The Case of the Wayward Professor (10 page)

Holly ran to the nearest tree and scrambled up it, grazing her hands and knees in her desperation to get away. The door opened and Hamish appeared, holding the barking poodle on his leash. Holly's heart thumped like it was trying to get out. Bruno dragged the large man to the tree where she was hiding. This was it, she
thought, she would be seen for sure. She shrunk back into a shadow and shut her eyes in case they gave her away in the darkness.

‘What you barking about, you daft poodle, Bruno?' she heard the guard say, standing directly below her.

His walkie-talkie crackled and a voice from it said, ‘Hamish, you need to come and check this out. They're springing up everywhere.'

‘Aye, I'm coming,' said Hamish, waving a torch in Holly's direction and then saying, ‘Come on, Bruno, there's no one there. Ah wish you'd bark a bit more opportunely.'

Holly opened her eyes to see the guard disappearing down the path, dragging the hysterical poodle behind him.

She jumped down and darted into the open cabin. The high-tech control panel was alive with lights, indicating that Moji had successfully made a series of holes around the perimeter fence. Only one of the holes was big enough for anyone to fit through, way over behind the main building, but Holly wasn't leaving through a hole in the fence.

She found the override for the cameras and made those overlooking the main entrance point in the opposite direction then pressed the button that opened
the front gate. She grabbed her bag, ran full pelt through the gate and pulled it shut behind her.

She had done it. She was out.

Soon the guards would find the wristband by the large hole, assume she had discarded it during the escape, and search for her in the wrong direction. It would take them hours to realise they had been tricked. By that time, Holly should have reached Dirk.

She headed through the dense undergrowth, deep into the forest in the direction of the caves where Dirk said he was hiding out, but it was dark and it was difficult to stick to a straight line. She stumbled over twisted roots and slipped on clayey ground.

After several hours without any sign of Dirk or the caves, it began to rain. Moisture seeped through the fabric of her trainers, dampening her feet. An unforgiving wind cut through the trees, making her shiver.

She tried to hum a tune in her head to lighten her spirits, but her teeth were chattering too violently. She was freezing. Her nose felt like it was made of ice and she could no longer feel her toes at all. She tried to avoid the muddy lower ground, using roots and vines to scramble up banks but, with no light, kept stumbling into puddles. Muddy water squelched over the tops of her trainers.

She felt scared. Leafless branches hung down like giant claws, catching and scratching her face. Unseen animals scurried away as she disturbed them. Strange sounds filled the air. The trees rustled and creaked. She never knew a forest could make so much noise.

She stopped and listened. She could hear voices. At first she thought it was her imagination, but they grew nearer. She pushed herself into the shadow of a giant oak tree and kept still. Two raspy female voices were arguing.

‘If the manuman has served his purpose, why can't we schmunch him?'

‘Because Vainclaw says so. It's all part of the plan, Salix.'

Holly struggled to see who was speaking.

‘But what is this plan of his, Acer? I want action. Remember the old days when we used to terrofear entire villages for fun.'

‘It's not like that any more. We can't let the manumans know of our existence until we know we can win the war, that's what Vainclaw says. They have weapons that would kill you in an instantesance.'

Holly could make out two dragons. They were thinner than Dirk and looked like two leafless trees skulking through the forest, getting closer to where she
was hiding. Their heads were like twisted tree branches, with dark rough bark and cold green eyes. Thin lines of dirty brown smoke curled from their nostrils. One of them snapped its jaws at the other, causing the other to do the same. They were so close now that Holly could see rows of jagged moss-stained teeth.

‘Well, I preferred it the old way. I can't bear all this schnooking around.'

‘Sh!' urged the other. ‘I can hear something breathing.'

Holly held her breath. The Tree Dragon stared into the shadow. It was looking directly at her. She had nowhere to run, so she shut her eyes tight, pushing herself against the tree, desperately trying not to move a muscle.

She could feel the dragon's hot sulphurous breath against her cheek. Holly felt sick with fear.

‘There's no one there, Salix. No manuman would be this far into the forest so late,' said Acer.

‘You never know with them. They get everywhere.'

The voices moved away. Holly opened her eyes. The dragons were walking away, swinging their heads to and fro as they moved, their long tails twisting behind them.

‘You shouldn't be so scared of the pathetic creatures.
We're Kinghorns. Let's schumch the old manuman.'

The last thing Holly heard Salix say was, ‘You stidiotical fool. You want to end up being banished?'

With the dragons gone, Holly stepped out of the shadow and tried to get her bearings. She was utterly lost, cold, wet and completely terrified. It took all her strength to hold back her tears. Holly didn't like to cry. Crying brought back sad memories of her mum, who used to cry all the time. The only time she had ever seen her dad cry was at Mum's funeral.

Holly sniffed and wiped her eyes, but the feeling was too strong. She dropped her head into her hands.

‘I thought you didn't cry for real,' said a familiar voice.

She turned to see two friendly yellow eyes. It was Dirk. She threw her arms around his neck and now they were tears of relief that streamed down her face.

‘Dirk,' she exclaimed. ‘I was so frightened.'

Dirk brushed the girl's cheek gently. ‘You don't need to be scared now,' he said kindly before adding, ‘Come on, get on, they're getting away.'

With Holly on his back Dirk spread his wings and took after the two Tree Dragons, being careful to avoid being seen. Holly noticed that his wounds had completely healed over.

‘Why aren't you at school?' he asked.

‘There's a boy in my year, Callum Thackley, he's the Prime Minister's son and he was kidnapped last year and I think it was these Tree Dragons because he talks about creatures that look like trees. Then during band rehearsal …'

‘You're in a band?' interrupted Dirk.

‘It was an escape plan,' replied Holly. ‘But these men in dark glasses came to the school, saying they were
from the government and taking him to a photo call, but Callum screamed and yelled that they were coming for him. Why would he scream if that's all it was?'

Dirk looked doubtfully at Holly. It sounded ludicrous, but he had learned to trust her and he knew these Tree Dragons were up to something. Besides, the Prime Minister's son was exactly the sort of target he would expect the Kinghorns to go for, weak enough to overcome, but with enough power to prove useful. He already knew that Vainclaw employed humans to do his dirty work, from the two stupid crooks and Professor Rosenfield, so it was possible that the men in black did work for him.

‘Quiet now, we're getting near,' he said.

In the early morning light Holly could see five Tree Dragons prowling around a clearing in the forest, heads bowed low. She tightened her grip on Dirk's neck.

Dirk landed silently behind a large fallen tree trunk and brought his wings to his side. He lifted his head to see the dragons. Something metallic glinted in the middle of the clearing.

The Tree Dragon Acer Campestre spoke.

‘What is it? Why are we doing things we don't comprestand?'

‘Strush up, Acer,' said Betula. ‘Vainclaw has toldered
us to guard it. That's all you need to know.'

‘What for, Betula? We don't even know what it is,' said Acer, breaking the circle and approaching the silver case in the centre of the clearing.

‘It's the professor's case,' whispered Dirk to Holly.

The other Tree Dragons turned to face Acer and hissed at her.

‘Stay away from it,' said Tilia.

‘Yes, Acer, don't be stidiotical,' said Salix.

‘It's some kind of manuman schmunching machine. We should master it ourselves,' said Acer, sniffing at the case.

‘She's right,' said Buxus. ‘Why wait for Vainclaw to come and steal all the glory.'

‘Vainclaw is our master,' asserted Betula. ‘He will lead us to victory against the manumans.'

Acer reached out her claws and tapped around the side of the case.

‘You'll break it,' said Tilia.

Acer's claw must have found a button because the case slowly opened, revealing a computer screen set into the top. It flickered to life and the computer made a loud beep, causing the five dragons to jump back, allowing Dirk and Holly to see the screen. It read:

A red handprint appeared on the screen under the words and the voice counted down the seconds.

‘What does it mean?' asked Buxus.

‘I don't know,' said Acer. ‘Shall I touch it?'

‘If you don't stop I'll tell Vainclaw,' said Betula.

‘If you do I'll schmunch you,' snarled Acer, reaching a claw to the screen and touching the handprint, which disappeared. The machine stopped counting down and said:

After a few seconds a red cross flashed on screen along with the words: