Robin Jarvis-Jax 02 Freax And Rejex (29 page)

“Me smell witchy pets,” he announced. “Doggy-Long-Legs.”

Jangler’s expression changed at once. “The Gangles?” he cried in dismay. “Here? How did… where are they?”

“In our bathroom!” Charm answered. “But they won’t be in there long, not wiv them choppers.”

Jangler wasn’t listening; he was already darting up the tower steps to escape them and Captain Swazzle was bawling orders to the other guards as he scampered towards the invaded cabin.

By now the other children had been lured outside by the noise.

“What’s happenin’?” Alasdair asked Christina.

The little girl shook her head. Marcus folded his arms and looked on with the same attitude Jangler first displayed. Spencer leaned out, wearing his Stetson.

“Still playing John Wayne, Herr Spenzer?” Marcus asked. “It only makes you look twice the dork you already are, you know. Look at this palaver; there’s a big spider in the shower or something.”

Captain Swazzle reached Charm’s cabin. The Punchinello’s hand made a grab for the door handle but, with a splitting and rending of wood, the first of the ferocious spider creatures burst out and scuttled between the Captain’s legs.

The watching children screamed in horror as the thing zigzagged swiftly over the lawn, veering from one side to the other as it chased them, nipping at their heels.

Marcus started and barged past Spencer, running into the cabin. Christina wailed but was too afraid to move. Lee and Charm were pursued round the tower. Then one of the other guards hurried over, yelling an attack cry. The Punchinello’s spear came stabbing down, each blow narrowly missing the scurrying, eight-legged target.

Squawking in frustration, the guard dived forward. The spear drove clean through the furry body, and into the ground beneath. The long legs flailed and the fanged mouth gurgled in pain as bile-coloured blood came bubbling up. Then the legs became still and went limp.

“Bezuel kill!” the guard crowed in triumph, pulling the spear from the ground with the thing still impaled on it. “Doggy-Long-Legs deaded. Oh, yes, oh, yes…”

At the top of the tower, Jangler applauded and started to come down, mopping his face with a handkerchief in relief. The other Punchinellos gave nasal congratulations to Bezuel, who danced in a circle, twirling the grisly trophy above its scarlet hat.

“What the hell was it?” Lee breathed.

Charm hugged herself and rubbed her arms. “I dunno,” she said. “But… there was more than one.”

At that moment, the door to her cabin burst apart and a mass of snapping Doggy-Long-Legs came spilling out on to the lawn. Captain Swazzle gave a shrill howl and hopped out of their path as they swarmed into the camp. There were hundreds of them. The children who were still outside stared in disbelief. Then they had to run to save themselves from ravaging jaws.

Jangler retreated back up to the sentry platform and looked down at the dark, furry tide spreading out below.

“This should not be happening!” he protested anxiously as some of them came galloping towards the base of the tower. “Make it stop! Captain, do something!”

Seven of the spidery creatures leaped up on to the wooden framework and began crawling upwards. The rest of them went hunting for the youngest, easiest prey. When she saw part of the surging horde swerve aside and come sprinting straight for her on their gangling legs, instead of running back into her cabin, Christina panicked and fled away from it.

In the kitchen of the main block, Maggie and Esther heard the shrieks and unnatural noises outside. The Punchinello that was supervising had dashed off to answer his Captain’s call. A moment later, Lee and Charm came tearing through the dining hall, pursued by dozens of nightmarish creatures. Lee threw his weight against the kitchen door, smashing it shut, crunching and squashing the legs and fierce faces that were almost inside. One of the spindly limbs snapped off and dropped to the floor, twitching.

Maggie and Esther gawped then cried out when more legs and teeth appeared beneath the door, seeking a way in.

“What are they?” Maggie asked.

“Hungry!” Lee hollered back. “That’s all you need to know. Now break out the blades – or whatever you got in here!”

Seizing large catering knives from the magnetic rack, they hacked whatever came scrabbling under the door. But they forgot about the other exit and did not close the window. Doggy-Long-Legs were furiously chewing their way in behind them and more came creeping silently over the sill.

Out in the camp the five Punchinellos fought like nothing Marcus had ever seen. Watching from the safety of his cabin, he saw them go trampling into the midst of those spidery things with a burning fervour and an unquenchable relish for slaughter. Bloodshed and carnage was what they lived for.

“What chance have we got getting past just one of them?” he murmured. “Just look, they’re loving this.”

The guards’ spears skewered countless eight-legged horrors and the heels of their boots crushed just as many furry bodies till the bones cracked and eyes popped out. When one of the things leaped up to rip out Captain Swazzle’s throat, the Punchinello caught it in one hand and squeezed out its life. Another guard gave a piercing yowl when one of them sprang high, clamped its jaws around the great hooked nose and chomped its way forward.

Marcus pressed his own nose against the glass. He couldn’t take in what he saw. Suddenly one of those things launched itself at his stunned face and smacked into the pane. The boy fell back. The Doggy-Long-Legs dropped on to the step, legs in the air, then righted itself and instantly started attacking the door.

“It’s getting in!” Spencer cried, stumbling away between the beds.

“Where you going?” Marcus shouted angrily. “Get something to block this with!”

Spencer ran into the bathroom then out again and up the stairs to the mezzanine.

“There’s nothing up there!” Marcus yelled at him.

Lumps of wet wood spat into the cabin as the fangs made a fist-sized hole in the door. A jet-black eye bulged behind it then the four front legs thrust inward, followed by the teeth. Marcus yanked off one of his trainers and battered the snarling intruder with it. The jaws frothed and jerked around, snapping until they bit through the sole, ripped the trainer from his hand and shredded it. Marcus jumped up and searched frantically for some other weapon. He snatched up a chair and whirled about, just as the thing came flying at him. He belted it away and it went spinning sideways, struck the wall and slid down behind one of the beds.

“Fifteen love to the Marcusmeister!” he yelled before edging away, scanning the floor, waiting for it to come scuttling out.

“Come on, you little leggy beggar,” he muttered. “Come out where I can see you.”

There was a rustle under the bed. Then suddenly it was under the next. Then it was beneath the furthest one. Marcus couldn’t keep track. He turned and then it was on the other side of the room, racing under the beds there. Then there was silence.

Marcus looked right and left. He had no idea where it was hiding. He stepped further down the aisle, his eyes darting around. Nervously he put the chair down and stooped to peer under the beds.

Shooting from the shadows, the creature came screaming for his face. Marcus’s reflexes saved him. He rolled sharply to the left and the Doggy-Long-Legs sailed over his head. It landed on the bed behind him, then came rampaging back for another attack. Galloping over the duvet, it bounded into the air. Marcus reached out, caught hold of three long legs then swung it around and bashed the body against the floor, again and again until the five other legs stopped scratching and clawing at him.

“Game, set and match,” he shouted. “Who’s the daddy? Who’s the daddy?”

Spencer came tiptoeing down the stairs.

“Is it dead?” he asked fearfully.

“Come kiss it and find out,” Marcus replied. “Fine cowboy you are, Sheriff Yellowboots.”

Spencer looked beyond him to the door, where another pair of eyes was peering through the ragged hole.

Out in the camp, Jangler was swatting the Doggy-Long-Legs that clambered on to the tower platform with his clipboard and sending them crashing to the ground.

“The trouble with cat flaps,” he told himself, out of breath with the exertion, “is they don’t just let your own pets in, but anything else too! Mr Fellows really should have thought of this. Whatever next? Take that, you foul Gangle Hound!”

Many of the children had found refuge in the cabins, but some were still running about in terror. Christina was one of them. Six spider things pursued her, driving the seven-year-old towards the fence. The girl could
go no further. She tried to climb the wire, but couldn’t. She felt a thump in her back and a segmented leg hooked round her throat. The sound of grinding fangs drew close to her ear and she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Jabby jabby jabby!” a Punchinello squawked merrily as the Doggy-Long-Legs was harpooned from her shoulders. The guard spiked the others that surrounded her, like a murderous park keeper collecting gruesome litter, then hurried back into the main battle.

Christina gripped the wire mesh grimly, but she wasn’t out of danger yet. There were still many more of those things marauding through the camp.

In the kitchen, Charm, Lee, Maggie and Esther had been pinned against the central table, fending the creatures off from every side. Armed with a masher and a cordless handblender, Maggie was a formidable force to be reckoned with. Churned-up corpses were piled in an oozing heap in front of her. Lee was the most deadly. He wielded a large knife with skill and precision and more than made up for Charm and Esther’s weaker defence.

The creatures scurried around them warily. One of them got too close to Esther and Maggie’s blender came swooping down, splattering the ghastly face around the room. That was enough. The others barked and yapped in defeat then went hurrying through the window and back out of the half-chewed doors.

“We beat them!” Maggie cried in amazement. “They’ve… er… legged it!”

“Not funny,” Charm said.

Brandishing the knife, Lee moved to the exit.

“This ain’t over yet,” he said. “We have to get every one of those things or we won’t never know what’s gonna jump out at us.”

“I’m not going out there,” Esther refused.

“Fine,” Lee told her. “You stay in here on your own. If they come back, let us know.”

Esther went with them.

Outside, the Punchinellos were winning. Even the one with the half
eaten nose was still vigorously combating the insect-like vermin. The lawn was littered with speared bodies. Christina stepped through them as though in a dream. Her young eyes stared at the unreal spectacle and her ears were filled with the guards’ bloodthirsty war cries. She saw Lee and the others come running from the main block, waving weapons in the air, and witnessed them joining the fight. The spider things were no longer attacking. They were in retreat.

One darted by, right in front of her, but she was no longer of any interest to them. Only escape mattered now. It headed for the fence and was up the mesh like lightning. It squeezed through the barbed wire at the top – then dropped down the other side. Others were doing the same. The Doggy-Long-Legs were leaving the camp and disappearing into the surrounding woods.

By the time Christina reached her cabin and returned to Jody, not a single one remained inside the perimeter.

“Are you all right?” a frantic Jody asked. “I couldn’t do anything to help. I’m so sorry.”

The little girl gazed distractedly out of the door, at the Punchinellos who were dancing a victory jig round the maypole.

“I’m OK,” she answered in a voice devoid of emotion. “I don’t have any scared left.”

Out there Lee spat on the ground. “Damn,” he cursed. “Too many got away. They can come back here any time.”

Charm shuddered and he put his arm round her.

Jangler descended from the skelter tower. By the time he reached the ground, he was out of breath and his fright had turned to irritation. He saw Lee with the knife and ordered Captain Swazzle to deal with it. The Punchinello brought his spear to bear and the teenagers threw their weapons down.

“I will not have this!” Jangler berated them. “I will not have you bearing arms. These utensils must never leave the kitchen. If it happens again, there will be the severest punishments. From now on every item of
cutlery will be accounted for at the end of each work shift and every meal.”

“Oi!” Charm objected. “We was only stoppin’ them ’orrible fings from makin’ a meal of us!”

“You should be grateful!” Maggie added.

Jangler blustered and wiped his spectacles. Then he sighed and nodded. “Your assistance is appreciated,” he said. “Although I’m sure the Captain and his stout lads would have managed quite well on their own. I shall permit one sausage for each aberrant this morning. Go see to it.”

Maggie and Esther hurried back to the kitchen before he changed his mind.

“What were them fings?” Charm asked.

“They were the Gangle Hounds,” he told her. “A pack of Haxxentrot’s dangerous pets that dwell in and around the Forbidden Tower. Most disagreeable. They never normally leave the vicinity of her dreadful abode.”