Time Hunters and the Spear of Fate, The (8 page)

Chapter 11

Snow fun at all

Becky found it impossible to relax
after that. It was the second time that same nightmare had assaulted her sleep
and, strangely, both times had happened at Bowen Hall. The telekinesis,
however  - well, that was a first. And it made her anxious. What if she
had a dream about needing the loo and accidentally pulled the entire bathroom
suite into her bedroom? It was all so creepy, so weird. She didn’t like
standing out in a crowd at the best of times, the last thing she wanted to be
was the girl that could move objects with her mind. After all, Eleanor Perkins
had been forever branded a weirdo at school for bringing cornflake butties in
her packed lunch and telling everyone her stepdad had walked on the moon.

Even with these thoughts zipping
round her head, Becky soon fell back to sleep and this time it was without
incident. She awoke at 6.30am to the distant hoots of a pair of Tawny owls
competing for possession of the morning. She flicked on her bedside light, and
saw a towering pile of clothes beside her wardrobe. Flinging off her duvet, she
walked over and spotted a note.

Dear Becky,

I hope you’re looking forward to our
little trip. In my opinion, the Himalayas is one of the most awe-inspiring and
humbling regions in the world. Now, as you will see I have provided plenty of
appropriate clothing. Surviving low temperatures is all about layers;
subsequently, you may think you resemble a spaceman, but it’s better to look
stupid and be safe, than to look fab and freeze (I have a feeling you may well
disagree with me on this). Now, I have chosen a relatively mild day for our
journey but we’re still talking of temperatures of down to minus ten.

Anyway, if you would be so kind as
to meet me in the Time Room ASAP, then we can leave before Maria wakes, which I
assure you is in all of our interests, particularly mine.  

UP

Becky stared at the clothes: a
honey-coloured padded coat with a furry hood, a fleece, two long sleeved
shirts, leggings, trousers, thick woollen socks and boots that resembled two
canal barges. She gave an accepting nod. For once, she didn’t care whether she
looked daft or not. She’d experienced what she considered ‘real’ cold once
before, on a camping trip to the Peak District with the brownies, and was more
than prepared to look like a Yorkshire pudding rather than go through that hell
again. She began to dress.

A short while later, she and Joe
were waddling down the passageway to the kitchens, trying desperately not to
walk into anything valuable.

‘I feel like the marshmallow man,’
Joe muttered under his breath.

Becky nodded. As she exited the
kitchen and stepped out, however, she was astonished how the chilly morning air
barely touched her.

Strips of sunlight slashed the sky
and the snow cracked underfoot as Becky and Joe made their way along the side
path to the Time Room.

Becky’s breath congealed into
ghostly swirls as she looked up to see the Time Room door already open. Barbie
was hovering in midair, inspecting a circuit box on the ceiling and just below
her stood Betty, who gleamed proudly in the centre of the room like an enormous
pink sweet. Uncle Percy, fully dressed in his winter outfit, was standing next
to her and holding a strange looking device that pinged loudly as he scribbled
something on a notepad.  He glanced up as Becky and Joe shuffled in.

‘Well, if it isn’t Edmund Hillary
and Sherpa Tenzing,’ he said, pocketing the gadget and notepad.

‘Who?’ Becky replied.

‘Hillary and Tenzing,’ Uncle Percy
repeated. ‘Please tell me you’ve heard of them. They were two of my childhood
heroes.’

Becky shook her head. ‘Nope.’

‘What type of heroes?’ Joe asked.
‘Like Batman and Robin?’

‘Not exactly,’ Uncle Percy replied
with a disappointed sigh.

Joe looked playfully at Becky.
‘Doesn’t mum order Chicken Sherpa Tenzing from the Chinese takeaway?’

‘For your information they were the
first men to officially reach the summit of Mount Everest.’

Joe looked impressed. ‘Fair enough.’

Barbie landed at Uncle Percy’s side
with a gentle
clink
. ‘Good morning Miss Rebecca, Master Joseph.’

‘Hiya, Babs,’ Joe said.

‘Morning, Barbie,’ Becky said.

The little robot turned to Uncle
Percy. ‘The Enflax Momboblifier has been reconfigured, sir, and all is suitable
for your departure.’

‘Thank you, my dear.’ Uncle Percy
scanned Becky and Joe. ‘You both look suitably cushioned.’

‘I feel like a bouncy castle,’ Becky
replied.

Uncle Percy chuckled. ‘Well, you’ll
certainly need the layers where we’re going.’

‘Can’t wait,’ Joe said. ‘So tell us
more about the Yetis.’

‘What would you like to know?’ Uncle
Percy asked.

‘Dunno,’ Joe replied. ‘How big are
they?’

‘I would say Gimbledok was around
nine feet tall. His partner, Mirala, is a couple of feet shorter, and their
son, Orff, is about three feet tall, but that’s to be expected, he’s barely a
toddler, after all.’

Becky heart fluttered. ‘Their son?’

‘Yes,’ Uncle Percy said. ‘Oh, he’s
such a handsome boy. And really very intelligent. He’s picking up language much
better than his father. Which reminds me, you’ll be needing these.’ He thrust
his hand into his coat pocket and withdrew two pairs of what looked like
drawing pins. He passed them over.

Becky recognised them at once as
transvocalisors
– the remarkable device used by time travellers for translating every language
heard and spoken into English, and converting English into a language
understood by the receiver.

Becky and Joe applied them as they
had been shown in the summer, one behind the ear and one on the throat.

‘So you’re sure these Yetis won’t
bite our heads off?’ Joe said, only half joking.

‘They could,’ Uncle Percy replied.
‘Believe me, they’re very strong and like any animal, can be ferocious when
provoked. But I’ve never met a sweeter, kinder, gentler creature than the Yeti.
I think it’s wonderful they’ve managed to avoid wider exposure. And they have
such wonderful traditions. They can trace their families back thousands of
years, and unlike humans treat their elderly with genuine respect. Yes, mankind
really could learn a great deal from the humble Yeti.’

‘And we’re taking Betty?’ Joe asked.

‘Absolutely,’ Uncle Percy replied.
‘She’s unquestionably the time machine of choice for this kind of trip.’

‘Why?’ Becky asked, detecting a
curious tone to his voice.’

Uncle Percy smiled impishly. ‘Watch
this.’ He leapt inside the car and pressed something on the dashboard that
caused an amber light to blink.

Becky watched, fascinated, as a
whirring sound rang out from Betty’s undercarriage. She looked down. Gradually,
the Cadillac’s wheels were retracting into the car’s frame, whilst, at the same
time, four silvery paddles lowered to the floor.

‘They’re skis!’ Becky panted,
trading a stunned look with Joe.

Uncle Percy leaned out of the
driver’s window. ‘Anyway, shall we get going? We’ve got to meet a Yeti, find a
dead Nazi double agent, and hopefully locate a stone tablet that may lead us to
an ancient relic from the Garden of Eden. Not bad for the second day of your
Christmas Hols, eh?’

Not wishing to wait a second longer,
Becky threw open the back door and leapt into the back seat, swiftly followed
by Joe.

Uncle Percy typed a number of digits
on to the front panel. ‘See you soon, Barbie.’

The little robot bowed. ‘Best of luck,
sir. And, please, be careful…’

Uncle Percy’s response was drowned
out by a roaring
BOOOOOM
, and before its echo had faded, they had gone.

*

A moment later, Becky was staring at
a blanket of whiteness. The temperature in the car had plummeted and she was
suddenly thankful she was wearing her own body weight in clothing. Glancing
round, her heart swelled as the most breathtaking vista came into view. The
periwinkle blue sky seemed so close she could reach out and touch it. 
Snow-capped crests of distant mountains surrounded them like castle turrets.
Streams of icy air rushed in through the open driver’s window; it seemed
cleaner, sweeter, and crisper than any she had tasted before.  Her
reverie, however, was interrupted by Joe, who was looking out of the back
window, making a strange bleating noise that sounded rather like a goat. She
turned and gulped loudly. A gigantic mountain filled her eyes, its peak veiled
by a tendril of cloud.

‘That’s Mount Everest,’ Uncle Percy
announced. ‘The highest mountain on earth.’

Joe could barely find the words. ‘A
–awesome.’

‘Now can you see why Hillary and
Tenzing were heroes of mine,’ Uncle Percy replied.

‘Absolutely,’ Joe replied sincerely.

‘Now, Gimbledok lives a few miles
away but I thought we’d have a pleasant drive through what I’m sure you’ll
agree is some remarkable scenery. I mean, it doesn’t get more picturesque than
this does it?’

Becky was about to agree when she
heard an earsplitting
crack!

“What was that? Joe said
immediately.

Uncle Percy’s looked in the wing
mirror. His face drained of colour. ‘Oh, crikey.’

Becky was panicking now. ‘What is
it?’

‘Oh, crikey,’ Uncle Percy repeated,
fumbling desperately with his car keys. ‘Crrikkkey…’

A tremor rocked the car, sending
Becky rolling into Joe. ‘Uncle Percy, what is it?’ she yelled.

When Uncle Percy replied it was in a
small, weak voice, ‘Avalanche...’

Horrified, Becky whipped her head to
the rear. A gigantic wall of snow had split from the mountainside and was
rushing towards them.

‘DRIVE!’ Becky screamed.

‘Why not.’ Uncle Percy’s knuckles
whitened on the steering wheel and he slammed his foot on the accelerator.

Betty sped off, skimming the snowy
ground like a stone on water.

Becky’s heart thumped wildly. She
glanced behind again. Like a tidal wave, the snow cloud was gaining on them,
faster and faster. They were travelling at speed, but the avalanche’s momentum
was escalating; it was unstoppable, relentless, unyielding. Within seconds, they
would be flattened beneath a million tonnes of snow and ice.

Grim-faced, Uncle Percy reached down
and flipped open the cap of the car’s gearstick to reveal a scarlet button.
 

Becky had seen that same button
before:
an ultra-booster!

‘Hold on to something!’ Uncle Percy
growled through clenched teeth. He pressed the button.

The first flecks of the snow cloud
fell over them, followed by a thick shower of whiteness, blocking any sunlight,
sending the car into darkness. The roar of the avalanche pummelled Becky’s
ears. Her hand reached for Joe’s, their fingers dovetailed when –
whoosh
– Betty rocketed off; her heart jumped into her throat.  

The Cadillac shot out of the snow
cloud at an astonishing speed.

Relief coursing through her, Becky
glanced back. She could see the avalanche was thinning out now, coming to an
end, settling into calm, leaving a giant shimmering mushroom cloud in its wake.
An eerie silence was restored.

Uncle Percy gave a weighty sigh.
‘Well, that was bracing, wasn’t it?’ He forced a smile.

Becky was speechless.

‘What a rush!’ Joe panted, still
struggling to catch his breath.

‘That’s one way of putting it, young
man,’ Uncle Percy replied, trying desperately to restore conviction to his
voice. ‘Well, so much for the picturesque views … and now you can see why time
travellers don’t go everywhere by Portravella…’ He gave a weak chuckle.

Becky wasn’t amused. ‘That’s not
going to happen again, is it?’ she said flatly.

‘Absolutely not,’ Uncle Percy replied,
shaking his head.

Becky wasn’t entirely convinced.

A short while later, Uncle Percy
brought Betty to a halt and pointed up to a cliff face. ‘The Yetis live up
there...’

Still somewhat shell-shocked, Becky
looked up at a succession of caves etched into the mass of grey and black rock,
almost invisible to the naked eye.

Uncle Percy opened the driver’s
door. ‘This is where we walk.’ He climbed out and inhaled a lungful of air.

Becky opened the door and stepped
out. It was then the spine-wrenching cold assaulted her, penetrating the layers
of clothing and numbing her entire body. She watched her breath freeze into
clouds, almost solid enough to pluck from the air.

‘Flippin’ ‘eck, that’s brass monkey
weather,’ Joe uttered, appearing at her shoulder and putting up his hood.