4 The crow who fell to Earth

CHAPTER FOUR The crow who fell to Earth It was the middle of the night, and the sky above Grimwood was inky black, splattered with bright white stars. All was quiet. Ted was sitting outside, snuggled under a blanket. Next to him lay his notebook, a pencil, a flask of hot tea and a load of old toilet rolls stuck together with sticky tape. He picked up the long, wobbly tube and looked up at the sky with it.

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'Oi,' barked Nancy. 'What you doing with those old bog rolls?' 'It's my new telescope,' said Ted proudly. 'I'm stargazing.' Nancy frowned up at the sky. She was still unsure about stars. In the Big City you didn't see them much, what with all the smoke and smog. She worried that they might fall down from the sky and land on her head– but she kept that to herself. Nancy liked to look hard and tough at all times, and definitely not like someone who was a bit scared of stars. 'Oooh, look!' squeaked Ted, pointing a paw at the sky. 'There's the Big Dipper… there's… the chicken nugget… and there's… the wonky paperclip.' 'Let me have a go on that thing then,' said Nancy, nodding at Ted's bog-roll telescope. Ted handed it over. As Nancy peered through it she fell silent. The stars were kind of beautiful, she had to admit. 'No matter who you are or where you live, we all look at the same stars,' said Ted dreamily. 'I like thinking about that.' But Nancy didn't reply, as she was distracted by a particularly shiny star. It was so bright it seemed to be flashing. It also seemed to be moving. 'Ted,' she said. 'Look up at that one.' Ted squinted. 'WOAH!' he cried out. 'A shooting star!' 'And it's shooting this way,' said Nancy, her fur standing on end.

The mysterious ball of light did seem to be whizzing closer and closer, and getting faster and faster. In fact… it was going to crash right into Grimwood! Holy moley! 'AAAARGH!' yelped Ted. Without thinking, Nancy wrapped her tail around her little brother and bundled him to the ground. There was an enormous BANG. The sky flashed bright white for a moment, then went dark. After a few seconds of silence, Nancy leapt to her feet. Then there was a noise. It sounded like muffled shouting. 'Over there,' she growled. 'Come on.' She lifted Ted by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along as she ran towards the noise. 'B-b-but, Nance,' whimpered Ted, who was sliiiiiightly less brave than his big sis. 'We don't know who that is. Or WHAT it is! What if it's something unfriendly?' Nancy didn't stop to answer. They darted through the forest, leaping over the fallen trees and thickets of undergrowth. They heard the noise again, louder this time. '…ooga!'

'…OOOOOOOGA!!!' The foxes peered into the near darkness. 'Hello?' shouted Nancy. '…AWOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Ted and Nancy gasped. They would recognize that awooga anywhere. 'It's Sharon the Party Crow!' they chanted and, on hearing her name, Sharon managed to feebly wave a neon glowstick in the air. The foxes knew Sharon the Party Crow from the Big City. She was a party LEGEND and could start a shindig anytime, anywhere. Once, she'd held a rave by the Speedy Chicken bins that went on for so long a pigeon grew a beard. She could let off a dozen party poppers with her beak in one go.*

Another time she started a conga line that was so long it ended up in Antarctica. Nobody could party harder than Sharon. However, now she seemed to be stuck upside down in the branches of a beech tree. *Health and safety guru Eric D here! Please do not do this as you will probably die.