‘Wrow, Dad, what are you doing?’ Alfie asked. ‘We have to …’
Dad looked up. His eyes were glazed over.
‘I just had to do a pee, Alfie,’ he said. ‘So I stepped out of the tent. Just for a minute or two. To look for a nice pee tree. And when I came back he was gone.’
Alfie scratched his head with surprise. ‘Wrow, what do you mean? Who was gone? We don’t have time for—’
Dad sighed deeply. ‘My statue. The beautiful statue I hacked out of that rock with my hammer and my chisel, with grit, sweat and tears. It walked off. The ungrateful lump of rock. Look for yourself. The tent is empty.’
‘That’s impossible, Dad. Statues can’t walk.’
Dad sighed again. ‘No? Where’s he gone then?’
Alfie shrugged impatiently. ‘Wrow, I don’t know, Dad. Maybe someone stole the statue. But now you have to come with me. Tim and Noura are in danger.’
‘What?’ Dad shook his head. He seemed to be slowly waking up from a dream. ‘Tim and Noura in danger? How? Where are they?’
Quickly, Alfie explained what had happened.
‘Wow,’ Dad said, staring into space. ‘A house full of orphaned werewolves! That’s super cool.’
‘Wrow, not at all,’ Alfie growled. ‘Tim and Noura are being held prisoner in that house.’
That got through to Dad. He jumped up. ‘Then we have no time to lose, Alfie. Show me the way. We’ll go and free Tim and Noura first, and then we’ll look for my statue.’ Dad straightened the kangaroo tea cosy, picked up his hammer and chisel and stuck them in his belt. ‘I’ll hack that house open if I have to! It can’t be that difficult. It will be like opening a big tin of baked beans.’
‘Um, maybe we need more help,’ Alfie growled. ‘Shall we go and get Leo and Grandpa Werewolf?’
Just then they heard the roar of an engine. Branches broke, bushes bent aside, birds screeched and took off from the trees. A double beam of light swept over Dad and Alfie and swiped the tent. Two bright headlights approached through the darkness. Brakes screeched and sand went flying.
Dad and Alfie leapt out of the way in the nick of time. With a bang, the car flattened Dad’s tent and sent the No Entry signs flying in all directions before stopping with a dull thud. The door opened and Mum climbed out.
‘Spit it out! What’s happening?’
31
Upside Down
Dad and Alfie were struck dumb. They looked at Mum, then stared at the flattened tent and the scattered signs.
‘Sorry about your tent, dear, but there’s something wrong. As a mother, I sensed that. That’s why I came here as fast as I could. Well, also partly because Grandpa Werewolf warned me this afternoon. “It’s going to happen tonight,” he said.’
Grandpa Werewolf does know something! thought Alfie. Something we don’t. Maybe that’s why he sent us here in the first place.
‘Sweetheart,’ Dad said. ‘You are absolutely right, as always. It’s a disaster, my beautiful rock is gone and—’
Mum held up a hand to stop him. ‘That’s not what I mean, William. Where are Tim and Noura?’
‘Oh,’ Dad said. ‘Of course, that’s more important. Don’t be frightened, it’s nothing very terrible. A lunatic lady werewolf has got diabolical plans for them.’
Alfie nodded. ‘Wrow, they’re locked up in that big house on the hill.’
‘But I’m going to open it with my tin opener,’ Dad explained. ‘Um, I mean my hammer and chisel.’
Mum didn’t flinch. ‘Come on, get in.’
‘Where are Leo and Grandpa Werewolf?’ Alfie asked.
‘No idea,’ Mum said. ‘They left a while ago. To get some kind of trolley or something. Either way, I haven’t seen them since.’
‘What on earth do they need a trolley for?’ Alfie asked.
‘No idea, son. They were acting a little mysterious.’ Mum smiled. ‘But, of course, werewolves are always mysterious at full moon. You know all about that, Alfie.’ She got into the car and started the engine.
‘Wait a sec,’ Dad said. ‘You can’t actually drive through this forest. There aren’t any roads, just narrow paths and lots of trees. And there are hidden chasms. Plus we have to go up a steep hill. You can’t do that in a car.’
Mum gripped the steering wheel and winked. ‘Want to bet? They didn’t take away my driving licence for nothing.’
‘What?’ Dad cried. ‘Again? When?’
‘Today!’ Mum beamed. ‘Get in and put on your seat belts!’
Alfie jumped into the back seat and the Dentmobile shot forward with a growl, sending sand and dust flying up around the windows.
Alfie filled in Mum on the way. That wasn’t easy with the car jolting and jerking down the path. Alfie bounced up and down on the back seat like a tennis ball and felt like he was in a runaway dodgem car. Fortunately the seat belt was holding him in place.
Mum listened silently to Alfie. The beams of the headlights zigzagged over the undergrowth like searchlights and the trees seemed to step out of the way in fright.
We can’t keep being lucky, thought Alfie. He noticed that Dad had pulled the kangaroo hat down over his eyes. Skidding and sliding from side to side, the car worked its way up the hill. It was a mystery how Mum kept it going.
‘Are we almost there, dear?’ Dad asked from under the kangaroo.
A big tree suddenly loomed up in front of the car, its branches spread like giant arms. Alfie screwed up his eyes and held his breath. The brakes screeched like seagulls. The car seemed to buck, then took off into the air. Alfie felt it tipping. His stomach shot up into his throat and his head banged against the roof.
Then, suddenly, they were motionless.
For a moment no one spoke. The engine had fallen silent too. Alfie felt like his ears were lying flat against his head from terror. The roof of the car was pressing against his head. How could it do that?
Mum spoke first.
‘Here we are. Is this the house?’
Carefully Alfie opened his eyes. He saw that Tim’s mother and father were just as shocked as he was. They too were sitting straight with their heads pressed against the roof of the car. Dad’s kangaroo hat was squashed and Mum’s shoulder bag was lying on the ceiling.
Very strange! thought Alfie.
He looked out of the front window and, for a moment, didn’t understand what he was seeing.
It was incredible! They were right outside the werewolf orphanage. But there was something funny about it. The house was upside down.
32
Tree Root
Alfie stared at the werewolf orphanage with astonishment. What’s going on? he thought. Who turned the house upside down? And what’s the moon doing under it? That’s impossible!
It took a while for him to work it out. It wasn’t the house that was upside down, it was the Dentmobile! So I must be upside down too, thought Alfie. That’s why the roof is pressing against my head so hard! And the seat belt’s the only thing keeping me in place. I’m like a werewolf on a flying trapeze.
Mum and Dad were hanging upside down in their seat belts too.
‘Nice driving, dear,’ Dad squeaked with the seat belt against his throat. ‘You made it to the top of the hill without hitting a single tree. Now we just need to get out of the car.’
‘Easy,’ Mum replied, opening the door, unclicking the seat belt and tumbling sideways out of the car. Alfie slipped out of his belt too and did a forward roll to get out of the car.
‘Help me will you, please, sweethearts,’ Dad called. ‘I’m stuck and the blood is slowly running to my head.’
Chuckling, Mum and Alfie helped him out of the car. He stood up immediately and put the squashed kangaroo back on his head.
‘There, right as rain.’ He wobbled and almost fell over. Mum and Alfie grabbed hold of him.
‘Whoops,’ he said. ‘I’m a little dizzy. It must be from all that hacking away at my statue. A true artist always keeps going till he drops. Grandpa Werewolf said so to
o. ‘Keep hacking,’ he said. ‘Then something will emerge of its own accord.’
Strange, thought Alfie. Behind the scenes, Grandpa Werewolf has been doing a lot of talking. As if he has a secret plan.
He looked at the Dentmobile. The car was lying helplessly on its back like a flipped turtle. The wheels were spinning in the air. Behind the car was the massive, dark werewolf orphanage, without a light showing anywhere. Metal shutters had been lowered in front of the door and all the windows.
‘So Tim and Noura are being held captive in that house by a mad lady werewolf?’ Mum asked.
Alfie nodded. ‘In the icy cellar.’
‘We have to get in,’ Mum said.
‘Wrow, but how? It’s sealed off completely with metal shutters!’
Dad pulled a hammer and chisel out of his belt like a cowboy pulling two revolvers out of his holsters.
‘Leave it to me. My dizzy fit has already passed.’
Suddenly Alfie remembered something. ‘Wrow, wait a minute. Olga said that there was a secret entrance to the cellar. If we can find that, we can—’
Dad wasn’t listening. He strode up to the front door, set the chisel on the metal shutter and swung the hammer. CLANG! It didn’t leave a scratch on the shutter, but the hammer bounced back and hit Dad on the forehead.
‘Ow!’ he roared. The chisel flew out of his hand and landed on his foot.
‘Ouch-ouch-ouch!’ Dad hopped around, holding his forehead with both hands.
‘Watch out, dear,’ Mum called. ‘There’s a …
Dad’s hopping foot got caught on something.
‘Prickle bush.’
Dad toppled forward. ‘Eek!’
Mum and Alfie hurried over to him and helped him out of the bush.
‘Poor dear,’ Mum said, anxiously studying the prickles in Dad’s arms, legs and face. ‘You suddenly look very … prickly.’
Dad nodded. His voice sounded weak. ‘I feel a bit like a cactus.’
Mum very carefully pulled a prickle out of Dad’s eyebrow.
‘Ou-wah!’
Alfie felt sorry for Dad and looked down at the root he’d tripped over. Hey, he thought. That looks like … He bent down and touched the root. Iron! It was an iron handle, sticking up out of the grass. Quickly Alfie scraped away the grass and soil with his claws, uncovering a square wooden lid.
‘Wrow, Dad, Mum, look at this, quick,’ Alfie panted. ‘I’ve found something …’
33
Secret Passage
‘What is it, Alfie?’
Mum hurried over with Dad hobbling along behind her, whimpering as he pulled prickles out of his arms and legs. Alfie pointed at the lid.
‘Wrow, there’s something under this thing here.’ Alfie grabbed the handle and pulled. The lid swung up as if it was weightless and the moon lit up an opening in the ground.
A-ha, this was how Olga was able to get out so easily, thought Alfie. And back in again.
‘Look. This must be the secret passage to the cellar.’
Mum peered into the inky depths. ‘Are you sure, Alfie? It looks very narrow. I’m not sure anyone could fit through there.’
Alfie bent over the opening and felt cold air on his face. ‘Maybe not anyone, but a little werewolf can. Olga crawled through too.’
Mum looked at him anxiously. ‘Are you sure it’s a good idea, son? That passage looks scary.’
‘Yes,’ Dad said. ‘What if you get stuck? Or come out on the other side of the world. In China or somewhere like that. How would we ever get you back? I don’t know my way around China.’
Alfie swallowed. He knew that Tim’s mum and dad loved him a lot. Just as much as they loved Tim.
‘Wrow, I have to, Mum. Tim and Noura are down there with that crazy werewolf. There’s no time to lose.’
Mum gave a deep sigh and rummaged through her shoulder bag. ‘You don’t know where it leads, Alfie. At least take this with you.’ She handed Alfie a thin torch.
‘Wait, wait,’ Dad cried. He picked a prickle out of his lower lip. ‘Ow!’ Then he pulled a penknife out of his tool belt. ‘Here, Alfie. You might need this.’
Alfie gaped at the knife. ‘Wrow. Do you want me to … um … stab Mooma, Dad?’
‘No, of course not. But a penknife might come in handy. You never know. It’s got manicure scissors and everything.’
Alfie nodded hesitantly. ‘Wrow, I don’t think I’ll have time to cut my nails in the passage, Dad, but thanks.’ He put the penknife in his pocket. ‘I’ll be off then.’
‘You be careful, Alfie,’ Mum said. ‘We’ll wait here for you.’
Armed with the torch, Alfie crawled into the passage.
34
A Wereworm
Alfie wriggled down the narrow tunnel on his stomach with the torch clamped between his teeth. A small circle of light slid down in front of him. In his thoughts Alfie saw himself slithering forward. He heard noises that only werewolves can hear. The rustling, scampering and scuttling of little insect feet.
I’m just like a worm, he thought. A wereworm. He struggled on down the tunnel, which seemed to go on for ever. Suddenly a terrible thought occurred to him. What if this tunnel really does come out somewhere completely different? Maybe it goes right under the forest. Under all those trees, rocks and bushes. Maybe it does come out in another country. Or in the sea! Then I’ll get lost or drown or go on for ever. And I’ll never see Tim and Noura again …
Beads of sweat stung his neck. His eyes were watering. He got a queasy feeling in his stomach.
‘Don’t panic, Alfie,’ he whispered. ‘You’re no wimp. You’re a ferocious werewolf. You can’t go back because you can’t turn around. The tunnel is way too narrow. You have to go on.’
‘Hey, Alfie! Are you OK?’
Mum’s voice sounded very far away, but he could understand her perfectly.
‘Wrow, yes, sure!’ he shouted at the top of his voice. ‘It’s going fine, Mum!’
‘Good. Don’t give up, son!’ Dad boomed. ‘At least you’re dry in there. Out here it’s starting to rain.’
Alfie giggled and sighed with relief. All of a sudden he wasn’t scared any more.
Did Grandpa Werewolf know about this tunnel? he wondered. Maybe Grandpa even crept through here once when he was a young werewolf. He had to laugh at the idea of Grandpa as a little werewolf with a hat and a walking stick.
He crawled on further until the tunnel suddenly stopped at a stone wall. There was a hole in it, just big enough for a young werewolf. He shone his torch through it.
From somewhere in the darkness he heard loud snoring. He also heard a strange clicking sound: click-click-click, clack-clack-clack …
He shone the torch around, tracking the beam over the floor of a big room. The freezing icy cellar, he thought. Suddenly the light flickered. Oh, no! Surely the batteries aren’t finished? Alfie shook the torch and the light flicked back on.
Alfie aimed the torch at the ceiling and then at the walls. The cellar was a cave full of black shadows. Spiders crept over the walls. A bat somersaulted through the beam of light.
Alfie moved the torchlight to the middle of the cellar and all at once eight pairs of blinking eyes were staring at him. The strange clicking noise was even louder now. Clack-clack-clack, click-click-click . . .
35
Cutting the Rope
Alfie almost dropped the torch from shock. He could suddenly see everything very clearly, as if he was looking at a big photo. In the middle of the cellar there was a long couch, with Mooma lying back on it on big colourful cushions. She was snoring like three bears.
‘Grrrrrr … ppyyooo, grrrr … ppyyooo …’
Sitting around the couch were the orphan werewolves, Tim and Noura. They blinked and stared anxiously at the torchlight. They looked dazed and drowsy and their teeth were chattering. Click-click-click, clack-clack-clack. Tim and Noura were shivering.
Again the torch flickered.
Uh-oh, I’d better hurry up, thought Al
fie. The batteries really are running out. Quickly he crawled through the hole and into the cellar, where he immediately felt the cold rising up from his feet to his legs. No wonder the orphans’ teeth are chattering like that, he thought.
He tiptoed closer, then held an index finger up to his lips. ‘Shhh!’
They looked at him but didn’t say a word.
‘Psst, Noura, Tim,’ Alfie whispered. ‘I’ve come to rescue you.’ He shone the torch on his face for a second. ‘Wrow, look … It’s me.’
‘Alfie!’ Noura whispered. ‘I couldn’t see who it was.’
‘Great,’ Tim said softly. ‘But we can’t get away. We’re all tied to Mooma.’
Alfie saw ropes around their necks. The ropes were tied to Mooma’s wrists and ankles.
Smart of the old werewolf! thought Alfie.
‘The orphans can’t move a muscle,’ Noura said. ‘And neither can we. If we move, we’ll wake up Mooma.’
Alfie pulled the penknife out of his pocket and opened it. ‘Lucky for us I’ve got a penknife. Good thinking from Dad.’ For a second Alfie aimed the torch at Mooma. Her big werewolf head was leaning back against the backrest. She was still sound asleep. Her massive chest rose up with every snore, then she blew her breath back out with a whistling sound.
‘Grrrr … ppyyooo, grrrr … ppyyooo …’
‘Wrow, the kettle’s boiling.’ Quickly he aimed the torch back at the floor.
‘Hurry, Alfie,’ Noura whispered. ‘Cut us loose before Mooma wakes up.’
Alfie nodded. Very carefully he started to cut the rope connecting Noura and Mooma. It wasn’t easy. The rope was thick and his hairy paw was shaking.
‘I-I’m not that good with a knife,’ he growled softly.
Alfie the Werewolf 6: Werewolf Secrets Page 6
