11 Tails of the city

CHAPTER ELEVEN Tails of the city Heyyyy, Dynamite fans! Now we're going to whoosh miles and miles away from Grimwood and head back to the Big City! You'd forgotten all about that place, hadn't you? Anyway, you find out what's going on while I head to the shops to stock up on biscuits and bananas. Byeeeee! rincess Buttons knew that she looked absolutely ridiculous without a tail. It was a very difficult thing to replace.

But, most of all, she hated looking WEAK. She knew that Ted biting off her tail was still the talk of the Speedy Chicken bins. 'Those foxes must be found,' she hissed at nobody in particular. 'And then they must be DESTROYED!' She banged the top of the green bin with her fist. 'O-kaaaaaaaaay,' said a rat called Kelvin, who really didn't want to get involved and backed away slowly. Just then, a member of her evil cat gang, Denise, trotted over looking very pleased with herself. 'I think I know how we can get to them, Miss Buttons,' she said. 'How?' said Princess Buttons, clutching Denise by the neck and shaking her back and forth. 'HOW?'

'Aarrrargh! All right, calm down. Um, well, those two other foxes. Their idiot friends. I know where they are,' said Denise, who now felt less keen on helping Princess Buttons, what with the whole being-grabbed-by-the-neck thing. Princess Buttons let go of Denise and held a torch under her face. She made her voice go deep and growly. 'Take me to the foxes– NOW!' 'What's the magic word?' said Denise, who believed basic manners were important. 'OR ELSE I WILL KILL YOU,' said Princess Buttons. Denise decided it was best just to get on with it. Bin and Hedge were lounging around in Ted and Nancy's old fox den in the park. 'I really miss her,' said Bin, chewing thoughtfully on a bit of stick. 'She was the first fox I ever met. In fact, she gave me my name.' 'No way!' said Hedge. 'She gave me my name too. Because she found me in a hedge.'

'No way!' said Bin. 'She found me in a bin.' The foxes high-fived each other. They had been avoiding the Speedy Chicken bins ever since that fateful night, when Ted bit Princess Buttons' tail off. 'Has she texted you yet?' said Hedge. 'Nah,' said Bin. 'But I'll message her as soon as we know if that crazy cat Buttons is still sniffing around.' There was a knock at the den, which was weird because it didn't really have a door. 'Pizza delivery!' shouted someone (can you guess who?). 'Come in!' said Hedge. The hedge opened– –and the foxes came face to face with…

PRINCESS BUTTONS! And her smelly and horrible evil cat gang were right behind her, looking ready to have a massive fight or say mean stuff or something. 'Hey… you're not a pizza,' shouted Bin. 'No, I'm not,' hissed Princess Buttons. 'I am a very angry cat whose tail was murdered by YOUR friends.' 'I would have preferred pizza,' said Bin. 'Where are they? Your nasty little fox pals?' said Princess Buttons. 'We don't know,' said Hedge. 'Look, you've got the stupid bins all to yourselves. Why don't you leave us alone?' Just then, Bin's phone pinged. 'Ooh, I wonder if it's Nancy!' said Bin. 'We've been waiting for them to get in touch, haven't we Hedge?' Hedge smacked herself on the forehead. Princess Buttons looked at the phone. Bin looked at the phone. Hedge looked at the phone. 'Attack!' yelled Princess Buttons.

In the kerfuffle, Princess Buttons managed to grab Bin's phone and squeeze her way out of the den. Denise was waiting outside with the getaway vehicle. 'This is gold– gold, I tell you!' shrieked Princess Buttons. 'Where are we going?' asked Denise, pushing the skateboard as fast as her paws could manage. 'We're going to visit the most dangerous mouse in the entire world,' said Princess Buttons. 'Fine,' said Denise, because what else was she going to say? Princess Buttons paid her wages after all, plus the school holidays were coming up and the kids needed shoes.