Desert Disaster

by Axel Lewis

  So that’s what Mr Pelly had handed Horace! Jimmy realized. They’re going to use a communicator to keep in contact. Mr Pelly will be able to direct Horace, showing him the fastest way to the finish line! Jimmy stepped back crossly...

  Snap!

  A twig under his foot broke in two.

  “What was that?” said Horace from inside the tent.

  Jimmy didn’t wait to hear if Horace got up or came out – he just turned on his heel and sprinted back to his own tent.

  No wonder Horace is more confident, he thought as he ran across the cool sand. His dad’s going to help him navigate! What a cheat!

  Chapter 11 - Lost in the Desert

  WHOOP! WHOOP!

  “YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE! YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!”

  Jimmy shot out of bed and fell onto the floor in a tangle of bed sheets as a siren continued to blare. He managed to stand up and peer out of the tent flaps at whatever was making the awful noise.

  “THIS IS THE ROBOT RACES TEAM. TODAY’S RACE WILL BEGIN IN TEN MINUTES.”

  Jimmy blinked and saw where the loud-hailer voice was coming from. It was on an airship floating just 50 metres above them, with the words RACE MARSHAL down the side. Jimmy rubbed his head and yawned.

  The voice continued: “MISSY MCGOVERN WILL LEAVE IN TEN MINUTES. CHIP, JIMMY AND SAMMY WILL LEAVE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. PRINCESS KAKO’S START TIME IS FIVE MINUTES AFTER THAT AND HORACE PELLY WILL FOLLOW IN ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES.”

  Missy walked casually past Jimmy’s tent, on her way to the start line. She was already wearing her jumpsuit and helmet, ready to race.

  “G’day, Jimmy!” she said. “Nice PJs!”

  Jimmy looked down at his embarrassingly tatty Robot Races’ pyjamas, which were covered with cartoon pictures of all the previous winners. He was definitely not ready to race. He ducked back inside the tent and kicked the leg of Grandpa’s camp bed. The leg broke, causing the bed to collapse underneath him. Grandpa sat bolt upright with a jolt, looking sleepy and surprised.

  “Hmm? What? Who?” he said, confused. “What was that for?”

  “Twelve minutes,” said Jimmy, tearing his suitcase apart to find his toothbrush.

  “Twelve?” repeated Grandpa.

  “Twelve! Until the race starts!”

  Jimmy could tell that his grandpa was still half asleep. Grandpa scratched his head, white hair sticking out at all angles.

  “Twelve?”

  “It’s eleven minutes now!” shouted Jimmy. “We need to get Cabbie ready!”

  “Tea,” Grandpa said, springing to life all of a sudden. “I need tea.” And he dashed out of the tent, leaving Jimmy to climb into his racing gear.

  High above them, the race marshal started a new announcement.

  “RACERS READY! THE CO-ORDINATES FOR THE FIRST CHECKPOINT TODAY ARE 18, 42...”

  Jimmy tried to memorize them as he hopped about the tent. He just had time to raid the fridge, which contained a new selection of disgusting breakfast creations from That’s Shallot!

  “Let’s see,” he muttered. “Will it be sprout croissants? Or cabbage flakes? No. Maybe a celery Danish pastry?”

  He chose the carrot juice with a courgette yogurt, as it didn’t require any chewing so he could simply pour it down his throat as he went. He burst out of the tent with his helmet under his arm and ran to Cabbie, just in time to see Missy and Monster surge out of the abandoned town. They disappeared into the sand dunes.

  Grandpa was waiting by Cabbie, holding out a flask of tea and a breakfast jam sandwich.

  “Come on Jimmy, lad!” he grinned.

  But Jimmy had suddenly remembered something – Horace.

  In the morning rush he’d completely forgotten about the conversation he’d overheard the night before. Jimmy had planned to confront Horace that morning and force him to hand over the communication device, or else Jimmy would go to the race stewards. But now Jimmy was minutes away from missing his start time. He didn’t know what to do.

  “Come on, Jimmy, hop in,” Cabbie yelled to him. “We don’t have all day.”

  “Something wrong, lad?” Grandpa asked as Jimmy climbed into his seat.

  Jimmy shook his head. It was too late now – he’d just have to concentrate on his own race.

  Anyway, he thought. Horace is starting more than half an hour after Missy. He doesn’t stand a chance of winning.

  “Good luck!” Grandpa bellowed. Just as he was shutting Cabbie’s door, Jimmy heard a growl of anger.

  “No, no, no! This can’t be happening!” Sammy was rooting around inside the cab of Maximus, throwing out pieces of paper and rubbish.

  “What’s up, Sammy?” called Chip from the cab of Dug.

  “I’ve lost my map and compass! I had them here yesterday but they are not here now. I cannot find the way without them, yes?”

  Sammy ducked back inside the cab while his father shouted at a race official to do something.

  This had the mark of a Horace Pelly trick all over it, Jimmy thought. He opened his mouth to tell Sammy what he suspected, but just then there was another whoop! whoop! followed by Joshua Johnson’s echoing voice on the loud-hailer.

  “Gentlemen, ten-second warning,” he boomed. “Start your engines!”

  Dug’s powerful engine roared to life and Jimmy had no choice but to hit the ignition button on Cabbie.

  “Even if I’m right, I don’t have any proof that Horace stole that map and compass,” Jimmy muttered to himself.

  Then Dug’s lights turned to green and Dug was off in a cloud of sand.

  Jimmy put Cabbie into first gear and waited for his own red light to change. His foot hovered over the gas pedal for a second, and then the light changed to green and he slammed his heel to the floor. The caterpillar tracks whirred, Cabbie’s engine roared and with a whoop of excitement, Jimmy sped out of the abandoned town.

  Chip and Jimmy both set a terrific pace over the first few miles, and very quickly they’d left the camp far behind. Looking in his rear-view mirror Jimmy hoped to see a puff of sand or a glint of rotor blades that would be a tell-tale sign that Sammy was underway behind them. But he saw nothing.

  Soon the desert terrain changed again. It became hillier and Jimmy found it hard to drive. Cabbie seemed to be enjoying the ride, though, tearing up and down sand dunes. They would crawl up to the top and free-wheel down the other side at top speed.

  It wasn’t long before Chip and Jimmy caught up with Missy, and the three of them ploughed on together towards the first checkpoint of the day.

  “Cabbie, engage cruise control,” said Jimmy. He wanted to look at the map briefly, so Cabbie took control for a few moments. Jimmy had a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong. They had been driving for ages but there was still no sign of the checkpoint, and what was more worrying was that no one else seemed to be following them. He put down the map and took control again, but tapped at the Cabcom screen. He linked to Monster and Dug, and Missy and Chip’s faces popped up on the screen.

  “I think something’s gone wrong,” Jimmy said. “We should have reached the co-ordinates by now. Do you think we’ve taken a wrong turning?”

  Missy nodded, and they all agreed to pull over. They stopped where they were, on the brow of a large sand dune. As they got out of their racers, Jimmy could see the desert stretching out around them.

  “Have either of you got a croc’s clue what’s going on?” said Missy. The boys shook their heads. “I don’t know where I could have gone wrong! I haven’t misread a map since I was five years old!” she added.

  “According to my calculations, we should be here,” said Chip, pointing to his map. Jimmy and Missy nodded. “Which means there should be a small outcrop of rocks over there.” He pointed to where he imagined it should be, but there was nothing there except mile upon mile of sand. Jimmy stared out at the barren
yellow landscape bathed in the light from the hot, hot sun.

  Suddenly he was hit by a sinking feeling in his gut, and he looked down at his compass.

  “Oh dear,” he said. “We’ve gone very, very wrong, and I think I know why...”

  Chapter 12 - Back on Track

  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.

  Chapter 13 - Speeding Across the Sand

  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 s
een 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.