Hunger of the Yeti Read online

  For Layla and Cassie

  Contents

  Chapter One: The Mountain

  Chapter Two: The Rescue

  Chapter Three: The Cave

  Chapter Four: The Visitor

  Chapter Five: The Emporium

  Chapter Six: The Exit

  Chapter Seven: The Brothers

  Chapter Eight: The Boy

  Chapter Nine: The Wizard

  Chapter Ten: The Trap

  Chapter Eleven: The Way Home

  Previously on Scream Street…

  Mr and Mrs Watson were terrified when their son, Luke, first transformed into a werewolf. But that was nothing compared to their terror at being forcibly moved to Scream Street – and discovering there was no going back.

  Determined to take his parents home, Luke enlisted the help of his new friends, Resus Negative, a wannabe vampire, and Cleo Farr, an Egyptian mummy, to find six relics left behind by the community’s founding fathers. Only by collecting these magical artefacts would he be able to open a doorway back to his own world.

  Just as Luke and his friends finally succeeded in their quest, Mr and Mrs Watson realized how happy Luke had become in his new home and decided to stay on in Scream Street. But the newly opened doorway was becoming a problem – Sir Otto Sneer, Scream Street’s wicked landlord, was charging “normals” from Luke’s world to visit what he called “the world’s greatest freak show”.

  To protect Scream Street, Luke, Resus and Cleo must try to close the doorway by returning the relics to their original owners – and a zombie’s tongue is next on the list…

  Chapter One

  The Mountain

  The vampire’s cape whipped out behind him in the wind, flashes of the electric-blue lining standing out against the stark, grey mountainside. Gritting his fangs against the cold wind, he marched on, his shiny leather shoes sending a mini avalanche of rocks and pebbles cascading down the slope below. Then – and not for the first time that morning – a snowball exploded against the back of his head.

  “You know, that’s getting very boring, very quickly,” Resus Negative moaned to his giggling friends. “Plus, I’m cold enough without the extra snow down my neck, thank you very much!”

  “It’s your own fault that you’re cold,” grinned Luke Watson. “You’re not dressed for this kind of weather. I did offer to lend you my spare hiking boots…”

  Resus gestured to his crisp clean shirt and dress suit trousers. “You honestly think I’m going to wear boots with this?” he asked. “I’d look stupid!”

  “You look stupid now – and freezing,” replied Luke, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his heavy winter coat.

  “And you don’t know what you’re missing,” added Cleo Farr as she bounded past in the extra hiking boots. “This stuff is so comfortable!” The young mummy was wearing a woollen hat, a thick sweater and a pair of Luke’s mum’s jeans.

  Resus pulled his cloak around him and shivered. “There’s no need to rub it in,” he grumbled. “How was I supposed to know Tibet would be so cold?”

  “There must be something in your cape that could keep you warm without making you look like an idiot,” Cleo insisted. Resus plunged his hand into his cloak and produced a pair of knitted baby booties and a Santa hat.

  “Then again, maybe not…”

  “It can’t be far now,” said Luke, studying a crude map scribbled on the back of an envelope. “The old woman in the village said Vein’s cave was just up here.”

  “That’s another thing,” snapped Resus, putting the hat and booties away again. “What’s a zombie doing living at the top of a mountain? It’s not natural.”

  “The villagers say he’s their local soothsayer,” explained Cleo.

  “Sooth-what?”

  “Soothsayer,” repeated Luke. “Someone who can predict the future.”

  “Rubbish,” scoffed Resus.

  “It’s not rubbish,” Cleo retorted. “Back in Egypt, we had soothsayers who predicted everything from how well the next year’s crops would grow to who would be buried alongside the Pharaoh in his tomb.”

  “Sounds dodgy to me,” Resus said. “And even if Vein can see the future, how does he manage to tell people what’s going to happen to them – he’s got no tongue!”

  Luke smiled. He had to admit, Resus did have a point. Vein was one of Scream Street’s founding fathers, and he’d given the trio his tongue – a powerful relic – so that Luke could open a doorway out of the community and take his parents back to their own world. At the time, the zombie had been the lead singer of popular flesh-metal band Brain Drain. The latest news was that the band had split up and Vein had hidden himself away here in Tibet.

  “I’m sure he’ll explain everything after we return his tongue,” Luke said, running his fingers over the box in his pocket containing the lump of flesh.

  “But we can’t give it back until we find him,” Cleo reminded them. “And standing here chatting isn’t going to help us do that. Come on!” She strode confidently ahead, gripping onto the larger rocks to pull herself up the bleak hillside.

  Luke laughed. “She’s keen,” he said.

  “She’s annoying,” retorted Resus.

  “I don’t think she’s been anywhere quite like this before,” said Luke. “After spending most of her life trapped inside a pyramid, somewhere like this must be a bit of an advent—”

  “HELP!”

  The cry pierced the cold air, echoing off the neighbouring mountain. Luke and Resus looked up ahead to where the sound had come from. Cleo had vanished from sight.

  “What’s she gone and done now?” huffed Resus, beginning to set off at a run.

  “She’s not listened, that’s what!” replied Luke, catching him up. “Mr Chillchase warned us to stay together.”

  “Since when did she ever listen to warnings? Or advice? Or anything, really?”

  Reaching the spot where they had last seen their friend, Luke and Resus paused to catch their breath and look around. They were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a circle of large stones. Dead leaves and clumps of grey fur whirled around their feet in the chill breeze.

  “Look!” hissed Luke. Footprints in the snow trailed across the circle, and draped over one of the rocks was Cleo’s scarf.

  Resus dashed across the circle to retrieve it but tripped and crashed to the ground. Luke hurried to where his friend had fallen and stared in horror.

  “Bigfoot!”

  Resus pulled himself up onto his knees. “OK, so we’ve establised that my shoes aren’t the best for mountain climbing, but I wouldn’t say they were particularly large…”

  “I don’t mean you!” said Luke. “Look at what you tripped over.”

  The vampire shuffled backwards on his knees and examined the large indentation in the snow. “That’s… That’s a footprint!” he gasped. “But it’s massive! I know your spare boots were a bit big for Cleo, but that’s ridiculous.”

  “Cleo didn’t make that footprint,” said Luke. “That was made by a yeti.”

  “Yeti?”

  Luke nodded. “Yeti, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman – whatever you want to call them. They’re supposed to live here in Tibet.”

  “But yetis aren’t real,” said Resus, standing up again. “They’re made-up, mythical creatures.”

  “I’d have said the same thing about vampires a year ago,” Luke pointed out, then a second cry reached them.

  “HELP ME!”

  The boys raced across the stone ring, stopping abruptly when they realized there was a sheer drop on the other side. Peering cautiously over the edge, Luke could just about see Cleo standing on a small outcrop of rock a few metres below.

  “There she is,” he sighed. “Come
on…”

  Easing themselves over the edge, the boys lowered themselves down to where Cleo was standing. Resus glanced anxiously over the side. The ground swam in and out of focus several miles below. “She never gets into trouble near a nice comfortable sofa, does she?” he commented as he and Luke inched furtively towards their friend.

  “At last!” Cleo grumbled when they eventually reached her. “I can’t get this thing away from me.”

  The boys stared in amazement. Cleo was backed up against the rock face with what appeared to be an angry, grey teddy bear at her feet. The creature snarled and hissed at her.

  Grrll! Ksst! Grrll!

  “What is that?” demanded Resus.

  “That’s a yeti,” replied Luke. “I told you they were real – although I have to admit I’d always pictured them bigger than that.”

  As if it knew it was being talked about, the creature flashed bright red eyes at Luke and Resus, then turned its attention back to Cleo. It only came up to her knees, but what it lacked in size it made up for in fury.

  Ksst! Grrll!

  “I think it must be a baby,” said Cleo. “I heard it when I was examining that stone circle thing up there, so I climbed down to get a better look.”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Of course you did…”

  “It looked scared! I came down to see if it was OK, but then it tried to bite me.”

  Grrll! Grrll!

  Cleo flapped her hand at the baby yeti. “Go away! Shoo!”

  The creature snapped at her fingers with sharp, pointed teeth, ripping a chunk out of her glove. Torn bandage could be seen through the hole.

  “Ow!” yelled Cleo, pulling her hand away. “That hurt!”

  “Then stop trying to touch it!” cried Luke.

  “I wasn’t trying to touch it,” snapped Cleo. “I was trying to scare it away.”

  “How? By letting it know how tasty you are?”

  “This is ridiculous,” groaned Resus. “If you want to get rid of the thing, you really have to scare it!” He picked up a small stone and threw it at the yeti, striking it on the leg. The creature dropped to the ground and began to squeal.

  Sweeeeeeee! Sweeeeeeee!

  Cleo spun round to glare at the vampire. “Why did you do that?”

  “Why do you think?” barked Resus. “I was saving you!”

  “You didn’t have to hurt it.”

  Sweeeeeeee! Sweeeeeeee!

  Resus glared at her. “You two have been throwing stuff at me all morning, but as soon as I do the same…”

  “The same?” snapped Cleo. “We were throwing snowballs, not rocks!”

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  “What was that?” asked Luke.

  “It wasn’t a rock,” retorted Resus, ignoring him. “It was a pebble – and I didn’t throw it hard enough to do any damage.”

  “Try telling that to the poor little thing. Just look at it!”

  Sweeeeeeee! Sweeeeeeee!

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  Luke looked over the ledge to see where the new sound was coming from, and paled. Clambering up the mountainside towards them was a huge mound of grey fur, teeth and claws. “Er, guys…” he said. “I think we’ve got a bit of a problem…”

  Chapter Two

  The Rescue

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  The cry of the adult yeti rang loudly in Luke’s ears. He looked on nervously as the beast stabbed its claws into the mountainside and climbed towards them.

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  When the baby heard the sound, it leapt back to its feet and began to run madly around the ledge, gnashing its teeth and growling angrily at the newcomers. Grrll! Grrll! Grrll!

  “Look,” Cleo said to Resus. “You’ve made him really angry now!”

  “He’s not exactly the problem any more,” Luke pointed out. “Come on. We’d better get out of here before his mum reaches us.”

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  “Definitely one of your better ideas,” Resus agreed, shuddering as the angry creature drew closer.

  The trio shuffled back along the thin outcrop, the baby yeti still snapping at their heels. Behind them, a large hairy paw appeared and the creature’s mother began to haul itself onto the ledge.

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  Luke cupped his hands to give first Cleo, then Resus a leg-up onto the slope above. “Quick!” he hissed urgently.

  Grrll! Grrll! Ksst! Ksst!

  The baby danced excitedly as its mother appeared beside it on the ledge and raised itself up to its full height. Luke glanced over his shoulder. The yeti was at least three metres tall and towered over him, its eyes blazing red and saliva dripping from its thick, yellow teeth as it roared at him menacingly.

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  Resus and Cleo dropped to their stomachs, stretching their arms back down towards their friend. Luke could hear the yeti stomping closer as he grabbed their hands and they began to pull him up. A massive paw swung out, just clipping the sole of his hiking boot as he was dragged to safety.

  Scrambling to their feet, the trio took up positions in the middle of the stone circle. Resus felt around inside his cape and produced a metal poker and a cricket bat for him and Luke to use as weapons.

  “What about me?” Cleo said.

  The vampire pulled an old-fashioned mahogany hat stand from his cloak and handed it over.

  “Brilliant!” scoffed the mummy. But there was no time to argue as the mother yeti clambered up off the narrow ledge with ease, its baby clinging tightly to its thick, matted fur. It threw its head back and shrieked with rage.

  GRRRRAAAAWWWLLL!

  Resus cricked his neck from side to side. “Bring it on, furball!”

  The baby yeti dropped to the ground and scurried towards the children, its mother stomping close behind. The trio tightened their grips on their respective weapons. Then another growl rang out, a new sound from the opposite direction.

  GROOWL!

  Luke spun round. A second adult yeti – this one shorter and draped in strips of ragged material – was approaching. They were trapped! The two adult yetis glared at each other across the stone circle, ignoring the children between them.

  The smaller of the two darted forward, screaming at the top of its voice.

  RAAAAGGGGHHHH!

  The baby yeti yelped, and incredibly the mother also appeared to be frightened by the cry. Suddenly it scooped its baby up into its arms and leapt off the edge of the cliff, back down onto the ledge below.

  Cleo turned to stare at the victorious newcomer. “What happened there?”

  “No idea…” breathed Resus. “I thought they were going to eat us!”

  “This one still might,” Luke pointed out. “From the way it scared off the competition, I’d say it must be the dominant male.”

  Then, to everyone’s amazement, the yeti spoke. “Nah,” it said. “I just happen to speak the bingo.”

  “Bingo?” questioned Resus. “Do you mean lingo?”

  “Oh yeah – lingo!” The figure reached up and pulled off a yeti mask to reveal a familiar – if rotting – face underneath. It was a zombie.

  “Twonk!” cried Cleo, dashing over and hugging their rescuer. “What are you doing here?”

  The zombie grinned. “I’m with Vein,” he explained, removing a pair of hairy gloves. “I guess you could say that I’m his personal persistent.”

  “I think you mean personal assistant,” Luke corrected. He couldn’t help but smile. Twonk had been the drummer in Vein’s band, and it was reassuring to see such a friendly face in this desolate part of the world.

  “Vein’s just the person we’re looking for,” said Resus. “I’m guessing his cave isn’t far from here, then?”

  “Just on the other side of that ridge,” replied Twonk, pointing up to the peak above them. “I heard screaming and came down to see what was happening.”

  “In full yeti gear,” Cleo added with a laugh. “It was incredible the way you frightened those monsters away!”
/>   The zombie’s green cheeks blushed purple. “Oh, it was nothing,” he smiled. “I just told them you were here to kill them for their fur.”

  “What?” gasped Cleo.

  Resus rolled his eyes. “It was just a trick to get rid of them, softy,” he cried. “Or maybe you’d like Twonk to call them back so we can explain that we aren’t really after their fur, and we could actually be quite nutritious…”

  “Ha, ha,” retorted Cleo. “Although I don’t know why they wanted to attack us in the first place.”

  “It could be because you’ve invaded their territory,” Twonk suggested. “You’re standing in their nest.”

  Luke looked around him. “Their nest?”

  Twonk nodded, beginning to lead the way up the path. “Circle of stones; dead leaves to keep off the cold. A classic yeti nest.”

  “How do you know all this stuff?” Cleo asked as the trio followed the zombie.

  “I’m supposed to control the crowds of people here to ask Vein for advice,” Twonk replied. “But there haven’t been any. In fact there’s been no one, really. Just the yetis. So I started to sturdy them…”

  “Do you mean study them?” Luke interjected.

  “Oh yeah,” beamed the zombie. “Study them! Before long, I was able to copy their sounds – and I made this disguise out of bits of leftover fur so I could get up close to watch them. They’re amazing!”

  “They’re ugly,” Resus countered.

  “Not at all,” said Twonk with a frown. “I find the mother yetis in particular very elegant and graceful.”

  Soon the group arrived at a flat expanse of rock and found themselves facing the entrance to a small cave. “Here we are,” announced Twonk, coming to a stop. “Vein’s new residue!”

  “Come on, then,” said Cleo, heading for the cave. “What are we waiting for?”

  Twonk quickly stepped in front of her. “I, er … can’t let you in like this.”

  Luke frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Vein told me to tell anyone who comes to visit that, er…” He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and began to read.