100% Hero (6 page)

In his cage in the zoo's hospital, Flasheart was watching
the fading moon with concern. He could see the
small green light on the camera, which meant that
the power was on. As the night sky grew brighter,
he could feel his skin beginning to itch and tighten.
He shrunk into the deepest shadows in the far
corner of the cage, and tried his best to suppress his
approaching Transwolfation back into a man.

Farther down the corridor, a very small girl lay
sleeping on a rumpled sofa in the canteen. Her curly
black hair was tied into six little bunches. There was a
loud crash outside the window. She sat up to look out
and laughed at what she saw.

Freddy and Batty had fled the drain and Coldfax,
and run straight to the zoo. Freddy couldn't resist
twitching his back as he ran, anxious that a spider
might be hiding in his coat. Now he was circling the
zoo hospital, looking for a way in.

Freddy spotted a partially open window. He
took a jump at the narrow gap, but missed and only
succeeded in bashing his head on the wooden bar
of the sash. He bounced off with a yelp and landed,
upside down, with his head in a flowerpot. Batty
could hear his muffled yelps of frustration, but
couldn't help him – she was too busy laughing. Freddy
ran into a post headfirst and the flowerpot smashed.
He sat on his backside feeling a little dazed.

'Again!' came a call from inside the building.

The dogs jumped around in alarm. The little girl
had opened the window fully and was leaning out,
clapping.

'Remember, Freddy, always be nice to the puppies,'
Batty whispered. 'This is our way in.'

'Okay, watch this – she'll love it.' Freddy jumped
up onto his hind legs and did a twirl. The girl clapped
once more.

'Again,' she cried.

Freddy did a handstand.

'Again,' she cried.

Freddy did a cartwheel.

'Again,' she cried.

'Stinky – Operation Flying Dog,' Batty called and
lay on her back. Freddy nodded. It was a manoeuvre
they had perfected on the nights he had been a wolf
and Batty a dog. It was perfect for reaching the hatch
in the pantry where Mrs Mutton stored the Tim Tams.
Tonight they were swapping roles.

Freddy ran and threw himself through the air at
Batty. He landed on her four paws and she propelled
him back into the air, as if from a trampoline. Freddy
did a double somersault and landed expertly on the
window ledge on his tippy toes. He gave his audience
a bow.

'The Plan Master,' he said.

'Again!' the little girl cried.

'That's all for now, folks,' Freddy yipped. The
morning sun was almost peeping at the horizon.

'
Again!
' The girl was a little more insistent.

'Well, maybe later . . . if I could just come in now?'

'
AGAIN!
' the girl cried furiously, and then grabbed
his tail and gave it a tug.

'Ow!' Freddy yelped as he was yanked into the room.

'Be nice to the puppy!' Batty warned from below.

'Again!' The girl whacked his head with a plastic
hammer. It squeaked.

'Ow!' Freddy yapped louder.

'Shh!' Batty shushed.

Freddy's clawed toes scrabbled on the tile floor as
he tried to escape, but she yanked him back again.

'Ow! Okay, okay! What a revoltitious child!' He
jumped up and performed a ballet pirouette. The little
girl screamed in delight.

'You look very elegant, Freddy – like a proper girl!'
Batty laughed, her paws up on the window ledge.

'I do not! I'm tough. It's just a cover to keep the
baby happy. Shh!'

Freddy shot under the sofa as the door opened.

'Well, little miss, what's all this noise about? It's not
even morning yet.' Freddy peeped out at the lady who
had walked into the room. It was Sugar Smith.

'Mama,' the little girl cried. She held out her arms
and ran over.

Freddy took his chance and scampered out from
under the bed and through the open door.

'Doggie.' The girl pointed after him.

The sun was beginning to rise. Freddy could feel
his blood heating, his muscles shaking – it was almost
time for his Transwolfation.

'Dad, Dad, I'm here. I have it – the Moonstone,' he
called, as he scampered into the vet's room.

Flasheart jumped up with a rumble of laughter.

'Well done, Pinky. I knew you'd do it! But quickly,'
he growled, looking at the camera.

Shafts of morning sunlight came in through the
window. Freddy scampered over and dropped the ring
inside the cage at his father's feet. Flasheart placed his
heavy front paw on the Moonstone. While it was in
contact with him, he would remain as a wolf, and his
Fangen secret would be safe from discovery.

'Lock the door, son.'

'But Dad, how do we open that cage and get
you out of here?' Freddy asked after he locked the
door with his little teeth. 'You can't stay in a zoo
forever.'

'Contact Sir Grey Hightail, leader of the Fang
Council. He'll know what to do. Now, Freddy.'

They heard footsteps approaching and the door
began to rattle.

'Do you see the metal tag in my ear?' Flasheart
turned his head and leaned against the bars.

'Yes – does it hurt?' Freddy asked.

'Nothing for a wolf like me to worry about, pup,'
his father said nobly.

Freddy's nose crinkled – sometimes he suspected
his father might be a bit of a show-off.

'After you finish transwolfating, I need you to place
the stone on the earring for me.'

'Oh!' Freddy looked down at his front legs – he was
transforming. He scampered away out of sight of the
camera. The curly hairs on his legs were disappearing
as if they were being pulled in from inside his skin.
He could feel his limbs growing. He felt like he was
covered in itchy scabs that were falling off.

'Be careful, pup,' Flasheart growled, but his voice
sounded only like a howl, for Freddy's ears could
no longer understand Wolfen. He had transformed,
but at least the camera had not seen him. He looked
down at his hands – the claws were gone and only
the tufts in his palms remained of his fur. Freddy,
much relieved and still out of sight, reached up and
pulled the electric plug from the camera and the
green light went out. They were safe for now.

Freddy quickly returned to the wolf and reached
for the ring that held the Moonstone. Before his father's
blood could begin the Transwolfation, he attached the
ring behind the metal tag in his ear, so that it was
hidden from view.

'That will stop you transforming until I can come
back with help. I promise we won't leave you here.'

Freddy put his hands through the bars to stroke
the wolf's soft black fur. He leaned forward and
Flasheart licked his forehead. Just then the door
rattled again, and Sugar hurtled through, holding a
small camera in her hand. It flashed as she took
a photo.

'Ah ha!' she cried in triumph.

'Oh no!' Freddy cried in panic.

Freddy jumped over Sugar and raced down the
corridor, with America's top reporter in pursuit. He
charged into the canteen and climbed up onto the
window ledge.

'No, wait!' Sugar cried as the boy jumped.

'Quick, Batty, run! Let's go,' he called. Sprinting as
fast as they could, the two friends dived under the
gates of the zoo and ran for the woods, Freddy's bare
buttocks pink in the morning sun.

'Doggie!' the little girl called, running towards the
window and pointing after them.

Sugar only shook her head in confusion and looked
down at the camera in her hand. She hoped that the
shots she had taken of the wolf-boy came out. This
was a story that would sell across the whole world.

She wandered back into the clinic and looked at
Flasheart curiously. The huge wolf lay down, licking
its paws. Its green eyes seemed to be watching her
in amusement. She could even swear that the wolf
winked at her.

An hour later, Freddy snuck out of the woods and into
the grounds of Farfang. He checked the lawns like a
trained soldier as he held his fingers in the shape of a
gun. He sprinted across to the wooden bridge that led
over the moat. Getting carried away with his action
hero game, he leapt over a rose bush, straight into a
forward roll and landed on his feet, ready for anything
his enemies could throw at him.

'The master,' he nodded. He heard clapping behind
him.

'Like, that was so-ooo . . .'
Lame
, Priscilla thought.
'. . . fantastic!' She smiled.

Freddy turned with a grin of pride, his hands on
hips. 'Just practising my karate,' he told her. 'Hi-ya!'
He chopped the air with his hand and gave a kick.

'In your diaper?' Priscilla's eyebrow rose a little
higher.

'My what? Diaper – oh!' Freddy flushed purple and
looked down. He was wearing a pair of 'underpants'
fashioned out of a pillowcase that he had nabbed
from someone's washing line. It did look like a giant
nappy.

He was not looking as dignified and noble as he
had planned. He gave a shrug. 'It's what all the coolest
kids are wearing for karate,' he assured her.

'Whatever.
So,
did you get me the Blavendoch?'
Priscilla asked.

'Oh – well, no. I tried, only . . .'

'But I need it!' she cried shrilly and then took a
breath. Priscilla managed to regain her calm and give
Freddy a sweet smile. 'Oh well, never mind; it will
just have to wait till next month.'

Sir Grey Hightail sat in the Great Hall under the
tapestry of Sir Rathbone, and shook his head time
and again as he listened to Freddy's story. Freddy
looked at his feet in shame.

'You're going to see the wooden spoon, young
pup!' Mrs Mutton warned. 'How many times have I
told you to behave yourself?'

'I don't know – two or three times?' Freddy
shrugged his shoulders.

'Two or three thousand, more like,' she said with
a scowl.

'None of this helps my old friend,' the leader of the
Fang Council said quietly. 'We must release Flasheart
from his cage. The Moonstone cannot protect him
forever.'

'Horned toads, must he be rescued? I mean . . . he
must be rescued, of course,' said Chester, stroking his
moustache.

'It should be easy for someone to sneak into the
zoo and open the gates. This puppy managed to get
through,' the old man decided. 'It is hardly as if they
are expecting us.'

Priscilla was sitting next door, watching
television.

'Papa, come quick,' she called. Everybody ran
and gathered around the TV.
World's Most Wanted
Wildlife
was playing. Sugar Smith was standing
in front of Flasheart's cage and talking into her
microphone. The wolf's green eyes stared into the
camera defiantly.

'
And so, one mystery after another. First, we captured
this black wolf and then . . . well, let me show you . . .
'

And so played a short film that showed a little black
poodle running into the room, stopping at the wolf's
cage and yapping at it. The wolf growled in return
and then the poodle disappeared from view. The film
came to an end.