by Jim Eldridge
‘Why?’ asked Milo, still looking bewildered. ‘When we were last here everyone loved w— … it.’
‘Yes, they did,’ said the man. ‘I used to be a … sportsman myself.’ He pointed at his battered face. ‘Which is where I got this face.’
‘It good face,’ said Big Rock.
‘Not any more,’ sighed the man. ‘Because I look like a … sportsman … the townsfolk treat me with suspicion.’ He looked gloomy. ‘I’ve thought of moving to somewhere else, where … sport … is still allowed.’ He sighed unhappily again. ‘But I was born here. I like this town. It was a great and happy town until General Pepper took over last week.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Just one week, and this whole place has become a nightmare to live in!’
‘A week?!’ echoed Milo, shocked.
‘Who’s General Pepper?’ asked Jack.
‘He’s Princess Ava’s uncle,’ said the man.
‘But she was guest of honour at the last wrest— er, sporting tournament,’ said Milo. ‘I thought she loved wrest— er … sports?’
‘She does,’ nodded the man. ‘She’s absolutely mad on it. That was one of the reasons for the row between her and her uncle. He hates it, but she wanted to set up a school for … wrestlers. But General Pepper didn’t want her spending any money on it, so when she came back from that … sporting tournament … he had her locked up at the top of a tall tower, and then took over as ruler of the region.’
‘How did he get away with that?’ asked Jack. ‘Didn’t anyone object? Wasn’t Princess Ava popular?’
‘Princess Ava was very popular,’ said the man. ‘When she was locked up some people talked about breaking Princess Ava out of her prison and overthrowing General Pepper. Especially those people who liked … sports. But that was before the General’s soldiers went into action. And there are lots of them, heavily armed, enforcing the General’s new laws banning … sports … and everything and everyone to do with it.’
‘That’s terrible!’ said Jack.
Suddenly they heard a shout, and turned to see a troop of ten soldiers, all armed with spears, approaching. At their front was their leader, carrying a sword and wearing a captain’s armour.
‘You lot!’ called the Captain. ‘We’ve had complaints about you! We have reason to believe that you are involved in the criminal act of wrestling!’
Chapter 3
Milo looked at the Captain and the armed soldiers and laughed out loud.
‘Us?’ he chuckled. ‘Good heavens, no! Nothing to do with us!’
‘Then why did you ask where the wrestling tournament was?’ demanded the Captain.
Jack and Milo noticed that the woman and her children they’d talked to earlier were now standing just behind the soldiers, watching them. Jack also noticed that the big man they’d been talking to had slipped quietly away.
‘Well?’ demanded the Captain accusingly. ‘Did you ask where the wrestling was?’
‘Er … ’ began Milo.
‘Yes he did!’ called out the little boy. ‘Bad men! Bad men!’
‘No, we’re not bad men,’ said Milo. ‘We’re after bad men. We’re bounty hunters. We catch wrestlers and bring them to justice. We heard that wrestling was against the law here, so we thought we’d find out where the wrestlers were, arrest them, and bring them to General Pepper and get a bounty.’
The Captain looked at Milo suspiciously. Then at Jack, and Robin, and finally at Big Rock. ‘That troll looks like a wrestler to me,’ he snapped. ‘A Wrestling Troll.’
‘No, no!’ said Milo quickly. ‘He’s … He’s a bounty hunter. We knew the people we’d be up against would be big and tough, so we had to find someone just as big and tough. That’s Big Rock, the bounty hunter.’
The Captain regarded Milo and Big Rock suspiciously. Then he said, ‘We don’t want bounty hunters in this town. We keep the law here. Me and my men. You’d better leave.’
‘We will,’ nodded Milo. ‘We’ll be on our way immediately.’
‘We can’t,’ put in Jack. He pointed at Robin. ‘Our horse is very old. He needs to rest before we can move on.’
As if to emphasise this point, Robin let out a long and weary groan and sank to his knees.
‘See?’ said Jack.
The Captain looked at Robin, then nodded. ‘All right,’ he said reluctantly. ‘But you leave town first thing in the morning.’
With that, the Captain turned, barked an order at the soldiers, and they marched away.
‘What are you doing?’ demanded Milo to Jack, annoyed. ‘We need to get out of here now!’
‘We can’t,’ said Jack, his tone serious.
‘Yes we can!’ retorted Milo.
Suddenly they noticed that the large man with the battered face had reappeared.
‘See?’ said the large man. ‘That was Captain Oz, General Pepper’s right-hand man. As long as they’re in charge, this is going to be a terrible town.’
‘Who are you?’ asked Milo. ‘And where did you disappear to?’
‘My name’s Sam Dent,’ said the man.
‘Sam Dent!’ said Big Rock, and he looked at the man with new awe and respect. ‘Famous Sam Dent! Great wrestler!’
‘Not any more,’ said Sam Dent ruefully.
‘You know what we have to do,’ said Jack determinedly.
‘Yes,’ said Milo. ‘Leave town.’
‘No,’ said Jack. ‘We have to rescue Princess Ava. That’s why Robin and I pulled that stunt about him being tired so we could stay.’
‘No,’ said Robin. ‘I really am tired.’
‘It won’t be easy,’ said Sam. ‘There are armed soldiers guarding the entrance to the tower to make sure that no one can get in.’
‘That shouldn’t stop us!’ insisted Jack. ‘Once Princess Ava is out of prison, I bet you the people will unite behind her. And then she can banish General Pepper and his soldiers into exile. And then there’ll be wrestling here again, as there ought to be.’
‘No!’ said Milo firmly. ‘It’s too dangerous. We’ll be putting ourselves at risk against a load of armed soldiers, all for a Princess we’ve never seen.’
‘We did see her,’ said Jack. ‘She was in the royal box at that tournament at Lord Veto’s. She was the guest of honour.’
‘I don’t care,’ said Milo. ‘We don’t know her personally. I say we leave as soon as we’ve rested up for the night.’
‘No,’ said Big Rock.
Milo and Jack looked at the big troll.
‘What?’ asked Milo.
‘Jack right. Girl in trouble,’ said Big Rock. ‘Bad man in charge here. Ban wrestling. We rescue girl, like Jack say. Bring wrestling back.’
Milo let out a long sigh. ‘Look, Big Rock, it’s not that I’m unsympathetic to this Princess, and obviously I will always fight for the freedom to wrestle, but –’
‘You’re scared,’ said Robin.
‘No,’ said Milo. ‘I’m just being careful about our safety. Big Rock, Jack, Robin, you’re all my responsibility … ’
‘We rescue girl,’ said Big Rock firmly.
‘ … and, as I’m in charge of this outfit … ’ continued Milo.
‘Me and Big Rock will rescue the Princess,’ said Jack.
‘I’ll help,’ offered Sam Dent.
‘And me,’ said Robin.
Milo stopped and looked at them all. Then he gave a shrug.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘That’s what I was about to say.’
Chapter 4
‘We won’t be able to rescue the Princess easily with just us against all these soldiers,’ pointed out Jack. ‘We need a plan.’
They all fell silent and looked at one another questioningly.
‘Don’t look at me,’ shrugged Robin. ‘I’m just a horse.’
‘Maybe we can use the General’s new law as part of our plan,’ Milo said.
‘How?’ asked Sam.
‘What we need are two wrestlers,’ said Milo. ‘They start a wrestling match in the town squar
e. That’ll bring all the townspeople in to see it, and all the guards will come in to stop it. And, while that’s going on and everyone’s attention is on the match, Jack and me get into the tower and rescue the Princess!’
‘That brilliant!’ said Big Rock. Then he frowned. ‘But who do wrestling match?’
‘Well, as Jack and I will be in the tower rescuing the Princess, and as Robin can’t wrestle –’
‘Me!’ beamed Big Rock. ‘Wrestling Troll!’
‘But you can’t have a match with just one wrestler,’ Jack pointed out. ‘He needs an opponent.’
‘Yes,’ nodded Milo. And he looked at Sam.
Sam was silent for a moment, then he sighed heavily and said, ‘I could go to jail.’
‘Then we rescue you,’ said Big Rock.
‘That’s what I like about Big Rock,’ said Milo. ‘He always sees everything so simply.’
Milo and Jack followed the directions from Sam, walking through main streets and side streets, until they came to the foot of a tall stone tower.
‘There it is,’ said Milo.
Jack nodded towards the six armed soldiers, each carrying a long spear and a sword, who took turns patrolling in front of the entrance to the tower, always leaving one soldier standing guard right in front of the door.
‘Six against two,’ said Jack. ‘That’s not good odds.’
‘Do you think you could turn into Thud?’ asked Milo hopefully. ‘That would do the trick.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Jack. ‘When it happened before, I got this tickly sensation, and my eyes went sort of misty, like I was looking through very thick glass.’
‘Any tickly feelings at the moment?’ asked Milo.
‘No,’ said Jack.
Milo sighed.
‘Maybe it’ll happen once we go into action,’ he said.
‘Hopefully it won’t come to that,’ said Jack. ‘Once they hear there’s wrestling going on in the town centre, they’re bound to rush off.’
‘Say they don’t?’ asked Milo, concerned.
* * *
In the town square, Big Rock and Sam stood, sizing one another up.
‘Proper wrestling rules,’ said Big Rock. ‘No cheating.’
‘I never cheat,’ said Sam indignantly.
Robin looked around the town square. It was empty. The horse guessed that most people had seen these two large characters standing opposite one another, flexing their arms and legs as they prepared to fight, and said that dreaded word ‘wrestlers’ to themselves, and then hurried indoors, desperate to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.
‘You’d better get started,’ said Robin. ‘We need to get those armed guards away from that tower, so Milo and Jack can get in.’
‘Good,’ nodded Big Rock, and he shuffled towards Sam, then reached out and put his big hand on his shoulder.
Immediately, Sam grabbed Big Rock by the wrist and threw him over his shoulder, to crash into the cobbles.
Big Rock pushed himself to his feet, and shook his head. Then he smiled. ‘Good wrestling,’ he beamed.
Chapter 5
Milo and Jack watched from the cover of an alleyway as the soldiers continued marching backwards and forwards in front of the entrance to the tower. Milo strained his ears for any sounds of shouting or commotion from the direction of the town square.
‘Maybe Big Rock and Sam haven’t started wrestling yet,’ he murmured.
‘Or maybe everyone’s too scared to go out and watch them,’ suggested Jack.
Milo nodded. ‘I think you might be right,’ he said. He took a deep breath. ‘So it’s up to us!’
‘You mean we’re going to go over there and attack those soldiers?’ said Jack, horrified.
‘Don’t be silly!’ said Milo. ‘We’re going to sneak to them!’
Milo left the cover of the alleyway and ran over towards the entrance to the tower, Jack close on his heels. Immediately, the soldiers turned towards them, the points of their spears aimed at their chests.
‘Halt!’ cried one. ‘Who goes there?’
‘There’s wrestling going on!’ yelled Milo, and he pointed towards the town square. ‘Two big men! Actually wrestling! In broad daylight, and in public!’
‘Wrestling!’ said one of the soldiers, shocked. Immediately, he turned to the others. ‘You four, come with me!’ He pointed at the remaining soldier. ‘You, stay here on guard.’
‘Yes, sir!’ said the soldier.
The five soldiers ran off towards the town square, and the soldier left behind leapt smartly to attention. Jack noticed a big bunch of keys hanging from the soldier’s belt, and gestured towards them to Milo. Milo nodded, then turned to the soldier.
‘A terrible thing, wrestling,’ he said.
‘A crime!’ agreed the soldier.
‘All those tricky moves,’ nodded Milo. ‘Especially in tag wrestling. Have you ever seen tag wrestling?’
‘Wrestling is a crime!’ snapped the soldier. ‘Watching wrestling is a crime!’
‘I know,’ nodded Milo. ‘Especially tag wrestling. It’s one of the biggest crimes there is. It’s when two wrestlers are in the same team, and they work together. Like, say, one of them drops to his hands and knees behind an opponent.’
As Milo said this, Jack dropped to his hands and knees immediately behind the soldier.
‘And then the other one pushes the opponent.’
And, as Milo said this, he pushed the soldier, who was so startled he didn’t have time to recover and fell backwards over the kneeling Jack and landed flat on his back on the ground. Immediately, Milo hurled himself onto the soldier, holding him down on the ground in a pinfall.
‘Grab his keys!’ yelled Milo.
Jack snatched the keys from the guard’s belt and ran up the stone stairs as fast as he could, heading for the prison cell at the top of the tower. Behind him, he could hear the soldier shouting and thrashing about, but Milo was holding him firmly down.
Jack reached the top landing of the tower and found one door there. He fumbled with the keys, trying different ones that didn’t fit the lock, all the time urging himself to go quicker. Milo wouldn’t be able to hold the soldier for long, he knew, and then he’d raise the alarm!
At last he found a key that worked! He turned the key, opened the cell door, and ran in.
‘Princess!’ he called.
The next second he felt a powerful thud in his back, which sent him hurtling forwards to fall face first on the hard stone floor. As he lay there, dazed, he heard the sound of running footsteps, and then pain as someone jumped on his back. He was being attacked! There must have been a guard inside the cell.
As Jack heard pounding footsteps rushing towards him again, he rolled over and at the same time swung his right leg, catching his attacker on the shin.
His attacker fell, sprawling. Jack leapt to his feet and went into a wrestling stance, hands in front of him, knees bent ready to deal with the next move.
His attacker sprang up from the floor of the cell, but – to Jack’s astonishment – it wasn’t a guard, but the small, thin figure of Princess Ava herself. Jack’s mouth dropped open, and he moved towards her.
‘Princess –’ he began.
That was as far as he got. The Princess took a leap towards him, then sprang into the air and kicked out with both her feet in a hard drop kick that struck Jack fully in the chest, sending him staggering backwards. Before Jack could recover, the Princess was on him, grabbing his left wrist and rolling backwards, sending Jack soaring up into the air, then over her head to crash onto the hard floor of the cell.
‘No assassin can beat me!’ yelled the Princess.
‘I’m not –’ began Jack, but once again the Princess moved like lightning, this time dropping on Jack with both knees.
‘Ow!’ said Jack.
A commotion just outside the cell made Jack and the Princess look towards the doorway, just as four armed soldiers rushed in. Milo was being held by two of them. The other two so
ldiers pointed their spears at Jack and the Princess.
‘Stop!’ shouted one of them. ‘Put your hands up! Move back to the wall!’
Slowly, Jack and the Princess got to their feet and moved towards the wall, their hands held above their heads. Jack’s ribs ached from where the Princess’s knees had hit him.
The two soldiers holding Milo pushed him towards Jack and the Princess.
‘Right,’ said the leading soldier. ‘You three will stay here until General Pepper decides what to do with you.’
With that, the soldiers backed out of the cell, and pulled the door shut. Jack heard the key turn in the lock.
‘Where were you?’ demanded Milo angrily. ‘I held the guard down as long as I could, but then those others turned up!’
‘She attacked me,’ said Jack, pointing an accusing finger at Princess Ava.
The small red-headed girl stood and scowled at the two boys. Seeing her in her long blue dress embroidered with gold and silver threads, it was hard for Jack to think that she was the same fiery wrestler who’d just floored him.
‘Attacked you?’ echoed Milo, puzzled. He turned to the Princess. ‘Why, when we came here to rescue you?’
‘I didn’t know that!’ responded Princess Ava heatedly. ‘I’ve been expecting General Pepper to send an assassin to kill me, so I thought that’s who you were.’
Milo turned to Jack.
‘But even so, you should have been able to drag her out. She’s just a girl.’
‘No, she’s not,’ said Jack ruefully, and he rubbed his ribs. ‘She’s a wrestler.’
‘A what?’
‘I’m a wrestler,’ said Princess Ava defiantly. ‘And I’d be a good one, too, if I was allowed to wrestle. But I can’t because I’m a Princess.’ Suddenly she looked very miserable. ‘And there’s even less chance of me being a wrestler while I’m locked up in here! Or if I’m assassinated!’