Atticus Claw Lends a Paw

by Jennifer Gray

  ‘Atticus, I need your help,’ Mrs Tucker whispered. ‘You’ll have to create a diversion. Get it away from the Inspector and I’ll whack it with Mr Tucker’s leg.’

  I knew it! Atticus sighed heavily. He hated snakes. They made his fur prickle. All the cats he had ever known hated snakes, apart from Ginger Biscuit, who smacked them with his spiked collar before killing them to show off. But Atticus realised he had no choice. He had to help the Cheddars.

  Atticus took a deep breath and eased his way along the cooler sand towards the entrance of the cave, skirting the rocks so that the snake didn’t see him. He needed to make sure Mrs Tucker had a clean shot. He stopped. The snake was between him and Inspector Cheddar. Inspector Cheddar grinned at him weakly. The Inspector was sweating. His face was chalky white. He wouldn’t be able to stay still much longer.

  Atticus inched forward: it was hard to judge how long the snake was when one end of it was still coiled up. He glanced at Mrs Tucker. She had the wooden leg in her hand poised to throw. There was nothing in her way. Atticus hoped she was a good aim!

  ‘Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr,’ he growled.

  SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

  The snake turned. Its cold eyes met his. It began to uncoil. Any minute now and it would strike.

  With a fierce yowl, Atticus fluffed out his fur. Fear kicked in. His skin prickled. His fur stood on end, as if he’d had an electric shock. He puffed up to double his normal size.

  For an instant the snake was startled. It drew back. Then it gathered itself to strike. Atticus closed his eyes. He waited for the venomous bite.

  THWACK!

  Atticus opened his eyes again.

  The snake lay dead a few inches away from his forepaws. Mr Tucker’s wooden leg rolled to and fro in the sand beside it.

  Inspector Cheddar fainted. The children and Mrs Cheddar ran to him. Mrs Tucker strode over to collect Atticus. She chucked the wooden leg back to Mr Tucker.

  ‘Thanks, Herman,’ she said. She picked Atticus up and stroked him calmly until his fur began to subside. ‘Phew!’ she whispered. ‘That was scary!’

  Atticus meowed his agreement.

  ‘And we haven’t even got to Nebu-Mau yet!’ She retrieved a mobile phone from her basket and dialled a number. ‘Badawi?’ she said. ‘It’s Agent Whelk. We could use your help.’ She glanced at Atticus. ‘And bring some of your best warriors.’

  A few miles further into the desert, the magpies were having a rotten time. They were sharing a camel with Biscuit, who was hogging the saddle while the magpies clung on to the hump, except for Pig who was hanging on to the camel’s tail. Mimi was up ahead with Professor Verry-Clever. Klob was at the front of the camel train. The Tofflys brought up the rear.

  ‘I hate this place,’ Slasher panted.

  ‘It’s like an oven,’ Gizzard gasped.

  ‘I’m being roasted alive,’ Wally wheezed.

  ‘I think this camel’s been sitting in Zenia’s poo-bucket.’ Pig choked on the smell coming from the camel’s bum.

  ‘I need water!’ Thug rattled. ‘Water! Water!

  I’m dying of thirst!’

  ‘Yeah, and whose fault is that?’ Ginger Biscuit looked at Thug murderously. He’d been in a worse mood than ever since they’d arrived in Egypt and found that the magpies had catnapped Mimi by mistake instead of Atticus. So had Zenia.

  ‘I needed a bath!’ Thug protested. ‘I was all hot and sandy! My feathers get itchy if I don’t shower regularly.’

  ‘You didn’t have to use the whole bottle!’ Biscuit spat. ‘That’s our whole ration. Gone.’

  ‘It’s all right for you.’ Jimmy eyed him with dislike. ‘Zenia will give you some of her water. We’re gonna have to beg the Professor again.’

  ‘There’s no food though, is there?’ Biscuit was still glaring at Thug. ‘Apart from lizards.’

  ‘I was hungry!’ Thug shrilled. ‘I didn’t realise that packet of dried stuff was meant to be for all of us. I thought it was just for me. If I don’t eat regularly I get beak ache.’

  ‘If we don’t find this place soon,’ Biscuit snarled, ‘I’m going to pick you off one by one, starting with Thug, suck all your blood out and crunch the rest of you, bones and all.’

  ‘I’ll tell Anubis if you do,’ Thug threatened. ‘He’ll get the curse of the cat pharaoh down on you like a ton of worms.’

  ‘Halt!’ Zenia cried from the front of the camel train.

  The camels knelt. Everyone got down.

  ‘Vell?’ Klob demanded.

  ‘It should be somewhere near here.’ The Professor scratched his hat. He pulled Howard Toffly’s book out of his pocket and studied it. He squinted at the sun through dark glasses. He inspected the nearby rock formations. He consulted his camelometer, which told him how many miles they’d travelled. Finally he got out a compass and checked it.

  Mimi watched him carefully.

  ‘The path to the golden city lies through sand and water,’ he said, frowning at the book. ‘The hieroglyphs are very clear. By my calculations, the city is approximately sixty miles due west of Giza. The compass bearing is correct. I tell you, it should be here. Look at the shape of the rock formations.’

  They looked. Mimi gave a little exclamation. The rocks were in the shape of a cat’s head.

  ‘Well, it’s not here,’ Lord Toffly said. ‘Can you see a city, Antonia?’

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t, Roderick,’ Lady Toffly brayed.

  ‘You’re not Verry-Clever at all, are you?’ Lord Toffly said rudely to the Professor. ‘You’re Verry-Stupid.’

  Mimi felt sorry for Professor Verry-Clever. He was a nice man and he’d been kind to her since their kidnap, feeding her part of his rations to keep her spirits up as well as giving some of his water to those ungrateful magpies. She wondered where Atticus was. Zenia thought he’d come after them with Mrs Tucker and the Inspector to rescue her and the Professor and find the treasure. For once, Mimi hoped that Zenia was right. She glanced back at the shifting dunes. The only good thing about being stuck in the desert was that it gave Atticus and Mrs Tucker more of a chance to find them. If they got to the golden city of cats before Atticus reached them, there was no telling what would happen.

  ‘There’s certainly plenty of sand,’ Klob agreed. ‘But not much vater.’ She turned to Biscuit. ‘Vot should I do vith him, Biscuit? Vot about burying him up to his neck in the sand until he comes up vith something useful?’

  ‘Good idea,’ agreed Lord Toffly.

  ‘Bravo!’ said Lady Toffly.

  Mimi gaped at Zenia in horror. ‘She wouldn’t!’ she whispered.

  Biscuit sidled up to her. He grinned slyly. ‘Yes, she would.’

  ‘But he’s doing his best!’ Mimi meowed.

  Biscuit ignored her. ‘Still hoping your boyfriend’s going to show up?’ he said.

  Mimi didn’t answer.

  ‘Well, I am.’ Biscuit bared his sharp teeth. ‘So that I can chew other bits of him besides his ear.’ He popped out a set of claws. POP. POP. POP. POP. ‘Once he’s got us into the tomb, of course.’

  ‘He won’t get you into the tomb,’ Mimi said.

  ‘You reckon?’ Biscuit rippled his shoulder muscles. ‘I think he will, when he sees I mean to sacrifice you to Cattypuss the Great.’

  ‘Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka!’

  The magpies hopped and chattered in a tired, hot sort of way. That was the best news they’d heard all day.

  ‘We’ll help,’ Jimmy squawked.

  ‘Count me out.’ Thug pulled a face. ‘I don’t like the sight of blood. I’ll just come along after you’ve finished sacrificing and help myself to a bit of treasure if that’s okay.’

  Ginger put a hunky paw around Mimi’s shoulder. He let out a puff of lizard-smelling breath. ‘That is, unless you wanted to be the next queen of Nebu-Mau?’ He suggested casually.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Mimi shrugged him off. She pretended to wipe sand out of her whiskers. She didn’t want Ginger Biscuit to see that
she was afraid of him.

  Biscuit examined his claws. ‘Once Claw’s out of the way I might become the next cat pharaoh. You could be my queen.’

  ‘Oooohhhh!’ Thug whistled. ‘I think he likes you!’

  ‘I’d rather be sacrificed,’ Mimi said in disgust. ‘And anyway, you could never be a cat pharaoh. You don’t have what it takes.’

  ‘Ooohhhhh!’ Slasher hooted. ‘Get her.’

  ‘You’ll regret that,’ Ginger Biscuit snarled. ‘And you might change your mind when you see what I’ve got in store for Claw.’

  ‘Get the shovel!’ Klob cried. ‘Let’s dig a hole for the Professor.’

  ‘No!’ Professor Verry-Clever pleaded. ‘I promise you. The path to the lost city is here somewhere.’

  ‘’Ere, Slash,’ Thug was staring into the distance. ‘You see those rocks that look like a cat’s head?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Well, go right a bit.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Where the valley is.’

  ‘Yeah. What about it?’

  ‘Can’t you see it?’

  ‘All I can see is sand, Thug mate.’

  ‘Are you blind?’ Thug blinked at the desert. ‘It’s right there.’

  ‘What is?’

  ‘The swimming pool.’ Thug’s eyes popped. ‘It’s next to the stripy deck chairs and the bar with cocktails lined up along the top. Derr.’

  Wally shook his head. ‘He’s hal-loo-cinating,’ he muttered. ‘That’s what happens in the desert. His brain’s been scrambled by the heat, like an egg.’

  ‘Well, aren’t you coming?’ Thug summoned his remaining energy and flapped off. ‘Last one in the pool’s a pair of big girl’s pants.’

  ‘Vere is that magpie going?’ Zenia shrieked. ‘I vill not have mutiny amongst my slaves. After him, Biscuit.’

  Biscuit chased across the sand after Thug.

  Mimi watched him go. Even in this heat Biscuit still had the stamina to run. And the blistering sand didn’t seem to hurt his paws. Atticus would have to use all his intelligence to defeat him. If he came. Mimi stifled a sniff. Professor Verry-Clever seemed to sense there was something wrong. He put out a bony hand to stroke her. She nuzzled him affectionately to show him he did at least have one friend.

  Thug had made it past the rocks into the valley. The imaginary swimming pool sparkled before him in the sun, blue and cool and inviting. He put his wings forward and dived.

  CRUNCH!

  Thug landed beak down in the sand. He sat up, bewildered. ‘Where’d it go?’ he demanded.

  Biscuit advanced on him. ‘Bye, bye, barmy birdie!’ he said. POP. POP. POP. POP.

  CRACK!

  Biscuit stopped. ‘What’s happening?’

  CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

  The ground shuddered.

  WHOOSH!

  Suddenly water burst through the earth and gushed upwards in huge fountains.

  ‘My shower!’ Thug rejoiced, fluffing his feathers out to feel the drops.

  Biscuit grabbed him in his teeth and retreated to the safety of the rocks.

  ‘That’s it!’ Professor Verry-Clever gathered Mimi in his arms and stumbled towards them.

  Klob and the Tofflys followed with the camels.

  ‘That’s the path!’ the Professor yelled. ‘Through sand and water! I told you. The bird must have triggered some kind of minor earthquake.’

  ‘Nice one, Thug!’ Gizzard gave him a pat.

  ‘What d’I do?’ Thug looked round, puzzled.

  The fountains became a lake. Soon the valley was flooded.

  ‘But where’s the lost city?’ Lord Toffly puffed.

  At that moment the water parted. It formed two towering columns either side of a deep jagged crack in the valley floor where the water had burst through.

  ‘Down there.’ Professor Verry-Clever pointed.

  The beginnings of a golden staircase glittered tantalisingly between the sheets of water before disappearing down into the crevasse.

  ‘Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka!’ The magpies chattered excitedly.

  ‘It’s real!’ Jimmy’s eyes gleamed. ‘Let’s go get the treasure, boys.’ He spread his wings. ‘And then we’ll get Claw.’

  ‘MMYYYAAAWWWW!’ Biscuit let out a savage howl. He pinned Jimmy by the tail. ‘The treasure’s mine and Zenia’s, beakface. Don’t you forget it. You get what we don’t want. That’s all.’ He flattened his ears. His voice dropped to a hiss. ‘And I get Claw.’

  ‘Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka!’

  ‘Take vot you need from the camels,’ Zenia instructed the humans. ‘Then ve’ll proceed.’ She glanced back in the direction they had come. ‘Atticus and Velk von’t be far behind. And ven they come, I, Zenia Klob, mistress of disguise, and my evil cat Biscuit, vill be vaiting for them. Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha!’ She marched off back to the camels to get her suitcase of Egyptian dressing-up costumes.

  Mimi watched her go. The wind was getting up. Sand was starting to fly everywhere. They would have to hurry or they would get caught in a sandstorm. The path to the lost city lies through sand and water. If they made it through the lake, the staircase should take them to Nebu-Mau and to the tomb of the cat pharaoh. But would Atticus be able to follow? Her golden eyes fixed on the horizon. ‘Atticus,’ she whispered desperately. ‘Where are you? Please hurry!’

  Badawi and his group of Bedouin warriors joined Atticus and his friends at the cave. They brought with them some racing camels, which were a lot faster than the ones Mrs Tucker had hired. Badawi sent the other ones back to his tribe with one of the warriors. Everyone was glad to see them go, except Mr Tucker who had become quite fond of his. He’d managed to collect several bottles of camel fart.

  ‘I’ll name me next boat in your honour,’ he shouted after the camel. ‘I promise.’

  As soon as it became cooler, they set off at a brisk canter across the desert in the direction they thought Klob and the villains had taken. It was late evening when they reached the cat’s-head rocks. The sun was setting. They dismounted from the camels and tethered them in the shade.

  ‘We must be close to the lost city,’ Mrs Tucker said, eyeing the rocks.

  Badawi bent down to examine the sand for tracks.

  ‘Have they been here?’ Mrs Cheddar asked.

  ‘It’s hard to say,’ Badawi replied. ‘There’s been a sandstorm.’ He looked at the sky nervously. ‘We should probably go. We don’t want to get caught in it if there’s another one.’

  Atticus felt anxious. What if Mimi had been hurt in the sandstorm? Or lost? But he didn’t want to go. This was the place. Nebu-Mau was very near.

  ‘Get a whiff of that!’ Mr Tucker had found some camel dung. He stuck his nose close and breathed deeply. ‘Aaaaahhhh, lovely.’

  ‘So they were here!’ Mrs Tucker exclaimed.

  ‘Not long ago. It’s still fresh.’ Badawi examined it. ‘Only a few hours old.’

  ‘Where could they have gone?’ Michael asked.

  ‘Maybe they found the path to the lost city,’ Mrs Cheddar said, pointing to the lake. ‘The hieroglyphs said it lies through sand and water.’

  Badawi and the warriors stared at the flooded valley. They spoke to one another in hushed whispers.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Mrs Tucker said sharply.

  ‘Last time we were here, that lake wasn’t,’ Badawi told her.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  Badawi consulted his warriors. ‘They all agree. Last time it was desert. Now it’s an oasis. There hasn’t been water here for thousands of years. Since the time of Cattypuss the Great.’

  ‘You know about Cattypuss?’ Mrs Cheddar asked.

  Badawi nodded. ‘It is a legend amongst my people. There were rumours the stranger summoned the water a century ago, but no one saw it.’

  ‘The stranger? You mean Howard Toffly?’ Mrs Tucker guessed.

  Badawi nodded. ‘My people told him of the curse, but he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to find the l
ost city. One day he disappeared. He was mad by the time he returned to the Bedouin.’

  ‘We think he did summon the water,’ Mrs Tucker said grimly. ‘We think he found the city. We think he stole a book from the cat pharaoh’s tomb. That’s why he was cursed.’

  Badawi shuddered. He said something to his men. They looked uneasy. ‘They do not wish to go any further,’ he said. ‘They are afraid.’

  ‘Tell them they are safe,’ Mrs Tucker said.

  ‘How?’

  ‘Because Atticus is a descendant of Cattypuss the Great,’ she explained. ‘The cat pharaoh won’t harm us while he’s around.’

  Atticus was studying the landscape. It all seemed so familiar. It was like coming home. A gentle wind rippled his fur. The desert was cooling rapidly as the night drew in. It didn’t feel hostile any more. And something told him Mimi wasn’t far away. She had gone to the lost city. She was safe, for now. He felt his paws turn in the direction of the rock formation. Before he knew what was happening he had leapt on to it and scrambled to the top. He sat between the cat’s ears facing the flooded valley, raised a paw in the direction of the lake and let out a brief meow.

  ‘Would you look at that!’ Mrs Tucker breathed.

  All at once the lake began to part. It separated into two towering walls of water. Between them, in a deep crevasse, shimmered the beginnings of a golden staircase.

  Badawi and his men looked on in disbelief.

  ‘Atticus!’ Michael had been watching him.

  ‘He did that!’ Callie let out a breath.

  ‘He really is an amazing cat!’ Mrs Cheddar’s voice was hushed.

  Even Inspector Cheddar was impressed. He got out his notebook at once. ‘I must tell the Chief Inspector of Bigsworth about this,’ he said.

  At that moment the wind got up. It whipped through the sand. Within seconds they were enveloped in a thick cloud of choking dust.

  ‘Quick!’ yelled Badawi. ‘It’s a sandstorm. We have to find cover.’

  Mrs Cheddar grabbed the children.

  ‘Where’s Atticus?’ cried Michael.

  The wind howled.

  ‘He’s here!’ Callie reached down. Atticus had climbed down from the rocks and was nudging at her ankles. ‘He wants us to follow him.’