Muddy Paws Page 4

  “Great. Now you can see what plowing’s all about. Watch this,” Martin called out. Leaping into Fergy’s seat he started the engine and moved forward.

  “Martin, don’t! You’re not supposed to be doing that!” Beth said worriedly, remembering her uncle’s strict rules about Martin only driving under his supervision.

  “I know what I’m doing!” Martin said huffily. “Anyway, I’ll only plow a couple of furrows. Dad just went down to the barn for a can of lubricating oil—he’ll never know. Unless you decide to tell him,” he said, looking harshly at her.

  “Thanks a lot. You should know by now that I don’t tell!” Beth said indignantly.

  Martin looked uncomfortable and then he gave a grin and nodded. Concentrating hard, he held the large steering wheel steady as the red tractor trundled slowly along, pulling the plow behind it. As he moved forward, the weedy ground was turned over and the soil curved away from the plow’s metal moldboards in rich brown waves.

  Despite herself, Beth was fascinated by watching the furrows form. Martin leaned over to watch the back wheels, making sure he kept driving in a perfectly straight line. The new brown furrow folded itself over and was laid neatly next to one previously made.

  Beth realized that plowing took a lot of skill. “You’re pretty good at this, aren’t you?” she said, impressed.

  Martin threw her a smile over his shoulder, obviously enjoying himself and pleased by her praise. “I’m not bad. But then I was taught by an expert. My dad!”

  Suddenly Storm’s head came up and his midnight-blue eyes flashed. Barking shrilly, he raced forward and began darting back and forth in front of Fergy’s front wheels. “Stop! Stop!” he barked urgently.

  “Martin! Watch out for Storm!” Beth cried.

  “Why’s he doing that? Make him stop!” Martin shouted.

  Beth frowned. It wasn’t like Storm to do something so dangerous without a good reason. But she was too worried about him getting hurt to try and figure out what that was.

  “Come here, Storm! You’ll get hurt!” she shouted.

  But Storm seemed determined. Barking frantically, he ran even closer to the tractor’s ridged tires, snapping at them and growling. One of the wheels passed by him closely, missing him by a fraction.

  As a stone flew out and hit him, Storm gave a loud yelp.

  “Martin! Look out!” Beth screamed, thinking that Storm was about to be run over.

  Panicking, Martin jerked the tractor’s steering wheel to avoid the tiny puppy. Fergy rolled to a halt. Martin turned off the engine and jumped down.

  “Look at that furrow. It’s all messed up now. That stupid puppy made me mess up!” he fumed.

  Storm stood by, panting heavily, his little sides heaving.

  “Hang on! What’s that? Look!” Beth interrupted, pointing at something half buried in a weedy grass ditch that Martin had been just about to plow over. As Beth leaned over for a closer look, her heart missed a beat. “I think it might be a firecracker!”

  Chapter EIGHT

  “Don’t be crazy!” Martin said to Beth, walking over to take a look, but the moment he saw the metal object he frowned. “Oh! You’re right. It does look like a firecracker. But it’s probably been there for a while. Look, it’s all shriveled and dented. I bet it’s harmless.”

  “Storm didn’t seem to think so,” Beth reminded him.

  Martin hesitated, chewing at his lip.

  Beth guessed that he was worried about getting into trouble for driving the tractor. “Martin, this is an emergency. We have to go and tell Uncle Ollie—now!” she said.

  “You’re right,” Martin decided. “Come on!”

  Beth didn’t need to be told twice. She bent down to pick up Storm and then turned on her heel and ran. Martin and Ella leaped after her and they all hurried back toward the farm as fast as they could.

  Luckily Oliver was just coming out of the barn with an oil can. He raised his eyebrows when they raced straight up to him. “Where’s the fire?” he joked, but his face grew serious as Martin and Beth began explaining.

  “Good job, you two. You did the right thing. Firecrackers need expert handling. I’ll call the emergency services and then alert the neighbors.” He took his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed. “Martin, will you go into the house and tell your mom, please?”

  Martin nodded, his face now pale with worry.

  Beth realized that her cousin had only just begun to grasp how serious this really was. Now that they were all a safe distance from the firecracker, she found herself shaking as it all sank in.

  “Thank goodness you sensed the firecracker was there. You were very brave to get so close to the tractor and risk getting hurt,” she whispered to Storm.

  “I had to stop Martin somehow. We were too close for me to use my magic. Martin would have seen, but I could not risk anyone getting hurt,” Storm woofed gently.

  Beth and Storm stood in the yard with Martin, Ella, and her aunt as noisy police cars and fire engines arrived. Farm workers and their families began gathering, too.

  Beth looked toward the top field, where the lights from half a dozen police cars were now flashing. She could see at least four fire engines. Bright-yellow hazard tape had been put up all around the site of the firecracker and across the field entrance.

  “If it hadn’t been for Storm, I’d have plowed right over that firecracker,” Martin said. He bent down to pat Storm’s head. “Thanks, boy. You might have just saved my life.”

  “You are welcome, Martin,” Storm barked, wagging his tail, but of course only Beth could hear him speaking.

  She beamed down at Storm, feeling very proud of her brave little friend.

  Oliver came up and put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I should ground you for a week for driving Fergy when I specifically told you not to!” he said sternly.

  “It wasn’t my fault. Beth . . .” Martin started to make another excuse to get himself out of trouble, but then he seemed to think otherwise and hung his head. “Beth told me I shouldn’t be driving Fergy by myself and she was right. I’m sorry, Dad.”

  “You always are,” Oliver sighed. “But on this occasion it was lucky for all of us that things turned out this way. If I’d have been plowing and not you, I probably wouldn’t have seen the firecracker until it was too late.”

  Martin looked subdued as he took this in and realized what it could have meant. He was silent for a moment, and then he brightened. “So I’m not in all that much trouble after all. Cool!”

  “I give up!” His dad shook his head slowly and rolled his eyes.

  “Look, someone in the field’s waving a red flag,” Beth noticed.

  Just then Oliver’s cell phone rang. He answered it and then spoke in a loud voice. “Listen up, everyone. There’s going to be a controlled explosion in a few minutes. We shouldn’t be alarmed. We’re safe here.”

  Whump! A loud bang split the air. Despite the early warning, Beth almost jumped out of her skin as the explosion echoed in her ears. An enormous spray of dark soil shot out in all directions and a thick dark smoke drifted upward.

  “Yay! Way to go!” Martin shouted.

  Everyone clapped and cheered. The danger was over.

  “There’ll be no more plowing in that field until the firemen have declared it safe. Do you hear me, Martin?” Oliver said.

  “I wouldn’t go up there now if you paid me,” Martin said.

  Beth could see that he meant it this time. Martin really seemed to be changing and Beth realized that she’d actually grown to like her grumpy cousin during her time at Tail End Farm!

  “If you’d all like to come into the house I’ll make coffee and there’s freshly made cake,” Emily called out to everyone.

  People began filing into the farmhouse. Martin called Ella and they followed them in. Beth was about to go in, too, when Storm suddenly barked with terror and ran toward the barn.

  Beth heard a fierce growl behind her and looked around. She spotted two scary
dogs running into the farmyard. As Beth saw their extra-long teeth and pale wolf-like eyes, she felt very fearful.

  The dogs were under Shadow’s spell. Storm’s enemy had found him!

  Without a second thought, Beth raced into the barn ahead of the dogs. Somehow she knew where Storm would be. Darcy’s pen!

  She reached the pen at the back of the barn in time to see the tiny black-and-white puppy running into it. As the dogs pursuing Storm ran into the barn, there was a snort of rage and Darcy leaped right over the top bar of the pen and landed on the barn floor.

  Braying threateningly, the billy goat ran straight at the fierce dogs with his head lowered. Bang! Thud! He butted them in the side, buying Storm precious time.

  Suddenly there was a blinding gold flash and bright golden sparks rained down all around Beth and crackled onto the barn floor. Storm was no longer a tiny black-and-white puppy but instead stood before her as a young silver-gray wolf with glowing midnight-blue eyes. At his side was a huge she-wolf with a gentle face.

  Beth knew the moment had come when Storm had to leave.

  Storm lifted his magnificent head and looked at her with sad eyes. “Be of good heart, Beth. You have been a true friend,” he growled in a deep velvety voice. He raised a large silver paw in farewell and then he and his mother faded and were gone.

  There was a terrifying howl of rage behind Beth. The dogs’ teeth and eyes instantly returned to normal and they ran out of the barn.

  Beth stood alone in the barn. A deep sadness welled up in her. She couldn’t believe that Storm had left so suddenly. She was glad he was safe, but she was going to miss him terribly.

  “I’ll never forget you, Storm,” she whispered, her throat closing with tears. She knew that she’d always treasure the time she had shared with the tiny magic puppy.

  She heard steps behind her and turned to see Darcy coming toward her. He leaned forward to nuzzle her arm. “You were really brave. Storm would be so proud of you,” she said, petting him before leading him back to his pen. “The sun’s coming out. I think I’ll ask Aunt Em if you can go out in the field.”

  Darcy snickered delightedly as if he understood.

  “Talking to yourself again?” Martin joked from behind her. “Are you coming into the farmhouse? I saved you a piece of cake.”

  As Beth turned to look at her cousin, she grinned. Trust Martin to have the last word, she thought, knowing somehow that Storm was watching them, his midnight-blue eyes glowing with approval.

  About the Author

  Sue Bentley’s books for children often include animals, fairies, and wildlife. She lives in Northampton and enjoys reading, going to the movies, relaxing by her garden pond, and watching the birds feeding their babies on the lawn. At school she was always getting yelled at for daydreaming or staring out of the window—but she now realizes that she was storing up ideas for when she became a writer. She has met and owned many cats and dogs, and each one has brought a special kind of magic to her life.