Hunk and Thud (10 page)

Jack shook his head.

‘No,' he said. ‘It'll just have to be little me.'

‘It'll be both of us,' said Milo.

‘And me!' declared Robin.

Milo shook his head.

‘Those logs and trees are soaking wet and slippery, you won't be able to get a grip on them with your hooves.'

‘In that case, I'll help the townsfolk,' said Robin. He looked towards the town, where people were carrying their belongings out of their houses and loading them onto carts. ‘They'll need a horse to pull the carts to higher ground if the dam breaks.'

With that, he galloped back towards the town.

There was a crashing sound behind them and Jack and Milo turned and saw another log had become detached from the middle of the dam and had tumbled into the river.

Quickly, Jack grabbed up a loop of thick rope from the pile lying by the riverbank and ran towards the bottom of the dam to join the others.

Jack and Milo climbed up the dam. It was hard work; the logs and trees beneath their feet were slippery, and the whole lot kept moving as the weight of water behind the dam tried to push through. Finally, they reached the widening crack in the middle of the dam.

Big Rock, Sam Dent, the Masked Avenger and Grit were working together as a team, passing the ends of ropes to one another along a chain they had formed, and wrapping and tying them around the trees. Jack and Milo worked their way along the mass of slippery logs and joined them.

But how much longer will those ropes hold? wondered Jack. And why can't I turn into Thud? If ever there was a dangerous life-threatening situation, then it's right here and now!

Grit passed a length of rope along to Jack, and as Jack reached out to take it and pass it along, there was a sudden
woosh!
and the section of dam right in front of Jack suddenly cracked open and a gush of water burst through, hitting Jack and sending him tumbling backwards, and away from the dam towards the river below.

For a second, Jack seemed to hang suspended, frantically stretching back at the dam and the ropes, and the others. But his hands just touched thin air.

And then he was falling!

I'm going to die! Jack thought as he fell, and saw the river far below rushing up towards him …

SMACK!!!!

Something grabbed him around the chest, and then he was sailing upwards instead of falling downwards.

I'm flying, he realised.

He looked down, and realised that a massive pair of rock-like legs had wrapped themselves around him, with two enormous rock-like feet holding him securely. He looked up, and was astonished to see the friendly face of Hunk smiling down at him. The half-troll still had one arm in a sling, but with his good hand and arm he was holding tightly onto a rope.

Hunk swung back towards the dam, and took the impact of the crash against the dam with his feet and legs, protecting Jack from the collision.

‘Thanks, Hunk!' burst out Jack. ‘You saved my life!'

‘You'd have done the same for me,” Hunk called up.

‘Of course!' yelled Milo in realisation. The large net would hold the logs back far more securely than tying them together.

Milo, Jack and the Masked Avenger moved as swiftly as they could down the wall of timber. To speed things up, some of the townspeople had realised what was needed and grabbed the ends of the net and began to haul it up to where Milo, Jack and Ava could get hold of it.

They grabbed the net, and were just about to haul it up, when there was another sudden gush of water bursting through a new crack in the dam, this one just below them.

For the first time, Jack saw that a small boy had been in the group of townspeople that had scrambled up the wall of shaking timber, obviously doing his best to help the grown-ups haul the heavy net up the dam. The water struck the boy full in the chest, the same as Jack had been hit just a few moments before, and hurled him outwards.

Instinctively, Jack leapt out towards the boy, his hands grasping to try and save the boy, catch him, but Jack's grip on the dam wall vanished and Jack found himself falling … falling …

Jack couldn't even see the boy properly; the rush of water pouring past him filled his eyes. No, there was something more than that, a film was forming over his eyes, a glassy, brownish film. As he fell he felt a tingly sensation going through him, then he felt his hands grab something soft. It was the boy!

Still falling, Jack felt himself crash into the raging water and sink, going down, down, down, the boy still held in one hand …

And then Jack was suddenly standing up, his head clear of the water, his feet on the bottom of the river. He realised that he was no longer short and thin Jack, submerged beneath the waters, but he was a very tall, very powerful troll.

He was Thud.

Thud stood in the raging river torrent as the waters poured around him, just beneath his chin. Above him, held aloft in one of his huge hands, was the small boy, soaking wet – but very much alive.

Jack sat with Milo on the steps of the caravan, with Robin next to them.

It was all over. For the moment, at least, the danger had passed. The small boy was safe and well and had been taken home. The huge net had been fixed into place, holding the dam steady. The gushes of water had been reduced to a trickle.

With the dam made safe, Princess Ava and Sam Dent had left for Weevil, and now there was just Milo and Jack and Robin, watching as Big Rock and Hunk – still with one arm in a sling – hammered home the last of the huge steel pegs to fix key logs in place.

‘So Hunk really did injure his arm stopping a runaway horse,' sighed Milo gloomily.

‘Yes,' nodded Robin. ‘I met the horse that did it. He was very ashamed. He'd got a thistle stuck under his saddle, that's what made him bolt.'

‘And Ug really did have stomach ache from something he'd eaten,' said Jack with an equally heavy sigh. ‘Mushrooms. So it was nothing to do with Hunk.'

Robin snorted. ‘Some people cause a lot of trouble by spreading wild and untrue stories,' he announced.

‘And some horses as well,' said Milo pointedly.

Robin shook his head. ‘I was just passing on information in good faith,' he said.

Milo and Jack again looked towards where Big Rock and Hunk had put down their tools.

‘Big Rock won't forgive us for what we said about Hunk,' said Milo gloomily. ‘And nor will Hunk.'

‘You didn't actually
accuse
Hunk of lying,' said Jack.

‘No, but we thought it,' said Milo, ‘and that's just as bad.' He let out a mournful sigh. ‘I guess Big Rock and Hunk will now go off on their own and become the troll tag team.' He let out another sigh, even heavier than the last. ‘It's the end of Waldo's Wrestling Trolls.'

‘Not necessarily,' said Jack. ‘Maybe Hunk will join us.'

‘After the way we treated him?' said Milo scornfully.

‘It's worth asking,' insisted Jack.

Milo sighed again.

‘I suppose so,' he said.

They looked up as Big Rock and Hunk joined them.

‘Dam mended!' announced Big Rock.

‘Almost,' added Hunk. ‘There's still a lot of work to be done to rebuild it.'

‘But it safe for now,' said Big Rock.

Hunk looked at Jack and grinned.

‘I see what Big Rock meant about Thud being so great!' he said. ‘The way you dived down from the dam, and saved that little boy's life. Awesome!'

‘Thud big hero,' nodded Big Rock approvingly.

Jack shook his head. ‘No,' he said. ‘You guys are the heroes. You were fantastic up there, working on that dam, saving the lives of the whole town.'

‘Three hero trolls!' grinned Milo. ‘Big Rock, Thud and Hunk!'

‘What a great tag team that would make!' said Jack, grabbing the opportunity to bring the subject into the conversation. ‘The Troll Tag Trio!'

‘A great idea,' said Hunk. Then he gave a sigh. ‘But I don't think it's on.'

‘No,' admitted Milo. ‘I can see your point of view, Hunk, and why you wouldn't want to join us. We were horrible to you. We doubted you and …'

‘Oh no!' said Hunk quickly. ‘Nothing like that! I don't blame you at all! The fact is I'd love to join you and WWT. But, as I was just saying to Big Rock, I've decided to stay here and help the townspeople rebuild their dam. They need me. It's going to take some time, but once it's over …'

‘Hunk says he join us later,' nodded Big Rock happily. ‘Me and him be tag team together. Milo be our manager. We be part of Waldo's Wrestling Trolls.'

Milo beamed with a smile so wide that Jack thought it was going to split his face in half.

‘That's fantastic!' he said. ‘Brilliant!'

‘Anyway, me and Big Rock are going to get something to eat,' said Hunk. ‘All that hard work has made me hungry.'

‘Good idea!' said Big Rock. ‘They got nice granite in kitchen!'

As the troll and the half-troll strode off towards the kitchen in the Town Hall, Milo gave a huge sigh of relief.

‘Hurrah! We're still Waldo's Wrestling Trolls!' he said, delightedly.

Robin nodded sagely.

‘I always knew that Hunk was a good guy really,' he said.

 

 

The Great Galloon is an enormous airship, built by
Captain Meredith Anstruther and manned by his
crew, who might seem like a bit of a motley bunch
but who are able to fight off invading marauders
whilst drinking tea and sweeping floors!