someone so young. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to mean individuals like these.’
‘I stood up to them too!’ Diesel said. ‘I would have done more if Peri hadn’t run off and left me.’
‘Yes, you told me about that down in the Hole, son,’ the sheriff said. ‘About thirty-five times! But where’s the rest of Will’s band of outlaws?’
‘They’re just coming,’ Peri said, pointing.
His superhuman vision had picked them out before anyone else did. The outlaws were shuffling into the square at the far end, all roped together. They were led by Selene, Dexter, Spike and Gunner, with the four guards from the mail coach.
Peri felt a surge of relief. It looked like all the training had worked, and no one had been hurt.
He turned to Will. ‘So do you agree to leave town with all your men and to never come back?’
Will nodded, but Sheriff Lexor shook his head. ‘Oh no, no! These men will stand trial for their crimes. Westrenia has laws that must be respected and the jailhouse is going to be pretty crowded.’
‘Hey, Father!’ shouted Dexter, breaking into a run. ‘Guess what? We captured the gang!’
‘You’ve done well, son,’ the sheriff said. He gave Dexter a big thumbs-down sign, and grinned broadly. ‘I’m mighty proud of you.’
‘I didn’t do it all alone!’ Dexter said. ‘These guys helped me.’ He put his arms around the shoulders of Spike and Gunner, who had just caught up with him. Suddenly, they didn’t look so scrawny any more.
‘That’s good to hear. Maybe you three would like to be my deputies from now on!’ the sheriff said.
‘That’d be great!’ Dexter exclaimed. ‘But I must tell you that these three kids from – from distant parts , they did the most. We couldn’t have done it without them!’
‘I thank you all on behalf of Buckskinville,’ the sheriff said to Peri, Diesel and Selene. ‘Tonight we’re going to have ourselves a big celebration feast, and we’d be mighty happy if you would be our guests of honour!’
Peri took a sly glance at the control strip. His crew had only three days left until they were due back at the IF Space Station.
‘Thank you, Sheriff, but we were just passing through and we can’t stay,’ he said. ‘There’s somewhere we need to be – and it’s rather a long way from here.’
Chapter 10
‘I can’t wait to get clean!’ Diesel said. His band of hair was the colour of mud, and Peri knew that it hadn’t changed to that colour by itself. ‘I can’t stand all this mud on me, it’s shunkelvr’adro j! ’
‘What does shunkel . . . shunk . . . What does that word mean?’ Selene asked.
‘It’s Martian for “horrible”,’ Diesel replied.
‘Well, you don’t have long to wait,’ Peri said. ‘As soon as we’re far enough away so they can’t see us from town, we’ll enlarge the Phoenix . Then you can have your shower.’
‘And bath!’ Diesel added. ‘And second shower!’
They marched on over the sandy ground, with the tall cactus plants casting eerie shadows. For some reason, Peri felt uneasy again, but couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Perhaps he was just anxious about the time.
‘I hope we’re going to make it!’ Selene said, as if reading Peri’s thoughts. ‘We don’t have much time to make it back to the Milky Way. I’ll try to find a few shortcuts.’
‘We should be all right,’ Peri said. ‘But we’ll need to go Superluminal. Anyway, it was worth the detour, wasn’t it? That was a pretty cool adventure.’
‘That’s easy for you to say,’ Diesel said. ‘You didn’t spend most of the time in a filthy, hot hole –’
Peri raised his hand. ‘Ssshh!’
He realised now why he’d been feeling uneasy – there was a rustling sound coming from the nearby ditch.
‘Somebody’s following us,’ he said under his breath.
‘Do you think one of Will’s gang escaped?’ whispered Selene.
‘Let’s not take any chances,’ Peri muttered.
He
‘I stood up to them too!’ Diesel said. ‘I would have done more if Peri hadn’t run off and left me.’
‘Yes, you told me about that down in the Hole, son,’ the sheriff said. ‘About thirty-five times! But where’s the rest of Will’s band of outlaws?’
‘They’re just coming,’ Peri said, pointing.
His superhuman vision had picked them out before anyone else did. The outlaws were shuffling into the square at the far end, all roped together. They were led by Selene, Dexter, Spike and Gunner, with the four guards from the mail coach.
Peri felt a surge of relief. It looked like all the training had worked, and no one had been hurt.
He turned to Will. ‘So do you agree to leave town with all your men and to never come back?’
Will nodded, but Sheriff Lexor shook his head. ‘Oh no, no! These men will stand trial for their crimes. Westrenia has laws that must be respected and the jailhouse is going to be pretty crowded.’
‘Hey, Father!’ shouted Dexter, breaking into a run. ‘Guess what? We captured the gang!’
‘You’ve done well, son,’ the sheriff said. He gave Dexter a big thumbs-down sign, and grinned broadly. ‘I’m mighty proud of you.’
‘I didn’t do it all alone!’ Dexter said. ‘These guys helped me.’ He put his arms around the shoulders of Spike and Gunner, who had just caught up with him. Suddenly, they didn’t look so scrawny any more.
‘That’s good to hear. Maybe you three would like to be my deputies from now on!’ the sheriff said.
‘That’d be great!’ Dexter exclaimed. ‘But I must tell you that these three kids from – from distant parts , they did the most. We couldn’t have done it without them!’
‘I thank you all on behalf of Buckskinville,’ the sheriff said to Peri, Diesel and Selene. ‘Tonight we’re going to have ourselves a big celebration feast, and we’d be mighty happy if you would be our guests of honour!’
Peri took a sly glance at the control strip. His crew had only three days left until they were due back at the IF Space Station.
‘Thank you, Sheriff, but we were just passing through and we can’t stay,’ he said. ‘There’s somewhere we need to be – and it’s rather a long way from here.’
Chapter 10
‘I can’t wait to get clean!’ Diesel said. His band of hair was the colour of mud, and Peri knew that it hadn’t changed to that colour by itself. ‘I can’t stand all this mud on me, it’s shunkelvr’adro j! ’
‘What does shunkel . . . shunk . . . What does that word mean?’ Selene asked.
‘It’s Martian for “horrible”,’ Diesel replied.
‘Well, you don’t have long to wait,’ Peri said. ‘As soon as we’re far enough away so they can’t see us from town, we’ll enlarge the Phoenix . Then you can have your shower.’
‘And bath!’ Diesel added. ‘And second shower!’
They marched on over the sandy ground, with the tall cactus plants casting eerie shadows. For some reason, Peri felt uneasy again, but couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Perhaps he was just anxious about the time.
‘I hope we’re going to make it!’ Selene said, as if reading Peri’s thoughts. ‘We don’t have much time to make it back to the Milky Way. I’ll try to find a few shortcuts.’
‘We should be all right,’ Peri said. ‘But we’ll need to go Superluminal. Anyway, it was worth the detour, wasn’t it? That was a pretty cool adventure.’
‘That’s easy for you to say,’ Diesel said. ‘You didn’t spend most of the time in a filthy, hot hole –’
Peri raised his hand. ‘Ssshh!’
He realised now why he’d been feeling uneasy – there was a rustling sound coming from the nearby ditch.
‘Somebody’s following us,’ he said under his breath.
‘Do you think one of Will’s gang escaped?’ whispered Selene.
‘Let’s not take any chances,’ Peri muttered.
He
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