Desert Disaster (6 page)

Jimmy got his friends to show him their compasses, and it only confirmed what he thought had happened. He began to explain.

“The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, yes? As it’s midday, the sun should be over there, to the south...” He showed his compass. “But
this
says the sun is in the north.”

“Which is impossible!” said Chip.

“So we’ve all got dud compasses?” said Missy. She threw hers down on the ground and shouted loudly, “How?”

Chip and Jimmy glanced at each other again.

“Horace,” they said together.

“You can reverse a compass with a magnet. He must have done it last night,” Chip added.

Missy kicked at the sand. “I’m gonna kill him! I’m gonna wipe that smug smile off his smarmy cheating face!” she said, burning with anger.

“Why didn’t I notice this earlier?” Jimmy said in frustration. “We could be 100 miles in the wrong direction by now. And we’re completely lost!”

This seemed to focus Missy, and she turned her attention to the map. “We’re going to finish,” she said grimly. “And then I’m going to get Horace. That boy is a dead dingo! All we’ve got to do is head back the way we came, which means reading the compass wrong,” she continued. “Whatever it says to do, we do the opposite.”

“That sounds confusing,” said Chip. “If we keep the sun on our left, we’ll know we’re heading west. Then we can work out where to go from the landmarks on the map.”

The two began to squabble over the best way to get to the finish line.

“Get a grip,” yelled Missy. “We’ll never make it if we follow
your
plan.”

“Oh, and
your
idea is so much better?” shouted Chip, getting angry.

“Well, it sure as kangaroo’s dressing gown is better than—”

“Enough!” roared Jimmy. He even surprised himself with the force of his voice. Then in a quieter tone he continued, “we won’t get anywhere if we stand around and bicker all day. We have to get back on track and we have to do it fast, because I’m not letting another Horace Pelly stunt put me in last place again. I’ve had enough of him cheating his way onto the podium.”

“Ooh, somebody’s got a bee in their bonnet,” whispered Missy to Chip, but they were both grinning at Jimmy.

“Right,” Jimmy said, ignoring the look on their faces. “We’re going to follow
both
of your plans. Missy, you navigate your way with a map and compass. Chip, you use the sun to get us back. If we drive side by side, I’ll notice if one of you starts to drift off at a different direction to the other, and I’ll call for us to pull over. We can work out where we’re going from there. OK?”

“OK,” Chip agreed. “We work together now, but as soon as we’re back on track, it’s back to a race and you won’t see me for dust!”

With a nod of agreement he and Missy hopped back in their racers. Jimmy fired up Cabbie’s engine then threw him into a smart 180-degree turn and hurtled back the way they had come.

“Well, this is another fine mess Horace has got us into,” said Cabbie. “I guess we can kiss goodbye to our place on the leaderboard.”

For a few minutes they were silent. Jimmy was sweating now, the tiny fan that Grandpa had taped to the dashboard not making a shred of difference to the heat in the cab. Jimmy glanced at the clock and was reminded of the old saying:
‘Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.’
He understood that now – the sun was so high and harsh at this time of day that it was making the controls in the cab too hot to handle, and Jimmy was becoming seriously thirsty. He suddenly remembered that he had left all his bottles of water in the tent in the rush to make the start line.

Stupid
, he thought.
That’s exactly what Sir Rupert would tell you not to do!

To top it all, there was a strange smell coming from somewhere...

“Oh no!” said Jimmy. “I left the fruit and vegetables from
That’s Shallot!
in the boot! They must be cooking in the heat!”

“Urgh!” said Cabbie. “I wondered why my sensors were picking up the smell of warm cabbage!”

The stench was soon overwhelming, but Jimmy didn’t want to lose time by stopping to open the boot. “Emergency measures!” shouted Cabbie. The boot flipped up and a coiled spring inside released, flinging the rotten vegetables out of the back of the taxi. Behind him Cabbie left a trail of hot, stinky cabbage, putrid pumpkin and festering cauliflowers. Jimmy felt Cabbie shudder with disgust.

“Would you
leek
at that,” Jimmy joked. “You’re like a mobile compost heap, Cabbie.”

“Yuck! When this is all over I demand a full valet and car wash!” Cabbie complained. “I’ve got sand in my alloy wheels, filth in my windscreen wipers, and now I’ve got beetroot juice in my boot!”

Jimmy couldn’t help laughing. Now the smell had cleared, the mention of food was making him hungry. “I could do with a snack,” he said. “And a drink!”

“Hmm, well we can’t have you going hungry, can we?” said Cabbie. “Flick that little switch on your arm rest.”

Jimmy found the switch and pressed it. Out of the passenger seat rose a small fridge.

“I’ve been saving this, but now is as good a time as any,” said Cabbie.

The door popped open, and a cool blast of air blew into the cab. It felt heavenly! Inside was an ice-cold bottle of water.

“Wow!” said Jimmy. “This is the best! Thanks, Cabbie!”

“Wilf wanted to make sure you didn’t get stranded without any refreshments,” Cabbie said.

Jimmy looked in the fridge and pulled out a box. “Why are there cones in here?”

Cabbie laughed. “It’s a treat for you! There’s only one food that comes on cones!”

“Ice cream!” Jimmy grinned in delight.

Jimmy held a cone under a nozzle and out came a long white thread of vanilla ice cream, followed by a squirt of chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of hundreds and thousands.

“Amazing!” said Jimmy. “This is Grandpa’s best invention yet!”

“Hey!” grumbled Cabbie good-naturedly.

Jimmy tucked in. The ice cream had started to melt already and he had to act quickly to catch the dribbles as they trickled down his arm. It was the best thing he’d ever eaten in his whole life! In twenty seconds flat he’d gobbled the whole thing and was wiping his sticky fingers on his jeans.

Grinning, he tapped the Cabcom and Chip’s and Missy’s faces popped up. “Snack time!” Jimmy sang. “Chip, can you get Dug’s robotic arm over to my window?”

“Sure thing!” the American replied.

Jimmy didn’t want to be greedy, so he prepared two more cones for his friends. When they were ready he wound down his window and passed them out to the giant metal claw that was waiting there. Jimmy was amazed to see the hulking piece of machinery delicately grasp the two ice-cream cones and pass one to Missy in Monster’s driving seat, and one to Chip. All this while driving at high speed across one of the most dangerous deserts on earth!

“Cheers, Jimmy!” said Missy, with ice cream around her mouth. “That really hit the spot. I feel happier than a possum in a pouch.”

“That was great.” Chip agreed. “But I’d feel even happier if y’all knew where we were going.”

Suddenly Cabbie’s controls beeped and whistled in a way that told Jimmy he was having an idea. “Of course! Jimmy, switch to cruise control. I need you to press the flashing button on the dashboard.”

“Um, OK,” said Jimmy. He reached out and touched the button. It was one he hadn’t seen before, a flashing purple ‘P’.

“Up periscope!” shouted Cabbie as a long, telescopic pole shot out of the top of the roof and stretched up into the air for ten metres. On the end was a camera lens which pointed out at a right angle. It was a fully working periscope, just like in a submarine! A viewing pod dropped from Cabbie’s roof and Jimmy pressed his eye to it. He immediately got a bird’s-eye view of the desert below, and if he turned his head, the camera lens moved too, giving him a 360-degrees view.

“Your grandpa installed it before the race started. He took out the windscreen zoom feature and replaced it with this. I guess he thought that a zoom is no use if you’re facing a wall of sand all day. Press the button on the handle.”

Jimmy did as he was told, and the image in the viewing pod zoomed in. This meant that he could see all across the desert, and pick out details on the horizon.

“This is brilliant!” Jimmy put his hand out of the window and waved, hoping the camerabots would show it on TV so Grandpa would see. “Thanks, Grandpa!”

“Ahem,” coughed Cabbie.

“Oh yeah, and thanks, Cabbie!”

Cabbie continued to keep up with Chip and Missy while Jimmy searched the desert with his periscope. It was so much easier to see where they were going. He could see the old town they had left, the outcrop of rock that Chip had mentioned on the map, and...

“Trees!” he shouted. “I can see trees!” He zoomed in closer and he could definitely make out a bunch of trees in the east, miles and miles away. He tapped the Cabcom and told the others.

“Amazing!” said Chip. “But what are they doing in the desert?”

“Don’t be a drongo!” said Missy excitedly. “If there are trees there must be water! It’s the oasis Lord Leadpipe told us about. Jimmy, you found the finish line!”

The racers whooped and hollered in delight. They had missed the checkpoint completely, but it didn’t matter. The rules said that they had to get from the start line to the finish line using their own navigation, and this meant that they were all still in with a chance. Jimmy retracted the periscope and took control of Cabbie once more, turning the taxi towards the trees in the far distance.

“We can do this, Cabbie!” said Jimmy confidently. “We could finish the race with our head held high!”

“That’s the spirit!” cried Cabbie. “Yee-haa! Team Jimmy, on the road again!”

The three robots climbed to the top of a sand dune and Jimmy could see in the distance the unmistakable plume of dust and sand coming from Lightning, and the silhouette of a hovercraft – it was Maximus.

“Sammy must have found a map,” Jimmy yelled into the Cabcom, feeling happy that his friend was still in the race. “And, look! He’s heading towards the finish— Oh, no. Is that Zoom ahead of him?” Jimmy’s heart sank. He could hear a crunching sound coming from somewhere, and could have sworn that it was Missy grinding her teeth.

The three of them raced across the sand towards the oasis. Jimmy knew they’d all be going flat out for the win from here on in. Horace, Kako and Sammy were dead ahead of them, kicking up clouds of dust.

Through the periscope, Jimmy could see the crowds gathered around the finish line. The trees looked tall and green, set around a natural watering hole. Just behind the lake were marquees and Bedouin tents, with giant screens hung between cacti and palm trees, for the crowd to watch the race on.

“We’re making great time, Jimmy!” said Cabbie.

“Good,” Jimmy replied. “Because I want to make sure we beat Horace!”

“But he’s miles in front!” said Cabbie.

Jimmy shook his head and pressed his foot hard on the accelerator. “We’re faster than Zoom on this sand. He’s cheated us all out of points once – we can’t let it happen again!”

Jimmy chased after Missy, whizzing through the sand, Chip following after him. They sped down a slope and they were soon back on track, just a few metres behind Sammy and Princess Kako!

Poor Princess Kako looked tired, as though she might give up at any second. Lightning’s two fat tyres still didn’t make great desert wheels, and the sun was beating down on her exposed back, making her racing suit steam. Missy and Jimmy passed her easily, closely followed by Chip.

“Almost there!” Jimmy shouted encouragingly as they drove by.

Kako shook her head, and Jimmy could tell she was running out of energy. There was no way she was going to win this race now. It almost looked like she was driving through treacle. Every metre travelled seemed like a huge effort.

All the other robots were gunning for the finish line, jostling for position. Behind Cabbie, Chip and Dug began to lag behind in the difficult conditions.

But Cabbie was having his own problems...

“Engine reaching maximum temperature!” the robot shouted. Jimmy gasped as he saw steam rising from his bonnet. He frantically looked around at the masses of buttons in front of him, but he couldn’t see any other engine-cooling gadgets.

“Do something!” cried Cabbie. “Or the engine might melt!”

“Melt?” The word struck Jimmy and he had an idea. “Cabbie – can you use the ice-cream machine to cool down your engine?”

“Great idea, Jimmy!” A grinding sound came from Cabbie’s engine and then he beeped happily. “Press the ice-cream button, Jimmy,” he called.

Jimmy hit the button, and gallons of ice cream went glugging under the bonnet with a satisfying hiss, cooling the engine down quickly.

“Ah! That’s better!” sighed Cabbie. “Ooh, and raspberry ripple flavour? My favourite!”

“Come on, Cabbie!” called Jimmy. “We can make this! Together!”

“I’m trying, Jimmy,” said Cabbie, straining. “But it’s just too far. Unless...”

“What?”

“There
is
a shorter route.”

As Cabbie said it, Jimmy saw the giant sand dune that rose up to their right.

“What do you think, Jimmy? It’s all or nothing up that way...”

Jimmy hesitated for just a second. Twice they’d ended up in trouble during this race because they’d taken risks. Then he pictured Horace’s sneering face mocking him for coming last. There was no way he was going to give up on the win when there was a chance of beating that cheater.

“Let’s do it!” he shouted, and turned Cabbie sharply to the right.

Zoom took the low path around the dune and the rest of the robots followed. All except Cabbie, who roared up the dune away from the others...

Sand started to slip and slide under his tracks. Jimmy concentrated on steering while Cabbie’s engine creaked and groaned as he applied more and more power to get himself up the mountainous slope. Jimmy hit the windscreen wipers as sand streamed across the glass, making it tricky to see. They were nearing the top of the dune now, the wind battering Cabbie.

Jimmy kept encouraging Cabbie as they reached the top of the dune. “Not far now, buddy! After this last bit, it’s all downhill.”

Looking down, Jimmy could see Zoom and Missy racing ahead, inching closer and closer to the finish line. Jimmy shook his head, suddenly feeling like he’d made a massive mistake. They were still so far from the finish and they’d used up gallons of fuel pushing themselves up a massive sand dune. “We’ll have to go down the dune at full speed,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“Actually, Jimmy,” said Cabbie with mischief in his voice, “I’ve got a better idea...”