Zeb and the Great Ruckus

Chapter 2

2

Surprises

When the school day ended Zeb walked home with his best friend, Flip. Flip’s real name was Florintina, (but only her mother called her that). Her head was covered in a stream of astonishingly red hair that, in the right light, made her look like she was on fire. Flip had a face decorated with a storm of freckles and a pair of luminous green eyes that were usually looking in the direction of mischief.

“Do you want to come over to my house and see what Mum has got me for a surprise?” asked Zeb, filled with that particular type of excitement that is reserved especially for birthdays.

“Sure! I love surprises! Except when the surprise is that you’ve just been licked by a dog infected with the great dog flu.”

The ‘great dog flu’ was an epidemic that had terrified the people of Chromata a few years ago. When Flip’s mum had noticed that several dogs wandering around town were constantly sneezing, she dutifully alerted everyone to the potential danger. For the next three weeks everyone wore scarves over their faces to protect them from infection.

It later turned out that the great dog flu was merely the result of the dogs shoving their noses into an open barrel of pepper outside the town tavern. Even so, a lot of the villagers, Flip among them, warily proclaimed, “You can never be sure.” When Zeb had asked what it was that you can never be sure of she had replied, “Well, anything really…” which summed her up quite nicely.

When Zeb and Flip got home they were greeted by Sarina who proclaimed:

“Flip, how lovely to see you dear!

I’m terribly, wonderfully glad you are here!”

Flip absolutely loved the way Zeb’s mum always talked in rhyme, and she often attempted to reply in the same way. “Thanks Sarina, it’s nice to see you in your lovely dress so orange, I can’t wait to see your surprise, all lovely and…um… surprising…” She would have much preferred to use a word that rhymed with orange. Had she known that orange is one of the few words in all the world that has no rhyming words whatsoever she may have chosen otherwise.

“Mum, Flip wants to see the big surprise you told me about.”

Sarina grinned playfully and said,

“Very well, you’d best follow me,

Down past the houses and into the trees.”

The three of them kept close together as they made their way to the outskirts of Chromata and into the woods beyond. Though the forest was generally safe, there had been reports of wereflamingos in the summer months. Wereflamingos weren’t particularly ferocious, but if you found them turning back into people without their clothes on and all covered in pink feathers it could be frightfully awkward.

Sarina motioned with her finger to her lips for them to keep quiet. They trudged through trees, shrubs and undergrowth until finally they came to a clearing where they could hear the twittering of birds filling the warm summer air. They scanned the trees and shrubs for a while but saw nothing except the things which they had already seen and aren’t really worth talking about all over again.

Just when the children were starting to get impatient, Zeb spied a small creature emerging cautiously from the bushes. At first they could see only the long, delicate fingers of its front arm. It had short, dappled brown fur, like the colour of your grandad’s favourite tablecloth after you spilled juice on it and tried to clean it up quickly before he got home. It had great dark eyes with tiny white pupils. It also, Zeb noticed with interest, had no mouth. The bottom half of its face was strangely smooth and vacant. Despite the creature’s overall unusual appearance, by far its most striking feature was its gigantic ears. They were rather like the ears a rabbit might have if it was doing a very good impression of an elephant. They shot high up in the air, almost at the same height as the rest of the creature. They rotated around and back again in different directions simultaneously.

The creature skulked slowly into the middle of the clearing, moving its great ears around, up and down. Its face appeared miserable and forlorn, which was a difficult expression to convey without the aid of a mouth. Its big black and white eyes looked heavy with sadness.

Zeb thought it was quite certainly the most peculiar creature he had ever seen. Flip reached into her bag and pulled out her sketchbook and pencil, then began to quickly sketch the strange animal in front of them. It moved in slow circles, and appeared to be looking, or listening, for something.

“What is it?” Zeb whispered.

At the sound of his voice the creature suddenly enveloped its body in its giant ears and fell to the ground. The second it did so it became almost completely indistinguishable from the rocks and earth around it. If Zeb hadn’t watched it hide, he would have never known it was there at all.

His mother motioned for silence with her finger. Zeb had to constantly remind himself where to look in order to see the creature’s outline camouflaged against the stones and earth. Eventually it poked one wide black and white eye out from beneath its long, pointy ears and then proceeded to crouch up on its hind legs. It scanned the forest with its ears and eyes for a few more moments, then scrambled back in the direction it had come from with surprising speed.

The three of them waited a minute before daring to speak. Finally Zeb said, “Mum, that was amazing! What was that thing?”

“A creature we’ve not seen in these parts for years upon years.

The fact that it has returned means change is near.

It’s been doing that now each and every day.

It comes, and it searches and then goes away.”

Sarina looked at Zeb with the kind of expression she usually only reserved for Very Serious Talks, such as reminding him to do his chores.

Zeb was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. Then his mother reached into her bag and removed a parcel bound in tightly packed leaves. She passed it solemnly to Zeb. He unwrapped it slowly, revealing a small wooden box covered in intricate carvings. Opening it carefully, he wondered if it contained a magical amulet, sacred jewels or a secret weapon.

Much to his disappointment, all he found inside the ornate box was a dirty old lump of clay. Zeb was more than slightly disappointed. He made that face children make when they are trying to say “Well, thanks for the present and everything but this is actually, really the very last thing in all the world that I could have wanted. Didn’t you listen to me when I was nagging you for what I really wanted for the last three months?” You know the one. You’ve probably made it at your parents every Christmas and birthday ever since you were born.

“Honey, I haven’t told you what it is!

You wouldn’t have guessed, oh no, not this!”

“Well…it’s just clay isn’t it?”

“Yes that is so.

And also not all, no.

This is special clay, from far away.

Your father gave it to me on his final day.”

Zeb jolted as though he had bitten into an apple to discover half a worm. His mother had spoken of his dad rarely since he had passed away nearly ten years ago. Hearing mention of him made Zeb feel sad and confused, like a wet cat being spun around in a bucket.

“He said when you turned twelve to give it to you,

And tell you what it was and what it can do.

This clay, dear boy, was made with magic,

So be careful into what shapes you choose to make it.

Keep it safe, guard it well,

I hope it will help you, only time will tell.”

Zeb nodded and placed the box into his bag. The three of them turned and made their way back to the village without a word between them, each of their heads filled with thick thunderstorms of thoughts. As Zeb made his way home, wondering about his father and the creature he had just seen, he couldn’t help but notice that the clay felt strangely heavy.