by Jim Eldridge
‘Just be thankful it did,’ whispered back Milo.
Then, with Ava still riding on Big Rock’s shoulders, and Sam leading the cheering crowd, they escorted the Princess through the town to the royal palace. Milo, Jack and Robin brought up the end of the procession, just behind General Pepper and Captain Oz and the captured soldiers, who were all loaded down with chains and looking very miserable.
It took another hour for the procession to reach the palace because so many of the crowd wanted to shake Princess Ava’s hand, or bow to her. All of them were also eager to shake the hands of Milo, Big Rock, Sam and Jack … although it was obvious that mostly they were very nervous and wary of getting too close to Jack.
When they at last reached the royal palace, Milo noticed that nearly everyone gave Robin an affectionate pat just before they left to go back to their homes.
‘Idiots!’ grumbled Robin half under his breath, but Milo was sure that the old horse was secretly pleased with the attention he was getting.
Big Rock put the Princess down, and she swept majestically in through the doors of the palace, followed by Sam Dent, Big Rock, the captives, and Milo, Jack and Robin. Once the doors had shut, she turned to her rescuers and said with a sigh of relief, ‘I’m glad that’s over!’
‘What are we going to do with this lot?’ asked Milo, gesturing at General Pepper and Captain Oz, and the unhappy chained-up soldiers.
‘They’re too dangerous to be left walking around free,’ added Sam.
‘I’m not dangerous!’ called out Captain Oz. ‘I pledge my allegiance to Princess Ava!’
General Pepper turned and glared at the Captain. ‘Traitor!’ he spat at him.
‘I shall send a messenger to my cousin Edward,’ Princess Ava decided. ‘He’s king of the next kingdom. He never liked Uncle Pepper; he always warned me about him as being sneaky and treacherous.’ She looked at the scowling General Pepper. ‘I’m sure that King Edward will be pleased to come and take these traitors away and put them in prison, and make them work hard!’ She turned to Big Rock and said, ‘Will you take them downstairs for me, Big Rock? There’s a very damp dungeon down there. They can wait there until King Edward sends his people to collect them.’
‘Good,’ said Big Rock. And he ushered the chained-up villains towards the stone steps and the dungeons below.
The Princess turned to Jack. ‘Also, I take back what I said before about you being rubbish! You are awesome when you’re … the wrestling you.’
‘Thud,’ said Milo. ‘His name is Thud.’
‘Jack,’ corrected Jack. ‘My name is Jack.’
‘Well, Jack Thud, it was brilliant to see you in action. I owe you my life.’ She turned to Milo, Sam and Robin. ‘I owe my life to all of you! And I won’t forget it.’
Big Rock returned.
‘Bad people locked in dungeon,’ he announced.
‘Good,’ said Princess Ava. ‘And now, I’d like you all to follow me.’
Chapter 10
As Princess Ava headed towards the grand staircase and began to go up it, Jack and Milo gave each other puzzled looks.
‘What’s going on?’ whispered Jack.
‘No idea,’ said Milo. He turned to Sam who shrugged, equally puzzled.
They followed the Princess up the stairs to the landing, and joined her by a door she had just opened.
‘There!’ she said proudly.
They walked into the room, then all stopped and stared, stunned.
The room was the biggest Jack had ever seen – even bigger than the largest rooms in Veto Castle. It looked like a ballroom, except for the rows of seats around all four of the walls, facing inwards. And, there, in the very centre of the huge room …
‘It’s a wrestling ring!’ breathed Milo, awed.
And it certainly was – one of the most beautifully decorated and ornate wrestling rings that any of the gang had ever seen.
‘My father had it built,’ said Princess Ava. ‘He liked to invite special wrestlers to come to the palace for private bouts.’
‘Wow!’ said Milo, still awestruck by the sight of the magnificent ring in the middle of the huge room.
‘It’s wonderful,’ said Jack.
‘Good place to wrestle,’ nodded Big Rock.
‘So would you, Big Rock?’ asked the Princess.
‘Love to,’ he nodded.
‘Against me,’ added the Princess shyly.
They all looked at her in surprise.
‘You?’ said Milo.
‘The thing is, I’ve always wanted to be a wrestler. But, because I’m a Princess, I’m not allowed to. But it’s always been my dream that one day I’d be in the ring with a professional wrestler. And to be in there with a great Wrestling Troll like Big Rock would be the best thing ever!’
‘You’re certainly good enough,’ Jack told her. ‘You beat me.’
Big Rock lumbered towards the ring, and the Princess gave a shout of delight and ran towards it herself.
Sam stopped Big Rock and whispered warningly: ‘If you hurt her, you’ll have me to deal with.’
Big Rock smiled. ‘Fun only,’ he said. ‘No one get hurt.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that,’ muttered Jack. ‘You’d better watch yourself, Big Rock. She’s got a powerful kick on her.’
Jack and Milo took their seats at the ringside as Big Rock and the Princess climbed through the ropes into the ring. Robin sat down on the floor beside them.
Big Rock and the Princess circled each other. Suddenly the Princess leapt up into the air, aiming herself at Big Rock, and did a drop kick. Both her feet slammed hard against the troll’s chest before she landed back on the canvas and did an elegant roll and somersault to take her away from Big Rock, in case he fell and landed on her.
‘If that had been anyone else but Big Rock, that would have hurt!’ murmured Jack.
‘She’s good,’ nodded Milo in agreement.
Even though he was a hard-as-stone troll, the Princess’s dropkick had sent Big Rock stumbling backwards a few paces. Now Big Rock went into a crouch, his huge hands and arms out in front of him, ready to fend off the next attack. This time, the Princess waited in the centre of the ring, crouching low herself, her arms and hands out in front of her. Suddenly Big Rock made his move, running fast towards her with a speed that was surprising in someone whose bulk was so huge, and for one awful moment Jack thought that the Princess was going to be crushed. Instead, as Big Rock reached her, the Princess ducked beneath Big Rock’s arms, grabbed his huge thighs with her small hands, and suddenly straightened up. The next second Big Rock was sailing forwards over her head and crashing down behind her.
‘A Back Body Drop!’ said Jack, awed. ‘She did a Back Body Drop on Big Rock!’
Big Rock and the Princess carried on trading moves and holds and throws. The two had been in the ring for about five minutes, each giving the other as good as they could, when the Princess suddenly ran towards Big Rock, jumped up, put one foot on one of his rocky knees, and then leapt up so that she had her arms around his head. She then threw herself backwards, her arms still around Big Rock’s head, dragging the troll forwards at speed. As the Princess landed on the mat in a sitting position, she still held onto Big Rock’s head, and he hit the canvas with his face.
‘A Bulldog!’ grinned Jack.
As Big Rock lay on the canvas, Princess Ava suddenly gave a huge heave with her feet and arms, rolled the big troll onto his back, and then leapt on him, pinning his shoulders to the canvas.
‘One! Two! Three!’ counted Sam.
The Princess rolled off the troll and sprang to her feet. Sam grabbed her hand and held it aloft. ‘I declare the winner to be: Princess Ava!’
Milo and Jack applauded and cheered. As Big Rock got to his feet, the Princess scowled at him. ‘You let me win,’ she said accusingly.
‘Yes,’ agreed Big Rock. ‘It only fair. Me troll. You human. But you good wrestler.’
‘Yes you are,’ said Milo as he came to t
he ring with Jack. ‘It’s a pity you can’t go into the ring and let everyone see how good you are.’
‘I wish I could,’ said the Princess sadly, ‘but it wouldn’t fit with me being Queen.’ Then she said thoughtfully: ‘But perhaps, sometimes, I could take a trip to another country where a wrestling tournament’s going on, and where my friends are part of the bill. And maybe I could join them.’
‘People would recognise you,’ said Jack. ‘Word would get back to Weevil.’
‘Not if she wore a mask,’ said Robin.
Everyone turned to look at the old horse in stunned awe.
‘That is a brilliant idea!’ said Sam.
Princess Ava smiled. ‘Yes!’ she said. ‘I could be the Masked Avenger! And the only way anyone could get to take my mask off was if they beat me in a match!’
‘The Masked Avenger!’ smiled Big Rock, impressed. ‘Brilliant!’
‘Until then, I’ve got to be a Princess and get my country back together again,’ said Ava. ‘One of the first things I’ll be doing is passing a law allowing wrestling back! And, to organise that, I appoint Sam Dent, the greatest wrestler ever to come from this kingdom.’ She turned to Sam and said, ‘You’d better kneel.’
‘Why?’ asked Sam, puzzled.
‘Because it’s traditional when giving out a knighthood.’
Sam stared at her, stunned. Then a smile spread over his face. ‘Wrestlers don’t kneel,’ he said. ‘Not unless they lose a contest.’
With the same speed and swiftness she’d shown in the ring with Big Rock, Princess Ava dropped and swung out a leg, catching Sam just below the knee and making him fall. Then just as quickly, she bounced back to her feet as Sam was about to push himself up, but instead he found himself caught in a headlock by the Princess and forced back down to his knees.
‘Submit?’ she asked.
‘I kneel,’ grinned Sam.
Princess Ava released her grip from around his head and stepped back. ‘Arise, Sir Sam Dent,’ she said.
Sam got up, and forced a rueful grin at Big Rock, Milo, Jack and Robin.
‘I could have taken her,’ he said defensively. ‘But she is my future Queen.’
‘Oh yes, like we believe you!’ said Robin, rolling his eyes.
Chapter 11
The old caravan moved slowly along the country road, heading away from the small town of Weevil. As before, Milo and Jack sat in the driving seat. Once again, Big Rock, the Wrestling Troll, ran around the caravan, all the time throwing punches at the empty air.
‘We go back soon?’ he asked.
‘Soon-ish,’ nodded Milo. ‘We need to give Princess Ava and Sam time to get the wrestling up and running properly again.’
‘Sir Sam,’ corrected Jack.
Milo grinned. ‘Sir Sam,’ he said.
‘Ridiculous!’ snorted Robin. ‘Whoever heard of a wrestler getting a knighthood? Next thing, they’ll be giving them out to people like … well, actors and singers.’ He snorted again. ‘Ridiculous!’
‘Anyway, thanks to Princess Ava, at least I know why I turn into Thud,’ said Jack. He shook his head. ‘I’m a half-troll, and I never knew it!’
‘Did she mention anything about how to control it?’ asked Milo.
‘No,’ said Jack. ‘She just said that’s one of the problems with being a half-troll: learning to control it. She said if I can, it would be fantastic.’
‘It certainly would,’ said Milo. ‘Being able to turn into a troll when you want to, not when your inner troll takes over when you get angry or upset. Now that would be brilliant for wrestling!’
‘Yes,’ sighed Jack. ‘But how do I learn to control it?’
‘That’s what we’ve got to find out,’ said Milo. ‘And we will!’
Suddenly Jack and Milo were aware of a curious sound, low at first, but now getting stronger, almost melodic. And then Jack realised what it was. Robin was singing!
Jack looked at Milo and grinned. And then both joined in with the old horse as he plodded along, hauling the caravan. And soon Big Rock had joined in as well, and the fields and mountains and rivers echoed to the sound of their song:
‘Wrestling Trolls
‘Tum-di-dum!
‘Wrestling Trolls
‘Tum-di-dum!’
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT
Text copyright © Jim Eldridge 2014 Illustrations copyright © Jan Bielecki 2014
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4714-0194-7
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