Thor Is Locked in My Garage! (14 page)

The armoured ranks surged forward. Susie took a swing with Mjolnir and whacked the first warrior square on the shield. The power of Thor’s hammer sent him staggering back into his companions, bringing the whole mob to a shuddering halt.

“You have to hit them in just the right spot,” Susie told Greg. “It’s like taking a penalty shot.”

Her next swing knocked the helmet off another body of metal, then she smashed the legs out from under a third.

Though Greg had no weapon, he was able to dodge around the armoured warriors while they reeled under Susie’s attack. The Shoes of Vidar allowed him to move nimbly but he still felt the sharp blades swishing past him too close for comfort. As he ducked and ran, he looped his lasso over the helmet of one and wound the coils of rope around the others, tangling their iron limbs.

“Nice going, Greg!” Susie cheered. “They’re on the ropes now!”

Up above, Lewis ran a complete circuit around the gatehouse, but could find no way inside. What he did discover was a marble stairway leading to the roof, so he sprinted up to the top.

Above him the twin pillars soared thirty metres into the air, their ends tapering to a point as they curved in towards each other until they were almost touching. At the foot of the pillars was a lectern of white marble inlaid with seven jewels, each a
different colour.

The green stone was an emerald, Lewis knew, the blue would be a sapphire, the red a ruby. He guessed the one that was burnt orange was a garnet, but he couldn’t name the yellow one or any of the others. What did they represent? Maybe all he had to do was touch them to power up the Bifrost.

He brushed his palm up and down then back and forth across the gems, but nothing happened. “No, it wouldn’t that simple,” he muttered to himself. There had to be a start-up sequence, but what?

The crash of combat from below interrupted his thoughts.

“Any time you can kick start that thing would be good!” Greg shouted.

“Get your skates on, Lewis!” Susie chimed in between hammer blows.

Lewis rubbed his temples and tried to concentrate. “The sequence, the sequence,” he murmured.

There were seven jewels … and there were seven letters in the name Bifrost. Maybe that was it. He tapped the sapphire, blue for ‘B’. Then he patted the indigo stone. None of these stones started with ‘F’ as far as he knew, so he tapped the unknown yellow one and carried on until he had touched all seven jewels.

Nothing happened.

Down below, Susie had forced the attacking warriors into a compact mass and Greg had managed to wind the rope completely around them.

“Right, Spinny, grab hold and help me pull,” said Greg.

Susie dropped Mjolnir and took a grip on the rope. Together they yanked at it, pulling it tighter and tighter. Caught in the
coils, the metal creatures were forced together. They flailed about trying to free themselves, but in their mindless efforts to break free, they were bashing each other with their weapons. A helmet was dashed off one, an arm chopped off another, and one by one the suits of armour broke down into useless heaps of metal.

Greg and Susie let go of the rope and stepped back, panting and red-faced from the battle.

“Look at that!” Greg exclaimed breathlessly. “We demolished them!”

“Ka-BOOM!” Susie whooped.

Their glee was cut short as an angry roar shook the air.

“Now what?” Greg groaned.

Riding towards them up the broad avenue was Loki, seated on the back of the stone dragon. He dismounted and tossed a lump of coal at the dragon, who caught it in his mouth and swallowed it with a burp.

Susie snatched up the hammer and gave him the dirtiest look she had ever given anyone in her life.

Loki eyed the scattered mess of scrap metal on the ground and raised an eyebrow. “This is quite a mess you hooligans have made.”

“The battle’s over, Larry” said Greg boldly, “but you’re welcome to surrender.”

“Junior, that was only round one,” Loki drawled.

He snapped his fingers and immediately the scattered pieces of armour began to quiver and slide across the ground. As if being assembled by an invisible workforce, the boots, breastplates and gauntlets all clipped themselves back into place until the whole force was restored. With a clank they stood to attention, their
weapons at the ready.

“Welcome to round two,” Loki declared, waving his troops forward.

This time the armoured figures spread out and came at them in a disciplined charge. They were no longer a disorganised crowd, but a proper military unit, guided by Loki’s will.

Greg swallowed hard and clapped a hand on Susie’s shoulder. “Watch yourself, Spinny,” he warned.

“End of the final period,” said Susie through gritted teeth. “Money time!”

Up on the roof Lewis was startled by the sounds of renewed combat. He tried his best to ignore it and focus on the problem at hand. Spelling had nothing to do with it, he was sure, but the different colours of the jewels
had
to be a clue.

Then it came to him. The Bifrost was also known as the Rainbow Bridge, and these gems, he realised with dawning excitement, were all the colours of the rainbow. Maybe what he had to do was activate them in the order they would be seen in a rainbow.

But what was that?

His science teacher Mr Gillespie had once taught the class a sentence you could use to remember what order the colours of the rainbow appeared in. The noise from below reminded him that the words were about somebody fighting a battle.

Lewis tugged on his lip and rubbed his ear, both of which should help him remember.
Richard of York
did something. Yes, that was it!

Richard of York gave battle in vain
. The first letter of each word gave you the right colour.

He reached out a finger and tapped the ruby. A light
immediately appeared inside the gem. He touched the orange stone next and the same thing happened. Quickly he completed the sequence: yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

By the time all seven gems were glowing, the air around him tingled with gathering force, like the prelude to a thunderstorm. Multi-coloured sparks were dancing around the pillars like fireflies and the air crackled with magical energy.

Lewis threw up an arm to protect his eyes as a blaze of rainbow light erupted between the pillars. It shot across the sky and into the distance, forming a huge arc of shimmering cosmic power. He lowered his arm and gaped in awe at the rainbow bridge spanning the sky from end to end.

His wonder was cut short when a pair of steel gauntlets clamped on to his shoulders. Twisting about, he found himself face to helmet with one of Loki’s metal guards. It lifted him up and carried him, feet dangling, down the steps to where Loki stood beaming in fiendish glee.

Greg and Susie were also in the grip of their armoured enemies. The hammer Mjolnir lay on the ground where it had been forced from Susie’s hand.

Susie struggled against the iron arms that encircled her. “Good work, Lewis,” she said through gritted teeth. “You did your best.”

Greg kicked against his captor. “Sorry we couldn’t hold them.”

Loki squinted up at the shimmering rainbow light and frowned. “I’d better shut that thing down. Then I’ll deal with the three of you permanently.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Greg blurted out. “There’s no way you can get rid of us.”

“Let’s see if you still think that once the dragon is chewing on
your bones,” said Loki with a cold smile.

The dragon took a step forward and bared its granite teeth. Greg tried desperately to wrench free of the iron grip of his captors. He could see Lewis and Susie had turned pale at the prospect of being turned into dragon food.

“Well, guys,” said Susie, her voice catching, “I guess we didn’t make it to the penalty shootout.”

Loki had only taken his first step towards the stairs when something stopped him in his tracks. It was Thor’s hammer. All of a sudden Mjolnir began to vibrate furiously, giving off a low hum as it did so.

“Spinny, are you doing that?” Greg asked.

Susie shook her head, her eyes wide with astonishment. “It’s got nothing to do with me.”

Slowly the hammer rose into the air and rotated above their heads.

Lewis gulped. “I think something big is up.”

With a snarl Loki leapt into the air and made a grab for the hammer, but Mjolnir rose up beyond his reach. Dropping back down on his feet, Loki shook his fist and spat, “Drat that hunk of scrap!”

Suddenly Mjolnir stopped spinning and flew into the sky like a rocket, shooting over the rainbow bridge to disappear from sight.

As he watched it disappear, seething with frustration, Loki lost concentration and his control over the armour weakened. Greg, Lewis and Susie felt the iron limbs that held them go slack.

Loki made a sudden move for the stairway.

“Stop him!” Lewis exclaimed, wriggling loose. “He’s going to
shut off the Bifrost!”

Greg shook off his metal captor and threw himself at Loki. He wrapped his arms around the god’s legs and brought him down in a rugby tackle. Loki kicked loose and got to his feet, grabbing hold of Greg. He shook him with inhuman strength and hurled him through the air to slam against the wall of the gatehouse.

Slipping loose of the armoured guards, Susie grabbed a shield from one of them. She thrust it out in front of her and charged right at Loki, knocking him backwards, slamming the shield into him.

Digging in his heels, Loki struck back. He snatched the shield from her and struck her a mighty blow with the back of his hand. Susie went tumbling across the ground like she had been hit with a battering ram.

Lewis was horrified, but his anger at Loki drove him forward. He rushed at the god, but reeled back when Loki flung a bolt of fire that exploded at his feet.

“That does it!” Loki screeched. “I’m going to barbecue the three of you right now!” He raised a menacing hand and fire flared from his fingertips. The flames moulded themselves into a roaring fireball, spitting and snapping.

But before the enraged god could let fly, a deep voice thundered out, “Loki, I say thee nay!”

The fireball sputtered out and Loki gazed up with a queasy expression on his thin face. Greg and Susie helped each other up and joined Lewis in gaping at an astonishing sight.

Descending from the sky on the rainbow bridge was a crowd of shining figures. The youngsters recognised Thor, though he looked taller now and held Mjolnir in his upraised hand. He
was the one who had spoken, but his voice now had power and authority behind it.

The gods of Asgard arrived on the roof of the gatehouse and strode down the steps in a stately procession. There was a glorious vigour about them, as if they had woken from a long sleep into the sunshine of a better day.

Lewis didn’t need a magic ring to tell him who they were. He recognised them from the Norse legends he had been reading ever since their first encounter with Loki.

At the head of the procession was a tall, white-bearded man with a patch over one eye and a pair of ravens sitting on his shoulders. This was Odin, the king of the gods. Beside him walked his queen, Frigga, with her silver hair and crown of gold.

Close behind them was Thor and the one-handed god Tyr, clutching a flashing sword. Clothed in white with a face that shone like the sun was Balder. Freya, the goddess of love, came next, wearing a green robe entwined with ivy and bluebells.

Lewis estimated that there had to be at least a hundred of them. Many of them stayed on the roof to observe as Odin advanced on the god of mischief and magic.

Loki seemed to shrink before them. He took a fearful step back and forced a weak grin.

“Guys,” he said brightly, “good to see you. Look, I’ve smartened the place up for you.” He made an expansive gesture at the city. “It’ll be like you’ve never been gone. Tell you what, the drinks are on me.”

“Silence, Loki!” Odin commanded in a voice like the crash of a waterfall. He waved his hand and Loki was enveloped in swirling bands of golden light that bound his arms to his sides. More bands of light encircled his legs and he fell to the ground,
muttering curses.

“I will brook no more of your foul utterances,” said Odin, and wound a shining gag around Loki’s mouth.

“It’s about time somebody shut him up,” Greg commented under his breath.

The king of the gods looked out over the city and nodded slowly. “It is good to be back in the realm eternal,” he said. “And it is thanks to these children.” He bent a friendly gaze on Greg, Lewis and Susie.

“It’s the Bifrost, isn’t it,” said Lewis. “Once Asgard was linked to Earth again, you all got your god powers back.”

“That’s right, Lewis,” said Thor. “And the treasures returned to their rightful owners.” He gave Mjolnir a contented pat.

“That all happened pretty fast,” said Greg.

“Down in your earthly lands of Midgard time passes more swiftly than it does here in Asgard,” Odin explained. “Here time can flow in any direction I choose.”

“Sure, it’s some kind of a space–time warp, isn’t it?” said Susie.

“We just call it magic,” said Thor with a shrug.

“My son Thor spoke truly of you children,” Odin declared approvingly. “You are indeed worthy to be warriors of Asgard, Lewis the Wise, Greg the Bold and Susie the Brave. You shall join us in a feast to celebrate your courage and your victory.”

“If it’s all the same to you,” said Susie, “can we go home now? I’ve got a week booked at hockey camp. And my folks will be worried about me.”

“Ours too,” said Lewis.

Odin smiled. “I already told you, Lewis, that I can bend time itself to my will. I will return you to Earth before your kinsfolk even know you are gone.”

“What about this guy?” asked Greg, jerking a thumb at Loki who was wriggling helplessly on the ground.

“I have a place of exile waiting for him,” said Odin, “beyond the bounds of space and time. He will not trouble your world again.”

Susie stood over the fallen god of magic and beamed a smile of victory. “You see,” she said, “I warned you. This is what you get for calling me
toots!
”