8 Creeping

CHAPTER EIGHT Creeping Willow was in a major grump. She was sitting on Ted's bed with a blanket over her head. 'Oh, come on, Willow,' said Ted. 'Cheer up. We can still be monster hunters! We're just… not allowed to go out and hunt any monsters.' 'HMPH,' said Willow, yanking off the blanket. 'This place is full of scaredy cats and wusses. Like you!' 'I just don't want to get eaten.' Ted shrugged. 'Is that so wrong?' She had bought the copy of Professor Cuthbert's with her. It was full of drawings, top facts and general chit-chat about all sorts of peculiar beasts. Check it out:

The Jackalope The Jackalope looks like a massive rabbit with deer horns stapled to its head. One must never startle a Jackalope while it is in the middle of doing a wordsearch as they get very bad-tempered about it. The Hootie Hamnah The only safe way to approach a Hootie Hamnah is by wriggling on your belly and balancing a tray of egg-and-cress sandwiches on your head. They have exceptionally ticklish nostrils. Do not, we repeat, DO NOT speak Flemish anywhere near one.

The Talking Potato At first glance, The Talking Potato just looks like your friendly everyday spud. The kind of potato you would eat with butter and baked beans. But if the potato starts talking, you know you are dealing with a Talking Potato, which is a very different thing. Mainly because it has a face and can shout at you. The Emily Davies Emily Davies is a unicorn who smells of flowers and eats rainbow cakes. She is the loveliest monster evaaaaah. In fact, I am going to ask for her hoof in marriage. 'This book is amazing!' said Ted.

'I'm gunna read every single page and become a MONSTER EXPERT,' Willow announced. A smelly sock hit her in the face. 'Will you two keep it down?' moaned Nancy. 'I'm trying to have a nap.' 'Sorry, Nance,' said Ted softly. Nancy turned over to face the wall of the fox den. She shut her eyes. And then she heard the dream voice again. 'Look after him, my brave little one.' Nancy's eyes pinged open. Whose voice was that and why was it in her head? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. This time, she heard the sloshing of water… and the squawking of distant birds. Seagulls? She couldn't be sure. She opened her eyes again, and the noises stopped. What was happening to her? She looked over at Ted and Willow, who were quietly reading Professor Cuthbert's under the covers with a torch. She fiddled about with her pillow and shut her eyes again. This time, she heard music. A flute or something… playing the same melody, over and over again. How could the tune sound happy and sad at the same time? When she opened her eyes, she could still hear it. But she knew it was just in her head. 'Nance,' said Ted's soft voice. He had quietly slunk over to her while she had her eyes shut. 'What's up? Those dreams again?' Nancy nodded. 'Now I don't even need to be properly asleep. It's like a sound playing over and over again, and the more I listen, the

more real it seems. It's weird.' Ted waved his notebook and pencil at her. 'Tell me, quick,' he said. 'The main thing now is this tune I'm hearing,' said Nancy. 'Hum it!' said Ted. Nancy wasn't very musical. But she took a deep breath and tried to hum. 'BAHAHAHAAHA!' said Willow. 'Are you singing?' 'No!' snapped Nancy, feeling like a wally. 'Shut up, bunny.' 'Not helpful, Willow!' said Ted. Nancy lay down and put her pillow over her head. 'Just forget it,' she grunted. 'I don't wanna talk about it any more.' I used to have the same dream over and over again. Or at least I think I did. Maybe I was just trapped in a washing machine. It was the middle of the night. Grimwood was quiet. 'Will the monster outside eat us up, Mumsie?' asked little Flopsy the rabbit. 'Not if we stay down here, my little nugget,' said Flopsy's mumsie.

Unlike Flopsy, or Flopsy's mumsie, Pamela was not worried. She had her night-vision goggles on and was jabbering into a broken mobile phone. 'AGENT PAMELA REPORTING FOR DUTY!' she squawked. 'I have been watching my hidden cameras for six hours,' she hissed. 'As yet, I have seen no freaky monsters.' She scanned the ground, looking for activity. 'No wiggly wormies… no little birdies… not even any tiny little ants wearing tiny little ant shoes,' she said sadly. Pamela sighed. Then suddenly, she noticed a shadow moving on one of her many screens. 'We have a sighting!' she shrieked. 'Camera five!' The camera was being jiggled about by something, all right. Pamela fiddled with some buttons and levers to make the picture clearer. Was she about to see the actual MONSTER?? The black shadow was lurching through the undergrowth. It seemed to have a pointy head. And a pointy beak. And it was holding a kazoo.