A Vine in Time Saves Nine

A Vine in Time Saves Nine!

I

“Come on, Mum!” Linus kicked the back of his Mum’s car seat.

“Don’t distract me while I’m driving, Linus,” she said. “I’ve got to concentrate.”

“We’ll be late.”

“The Scouts’ initiation isn’t till seven, dear, we’ll have plenty of time.”

“I still have to pack!” Linus pushed his messy fringe back from his eyes and sighed.

“You packed last night, remember?” His mum tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.

“I have to unpack it all to check it against the list.”

“That will take fifteen minutes. It’s barely four o’clock.”

“It would be one o’clock if you’d taken me out of school before lunch like I asked. And on my birthday, of all days.” Linus fidgeted with his watch.

“School is important.”

“I don’t need school to be a Scout, mum. Torvald dropped out of school, and he was appointed Ranger before he turned eighteen! Besides, even if …”

“We’re here,” Mum said quickly.

Linus rushed in through the front door of their small brick home and straight into the living room. He threw his school bag on the couch and then dived for his room.

“Not so fast, little man!” Linus’ dad was in the door to the kitchen, holding his hands behind his back. “Aren’t you forgetting it’s your birthday?”

“Daaaaad! Not you too. Mum’s already wasted enough of my time. I’ve got to …”

“Surprise!”

His dad revealed a large chocolate cake with twelve candles.

“Dad! I’m already late for Scouts,” Linus said.

Linus shifted in his seat. The car’s digital clock showed 6:58 pm as his Mum pulled up to the Scout Hall. Over the Hall’s open doors hung a carved oak shield painted with fourteen rectangles of different colours.

“That’s the Tuxemon Scouts crest!” Linus poked his Mum’s headrest.

“Not while I’m driving, Linus,” she said and pulled into the carpark.

“It represents the fourteen types of Tuxemon! Dragon, Polliwog, Leviathan …”

“Okay, okay. Hey, before you go in, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

The digital clock flipped over to 6:59.

“Muuuuum – can’t it wait till Monday?”

“I know you’re excited about this camp, Linus, but you were a bit rude to your Dad. He spent a lot of time baking your birthday cake. You didn’t even have a slice.”

“I can’t eat, Mum, I’m too excited! 7 pm on the dot, got to go!”

Linus grabbed his backpack and bounced out of the car.

“Take care, have fun …” his Mum yelled, but Linus had already run through the Scout Hall’s double doors.

A young woman in tight, fashionable camping gear was sitting on the Hall’s stage, her legs dangling off the side. Her long black hair had a single streak of white.

Linus stopped in the doorway at the other side of the Hall. “Arya,” he gasped. “This is amazing!”

Then he winced. He sounded like an excitable fan. How embarrassing! Arya was talking quietly to a boy and a girl. She glanced up.

“Hello! You must be Linus, our third initiate.” She waved him over.

Linus’ legs had somehow stopped working. And for some reason his cheeks were burning. He forced himself to take a step forward, and then another. Each step made the wooden floorboards squeak. The two kids stared as Linus slowly walked towards the stage. Arya rummaged in her backpack for something.

“Ah, there you are,” she said when he finally made it to them. Arya slid down from the edge of the stage and pinned a badge on Linus’ green polo shirt. Linus stared at the circular pin with different patches of colour.

“It’s the Initiates’ Badge,” Arya said with a smile. “Fourteen colours for …”

“For the fourteen types of Tuxemon,” Linus said, still staring at the pin with awe.

“That’s right,” Arya said.

The boy came forward suddenly, hand outstretched. “My name’s Jackson.”

Linus ignored his hand. “Speaking of Tuxemon, is … I mean, is Reaper here?”

Arya jerked her head upwards. There, in the rafters of the hall, was perched a gigantic white and tan bird. Its beady black eyes had a swirl of red feathers around them. It stared at Linus and unfurled one wing.

Linus stepped closer to Arya. “She’s not angry, is she?”

The girl spoke now. “That’s how Elowinds say hello, silly. Anyway, you’re leaving Jackson hanging here.”

Linus gave Reaper a wave, and then looked at Jackson, who still had his hand stretched out. Linus shook his hand quickly. It was soft and a little clammy. Jackson was a tall, serious boy dressed in a neat white shirt with navy blue shorts and a white cap.

“You look like a sailor,” Linus said.

“You’re meant to say ‘nice to meet you’,” the girl said. “I’m Zoe.”

Zoe was wearing long khaki cargo pants and a khaki jacket over a black top. She had pinned her badge to a khaki bucket hat.

“I’m Linus,” Linus said.

“Nice to meet you,” Zoe said and tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Linus said and turned to Arya. “Are we going to see more Tuxemon this evening? I like Reaper very much.”

Arya grinned. “I’m very happy to hear that. You’re going to more than see Tuxemon!”

She pulled three boxes from her backpack and handed one each to Jackson, Zoe and Linus. The boxes were made of card, and embossed with the Tuxemon Scout crest. Linus opened his right away. Inside was a set of plastic compartments. Each compartment had a different type of food in it: a white mush, a stack of deep green leaves, a slab of smoked meat.

“Are these snacks?” Linus said, and put a leaf in his mouth.

“Don’t eat that!” Arya said quickly. She laughed when Linus spat it out onto the floorboards.

“That’s Tuxemon food, you dork!” Zoe said.

Linus felt his cheeks go red again.

“Oh I don’t suppose a bite of greyweed will do you any harm,” Arya laughed and patted Linus on the shoulder. “Come out the back, guys.”

Arya took Linus, Jackson and Zoe behind the Scout Hall. Here, the Scouts had fenced off a large area where the ground was covered in soft, fresh straw. Troughs along the fence overflowed with mint-green hay, smelling like freshly cut grass. In the corners, large plastic bowls overflowed with hard brown pellets.

“Is this a home for Tuxemon?” Jackson poked at the padlock on the gate.

“It’s our nursery,” Arya said. “If a Scout finds a Tuxemon that needs taking care of, they bring it here.”

“Why would a Tuxemon need taking care of?” Zoe asked. “Can’t they take care of themselves?”

“Sometimes a Tuxemon is injured, or lost, or its owner can’t look after it anymore,” Arya said. “But most often, we find baby Tuxemon and look after them here until there’s a Scout who will take responsibility for them.”

A broad grin grew over Linus’ face. “We’re Scouts now, we’ve got the badge!”

Arya saluted him, and then smiled. “You sure are, Scout. That’s why you’ve got the food packs. I want you to introduce yourself to the Tuxemon, and see if any bond with you. If a Tuxemon bonds with you, it can be a companion for life.”

At the end of the fenced area was a row of nesting boxes: wooden boxes with circles cut into the front. The boxes were dark, but from within each box the Scouts could hear rustling and muffled breathing.

Jackson looked nervously at Arya. “What should we do?”

“Say hello. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Jackson shuffled one step closer to the boxes.

“Oh, what’s there to be afraid of? They’re all babies.” Zoe said. She walked up to the boxes and then stopped suddenly. “They are all babies, aren’t they Arya?”

Arya shrugged. “They are all babies.”

Zoe looked back at the nesting boxes and leaped into the air. A furry head was poking out of one of the boxes, just by her knee. Zoe’s food box tumbled out of her hands and a rain of leaves, meat and mush fell all around her. The furry head withdrew into the box just before it was hit by falling meat.

“Oh no,” Zoe clasped her hands to her mouth. “I scared it away.”

“Then lure it back out,” Arya said.

Zoe crouched by the box’s entry hole, waving a pellet.

Linus followed her lead. He picked out a piece of smoked meat – it looked like the tastiest of all the options – and waved it in front of the boxes. Just as he passed one box a little grey ball cannoned out of it.

“Hey, come back!” Linus yelled, but the little grey ball ran straight up to Jackson, who covered his face with his hands and yelled:

“Don’t hurt me!”

Zoe laughed. “Open your eyes, Jackson.”

So he did. At Jackson’s feet a little grey cat with skin as smooth and hard as stone was pulling gently at the cuff of his jeans.

“Go on, feed him,” Zoe said. “Just like this!”

Zoe had a furry, brown-and-cream striped raccoon nestled in one arm. Red flames spurted from its tail, but they didn’t seem to affect Zoe – or her clothes. She picked a pellet out of her pocket and held it over the raccoon’s mouth. Its head darted forward and plucked the pellet out from between her fingers.

“Ooookay,” Jackson said uncertainly. He balanced his box of food on one hand and reached in with the other. He offered some leaves. The stony cat started chewing on his cuff instead. Pellets and the white mash were rejected too. Finally Jackson’s trembling fingers found the jerky. This was swallowed practically whole by the greedy cat.

“Where’s mine?” Linus said loudly, then realised there were tears in his eyes. He looked quickly at the boxes, batting his eyes to push the tears away.

“Patience, Linus,” Arya said softly. She patted him on the shoulder. “Go back to the boxes. You will find a companion too.”

“Yeah, Linus,” Zoe said encouragingly. Her raccoon had already climbed onto her shoulders and was sticking its nose in her ear.

Linus picked a mix of jerky and pellets out of the food box and held it in his hand. He bent over and shuffled between the boxes, waving it enticingly. After three passes, he heard giggling from Zoe and Jackson. He looked up.

A monster had left the boxes while his back was turned and was eating leaves from the box.

And what a monster! It had a brown body like a dog, with three long green leaves for its tail. Its four paws had dark brown patches that looked like socks, and three more green leaves grew from its head.

“Hello,” Linus said tentatively. The monster looked up from the box. A leaf fell from its open, grinning mouth. It bounded up to Linus, barking happily, and rubbed its head on Linus’ leg. Linus patted its head and it looked up at him.

“Oh.” Linus said.

The dog’s head was round and its face was flat. Its eyes were squinty and odd. Its mouth was slack and goofy.

It looked ridiculous.

Linus stopped patting it and looked at his fellow Scouts. Zoe’s elegant, shiny-furred raccoon was twined around her neck. Happy sparks flew from its fiery tail. Jackson’s cute, tough cat slid around his legs, purring happily.

The dog woofed. Its tongue fell out of its panting mouth.

“Congratulations, Linus,” Arya said. “You have a companion.”

“Yeah, uh,” Linus said. “It’s great.”

II

Arya left Zoe, Jackson and Linus to get acquainted with their companions. “But when I’m back, I expect them each to have a name!”

Jackson smiled right away. “I’ve got it!”

“Don’t tell us yet,” Arya said sternly. “The naming of a Tuxemon is one of the most important duties of its companion.”

Zoe and her raccoon spent half an hour running about the grounds around the Scout Hall, playing hide and seek. Linus hadn’t realised how much he disliked Zoe’s piercing giggles until just now.

Jackson and his cat were content to sit together in the yard of the fenced area. Other Tuxemon slowly emerged from the nesting boxes. Each time one poked its head out, Linus looked up. None of them looked as goofy as the dog-plant-thing he had been stuck with.

At first the dog had sat by Linus’ feet, panting as it stared up at him. Eventually it got the hint and wandered off to chase bees, tongue still stuck out of its mouth while it ran and jumped and rolled.

After a half an hour or so, Arya emerged from around the side of the Scout Hall. She clapped her hands.

“Okay, Scouts up!”

Linus leapt to attention. Zoe and Jackson wandered over with their companions.

“Hey, you!” Linus hissed to the dog, which was rolling around in the grass. “Hey!”

His cheeks burning for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Linus ran over to the dog. He grabbed it by the leaves coming out of its head and dragged it back over to Arya. The dog whimpered.

“Right,” Arya said with a slight frown. “Jackson, your companion is a Rockitten. What is her name?”

“Ignatia,” Jackson said without hesitation. He lent down and scratched behind Ignatia’s ears. “Iggy for short.”

Linus realised with panic that he hadn’t thought of a name.

“Zoe, your companion is a Pantern. What is his name?”

“Sparks Hanabi,” she said, and jutted out her chin.

“Sparks?” Arya said.

“Mr Hanabi for short,” Zoe replied.

“Linus, your companion is a Turnipper. What is his name?”

Linus glanced at his companion. The Turnipper looked up at him with its beady, weird eyes.

“Brassi,” Linus said suddenly. “His name’s Brassi.”

Arya smiled. “Brassi. I like that.”

Brassi licked Linus’ bare leg. Linus winced.

Arya had been busy while the Scouts were getting acquainted with their Tuxemon. Just around the side of the Scout Hall was a circle of rocks. In the circle was a pyramid of leaves, twigs and rolled-up newspaper. Three logs surrounded the circle, and behind them were little stacks of sawn pieces of wood.

Arya rubbed her hands excitedly.

“So, who knows how to start a fire?”

“I do!” Zoe stuck up her hand.

Arya said, “We’re not in school, Zoe – you can put down your hand. But I’m very glad to hear that. What’s the first step?”

Zoe picked up Sparks Hanabi and pointed his butt to the pyramid of tinder.

Arya laughed.

“No, you have to learn the hard way. What if Sparks was sick, or out on a mission? Then you’d be stuck.”

“I can’t imagine being without Mr Hanabi for even a minute!” Zoe retorted.

“What about you, Jackson?” Arya said softly.

Linus thought Jackson already looked a little queasy, and the question just made worry lines form around Jackson’s eyes.

“I can’t do anything outdoorsy,” he said. “I’ve never even been camping.”

Jackson’s Rockitten rubbed her head against Jackson’s cheek.

Arya smiled softly. “That’s why you’re here – to learn! Everyone starts somewhere.”

“But you were a natural Scout, weren’t you Arya?” Linus said. “I read your Tuxepedia page! By the time you were our age you had already earned your Graduation badge.”

Arya’s smile faded. “I was lucky – my mum was a mad keen bushwalker. She taught me everything I know.”

“Didn’t you rescue her? I thought she needed you to …”

“Linus, can you light the fire?” Arya interrupted.

“I’ve heard about this,” Linus said. “You just rub two sticks together.”

Linus picked two small branches off the ground and tried rubbing them back and forth. The bark rubbed away, exposing their soft fibres. Green sap leaked out, but there was no trace of a spark.

Then Brassi the Turnipper leapt forward and yanked one of the branches out of Linus’ hands. He ran back a couple of metres and then turned around, panting and bouncing from foot to foot.

“Brassi, give it back!” Linus shouted.

There was a spark – in Brassi’s eye. He ran away across the lawns outside the Scout Hall. Linus threw up his hands.

“That Turnipper’s ruined it! Now I’ll never get the fire started.”

“I don’t think that’s the problem,” Jackson said solemnly and pointed to another eucalypt branch on the ground nearby.

Zoe giggled. Linus glared at the pile of tinder.

“You’ve got the right idea, Linus,” Arya said. “Why don’t you bring Brassi back and I’ll teach you all.”

Linus chased Brassi back and forth across the lawn, around the back of the Hall, through the trees, and anywhere else that the bouncing, panting dog could get. Finally he grabbed one of the leaves that made up Brassi’s tail.

Brassi kept running.

Linus held on.

The leaf stretched and stretched. Brassi was metres and metres away, when he looked back at his long tail. He stuck his tongue out to pant a little more, and then he started running again – this time back to Linus.

Linus held on.

Brassi barrelled past Linus and kept running. Then he turned back and ran again, past Linus on the other side this time.

Linus felt the tail tightening around his legs and let go – but it was too late. Brassi had wrapped up Linus’ legs in his tail, and with a jaunty wiggle of his haunches sent Linus crashing to the ground.

Then Brassi’s big wet warm face was stuck right next to his. Brassi gave him a big wet warm lick, right over his face. There was dog drool on Linus’ lips and eyelids. “Oh, gross!”

Linus marched back to the other Scouts. Brassi cheerfully hopped beside him.

“Sorry Linus,” Arya said when he and Brassi appeared. The campfire was burning merrily. “We got hungry. I’ll teach you when we set up the fire again tomorrow night.”

Zoe was spreading butter on cobs of corn, wrapping them in aluminium foil and then placing them by the edge of the fire. Jackson was trying to wrap some dough around the end of a stick without it sticking to his fingers.

“What is he doing?” Linus asked Arya.

“He’s cooking damper,” Arya said. “Grab a stick and join in.”

“We’re going to eat that?” Linus said.

“Fresh, campfire-baked damper? There’s nothing better. Especially with jam.” Arya patted a tray of jars beside her then lifted a saucepan off of the fire. “And there’s sausages.”

Brassi tried to stick his head in the hot saucepan of sausages. Arya held him back. “Not yet, my friend,” she said. Once Brassi stopped pushing, Arya scratched his head just by his head-leaves. “Good boy.”

Linus had to admit that the sausages, the corn on the cob, and even Jackson’s sticky damper tasted better than he could have imagined. Arya kept them entertained with stories of the Tuxemon Scouts – some of her own, and some that had been passed down to her.

“Will we meet Torvald? Or Pir?” Linus asked when Arya finished a story about how the pair of Rangers had rescued the passengers of a sinking ship.

“Am I not enough for you?” Arya teased. “Well, you won’t meet them tonight. Time to get to bed. Our hike starts bright and early tomorrow morning.”

Arya covered the campfire while Zoe, Jackson and Linus walked into the Scout Hall. From a storeroom behind the stage, Arya dragged blue camping mats and a stack of army-green blankets.

“Is this camping?” Jackson said miserably as he unrolled a camping mat only to have it roll straight back up again. But he cheered up when his Rockitten Iggy sat on one end of the camping mat long enough for him to lay down, then drag a couple of blankets over them both.

Linus unrolled one camping mat for himself and a second for Brassi – who promptly rolled over until he was right next to Linus.

“Just this once,” Linus whispered.

Brassi licked Linus’ face.

III

“Rise and shine Scouts!” Arya said. Linus groaned. Each time he had started to drift off to sleep, Brassi had wriggled or snored and woken him up again. Now the Turnipper had leapt to his feet and was excitedly wagging his leaf-tail. But Linus just wanted a few more minutes sleep.

“I need someone to help wrap the trail rations,” Arya said.

“I’ll do it!” Zoe leapt out from beneath her blankets.

“Looks like we’re both morning people,” Arya high-fived Zoe and they slammed the Scout Hall doors loudly behind them.

Linus cracked open his eyes. It looked like Jackson wasn’t a morning person either. He had wrapped his pillow around his head and was curled up beneath at least five blankets. Iggy lay beside him. The stone cat’s snores sounded like sand gently falling.

Linus had just closed his eyes again when something heavy and warm fell on his head. He opened his eyes – just in time for Brassi’s tongue to emerge from his big, grinning flat face and lick Linus from his chin to his forehead.

“Ugh!”

Brassi turned around and waggled his leaf-tail in Linus’ face.

“Fine, I’ll get up.”

Linus stumbled out of the Hall. Arya and Zoe had propped four small packs against the Scout Hall. Each pack had an apple, an orange and sandwiches wrapped in grease paper.

“Ah, you’re awake, Linus! Good morning Brassi,” Arya said as the dog rubbed his nose in her face. “Make yourselves useful by filling the water flasks.

There were four battered aluminium flasks. Linus filled them quickly from a tap by the side of the Scout Hall, and was rewarded with a smile from Arya.

“Thank you – now would you be a dear and get Jackson woken up?” She looked at the sun. “Almost seven a.m. We should get started soon.”

Linus closed the Hall door behind him quickly. Brassi could amuse himself for a few minutes. The fresh air will do him good, Linus thought to himself.

Jackson was still huddled under his blankets. Linus crouched by his head.

“Hey Jackson, wake up!”

“I’m awake,” Jackson said into his pillow.

“A Scout is always ready for action,” Linus pushed Jackson’s shoulder.

“I’m not a Scout, I’m just a boy.”

Linus caught a glimpse of Jackson’s face before it was buried again in the pillow. His eyes were bloodshot.

“Hey, were you crying?” Linus said.

“No.” Jackson said, but his voice broke halfway through so it sounded more like “No-oh.”

“You were too! Your eyes are super red.”

Jackson looked up at him now. There were dark rings around his eyes.

“I was feeling … a bit teary. But I’m fine now.”

“What’s wrong?” Linus said. “Don’t you like your Rockitten?”

Jackson’s jaw dropped. “Don’t like Iggy? I adore her! But … well, I’m scared of hiking.”

Linus laughed. Jackson’s lip quivered.

“Sorry, sorry,” Linus said. “But who’s scared of hiking? It’s just walking, but in nature.”

Jackson shook his head. “I’ve never been hiking. What if I step on a snake and get bitten? Or Iggy wanders off? Or I fall off the edge of a cliff? Or there’s a bushfire? Or …” he bit his lip. “What if I’m so fat that I slow everyone down?”

“Don’t worry about that. If you’re too slow, we’ll just leave you behind. Besides, you’re not that fat.”

Jackson looked at Linus. His belly shook.

Oh dear, Linus thought. That’s really set him off.

Then Jackson erupted in a big laugh.

Arya and Zoe came through the door at that moment with Sparks Hanabi and Brassi. “Well, I’m glad you’re having a good time,” Arya smiled. “Here are your lunch packs – put them at the top of your backpacks. Fifteen minutes before the hike begins!”

The Scouts set off along a narrow path behind the Scout Hall at 7:15 on the dot. Zoe and Mr Hanabi took the lead. Linus and Brassi were just behind them: Linus wasn’t going to let Zoe pretend to be the only hiker of the group. Jackson and Iggy struggled along behind Brassi, and Arya walked at the back to keep an eye on everyone.

The path was surrounded by light bushland. Every so often, a tree jutted from the tall grass. The path sloped upwards, but only gently. The weather was kind: bright, but with a cool wind from the south.

“Are we headed to those mountains?” Jackson pointed to a distant blue-green mountain range.

“Not quite, Jackson,” Arya said. “We’re headed to Blue Rock. It’s about halfway between us and those mountains.”

Linus remembered a detail he’d read in his Scouts Factbook.

“Is Blue Rock our destination? Does that make us …”

“The Blue Rock Troop? It does indeed. Good knowledge, Scout.”

Linus grinned.

“We’re a troop now?” Zoe looked back at the three Scouts trailing her.

“Linus can explain, can’t you?” Arya said.

Linus’ grin grew wider.

“An expedition of Scouts is called a Troop,” Linus explained. “Most Troops take their name from their destination – when it is known. Hence, Blue Rock Troop.”

“The Scouts Factbook, word-for-work,” Arya said.

Linus’ face hurt from all the grinning.

Zoe spoke up a few minutes later.

“Arya, where’s your Elowind? Ah, was her name Reaper?”

“It is, and she’s flying ahead of us to get a sense of the terrain and any threats.”

“Threats?” Jackson stopped so suddenly that Arya almost bumped into the camping mat strapped to his back.

“Not threats, just – things to watch out for,” Arya said. “Say, Jackson – your mum said you’re in the school choir. Know any good marching songs?”

Linus felt like Arya was changing the subject, but Jackson looked so happy singing some old song about saucepans that he didn’t want to interrupt.

Jackson’s third encore was interrupted by a cry from the bush.

“Was that Reaper?” Zoe stopped. The Scouts clustered around her.

Arya frowned. “No. I’d know her shriek anywhere. It’s … something else.”

Linus put his hands on his hips. “What did you say earlier, about threats?”

Arya rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

“It’s really nothing to be worried about,” she said.

“Then you can tell us what it is,” Zoe said logically.

Arya sighed. “Alright, but don’t let it ruin your hike. For the last three months, a few campers have come back with reports of something unusual around Blue Rock. That’s why the Rangers decided that Reaper and I would head out and see if there was anything out of the ordinary.”

“Why did you bring us?” Jackson asked.

At the same time, Zoe said: “What unusual things have been happening?”

“Answer his question first,” Zoe said. “I want to know that too!”

Arya smiled. “I’ll answer them together. It’s small things: someone sees a dark shadow out of the corner of their eye when they go to relieve themselves in the middle of the night. Someone else wakes up to find their hiking boots ripped apart, and they have to hobble back home in their socks. So when I was booked to take some new Scouts from the area on their first expedition, it seemed like the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Reaper is a bird,” Zoe said.

Arya frowned. “It’s really nothing to worry about. There are campfire stories and urban legends about every part of the wilderness.”

Zoe sniffed. “This isn’t very urban.”

“Hiking is bad enough,” Jackson said. “Without hiking right into the lion’s den.”

“Come on guys,” Linus said. “Are we Scouts, or tourists? If Arya says there’s nothing to worry about, there’s nothing to worry about. And if there is something to worry about, then it’s up to the Scouts to deal with it.”

“Here here, Linus,” Arya said and saluted. Brassi barked excitedly and ran up the path, looking back to see if the others were following.

“For once, Brassi has it right. Let’s get hiking,” Linus said. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by another blood-curdling scream.

The Scouts ate their packed lunches under a tall tree. Each of its branches was thicker than the trunk of any tree they had seen that day.

“We call it the Border-Tree. It marks the end of the bush and the start of scrubland. It’s the last properly big tree between here to Blue Rock, so enjoy it,” Arya said and brushed sandwich crumbs off her chin. Sure enough, as they kept walking along the path most of the trees were replaced with low lying shrub bushes with thin, pointing leaves.

The lack of trees had one benefit: they could clearly see their ultimate destination. Blue Rock was a magnificent stack of grey-blue rocks, each one bigger than the Scout Hall they had left behind that morning. Even though they were several kilometres away, they could still make out the cracks and gaps between the rocks and the thick layer of lichen and moss that grew along its sides.

“Did humans make that?” Jackson said. Zoe laughed, but Linus could see what he meant. The stones fit together so neatly that it really seemed like they had been placed deliberately by giant hands.

“It’s a fascinating natural phenomenon,” Arya said. “Blue Rock is made of granite, just like Iggy there. Granite is created by volcanic activity. Sometimes it gets forced between gaps in the earth at great pressure, forming columns. Because it’s so much harder than the earth around it, these columns survive even when the earth around them is worn away. Thousands of years ago, the earth around Blue Rock wore away, but Blue Rock survived the rain and the wind.”

“But the rocks are stacked together,” Jackson said.

“It’s all the one rock,” Arya explained. “But it’s cracked, and the elements have worn away the rock around those cracks.”

“Wow,” Jackson said and held his Rockitten up to get a closer look. “That’s made of the same stuff as you, Iggy.”

Iggy was more interested in a butterfly that had flown across the path.

By late afternoon, as the sun touched the tips of the blue-green mountains, the Scouts made it to the camping ground.

There were separate clearings for different groups, but only one was already occupied: there were two gaudy blue tents next to a campfire that had burned out long ago.

“Let’s get set up, then we can meet our neighbours,” Arya said.

“We’re not going to Blue Rock today?” Zoe said.

“No – that will be our day trip tomorrow,” Arya said. “Now I wonder whether boys or girls can get their tents set up quicker?”

Jackson was all thumbs when it came to threading supports through the thin canvas of the tent. Nor could he get the tent pegs more than an inch or two into the hard dirt of the camp site. Even zipping the entrance section to the main section seemed beyond him.

Eventually Linus ordered Jackson to hold the tent steady while Linus did everything else. Brassi didn’t help either – the Turnipper kept sticking his head wherever Linus was working, tripping over guide ropes and digging pegs out of the ground and dropping them in Linus’ lap like he’d just done Linus a favour.

“Need a hand?” Zoe said as Linus hammered in his sixth peg. She and Arya had finished putting up their tent.

“No thanks,” Linus said.

“Boys are too proud,” Zoe said and walked over to investigate the two bright-blue tents on the other side of the campground.

“Helloooooooo, helloooooooo,” Zoe said but there was no response.

“They’re probably not back from Blue Rock yet,” Arya said.

As soon as the boys’ tent was up, Jackson unzipped the entrance and collapsed inside.

“I need a little breather, guys,” Jackson said.

“Zoe?” Arya said.

Linus looked over the tent.

Zoe wasn’t in the campsite.

There was a scream from the bush beyond the blue tents, then a series of barks.

Brassi wasn’t in the campsite either.

Arya and Linus ran into the bush, following the barks. A few moments later they came upon Zoe, beside a gnarled tree. Brassi was barking up at her and nudging her leg – but Zoe was frozen with her hands over her mouth.

Jackson arrived a few moments later.

The Scouts followed Zoe’s gaze upwards. Hanging upside down from the tree were two men, still in their sleeping bags. Around the sleeping bags were wrapped ropes, which were then tied to the branch. Their faces were bright red. One man had wiry red hair in a buzzcut. The other had long, brown hair which hung from his head like a curtain.

“Zoe, we’re here,” Arya said calmly and wrapped Zoe in a hug. “We’ve got you, we’ve got you.”

Zoe defrosted. “I saw Brassi wander off sniffing the ground – I went to fetch him – he ignored me until … I saw … He found … Are they dead? Oh goodness, they’re dead aren’t they?”

Arya pulled on her leather necklace. At the end was a silver whistle, which she blew loudly. It made a sound like no other whistle Linus had ever heard; it was high and almost melodic.

Then they waited.

Linus counted thirty breaths before there was a shriek from above and the sky was briefly blocked by darkness. Then Reaper landed. The Elowind bowed to Arya, who bowed back and then pointed to the two hanging men.

In a flash, Arya was atop Reaper’s back. With mighty strokes of her wings, Reaper hovered just below the branch, allowing Arya to grab a hanging man and cut him loose from the branch. Then Reaper swooped to the ground, and Arya placed the man gently on the dirt before fetching the second.

Once both campers were on the ground, Reaper slashed their bindings with a single stroke of her mighty talons.

Arya checked their breath. “They’re just passed out. Help me move their limbs to get the blood circulating again.”

The Scouts picked up the men’s limp arms and legs and moved them back and forth. There were deep impressions in their skin where the bindings had been.

After a few minutes, the man with the long brown hair stirred. Arya dribbled water into his mouth, and over the lips of the red-haired man.

He suddenly sat up. “The Fiend of the Fells!”

Then he collapsed.

“What’s the Fiend of the Fells?” Jackson said.

Arya sighed. “It’s what the campers are calling the mysterious Tuxemon that I told you about. It’s much more dramatic than it needs to be.”

“This seems pretty dramatic!” Zoe pointed at the cut ropes still hanging from the tree branch.

“What … what’s a fiend?” Jackson asked.

“It’s a demon, a devil,” Zoe said.

“They just use it because it rhymes with ‘fells’”, Arya said.

“What are fells?” Zoe asked.

“We’re in them,” Arya said. “Fells are mountains and hills where the acidic soil means that plants don’t grow very high.”

“The Fiend of the Fells,” Jackson repeated, and shuddered.

That name seemed to awake the long-haired man, who licked his lips and opened his eyes a crack. Arya propped up his head and dribbled water into his mouth.

After a minute or two he pushed himself up to a sitting position.

“Thank you,” were his first words.

“Of course,” Arya said. “I’m a Ranger Scout, Arya Arundsen. These are my fellow Scouts: Zoe, Jackson and Linus.”

The man relaxed. “Thank goodness you found me. My name’s Matt. My buddy James and I … James!” he looked around. “James!” He tried to crawl over to James’ prone body.

Arya grabbed his shoulder. “He’s okay. He’s resting.”

Matt took a deep breath.

“What happened here?” she asked.

Matt shuddered. “All through the night we heard shrieks and rustling. Matt and I crawled out; we thought we could see a dark shape moving just outside the light of the campfire. I went back inside to get our torch – then there was a hissing sound and the campfire went out. A moment later I heard James scream.”

Matt blushed and stopped talking.

“And then?” Arya prompted.

“Then I … I zipped up the tent entrance and tried to hide in my sleeping bag. I’m not proud of it, okay. There was a stomping noise, like something walking off into the night. Then silence for five, maybe ten minutes. Then the stomping noise returned and I heard someone – or something – unzipping the tent. Then everything went black. Oh James, oh James, I’m so sorry I abandoned you. Can you ever forgive me?”

James stirred at the sound of his name.

“Matt?” Matt – is that you?” He reached out his hand, and Matt grabbed it.

“I’m so sorry, James.”

Matt squeezed James’ hand. “All good, man,” he said and drifted off into unconsciousness again.

“Any more details you remember?” Arya said. “Suspicious sounds, shapes, traces?”

Matt shrugged. “There were the shrieks of course, all through the day. But we just laughed them off, you know ‘Oh, that’s the Fiend of the Fells those campers have been fretting about.’”

Jackson gave Arya a meaningful look, which she ignored.

“Sorry I can’t be more help,” Matt said.

Arya smiled and squeezed his shoulder. “You’ve already been a great help. We know this Fiend has hands, can use tools. There’s plenty of Tuxemon that could rip open your tent, or trample it, or …” She realised that Matt was looking a little green. “Or, whatever. But as for Tuxemon that can unzip something – well, there aren’t so many of those around.”

Arya helped Matt to his feet. He walked back and forth a few times. Brassi ran alongside him, and nipped at Matt’s calves each time the man paused for a breather.

“This little guy could be a personal trainer,” Matt laughed.

With that, Matt seemed well enough that between him and Arya they could carry James back to the campground. By the time they were there, James was awake as well.

Arya emerged from the girls’ tent looking worried.

“I can’t get phone reception up here to call in a medical team,” she told Matt and James. “But the nearest safe place to land is back near Border-Tree anyway. The terrain here is too steep for a helicopter.”

“It’s almost night,” Matt said.

“We have four head torches. Enough for you, me and James. Not enough to bring the Scouts too.”

Reaper swooped down and nudged Arya. She stroked the bird’s head for a minute, biting her lip. Then she nodded.

“Alright Scouts, here’s what we’re gonna do. I’ll walk Matt and James down to Border-Tree tonight. You three camp here as planned.”

Jackson turned white and needed to sit down. Zoe started to complain.

“I’m leaving you here with Reaper. She’ll take care of you. I’m sorry, but we’ve got to get medical attention for Matt and James.”

Arya took a few minutes to prepare her backpack. Then she touched her head against Reaper’s, saluted Zoe, Jackson and Linus, and started down the path. Matt and James limped behind her.

“What a hero your Brassi is, Linus,” Zoe said when they sat around the campfire that evening. “If he hadn’t found Matt and James, who knows what would have happened to them.”

Linus shrugged. “He always sticks his nose in other people’s business. And when he gets excited he never pays attention to what other people want or what he should be doing.”

Jackson laughed.

“What?”

Jackson looked at his feet.

“What is it, Jackson?” Linus said.

“Well, I’m sorry I laughed, but – doesn’t that description remind you of anyone else?”

Linus narrowed his eyes. “What do you … wait, you think I’m like that?”

“You and Brassi are both excitable and energetic, Linus,” Zoe said. “It’s not a bad thing – it’s one of the reasons we like you, both.”

“You think I’m like that goofy-looking, clumsy, noisy thing?” Linus asked.

Zoe shrugged. “Why do you think you two matched? And he’s not goofy-looking. He’s cute!”

“I’m going to bed,” Linus said suddenly. He marched off from the campfire and lay on his camping mat. When Jackson and Iggy came to bed a half hour later, Linus was still awake.

“Hey Linus,” Jackson whispered. Linus pretended to be asleep while Jackson spent five minutes making sure Iggy was comfortably wrapped in a spare blanket.

IV

Several times in the night Linus reached for his blankets, only to realise that they were already on him. For once he wished Brassi was around – for warmth if nothing else. Since Zoe likes him so much, I guess he’s sleeping in her tent tonight. Fine by me, he thought.

By the time the weak morning sun shone through the thin orange walls of the tent, Linus decided he wasn’t getting back to sleep. He took a blanket and sat by the campfire across from Reaper, who could have been a statue for all she had moved since the night before.

Linus threw a couple of logs onto the dying embers of the campfire.

An hour or two later, Zoe crawled out of her tent with her Pantern around her neck.

“Just us awake?” she said.

Linus nodded.

“Funny, I would have picked Brassi for an early riser,” she said.

“He still asleep?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“Wait, wasn’t he in there with you?” Linus gestured to girls’ tent.

“Why would he be in my tent? He’s your Tuxemon.”

Linus looked around the campground.

“Maybe he slept outside … Turnippers are a very active Tuxemon …”

Zoe patted Sparks Hanabi. The fiery raccoon nestled against her neck.

Linus poked around the campground. He checked behind logs and in the two tents abandoned by James and Matt. He looked through the scrub surrounding the campground. There was no sign of Brassi.

Zoe had woken Jackson and Iggy. They stood together by the burned out campfire. Perhaps it was Linus’ imagination, but it seemed like Reaper was glaring at him.

“Um, Linus?” Jackson said softly.

Linus nodded, not looking up from his feet.

“You don’t think Brassi heard those things you said about him last night, do you?” Jackson said.

Linus hunched his shoulders. He didn’t want Zoe and Jackson to see him cry.

“That turnip-dog?” Linus said. He meant it to sound jokey and unaffected, but as soon as he said it he regretted it. “We would have noticed him if he was around the place – remember? He’s always making a fuss.”

“He did like being around you – does like it, I mean,” Jackson said. “He could have snuck up while we were by the campfire without anyone noticing.”

“Well anyway,” Linus’ voice wavered. “He wouldn’t understand human talk, even if he was close.”

“All Tuxemon do understand us to some extent, Linus,” Zoe said and held her Pantern up to her face. “Don’t they, Mr Hanabi?” The fiery raccoon touched her nose with his paw.

Linus looked at her suddenly. “They all do?”

She nodded.

Linus walked up to Reaper. He barely came up to the Elowind’s puffed-out chest.

“Ah, Reaper?”

The giant raptor did not move a muscle.

“Did you see where Brassi went last night? Brassi is … oh, you must know him, he’s my Turnipper!”

Linus trailed off, and Reaper did not respond. Linus sighed and walked away for a few steps. He saw Zoe and Jackson’s eyes widen, and he spun around.

Reaper was pointing with one of her mighty, snow-white wings … pointing straight at Blue Rock!

Linus collected his backpack from the boys’ tent. He zipped it shut and looked up – only to see Zoe and Jackson blocking his way.

“Linus! Just what are you planning to do?” Zoe said.

“I’m going to find Brassi!”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jackson said nervously. “Let’s wait till Arya is back and we can do a proper search.”

Linus pushed passed them.

“I’m the reason he ran away – while the Fiend of the Fells is on the loose. If something happened to him, I’d … I’d never forgive myself.”

Zoe looked nervously at Jackson. Jackson nodded.

“In that case, we’re coming with you,” he said.

“No way,” Linus said. “You need to wait here till Arya gets back so you can explain what’s happening.”

“Linus …”

“I need to do this myself.”

And with that, Linus crossed the clearing and started toward Blue Rock without looking back once.

V

The path to Blue Rock was steeper than anything the Scouts had hiked the day before, and within a few minutes Linus was breathing heavily. The hour was still early; the low mint-green grasses and grey-green heather glistened with the morning dew.

The noises of the bush, which had passed unnoticed when he was part of a big, noisy troop of Scouts, were now very audible. Whether it was a cracking twig, a tweeting bird or a gorse bush creaking in the wind, Linus looked around each time, aware that the Fiend of the Fells could be anywhere. Even the absence of sound made Linus twitchy, as he imagined the birds falling silent at the approach of the Fiend.

Linus’ nervous energy kept him moving at a good pace, and it seemed like no time at all had passed before he was standing at the base of Blue Rock.

The Rock was even more magnificent up close. It jutted abruptly out of the dusty yellow earth, a clean, smooth grey-blue stone. Like a gravestone, Linus thought suddenly. He tried to push that thought out of his mind.

Rusty stairs had been bolted to Blue Rock. A small sign from the Parks Service, in much better condition than the stairs, warned that hikers climbed at their own risk.

“Brassi! Brassi! Are you here? Koo-wee! Koo-wee!” Linus yelled. He paused for a minute, but there was no response. It was worth a try, he thought and forced himself towards the rusty stairs.

The stair railing was scratchy under his hand. The flaking paint cut at his palm. The steps were made of iron grating to let rainwater drip through; he could see straight through them to the ground far below.

The wind caught at Linus’ clothes, pulling him this way and that. Then it seized the stairs and shook them.

For all that the path to Blue Rock had seemed to take no time at all, the stairs up Blue Rock seemed to take a lifetime. Linus told himself that it was no different to running up to his grandparents’ seventh-story apartment when he visited them in the city – but he couldn’t see the ground through those stairs!

Finally, Linus made it to the top. Blue Rock was remarkably flat and smooth but for the occasional boulder or little pool. Dirt and low plants had filled the cracks between the stones.

Linus worked up the courage to walk closer to the north edge of Blue Rock. The view was magnificent: the scrubs and small trees that seemed green or grey from the ground had purple and white tints when viewed from above, and the winds that had shaken the rusty stairs now created pleasant waves along the grass.

Linus could even make out the campground from this height, and the blue and orange specks that were their tents. He waved, even though he knew that Reaper, Zoe and Jackson couldn’t see him from this distance.

It’s not them I need to worry about, Linus reminded himself.

“Brassi! Brassi!” he yelled.

Silence.

This time Linus cupped his hands around his mouth and really hollered.

“Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasi! I’m sorry! Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasi!”

Silence.

And then – a bark!

“Brassi!”

Another bark!

Linus scanned the fells for any trace of the bouncy dog with leaves for his hair and tail. After five minutes of calling, Linus saw a small brown shape give a happy little bounce. He waved both hands over his head and there was another happy bounce.

Linus was watching the gambolling Turnipper make his way slowly to the Rock when a dark shape caught his eye.

The dark shape was a few hundred metres away. But it was moving quickly, and in a straight line towards Brassi, who was still bouncing along without a care in the world.

The Fiend of the Fells! Linus gasped. “Brassi! Brassi!”

The Turnipper gave another happy bounce.

“No!” Linus said and waved his hands over his head. “Look out! Behind you!”

But the wind caught Linus’ words and blew them far away. All Brassi could hear was his companion’s voice, and he bounced happily at the thought that he would soon be reunited with Linus.

Linus tried pointing, yelling, waving, and even miming a big hulking figure sneaking up on a bouncing dog, but nothing got through to the Turnipper. Meanwhile the dark shape drew ever closer.

Linus took the rusty stairs two at a time, hands never touching the railing.

Barely a minute later, he was on the ground. Linus kept running in the direction he’d last seen Brassi.

The scrub caught at his clothes. After the handle of his backpack got caught on a thick branch, Linus slipped out of it and left it behind.

From the top of Blue Rock, Linus had seen everything. In the scrub, Linus could not see very far at all. But he continued, pushing his way through the scrub and even crawling on his belly under a particularly spikey thicket. From time to time he’d yell for Brassi – and sometimes he’d even hear a bark in response.

There was a sudden grunting and yelling from up ahead.

“Brassi!” Linus yelled and broke forward through the scrub. For a moment, he saw a clearing, and a dark human-like shape walking away from him – and then Linus tripped over a root and fell flat on his face. The wind was knocked from his body.

When Linus recovered his breath, he pushed himself up off the ground and looked up.

The dark figure was a large goblin with dark green skin dotted with rubies, sapphires and other precious gems. It walked on its gigantic arms – each one as tall as Linus and double his width – while its tiny legs and tail trailed behind. A golden crown sat on its head, between four horns.

Linus had never seen a monster like this in his life – not in person, not in the zoo, nor even in the books of Tuxemon that he used to read every night before bed. This must be the Fiend of the Fells!

And it was walking purposefully towards the other end of the clearing.

Linus froze for a moment. If I only stay quiet, I can back away and get out of here, he thought – but then he heard the whimper. That must be Brassi!

As Linus pushed himself to his feet, his hand closed around a rock lying. He took a deep breath, and then lobbed the rock at the Fiend’s head.

It was a perfect hit, right on the monster’s crown. There was a satisfying “clang”, and the crown fell off its head.

“Hey you big brute!” Linus yelled. “Pick on someone your own size!”

The monster stopped. Then it sat down.

Linus thought for a moment that his thrown rock had dazed it. But the monster was just sitting so it could stop using its mighty right arm to walk, and instead raise its hand well above its head, curled in a terrible fist.

As it did, the sapphires embedded in the Fiend’s arm sparkled in the sunlight, giving Linus an idea.

Linus reached into his pockets and drew out a handful of loose change.

He threw the coins at the Fiend. Most fell short, thudding into the dirt. But one clinked off of the monster’s ankle.

The monster turned around.

“Brassi, run!” Linus tried to yell, but the words froze in his throat at the sight of the monster.

The Fiend was even more hideous from the front. Where its eyes should be there was just a spiral symbol pressed into its flesh. Its torso was brown, with a shiny gold band like a treasure chest. Below the gold band, the monster had a second mouth on its stomach.

Both mouths – on its face and on its stomach – opened to produce a double-scream more horrible than anything Linus had ever heard.

Then it looked down.

The goblin’s symbol glowed silver as it saw the coins scattered around the clearing. It picked up the first coin in a flash, and fed it to its stomach-mouth. It leapt to the next coin, and the next, repeating the process each time.

In the momentary interruption, Linus looked past the Fiend to his victim.

“Matt?” Linus said incredulously.

On his bum, backed against a tree, was the camper that Reaper and Arya had rescued the day before. Matt swept his long hair out of his face and winked at Linus.

Then Matt leapt to his feet and grabbed the monster’s crown from where it had fallen.

“Thanks for the help, buddy,” he said and ran off through the thicket. The last Linus saw of him was the morning sun glinting off the crown.

As Matt made his escape, Linus saw the Fiend’s hand close around the last of Linus’ coins. Its face symbol turned red as the monster walked purposefully – right towards Linus. The Scout tried to back up, but he was held in place by the thorny scrub.

Then the Fiend was upon him. Again it sat down in order to raise its right hand high. The fist blocked out most of the sky. Linus flinched and closed his eyes.

The sky remained dark, but the fist never fell.

Linus opened his eyes.

The Fiend was frozen in place, wrapped all around in green vines! Brassi ran excitedly around his catch.

“Brassi!” Linus yelled. “Oh Brassi, you saved me!”

The Turnipper bounced up to Linus and gave his leg a gigantic slobbery lick. Linus fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Brassi’s neck, grinning as the next gigantic slobbery lick went right up his face.

“Brassi, I’m so sorry. You are the cleverest, most powerful, most loyal Tuxemon that any Scout could wish for.”

Brassi panted happily and Linus wiped away his secret tears on the Turnipper’s soft brown coat.

Then a shadow fell across the clearing.

Linus looked up. Hovering above the clearing was Reaper, with Arya on her back. Reaper carried Zoe in one claw and Jackson in the other. Jackson looked green and was holding Iggy tightly; Zoe was grinning from ear to ear and Mr Hanabi’s tail-flame burned a happy blue.

Arya leapt onto the ground and advanced on Linus and Brassi.

“Scout! Why did you leave the camp? Why did you disobey my express order to stay put?”

She stopped as she passed under the Fiend’s raised arm, and seemed to notice it for the first time.

“What … what’s going on here?”

Jackson and Zoe pushed forward to stand between Linus and Arya.

“We tried to explain but there wasn’t time,” Zoe said.

Arya jerked her head for the two Scouts to move. “I’m not going to bite his head off,” she said. They shuffled to the side.

Linus hung his head.

“It’s all my fault, Arya. Last night I said some extremely rude things about my companion. And … and he heard, and he ran off, and when we realised this morning that he was gone I had to go look for him. And I found him, but then the Fiend appeared, and … and then Brassi saved me because he’s the best, finest Tuxemon that any Scout could wish for!”

Arya tilted her head. “I’m going to need that explained to me again, slower.”

“Well, firstly it’s all my fault,” Linus said slowly.

“Not now!” Arya said and turned to examine the Fiend.

“So this is the Fiend of the Fells, is it?”

“Have you ever seen a Tuxemon like it, Arya?” Zoe asked.

“I’ve heard of them,” Arya replied. “It’s a Treasurblin, the Treasure Tuxemon. They live in dark, secret places and keep hoards of treasure stored in their coffer-stomachs.” She tickled its stomach and its stomach-mouth opened. There was a clinking of coins and precious metals.

“It swallowed my loose change,” Linus said.

The stomach-mouth slammed shut.

“I wouldn’t try to get it back,” Arya said drily.

“Are they dangerous and wicked?” Jackson asked.

“Not wicked,” Arya said, “so much as obsessed with treasure. And not normally dangerous – unless you get between them and their gold.”

“But I didn’t –” Linus protested.

“Not you – those two campers we found, Matt and James. I’ll bet anything they stole something from the Treasurblin. It’s been sulking around for the last few months looking for it and frightening perfectly innocent campers – and when Matt and James came back for more the Treasurblin caught them and strung them up to teach them a lesson!”

“Matt was here!” Linus said excitedly.

Arya nodded. “I suspected as much. As I was walking them back to Border-Tree for medical attention, they gave me the slip. They must have doubled back here to retrieve the stolen treasure,”

“What do we do now?” Jackson asked nervously. “Those vines aren’t going to hold the Fiend forever.”

“Those vines are perfect,” Linus said firmly and patted Brassi’s head.

“They are very fine vines, but Jackson is right. The only way we fix this for good is to find Matt and James and make them give the treasure back. But how to find them?”

Brassi slipped out from Linus’ hands and ran towards the patch in the clearing where Matt had lay. He sniffed the ground and then looked back at the Scouts, wagging his tail.

“Of course!” Arya said. “Brassi can follow the scent!”

The Scouts followed Brassi through the scrub to a thin track through the heath. A few minutes later, the track took them to a shallow overhang. Two men were wrestling a clinking sack out of a freshly-dug hole. It was Matt and James! Matt had stuck the Treasurblin’s crown on his own head as they worked.

Reaper screeched and leapt into the air. They dropped the sack, and before it even hit the ground Reaper had swooped forward and seized it in her claw. She used the other claw to snatch the crown from Matt’s head.

“Reaper will return the treasure and release the Treasurblin from the vines,” Arya said. “I imagine the Fiend of the Fells will be no more after that. Just a regular Treasurblin napping in the tunnels below Blue Rock.”

“Speaking of vines,” Linus said. “Brassi, if you would do the honours?”

Brassi shook his leaf-tail happily and in a flash Matt and James were totally wrapped up.

Arya held her hand out and Zoe, Jackson and Linus put their hands on top. Then Brassi, Iggy and Sparks Hanabi added their paws.

“Blue Rock Troop: mission accomplished!”