Superpowers (3 page)

‘Can you see anything?' Max shouted.

‘Yeah!' Finlay shouted back. He swung
himself over the ledge and began to climb down the tower as quickly as he could. ‘The bulls are in one of the fields by the woods, Max! Come on! They're going to break the fence down! We've got to be as quick as we can!'

‘So what did the bulls look like?' Max gasped as they jumped on their bikes.

‘Big.' Finlay thought of the bull that was attacking the fence with its pointed horns and red eyes. ‘And very,
very
scary!' He began to cycle down the hill. ‘They're in one of the fields over this way,' he said, turning on to a track between two fields. ‘One of the bulls was destroying the
fence. If he breaks out, all the bulls will be free!'

‘How are we going to stop them?' Max said. ‘We haven't got anything to use. No weapons. Nothing. Fin! One bull would be bad enough. How are we ever going to deal with twenty?'

But for once even Finlay was out of ideas. ‘I don't know,' he panted. ‘We'll think of something though. We have to!'

Reaching the end of the path they heard the sound of fierce bellows and the stamping of hooves. They swung on to another farm track and then both skidded to a halt. At the end of the track was a field. It was full of twenty enormous black bulls.

‘Oh, pants,' Max breathed, staring at the bulls.

Finlay felt his stomach somersault. The bulls had been terrifying enough when he'd seen them from the top of the tower, but to see them this close was a million times worse. They were huge! Their long
horns ended in deadly sharp points. The muscles under their black coats rippled. Their red eyes glittered as they stamped the ground and tossed their heads. The biggest bull gave a loud bellow and charged at the fence again.

‘Argh!' the two boys yelled as they leapt back in alarm. The bull's tank-like chest crashed into the wooden planks.

The horizontal slats gave a loud creak as the wood cracked slightly, but it held firm. The bull shook its head and walked back, preparing to charge again.

‘It's going to break if he charges again!' Max said in alarm.

Finlay made a decision. He had the superpower. It was up to him to do something. Maybe if he caused a distraction…He raced towards the
fence, waving his arms. The big bull stared at him with its vicious red eyes. ‘Come and get me, then!' Finlay yelled at it.

‘No!' Max gasped as Finlay grabbed the top of the fence and vaulted over. He landed lightly in the field. Two bulls, one on either side of him, lowered their heads and charged straight at him.

The ground shook with the thunder of their hooves.
Run!
Finlay's mind screamed at him as the bulls bore down on him. But he didn't. He held his ground. They got closer and closer. His heart felt as if it was about to leap out of his chest.

Now!
he thought. And at the very last second, just as the bulls' horns were sweeping down through the air towards
him, Finlay put one foot on to the fence behind him and sprang straight up into the air, somersaulting into the field and out of their reach. There was no way the bulls could stop in time. They crashed into each other, bellowing furiously as their horns got tangled up.

OK,
now
run
! Finlay thought.

He began to race through the herd, weaving and ducking and jumping like a character in a computer game.

As two other bulls galloped towards him, Finlay dodged out of the way, and grabbed the horns of a third bull. He swung himself up on to its broad black back. The bull snorted angrily and bucked. But Finlay had already leapt agilely through the air and landed perfectly on the back of the next bull
along. The bull whose back he had stood on first, charged the second in its attempt to attack Finlay, but he simply leapt to the back of the next bull along and left the two furious beasts to it.

He sprang from back to back. The bulls went berserk. They didn't seem very clever and they charged wildly at each other in their attempts to get to him. Soon the field was echoing with bellows of pain and fury.

‘Fin! Get out of there!' Max felt sick. If Finlay slipped and fell, then the bulls would gore or trample him. To his horror, he saw the biggest bull – the one who had been attacking the fence – fix its vicious eyes on Finlay. A bellow burst out of it and it charged. The other bulls scattered. None of them seemed to want to get in this bull's way.

It must be the leading bull,
Max realized, remembering what he'd read about bulls the night before on the Internet.

‘Fin! Watch out!' he shouted as the
leader bull lowered its head and galloped faster.

Seeing it approaching, Finlay leapt once more and this time grabbed an overhanging branch of a nearby tree. His hands caught the branch firmly and he swung himself up.

The enormous leader bull stopped by the tree and glared up at him. Pawing the ground with its hoof and snorting, its mean eyes glowed red.

‘Can't get me, you great big brainless beef burger!' Finlay taunted it.

The branch he was sitting on suddenly made an alarming creaking noise.

Max gasped. A large crack splintered through the branch. It started to bend. It was going to break.

‘No!' Max shouted as, with a creaking, cracking noise, the branch snapped away from the tree.

With a yell of alarm, Finlay began to fall…

Finlay felt the superpower tingle through him as he fell through the air. He flung himself forward on to the grass in a smooth roll and jumped effortlessly to his feet. The only problem was that he found himself standing just a few metres away from the bull! He stared straight into its mean red eyes. It lowered its head to charge again.

Finlay instantly sprinted away, dodging and ducking through the other bulls. They scattered. Suddenly there was nothing ahead of him except an empty green field; and nothing behind him

except a crazed bull seconds away from spearing him on its horns.
What can I do?
Finlay thought. The answer flashed into his mind.
Surprise it!

He threw himself straight at the ground, twisting to one side on his shoulder as he hit the grass and rolled out of the way.

The bull couldn't stop in time to turn and get him, but it swept its horns round as it careered past. Finlay yelled in pain as the bull's left horn caught his side, ripping his T-shirt and leaving a jagged cut. He rolled on the ground, clutching the wound.

The bull came to a stop and lumbered round heavily to face him again. Finlay's blood dribbled down its horn on to its furious face.

‘Move, Fin!' Max yelled. But Finlay was still holding his side in shock.

I've got to do something
, Max thought desperately. He looked round. His eyes fell on the red picnic blanket attached to his bike. Bulls hated red things. He raced over, grabbed the blanket, and scrambled over the fence. ‘Hey, bull! Look at this!' he yelled, trying to distract it by waving the rug.

The bull's eyes flickered to him then back to Finlay, who was slowly standing up.

‘Yeah, over here!' Max shouted, waving the rug at his side like a bullfighter. ‘Look at this lovely red blanket! Come and get it!'

With a snort, the bull charged straight at the blanket. Max had never been more
terrified in his entire life. He whisked the blanket up into the air and the bull charged past.

‘What are you doing? You're not a bullfighter! Get out of here, Max!' yelled Finlay. He started to run, wincing at the pain in his side.

‘Not till you do!' Max retorted.

The bull had turned. It pawed the ground. ‘It must be the leading bull of the herd,' Max said quickly. ‘Look how the others are staying away from it. If we can control it and make it come with us, then maybe the others will follow.'

‘Control it! It doesn't exactly look controllable to me, Max!' exclaimed Finlay as the bull galloped towards them again.

Max threw the blanket up away from him but he was a fraction too late. This time the bull caught the material on its horns. It tossed the blanket into the air and as it landed on the ground the bull
ripped it into shreds. Roaring a bellow of rage, it galloped straight at the boys.