grass.
‘It’s working,’ Charlie breathed as Sophie T’s shoulders moved under his clumsy back
rub.
‘It’s not about the money!’ Foxy said. ‘I wanted to save –’
‘Look,’ Spike sighed. ‘It’s only one grawk. Look at the big picture: are you going
to save it, or save yourself? Because only one of you is going to come out of this
happy. Why not you?’
Foxy turned away, muttering furiously.
‘Just get on with it,’ Beard shouted.
Sophie T, meanwhile, was now beginning to wiggle both feet, and her face was slowly
melting to form a new expression. It was an expression of pure terror, but even that
looked better to Amelia than the awful stiff blank her face had been before.
Foxy yelped with alarm, and for a second Amelia thought he’d spotted Sophie T’s gradual
recovery. But he was staring at his scanner in amazement. ‘It’s here!’ he yipped.
‘The grawk. It’s –!’
‘Where?’ said Beard. ‘I don’t see anything.’
‘You won’t – oh.’ Foxy shook the scanner and knocked it with the heel of his hand.
‘There’s something wrong with it – this doesn’t make sense – it’s not –’
‘Stop gibbering!’ Beard bellowed. ‘It’s not what?’
‘Not possible!’ Foxy gasped. ‘Never heard of –’
‘What?’ said Spike. ‘ What?’
Foxy only pointed into the bush, his face as contorted with fear as Sophie T’s. The
two alien giants and three human children all looked.
At first there was nothing but the tangled black wall of the surrounding bush. No
sound, no movement, not the slightest shiver of a clue of what was to come. And then
two yellow saucers glowed through the undergrowth and a deep grinding noise rang
out in the night air, filling Amelia with terrified joy as Grawk sprang into the
clearing – as huge and solid and ferocious as a tiger.
It was Grawk all right, but a Grawk of nightmare proportions. His face was split
into a vicious snarl, his sharp white teeth all bared and his eyes narrowed down
to yellow slits. His head was lowered over his paws, and his broad black shoulders
were braced and ready to pounce.
Foxy gazed at him with a kind of wondering fear, but Beard and Spike didn’t even
blink – they drew their weapons from their thigh holsters and took aim.
‘Ready?’ said Beard.
‘No!’ Amelia scrambled to her feet and ran to stand between him and Grawk. It was
only when she saw the barrel of his gun pointed at her that she realised what she’d
done, but there was no backing down now. ‘Don’t hurt him, please .’
Behind her, Grawk’s growl rose again, and all the hair on the back of her neck stood
up. She wasn’t completely sure whether the biggest danger was the gun in front of
her, or all those teeth behind her.
‘We’re not going to hurt it,’ said Beard. ‘That’s a pretty little fortune right there. You , on the other hand, are totally expendable, so you might want to get out of the
way.’
‘Or not,’ said Spike, and he shot Grawk from his angle instead.
A beam of plasma knocked Grawk to the ground, and Amelia spun around to see him lying
stiff. No!
Beard walked over to Grawk, casually shoving Amelia aside, and shot him again. This
weapon blasted an explosive net over the helpless animal, and as Amelia watched,
thick fibres wrapped around him and began to shrink tight. In only moments, he was
bound up like a parcel.
‘Right,’ said Beard, turning to Foxy. ‘Now we’ve got our grawk, no thanks to you,
maybe you’d like to explain why it’s ten times bigger than you said.’
Foxy was now so excited, he seemed to have forgotten their argument. He trotted over
to Grawk and scanned him again. Amelia stubbornly crept back to stand as close to
Grawk as she could. The aliens ignored her.
‘Yes, look – I’m right,’ Foxy said. ‘He’s only six to eight months old. He isn’t
due for his first growth spurt until his birthday, but – oh!’ He stepped closer again,
almost dancing in his delight. ‘This is
‘It’s working,’ Charlie breathed as Sophie T’s shoulders moved under his clumsy back
rub.
‘It’s not about the money!’ Foxy said. ‘I wanted to save –’
‘Look,’ Spike sighed. ‘It’s only one grawk. Look at the big picture: are you going
to save it, or save yourself? Because only one of you is going to come out of this
happy. Why not you?’
Foxy turned away, muttering furiously.
‘Just get on with it,’ Beard shouted.
Sophie T, meanwhile, was now beginning to wiggle both feet, and her face was slowly
melting to form a new expression. It was an expression of pure terror, but even that
looked better to Amelia than the awful stiff blank her face had been before.
Foxy yelped with alarm, and for a second Amelia thought he’d spotted Sophie T’s gradual
recovery. But he was staring at his scanner in amazement. ‘It’s here!’ he yipped.
‘The grawk. It’s –!’
‘Where?’ said Beard. ‘I don’t see anything.’
‘You won’t – oh.’ Foxy shook the scanner and knocked it with the heel of his hand.
‘There’s something wrong with it – this doesn’t make sense – it’s not –’
‘Stop gibbering!’ Beard bellowed. ‘It’s not what?’
‘Not possible!’ Foxy gasped. ‘Never heard of –’
‘What?’ said Spike. ‘ What?’
Foxy only pointed into the bush, his face as contorted with fear as Sophie T’s. The
two alien giants and three human children all looked.
At first there was nothing but the tangled black wall of the surrounding bush. No
sound, no movement, not the slightest shiver of a clue of what was to come. And then
two yellow saucers glowed through the undergrowth and a deep grinding noise rang
out in the night air, filling Amelia with terrified joy as Grawk sprang into the
clearing – as huge and solid and ferocious as a tiger.
It was Grawk all right, but a Grawk of nightmare proportions. His face was split
into a vicious snarl, his sharp white teeth all bared and his eyes narrowed down
to yellow slits. His head was lowered over his paws, and his broad black shoulders
were braced and ready to pounce.
Foxy gazed at him with a kind of wondering fear, but Beard and Spike didn’t even
blink – they drew their weapons from their thigh holsters and took aim.
‘Ready?’ said Beard.
‘No!’ Amelia scrambled to her feet and ran to stand between him and Grawk. It was
only when she saw the barrel of his gun pointed at her that she realised what she’d
done, but there was no backing down now. ‘Don’t hurt him, please .’
Behind her, Grawk’s growl rose again, and all the hair on the back of her neck stood
up. She wasn’t completely sure whether the biggest danger was the gun in front of
her, or all those teeth behind her.
‘We’re not going to hurt it,’ said Beard. ‘That’s a pretty little fortune right there. You , on the other hand, are totally expendable, so you might want to get out of the
way.’
‘Or not,’ said Spike, and he shot Grawk from his angle instead.
A beam of plasma knocked Grawk to the ground, and Amelia spun around to see him lying
stiff. No!
Beard walked over to Grawk, casually shoving Amelia aside, and shot him again. This
weapon blasted an explosive net over the helpless animal, and as Amelia watched,
thick fibres wrapped around him and began to shrink tight. In only moments, he was
bound up like a parcel.
‘Right,’ said Beard, turning to Foxy. ‘Now we’ve got our grawk, no thanks to you,
maybe you’d like to explain why it’s ten times bigger than you said.’
Foxy was now so excited, he seemed to have forgotten their argument. He trotted over
to Grawk and scanned him again. Amelia stubbornly crept back to stand as close to
Grawk as she could. The aliens ignored her.
‘Yes, look – I’m right,’ Foxy said. ‘He’s only six to eight months old. He isn’t
due for his first growth spurt until his birthday, but – oh!’ He stepped closer again,
almost dancing in his delight. ‘This is
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