by Adam Hill
I can hear Killer snarling.
The Fent looks frightened. ‘His dog can smell me,’ he sighs.
‘He can probably smell me, too.’
Maybe this isn’t such a great hiding place after all.
‘You have to go!’ I tell the Fent.
‘I don’t want to leave you!’
I grab him and take off like a frightened rabbit.
Billy calls again. ‘Why don’t you come out, Curly? I just want to play with your pet.’
I know what kind of games Billy likes to play. He likes to break things. I won’t let him break the Fent.
‘They’ll be on us soon.’ I hiss. ‘Disappear now!’
The Fent hangs his head. ‘I just tried, Curly. I can’t do it. My magic’s been funny ever since I ate the yummy soap.’
I should’ve guessed. Dad’s inventions always have unexpected side effects.
‘Does that mean Billy can see you again?’
He nods. I run faster, crashing through some spiky bushes that scratch my arms and legs. It hurts, but I don’t let the Fent go. There is a fallen log up ahead – maybe I can hide there. I leap over it, only to land with a muddy splash. The swamp! My feet sink into the ground. I try to move but my foot is tangled in some thick reeds in the water. Behind me, I hear Billy let out a triumphant howl. He’s seen us! So has Killer.
I throw the Fent forward.
‘Run!’ I yell.
Something big and black flies past me. Killer. He grabs the Fent in his jaws, and I hear a scream. Killer snarls at me and bounds back to Billy. I twist my head to see him drop the Fent at Billy’s feet.
‘Fent!’ I shout. But he just lies there, all limp and still.
Billy picks him up by the ears and shoves him in his backpack. ‘You should have shared him with me, Curly. Now you’ll be stuck here while I’m playing games with your rat.’ He laughs nastily and walks away, leaving me alone in the swamp.
I go to work trying to free myself. Nothing is going to stop me from doing what I have to do. I’ve got a friend to save. Sure he gets me into trouble a lot, but he’s my mate. Please don’t let him be dead, I think as I twist my foot in the reeds, trying to get it loose. I finally manage to wriggle out of my shoe and limp home. I’m muddy, exhausted and sick with worry.
But when I get there, I find my luck isn’t all bad. Billy is out the front of his house mowing the lawn. His dad is on the verandah shouting at him. ‘When you’ve finished that, Billy, you can start on the pruning. If you’d been here when you promised, then you would’ve been finished by now.’
Saturday is Billy’s chore day. He must have skipped out on his dad to chase me. This is great. He hasn’t had time to torment the Fent. I have a chance to save him. If he’s still alive.
I spend the rest of the day spying on Billy’s house. I know the Fent will be in the rickety shed in the backyard. That’s where Billy hides everything he steals. But with Killer roaming around, I can’t get in there. I have to wait until night-time when Killer’s chained up. Luckily, Billy’s dad is still mad at him. He keeps finding new gardening jobs for him to do. If he’d been any other dad, I guess I could just pretend the Fent really is a dog or something, and go ask for him back. But there is something about Billy’s dad that’s even scarier than Billy. The afternoon drags on for what seems like forever, but it finally starts to get dark. Killer is chained up, and Billy and his dad are inside their house. I tell Mum I don’t feel well enough to eat dinner and I’m going to have an early night. She thinks that’s a good idea. Once I’m in my bedroom I shut the door, then climb out my window and sneak towards the loose pickets in our side fence.
I squeeze through and look around Billy’s yard cautiously. Far to my right, there is a stake in the ground with a chain attached. The chain disappears into a big kennel. Killer must be asleep. To my left is the shed, leaning against the back fence. I creep towards it. I’m almost there when I step on a stick. It only makes a small sound, but it’s enough to alert Killer. He rushes out snarling, and I fling open the door and sprint into the shed.
‘Fent! Fent, where are you?’
I ask urgently.
There’s no reply. Maybe he isn’t here after all. I peer into the darkness.
‘Fent, it’s me, Curly. I’ve come to rescue you.’
Still nothing. I feel like crying. Is the Fent gone? Is he dead? Outside, the dog snarls louder, snapping and choking on the end of its chain. I probably don’t have much longer until Billy or his dad comes to investigate.
‘Fent!’ I plead, one last time.
A small voice whispers, ‘Curly?’
Diving in the direction of the sound, I find Billy’s backpack and rip it open. The Fent leaps out. ‘You came!’ he cries. ‘Are you going to slay the evil monster?’
‘I think we’d better just get out of here.’
But then I hear the back door open.
‘I know that’s you, Curly!’ Billy shouts. ‘You can’t have him. He’s mine!’
I dive out of the shed, and Billy speeds across the yard towards me. I race for the fence but Killer leaps in front of it. That chain is longer than I thought! I dodge both of them and veer back towards Billy’s house.
‘Run fast, Curly!’ the Fent urges. ‘Or the hunters will catch you.’
Then he pokes his head up over my shoulder and blows a fart noise.
‘Don’t do that!’ I yell. ‘You’ll make them even madder!’
I lurch into Billy’s house and slam the door shut behind me. I hear the lock click shut. Billy starts banging on the door with his fist. His dad calls out, ‘Billy? Is that you?’
Panicking, I dash down the hall and dive inside the first room I see. I shut the door and press my ear against it, trying to listen to what’s going on. Footsteps go past me, and Billy’s dad speaks again. ‘What are you doing?’
The back door creaks open, and I hear Billy say, ‘Sorry, Dad. The door closed behind me and I locked myself out.’
‘That’s no reason to attack the door! Come and help me with the dinner dishes!’
Billy and his dad walk past the room where I’m hiding, towards the front of the house. The Fent tugs at my arm but I push him away. ‘Not now, Fent!’
I keep my ear to the door for another few minutes, but I don’t hear anything else. Maybe we can escape after all.
The Fent tugs my arm again. ‘Look, Curly. Scary.’
I turn around to growl at him, but then I see what he’s been looking at. Scattered on the floor are horrible pictures of Fents. They are drawn with red eyes, sharp claws and big teeth. They look like monsters.
‘I found them in the desk,’ the Fent says in a small voice.
I look around. This must be Mr Green’s study. There is a computer on the desk. Next to it is a strange metal object that looks like some kind of a homemade gun.
I shiver. I have to get the Fent out of here. I go over to the window and open it, but before I can leave the door opens behind me.
‘Got you!’ Billy crows triumphantly.
The Fent bounces up right in front of him and wiggles his little hand.
Billy freezes. Then his face crumbles, and he starts blubbering like a baby. ‘I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!’
‘My magic’s back,’ the Fent tells me triumphantly.
‘What did you do?’
‘I made him feel what I felt when he was mean to me,’ he says smugly.
Heavy footsteps are approaching down the hall. I grab the Fent. ‘We have to go!’
We dive out the window, landing in the bushes. I can hear Billy’s dad shouting from inside. ‘What are you doing in here, Billy? Why are my pictures on the floor? I told you never to go into my desk!’
I press myself onto the ground under the bushes, cradling the Fent against me. I don’t want Billy’s dad to look out and see us.
Billy is still crying. ‘I’m sorry, Dad! I’ll never hurt Curly’s Fent again! I promise!’
‘FENT?! Where did you hear that word? Have you seen one?’
‘I caught one, but it’s gone.’
Billy’s dad growls loudly, ‘Disappeared, has it? That’s what they do, Billy. One minute they’re here, the next they’re gone. And no one believes you. They just think you’re crazy. My mum and dad never believed me. But don’t worry, lad. If Curly’s got one, then we’ll hunt it down.’
‘But I don’t want to hunt it any more!’
‘Don’t be stupid. Of course you do. We’ll catch that monster together! I’ve been after one for years.’
I jump to my feet and make a run for it with the Fent pressed to my chest. Hiding in the next lot of bushes, I check to make sure Billy’s dad hasn’t seen us. Then I dart across my front yard and around the side of my house to my bedroom. We climb back in through the window, and I crash onto my bed. My legs just won’t hold me up any more. The Fent bounces on the floor, then rolls around happily.
‘Thank you for saving me, Curly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!’
He darts inside my wardrobe. I guess he feels safe in there. ‘Are we friends, Curly?’ he calls out.
‘Yeah, Fent. We’re friends.’
There is a pause, then Fent says, ‘Goodnight, Curly!’
‘Night, Fent.’
Just as I’m dozing off he speaks again. ‘Billy’s dad is very mean, Curly.’
‘I know.’
When I fall asleep, I dream about the awful gun.
The Fent and I spend Sunday hiding – him in the wardrobe, me in my room. He’s got big bruises and some bad scratches under his feathers from where Killer grabbed him and shook him.
Billy’s dad sits out on the verandah staring at our house. I don’t know what to do. I wish I knew how to send the Fent home. His parents must be missing him by now. I wonder if they’re looking for him. Do they even have any idea where he is? At least his magic is back, so he can protect himself by disappearing. I can’t disappear though. Maybe I should be hiding in the wardrobe with him.
The next morning I tell the Fent to stay vanished until I get home from school. When Mum and I leave the house, Billy’s dad is still sitting on the verandah. I wonder if he’s been there all night. Mum gives him a friendly wave.
Don’t, Mum, I think. Just don’t. I don’t want him coming over and talking to us.
We climb into the car and she puts the key in the ignition, but the car won’t start. Mum turns the key again and again, but nothing happens. Billy’s dad strolls over. He smiles at Mum.
‘Engine giving you trouble, Jane? I can drive Curly to school, if you like. I was just about to take Billy.’
Oh great!
Mum looks relieved. ‘Thanks, Ian. I’ve got a busy day at the office, I really need to get going.’
‘You could call a taxi. I’ll wait until it comes, if you like. If you can’t get one I’ll drop you at work too.’ He smiles again.
I can’t believe Mum is agreeing to this. Can’t she see how fake he is?
When Mum goes inside to call a taxi, I follow her.
‘Mum, you can’t leave me with him.’
Mum looks at me. ‘Why, what is it?’
‘He wants the Fent!’
Mum groans. ‘Curly, I really don’t have time for this today. Mr Green is a perfectly nice man, and trust me, he has no interest in your imaginary friend.’
I try to explain, but of course she doesn’t believe me. In no time at all she is speeding away in a taxi, leaving me alone with Billy’s dad. His hand falls heavily on my shoulder. ‘Let’s go to my house, Curly. Billy is waiting for us there.’
I try to get away but he’s really strong.
‘Come on, Curly. We’re going to have a nice long talk. Just the three of us.’
Mr Green drags me inside and hustles me down the hall into the horrible study. Billy is already in there, sitting on the floor with his back pressed to the wall. He doesn’t look happy. Mr Green locks the door behind us.
‘Is it here, Billy?’ he asks. ‘Has Curly brought the Fent with him?’
Billy shakes his head miserably. I almost feel sorry for him.
‘Right then,’ says Mr Green. ‘We’ll just wait. I’ve waited this long to see a Fent again. I can wait a little bit longer. You tell me the moment you see it, Billy!’
He goes and sits behind his desk. There is a big cage on top of it. I guess it’s for the Fent. I imagine him trapped in there and feel sick.
Mr Green opens a drawer and pulls out his strange gun. ‘You see this, Curly? This is for Fents. I’ve spent years designing it.’ He looks at his invention fondly. ‘Everyone said I was crazy, Curly. But now I’m going to show them. I’m going to prove to the world that Fents are real.’ He smiles at me, but there’s nothing reassuring about it. ‘You look upset, Curly. Why don’t you go sit with Billy? I don’t want to hurt you. I just want the Fent.’
I sit down next to Billy. Mr Green leans back in his chair and points his gun into the air around the room. His blue eyes are glittering and his face is flushed.
‘I’m sorry, Curly,’ Billy whispers. ‘I really am.’
‘I know,’ I whisper back. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll find a way out of this.’
Funnily enough, that seems to make him feel better. Who would ever have thought Billy would be relying on me?
I try to think of what to do. I don’t want to call the Fent in case that gun really can hurt him. I have to come up with something else. Then I think of my dad, about the way he sometimes knows exactly what’s in my head. He told me once that it was because we had a special connection. ‘If you’re ever in trouble, Curly, I mean really in trouble, you just think of me. You call for help, and I’ll come.’ Okay, it was right after he and Mum had split up, and maybe he was just trying to make me feel better. But who knows, it might work. I was really in trouble now, and it wasn’t as if I had anything else to try. I close my eyes and concentrate harder than I ever have before. Dad, I shout in my mind. Help, Dad! Mr Green’s got me locked in his study!
I have no way of knowing if it worked or not. I just have to wait. Billy and I sit there in the corner for what seems like hours. Mr Green keeps muttering about Fents. I hear some cars come down the street and stop close by. Doors slam. Feet come pounding towards the house. Billy and I look at each other. Mr Green is polishing his gun with a faraway look in his eyes. Soon there is hammering at the front door.
‘Let me in!’ Dad shouts through the door. ‘I know you have my son in there!’
Mr Green jumps up, looking furious. I don’t want him to fight my dad. Billy leaps to his feet and points to the window, yelling ‘FENT!’
I almost stop breathing, until I realise there’s nothing there. Billy is trying to trick him. Mr Green rushes over to the window with his gun. Billy and I leap onto his back and he stumbles and falls to the floor. The gun rolls away. Dad, Mum and Uncle Jeffrey appear at the window and look in.
‘Hold on, son!’ Dad yells. ‘I’m coming!’
‘We’re all coming!’ says Uncle Jeffrey, as he gives me the thumbs-up sign.
I wonder how they are going to get in. Mr Green is getting up. Billy and I dive for the gun together.
Uncle Jeffrey levers the window open and they all climb in. Dad and Uncle Jeffrey grab Mr Green. Mum helps me and Billy to our feet. ‘Are you boys all right?’ she cries. There are tears in her eyes.
‘We’re okay, Mum.’
We hand her the gun.
‘Dad was going to use it on the Fent,’ Billy says sheepishly.
She looks at him as if she’s thinking, Oh no, not another one.
Dad and Uncle Jeffrey have made Mr Green sit down and they are talking to him. He is threatening to sue them for breaking and entering.
‘We knew you were in trouble, Curly,’ she adds. ‘A little voice kept whispering to all of us, “Curly is in trouble. Curly is in trouble.” It must have been our intuition.’
I shake my head. Mum still hasn’t put two and two together. How could the three of them all have heard a mysterious voice in their heads at
the same time? Right on cue, the Fent appears in the middle of the room.
‘Curly! I sent your family! I used all my magic! I saved you!’
Billy and I grin at each other.
‘Thanks,’ I say.
The Fent is really proud of himself. He can’t stop boasting. ‘It was hard, Curly. I had to use every bit of my magic. Am I a hero?’
‘Of course you are!’ I tell him.
Before I can say more there is a bright flash of light. I blink. The room is filled with Fents. Big Fents. Really big Fents.
The Fent squeals in delight. ‘Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Kip, Aunty Soo …’
He goes on and on. His whole family must be here.
The biggest one of all is as tall as Mum – but a lot wider. It picks the Fent up and speaks sternly, ‘We’ve been looking for you everywhere, Pook! What are you doing in this strange “Earth” world? If you hadn’t used so much magic at once we might never have found you!’
Pook, I think. Pook? The Fent has a name?
Mr Green is watching Billy’s face. ‘It’s here, isn’t it, Billy?’
He bursts away from Dad and Uncle Jeffrey and grabs the gun from Mum.
‘Where is it? Where is it?’ He waves his horrible invention in the air. We all throw ourselves on the floor. From underneath my arm I see a laser beam from the gun hit the Fents.
But it doesn’t hurt them at all.
Then Mum gasps. So does Uncle Jeffrey. Dad just grins as though he’s made the best discovery in the whole world. The adults can see the Fents! So that’s what the gun was for!
‘See?’ Mr Green shouts. ‘See? They’re real! They’re real!’
We get up off the floor. The big Fent gives Pook to someone else to hold, and walks towards the adults. He picks Mr Green up, gives him a good shake until he drops the gun, then lets him go. Another Fent picks the gun up and crushes it in his hands.
‘No!’ Mr Green screams. ‘That was the only way I could get proof!’
He lurches forward and plucks a feather from the nearest Fent.