Read Chapter 13 from Rise of the Tuskellen, "Wheelie Cars"

The Identity of two mysterious cloaked figures becomes clearer and the destruction of the Progress begins....

That night, after returning from Castle Grimm, Will had looked into the Eyes of Midnight once more and seen her memory of that mysterious hooded figure, changing into a rat and scuttling into the deepest place below RICMAC. It was clear this person was Tuskellen, for they had the Way of Changing, yet they exuded such malevolence that both Will and his cat friend shook as they separated their eyes.

Midnight curled up beside Will and shook for a while longer until at last she was still except for the soft vibration of her purring.

Comforted by Midnight’s warmth and purrs, Will forced himself to search his memories and recall that terrible dream he had when he was very young. His wonderful mind remembered everything in vivid detail, in those days. It had been a dream of a vast cavern of fire and shadows and there beside a fiery pit the hooded figure waved his wiry arms, then bashed on an anvil with his pick-hammer.

Now Will knew, without doubt, that this was the same person as Midnight had followed from the market. He was also fairly sure now, that the chasmic place of his dream was the ancient Forge, founded at the Dawn of the Grimmer Age. Down the water shute, deep below the new shiny tower of RICMAC, that was where the hooded one was hiding.

He recalled those words the figure had screamed in the dream,

“Dracona you are mine… Together we will make the Grimmers the Rulers of all Cerne- and I shall control them…”

The dream had allowed him to look into the fiery pit and there within a pool of molten rock was a huge Dragon. Dracona! Of course.

As the image returned to his mind’s eye a shock went through his spine, for it was then that he realised something about her dragon body was wrong.

Will had seen Dragons in his True Dreams and in the Visions of Scalon and Dracona in his mind’s eye- when his parents told him the ancient Stories of Cerne. Yes he was sure that the Dragons of Cerne had wings, but now, he recalled, in that terrible dream, the Dragon in the pit had two stumps cut at the shoulders where her wings should have been…

A revulsion rose in Will and a realisation too, that he had to find out more about what this hooded creature was doing; judging from his actions and words, it seemed his intentions were dangerous. Very dangerous indeed….

In the early light before dawn, Will woke to a purring and the rough licking of a cat tongue on his cheek. Midnight mind-messaged him- she wished to be let out…

Will spoke then in Cat tongue,

“Midnight, my friend… I must ask you. I need to know more of this Tuskellen and of that place below. Could you be oh so brave and go below to spy with your magic eyes?”

She closed her eyes then and her chest heaved as she took a deep breath; then looked into his eyes and replied in a broken tone,

“This I will do when courage and the tides allow… for our land and for you…”

Then Will let Midnight out, onto the rooftops or Northfell Street, as the sun rose fiery in the East.

The next memory was a few weeks later: Will was watching the VB2 with his Mam and Dah. They had just finished watching ‘Family Fun’- a Game show mainly involving families building walls out of light-stone, as quick as possible.

Then up flashed a Vizi-sale showing a familiar face: Uncle Rick in a black and red checked suit and red shiny shoes. It was that same outfit Will had seen him wearing that morning at Castle Grimm, when Rick announced he was going to film a Vizi-sale.

There was that tombstone grin on his face, like his jaw was stuck and that voice booming like a drum in a cavern.

“Greetings Happy Grimmers of Ceme. It’s me, Richard Grimwood the 32^nd , bringing you yet another wonder machine from RICMAC- Cerne’s one and only Machine Company.

We brought you this Vizi 2 so you can watch me today.

We brought you the Super Spin Tub so you can wash your clothes clean and the Elecktrateck Oven so you can cook at the flick of a switch.

Now all of you Happy Grimmers will want one of these…”

Uncle Rick stepped over to a shiny, Red Wheelie car.

“How would you like to go visit your family in the Farms, fill up your trunk with children and shopping! Save your legs from all that walking about or waiting for a Wheelie bus? Wait no more. Get yourself a brand-new RIC MAC Wheelie car- the cheapest wheelie car that ever was. Come on down to the RIC MAC Store tomorrow!”

“I didn’t like to tell you- but the first ones were driven through the delivery doors last night…” Dah muttered.

“The Progress Plan continues…” Mam said gloomily, a squall starting up around her. The curtains flapped and their hair was blown about by the breeze of Mam’s disquiet.

Then came the memory of that terrible Moonday, another few weeks later, when Will and Mam were walking among the sallen trees in River Park.

Suddenly a terrible crashing and clanging began; it was coming from the far end of the park. As fast as Grimmers would feasibly walk they came to the edge of the park, near the City Centre, and saw what was happening.

Big Digger machines, like metal monsters, were sinking their metal teeth into the Earth of the water meadow eating away flowers, grasses, shrubs and shovelling it into heaps. A huge spade-truck picked up the forlorn debris and loaded into an equally huge wheelie truck which wheeled it away. There were workers on foot too, marching methodically, moving stones and measuring out a huge plot of ground, marking it with posts.

‘No!’ cried Mam, “Some of this Green Life grows nowhere else in these parts!”

But the Builder Grimmers could not hear her. The machines were too loud.

One of the Grimmers hammered up a sign board with the words,

‘Site of RICMAC Wheelie Car Factory - New Cars for Happy Grimmers’.