100% Wolf Page 7

  Freddy and Batty gasped with sympathy. The other dogs whined gently.

  'Don't dare insult those who have tried and failed. You have not been tested.' The surrounding dogs growled their agreement.

  Freddy, crestfallen indeed, now spoke up with great remorse. 'I'm sorry, I never meant to be rude. It's just that I need to escape. My pack is in great danger,' he woofed miserably, thinking of Dr Cripp and the Wolfen Names.

  'Every dog here has a family they care for. Do you think yourself so special, so Crufts?' Hamish replied sternly, though this time with some softening of his tone.

  'Erm ... I don't know,' Freddy said in confusion. He had no idea what 'Crufts' was.

  They heard footsteps outside.

  'Walkies, quick, everyone!' the terrier woofed quietly. The circle of dogs began to pace again. Hamish turned towards Batty and Freddy.

  'Remember, there are two rules: do nothing to anger Cerberus, he is as savage as a man and without mercy; and no more talk of escape, it is dangerous for us all.'

  With that the dogs returned to the endless circle. Batty and Freddy joined in without another word.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Cell Mates

  After walkies Batty and Freddy found themselves in a cell with three other dogs. Hamish, Bruno the boxer and a King Charles Spaniel.

  'Just my luck!' the boxer woofed roughly and glared at them in disgust.

  'Why, too scared to share with a wolf?' Freddy yipped defiantly.

  'Oh joy,' the spaniel yawned lazily. He was sprawled out on the straw licking his paws. 'I always hoped to meet a miniature pink wolf.' He snorted with sarcasm through his damp nose.

  'Och, leave the wee pup alone. It's not his fault he looks like a ridiculous sissy. Who did this to you, son?' Hamish asked with a friendly woof.

  'The Putrid Pair ... Two human pups. They dognapped me,' Freddy told them with a snarl. 'And when I get out of here I'll ... I'll ... I'll show them.'

  'That's the spirit, laddie,' the terrier woofed. He pointed his ears at the spaniel.

  'This is St John.' (He pronounced it Sin-john.) Batty waved her ears and turned a few circles in welcome. The spaniel totally ignored her.

  'He was once the Supreme Champion at Crufts,' Hamish added.

  Batty raised her eyebrows in surprise. St John smiled as if he were the king of the world, rather than a prisoner in Coldfax.

  'What's "Crufts"?' Freddy asked, wholly unimpressed.

  St John nearly choked with disbelief. Hamish laughed.

  'Where have you been all your life, lad? Crufts is the most famous dog show on the planet. And The Lord St John here was once the Champion. The best dog in the world, apparently.'

  St John looked away from them all coolly.

  'Says who?' Freddy frowned. Hamish, Batty and Bruno all seemed more impressive dogs to him, in their different ways.

  'Says humans what want dogs to wear perfume like them,' Bruno snarled at Freddy, clearly smelling his terrible pong. 'You'd probably win too. No real dog would ever be in a Show.'

  Freddy glared at him and so did St John.

  'We still don't know your names, though,' Hamish went on.

  'I'm Batty and this little pup is Freddy,' she told them. 'We're here for stealing sausages.'

  'You will excuse me if I don't rise for petty criminals,' St John sniffed.

  'I'm the best sausage thief in Milford,' Batty informed him with an angry swish of her tail.

  'Oh dear, how un-Crufts you are.' The spaniel gave a wheezy laugh and turned his back on them. 'Now if you please, I need my beauty sleep.'

  'Just ignore the Supreme Champion – that's what we do,' Hamish told her with a woof. 'So, a sausage expert, hey? A lassie after my own heart.'

  'Did you steal sausages too?' Batty gasped in admiration.

  'Only more than any other dog in history,' he yipped proudly. 'But that was years ago. You would have been only a pup.' He sighed. 'It's a long while since I ate a sausage.'

  'You will again once we bust out of here,' the boxer woofed, then he slapped his paw over his mouth.

  'Put a paw in it, lad,' the terrier yipped in warning, giving a meaningful wag of his tail towards St John.

  'So you are planning an escape?' Freddy yipped loudly. 'Me too! I'm going to escape tonight.'

  Batty put her paw on his muzzle to shut him up.

  'My hairy ears!' the terrier growled. 'It's bad enough trying to keep Bruno quiet.'

  'I'm sorry about this silly pink pup. But you'll like him when you know him better,' she promised.

  'I won't,' Bruno growled. Hamish looked unconvinced too.

  'Maybe,' the terrier said. He dropped his growl very low. 'But no more talk of escape, it's not safe.' He pointed his ear towards the sleeping spaniel.

  'Why?' Freddy whispered back. 'Doesn't he want to leave Coldfax?'

  'Shush!' Hamish growled. The dogs grew closer together.

  'St John was Supreme Champion at Crufts but...'

  All the dogs paused and looked over at the now snoring spaniel.

  '... but when he went to collect his ribbon ... disaster.' Hamish continued.

  'What happened?' Freddy yipped.

  'St John lost control in his excitement and did a poo on the judge's shoe,' the terrier told them solemnly. 'He lost his title.'

  'A poo?' Freddy cackled. 'Fantabulous!'

  The other dogs looked at him in surprise.

  'How can you cheer at a fellow dog's disgrace?' Hamish frowned.

  'Freddy, will you try to be more like a dog?' Batty whispered crossly in his ear. Freddy sighed. Surely he should be allowed to laugh at such a silly story.

  'It was on the television, of course, and so every dog in Britain knew,' Hamish carried on. 'His owner put him in here in disgrace. He has to stay here because he can't show his muzzle in public again.'

  'It's him what tells Cerberus about anyone's escape plans. He's always listening,' Bruno muttered in disgust.

  'He's a spy?' Freddy yipped. He knew what it was like living with spies around. Harriet and Chariot were forever telling tales about him to Uncle Hotspur.

  'But why does he want to stop us escaping?' Batty was puzzled.

  'If he tells tales he gets treats as a reward,' Bruno told her.

  'So no more loose words, for Cerberus always finds out. Now get some sleep,' Hamish ordered, 'you've had a big day.'

  Freddy and Batty curled up together. Freddy looked around the cell miserably, while the other dogs drifted off to sleep and began to snore. The floor was made of heavy stone flags that no dog could dig through. The tiny window was too high to reach. The heavy iron bars of the door were too narrow for even Hamish to pass through. There was no chance of escape. Unless ...

  Freddy looked at the door. The cells were designed for dogs, not boys. Between the top of the door and the ceiling was a gap of about thirty centimetres. It was too high for a dog to reach, but maybe a skinny boy could climb up the iron bars and squeeze out over the top. The Plan Master began to smile. It was against all the rules of the Hidden Moonlight Gathering to ever reveal your true identity to a human, but no-one had ever mentioned telling a dog, had they?

  Freddy noticed the other dogs' snores growing deeper and decided it was safe to wake Batty with a friendly nip on the ear.

  'What now, Stinky?'

  'I have a plan, but first I need to tell you everything about me. You must promise to believe me and you're not allowed to bite my tail off.'

  Batty gave a little growl but nodded her ears in agreement.

  He told her the whole truth about himself, his family, werefolk, the Wolfen Names and the dreadful Dr Cripp. Poor Batty! Her ears perked higher and higher with astonishment as she listened. It had been hard enough to believe that Freddy was a wolf, now she had to believe that he could be a boy too? She began to growl suspiciously again. Could she really trust this silly pink poodle and his ridiculous stories? But somehow it made sense. She sniffed him once more. He had never smelt right, never smel
t like a dog. That was when she believed him.

  'You smell like a human!' she woofed in realisation. 'That's why you stink. I thought it was because you had that pukey perfume on, but you really do smell that bad underneath!'

  'Oh great, thanks!' Freddy almost sulked, but was too pleased to have convinced her. He began to explain his escape plan. Batty was close to giggling at the thought of it.

  'I must get out and warn Sir Hotspur,' he said urgently.

  'But why do you care about your family when they are so horrible to you?' Batty asked. She had never had anyone to care for her.

  'They're more than my family; they're my werepack, the pack of Sir Lupinne. It's my duty to help them, or any werefolk in danger, even if I can't stand them. It's the Golden Rule. Cripp may be on his way to Farfang already. He mustn't find the Grand Growler.'

  'Well ... even if poodles can be boys ... or wolves ... I'm still not sure that it'll work,' Batty growled.

  'Yeah it will, listen ...'

  Freddy's plan was quite simple. Somehow he would remove the Moonstone, turn back into a boy and climb over the gap at the top of the iron door.

  'Then I'll find the keys and let us all out!' he woofed excitedly.

  'Shush ... What's a key?'

  'It's a little metal stick that humans use to open doors,' Freddy told her pompously. Batty was impressed by Freddy's knowledge but she, of course, was more used to planning manoeuvres than him. She immediately pointed out several problems with his plan.

  'How do we get the wolf-stone off you? Where will you find the metal stick of opening? And what about Cerberus?'

  'I haven't thought of those bits yet,' Freddy admitted, suddenly feeling less optimistic.

  Batty inspected his chain collar for a moment.

  'I see the stone but don't know how to break the chain,' she growled. 'I'll have to think about it.'

  'But I have to escape now!' Freddy yipped. 'Dr Cripp is dangerous.'

  'And so is Cerberus! Don't worry, Stinky.' Batty bit his ear affectionately. 'I'll think of a way of turning you into a boy again.'

  With that, the two dogs snuggled down and slept. St John licked his paws and yawned.

  Oh, dear, he smiled to himself. How marvellous, how Crufts. A human, a wolf and a pink dog all in one? Just wait till I tell Cerberus.

  Freddy was wrong about Dr Cripp. He was not on his way to Farfang Castle. He was hiding in the woods as night approached, looking up at the walls of Coldfax Fort. On his finger the Moonstone shone brightly.

  'I've got him now!' he cried loudly. He had found another werewolf at last.

  Suddenly, the same deathly howl that Freddy and Batty had heard earlier echoed from the heart of Coldfax once again. Dr Cripp stopped his cackling and froze.

  In their cell, the two dogs jumped to their feet in fright.

  'What on earth is that?' Freddy woofed.

  'Oh, that's just the ghost hound of Coldfax,' Hamish replied sleepily. 'Nothing to worry your pink little head about. He prowls the dungeons underneath us. Nightie-night then.'

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  A Visitor

  The following morning, a few miles away, Sir Hotspur was raging over his breakfast.

  'Blast that foolster Frederick!' he bellowed. 'He's ruined everything and now he's disappeared. I've searched the whole castle. He's a disgrace – a disgrace, sir! When I find him, I'll chop him into twenty pieces, make him into a pie and throw it into the sewer. That I will, sir!' His eyes were wild under his bushy red eyebrows. He thumped the table and all the plates jumped up and landed with a crash.

  Chariot's piggy eyes opened a little wider. Harriet however, just smiled as she poured milk on her cereal.

  'I saw him five minutes ago, Daddy.' She smiled sweetly at her father.

  'What's that?' He turned his bloodshot eyes to her. 'Where?'

  'I wanted to fetch you, but he tried to bite me.'

  'The animal!' Sir Hotspur roared. 'And are you hurt, my precious angel?'

  'No, I'm not scared of a poodle!' she scoffed.

  'Ha! Quite so, madam, quite so.' He slammed his fist down again.

  'I saved her, Dad,' Chariot butted in, not wanting to be left out.

  'No, you didn't.' Harriet kicked him under the table.

  'Yes, I did.' He kicked her back.

  'So where is the foolster?' fumed Sir Hotspur.

  'He was on his way to the lavatory,' Harriet said with her nose in the air, giving her brother such a hard kick that he had to hold his breath.

  'The lavatory? But I've looked everywhere!' Sir Hotspur spluttered.

  'Not inside the castle, Daddy,' she corrected. 'He's a dog, so of course he wanted to poo on your lawn, just like his friend did last week.'

  'Poo?' Sir Hotspur could barely speak the word. 'On my lawn?'

  This was dangerous ground. The only thing Sir Hotspur loved more than himself and Sir Rathbone was his lawn.

  'But he's not a dog now, Harriet. He'll have transformed back. He'll be that menace Frederick again.' The thought gave him some relief.

  Chariot looked alarmed. Harriet had nearly given away their trick with the Moonstone. If their father realised that they knew he had a Moonstone, they would be in for it. Worse still, if he knew they had taken it...

  Harriet, however, was calm.

  'I know he's a boy, silly Daddy.' She smiled slyly. 'But he said he'd do it on your lawn anyway.'

  News of such despicable behaviour was more than Sir Hotspur could take. He trembled with outrage and turned a dark shade of purple.

  'To think this creature has polluted the glory of Sir Hotspur! I ... I ... mean Sir Rathbone, of course.' With his cheeks wobbling with temper, he stormed downstairs and outside into the garden.

  Sir Hotspur was relieved not to find the dreaded poo on his lawn after all. He charged back into the castle to search once more for his troublesome nephew. As he walked along the corridor that led from the Great Hall to the Tower, he noticed that his study door was open. With a grim smile, he walked in, certain of finding the foolster at last. There was something wrong. Things had been moved on his desk. The keys to his drawer were not exactly as he had left them. Even the heart of Sir Hotspur could beat a little too quickly at the idea that his secret may have been discovered. He opened the drawer and then sat down on his chair in fright. The Moonstone had gone!

  'Where is that foolster?' he cried louder than ever.

  There was one man who thought he knew the answer to that question. Later that afternoon, a man walked up to the gates of Coldfax Fort. He looked around nervously as if he didn't want be seen, knocked on the door and was shown inside.

  There was no breakfast served in Coldfax, and by the time the miserably bad lunch was served, Freddy's stomach was howling. Straight after lunch, the dogs were sent down to the Pit for walkies. While they were there, the door opened and the Commander appeared with Cerberus.

  'Fetch the pink one,' the old lady told the guard dog. 'He has a visitor.' It was uncanny how the huge wolfhound seemed to understand the old lady's words. Freddy understood them only too clearly.

  'Batty, he's coming for me!' he yelped.

  The two dogs watched in fright as the slavering hound ran towards them.

  'Freddy, what have you done now?' Batty yipped. The poodle seemed to get in trouble no matter what she did to help him.

  'I have a visitor,' he cried. 'It must be Cripp.'

  Cerberus ran quickly. The other dogs parted nervously around him.

  'Come with me, pink pong,' he snarled.

  'Why?' Freddy whimpered.

  'No questions!' Cerberus roared.

  'Please, may I come too?' Batty woofed.

  'Step back in line!' the great beast snarled at her.

  Freddy had no choice but to go with Cerberus. Batty watched as the little pink poodle hopped up the stairs. The Commander opened the door without a word and, with a frightened backward glance, Freddy left the Pit. Cerberus, however, stayed to watch over the other dogs.
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br />   'Poor little Freddy,' Batty whimpered.

  'Come on, lassie,' Hamish whispered as he walked past. 'It won't help if you make Cerberus mad. Walkies now, walkies, walkies!'

  Reluctantly, Batty started to walk. Her nose pointed sadly at the ground in front of her, just like the miserable dogs around her. As they walked with their heads down, nobody noticed St John walk slyly up to Cerberus. He began to whisper in the wolfhound's ear. Cerberus listened, then shook his head and snarled at the spaniel. St John had to work hard to convince the guard dog that what he was saying was true.

  'You can tell from his smell,' he woofed at last.

  The truth seemed obvious to Cerberus now. He gave a nasty laugh, nodded, and left the Pit. The door closed behind him as he bounded down the corridor after Freddy.

  With trembling legs, Freddy followed the Commander down the stone corridor towards her office.

  'Heel, heel, won't you? Keep up,' the old lady snapped as they walked.

  Freddy had no wish to heel. He didn't want to meet Cripp but was powerless to escape him. At last the Commander reached the door and opened it, shoving the reluctant poodle inside with her foot.

  Freddy jumped with surprise and relief. Before him stood not Dr Cripp but Uncle Hotspur, the very wolf he needed to talk to.

  'Here is Dripsy-Wimpsy,' the Commander said as they entered. 'I called you when I saw his medal.'

  Sir Hotspur had received the Commander's call just after he discovered that the Moonstone had been taken. He had raced over to Coldfax Fort as quickly as he could. When he saw Freddy he almost exploded.

  'Pink, sir? Pink? What is the meaning of it?' he huffed with purple cheeks.

  'He's certainly a most absurd creature,' the Commander agreed.

  'He is a disgrace, madam!' Sir Hotspur interrupted. 'A disgrace.'

  Freddy looked down at his clawed toes in sorrow. For a moment he had almost forgotten how ridiculous he looked.

  'I want a word with my nephew alone, madam, if you would be so kind,' Sir Hotspur smiled.