14 The flying of the fur

CHAPTER FOURTEEN The flying of the fur It was at times like this that Nancy really wished she still had a mobile phone. 'Stupid eagle,' she muttered to herself, remembering how Pamela had stolen it. 'Listen, everyone,' she said. 'I think I know where we are. And if we can get out of this room, we can get out of Twinklenuts.' Everyone said, 'OOOOOOOH.' 'Are you sure?' asked Crusty McTavish. Nancy nodded. 'Trust me,' she said. 'But I'm gonna need your help.' Monty, Jeremy, Jeremy and Jeremy stood to attention. 'Nancy, as you know, we have behaved like total and utter rotters,' said Monty. 'Especially to Wiggy. Any pal of his is a pal of ours. How can we help?' Nancy snarled. 'Yeah, you've been horrible to him. But you can tell him that yourselves once we get to Grimwood. Now, get me up to that hatch on the ceiling.'

Everyone looked up at the hatch. She pointed at the badgers. 'You lot. Get on each other's shoulders.' The badgers gingerly climbed on top of each other, creating a wobbly badger tower. Everyone gasped as Nancy bravely clawed her way up them, occasionally squishing a snout or elbowing a tummy.

'N… n… now what?' shouted up Monty, who was standing at the very bottom, huffing and puffing under the weight of his three brothers and Nancy. 'Now… we wait,' said Nancy. 'Oh cripes,' said Monty. The badgers swayed from side to side. 'Keep still down there!' barked Nancy. 'Yes, Mummy,' whimpered Monty. They waited. And waited. And waited. Then they heard a noise. The hatch was being opened. Quick as a flash, Nancy pounced. With one paw she grabbed the edge of the hatch door. It was being opened by a rat in uniform, who just about managed to say 'Oh!' before Nancy grabbed him so that he dangled from her paw. She glanced up at the room above her and took a sniff. Just as she thought. They were somewhere deep in the Twinklenuts library. The rat was twisting around in the air. 'Let me go!' it squeaked angrily. 'All right then,' said Nancy, and she dropped the rat onto the prison-cell floor with a thud. 'Come on,' she said to the prisoners. 'We can't wait here all day. Start climbing up and make it snappy.' The prisoners began to clamber up the ladder of badgers, before reaching Nancy at the very top. Crusty McTavish and

some of the older animals were carried up first. 'Holy mackerel!' said Crusty, blinking in the light. 'You did it, Nancy! What a brave and clever fox you are.' Soon there was a crowd of scruffy, smelly creatures huddled beside the hatch opening. Mo found a tatty old curtain in the library and tore it into strips. Then she tied the strips together into a long rope and hurled it down the hole. 'Here you go,' she shouted. And they hauled Monty, Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy and Nancy out of the secret room. 'What about me?' squeaked the rat. 'I'm really sorry! I promise I was only following orders!' Nancy just harrumphed and shut the hatch door. 'If anyone sees us walking out of this library, we're done for,' said Mo. Nancy shook her head. 'There's a secret escape route and it'll take us all the way to Grimwood. Where's the main library room? You know, the one with all the chairs and tables and that?' Crusty McTavish scratched at his ear. 'I think it's down there,' he said. The animals shuffled down the corridor. Nancy noticed a closed door that said 'Map Room'. 'Hmm,' she said to herself. 'Hang on a minute, guys,' she called. 'I want to quickly look in here.' She jiggled the doorknob, but it came off in her paw. 'No probs, Nance!' boomed Monty. 'Stand back, would you?' And he ran straight into the door, bashing it open with his big badger head.

By the time Pamela flew back to the treebonk stadium, Frank had managed to revive most of the Grimwood team. 'Buck up!' he shouted. 'We can still win. You just have to BELIEVE! Do you believe?' 'YEAH!' shouted back the squirrels. 'We can still do the Whirligig without Nancy, OK? Let's play the best treebonk we've ever played,' said Frank. 'Do it for Titus! Do it for our home! But most of all… do it for yourselves.' Titus honked into a handkerchief. 'I'm so glad Frank has been coming over for regular movie nights,' he sniffled. 'He's so much better at giving speeches now.'

Ted ran over to his friends. 'Pamela said she couldn't see Nancy anywhere,' he said. 'I don't understand it. There's no WAY she'd miss this match.' 'I agree,' said Wiggy. 'She must be in trouble. Come on.' Wiggy stood up and put his arm around Ted. 'Let's start looking for her while the others watch the match. Might be easier while the forest is quiet.' 'I love you, Wiggy,' said Ted, burying his face into Wiggy's chest for a moment. Then they ran into the forest. The Grimwood team huddled together for a last-minute team talk, thumping their tails on the ground. 'Go-go-go GRIMWOOD!' hooted Sharon the Party Crow, and the crowd cheered. All of Bunnyville jumped up and down at once, which felt like a small earthquake. And a stoat called Beryl waved a giant foam paw in the air, like she just didn't care. The Twinklenuts team were finally outside too, their uniform shiny and perfect, their glossy fur rippling in the wind. Unlike Grimwood, they were completely still and silent. 'They mean business,' said Willow, slurping on a slushie the size of her head. The Twinklenuts cheerleaders– a group of white mice with pink noses and matching tutus– pranced onto the pitch and did an extremely complicated dance routine involving fire- breathing, juggling and roller-skating.