Superpowers (4 page)

‘We need to get round it somehow,' he said quickly. Cerberus could reach all the way to the walls at the left and right of the garden, although the chains were too short for him to reach the shed or to the fountain by the entrance. ‘There's no way we'll be able to run past it; it'll get us in an instant. Maybe we should try and distract it or something…' Max broke off, an idea suddenly tugging at the back of his mind. He knew something about Cerberus. As he tried to remember the stories he'd read with his dad, he suddenly realized that Finlay was

heading towards the crumbling left-hand wall.

‘Fin, what are you doing?' Max asked. ‘Where are you going?'

Finlay swung round. ‘We might not
be able to run past it on the ground but we can if we go along that wall!' he exclaimed. ‘I'm going to climb up on top of it, run along and get to the shed at the back of the garden.'

‘You can't do that!' Max looked at the disintegrating wall. ‘It's much too dangerous!'

‘I'll be OK,' Finlay said confidently. ‘It'll be like being in
Tomb Raider
!'

‘
Tomb Raider!
' Max echoed, thinking of the computer game he had at home. ‘But you're not Lara Croft, Fin! And you haven't got unlimited lives. You've only got one!'

‘One life's all I need!' Finlay grinned and he set off at a run, leaping over the fourth flagstone in a single bound.

‘Fin! Come back!' Max yelled. But
Finlay was sprinting towards the wall.

With a horrible howl, the dog bounded towards him, all six eyes narrowed, three muzzles foaming with spit. Just in time, Finlay found his first foothold and propelled himself up the wall. The dog's snapping teeth missed his ankle by millimetres, and before it could try again Finlay started scaling the stone, digging his fingertips into the tiniest cracks in the mortar and grabbing sticking-out bricks without a moment's thought. His fingers caught the top of the wall and he heaved himself up into a crouching position.

But Cerberus wasn't about to give up. The beast got ready to spring.

‘Watch your legs, Finlay!' Max yelled.

Finlay straightened up. ‘Come on,
then, Fido!' he yelled down to it. ‘Catch me if you can!'

Muscles rippled in the beast's legs as it leapt up towards the top of the wall. To Max's horror, Finlay started clowning around, balancing on one leg as three sets of jaws hurtled up towards him, ready to tear him to pieces. But with centimetres to spare before it crushed him, Cerberus was stopped short by his chains. His heads snapped back, jaws clapping shut again, and he fell back, furious.

‘Yay! Look at me!' Finlay called, waving at Max. But as he did so, a loose stone started to give way under his feet. Max caught his breath, but Finlay just leapt forward bravely on to a more secure piece of wall. ‘Here I go – check
this
out!'

He began running along the top of the wall.

Barking furiously, Cerberus bounded alongside him. Finlay just kept on running. Reaching a piece where the

wall had crumbled almost completely away he leapt into the air.

‘Finlay!' Max yelled.

But Finlay managed to land on the other side of the gap. ‘Whoa!' he gasped, almost falling but just managing to stop himself.

Cerberus howled in frustration and leapt again. The chains clanked and the metal rings in the ground creaked as the dog threw its immense body weight forward.

‘Can't get me!' Finlay taunted it, continuing along the wall. When he was almost at the end of the garden, Finlay turned round and yelled at Max, ‘How cool am I?'

But he spoke too soon. As the words left his mouth, the brickwork
beneath him suddenly collapsed.

‘Argh!' Finlay yelled. His arms windmilled wildly as he began to fall.

Howling with triumph, gnashing his yellow, foam-flecked teeth, Cerberus lunged towards him, ready for the kill…

As Finlay fell he grabbed the top of the remaining wall with his hands. He hung on by his fingertips. For a moment, Max thought Finlay was going to lose his grip and slip straight into the dog's open jaws but then with a tremendous kick, Finlay managed to get his chest up on to the wall. He threw his leg over the stones and
pulled himself up just as the dog sprang.

‘Hey!' he called cheerfully to Max, as Cerberus fell back with a frustrated howl. ‘That was close!'

Max's heart was pounding. ‘You're crazy!'

‘Don't worry,' Finlay said, jumping into a crouch and then standing up. ‘I'm almost there.' He ran along the last bit of wall and leapt down just out of Cerberus's reach.

Cerberus ran to the end of his chains, barking savagely.

‘Aw, poor little doggy,' Finlay teased it. ‘Now for the apples!' he called to Max. ‘The sooner I get back with them the better.'

‘But how are you going to get back
now the wall's fallen down?' Max pointed out, looking at the huge gap in the wall. It looked like a giant had taken a massive bite out of the top of it

– leaving behind a ragged gap easily four metres across. ‘You can't jump that, and if you climb down, Cerberus will eat you!'

Finlay looked and, for a moment, doubt flickered through his eyes. But then he lifted his chin. ‘I can try to jump it,' he called back bravely.

‘It's much too far!' Max exclaimed. His mind raced. ‘We'll have to distract Cerberus, so you can get past him or something…' Suddenly the thought that had been bugging Max exploded into his mind. ‘Of course!' he exclaimed. ‘I remember now. In the story about Cerberus, Orpheus had to get past him and to do it he put him to sleep by playing music. Why don't we –'

‘Later, Max,' Finlay interrupted impatiently. ‘I'm going to get those apples!'

‘But, Fin…' However, Finlay was already charging towards the shed at the back of the garden. Max hesitated for a moment and then turned and ran out of the walled garden, heading for the tennis courts.

Finlay ran to the workbench where the four golden apples were waiting. They glittered brightly. As he reached them he saw that each had a picture carved into its shining golden surface. The first apple had a picture of the wind blowing from a cloud, the second had a stream of water, the third had a flame and the fourth had a picture of a stone.

‘Air, water, fire and earth,' Finlay muttered, looking at the symbols on the apples. ‘And we have to choose one to leave. But which one?' He pulled the

paper with the riddle on out of his pocket, ripped it open and read it out loud:

‘
Air and water, fire and earth
Were present at the goddess birth.
Three must you choose but take good care;
Choose wrong and you'll face deep despair.
All four are strong, one stands alone,
Fire dries water, which wears out stone,
Which comes from earth, which smothers air.
The answer's in the grassy square.
If you choose wrongly, mark these words:
Two elements may break a third.
The water from the cherub's breath
Can split the stone and save from death.
Superhero, do you now dare
Choose water, fire, earth or air?
'

Finlay felt a wave of confusion. What did it mean? He could see that there was one apple for air, one for earth, one for water and one for fire. He had to leave one apple and take the other three. But how did he know which was the wrong apple?

Choose wrong and you'll face deep despair…

He didn't like the sound of that at all!

He read through the riddle again. All the stuff about water, fire, earth and air. What was it going on about?

‘Come on,' he muttered in frustration to himself. ‘You can work this out!' But though he read it through several more times, it was no use. He couldn't find any answers in the riddle at all.

I need Max
, he thought.
He's good at this sort of stuff!

He hurried to the door of the shed.

‘Max!' he shouted.

The three-headed monster lunged at him, long ribbons of drool dripping

from its teeth. Finlay jumped out of its way.