Star League 2 Page 4

  ‘What worked?’

  ‘Jay’s plan,’ says Asuka as she takes out one of her ninja knives and starts cutting the ropes of my net. I land on the ground with a thud, then get to my feet.

  ‘Which was? Can somebody please explain why the Baron over there is going to be craving bananas instead of raw meat?’

  ‘We switched the fur,’ says Leigh. ‘We took a sample of Chu’s fur, then Asuka snuck over here and switched it with yours when the Baron was distracted by the door slamming.’ Chu jumps down from Leigh’s shoulder to sniff the weremonkey on the ground.

  ‘But won’t that hurt Chu?’ I ask. ‘He said that using my fur would stop me from being able to transform into a werewolf.’

  ‘Negative,’ says Sam. ‘Because Chu does not transform he is able to escape the adverse reaction that would have befallen you.’

  ‘So does that mean Chu will be fine?’ Sam nods. Phew! Now there’s just one last thing to take care of. ‘Roger, do you have a potion that will make the Baron go to sleep until we can figure out what to do with him?’

  ‘Sure thing!’ He reaches into his pouch. ‘One vial of nighty-night potion for the monkey man.’

  He passes me a vial of blue liquid, which I pour down Baron von Monkey’s throat. In less than thirty seconds he’s snoring on the floor. ‘When he wakes up, he’s going to behind bars for a long time,’ I say, ‘either in a prison or a zoo!’

  We all grin at each other with relief, and I feel a rush of happiness. I thought the Star League had abandoned me, but they showed up just when I needed them, even though I’d treated them badly.

  ‘Look, guys, I’m really sorry about what I said outside the factory. It’s not true that I don’t need you. If you hadn’t shown up I don’t know what would’ve happened.’

  ‘Well, to begin with, you’d be one hairless werewolf,’ says Roger.

  ‘I think what Roger means to say is, don’t worry about it,’ says Jay. ‘We all have moments where we get sad or angry, and that’s what friends are there for – to help us through it and forgive us when we might not be acting like ourselves.’ The others all smile at me and, for the first time since my family left, I don’t feel so lonely any more.

  ‘Thanks, everyone,’ I say with a smile. Then I remember something. ‘But what about Howard Higgins? He’s still a werewolf!’

  ‘Leave it to me,’ says Sam. ‘Going by all these notes that the Baron has made, I can create an antidote for the werewolf bite.’

  Outside the factory, Jay and Leigh leave to check that Henry made it back to his family safe and sound, while Sam, Asuka and Roger head off in the direction of the hospital to give Howard Higgins his antidote. But I tell them I’m going home instead. There’s something I’ve got to do first.

  When I get back to my room at Beaumont Film Studios I pick up the phone and dial my dad’s mobile.

  ‘Connor! It’s good to hear from you.’ I feel a rush of relief when I hear his voice. Even though I know the hallucinations I saw before weren’t real, I was still kind of worried that maybe there was some truth to the mean things they were saying. But the moment I hear my dad’s voice I know everything’s okay.

  I stay on the phone for over an hour telling him about our latest case and by the time I hang up I’m dog-tired and I have to go to bed.

  That night I dream about my family again, but instead of running away we hunt together. At one point we’re joined by five other werewolves – one with blonde-brown fur, one with a pure black coat, one covered in stitches, one with a monkey riding on her back and one that runs with a whirring sound as if there are gears and cogs under his fur.

  Dreams are weird, huh?

  randomhouse.com.au/starleague

  H.J. Harper isn’t sure if books are stalking her, or if she’s stalking books. Either way, she’s had various jobs in bookstores and libraries, and now works as an author. Her favourite part about being an author is that staring out the window and imagining things is no longer something she can get in trouble for – in fact, it’s required! When she’s not writing books about werewolves, zombies and ninjas, she’s usually playing video games … about werewolves, zombies and ninjas. She lives in Melbourne with her partner and a very spoilt cat who cannot be controlled by animancer powers.

  Nahum Ziersch was born and raised in the Clare Valley in South Australia. From a very young age he knew he wanted to draw for a living, surrounded by very artistic parents who encouraged and nurtured his passion. As a kid he would watch Astro Boy and stacks of other cartoons in his PJs, devour comics and draw his own imaginative worlds and characters. Nahum works as a freelance illustrator in Adelaide. While his main areas of work include editorial, advertising and educational illustrations, he still has a mad passion for creating quirky and expressive characters.