not us? Why do you think ants are Earth’s dominant species?’
‘Because there’re so many of them,’ said Sinclair enthusiastically, his normally stern expression gone. ‘There are seven billion humans in the world, but about ten billion billion ants. That means that for every human, there are at least a mill
ion ants.’
‘Don’t get him started. He can talk about them for weeks,’ said Dennis.
‘What about us?’ interjected Ben.
‘Dogs?’ Sinclair shook his head. ‘Sorry. Just 500 million of you. For every dog there are fourteen humans.’
‘Rats,’ Ben muttered.
‘About five billion of them. Ten rats for every dog,’ said Sinclair. ‘But back to ants. They’ve been around since you had dinosaurs, they live almost everywhere, they work together in very complex ways and, most importantly, they don’t destroy their environment. They live in harmony with it. And we think …’ He lowered his voice dramatically, ‘… that they may be able to communicate using just their minds!’
‘It’s amazing,’ said Dennis.
‘I know,’ replied Sinclair.
‘No, I mean you. You’re grumpy all the time, but as soon as you start talking about ants you get all excited.’
‘I’m only grumpy because we’re stuck on this planet. Thanks to you.’
‘Wait, wait, wait,’ said Daisy. ‘You’re aliens? And you’re here to study the ants? Of course. I should have guessed. By the way, did I tell you that I’m actually made out of ice-cream and Ben here is a door handle?’
‘I know it sounds odd,’ said Sinclair.
‘Odd!’ exclaimed Daisy. ‘No, it doesn’t sound odd. When you go out for a walk on a clear, sunny day and all of a sudden it clouds over and starts raining, that’s odd. This is beyond odd. This is unbelievable.’
‘I understand that –’ began Sinclair.
Daisy held up her hand. ‘But let’s forget how unbelievable it is. What about the stone? Why do you want it?’
Sinclair looked at Dennis and raised his eyebrows.
Dennis looked at the ground ‘Er, well, you see, I sort of … um … lost our spaceship.’
‘How do you lose a spaceship?’ asked Ben. ‘Aren’t they supposed to be sort of big?’
‘Yes, tell them how you lost it, Dennis,’ said Sinclair through gritted teeth, all the enthusiasm he had shown when talking about the ants now gone.
‘I … er … dropped it in a river,’ said Dennis sheepishly.
‘You dropped a spaceship in a river?’ said Daisy. ‘This is getting really silly now.’
Daisy Malone and the Blue Glowing Stone Page 11
