11 Awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga!

CHAPTER ELEVEN Awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga! Despite being in a massive grump with each other, Ted and Willow were starting to get the hang of the Jig of the Party Crow. Which was more than could be said for the rest of Anoushka's dance class, who were absolutely useless. 'Let's, like, practise that final move again,' said Anoushka Wispy, who was examining her nails and feeling fantastically bored with the whole 'dancing' thing. 'So, like, you've all got to join paws and hop on one leg for four and then the other leg for four, then wiggle your bottoms, one-two-three, then look up to the sky and cry AWOOGA! Make sense? OK, from the top…' Everyone formed a circle and joined paws, but when the hopping started it all went wrong. 'Nobody's wiggling their bottoms in time!' said Ted, forgetting to sound deep and moody. 'It's so annoying. Come on, guys!' 'Who died and made you the teacher?' snapped Willow. 'At least I'm paying attention!' said Ted.

'Whatever,' said Willow, angrily shaking her bottom. 'AWOOGA!' At the end of the class, Anoushka gestured for them to come closer to her. 'Like, guys. Is there a problem?' 'No, Anoushka,' mumbled Ted. 'No, Anoushka,' said Willow, frowning. 'It's fine.' 'OK, great. Maybe for the next session you guys could, like, get into more of a happy brain space? OK cool,' said Anoushka, clicking her paws so that Tamara could bring her another cup of organic dingleberry tea. Ted stormed off in a huff, and Willow followed him. 'Oi! Where are you going?' said Willow. Ted turned around and shrugged, pretending to be tough and cool again. 'I'll probably go and hang with Rufus and Nance down at the boat,' he said. Willow screwed her face up and grizzled. 'Oh well, good for you,' she hissed. 'How very cosy.' 'Stop being jealous!' said Ted. 'It's getting boring. It's not my fault my brother and sister are GREAT.' 'Oh, whatever!' said Willow. 'You're the boring one. You've become even moooore boring, if that was even possible. Boring boring boring!' And she stuck her tongue out at Ted and blew a raspberry. 'You're rude and stupid!' shouted Ted. 'And you're a dull old dunderhead!' screamed Willow. 'I don't wanna be your friend any more!' shouted Ted. Willow was startled for a moment. Then she looked furious.

'Well, I don't wanna be your friend any more either,' she said. 'Goodbye!' 'Fine! So… what will you do then?' asked Ted, pretending not to be bothered. Willow had no plans whatsoever. She had to think fast. 'I'll probably hang out here with the guys,' she said, waving her paw towards a couple of random moles she'd never seen before. Then she spotted Anoushka sitting delicately on her beanbag. 'Ah! Actually, I'm gonna to hang out with Anoushka. Or Noushki, as I call her. Yeah, that's right.' 'Really?' yelped Ted. 'Since when were you two friends?' 'Since always, actually,' said Willow, putting her paws on her hips. 'Prove it,' said Ted, his eyes narrowing. 'Fine!' snapped Willow. 'I WILL.' She lolloped over to where Anoushka was sitting. 'Erm, hi Anoushka,' she mumbled. Anoushka opened her eyes and looked Willow up and down. 'Hey, bunny. Great job today! Can I help you?' 'Yeah, it's a bit of a weird one actually,' said Willow, desperately hoping Ted couldn't hear her. 'It's just, I was wondering… um. Do you want to be friends?' Anoushka looked confused. 'Me? Friends? With you?' she said. Willow nodded eagerly. Anoushka took a sip of tea and examined Willow. 'Tell me,' asked Anoushka. 'Are you, like, one of my fans? Like, are you what they call a Wisper?'

Willow took a deep breath. She may as well tell her the truth. 'Nope,' she said. 'I'm not a fan. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I really dislike your music. It's dull and boring, you can't dance to it and I can't even hear what you're singing because you use this funny whispery voice which makes it sound like you're crying in the shower and—' Anoushka held up her paw. 'Woah, woah, OK. I get the picture.' Then… Anoushka smiled. And this was a real smile. A proper grin, one that Willow had never seen on Anoushka's face before. 'Sure,' said Anoushka, after a while. 'I'll be your friend. Why not?' Willow punched the air. Ted saw the air-punch and frowned. 'Wow. Willow really is friends with Anoushka. That's so weird. She's not even a fan!' And he felt a pang of jealousy in his tummy. He adjusted his sunglasses and stomped back to the boat. Wiggy was exhausted. The Jeep puttered up the hill for what must have been the thirtieth journey that day, delivering more sticks. There was now a pretty big pile of them, so high they almost reached Wiggy's head. Frank, meanwhile, had flown up to Pamela and Sharon's nest at the top of the tower. It was nestled high up between the thick steel bars and buzzing black cables and wasn't a normal bird's nest by any stretch. It looked

more like a junk shop full of old broken televisions, computers and electronics. He looked down at the scrappy pile of wood Sharon and Wiggy had collected and bobbed his head, owlishly. 'What tomfoolery is this crow up to?' he said to himself. Just then, one of the many speakers lying around crackled into life. 'SQUUAAAWK! COME IN, COME IN? DO YOU READ ME? OVER.' Frank was startled. He glared at the black box that was screaming at him and tentatively pressed a button with one of his talons. 'Erm… hello?' he said. 'SQUUAAAWK! DO YOU READ ME? OVER.' 'Erm… yes. Over,' said Frank. 'Pamela? Is that you?' 'SQUUAAAAAWK. YES. THE CROW. WHERE IS THE CROW?' 'She's collecting sticks! Pamela, where are you? I really think Sharon needs you back now.'

'TELL HER SHE NEEDS MORE STICKS!' bellowed Pamela through the speaker. 'MORE! MORE! MO—' And then the speaker went dead. Frank swooped down and perched on Wiggy's Jeep. 'Guys,' he said. 'Stop doing stick things for a moment, would you?' Sharon looked up at Frank, and Wiggy flopped on his back. 'Oh yes… thank goodness… so tired,' he panted. 'I just heard Pamela on the walkie-talkie,' said Frank. Sharon's eyes shone. 'She heard me!' she said. 'Is she coming back?' Frank shrugged. 'I think so. It was hard to tell. She did say something about needing more sticks though…' Sharon sighed and looked at the pile. 'We are not going to have enough sticks,' she said quietly. 'We need so many more. Also, rope and cloth. It will not be done. It cannot be done!' She flopped down to the ground and wailed. 'I cannot build it! My mojo will never return! The party is over!' Frank frowned and looked at Wiggy. 'Do you know what it is she's actually building?' he whispered. 'No idea!' hissed Wiggy. 'But it seems very important. She keeps on muttering about a Raving Raven. And a dance. It's all a bit beyond me to be honest.' Frank nodded. His steely heart broke seeing Sharon look so glum.