The Warrior Sheep Down Under (14 page)

The salty hadn't had a meal for days. Not since a baby wallaby had been foolish enough to step into the creek for a drink. But since then, the local kangaroos and wallabies had learned their lesson and were drinking elsewhere. Hunger, rather than the taste of Oxo's fleece, had driven it to follow the sheep all the way from the creek.

Now it was waddling swiftly and silently toward the moat. It hesitated for a moment. To one side, it could see the little bunch of sheep. Revenge would make its meal taste sweeter. But on the other hand…a boy and a tender lamb would make a nice snack too. And they would be easier to catch. They were in the water, a salty's natural home. It scuttled to the edge of the moat and lowered its head toward the water.

“OhmygrassohmygrassohmyTuftella!” Jaycey's shriek shocked her fellow warriors. Then she shocked them even more by putting her head down and charging at the crocodile. The little horns she was so proud of banged into its scaly hide. The crocodile stopped and turned its head in surprise. Jaycey ran at it again and this time Oxo was with her. His great head whacked into the startled reptile at speed. The long, strong tail lashed furiously but Links was there too now and he caught the very end of it between his teeth. The next moment, he was whipped off his feet as the tail lashed from side to side. But he wouldn't let go.

Jaycey and Wills leapt on to the thick base of the crocodile's tail and jumped up and down, digging their sharp little hooves in as hard as they could. And then Sal clambered up to join them and sat down heavily. The crocodile suddenly found it couldn't move its tail at all. It was really, really angry. Forgetting the boy and the lamb in the water, it reared round to fight off its attackers. But it was difficult to turn completely with all the weight on its tail end and its vicious jaws snapped uselessly on thin air.

Tod thought he must be going mad when he saw the sheep—his and Ida's sheep—attack a crocodile. He swam fast, quickly reached the side of the moat, and hauled himself out. The lamb wriggled from his shirt and ran, bleating pitifully, toward the warriors. It hadn't enjoyed its dunking at all.

Tod paused for a moment, gasping for breath. He shook water from his ears and listened. The bleeps were getting faster and faster. Then they stopped.

“Run!” he yelled. “Oxo, Wills…all of you…Run!”

The warriors had no idea why Tod wanted them to run, but Wills sensed the urgency in the boy's voice. He leapt from the crocodile's tail. “Come on, guys!” he yelled. “Run!”

Without the weight of three large sheep and two lambs on its tail, the crocodile suddenly found itself slipping forward. Its whole body had just slid under the water when the boat exploded.

KER-BOOOOOOM!

Tod and the sheep turned and gazed at the great fountain of water blasting up into the air from the moat.

“Ohmygrass…!” breathed Jaycey. It was the biggest geyser she'd ever seen.

Tuftella was huddling close to Sal's side, whimpering.

“Hush, dear,” Sal said soothingly. “You have nothing more to fear.
That
was the final thunder.”

• • •

Inside the office the sound of the explosion was earsplitting. The walls shook, and the neat piles of paperwork cascaded into a chaotic jumble again. Everyone except Ida instinctively crouched low with their hands over their heads. The rumble of the explosion gradually died away and there was a moment's complete silence. Then the handle on the outside of the door suddenly rattled and the door burst open.

“Frank!” Ida, who was still trying to prize the bars from the window, almost threw herself across the room at her brother.

Frank strode in and gave her a quick hug. “It's OK. Tod's safe. Wet but safe. I saw him. And, Ida, you're never going to believe this…”

Ida didn't hear what she would never believe because Deidre had leapt to her feet and was shouting.

“They're getting away. Stop them!”

Nat and Avaricia had been closest to the door when the blast happened. Now they had slipped past Frank and were out of the tower and already making their way across the rope bridge. Shelly jumped up to give chase, but Ida caught her arm and held her back. “I'll do this,” she said. She grabbed a paperweight from the desk.

Nat was racing past the animal pens when the heavy glass paperweight whacked him between the shoulder blades and knocked him to the ground.

“Howzat!” yelled Tod from a little way off. “England'll sign you for the second test, Gran.”

“Nah,” said Uncle Frank, hobbling across the rope bridge. “She's no good with the bat.”

The others were all out of the tower now and Shelly was chasing after Avaricia, who was running surprisingly quickly. Maybe it was fear of being caught or maybe all her training on
Destiny
was paying off. She reached the tangerine-orange truck, leapt in, and roared away in a cloud of fumes and dust.

“Holy-moly!” cried Shelly. “You never start that easily for me, Norm. We're gonna have words about this when I get you back.”

“Don't worry, dears, she won't get far.”

Everyone's attention switched to the new voice.

An elderly, neatly dressed lady, was standing just outside Frank's house. She held up a key.

“I arrived a few minutes ago. And locked the gate behind me.”

Ida, Frank, and Tod stared. “Rose!”

While the family were hugging Rose, Avaricia was trying to drive Norm straight through the locked gate. But he wasn't having any of that sort of treatment and stalled. With a brief backward glance, Avaricia abandoned the truck and climbed shakily over the gate. She was plodding away into the bush when the police roared into sight. They'd narrowly avoided a rather dazed-looking crocodile putting as many miles as it could between itself and Barton's Billabong.

The police picked up Avaricia and locked her and Nat in the tower for safekeeping until they'd worked out what had been going on. Over a cup of tea.

Frank's kitchen had never seen so many people. Rose bustled around smiling and cutting slices from the many delicious cakes she'd brought in her oversized suitcase, and refilling cups.

“Of course, the police didn't believe me when I phoned from Murkton to say I'd just seen my brother at Barton's Billabong being whacked on the back of the head and dragged away.”

“Really?” said Shelly, munching cake. “Shame on them.”

“So I caught the first plane out,” continued Rose, “and they
had
to listen to me when I turned up on their doorstep.”

The policemen exchanged rueful glances. They had indeed had to listen to the angry old English lady who'd marched in and disturbed their peace.

“What are you talking about, Rose?” said Frank. “How did you see Nat bashing me on the head?”

“The webcam,” said Rose a touch smugly. “It was still on in your kitchen. So when I Skyped for a chat, I saw it all.”

“Go, Auntie Rose,” said Tod. “We've got a techno wizard in the family.”

Mr. Creeply had retrieved the box of deeds from where Nat dropped them when he was felled by Ida's paperweight, and was again hugging them to his chest. He stood up, pushed his teacup aside, and solemnly handed the box to Alice Barton. The real Alice Barton.

“Dear lady,” he said in his quiet, thin voice. “I have pleasure in handing you the deeds to Barton's Billabong. And I'm”—he sniffed back a tear—“I'm so sorry I almost failed in my duty and gave them to the wrong person.”

“Not a problem,” said Alice, taking the box. “But don't even think of going yet. I've got another job for you.”

“Oh, I couldn't start tidying up all that paperwork again,” said Mr. Creeply.

Alice smiled. “No, not that.” She slid the box across the table toward Frank. “I want you to transfer the deeds to Barton's Billabong to Frank Smith.” She grinned at Frank. “I'm afraid you'll have to spend a bit on repairing the moat, Frank. Sorry about that.”

Frank looked down at the box, then slid it gently back across the table. “Forget the moat,” he said. “There's something else you should know.” He took from his pocket a map very like the one Avaricia had produced in the office. Only dirtier. “Avaricia Golding was quite right. Her mineralogist was too. There
is
a big seam of diamonds under the Billabong. A huge one, in fact.”

Even the flies buzzing around the ceiling seemed to go silent.

“Motte and Bailey knew about it years ago,” continued Frank. “That's why they bought the land. They knew a mine would destroy this whole wild and beautiful place. So they started their sanctuary, and then they built their tower slap bang on top of the diamonds.” He shrugged. “But it would be easy enough to get rid of the tower and get at them.”

He looked at Alice and nudged the deed box closer to her. She rested her hands on it for a moment. Everyone had gone very quiet. Alice's pale blue eyes stared back at Frank. Then she pushed the box gently toward him.

“But, Frank, I don't think diamonds suit me.”

• • •

Outside the kitchen, the warriors were munching their way through a great pile of hay Tod had brought them.

Tod and Ida had both wept a few secret tears into Oxo's and Sal's and Links's and Jaycey's and Wills's fleeces as they hugged them all. And when they went back to join the tea party in the kitchen, they made sure they sat where they could keep an eye on their little flock through the kitchen window.

“Well, Auntie Rose,” said Tod, “I guess we'll never know how they got here. But we're glad they did.” He took another large slice of homemade cake. “And you too, of course.”

“My little Guinevere seems to have taken a liking to your rare breeds,” said Alice. “Especially the Southdown ewe.”

“Ah, Sal's very motherly,” said Ida. “I expect she's teaching her a thing or two.”

Ida didn't know how very right she was.

• • •

“You see, Tuftella, dear, it all began with the Songs of the Fleece. That's how we knew you were in distress and came all this way to find you.”

Guinevere couldn't think why they all kept calling her Tuftella. Privately, she still thought they were crazy Brits. But they were nice Brits too, and she did like being close to Sal.

Oxo found a chunk of banana in the hay he was chewing. “Not as good as lotions and potions,” he said. “But not bad.”

None of the warriors had seen what happened to their fairy godtingy after the explosion in the water. What with the bang and the crocodile and rescuing Tuftella and then seeing Tod and then Ida, their minds had been rather full.

“I think,” said Sal suddenly, “we should raise our voices in a chorus of thanks to our fairy godtingy. She has obviously gone because we no longer need her. But without her help, we would not have succeeded. Links…?”

“Erm…?” Links gulped the mouthful of hay he was chewing. “Right…right…”

While Links was rapidly composing the rap Sal had clearly demanded, Wills wondered briefly about how they were to get home again.

• • •

Tod and Ida were wondering that too.

“Not a problem,” said Deidre with a smile. “So long as you don't mind a long sea voyage. There's a lady in Britain who's the rightful owner of a beautiful boat called
Destiny
. And she wants it back. Our dear Avaricia cheated her out of her inheritance too.” She smiled. “I'm sure Skipper Ed will be happy to take us all.”

“Wouldn't mind a peek at damp old Britain myself,” said Shelly. “Is the boat big enough to take Norm?”

Then the humans all looked up at the strange sound wafting in through the window.

“How weird…” exclaimed Alice. “My sheep never do that.”

“Oh, ours often do,” said Ida. Then she added with just a touch of boastful pride. “But they
are
rare breeds.”

Outside, the warriors were joining Links in a rousing chorus of his latest composition.

“We's the Warrior Sheep and we is the best,

At rescuin' maidens who is well in distress.

But we had some dramas and we wanna shout,

For our fairy godtingy who helped us out.

An' direction-wise, we gotta say too,

Good on you guys, to those wild kangaroos.

'cause they put us right on the Jumpup Trail,

And that led us on to the scaly tail…

The scaly tail of a fearsome croc,

But he didn't stand a chance 'gainst

A rare breeds flock.

So let's all hear it for the final thunder,

And a high, high hooves to bein' Down Under.”

“High hooves!” shouted the warriors.

“Crazy Brits…” muttered Tuftella. But she raised her front hoof and clacked it with the rest. “High hooves!”