Hunk and Thud (6 page)

‘That won't be easy,' said Jack. ‘He's got powerful friends.'

‘He's got crooked friends who think they're powerful,' countered Milo. ‘Like Govo and his goblins. But we beat them. And one day, we'll catch up with Lord Veto.'

‘We'll need proof that he's a crook,' pointed out Jack.

‘We'll get it,' said Milo confidently. ‘But, for the moment, let's look at the good things we've got. A load of money that Big Rock won as a prize. We've got our freedom. We've got each other. And we've got one other thing as well.'

‘The broken wheel?' asked Jack.

Milo shook his head.

‘We've got Thud. Not all the time; only now and then, admittedly. But he always turns up when we need him most.' He grinned at Jack. ‘Two great friends for the price of one. You can't beat that!'

The old, battered-looking caravan, with WWT in big but faded letters on its side, rattled through the valley along the country road alongside a river.

‘What's this place we're going to?' asked Robin, the ancient horse who pulled the caravan along.

‘It's a town called Riverdam,' answered Milo, Manager of Waldo's Wrestling Trolls, as he held the reins. ‘It's just along here, by the river. Around the next bend.'

The last remaining Wrestling Troll in Milo's team, Big Rock, ran around the caravan as it trundled along, throwing punches at the air and giving practice side kicks as he ran.

‘Let me guess, there's a dam in the river next to it,' said Robin.

‘Yes,' said Milo. ‘How did you know?'

‘The clue is in the name,' said Robin sarcastically.

‘The Riverdam Slam!' said Jack, the nine-year-old boy and the team's Assistant Trainer, sitting next to Milo. ‘It's only a small wrestling tournament but they say the crowds come from miles around. They're really keen on wrestling here.'

Just around the bend in the road, there was a nice little town – a few houses, with a large wooden building in the middle.

‘That's the place,' said Milo. ‘That wooden building is the Town Hall where the event is to be held.'

As they drew nearer, they could see the dam, made of wood, right across the river. It looked like a bigger version of the sort of dam made by beavers: trees and logs intertwined with one another to keep back the water behind it.

Other caravans and some wagons had been parked on the green open space in front of the Town Hall. And, among them, was a carriage with the royal crest of the Kingdom of Weevil painted on the door.

‘Princess Ava is here!' said Jack.

‘And Sam Dent!' said Big Rock, equally pleased.

Princess Ava and the muscular figure of Sam Dent waved from the steps of the Town Hall.

Milo pulled the caravan to a halt and he and Jack jumped down. Princess Ava hugged them warmly, while Big Rock and Sam Dent bumped chests with big grins on their faces.

Although Ava was a princess and had to be always on her best and proper behaviour, now and then she managed to sneak away and wrestle as the Masked Avenger. Jack guessed that was her reason for being here at the Riverdam Slam, which she confirmed straight away. ‘I'm here to take on Grit. She's a fantastic Wrestling Troll!

‘Yes,' nodded Big Rock. ‘Grit, great wrestler. Nice person too. She won't be easy.'

‘I don't want things easy,' said Ava. ‘I want a challenge!'

‘You're taking a chance,' cautioned Jack. ‘You could be unmasked.'

No one could ever know that Princess Ava was a wrestler, so she wore a full-face mask … and the mask could only be taken off if she lost.

Princess Ava shook her head. ‘I've seen Grit in the ring. She's good, but I can beat her.'

‘Are you wrestling, Sam?' Jack asked.

‘I was supposed to take on a Wrestling Orc called Slash,' sighed Sam, disappointed, ‘but he says he wants to do tag wrestling with his orc partner, Burn.'

‘Me supposed to fight Burn!' said Big Rock. ‘Remember, Milo?'

‘Yes, that's what the contract said,' nodded Milo. ‘But you can't trust orcs. They don't keep their word.' Then his face lit up. ‘Why don't you two take on Slash and Burn in a tag contest? It'll solve everything.'

‘Brilliant!' said Sam. He turned to Big Rock. ‘What do you say, Big Rock? You and me as tag partners?'

‘Yes!' beamed Big Rock. ‘We beat sneaky orcs.' And he made a fart noise to show how he felt about orcs.

‘Who else is here?' asked Milo.

Princess Ava gave a sniff. ‘There's a new wrestler called Hunk.'

‘I don't know him,' frowned Milo. ‘Where's he from?'

‘Who knows?' shrugged Ava. ‘He says he's a Wrestling Troll.' She gave a snort of derision. ‘He's such a poser. He thinks he's so handsome!'

‘He is,' said Sam.

‘Well, yes, he is,' admitted Princess Ava. ‘And he knows it.'

Robin joined them, intrigued by all this gossip. ‘A handsome troll?' asked Robin, surprised.

‘In fact he's a half-troll,' said Sam.

‘Like Jack?' asked Milo.

‘Not really,' said Sam. ‘Hunk doesn't change into someone different like Jack does when he becomes Thud. Hunk is human from his head down to his knees. Then he's troll from the knees down.'

‘He's got these great big hairy feet of which he's very proud,' said Princess Ava. ‘He says they are an important part of his troll ancestry.' She gave a snort. ‘You wait till you see him. Like I said, he's a poser. I don't think he's a real wrestler at all.'

‘He must be if he's here for the tournament,' said Jack.

‘That doesn't mean anything,' said Ava. ‘Anyone can turn up and say they're a wrestler.'

‘I think you're being unfair to him,' said Sam. ‘He
looks
like a wrestler.' He half-turned and pointed. ‘In fact, there he is now. That's Hunk.'

The others turned, and saw a very tall, powerful, muscular figure, dressed in a skintight pale blue leotard. He had blonde hair, and he was indeed very handsome – more like a film star than a wrestler. The other noticeable thing about him was his lower legs: from his knees to his toes he had thick, rock-like legs with enormous rocky feet and thick hairs sprouting out from them.

Hunk spotted the group and waved, heading towards them with a big welcoming grin on his face.

‘Hi!' he called. ‘My name's Hunk!' Then his face changed to an expression of awe. ‘Wow!' he said. ‘It's Big Rock! Please allow me to shake your hand!'

With that, Hunk moved towards Big Rock, his hand out. With a slightly bewildered expression on his face, Big Rock took Hunk's hand and Hunk shook it.

‘I am such a fan of yours!' continued Hunk. ‘I'm so glad I'll be able to watch you! Who are you up against?'

‘Me and Sam Dent against orcs,' said Big Rock.

‘Slash and Burn,' added Milo. ‘Tag wrestling.'

‘Wow!' said Hunk. ‘That should be awesome!'

‘Who are you wrestling?' asked Jack.

‘Me?' said Hunk. ‘I'm in the ring against Ug the Giant. We're first on the bill tomorrow.' He grinned. ‘It should be fun! I love wrestling!

The next morning, after breakfast, the gang went to the Town Hall. The crowds were already assembling in a queue by the box office to get their tickets, and Jack heard lots of excited whispers of ‘There's Big Rock!' as they headed towards the wrestlers' entrance at the back. Big Rock stopped and waved at the crowd and shook hands (being careful not to squeeze too hard and hurt them). He pressed his thumbprint onto the pages of autograph books that the children in the crowd offered him.

‘Nice place, nice people,' he commented as they walked through the back door and along the corridor towards the dressing rooms. Jack walked beside him, carrying a bag with Big Rock's costume in.

Big Rock's costume was something that Jack guarded very carefully. It was very old, with lots of patches sewn onto it covering up holes in the cloth. In fact, sometimes Jack thought the costume was more patches than original material.

Sam Dent and Princess Ava were already there, as was a small girl troll.

‘That's Grit,' Milo whispered to Jack.

‘Hi, guys!' Sam Dent greeted them. He was already dressed in his black-and-white striped leotard, with a picture of a tiger on his chest. ‘All ready, Big Rock?'

‘Ready!' nodded Big Rock. ‘Just putting my costume on.'

And he took the bag with his costume from Jack and disappeared behind a curtain.

‘Where are the orcs?' asked Milo. ‘I haven't seen them yet.'

‘They say they're not mixing with us before the bout,' said Sam. ‘They want to make their “big entrance”.'

‘Typical orcs!' snorted Milo. ‘Always trying something to get an edge.'

He checked the order of bouts that was pinned up on the wall:

‘Big Rock and Sam aren't on till last,' said Milo. ‘We can watch the first two bouts from the hall. That'll give us a chance to see how good this Hunk character is.'

‘And a chance to cheer on Princess … er … the Masked Avenger,' said Jack.

They told Big Rock and Sam they'd see them later, and then walked into the hall. It was nearly full already, but Robin had managed to grab a space at the back and they squeezed in beside him.

The three watched as the crowd continued filing into the hall and the rows of seats filled up. Some spectators had dressed up as their favourite wrestlers. There were at least ten people wearing costumes made to look like Big Rock's multi-patched one, with a picture of a mountain top on the front. Six or so had come dressed as Sam Dent; four girls had dressed up as Grit, two people perched one on top of the other inside a large sack that had ‘Ug the Giant' written on it, and there were at least eight people dressed as orcs, complete with fake talons and with red eyeshadow painted around their eyes.