by Alex Cliff
‘Come on!’ Finlay said, marching
through the gates and taking the path the arrow pointed to.
‘Fin!’ Max exclaimed. ‘We can’t just walk in.’
‘Why not?’ Finlay said, striding on down the path.
Max ran after him. ‘What if someone sees us?’
‘So what? I’m not scared! We just tell them we’re looking for three golden apples,’ Finlay replied.
Max dragged him off the path, pulling him behind a nearby bush. ‘Are you mad? We can’t say stuff like that! We have to be careful.’ He glanced round. ‘Look, if this Brownies’ thing is this way, towards the tennis courts, why don’t we check out the grounds at the back of the house? There’ll be less people to spot us there.’
Finlay shrugged. ‘One way’s as good as the other, I guess!’ He turned and marched in the opposite direction.
Max hastened after him, his heart sinking. Maybe Hercules was right. Maybe Finlay having extra courage wasn’t such a good idea!
The Manor House was in the middle of being repaired. It was covered in scaffolding and was separated from the garden by yellow plastic tape with ‘Unsafe, Keep Out’ written all along it.
Finlay ducked underneath the tape. Max checked that no one was watching and quickly followed him.
They hurried round the back of the house. The gardens here were completely deserted. The only sounds to break the silence were the chirrup of birds and the faint sound of musical instruments floating on the breeze from the direction of the tennis courts.
As Finlay and Max reached the back of the house, they saw a separate walled garden. There was a moss-covered archway that led into it. Just through the entrance was a basin of water supporting a tall stone pillar with a
bronze statue of a cherub standing on top – a fountain. The cherub was facing into the garden and blowing out through a trumpet.
‘Is that the cere-thingy that Juno was talking about?’ asked Finlay, going over to the cherub.
Max looked at the podgy baby with wings. ‘Does that look like a three-headed dog to you?’
‘Hmmm. Guess not.’ Finlay walked past the cherub and into the garden. On the left-hand side the walls were crumbling, while on the other three sides the walls were fully repaired, high and sheer. Around the fountain the ground was covered with gravel, but in the centre of the garden was a large square of grass.
‘Hey! Now that’s more like it!’ Finlay exclaimed, pointing at a dramatic stone statue on the grass. It was a statue of the most terrifying creature that Max had ever seen and that included river monsters, giant boars and sabre-toothed lions!
‘Cool!’ said Finlay, going over to investigate the gigantic three-headed beast. Its stone coat was carved to look wild and matted; it had a huge, scaly dragon’s tail and its enormous dog paws had long, sharp nails that stretched out at wicked angles. But most terrifying of all were its heads. The first head was lowered almost to the ground. It looked to the side with an expression of pure evil. Its lip curled, and its eyes seemed to scour the courtyard, looking for something to devour. The second head was pointing straight up, clearly howling like a werewolf baying at the moon. The third head was stretching out of the courtyard, towards the rest of the gardens. Every tooth was clearly visible, gleaming in a wide death-bite that looked as if it could crush a person in an instant.
Max shivered and looked away, having to remind himself that it was just a statue. At the far end of the walled garden, behind the grassy square, was a shed with double doors that were wide open. He stared. At the back of the shed was a long stone bench, and arranged along it were four small stone pedestals, each topped with a shining golden apple. He could hardy believe his eyes. ‘Finlay! Look, there are the apples!’ he exclaimed, pointing at the shed. ‘We’ve found them already!’
‘This has to be the easiest task ever,’ Fin said in delight. ‘Come on, let’s go and get the three we need!’
Finlay left the statue and hurried on to the flagstoned path that led around the grassy square to the shed. But as his foot touched the third flagstone, the ground beneath him seemed to drop a bit, there was a grinding noise and before Finlay knew what was happening he and Max were being soaked with water.
‘What’s going on?’ spluttered Finlay.
‘It’s coming from the cherub!’ Max gasped.
A jet of water was flying out of the cherub’s trumpet straight up into the air. It rained down from the sky, drenching the two boys and everything around them – the flagstones, the grass and the stone statue…
‘It’s a trick fountain!’ Finlay exclaimed, jumping off the stone and pulling Max with him. ‘We must have started it off by treading on this flagstone!’ As they jumped off the flagstone the fountain stopped. The last few water droplets rained down around them.
Suddenly there was the violent sound of stone breaking.
They swung round.
A spiderweb of cracks had begun to run down the stone statue of Cerberus from its three heads to its great clawed feet.
Max and Finlay gasped as matted grey fur began to burst through the splits in the stone.
‘It’s coming to life!’ Fin yelled.
As he spoke, all three of the beast’s heads moved; the stone crumbling away to reveal yellow teeth, slavering jaws and burning coal-black eyes that fixed on the boys like lasers. The monster took a pace towards them, all its heads growling together.
‘Let’s get out of here!’ Max shouted.
He began to run. It took him a few seconds to realize that Finlay wasn’t with him. Max swung round. To his horror, Finlay was still standing by the grassy square, facing up to the three-headed mutant dog. ‘You wanna fight? I’ll give you a fight!’ he was shouting. ‘You’re nothing but an overgrown puppy!’
‘Fin!’ Max yelled in horror.
The dog paused for a second, streaming thick drool from its savage jaws. Then it crouched low and prepared to spring…
CHAPTER FOUR
TOMB RAIDER!
Max didn’t stop to think twice. Racing to the square, he grabbed Finlay and yanked him away just as the monster sprang. It landed right where Finlay had been standing. Finlay yelled and struggled but Max didn’t give up. He dragged Finlay backwards towards the fountain. The dog threw back its heads and howled. Max saw its razor-sharp teeth and fear ran like ice down his spine. That thing was going to get them! This was it! This was the end!
He shut his eyes as the dog leapt forwards, expecting to feel teeth tearing into his flesh at any moment.
Clank! The metallic sound was followed by a snarl of frustration.
Max’s eyes flew open. The dog had been pulled up short by the chains round its necks. It bayed in rage. The chains rattled and clanked, attached to huge metal rings set into the statue’s plinth. They creaked ominously, but for now they held firm.
‘Let me go! I’ll get it! Just let me at it!’ Fin shouted, struggling to get free.
‘Stop it, Finlay!’ Max exclaimed. ‘Who d’you think you are? Scrappy Doo?
That thing’s much too big for you to fight!’
But Finlay continued to struggle. ‘Let me at it!’
Seeing an empty plant pot standing near the fountain, Max let go of Finlay
with one arm, picked up the pot, swished it through the water in the stone dish under the fountain and emptied it straight over Finlay’s head.
‘W-what are you doing?’ Finlay spluttered as the water dripped down his face.
Cerberus barked and growled as he strained at his metal chains, his dragon’s tail thrashing from side to side, the cruel spikes along his back bristling.
Max grabbed Finlay’s shoulders and looked him in the face. ‘You’re mental, Finlay. You can’t fight that thing. Not without weapons or super-strength or something. It’ll eat you!’
Finlay hesitated and then wiped his face on his T-shirt. ‘You might be right,’ he admitted. The shock of the water seemed to have calmed him down slightly. ‘It is really big.’
; ‘It’s huge!’ Max said, above the sound of the dog’s ferocious growling. A thought suddenly struck him. ‘And anyway we don’t need to fight it. That’s not part of the task, we just need to get round it to get to the apples.’
Finlay frowned. ‘Yeah, I suppose Juno never actually said we had to fight it.’
Max glanced at the straining chains. They were quite rusty. How much longer would they stand up to Cerberus throwing himself about? And if the monster broke free it wasn’t just him and Finlay it might attack. What about the Brownies on the tennis courts or what about if it went into the village? Max gulped. They had to get the apples and get back to the castle. The sooner they completed the task, the sooner Cerberus would turn back to stone and everyone would be safe.
‘We need to get round it somehow,’ he said quickly. Cerberus could reach all the way to the walls at the left and right of the garden, although the chains were too short for him to reach the shed or to the fountain by the entrance. ‘There’s no way we’ll be able to run past it; it’ll get us in an instant. Maybe we should try and distract it or something…’ Max broke off, an idea suddenly tugging at the back of his mind. He knew something about Cerberus. As he tried to remember the stories he’d read with his dad, he suddenly realized that Finlay was
heading towards the crumbling left-hand wall.
‘Fin, what are you doing?’ Max asked. ‘Where are you going?’
Finlay swung round. ‘We might not be able to run past it on the ground but we can if we go along that wall!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’m going to climb up on top of it, run along and get to the shed at the back of the garden.’
‘You can’t do that!’ Max looked at the disintegrating wall. ‘It’s much too dangerous!’
‘I’ll be OK,’ Finlay said confidently. ‘It’ll be like being in Tomb Raider!’
‘Tomb Raider!’ Max echoed, thinking of the computer game he had at home. ‘But you’re not Lara Croft, Fin! And you haven’t got unlimited lives. You’ve only got one!’
‘One life’s all I need!’ Finlay grinned and he set off at a run, leaping over the fourth flagstone in a single bound.
‘Fin! Come back!’ Max yelled. But Finlay was sprinting towards the wall.
With a horrible howl, the dog bounded towards him, all six eyes narrowed, three muzzles foaming with spit. Just in time, Finlay found his first foothold and propelled himself up the wall. The dog’s snapping teeth missed his ankle by millimetres, and before it could try again Finlay started scaling the stone, digging his fingertips into the tiniest cracks in the mortar and grabbing sticking-out bricks without a moment’s thought. His fingers caught the top of the wall and he heaved himself up into a crouching position.
But Cerberus wasn’t about to give up. The beast got ready to spring.
‘Watch your legs, Finlay!’ Max yelled.
Finlay straightened up. ‘Come on, then, Fido!’ he yelled down to it. ‘Catch me if you can!’
Muscles rippled in the beast’s legs as it leapt up towards the top of the wall. To Max’s horror, Finlay started clowning around, balancing on one leg as three sets of jaws hurtled up towards him, ready to tear him to pieces. But with centimetres to spare before it crushed him, Cerberus was stopped short by his chains. His heads snapped back, jaws clapping shut again, and he fell back, furious.
‘Yay! Look at me!’ Finlay called, waving at Max. But as he did so, a loose stone started to give way under his feet. Max caught his breath, but Finlay just leapt forward bravely on to a more secure piece of wall. ‘Here I go – check this out!’
He began running along the top of the wall.
Barking furiously, Cerberus bounded alongside him. Finlay just kept on running. Reaching a piece where the
wall had crumbled almost completely away he leapt into the air.
‘Finlay!’ Max yelled.
But Finlay managed to land on the other side of the gap. ‘Whoa!’ he gasped, almost falling but just managing to stop himself.
Cerberus howled in frustration and leapt again. The chains clanked and the metal rings in the ground creaked as the dog threw its immense body weight forward.
‘Can’t get me!’ Finlay taunted it, continuing along the wall. When he was almost at the end of the garden, Finlay turned round and yelled at Max, ‘How cool am I?’
But he spoke too soon. As the words left his mouth, the brickwork beneath him suddenly collapsed.
‘Argh!’ Finlay yelled. His arms windmilled wildly as he began to fall.
Howling with triumph, gnashing his yellow, foam-flecked teeth, Cerberus lunged towards him, ready for the kill…
CHAPTER FIVE
MAX’S PLAN
As Finlay fell he grabbed the top of the remaining wall with his hands. He hung on by his fingertips. For a moment, Max thought Finlay was going to lose his grip and slip straight into the dog’s open jaws but then with a tremendous kick, Finlay managed to get his chest up on to the wall. He threw his leg over the stones and pulled himself up just as the dog sprang.
‘Hey!’ he called cheerfully to Max, as Cerberus fell back with a frustrated howl. ‘That was close!’
Max’s heart was pounding. ‘You’re crazy!’
‘Don’t worry,’ Finlay said, jumping into a crouch and then standing up. ‘I’m almost there.’ He ran along the last bit of wall and leapt down just out of Cerberus’s reach.
Cerberus ran to the end of his chains, barking savagely.
‘Aw, poor little doggy,’ Finlay teased it. ‘Now for the apples!’ he called to Max. ‘The sooner I get back with them the better.’
‘But how are you going to get back now the wall’s fallen down?’ Max pointed out, looking at the huge gap in the wall. It looked like a giant had taken a massive bite out of the top of it
– leaving behind a ragged gap easily four metres across. ‘You can’t jump that, and if you climb down, Cerberus will eat you!’
Finlay looked and, for a moment, doubt flickered through his eyes. But then he lifted his chin. ‘I can try to jump it,’ he called back bravely.
‘It’s much too far!’ Max exclaimed. His mind raced. ‘We’ll have to distract Cerberus, so you can get past him or something…’ Suddenly the thought that had been bugging Max exploded into his mind. ‘Of course!’ he exclaimed. ‘I remember now. In the story about Cerberus, Orpheus had to get past him and to do it he put him to sleep by playing music. Why don’t we –’
‘Later, Max,’ Finlay interrupted impatiently. ‘I’m going to get those apples!’
‘But, Fin…’ However, Finlay was already charging towards the shed at the back of the garden. Max hesitated for a moment and then turned and ran out of the walled garden, heading for the tennis courts.
Finlay ran to the workbench where the four golden apples were waiting. They glittered brightly. As he reached them he saw that each had a picture carved into its shining golden surface. The first apple had a picture of the wind blowing from a cloud, the second had a stream of water, the third had a flame and the fourth had a picture of a stone.
‘Air, water, fire and earth,’ Finlay muttered, looking at the symbols on the apples. ‘And we have to choose one to leave. But which one?’ He pulled the
paper with the riddle on out of his pocket, ripped it open and read it out loud:
‘Air and water, fire and earth
Were present at the goddess birth.
Three must you choose but take good care;
Choose wrong and you’ll face deep despair.
All four are strong, one stands alone,
Fire dries water, which wears out stone,
Which comes from earth, which smothers air.
The answer’s in the grassy square.
If you choose wrongly, mark these words:
Two elements may break a third.
The water from the cherub’s breath
Can split the stone and save from death.
Superhero, do you now dare
Choose water, fire, earth or air?’
&nb
sp; Finlay felt a wave of confusion. What did it mean? He could see that there was one apple for air, one for earth, one for water and one for fire. He had to leave one apple and take the other three. But how did he know which was the wrong apple?
Choose wrong and you’ll face deep despair…
He didn’t like the sound of that at all!
He read through the riddle again. All the stuff about water, fire, earth and air. What was it going on about?
‘Come on,’ he muttered in frustration to himself. ‘You can work this out!’ But though he read it through several more times, it was no use. He couldn’t find any answers in the riddle at all.
I need Max, he thought. He’s good at this sort of stuff!
He hurried to the door of the shed.
‘Max!’ he shouted.
The three-headed monster lunged at him, long ribbons of drool dripping
from its teeth. Finlay jumped out of its way.
‘Max!’ he yelled again. But the courtyard was empty. He looked all about him in astonishment. Max had gone!
Almost there, Max thought as he crawled commando-style through the rhododendron bushes. He was nearly at the edge of the grass tennis courts where the Brownies were having their music and craft day.
His plan buzzed through his head. In the story he’d read with his dad, Orpheus, a kind of superhero, had managed to put Cerberus to sleep by playing a harp to him. Maybe he and Finlay could do the same. They didn’t have a harp. But maybe any musical instrument would do.
The Brownies must have lots of instruments if they’re having a music day! Max thought. Reaching the edge of the bushes, he peered out.
On the far side of the tennis courts, a group of girls dressed in brown and yellow uniforms were painting pictures. Nearer to Max, a second group of girls were playing music with a jolly-looking woman.
There was a large plastic crate labelled Instruments just near the edge of the courts. Max could see a recorder, a drum and a small electronic keyboard sticking out of the top. His heart leapt. If he could just get one of those…
