The Daredevil Desperados of Destiny

by Charlie Small

  ‘What now?’ I asked when the celebrations had subsided. ‘Are you going back to Destiny?’

  ‘No need to, Kid. We’ve won. We can all go home. Well, I’ll have to rebuild mine first, of course,’ he said, looking down the slope to the pile of shattered wood where the ranch used to be.

  ‘That’s no problem, though. I wouldn’t want to live in Ham’s ghastly palace; and I’d be mighty proud, Kid, if you’d stay and help.’

  ‘Oh, that won’t be possible, I’m afraid,’ said Jakeman. ‘I’m going to show Charlie … I mean the Kid, how to get back to his own home.’

  ‘Oh, wow! Do you mean it, Mr Jakeman; you’re going to show me the way home?’

  ‘Of course, Charlie my boy. Why do you think I’ve come all this way – just to say “How do you do?” ’

  ‘Oh, brilliant!’ I cried, leaping up and down in excitement. ‘I’m going home!’

  ‘Well, I’ll miss you, Kid. You’ve been a real pal and no mistake. We couldn’t have done it without you,’ said Wild Bob, mounting Fortune and leaning forward to shake my hand. ‘Now you take care, you hear? I hope you make it home. So long, partner.’

  With a wave Wild Bob led the others back towards Two-Eyes.

  Goodbye, Bob.

  Jakeman and I climbed back into the hydraulic bison, and as he set the machine in motion, I turned in my seat and waved as the Daredevil Desperados and the Rapakwar braves disappeared down the hill. I will miss them very much, they were all such good friends; but the best amongst them, and the one I’ll miss the most, is Wild Bob Ffrance.

  Jakeman steered the bison at a trot across the open ground at the top of the hill, and soon we passed through a ravine and out across an arid stretch of ground that quickly turned into a desert. I was feeling sad about leaving my good friends behind, but I was also really, really excited about meeting the marvellous Jakeman. There was so much I needed to ask him.

  ‘It’s brilliant of you to help me like this,’ I said as soon as we were on our way.

  ‘Think nothing of it, Charlie my boy,’ he said with a smile.

  ‘And you’re sure you can help me get back to my mum and dad?’

  ‘Yes indeed,’ he said. ‘It’s the least I can do.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Ah, well,’ said the little man, coughing and turning a little red. ‘You could say, I suppose, that it was, um … a little bit my fault you ended up here at all.’

  ‘Your fault that I sailed down a crocodile-infested river and had to arm-wrestle a huge silverback gorilla? How on earth could that be your fault?’

  ‘Well, let me explain. It all started when I was trying to re-set the huge clock that sits on top of my factory. I had just …’

  Whirr, chung, clunk!

  ‘Oh no, what’s that?’

  There was a terrible grinding noise from the bison and we came to an abrupt and squealing halt. Jakeman jumped down and started to unscrew various plates underneath the heavy coat of the magnificent machine.

  ‘I thought so,’ said Jakeman, sighing. ‘He’s got sand in his joints. There’s nothing I can do about it now; I’ll have to send Philly, my assistant, to come and repair it later.’

  ‘Oh, that’s great!’ I cried in frustration. ‘Now I’ll never get back home.’

  ‘Calm down, Charlie,’ said Mr Jakeman. ‘Of course you will. We’re just going to have to walk a bit, that’s all.’

  ‘Walk!’ I gasped in astonishment. ‘Exactly how far is it?’

  ‘To your home, you mean? Oh, you can’t measure that in kilometres, Charlie. I’ll have to do some inventing to get you back there, which means we must go to my factory first … and that’s only about three thousand kilometres or so.’

  ‘Only three thousand kilometres!’

  ‘That’s right. Come on, Charlie; the sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll arrive. And I can explain all about how you got here, on the way. Best foot forward!’

  Speechless, I jumped down to join him.

  We set out across the desert sands under a blistering sun. It was hot and thirsty work; almost too hot and tiring to talk, but there were lots of things I needed to know.

  ‘Who are you, Mr Jakeman; are you some sort of magician?’ I asked, panting for breath.

  ‘Goodness me no, Charlie, nothing like that!’ he puffed. ‘I’m a scientist and an engineer. Although some people might think that amounts to the same thing!’

  We carried on trudging through the deep sand. It was so hot it felt like my brain was starting to fry. I wish I had put some sun block in my explorer’s kit.

  ‘So how could it be your fault that I ended up in this strange place?’ I managed to gasp.

  ‘Yes, yes. It’s high time you knew. Phew! Let’s stop for a rest and I can explain, as far as I know, exactly what happened and how you got here.’

  Brilliant, I thought, taking the water bottle from my rucksack and handing it to the funny little man. At last I’m going to learn the truth. Where I am; why Mum can’t hear me when I phone her; why, when I’ve been away for hundreds of years, I still only look eight years old!

  ‘Well,’ said Jakeman, taking a swig of water. ‘It was like this … Whoa, what’s that?’ he cried suddenly, dropping the bottle in terror. I looked down at his foot and gasped. A strong, hairy hand had emerged from the desert sands at our feet and had grabbed Jakeman by the ankle.

  ‘Oh, Charlie, help!’ he cried as the hand started to pull him down into the sand. He had already sunk up to his waist and I grabbed hold of his arms to try and pull him out. It was no good; whatever was on the other end of him was a lot stronger than me.

  ‘I can’t hold you, Mr Jakeman,’ I yelled as he disappeared up to his shoulders.

  ‘Charlie,’ he cried. ‘Remember this …’ but with a final tug, the thing beneath the sands pulled Jakeman below the surface and he completely disappeared!

  ‘Oh no! Come back, Mr Jakeman. Come back!’ I yelled. I couldn’t believe it; I was alone in the middle of a desert, and the only man who could tell me how to get home had just been swallowed up by the sands. I had to find him; I just HAD to find Jakeman!

  I fell to my knees and dug my arms into the sand where he had been, then pushed aside with a swimming motion. There was nothing there. I dug deeper. Still there was nothing, so I took the crocodile’s tooth from my rucksack and, using it as a trowel, dug deeper and deeper and deeper into the sand. Finally, I heard a clang as the tooth struck something hard.

  Hurriedly, I brushed away the remaining sand, revealing a domed metal lid with a handle on one side, like this:

  I crouched down and pulled with both hands. The lid opened easily, revealing the mouth of a tube that led straight down into the ground.

  I lowered myself feet-first into the tube, hoping that I might feel a foothold, but the inside of the tube was completely smooth. So I placed one foot either side of the pipe and then eased my arms over the rim. Immediately, I started to drop, but the braking effect of my rubber-soled trainers slowed my descent just enough. Soon though, my legs started to ache like billy-o as I continued to keep them pressed against the inside of the tube.

  Down I dropped; down, down, down through the dark until I lost all track of time. Then bright flares of light started to pierce the darkness. They flashed and changed colour, from white to red, then blue, green and yellow. Faster and faster they flickered until it felt as if I was falling through the middle of a crazy rainbow. Then everything went black again, and on a sudden updraft of air, I started to slow down. By the time I reached the bottom I was almost floating, and landed on hard ground, amazingly without a bump.

  I was in a dark tunnel, carved from solid bedrock. It was almost pitch black, and I strained my ears to try and hear anything, but it was completely silent. All I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears.

  Finding the torch in my rucksack, I followed the tunnel as it sloped deeper into the bowels of the earth. Then, in the distance, I could hear noises and I crept even more carefu
lly along the tunnel. Soon I came to a crack in the tunnel wall and, with my heart beating fast with fear, I peered through the gap and saw the most amazing sight.

  Oh my goodness!

  By the light of a thousand oil lamps I could see a horde of creatures moving about, digging into the rock and carrying away piles of rubble in hand carts.

  The creatures looked half-human and half-ape, with wide powerful shoulders and thick muscular arms matted with coarse hair. Their faces were fierce and heavy-browed, and when they snarled in their efforts to smash the rocks with their crude instruments, they exposed a row of large and pointed teeth. I scanned the thronging mass, but couldn’t see any sign of Jakeman.

  It was incredible; these creatures looked almost like Neanderthal men. Perhaps I had discovered a lost Stone Age tribe that everyone thought had been extinct for thousands of years. Big deal! I thought, for I hadn’t discovered any sign of Jakeman. Oh, blooming heck, this was terrible! What was I going to do next?

  I started to panic but knew I must calm down and get my thoughts in some sort of order. Looking around to make sure I was quite safe, I squatted at the back of a deep alcove and fished out my journal. Perhaps writing up my latest adventures would help me think more clearly.

  Now that I’m finished, I feel a lot calmer, and I must continue to look for Jakeman. I’ve got to find him if I’m ever to discover my way home, and as long as I keep away from those scary-looking creatures, I should be safe. Then, as I crawled out of the alcove, I felt something under my foot. Bending down, I picked up a pair of oily goggles. Jakeman’s goggles. So he had been here! Perhaps he was in the next cave after all, and I had overlooked him in the crowd. I crept across the passage and pressed my face against the narrow crack, to check.

  ‘RARRR!’ All of a sudden, a hideous face popped up on the other side of the crack in the wall. It was one of the Neanderthal ape–like things.

  I’VE BEEN SPOTTED!

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This is where the fourth journal ends.