100% Wolf (12 page)

The wolf was silent for some moments. 'So they
sent you here to Coldfax?' he growled. 'That's no way
to treat a pup.'

'Nobody sent me, I was caught, but my uncle says
I must stay here forever. He hates me because I've
brought shame upon my Pack and disgrace to the
memory of... of...' Freddy paused and closed his
eyes in shame; the moment he had been trying to avoid
had arrived.

'... Sir Rathbone de Lupinne,' he croaked.

More silence followed, and then at last the wolf
crept closer. He sniffed the little poodle, whose eyes
were now hidden under his paws. Then came a deep
growl.

'Freddy?' the wolf asked. Freddy didn't want to
look up and see the disappointment in his father's
green eyes. He said yes with his tail.

'I am the father of the bravest pup in the world.'

Freddy looked up in astonishment.

'You're not ashamed of me then?'

'I have never been prouder or happier in my life,'
his father replied huskily.

'Oh, Dad, I've missed you so much,' Freddy
yipped.

In a second Freddy was being crushed between
the great paws of the mighty wolf, as father and son
were reunited. As he is very sensitive about being
considered a sissy, we will leave them alone to their
tears and hugs for a short while.

'Good shot,' Flasheart roared with delight.

'I told Mrs Mutton you'd say that,' his son
laughed.

'Lady Whitehorn was always too snooty anyway,'
Flasheart laughed.

He had of course just heard of the infamous 'uncle
in the pond' incident.

A magnificent change had come over the wolf since
discovering Freddy's identity. His air of melancholy
had dropped away and the sorrows of the last six years
seemed to weigh only lightly upon his heart. Freddy
had quickly related to his father all of his adventures
leading up to and following his Transwolfation.

Flasheart had been able to shed some light on his
poodle status. The aunt's poodle, Dripsy-Wimpsy, had
bitten Freddy's mother when she was pregnant.

'Somehow you must have canine as well as Wolfen
and human blood,' his father said. 'I've never heard of
it before, but there can be no other explanation.'

'Why did it have to happen to me?' Freddy
whined.

'Don't be too upset about it,' Flasheart decided. 'We
wouldn't have found each other again otherwise.'

'Yeah,' Freddy yapped, 'but I'd still rather have
been a fierce wolf when I found you.'

'Being fierce is not the same thing as being brave,'
his father advised and gave him a friendly nudge on
the ears. Freddy was knocked right over by the force.

'If you were a wolf you'd be too big to escape.'
Flasheart stood up. 'Freddy, you have two ruthless
enemies: Cripp and Hotspur. But you must go – for
me, for Batty, but most of all for the werefolk of Britain.
If Cripp finds the Wolfen Names we are all lost. You
are the only one who can save them.'

'Stinky feet!' Freddy gulped.

'Now escape,' Flasheart roared. He dragged his
chain over the floor towards the farthest and darkest
corner of the dungeon. There he pointed at a square
hole in the stone floor. It was like the one in Freddy's
old cell, only this one was half the size and didn't have
a grate over it. It was just big enough for a small poodle
to slither down.

Looking down into the small black hole, Freddy
felt terrible about leaving his father. He remembered
his own earlier escape plan and a cheeky idea started
to form in his head.

'Dad,' he said quickly, 'would you be able to break
my chain? So I can transform back?'

Flasheart gave a chuckle.

'Of course I could, Freddy. I am a great and powerful
beast, remember,' the wolf replied. You can begin to
see from whom Freddy had inherited his vanity. 'But
if you transform into a boy you will be trapped too.
You won't be able to fit down the drain and the door
is bolted on the outside.'

'But I won't transform, not straight away,' Freddy
woofed excitedly. 'I have Cripp's Moonstone ring
inside me. It's brilliant.' He told the wolf his plan.

'There is too much danger of meeting Cerberus,'
Flasheart said doubtfully.

'I am
not
leaving you here,' Freddy yapped crossly.
'I can let you out and still save Batty, I know I can.'

The wolf looked immensely proud of his son.

'Then we have to act quickly.' The huge wolf rose
and padded softly over to the poodle. He carefully
placed his great fangs around the Moonstone chain.

'It will work, won't it, Dad?' Freddy said softly. 'The
ring in my stomach will stop me from transforming?'

'I hope so, otherwise, we are all lost,' the wolf
replied, his green eyes glinted.

'Tails crossed then,' Freddy decided. With a last
chuckle the wolf bit down on the chain. For a second
it tightened horribly around Freddy's neck, then it
shattered. The chain and its Moonstone clattered to
the floor. Freddy felt a great surge of relief.

'Ha-ha-hardy-ha,' he yapped triumphantly. 'Oh
wait, oh no! Oh no!' he cried in a panic.

'What, Freddy? Are you transforming? Quickly,
pick up the Moonstone again.' The wolf looked
urgently on the floor for the chain as Freddy rolled
around. Then with a cheeky yip the poodle jumped
up again.

'Only joking,' he laughed.

'Not funny, young pup,' the wolf growled angrily.

'Sorry.' Freddy tried his best to look genuinely
sorry. The wolf was not convinced but was still in a
good enough humour not to mind much.

'Well now,' he said, 'time to go.'

Freddy took a large gulp for courage and put his
nose down the drain. Ignoring the nervous feeling in
his stomach, he slid down into the dark.

The narrow tunnels were pitch-black and there was
revolting slime all over the floor. The ceiling dripped
oily black water and several of the tunnels were alive
with rats. They scurried and leapt over each other to
escape the approaching dog.

Freddy couldn't find the smells he was searching
for. He did, however, find the exit, where the drain
ran out of a large hole in the fort's high wall. It was
about ten feet above the ground outside and would
have been easy enough to jump from, except that it
was sealed with a heavy iron grille. Not even Bruno
would be able to break a hole in it. The only way out of
Coldfax was through the front door. Freddy smelt the
cold night air and could see the moon high in the sky.
It made his Fangen blood tingle – how he wanted to
run across the night under those warm moonbeams.

Ahead of him, a dark shape was panting in the
shadows.

'Arrgggh!'

Freddy nearly jumped out of his skin as the dark
shadow screamed in terror.

'Bruno?' he yipped into the gloom.

'Stinky?' a gruff voice replied with relief. 'I thought
you was the ghost hound.'

'I thought you were Cerberus,' Freddy laughed. For
once the two dogs were pleased to see each other.

'I'm off to save Batty,' the boxer barked. 'We thought
you was a goner.'

'Change of plan. We can't get out that way,' Freddy
replied. 'Come on, we have to run.'

Hamish nearly dropped St John's ear when he saw
Bruno's head emerge from the open grid. He was lying
across the spaniel's head and holding his ear to ransom
in his mouth.

'Look who I found,' Bruno gruffed. 'Stinky.'

Hamish jumped up with astonishment when the
poodle's curly pink head emerged next.

'Freddy! How? What? When? Where?' he woofed.
St John instantly jumped up in outrage and opened
his muzzle wide to woof. It was immediately clamped
shut again by Bruno's heavy paw.

'One woof, Champion, and not even Cerberus will
save you,' the boxer hissed. The spaniel glared with
hatred but sank down again sullenly.

'I came out through the drain,' Freddy yipped.

'What about the ghost hound? Did you see him?'
Hamish asked eagerly.

'He's not a hound, he's a wolf.'

'A wolf?' the dogs howled in dismay.

Freddy had no time to waste.

'I've something important to tell you. I know you
won't believe a word of it but just listen anyway. Then
when it happens you'll know what to do. Agreed?' He
looked at the two dogs. They nodded their ears.

'Now, I've told you before that I'm a wolf.'

Hamish and Bruno immediately raised their hairy
eyebrows at each other. Freddy was right, they weren't
going to believe a single word, but he took a deep
breath and began.

'Well, I'm a wolf who is really a human boy ...'

Hamish and Bruno snorted, honked, hooted and
laughed out loud. Freddy ignored them and ploughed
on right to the end of his plan.

'Now, here are the things you have to remember.
When I am a boy, I won't understand you and you
won't understand me. The wolf will understand me
but not you. I won't understand him and neither will
you. Do you understand?'

'No, lad,' Hamish replied.

'Not a woof,' Bruno sniggered.

St John looked up from under Bruno's paw and
rolled his eyes at their stupidity.

'Oh, never mind. Look, when I'm a boy just follow
me. It will work, I promise! Hamish, can you run on
your sore paw?' Freddy looked with concern at the
injury that Cerberus had given the terrier.

'No chance, lad. You'd best leave me behind and
just think of finding that brave lass in time,' the old
dog said nobly.

'No, we're not leaving any dog behind in this
terrible place.' Freddy shook his head.

'When I give you this signal' – he balanced on
his hind legs, held up his front paws and winked –
'organise the dogs into two groups. Bruno, you lead
the fast ones and we'll go and find Batty. Hamish,
you bring the others to meet us near the House
of Howls, in the woods of the Red Wolf. Do you
know it?'

The other two dogs looked at him in dismay.

'Aye, but Freddy, that's an unnatural place ...'

'Yeah, it's my home,' the boy interrupted. 'It's where
Cripp will have taken her. We have to go
now,
so are
you ready?'

'Are we ever!' Bruno cried.

Freddy walked towards the drain in the centre of
the floor. He looked back at the cell door. There
was the thirty-centimetre gap at the top. He was going
to escape from Coldfax and what was more, he was
going to help his father escape too.

'Now, I'm just going back down in the hole for
you
know what.
Don't worry, I can fit through this drain
again as a boy – it's bigger than the wolf's one. Okay?'

Hamish and Bruno looked at each other and
shrugged. In a second the crazed poodle had jumped
down the drain once more. He had a big job to see to.
Hamish and Bruno politely turned their backs to the
hole and the terrier began to murmur softly.

'Just tell me if I have this right, lad ... Freddy will
have a poo, and so will
remove
the ring of moon from
his bowels.'

'That's right,' Bruno nodded.

'Then, he will magically transform into a human
boy and release us all from Coldfax?' Hamish looked
at his cell mate.

'Here we go,' Freddy's voice called up.

The two dogs looked at each other and collapsed
with helpless tears of howling laughter. The poor pup
was totally and utterly unhinged.

'Ha!'

They turned towards the open grate to see the head
and shoulders of Freddy Lupin, human boy, emerge
with a smile of triumph. He punched the air.

'The Plan Master!' he whispered in delight.

All three dogs yelped and jumped in the air with
fright.

'My hairy ears!' Hamish croaked.

Bruno threw back his head and howled in confusion.

'Shush, shush, you'll fetch Cerberus,' Freddy
whispered urgently.

His hair, no longer curly, stood on end as
ridiculously as ever it had. It wasn't black, however,
but a most putrid shade of pink. His happy green eyes
sparkled as he grinned.

'Ha-ha-hardy-ha,' he laughed, climbing out of the
drain. The dogs backed away suspiciously.

'Come on, boys, it's me.' He held out his hands for
the dogs to smell.

Hamish and Bruno inched forward nervously,
sniffed, looked at each other and sniffed again.
Freddy laughed. He saw their tails wagging madly and
understood; they were laughing too.

Now – escape!

Freddy stuck first his nose, then his ear through
the iron bars of the cell door. As far as he could tell
Cerberus wasn't around, but he needed to act quickly.
He caught a glimpse of St John sneaking to the back of
the cell. He was not to be trusted. In a second Freddy
had dropped the outraged spaniel into the drain and
replaced the iron grate. They heard the Supreme
Champion fall with a gentle splash into the slime
below. He howled in fury. The other two dogs wagged
their tails merrily.

'Here I go,' Freddy whispered.

He placed a foot on the lock and heaved himself
up the iron bars. His head and shoulders touched the
ceiling. Freddy's whole plan hinged on his being able
to squeeze through the gap. It was tight and awkward,
but his head and shoulders went through, then his
arms and chest.

'Farts!' Freddy grunted. He was balanced in a most
precarious position. He was nearly upside down with
his chest and head dangling outside the bars. His
bottom and legs were wedged against the ceiling.