The Scavyngers by E A Quinn

Author:E A Quinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2017-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

MAYHEM AT THE TEASHOP

The following morning, Fidelis awoke to the sound of gnawing coming from downstairs. Luther was already awake, sitting up in bed, frowning, with his ear cocked towards the kitchen. They both looked at each other, bleary-eyed.

“What are they doing down there?” Fidelis mumbled, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake up.

“I dread to think,” said Luther, getting out of bed.

Luther crept past the Chinese blind, past Rizzi’s bed, being very careful not to stand on the creaky floorboard, and headed for the stairs. Fidelis followed, still half asleep, crunched onto the creaky floorboard and woke his mother.

“Fid? Where you goin’? What time’s it? Still dark outside,” she slurred, raising her head, her hair flattened to one side, her face squashed, with the imprint from the patterned pillowcase on her cheek. She scanned the room briefly before her head crashed back onto the pillow and she once again fell into a deep slumber.

Now, Fidelis was awake!

He followed Luther downstairs. The wonky wheelbarrow den was empty. The gnawing sound was coming from underneath the red-and-white tablecloth that covered the ToadStool. Fidelis and Luther advanced slowly, a feeling of dread washing over them. Together, they bent down and there, underneath the tablecloth, were the Badgers, gnawing away at the base of the ToadStool.

“Nooo!” shouted Fidelis as he picked them up and carried them towards the middle of the floor. “You can’t eat that! Oh kripes, Mum’s going to go mad!”

Luther was inspecting the damage.

“I don’t suppose there was any of Mum’s cheesy winter warmer left, was there?” he said, shaking his head, looking towards the Badgers. “That would patch up the hole nicely.”

“’Fraid not,” said Fidelis. “Mum scraped the bottom of the saucepan last night. How bad’s the damage?”

“Pretty bad,” replied Luther. “I’ve got some spare Wizard Warrior comic books under my bed. We can use those to prop up the base until Mum makes another pot of mush – or the Odds and Scraps man might be able to help.”

Luther pulled the checked tablecloth down, covering the damage to the ToadStool, just as Rizzi appeared at the top of the stairs.

“What’s going on?” she asked, frowning. “I’ve never heard such a commotion so early on a Saturday morning.”

“Nothing,” chorused Fidelis and Luther, perhaps just a little too brightly.

“Nothing means something in this house,” she said, slithering down the stairs in her oversized dressing gown and ill-fitting slippers. “Okay, what have they done? Yes, the Badgers! That’s right! They’ve done something, I can tell. Come on, one of you had better tell me before I get really angry and take them back to the Fortress!”

Fidelis and Luther looked at each other, wide-eyed.

“Really, Mum. It’s nothing,” said Fidelis, just as Daisy’s father’s car pulled up at Tuppet’s Turnstile.

Rizzi dragged the front door open.

“Who is that?” she asked, still frowning.

“Ah, that should be Daisy,” said Luther. “We asked her to come for the day. Her parents won’t allow her to have the Badgers so I said that she should come to us.

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