The Monster of Shiversands Cove (7 page)

 

 

Quaking, we got our equipment and scurried across the bridge, looking left, looking right. Looking for that long neck, that swishing tail, those goggling eyes.

But there was no sign of it.

We could hear faint noises coming from Lightsands Bay, the sounds of music and laughter, but here there was only silence and the sounds of the sea.

We scrambled off the bridge, and on to Tide Island, then headed for the creek. We baited the water and stood there, waiting: me clutching the lasso, Pearl clutching the netting.

I gulped. I couldn't help it. What had seemed like a good plan in daylight did
not
seem such a good plan right now: not here, all on our own. Questions were barging about in my brain. Questions I did
not
want to think about.

Questions like – if a boy is good at lassoing a picnic chair, will he also be good at lassoing a sea monster?

And – how much
harder
is it to lasso a moving sea monster than a non-moving picnic chair?

And – is the height of a sea monster's head a height that a lasso will actually reach?

And – is a bit of old fishing net enough to distract a sea monster while a boy crouches to tie a lasso to a big metal ring?

And – if a sea monster is
not
distracted, what will it do to a crouching boy?

Question after question after question.

But there was one question I
didn't
ask myself. The sea monster, is it the
only
monster around?

* * *

Still
we stood there, quaking more and more.

‘Where is it?' said Pearl, teeth clacking. ‘Where?'

‘Could be anywhere,' I said, knees knocking. ‘Out at sea, behind the island, anywhere.'

‘This
is
going to work, isn't it?' Pearl said, with a whimper.

‘It has to,' I said. Then I gulped. ‘And it
will
.'

But where was the sea monster? Where? The sun was almost gone now. Sinking right below the horizon.

Then, I heard fluttering behind me. Oh
no
! Not Harry, not
now
.

But here he was, a small flying nuisance. He was sniffing at me, sniffing all around me, and making little throaty growling noises: strange, agitated noises.

I swiped at him. This was no time for a fairy to start bothering me. I had a sea monster to sort out. I scanned left and right. Where was it?
Where
?

Now Harry was growling in my ear and sniffing at it. Sniffing and sniffing, worse than
ever
. I swiped him away with the back of my hand.

And then, far out at sea, I saw something.

‘There,' I said, peering through the darkness. ‘Is that it? That big shape? Far away?'

It was hard to tell. There wasn't enough light to be sure. But just then, the moon began to rise. Slowly, slowly, up in the sky.

A huge moon.

A bright moon.

A
full
moon.

And
that
was when I heard howling. Coming from right behind me.

 

Chapter Eleven

Monster Attack

The howling, what was it?

I turned and gaped.

It was Harry, Harry the fairy. His small fairy head was thrown right back as he howled up at the huge bright moon.

A chill went right through me, right from the top of my head to the ends of my toes. Something was happening to Harry. He was starting to grow, to grow taller, then taller still.

And Harry was growing hairier: much, much hairier. Hairs were sprouting all over him. Thick hairs, dark hairs were growing all over his arms, his legs, his face, even all over his wings. Everywhere.

And still he howled. Howled and howled up at the huge moon.

That huge
full
moon.

 

 

‘Run,' I said to Pearl, grabbing her hand. ‘RUN!'

We ran to the only place I could think of, the only building on Tide Island: Mildred Marchwold's writing room. We wrenched the door open, hurled ourselves inside, slammed the door shut and bolted it. Then we both stared out of the window, shocked and terrified. What was happening? How could Harry the fairy have turned into
that
? That towering shadow, silhouetted against the huge white moon. How?

He now had the snarling face of a . . . what . . . a
wolf
? He had huge hairy legs and huge hairy arms. His huge hairy wings were spread out and flapping.

I cowered and so did Pearl, as Harry – or whatever it was that Harry had become – raised his huge hairy face to the sky and howled.

Howl after howl after howl. Bloodcurdling howls. Spine-tingling howls. Howls that made my knees knock, my hair stand on end. Howls that sent shivers right through me.

‘What is it? What is he?' said Pearl, quivering. ‘A monster? But what sort? What sort of monster is
that
?'

‘I don't know,' I said. ‘A mix? Some horrible mix of werewolf and fairy? A . . . a
werefairy
? Is that what he is?'

‘But . . . we had plans for a sea monster,' said Pearl, panicking more. ‘We had no plans for a werefairy, no plans at all.'

She was clutching my arm now and I clutched back.

What could we do? Stay here and hide? Wait until the full moon was gone and he was Harry again?

No.

That monster, that werefairy, it was part wolf and wolves can smell things miles away. He'd smell us out.

And he did, right then.

His head went up and he sniffed the air. Then he turned and stared. He gave a snarl and up he came, leaping and bounding over the rocks, a huge dark shadow on huge hairy paws.

Pearl shrieked and backed away across the room. So did I. Because now the werefairy was here, staring straight in through the window, vicious red eyes glowing bright as flames. He bared his huge sharp fangs, fangs made for ripping, made for tearing. He sniffed with his huge hairy nose,
licked his lips with a slobbering tongue and then, he was gone.

‘Where is he?' said Pearl, her voice quivering. ‘Where?'

‘I don't know,' I said. ‘I just don't know.'

But then we found out.

Thud
 
. . . Thud
 
. . . Thud
 
. . .

The werefairy was outside the door.

* * *

We stood there, listening to the noises, the loud grunting noises, the threatening noises, the hungry noises, coming from outside, as the werefairy put his shoulder to the door.

A
thud
 . . . then a pause. A
thud
 . . . then a pause.

Something happened then, to me. Something changed, because I knew this: that door was
not
built to keep out a werefairy.

I looked at Pearl and I saw, by the furious light in her eye, that the same thing had happened to her.

‘So, we can wait . . .' I said.

Pearl looked at me and nodded. ‘Or we can DO something,' she said.

And we did.

It took us seconds to get into position. Pearl stood by the door, hand on the bolt. I stood to one side, up on the chair, the big heavy typewriter clutched in my arms.

We listened to the werefairy outside the door.

A
thud
 . . . then a pause. A
thud
. . . then a pause.

A
thud
 . . . and Pearl timed it perfectly. She unbolted the door and flung it wide open just as the werefairy's shoulder was thudding against it.

In lurched the werefairy, tottering and caught by surprise, all off balance. I was waiting.

I raised the typewriter as high as I could, then brought it crashing down on his huge werefairy head. I hoped I'd knock him out and make him keel over, make him fall to the ground, unconscious.

I didn't.

The werefairy yowled. He yelped. He staggered. He clutched his head. He roared in pain. But he did
not
keel over.

Still, we ran for it. Back down the cliff path, over the rocks and towards the bridge. But two kids on foot can
not
outrun a flying werefairy. We heard the flap of huge wings behind us and the snarls of a werefairy with a
very
sore head.

Then he landed, blocking our path: a huge hairy werefairy, much taller than Dad, sniffing and snarling and licking his lips.

We cowered up there on the rocks. Water was behind us and below us. The werefairy was ahead. Nothing could save us now.

Nothing
.

 

Chapter Twelve

The Chase

I will never forget what happened next.
Never
.

I cowered on the rocks, Pearl cowering beside me. Then, far out in Shiversands Cove, we heard a splash: the huge splash of a sea monster leaping out of the water.

Across the cove, the sea monster came surging. It surged towards the rocks, towards me, towards Pearl . . . towards the werefairy.

Then, right by the rocks, the sea monster reared up. It towered above us. The huge frill shot out and stood up, all around its head. Its long snout started snapping open and shut, open and shut. Then:

SMACK!

Down went its huge tailfin. Up and down, up and down, smacking flat on the water. Drenching me, drenching Pearl, with huge showers of spray . . . and drenching the werefairy.

Head to foot, that huge hairy werefairy was
soaked
. He was soaked from the top of his huge hairy head to the ends of his huge hairy paws. His hair was plastered flat again his huge werefairy body. He was dripping, he was bedraggled, his wings were waterlogged and drooping.

And the werefairy was
not
happy. He snarled at the sea monster. He growled and he raged. Then, he started shaking. Shaking and shaking and shaking. Shaking like Bagel did after a swim in the river, shaking himself dry.

I knew. I just knew. That now, this moment, while he was shaking,
this
was our chance to escape. We
had
to take it.

And there was only one way I could think of.

‘Jump,' I said to Pearl. ‘JUMP!'

And we did, both of us. We jumped straight down off the rocks and on to the sea monster's back.

* * *

The sea monster shot off, with us both clinging on, arms clasped round its slippery fishy neck. It plunged away from Tide Island, powering through the water, waves of spray swooshing either side of it.

Faster and faster and faster it swam.

But not fast enough.

We heard a snarl behind us. The snarl of a werefairy, hot on the sea monster's tail.

I clung on, panicking. How long could we hang on? Who would tire first, a sea monster or a werefairy? And where was the sea monster going?

The sea monster swerved round Tide Island, straight into Lightsands Bay.

Then – disaster.

I heard the toot of a horn and the chug of an engine. I heard music. I heard laughter. Then, I saw it: a pleasure boat, a big party boat, full of lights and full of people.

And we were heading straight for it.

The sea monster swerved. It skidded right, skidded left and shuddered to a halt. I lost my grip and so did Pearl. Both of us were thrown off its back and straight up in the air . . .. which is where the werefairy swooped.

He swooped towards me as I hurtled skywards. Then, he grabbed me in his huge hairy paws. Behind me, below me, I heard a big splash: the splash of Pearl crash landing in the water. But there was no crash landing for me. I was airborne and dangling, trapped in the paws of a huge hairy werefairy.

Higher and higher we flew, above the water. I felt helpless. I felt terrified. I felt very,
very
alone.

Then, I heard something. The big town clock of Lightsands Bay was beginning to strike. Once, twice . . . seven times. And a cheer went up.

I knew what that cheer was for. The fireworks were about to begin. The fireworks.
Fireworks
 . . .

Thoughts stampeded through my head: thoughts about fireworks and thoughts about Rory's dog Bagel. I remembered how Bagel hated fireworks, how he had to be shut in. How he howled and panicked. How he went crazy at the sounds and the lights. How
all
dogs did.