100% Wolf

by Jayne Lyons

  'Oh my! Oh mummy,' the terrified hunter wept as he crawled away towards the library.

  With Batty at his heels, Freddy had run up the small servants' staircase from the kitchen. From the first floor he could look down across the courtyard and in through the windows diagonally opposite. He saw the doctor lock himself in the library just in time to avoid Sir Hotspur, who arrived with a red, sweating face. The fallen suit of armour gave him an idea.

  Without a second to spare he charged towards the front of the castle, with Batty in hot pursuit. There at the top of the Red Stairs was Sir Rathbone's own suit of armour. In two minutes flat, Freddy was wearing Sir Rathbone's heavy metal breastplate and helmet. The breastplate came down to his knees and the helmet rattled loosely on his head. He reached up and grasped the huge sword and shield. With an effort he lifted them and climbed onto the banister.

  Just let him try to shoot me now, he thought grimly.

  'You're a traitor, Dripsy-Wimpsy!' Harriet's snide voice spoke out behind him.

  Freddy jumped with fright. The twins had been watching him all this time.

  'Yeah, you've betrayed the Grand Growler,' her brother chimed in.

  'Clear off, little piggies, this wolf is busy.'

  'You can't make us. And we are so going to tell. Everyone will know what a coward Freddy Lupin is,' Harriet snorted.

  'Oh yeah? And I'm so worried,' Freddy laughed. 'Now get out of my way, Werens, this is wolves' work.' He nodded at Batty, who advanced towards the twins with a menacing growl. Freddy could hear Sir Hotspur hammering away below, trying to break into the library. Harriet suddenly gave a piercing scream as if she had been stabbed with a spear. Freddy jumped again.

  All went quiet below and then Sir Hotspur's heavy footsteps came towards the Great Hall. Harriet gave Freddy a smile of total evil.

  'Now he's going to marmalise you into poodle jam,' she laughed.

  'We'll see about that,' he snarled.

  Freddy clamped down his visor. He wondered if Sir Rathbone had been this scared when he faced his foes. Summoning up his courage, he banged the sword on the shield and called out as loudly as he could.

  'I, Freddy Lupin, rightful heir to Sir Rathbone's glory, say this to you, Sir Hotair Catsvomit! I am going to kick your big, flabby bum!'

  His words echoed around the castle as Uncle Hotspur rushed towards the Great Hall.

  'Here goes nothing,' Freddy groaned, feeling his stomach might actually explode with fear.

  Sir Hotspur arrived red and panting. As he turned to face the stairs, he gave a startled jump. With a blood-curdling yell Freddy whizzed down the banister, sword held high.

  'Freddy the Fantastic flies again,' he called as he hurtled towards his uncle. Sir Hotspur instinctively bashed him away with his shoulder and Freddy was bounced high into the air.

  Then, a miracle! Or, more accurately, a disaster!

  Freddy found he could fly. At least, that was how it felt. The back straps of his breastplate had caught on the huge chandelier that hung quite low from the ceiling. He was trapped swinging to and fro just above his uncle's reach.

  'Whoops,' he croaked. This was not part of the plan.

  The twins gave a cheer of delight.

  'What a dunderbrain!' Harriet shrieked.

  'No foolster will stop me being a wolf!' Sir Hotspur said coldly, raising his gun. Batty was already on her way down the banister. She flew through the air and grabbed Sir Hotspur's wrist in her jaws. He gave a furious cry.

  Freddy raised his visor. 'Don't mess with my dog,' he roared.

  Sir Hotspur looked so fat and comical wrestling with the dog that Freddy couldn't resist pulling faces at him.

  'Can't get me now, can you, Uncle Fart-face,' he called. 'Get his wobbly bum, Batty.'

  Sir Hotspur finally wrestled free of Batty and sent her skidding across the hall. He was now in an insane rage.

  'If I didn't have to shoot you, sir, I'd turn you into dog dirt and flush you down the lavatory!' he hissed. 'But it's all over now. I shall be Grand Growler again and you and Flasheart will be forgotten forever.'

  Sir Hotspur raised his gun for the last time.

  'Oh, great howls,' Freddy moaned in fear.

  And then it happened.

  The chain holding the chandelier could take the weight no longer and snapped with a sickening bang. Freddy was jolted off and plummeted with a yelp towards the floor – the chandelier following behind.

  'Arrghh,' he yelled helplessly. As he landed, his sword slammed onto the gun and shattered it. All around, bits of plaster debris and dust showered down. The dust cleared and there sat Uncle Hotspur, his arms trapped tightly to his sides by the iron ring of the chandelier.

  'The Champion!' Freddy roared, raising his arms in the air victoriously.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The Prophecy

  Mrs Mutton and Flasheart appeared in the hall. Freddy's father had a large lump on his forehead. Batty limped over.

  They laughed at the sorry sight of Sir Hotspur.

  'Looks like the prophecy has come true,' Flasheart smiled, looking at the sword and the shattered gun. 'The legend always said that if the sword of Sir Rathbone was held by the hand of a true hero, it could save his werefolk from danger.'

  'That must make me a true hero then,' Freddy beamed.

  'I suppose it must. Well done, Plan Master.' Flasheart ruffled his son's pink hair. 'No match for a pup, are you, Hotbot?'

  'Who's been a naughty wolf then?' Mrs Mutton waggled her finger at the prisoner.

  Sir Hotspur glared at them all.

  'Release me this instant, sir!' he bellowed, his red face and beard covered in plaster dust.

  'No chance,' Freddy snorted. He looked up to see if the twins were there, but they had snuck away. It looked like their days of power were ended.

  They were interrupted by a loud bang on the front door. The police had arrived to investigate Mrs Mutton's report of burglars. Using the point of Sir Rathbone's sword, Mrs Mutton quickly led the protesting Hotspur down to the dungeon.

  'Stop whining, Hotair' and a prod with the sword were all the sympathy he got from her. 'You're going to see my wooden spoon, I promise you that.'

  The policeman looked somewhat surprised when a small, pink-haired person wearing half a suit of armour answered the door.

  'We had a phone call about some trouble, sir?' the policeman said, looking at the devastation in the hall with interest.

  'No trouble that I know of, officer,' Flasheart beamed charmingly from behind Freddy. 'Do you know of any trouble, Freddy?'

  'No ... except for that burglar we caught,' Freddy piped up.

  'Did we? Really?' Flasheart looked confused.

  'Yes. If you'll just follow me, officer,' Freddy said pompously, as he led the way through the Great Hall.

  'In there.' He pointed at the library door.

  The officer raised his voice. 'This is the police. Open up.'

  They heard a scraping noise near the door.

  'Have they gone? The werewolves?' came the whimpering voice of Dr Cripp. 'The castle is full of them.'

  The policeman took a step back, a little embarrassed.

  'I have to ask, sir. Do you know anything about werewolves?' He looked at Flasheart, who shook his head innocently.

  'Oh yes, I do!' Freddy shouted eagerly, putting his hand up. His father looked a little alarmed. 'They have sharp teeth, suck blood and turn into bats,' the boy added.

  'No, no, I believe that is a vampire,' the policeman corrected.

  'Surely you don't believe in vampires, officer?' Flasheart gave a chuckle. The policeman turned red.

  'Of course not! Not at all. It's all nonsense,' he mumbled.

  'Like werewolves, you mean?' Freddy asked with wide, innocent eyes.

  'Yes, exactly,' the policeman agreed.

  'Quite so,' said Flasheart. 'So our burglar couldn't have seen one. Do you think he may be unbalanced?'

  'Probably unhinged,' the policeman commented.
<
br />   'Totally barmy,' Freddy laughed.

  Batty woofed.

  The policeman spoke gently to Cripp through the library door. When he had at last persuaded him that there were no wolves in the castle, Cripp opened the door slowly.

  'But there they are!' he screamed in terror when he saw the Lupins. 'Wolves, they are all wolves.'

  'His mind has totally gone,' the policeman tutted.

  'So have his trousers,' Freddy pointed out. 'Totally gone.'

  The officer began to walk the poor dazed Cripp to the main door.

  'Just a minute,' Freddy cried. He reached inside the doctor's coat and extracted a red-and-gold book. Cripp flinched in terror as the boy gave a secret snarl.

  'He stole my book,' Freddy explained, and put the Wolfen Names safely behind his back.

  'And what exactly has happened to your trousers, sir?' they heard the policeman ask as he left the castle. 'It's not usual for men to walk around Milford in their underpants.'

  They drove away, unaware that the eyes of a hundred hidden hounds watched them.

  'Victory to the Plan Master!' Freddy laughed as the door closed.

  You can well imagine the scenes that accompanied Freddy Lupin's arrival at the following month's Hidden Moonlight Gathering. His father was the Grand Growler once again and Batty had been acclaimed as an honorary wolf. Best of all, Freddy's hair was now black again, the terrible pink dye having faded at last. He was cheered like a conquering hero by everybody except the Pukesome Twosome. They sat with bright green faces and hair, looking as sulky as you like. Freddy had had his revenge on them with permanent dye in their shampoo. No amount of scrubbing would remove it.

  Sir Hotspur, still wearing the Moonstone and guarded by two large Werens, was forced to watch as his enemies were applauded. His red face sweated with frustration and fury.

  Freddy took to the stage. He was to have the honour of transforming first. Before the curtain was drawn back to reveal the full moon, Sir Grey Hightail, leader of the Fang Council, spoke.

  'This young pup has shown how a thirst for power led one of our greatest wolves astray. Whenever we think of your crimes, Hotspur, we should be humble. Thanks to Freddy we have uprooted evil from our midst. Best of all, he has restored Flasheart to his rightful place.'

  He was interrupted by much cheering. Flasheart, with his black hair trimmed and beard shaved off, grinned back and winked at his son.

  'Hotspur,' Hightail continued, 'the Fang Council sentences you to wear that Moonstone and remain as a man for six years, the same time you locked your brother in darkness.'

  Sir Hotspur went pale with horror at the news. To be deprived of being a wolf was the greatest punishment for werefolk. Hotspur thought his disgrace was complete. But Hightail had not finished.

  'We cruelly turned away this pup, but he did not turn his back on us. He showed us the true meaning of the Golden Rule. He has foiled the dreaded Cripp and been the saviour of all Wolfenkind.' Hightail held the Red Book of Wolfen Names aloft for all to see.

  'A wolf shall never again be judged by his species, but by his actions. Freddy Lupin, you stand side by side with Sir Rathbone as our Greatest Hero.' The werefolk cheered madly. Sir Hotspur looked sick with hatred.

  'Well, perhaps I'm the second greatest hero ever – Sir Rathbone is still the best,' Freddy said generously.

  The crowd cheered as Freddy, his heart bursting with pride, stood up to transform.

  'They really won't mind that I'm going to be a poodle?' he checked with his father.

  'Not one bit,' Flasheart winked.

  His father pulled back the heavy curtain. There in the sky shone the full moon.

  'Now is the Grand Growling and High Howling of the Hidden Moonlight Gathering of Werefolk. We howl thanks for the ancient magic of the Moonstone. Now, by the power of the silver moon, let the Transwolfation begin!' cried Flasheart.

  As the warmth of the moonbeams fell onto Freddy, he dropped to his hands and knees and felt his blood heating. His skin crept all over like a hundred scabs falling off. Again he felt the searing shiver as the hair grew through his skin. With a final shake he put back his head to bark.

  'Hooowwlll,' came a deep noise from his throat.

  Like the time before, cries of astonishment filled the Great Hall. Freddy guessed something was not quite right.

  'Oh, now what?' he cried, rushing to the window. In his reflection he saw a young, strong black wolf.

  'I'm a wolf!' he laughed in amazement. 'At last, I'm a wolf ... How?'

  The hall filled with cheers and howls.

  That night, when he led the Blood-Red Hunt next to his father, Freddy was the happiest wolf alive. He hardly knew how he deserved it, but could only be grateful, because his every dream had come true.

  Postscript

  Of course this is real life and not fantasy, and Freddy's story does not have a dream ending. As the months passed he found that he didn't always transform into a wolf. Dripsy-Wimpsy was as much a part of him as ever. On each full moon, Freddy could never tell whether he would transform into poodle or wolf, but whatever he was he walked with pride.

  He and Batty became inseparable after she came to live at Farfang Castle. Freddy could be just as annoying and silly as ever, especially now he was a hero, but she loved him still. They were never happier than when racing through the woods talking together, whenever the full moon shone.

  Uncle Hotspur was banished to Dundaggard Castle in the very northernmost part of Scotland. There Laird McDaggard, a member of the Fang Council, guarded him. Hotspur spent his days pacing the courtyard and nights staring at the moon, and always, always, vowing revenge on Freddy Lupin.

  Harriet and Chariot accompanied their father to Scotland. They were not in the least bit pleased to be living with Laird McDaggard and his wife in the middle of nowhere. Their behaviour there was so atrocious that they were soon sent away to a strict school. You'll be happy to hear that they were very miserable there.

  After seeing that Freddy and Batty were safe, Hamish, Bruno and the other dogs disappeared into the night, back to the Wildside. They would often turn up at the kitchen door looking for sausages, and were always welcomed as friends when they did. Bruno turned up most often, for no matter where he roamed he just never met another mongrel with eyes as pretty as Batty's.

  Coldfax Fort soon fell into disrepair without Mayor Lupin to keep it open. When the Commander searched, not a single dog remained, not even Cerberus. Where he had gone was a mystery. But the wolfhound had discovered how to move the grate and explore the drains and no-one ever checked down there. It was said that despite the disappearance of the dogs the ghost hound remained, for at night his howls could be heard coming from somewhere in that terrible place.

  And Dr Cripp?

  He is now in a special hospital for the completely confused. He is happy to tell all the doctors who visit him that the country has been taken over by werewolves.

  The doctors will make sure that he's never allowed out, for he is quite mad, you know ...

  Werewolves? Whoever heard of anything as crazy as that?

  About the Author

  Jayne Lyons has worked as a geologist/geophysicist for fifteen years. One day in 2004, while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, she became very bored and applied for a job in Perth, Western Australia. Four months later she was there, and she has been living in Australia ever since. Jayne writes every day: on the bus, at lunchtime, in the evening and at weekends. She likes writing funny, irreverent stories for children, and especially having a very free hand with language. There is nothing she likes more than inventing new words. Jayne is married and a full-time working mother, with one ten-year-old daughter. 100% Wolf is her first book.

 

 

 
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