Skrimsli by Nicola Davies

Author:Nicola Davies
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Firefly Press Ltd
Published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

We will escape! Skrimsli said to himself. But how? As if in answer there was a sudden scraping and a small slot opened in the bottom of the door. Through it, a tray of meat and a bowl of water appeared. The meat was stale. The cow from which it came had been sad and sick and had died some time ago. But it would fill his belly. To escape, he would have to keep strong, and he would need to mend. His body ached from the beating he had received. For now, the answer to how to escape was simply eat and sleep and wait to see what happened. Skrimsli yawned and curled up on the driest bit of straw he could find.

Hours later, someone banged on the bars over the skylight above Skrimsli’s head. It was an angry sound, and he could guess who made it: Itmis. Skrimsli decided he would take his time waking up. Very slowly he stretched; very slowly he opened his eyes and looked up. The sky was sunset bright and silhouetted against it was Itmis. The man’s eyes were red and wet, and he smelled even more of something sick. It made Skrimsli want to cover his nose with a paw.

‘You are back where you belong! In my control!’ Itmis gloated. ‘Soon you will begin your repayment for all you have taken from me, you evil monster.’

Skrimsli didn’t understand the words very well, but he understood the feeling behind them, the hate and badness. A prickle of fear danced along his spine.

‘You will see a door in the lower part of your cage, Stripy. When it opens, you must go through it. At the end of a tunnel, you will fight whatever you find there. If you do not, the Freak boy will be the worse for it.’

Skrimsli turned away. He didn’t even want to look at Itmis but he reached out with his mind, testing for a route to the inside of Itmis’ head. It was like reaching to touch a cold stone or a body, long dead. Skrimsli shivered and drew back. No, he would find another way to defeat this human.

‘You may not look at me, Stripy,’ Itmis shouted on, ‘but I know you understand. You will fight a gorilla and a red ape, and whoever else I choose. And you will make me a great deal of money.’

Itmis’ laughter was like a stink of dung trailing behind him as he walked away. Ugh! Why had he not killed the cub as well as the father? He was a prisoner again, forced to do tricks for humans. He paced the cell, growling to himself. Thinking.

He examined the information that Itmis had given him. He was required to fight to keep Owl safe. But would his opponents – ‘gorilla’, ‘red ape’ – whatever they were, fight back? And if they did, what would be the outcome? Kill? Be killed? Perhaps there were other outcomes, that would help them all survive and escape from Itmis’ power.

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