The Quest of the Warrior Sheep (5 page)

He read it aloud, then wished he hadn't.

DOGS MUST BE CARRIED ON THE ESCALATOR
.

‘Ohmygrass!' Jaycey's legs finally gave way under her.

The last thing a sheep wants to carry is a dog. But looking around, Wills saw no dogs at all. Nobody was carrying one.

‘I think we can ignore the dogs.' he said. ‘But we have to go down.'

‘Onwards then,' said Oxo bravely, and he galloped towards the nearest downward-moving staircase.

‘Charge . . .!'

His front hooves scrabbled frantically on the metal step as they were carried away, leaving his back legs at the top. And those back legs, when they did follow, came too fast and he turned a spectacular somersault before tumbling down the stairs. Humans standing below looked up, saw a bouncing sheep and ran, taking the last few steps three at a time. Oxo fetched up in a heap at the bottom. He grinned dazedly at the other Warriors, gathered anxiously at the top.

‘Easy,' he called.

The others copied the humans instead, stepping cautiously on to the stairs and standing still for the downward journey.

‘Well, if you want to do it the boring way,' said Oxo when they joined him. ‘Where now?'

There were tunnels in all directions, leading away from the cavern they now found themselves in.
They could hear deep rumblings and feel gusts of hot air.

‘Is that you, Sal?' enquired Oxo. ‘Too many cabbages?'

But Sal knew it wasn't her digestion. The wind grew hotter, the rumblings louder. She dropped the Baaton.

‘Lambad,' she breathed fearfully. ‘Lambad the Bad must be here . . .'

‘Actually,' said Wills, studying the sign above one of the tunnels, ‘I think this is the Victoria Line. And that's what we want.'

He led the way into the tunnel. They trotted quickly through and emerged on to a narrow platform with a dark hole at either end. This, Wills thought, with a mixture of fear and excitement, must be The Tube itself. A loud voice boomed somewhere above them.

‘Mind the gap!' it commanded. ‘Mind the gap!'

Jaycey, who was now carrying the Baaton, jumped.

‘Ohmymaaaa!' she gurgled.

‘Spit it out!' said Wills hastily.

She did and all the others gathered protectively around it.

‘You need some help?'

The voice was human, though it sounded strange to the sheep's ears, and the hand placed on Jaycey's neck was gentle.

‘Steady, gal,' said the voice reassuringly. ‘Say, how cute is this, Billie-Jo? Sheep with a mobile phone.'

Jaycey panicked and tried to mouth the Baaton up again but she was clumsy in her haste and it slid across the platform.

The female human called Billie-Jo stooped quickly and picked it up before it fell over the edge.

‘You've got a problem with that, I think,' she said kindly to Jaycey. ‘Give me the map, honey.'

Honey, the male human who had spoken first, was carrying a map in a clear plastic drawstring bag. Billie-Jo took the map from the plastic bag, dropped the Baaton in and pulled the drawstring to close it. Then she hung it around Jaycey's neck.

‘There,' she said. ‘That should make life a whole lot easier.'

A delighted Wills bleated his thanks, but Jaycey scowled and tossed her head.

‘This is
so
not a handbag,' she muttered angrily. ‘I
wanted
a handbag . . .'

‘But, Jaycey,' explained Wills, ‘handbags are so last year. I saw it in Ida's magazine. It's neck bags now.'

‘It is?'

‘Trust me. Especially see-through plastic. You're cutting edge.'

‘I am?'

Another hot wind riffled her wool as she tried to admire her new accessory. More humans were coming on to the platform. Jaycey could tell by the looks they were giving her that they knew cutting edge when they saw it.

‘Cool . . .' she said happily.

‘Mind the gap!' boomed the mysterious voice of The Tube.

Then the rumbling began again and this time it became a deafening roar. Suddenly, what looked like a giant metal worm burst from the round hole at the far end of the platform and thundered towards them.

‘You guys definitely want northbound?' asked Honey as the metal worm came to a rest and the doors in its side hissed open.

Wills nodded and led the Warriors on-board.

Billie-Jo and Honey stepped on after them.

‘Awesome!' said Billie-Jo. ‘Even our sheep back home in the States aren't this smart!'

W
hile the Warriors hurtled beneath central London on The Tube, Tod and Gran were above ground, pedalling rather more slowly towards Boyd's Bank.

Gran went everywhere on her trike and though Tod rode his modern mountain bike to school, he was proud to be tricycling beside her now. The machine he was riding had belonged to his great grandad, Albert.

The trikes were ancient, with large, heavy wheels, flaking navy-blue paint and rusty chrome handlebars. Each had a bell on the handlebar and a lidded container between the back wheels. Flying from the back of each trike was a small faded pennant with the slogan WE LOVE EPPINGHAM RARE BREEDS.

Tod and Gran had left the farmhouse before dawn but when they arrived at Boyd's Bank the pavement
outside was already heaving with people. The crowd wasn't happy and a nearby newspaper billboard explained why:

BOYD'S BANK HIT BY SCAM – MILLIONS STOLEN

Gran and Tod stood by their trikes, watching the crowd and listening to the angry shouts.

‘D'you think they've
all
lost their Life Savings?' asked Gran, offering Tod a cup of tea from the flask they'd brought.

‘Looks like it,' said Tod. ‘The manager's going to be very busy.'

They ate mashed-banana sandwiches, drank the hot tea and waited. Neither noticed the two young men lurking not far from them, nor the yellow sports car parked further along the street.

Luke was still wearing his parka and didn't know why they were here. Neil had swapped his designer jacket for a hooded top and knew very well. Everything had started to go horribly wrong. His ‘poor old mum' wasn't answering his calls and he needed information from Boyd's Bank. It was risky though, because both he and Luke worked there, and although they were
officially on holiday, he didn't want to be spotted. Hence the hoodie. He peered around furtively and suddenly saw Ida and Tod. He dug Luke hard in the ribs.

‘Look!' he growled, his voice low and urgent. ‘It's the kid from Eppingham Farm. The kid and the old fossil.'

He watched them keenly for a moment.

‘I knew they were lying,' he said. ‘All that rubbish about sheep was just to get rid of us. I bet they've got your phone.'

He started pushing his way through the crowd. In all the hubbub it would be easy to confront the old woman, grab the phone from her and disappear.

Unfortunately for Neil, Organic TV got there first. A cameraman stepped in front of him as if he wasn't there. Then a pretty reporter started talking into the microphone she was holding.

‘And it's not only the super rich whose money has so mysteriously disappeared,' she said solemnly. ‘The anxious people waiting here for answers come from all walks of life.' She smiled at Tod and Ida. ‘Good morning,' she said. ‘Would you care to tell the viewers why you're here?'

Ida recognised the nice young girl who'd been talking to Tony Catchpole last night. She wasn't wearing the cream cotton suit this morning.

‘Well,' said Ida, ‘The thing is, Tod only wrote the notice for the village shop last night and now we'll have to change it.'

Nisha Patel looked slightly confused.

‘Er, what notice would that be?'

She saw the tears welling in the old lady's eyes.

‘We're offering a reward, dear.' Ida sniffed and steadied herself. ‘Our little flock of Rare Breed sheep disappeared yesterday. Some people think it was aliens that took them, like Tony said.' She took a breath. The tears were finding their way down her wrinkly cheeks now. ‘But we're not sure . . . All we know is we love them and want them back, so we were offering a reward . . .' She gulped. ‘Only we can't now, because there's not a penny left in our bank account.'

Tod put his arm around Gran's shoulder. Nisha wanted to do the same. Neil ducked away before he got caught on camera. He tugged Luke's sleeve and they hurried back to their car. When they reached it, he saw that Luke was blubbing.

‘What's the matter with you?' he demanded.

Luke used his parka sleeve before managing to speak.

‘It's so sad,' he said. ‘Even worse than your poor old mum. I hope the toerags who stole that sheep lady's money get caught.'

He was surprised to find himself suddenly banged hard against the car door. Neil's fists were clutching Luke's collar. His face was close. Very close.

‘Listen, geek-o-nerd. You
are
one of the toerags. Right? You are in this all the way up to your spotty neck. Understand?'

Luke found it difficult to reply. Partly because he didn't understand; partly because he couldn't breathe.

Neil relaxed his hold a fraction. Luke swallowed. ‘But what about your poor old mum?'

‘There is no poor old mum!'

‘You haven't got a mum? Then who have you been trying to phone . . . ?'

‘The boss!'

‘What boss?'

‘The Very
Nasty
Boss!'

Luke struggled to get to grips with this new reality.
Then he saw something that made him think he'd gone mad.

‘Neil,' he whispered hoarsely. ‘Behind you . . .'

Neil spun round, and there they were, trotting past the end of the street. Five of them. Assorted colours and sizes. Sheep. One of them had a plastic bag hanging round its neck. And in the bag was a silver-coloured mobile phone.

Neil stared in amazement, then his own mobile began to ring.

‘After them!' he shouted, slinging Luke in the direction of the disappearing sheep. ‘Get that phone!'

He took his mobile from his pocket while Luke stumbled off through the crowd.

Neil felt a moment of fear before answering. Was it the police? A blackmailer? Even the old fossil perhaps, demanding money for Luke's phone, which she'd cunningly hidden on her mangy sheep? It was worse. It was the Very Nasty Boss.

Neil panicked. The Very Nasty Boss listened briefly to him babbling on about old ladies with ancient trikes and sheep with mobile phones, then told him to shut up and finish the job. Fast.

*

The Warriors hadn't intended to come above ground when they did. Even Wills had found The Tube a bit confusing and they'd got off too soon at a place called Green Park.

‘Green as in lush, juicy, life-giving grass?' Oxo had asked as they rode up the moving staircase, and suddenly everyone had remembered they needed food.

‘It would be wise,' Sal had announced, ‘to eat while we can. Empty stomachs lead to empty heads.'

And so, when Luke spotted them, they were following Oxo's nose towards the Green Park itself.

‘Hey, guys,' said Links. ‘I think we're being followed.'

Nobody was listening.

‘Smell's getting stronger,' said Oxo, quickening his step.

‘Definitely bein' followed, man,' warned Links, glancing around again. ‘Guy in a baggy coat. Now another dude in a hoodie.'

But Oxo had only one thought in mind. He gave a couple of red buses a warning look and galloped across the road.

‘Charge! One for five and five for lunch!'

And there before him was his reward: a large sloping field, dotted with trees. Even Wills joined in the general noisy grass ripping as the flock got down to business. He remembered too late what Links had been saying.

‘What was that about being followed?' he asked.

As he spoke, Jaycey disappeared under something fur-lined and manky.

Having thrown his parka, Luke didn't know what to do next. Dare he pick it up again with the sheep inside? Did sheep bite?

‘Grab it!' shouted Neil from a safe distance. Luke hesitated and Neil ran forward to push him in the back, making him fall on to the writhing, bucking coat. Then Luke got an answer to his earlier query. Did sheep bite? They did. One of them was biting him now. Another was trampling his legs. A third butted him in the ribs with a head like, well, like a battering ram.

Luke howled and rolled off the bucking parka. He heard the lining rip as the sheep scrabbled from underneath. Then he heard Neil shouting as all five sheep ran off, the phone still hanging from
the black-and-white one's neck.

‘You great wuss!' screamed Neil. ‘Don't let them get away!'

Luke wasn't used to running. It wasn't what he did. His butted ribs hurt and so did his bitten bottom. He could hear Neil gasping for breath behind him but Neil kept going as if his life depended on it. Maybe it did, thought Luke. It wasn't a nice thought. He wondered briefly about the Very Nasty Boss and ran even faster.

‘Keep together! Keep together!' panted Wills.

There was nowhere to hide. They were out of the park now. They ran across a street and through another park. They passed a huge clock on a tower, then galloped on to a bridge and across a wide river. They clattered down some stone steps and raced along the side of the river. Ahead of them was a huge wheel. They were charging with heads down now, to get through the people who were milling about. So many legs, so many babies in buggies. And still the footsteps pounded behind them.

Some people in black sweatshirts held out their arms and tried to bar Oxo's way. He crashed through, scattering them left and right, raced up a slope, leapt
through the open doorway of a slowly moving glass cage and clattered to a halt. There was nowhere else to go. The others piled in behind him. The doors closed and the glass cage continued to move, slowly, smoothly upwards. They were being taken into the sky.