The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,31

done here,” William said. He was looking at the chimpanzees again. They were chatting away to each other, and pointing their lanky arms in their direction. “They'll come over in a minute. The other chimpanzee will want to see if he can throw you further. It's a little competition they have going.”

The three of them ran to the cart, now laden with pooh and started pushing it to the gate. As soon as the chimpanzees saw them leaving, they bellowed their chests and took to the air.

“Faster,” William grunted, his biceps bulging.

Ben didn't need encouraging. Between the three of them, the cart almost flew across the paddock. They crossed the gate and made it out just in time. Ben, Charlie and even Will lay on their backs, panting.

“Is it always like that?” Ben asked, eventually finding his breath and sitting up.

“It's not normally that exciting,” William admitted, getting to his feet. “I'll give you guys a well-earned ten-minute break. Then come and find me and we'll tackle the next animal.”

“You want us to do that again?” Charlie asked incredulously.

“The next one will be easier, I promise.” He gave them a salute and started walking. “Enjoy your rest.”

— Chapter Twelve —

Prince Robert

“I'm thinking of quitting,” Charlie said.

“Oh, shut up.”

There was no comfortable place to rest, as getting away from the screeches and roars was impossible, but they found a little spot next to the glass gable and sat down on the grass.

Charlie's clothes reflected his mood. They had been stretched and even ripped in places thanks to the chimpanzees, but he did brighten a little when Natalie appeared, waving at them.

“Oh my, Charlie, you look terrible!” Natalie said, wrinkling her nose. “What happened?”

“I had an incident with a chimpanzee,” Charlie said.

Natalie couldn't help laughing after hearing the story. “You're not the first, I promise,” she said. “And you've got a great story to tell people.”

“So I've been told,” Charlie muttered, but Ben saw that Natalie's amusement was melting Charlie's foul mood.

“What are you up to? Not shovelling pooh, well, I hope,” Ben said.

“No, that job is just for Ones. Twos are responsible for feeding the beasts, which is sometimes fun and easy, and other times makes Charlie's chimpanzee ride look pleasant. Today we got to feed some baby schvolts, which was really nice.”

Ben was about to ask what a schvolt was when he heard a whistling noise and saw something flying right at him. A flash of brown. He ducked instinctively.

The pooh missile skimmed his hair and splattered right into Charlie's already filthy chest.

Coming towards them was Joshua, surrounded by the same five apprentices he saw at the lunch room. Joshua threw his head back and laughed, his white teeth gleaming in the sun. Unlike nearly everyone else, Joshua was still wearing fine clothes and they looked untouched.

Joshua cupped his hands round his mouth. “You shouldn't have ducked,” he said; his voice had a nasal tint to it and only just carried over the animals’ noise. “You let your little friend take the hit.”

Ben saw a spellshooter in Joshua's hand – none of the others had one. He pointed at another piece of pooh on the floor and fired. The pooh elevated and formed into a round ball, the size of a tennis ball. Ben watched it closely.

“Now, be a man and don't let your friend take this one for you,” Joshua said. He flicked his spellshooter and the ball of pooh came hurtling towards them. Ben dived to his left. A fraction of the ball of pooh caught his arm, leaving a small mark, but the rest whistled harmlessly by.

Joshua's smile was momentarily wiped from his face and replaced by a flash of anger. “Would you stop moving?” He brought his spellshooter forwards, searching for another piece of pooh to hurl. There now was only a few feet between them. Ben marched right up to Joshua, so they were almost nose to nose. Joshua had a good few inches on him, but Ben's steely gaze and complete lack of intimidation seemed to unsettle Joshua.

“What's your problem?” Ben asked, just about keeping a rein on his temper.

Joshua, despite being taller, took a small step backwards. He shrugged and smiled. His friends smiled too. “Relax, Ben. We're just having a bit of fun. It's normal to mess around with the new apprentices.”

“Really? Well, if you mess around with us again, I'm going to take one of the many piles of pooh lying around, and shove it down your throat. Got it?”

Joshua raised