through bared fangs. There was a low growling whine coming from his mouth.
In short Nelson, a large cat, was upset and with his formidable arsenal of weapons he looked a terrifying, spiky, fierce ginger beast.
The Atticans paused in their advance. Nelson spat and yowled loudly. They backed off. Nelson advanced, his eyes slits, his claws scratching the boards as he slunk towards the intruders, alternately growling and giving off low menacing yowls, as if to say, Don’t make me come and get you.
They turned and retreated quickly.
‘See, they were even scared of a little cat,’ cried Jordy. ‘Just think how frightened they would be of me.’
‘More likely they’ve never seen a cat before,’ Chloe remarked, coming closer to the truth. ‘I think they looked quite formidable – I think we’re lucky, Jordy, that they were wary of Nelson.’
‘He’s better than a wolfhound,’ Alex said, stroking his pet. ‘Come on, I think we’d better go, in case there’s more of them somewhere around.’
They packed up quickly and were soon on the march.
They came across a huge bowl-shaped valley where the boards had sunk. Jordy gave a whoop of delight, threw down his skateboard, jumped on and went whizzing down into the bowl, then up the other side. He enjoyed this so much he did it several more times. Chloe then had a go and managed to stay on. Alex watched his brother and sister, then finally he too tried the run and was also successful in staying upright. It was exhilarating, this exercise, and their shouts and yells of excitement brought watchers.
It seemed there was an Attican village nearby and the inhabitants, having heard the cries, came to the edge of the bowl to see what was going on. They were amazed to see blurred ghosts with humped backs shooting down into the bowl and then up again, only to fly around the edge. One of the ghosts kept leaping and somersaulting, always landing neatly on its feet. In the eyes of the Atticans, who had never seen anyone or anything go more than ten miles an hour, this was the ultimate in speed and made them feel quite sick. It was something outside their experience and their brains couldn’t cope.
‘Come and join us!’ yelled Jordy, calling to the attic people. ‘I’ll teach you how to do it.’
One of the Atticans watching their skateboarding was suddenly overcome by giddiness and fell forward to slide down into the bowl. His friends and relations let out a unified cry of dismay. When the terrified villager, his bald head sweating, tried to climb out of the bowl he kept slipping back in again. His movements became frantic, until finally Jordy felt he ought to help him. Jordy went sweeping down from the far side, grabbed the hapless villager, and lifted him up to carry him to the lip of the bowl. Friends and relatives reached out and grasped him. Jordy let go and swept down again, to swoop up the far side of the bowl.
The villager let out a cry of relief at finding himself safe.
White plaster dust rose when his kin punched him hard on the back and shoulders. This was a way of showing both affection and their own relief that he was not hurt and had escaped. The villager, grateful for so many punches, hit back at his beloved. For a while the clouds of white dust flew from the jackets and coats of the Atticans, then it all settled down again and they turned to stare once more at the ghosts. There was some discussion about how unorthodox it all was: they had never before had ghosts who zoomed back and forth too swiftly to follow. Then they congratulated the giddy villager for surviving in the hands of such creatures, and finally, as the sun began to set, they wended their weary way home, back to their wardrobes and washing baskets, to ponder on the vagaries of the unnatural world.
The following morning Jordy, Chloe and Alex came to an enormous water tank: a tank so large there were ladders up the sides to reach the lip. And when you climbed those ladders and looked out over the surface of the water, you could not see to the other side. All you could see was miles and miles of gentle waves, which eventually disappeared into a shimmering haze. On those wavelets, in the far distance, objects were floating. The Atticans, it seemed, were seafarers as well as land creatures.