Mr Gum and the Power Crystals (10 page)

F
or a moment Polly just stood there in disbelief. Alan Taylor? Gone? After all they'd been through together? It couldn't be true.

All those times they'd sat together on Boaster's Hill watching the clouds drift by.

All those times they'd played chess and he
secretly always let Polly win.

The time when that stray cat gobbled up one of his eyes and Polly got him a new one from the kitchen cupboard. How they had laughed!

There would be no more of those times ever again.

‘NOW YOU HAVE LEARNED THE SAME LESSON I DID, LITTLE GIRL!
' laughed Nicholas de
Twinklecakes from outside. ‘
LIFE IS COMPLETELY UNFAIR AND SO YOU MUST GO EVIL! JUST LIKE ME!
'

Polly knew that there was no truth in Nicholas' bitter words. But she was sick with grief and anger and for the first time ever, the Bad Side was risin', risin', risin' up inside her nine-year-old heart.

‘Now hang on just a minute, Bad Side,' said the
Forces of Good inside Polly's heart. ‘Don't you know whose heart this is? It is Polly's and it is pure and brave and true. You can't just come risin', risin', risin' up in here, you know!'

‘Well, bad luck, cos we're a-gonna anyway,' laughed the Bad Side. And without further ado the Bad Side did an enormous wee all over the Forces of Good and kicked them over a cliff.

For the first time ever, the Bad Side of Polly's heart had won the day.

‘I hates everythin' now!' shouted Polly angrily, snatching up the white power crystal. ‘I been a-driven mad by grief an' now I'm a-gonna finish the job of destroyin' this rotten town my very self!'

‘That's it, little girl,' grinned Mr Gum. ‘Come over to the Bad Side.'

‘Yeah,' said Billy William, a load of entrails hanging from his mouth. ‘Be like us!'

‘
YEAH!
' said Nicholas de Twinklecakes. He
couldn't really think of anything else to add so he just did a bit of lightning and impressive hovering about to remind everyone how frightening he was.

The storm smashed and crashed against the windmill, shaking it to the very foundations. But Polly's hand was steady as she prepared to slot the crystal into the Control Panel.

‘I hates it all!' she sobbed. ‘I am gonna do it, I swears it!'

‘That's right,' said Mr Gum. ‘Fill your heart
with evil, like a cruel dustman eating spaghetti in front of starvin' puppies.'

‘I will,' said Polly in a voice she hardly recognised as her own. And slowly, as the storm raged and the light flickered madly inside the room, Polly lowered the white power crystal towards the slot.

But the Forces of Good weren't giving up just yet. For so long as there are laughing children in the world, and hilarious cartoons on
TV, and snowball fights, and brilliant pop music with tremendous choruses, the Forces of Good will rise once more and the Bad Side hasn't got a chance.

And now, as Polly lowered that crystal, her angry hand it did pause. For what was that outrageous racket coming from outside? Was it – could it be – yes, it was!

It was the barking of a massive whopper of a dog and the braying of a magnificent donkey. And
never had two animals' noises sounded so heroic. The incredible sounds flew into Polly's ears and crammed her head with joy and she fell to her knees as the Forces of Good rushed back into her heart where they belonged.

‘You bunch of
CUCUMBERS!'
she yelled at the villains. ‘I'm not
NEVER
gonna go evil, so shut, I said, shut, I said
SHUT RIGHT UP!'

‘Shabba me
WHISKERS!'
Mr Gum shouted furiously. ‘What a bother it all is!'

And before Polly knew what was what, Mr Gum had snatched the white crystal from her grasp and slammed it into the Control Panel as hard as you like.

A flash of pink-white light ripped across the sky as the power of the crystals was unleashed.

The heavens rolled with unnatural thunder and fury.
W
H
I
I
I
I
I
I
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
!
The noise of the machinery rose louder and louder against the crashing storm.

For the first time in centuries, the windmill's sails were about to turn.

‘We done it, we done it!' shouted Mr Gum and Billy, dancing round and round the room, their dirty shadows bobbing crazily over the walls as the lightning flashed outside.

‘Come on, Billy me boy,' cried Mr Gum. ‘Let's go an' drink loads of beer an' watch the town burnin' down on TV! See ya later, Nick-Nacks!'

And with that, the pair of them were gone from the windmill and running off into the dark stormy night, racing away over the flooded fields and meadows like the cowards they were.

Slowly, in a daze, Polly looked around her. The last few minutes had been so confusing. What had happened? Why was she in the windmill? What was it all about? She could hardly even remember her own name. She thought it might be Dorothy Epstein.

‘Polly! Polly! Are you all right?' cried an anxious voice from outside, and stumbling over to the window Polly saw a wonderful sight. It was Friday O'Leary together with Mrs Lovely. They were sitting on a Spanish donkey and yes, Jake the dog was there too, splashing around in the raindrops for the pure fun of it.