Hunk and Thud (3 page)

As they watched, Warg got down from the driving seat and went to open the door of the coach. Out stepped Lord Veto himself.

As Jack watched Lord Veto looking around him, both smug and snobbish, the terrible memories came back from when he was a very tiny boy: of being kept in the awful kitchen and forced to do the dirtiest work. Even though he was now free of Lord Veto, Jack couldn't help but remember how miserable his life at Veto Castle had been, before he joined Milo and Big Rock in Waldo's Wrestling Trolls.

The door of one of the huts opened, and a tall goblin hurried out.

‘That's the one who was in charge when they snatched Milo,' whispered Robin.

The three strained to hear what was being said at the mine head. They heard the tall goblin say: ‘Lord Veto! You got my eagle message?'

‘Of course,' nodded Veto. ‘That's why I'm here, Govo. I hope the message you sent is accurate. I would hate to have come all this way in a rush on a fool's errand.'

Govo pulled a rolled sheet of paper from his pocket and opened it up.

‘No fool's errand, I promise you, your Lordship!' He pointed at a picture on the paper, which was too far away from Jack and the others for them to make it out. ‘When I saw him, I recognised him from this poster you sent out, promising a reward for his capture.' He smiled as he read out the name: ‘Milo!'

‘What about the others?' asked Veto.

‘He was on his own, my Lord,' said Govo. He turned towards the hut he'd come from and called: ‘Bring the prisoner out!'

From their hiding place, Jack and the others saw Milo appear in the doorway of the hut. He was weighed down with chains binding his arms to his side, and with metal shackles on his ankles to stop him moving anywhere fast. The goblins pushed him nearer to Lord Veto, who stood studying Milo, a sneer on his face.

‘I said I would have my revenge on you, Milo!' he cackled evilly. ‘And this is it! My goblin friends will keep you working in their mine. You will disappear for ever!'

Beside Jack, Big Rock let out a growl and started to get up, but Jack pulled him back down into hiding.

‘Not yet, Big Rock,' whispered Jack. ‘There are too many of them.'

‘But we have to rescue Milo,' said Big Rock.

‘And we will,' Jack assured him. ‘But if we try it now, it's more likely that we'll be captured as well, and that won't be any help to Milo.'

Once again, they strained to hear as Lord Veto carried on talking to Govo.

‘If Milo is here, then the others will be around somewhere too,' said Lord Veto. ‘A large stupid Wrestling Troll called Big Rock, a snivelling kitchen boy, and an ancient old haybag of a horse. They shouldn't cause you too much trouble. The one to watch out for is Big Rock. He's tough. Oh, and they seem to have another big Wrestling Troll with them, called Thud. He's dangerous. You'll need extra strong chains when you catch him.'

‘Don't worry, your Lordship,' said Govo. ‘We'll catch them.'

‘And put them down the mine along with this peasant!' snapped Lord Veto. ‘The two trolls should be good workers for you, they're strong. Lots of mining. Lots of gold!'

‘You won't get away with this!' shouted Milo angrily. ‘Big Rock and Jack and Robin will come and rescue me!'

‘That's what I'm counting on,' sneered Lord Veto. ‘When they do, they'll be walking into a trap, and they'll be joining you down the mine.' Lord Veto turned to Warg. ‘Pay them, Warg. But just for the one. When you have the others safely in your mine, you'll get the rest.'

Lord Veto returned to the carriage and climbed inside, pulling the door shut. Warg counted out some coins to Govo, and then leapt up onto the driving seat of the carriage, flicked the reins, and the two yellow horses galloped off.

Meanwhile, the goblins had pushed the chained and shackled Milo towards the nearest cave opening. Jack and the others watched as their friend disappeared into the mine.

‘Okay,' said Robin thoughtfully to Jack. ‘They've got Milo, and we're outnumbered by about thirty to one. Any suggestions as to what we do next?'

‘You put your hands up,' said a menacing voice behind them.

They turned, and saw a small masked figure had appeared silently, pointing a crossbow directly at them.

Big Rock let out a growl and made to move towards the masked figure, but Jack stopped him.

‘You won't be able to do anything against a crossbow,' said Jack.

‘Wise words,' said the masked figure.

‘Goblins!' spat Robin. ‘You can't trust them! They sneak up on you from behind.'

‘I'm not a goblin,' said the masked figure in an annoyed tone.

‘Then why are you wearing a mask, and why are you pointing a crossbow at us?' asked Jack.

‘Because I don't know who you are, and what your connection is to Govo. For all I know, you're part of his gang.'

‘Do we look like goblins?' demanded Robin.

‘Not all of Govo's crooked associates are goblins,' said the masked figure. ‘Like that aristocratic-looking coach that drove off just now, with an orc driving it.'

‘That orc is called Warg,' said Jack. ‘He works for the crook who was inside the coach, Lord Veto.'

‘The sports owner? Wrestling Orcs? Gymnast Goblins?'

‘That's him,' said Jack with a scowl. ‘And don't be fooled by Lord Veto's fancy ways. He's as crooked as anyone you'll ever meet. He's just had our friend Milo captured by those goblins to work in their mine.'

‘We're going to rescue him,' added Big Rock.

‘Anyway,' said Jack. ‘We're giving you all this information, but for all we know you're a masked bandit here to rob us, or take us prisoner for the goblins.'

The masked figure lowered the crossbow, then reached up and removed the mask; they saw that they were looking at an elf.

‘My name is Oddbit,' said the elf. ‘I am a ranger with the Elf and Safety Police. Govo and his gang kidnap people and force them to work in their secret goldmine. We've been tracking the gang for some time, and we finally traced them here. Unfortunately, I was late joining the posse, and by the time I caught up, Govo and his gang had captured the rest of my fellow rangers. So I've been watching and waiting for a chance to get into the mine and rescue them.'

‘Why didn't you go and get some help?' asked Jack.

‘Because this mine's nearly worked out, and I was worried they might move on to another mine somewhere else while I was off getting help, and I wouldn't know where. Also, I'm out of messenger pigeons. Except for one.'

‘You've got a messenger pigeon?' said Jack excitedly. ‘We can send for help!'

Oddbit shook his head.

‘This one won't be any use to us,' he said. ‘My Chief had the messenger pigeons that homed to Elf and Safety Police HQ, and the goblins ate them when they captured him.' He reached into his bag and took out a drowsy looking messenger pigeon, who studied them with a bored look. ‘This one is from an old friend in Weevil, and he is as good as useless now.'

‘Why?' asked Jack.

‘Because there was a revolution in Weevil and a nasty dictator called General Pepper took over, and he is no friend to the Elf and Safety Police.'

‘Not any longer!' beamed Jack happily. ‘We were in Weevil recently. General Pepper was overthrown and sent to prison in exile, and Princess Ava is back in charge.'

‘That is wonderful news!' exclaimed Oddbit. ‘I'll send the pigeon off to Weevil at once with a message!'

‘Mark it for the attention of Princess Ava,' said Jack. ‘If you give me some paper, I'll write it.'

‘Don't make the message too long,' advised Robin. ‘A short message will be less for the pigeon to carry. That pigeon looks lazy to me. I bet it'll use any excuse for not going.'

‘Cheek!' said the pigeon indignantly. ‘I'll have you know I'm a very fast flyer! And you don't need to write anything down. I remember it. Taking messages is my job.'

‘Oh, I'm sorry,' apologised Jack. ‘We'd never met a talking pigeon before.'

‘And I've never met a talking horse before,' sniffed the pigeon. ‘Certainly not one as rude as this one!'

‘Huh!' snorted Robin, sulkily. ‘Talking pigeons! Whatever next!'

‘So, what's your message?' asked the pigeon.

‘It's for Princess Ava in Weevil,' said Jack. ‘Tell her where we are, and that Milo has been captured by goblins. We're outnumbered and we need help.'

‘Leave it to me,' nodded the pigeon.

He flexed his wings, and then rose into the air, and flew off.

‘Right,' said Jack. ‘Now we wait.'

‘No,' grunted Big Rock.

‘What?' asked Jack.

‘It take too long,' said Big Rock. ‘Could be one, maybe two days before Princess Ava come to help. All that time, Milo stuck in mine with bad people. Too long. We go in and rescue him.' He looked at Jack hopefully. ‘Maybe you turn into Thud.'

‘What's a Thud?' asked Oddbit, puzzled.

‘It's not a
what
, it's a
who
,' said Robin. He nodded towards Jack. ‘It's who he turns into sometimes. An enormous Wrestling Troll. One with a very bad temper.'

‘Great!' said Oddbit excitedly. He turned to Jack. ‘Go on. Turn into him.'

‘It's not that simple,' said Jack unhappily. ‘I can't make it happen. It just does.'

‘Well … when does it happen?' asked Oddbit. ‘Maybe we can
make
it happen.'

‘Jack turn into Thud when there's bad things happening,' said Big Rock. ‘Danger for friends.'

‘Well, there's danger here now,' said Oddbit. ‘Your friend Milo is stuck underground in a horrible mine, along with the rest of my Elf Rangers. And we're outnumbered by Govo and his dangerous goblin gang.'

‘I know,' sighed Jack. ‘I've been telling myself all of that, and willing it to happen, but it won't.'

‘Maybe it's about to happen?' asked Oddbit hopefully.

Jack shook his head.

‘I know when I'm going to change because I get this tingly feeling and a sort of mist over my eyes, like I'm looking through really thick glass.' And so far, none of that's happened here.'

‘Maybe it's worn off,' said Robin. ‘Maybe you'll never turn into Thud again.'

‘Maybe,' said Jack.

‘So we go in,' said Big Rock. ‘Into mine. Rescue Milo.'

‘No,' said Jack. ‘We need to wait, Big Rock, for reinforcements to arrive.'

‘Say they don't,' argued Big Rock. ‘Say pigeon don't get there. Or get lost. Or get caught and eaten.'

‘That's a chance we have to take,' insisted Jack.

Big Rock scowled.

‘Not good,' he grunted unhappily.

‘Look, Big Rock …' Jack appealed.

Big Rock shook his head.

‘Don't want to talk about it,' he said.

And with that he went off, heading for a large area of rocks.