The Forgotten Map (23 page)

‘Need a hand?' Horace asked. ‘Or a claw, perhaps?'

The crab twitched its eye stalks, but didn't respond.

‘Having fun in there, Cupcake?' Horace called through the door.

‘I nearly had him,' Ruby replied in annoyance. ‘He wouldn't hand over the keys, but with a few more twists he would have given me anything.'

‘And if he still refused?' Horace asked in amusement.

‘I'd have a genuine crab claw souvenir to take home with us,' she hissed.

Petrified, the crab picked up the set of keys with his free claw and handed them to Whisker.

‘We don't need your keys anymore,' Horace said smugly. ‘We've brought our own.'

Horace unlocked the door with his skeleton key and Whisker entered the room. Ruby crouched directly behind the door, with the crab's claw in both paws. Standing silently in the far corner was a tall, white figure wearing a string of pearls and an elegant fluffy coat.

‘Madam Pearl,' Whisker said with an awkward bow. ‘We have arrived to rescue you.'

‘Of course you have,' she said in a patronising voice. ‘Your friend has been blabbering on about your so-called rescue plan from the moment she arrived.'

Ruby shot her an angry glance and tugged harder on the claw. The crab winced.

‘It's probably safe to let Mr Crab go,' Horace said.

‘No!' Ruby snapped, ‘He'll raise the alarm.'

‘Oh, I think the alarm has already been raised,' Madam Pearl said sarcastically. ‘Could you make any more noise? I've lost count of all the incidents of crashing, exploding and yelling this evening. This was a quiet place until you ruffians arrived.'

Whisker wondered if Madam Pearl actually wanted to be rescued, but this wasn't the place for an argument. With a rush of blood to his tail, he decided it was time for him to take charge.

‘Cupcake,' he said in his firmest voice, ‘please let Mr Crab go. If he doesn't promise to sit in the corner and behave, you can rip both his claws off. Madam Pearl, please allow my small canine companion to escort you to the safety of our ship.'

To his surprise, Whisker's stern approach brought immediate action. Ruby let go of the crab. The crab scurried into the corner and put his claws over his eyes. Horace tucked the telescope inside his coat and extended his paw to Madam Pearl.

Madam Pearl, however, was not budging.

‘And if I refuse to go with you?' she said, screwing up her face.

Whisker gave her a defiant scowl. ‘We'll lock you in here and you can come up with your own rescue plan.'

For a moment, Madam Pearl didn't move. Then with a ‘humph,' she took Horace's paw and stormed out of the cell.

Whisker gave the sorry crab one last look and locked the door.

Trouble in the Tower

Led by Ruby, the four escapees descended the stone staircase of the western tower. With Madam Pearl released from her cell and the prison in chaos, Whisker hoped their escape would be the easy part of the rescue. A loud tapping sound echoing from the arsenal floor convinced him otherwise.

‘What's that?' Ruby whispered, freezing mid-step. ‘It's too loud for soldier crabs.'

Horace pointed below with his skeleton key. ‘Look. Something's moving down there.'

Sure enough, as Whisker peered into the shadows, he saw what looked like enormous stalks of bamboo, scrambling over the lower steps and moving upwards.

‘Tell me this is part of your bizarre rescue plan,' Madam Pearl trembled.

‘N-n-no,' Whisker stammered, losing all of his previous confidence. ‘It's … it's some kind of creature …'

No one waited to find out. They flicked their tails in the air and bounded back up the stairs. As they reached the prison level, Whisker frantically looked around the small foyer.

‘There's nowhere to hide!' he exclaimed. ‘Except in a cell.'

‘I'm not going back in there,' Ruby hissed. ‘I'll take my chances on the roof. At least up there we can see what we're fighting.'

She darted into the stairwell. The loud tapping continued and Whisker and the others leapt after her.

The staircase opened onto the stone roof of the western tower. There was now only a faint purple glow in the sky where the sun had set and Whisker could barely see the parapet wall that ran around the tower. He peered through the closest gap in the battlement and saw the courtyard far below. In the glow of torches, soldier crabs busily removed books and pieces of broken timber from the entrance.

Whisker scampered towards the far side of the tower and looked down. It was a sheer drop to the base of the cliff where sharp rocks and foaming water merged into blackness. Without a rope, none of them would survive the jump.

He turned back to the roof and looked for something – anything that would help them escape. Apart from the long, menacing legs emerging from the staircase, all he could see were three cauldrons of oil, three piles of firewood and no matches.

‘Give me my telescope,' Ruby whispered to Horace. ‘It's not a sword, but it's better than nothing.'

Horace handed her the telescope without protest and picked up a solid piece of firewood. Whisker did the same. Madam Pearl pressed herself against the stone parapet and shuddered. It was clear that her cantankerous nature had been overshadowed by her growing sense of panic.

Together, they watched as two enormous bone-like legs came into view, followed by another two. Then the snapping pincers of two long-armed claws flashed before them.

Madam Pearl gasped as four more legs appeared and finally the body of the beast became visible. Supported by its eight extended legs, it towered high above them. In the centre of its small knobbly head were two horns. On either side, beady eyes peered down at them. The creature was all red and all terrifying.

‘W-w-what is it?' Madam Pearl stuttered.

‘Giant spider crab,' Ruby said coldly, ‘and it's not friendly.' She extended the telescope and prepared to engage the creature. ‘Let's just hope it has a weakness …'

The huge crustacean crept towards the waiting companions, taking wild swipes through the air with its claws. Whisker felt Madam Pearl grab his shoulder.

‘You can't fight it,' she sobbed. ‘I doubt it has a weakness.'

‘Shut her up!' Ruby hissed as the spider crab launched an attack. She ducked to one side and swung the telescope towards the crab's arm. The telescope struck its target but bounced off without impact.

‘We're doomed,' Madam Pearl whined in desperation. ‘It's going to kill us … I don't want to die … You've got to save me. I'll give you anything you want, I promise … Just save me from that … thing!'

‘You're not going to die,' Whisker replied, trying to sound like the fearless leader Madam Pearl had mistaken him for. ‘Everything will be fine. I'll think of something.'

Regardless of how convincing he sounded, he knew that the time for clever plans was fast running out.

The spider crab leapt again, its claws open. This time Ruby stood her ground. As the crab's claw swept towards her, she swung the telescope from the opposite direction and made contact with a sharp
CLANG
.

For a moment, Whisker thought she'd shattered its pincers, but to his horror, he saw the crab seize the telescope and crush it flat in the middle. Ruby struggled to maintain her grip on the handle. Horace dropped his piece of wood and rushed over to help her.

As the two rats began a tug-of-war with the crab, Whisker saw the crab's second claw flash towards them.

‘Look out!' he bellowed, hurling his piece of firewood at the monster's eyes.

The crab released its grip on the telescope and raised both claws to protect its face. With the instant release of tension, Ruby and Horace tumbled backwards and the telescope soared over the parapet towards the ocean. Whisker frantically flung pieces of firewood at the giant creature as it lashed its claws at them.

Ruby rolled onto her stomach as a claw hit the ground beside her. Horace dragged her to her feet as the creature raised its claws to block a fresh wave of flying firewood.

Whisker struggled to hold the giant beast at bay and was fast running out of ammunition. It was only a matter of time before it would seize one of the rats and squeeze the life out of them. They would either die fighting on the tower or fall to their deaths on the rocks below. This horrifying thought sent Whisker's mind spinning into his place of sanctuary – into the calm world of his memories …

He was no longer standing on the top of a tower; he was standing in the cobblestoned square of a small village in Freeforia. It was daytime and where the long legs of the spider crab had stood, there were now four pairs of wooden stilts. He looked up at the animals perched high above the ground. They were stilt-walking koalas from the circus and he was watching their street performance. Their bodies were short and round but they were surprisingly confident at the top of their narrow stilts. The audience clapped and cheered as the koalas spun around in circles and threw coloured balls to each other. It was a delight to behold.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the sky darkened and rain began to pelt down. The koalas slipped in the puddles and grabbed hold of lamp posts to steady themselves.

The rain ended as quickly as it began, but the performance was over. The koalas crawled down from their perches, fortunate not to have fallen …

At the top of the tower, Whisker glanced up at the sky. There were rain clouds to the east but they would never reach him in time.

He looked down at the closest pile of firewood. Only a few twigs remained. Whisker, however, wasn't interested in the wood, he was interested in the iron cauldron suspended above it. It contained something better than rain, something more slippery than water: oil.

He stood on the tips of his toes and peered into the cauldron. A flat iron lid blocked his view. He grabbed the handle and heaved off the heavy lid, splashing oil over the side.

‘Excellent,' he murmured. ‘It's full.'

‘Watch out!' Horace cried.

Whisker looked up to see the monstrous body of the spider crab directly above him, its snapping claws bearing down. He raised the lid like a shield and felt a powerful jolt as a claw made contact. He was thrown off balance and the lid dangled to one side.

Before he had time to raise it in defence, the crab's second claw grabbed his left shoulder and he felt its pincers tighten. Whisker struggled not to scream in pain as he was lifted off the ground, still clutching the lid, and drawn towards the creature.

Horace and Ruby cried out, but the spider crab only tightened its grip.

As the pain increased, Whisker's head began to spin. His tail twisted helplessly from side to side like a headless snake. He knew that in seconds his left arm would be snapped off and the creature would tear the rest of his body to shreds.

The spider crab pulled him closer.

Whisker stared in terror at the menacing eyes and snarling mouth in front of him. This was his last chance. With all the strength he could muster, he used his right arm to heave the iron lid through the air and, with a sweeping arc, smashed it into the face of the beast. He heard a thud as the lid made contact and the giant creature hissed in pain.

The crab released its grip and Whisker tumbled to the ground, somersaulting backwards over the stones. As his body came to a stop next to the cauldron, he knew he wasn't out of danger. Ignoring the stabbing pain in his left shoulder, he hoarsely barked a command to Ruby and Horace. ‘Tip the oil out.'

Ruby and Horace stared at him like he was mad.

The spider crab flexed its claws and moved towards him. There wasn't time to explain, he would have to show them.

He grabbed the rim of the cauldron with his right arm and tried to pull himself up. He didn't have the strength.

Refusing to give in, he focused his attention on his wildly twitching tail and willed it to help. It was reluctant at first, but as he concentrated harder, he felt it curl over the side of the caldron.

He took a breath and heaved again. His body rose from the ground and in the same motion the cauldron began to tip. It was a difficult task with only one arm and a terrified tail but as the oil splashed over the stones, he saw two white paws next to his. With Madam Pearl's assistance, the cauldron toppled to the ground, sending a river of oil in the crab's direction.

The crab tried to move, but its legs skidded and scratched on the slippery stones and it struggled to remain standing.

Understanding Whisker's request, Ruby and Horace up-ended a second cauldron of oil, covering the centre of the tower in the greasy liquid.

Like an elephant wearing ice-skates, the spider crab thrashed its legs in every direction to keep its balance.

‘What now?' Horace panted.

Whisker clutched his bleeding left shoulder and croaked, ‘We wait for it to fall over and then we make a run for it.'

‘I hate waiting,' Horace said, picking up a lid.