by Paul Bristow
“Shadow!”
“Goodies aren’t called Shadow,” said Cam, “unless they are dogs or horses.”
“Ghost!” Kevin had clearly put a lot of thought into this.
“Ghost. Yeah,” said Megan. “Ghost sounds pretty cool.”
“Yeah, I’ve got my catchphrase too,” said Kevin, fading away completely. “Ghost – he’s behind you!”
“Now you sound like a panto villain,” said Cam, shuddering, because he actually was quite scared of panto.
“Kite, Chameleon, Ghost and … what about you Lily?”
Lily had been sitting biting her nails and smiling as the rest of them talked.
“Oh. I don’t want a name.”
“Course you do!” said Kevin. “I’m sure I could think of something good…”
Lily shook her head. “No, its ok.”
“Come on Lily,” said Megan. “Your power is incredible. I sank like a stone down there and you were all whirlpools and bubbles.”
“Really?” said Lily.
“Really,” said Cam. “You totally saved me and John.”
“Right Kev, let’s hear some ideas,” said Megan.
“She-Kraken!”
Lily wrinkled her nose. “Uhm…”
“Atlantia!”
“Right…”
“Siren!”
“Another baddie,” said Cam, exasperated. “You haven’t joined this team by mistake when you meant to join up with the League of Evil or something?”
Kevin wasn’t even listening. “Sprite!”
“I like Sprite,” said Lily quickly.
“Yeah, I think that would totally suit you,” said Megan. “Excellent. Kevin, homework for tomorrow is team names and logos. Then I suppose we can think about masks.”
“Right now,” said Cam, “I’d be more interested in hot chocolate and biscuits. I don’t think I’ll ever feel warm after being in the river yesterday.”
Lily nodded. “Hot chocolate would be nice.”
“I will put the kettle on,” said TJ.
Megan watched as her robot trundled over to John’s makeshift kitchen. She was sure she heard him say, “There are five.”
Her mind instantly turned to her gran again. It had taken a while, but she had managed to do what Gran had wanted: protect the town and the river with the help of her friends. The fizzing in her stomach felt a little different now: stronger, but warmer too. Yesterday, she had been exhausted; now she felt as if she could fly higher than the sun. She turned to look at Cam, and noticed that he had his hand on his chest. He nodded at her and smiled.
“So… not that I’m complaining… but does anyone want to tell me and Lily where the superpowers come from?” asked Kevin. “I’m not sure I can wait any longer.”
Megan smiled. “Sorry Kev.” She turned round to face them all properly. “I’ll tell it to you as it was told to me. Almost three hundred years ago, not long after the very start of our little town, there was a storm…”
THE
GREENOCK
GAZETTE 50p
VANDALS TRASH TOWNS NEWEST SCULPTURE
ANOTHER one of the new sculptures installed in the town as part of a redevelopment scheme has been badly damaged by vandals.
Last month we told you how abstract sculpture ‘Resilience’ had been stolen and then smashed in an evening of destruction which also resulted in the demolition of the Tobacco Warehouse, one of the oldest buildings in the town.
Today we reveal that Civic Square’s new statue, Phoenix Egg, had a surprise inside - a surprise that has now been ruined for the public.
The sculptures were designed and installed by the Waterworx company, which has been rejuvenating parts of the town with new offices and a series of public art sculptures. Company director Mr Finn explains, “The idea was that the egg would hatch at the official unveiling of the sculpture, and inside, a beautiful Phoenix would announce its arrival with specially rigged fireworks.”
But before this could happen, Phoenix Egg was smashed open and the sculpture dragged onto the street where it was badly damaged. Mobile-phone footage from the evening of the attack apparently shows two men dressed in gorilla and polar-bear suits, who were responsible for the incident.
In the last six months the town has seen a spate of often irreparable damage both to new and old monuments. We must surely now ask if this is part of an organised campaign of civic vandalism.
Kelpies is an imprint of Floris Books
First published in 2016 by Floris Books
This eBook edition published in 2016
Text © 2015 Paul Bristow
Illustrations © 2015 Floris Books
Paul Bristow and Luke Newell have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 to be identified as the Author and illustrator of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the prior permission of Floris Books, Edinburgh www.florisbooks.co.uk
British Library CIP data available
ISBN 978-178250-256-2
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