Faris and Jack Read online

  Chapter 17 – Another Spriggan Problem

  “What can you see?” Jack hissed into Faris’s ear as he peered out between the small branches of the trees they were hiding behind.

  “Not much…” Faris admitted. It was too dark to see exactly what was going on at the other side of the field.

  “Well, I see two people hiding in bushes, who could be home right now if they had worked out where they were.” A small voice said from behind Jack.

  “HOLLY!” Jack and Faris exclaimed in unison as they turned to see the small faerie hovering in the air behind Jack’s head.

  “What’re you doing here? Everything’s OK isn’t it?” Jack demanded.

  “Yes, yes. Everything went fine with our side of things. The others are back at The Caves now.” Holly said as she flew towards Faris to look out at the field. “Nice work with the sheep,” she whispered so Jack wouldn’t hear her. Faris grinned back at her. He was definitely enjoying his new skills.

  “So how did you get into this mess?” Holly said turning away from the field. “I saw Mooncoin as I was flying over and she said you were right behind them – the next thing I see is five hundred Spriggans chasing you two across the fields!”

  “FIVE HUNDRED?!” Jack cried, looking at Faris. “You told me there was about fifty!!”

  Faris shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t count, I never went to school did I? At least I knew there was more than ten of them.”

  “More than ten of them…” Jack imitated him shaking his head. “I can’t believe there’s that many.”

  “Well, we should get out of here anyway,” Holly said. “Those sheep won’t be able to hold them back forever. And there’s a cave entrance just over the other side of those trees.” She pointed behind them.

  “Of course!” Jack said looking around as though he hadn’t recognised where he was until then. “We’re just at the edge of the east service tunnel!”

  Holly nodded her head and started to fly off through the trees and Faris followed her.

  “Are you coming or what Jack?” Faris said turning his head when he didn’t hear Jack following them. Then he saw why Jack wasn’t following. “Oh no…”

  “Oh no indeed my little chum,” said a giant-sized Spriggan, that was holding a knife to Jack’s throat.

  The Spriggan was huge – bigger than Jack even! It had huge bulging eyes and its green skin was stretched tight over its enormous body. Faris was petrified, but he knew he must help Jack. How had that Spriggan got so big? He wondered as he stared at them. Then he remembered what Jack had said about Spriggans back in The Caves. “Spriggans can inflate themselves into images of things much bigger than they actually are.”

  The Spriggan isn’t really that big! It’s just a trick.

  “Move away from him little Spriggan or I’ll squash you!” Faris shouted, raising his fist in the air and stepping towards them. He couldn’t see any other Spriggans nearby; this must have been one of the only ones that got through the sheep blockade.

  “Squash me? Squash me?!” The Spriggan yelled back, trying to make his voice sound deeper. “I’m a giant – you can’t squash me!”

  “Yes I can! You’re not really a giant – you’re just a blown up midget!”

  The giant Spriggan glared at Faris for a second and then shrank back to his normal size and re-appeared swinging from Jack’s glossy black mane. He still held the long silver dagger in his hand and pointed it at Jack’s neck.

  “Seems you know a bit about us then, don’t it boy.” The Spriggan hissed. Faris didn’t know it, but this was the Spriggan clan leader himself. “Well, it look’s like I’ve lost me four little ‘orses, but found one better than ‘em all. Feel lots of power comin’ off this one I can.” The Spriggan clan leader grinned as he swung back and forth on Jack’s mane, the knife drifting closer to his throat with each swing.

  “You’d better not – ” Faris threatened.

  “Better not wot? Wot you goin’ to do on yer own, little boy?” The Spriggan replied, his lip curling up in a sneer. “This nag’s gonna do well enough for what He wants ‘em for anyways. Think’s he might be something very special I do.”

  “You little...!” Faris snarled as he took another step towards them.

  “Faris don’t!” Jack murmured, his voice stopping Faris in his tracks.

  “ ‘Ere! Wot’s he saying to you?” The Spriggan growled at Faris, his eyes narrowing. “Can you understand ‘orses or somethink?”

  Faris realised that if the Spriggan couldn’t understand Jack but could understand him, then Faris’s own powers must work automatically when he spoke to different creatures. That would explain why Jack couldn’t understand what he’d said to the sheep, even though Faris thought he’d been speaking normally.

  “Jack. Don’t worry, stay where you are I’m going to try something.” Faris said quietly.

  “Hey! Wot you saying? You sounds like you’re speaking horse-ish or somethink!” The Spriggan yelled, looking wildly from Faris to Jack and back again.

  “Holly. I can’t see you, are you still here?” Faris muttered under his breath. He was answered by a quiet yes from behind a tree, that only he heard.

  “ ‘Oo you talkin’ to now?” The Spriggan was glancing nervously all around him now.

  “Holly, if you can knock him off Jack’s mane then I can do the rest.” Faris whispered. This time a quiet popping sound answered him and Faris knew Holly must have just transformed, although he had no idea what she had changed into.

  “What do I get to do?” Jack muttered to Faris through clenched teeth.

  “Stand. Very. Still.” Faris told him.

  “Stoppit you!” The Spriggan growled at Faris again. “Tell me oo you’s talking to or I’ll kill ‘im!” He shook the knife threateningly close to Jack’s throat.

  “NOW!” Faris shouted as he leaped forwards.

  “What you yellin’ ‘bout – ?” The Spriggan was cut off mid-sentence as he was picked up from Jack’s mane and thrown into the air by a huge brown owl as it swooped into the clearing.

  The Spriggan clan leader bounced across the grassy ground and stopped when he his small body hit a tree. He dropped the knife as he tried to pull himself to his feet, shaking his head dizzily.

  “What were that – ?” He managed to mumble before the owl flew into him again and bowled him across the ground into another tree.

  “Wha – I – ow – ?!” The Spriggan stumbled around, trying to pick up the dagger again.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Faris put his foot over the blade and picked up the dizzy Spriggan by the scruff of his neck.

  “Eh! Put me down!!” The Spriggan yelled as he struggled. “I’ll bite yer nose off!” He shouted, gnashing his teeth in Faris’s face.

  “Yeah right, whatever you say small fry.” Faris replied.

  “I’ll bite yer ankles!!” The Spriggan kicked his little legs pointlessly in the air. “I’ll nibble yer knee caps, horse boy!!”

  “Fine, sure whatever you think,” Faris was pretty much ignoring the ugly creature. “I know just what you deserve…” He said to himself as he walked across the clearing to a small branch on a tree that looked like a coat hook.

  “Wait a second – what ‘oo doin’ wiv me? Where’r you takin’ me? Put me down!!” The Spriggan screeched, pulling his whole body from side to side, trying to wrench himself from the vice-like grip Faris held him with.

  “There you go…” Faris said as he lifted the back of the Spriggan’s scruffy trousers onto the hook-shaped branch. “In our world we call this a wedgie. I think you might enjoy its finer points.” Faris grinned, then let the full weight of the creature fall onto the seams in his trousers.

  “OWWWWWWEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” The Spriggan screamed as he was well and truly wedgied by his own trousers. The more he kicked his legs, the more painful the wedgie became.

  “Ouch!” Said Jack screwing up his face. “That’s got to hurt.”

  The br
own owl flying overhead hooted in agreement.

  “Come on – let’s get out of here.” Faris replied, picking up the dagger the Spriggan had dropped in the dirt. “Don’t know how many of the others will break through and I don’t want to wait around to find out. Especially since I can’t count to more than ten!”

  “Come on then, horse boy,” Jack grinned. “It’s this way.”

  Faris and Jack ran from the clearing, heading towards the safety of The Caves. Holly, as the brown owl, flew high above them and they left the screams of the wedgied Spriggan to fill the night air.