Atticus Claw Lends a Paw by Jennifer Gray Read Free Book Online

beneath the hob with his beak.
    ‘Shouldn’t we wait for Zenia and Biscuit?’ Slasher said nervously.
    ‘Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka!’ Jimmy flew at Slasher. His plumage had regained its normal sheen since they’d left Siberia. He was every inch the gruesome gang leader he had once been.
    ‘Sorry, Boss! I didn’t mean it!’ Slasher hid behind the other magpies. ‘Don’t stamp on my hooked foot. Please!’
    ‘Then watch your beak and let me do the thinking round here,’ Jimmy hissed. ‘Don’t you see? If Thug managed to steal Howard Toffly’s book without bringing the curse down on us, we can find the golden city on our own. We don’t need Klob, Biscuit and the Tofflys. It’s us magpies who’ll get the treasure. Not
humans
. Or
cats
.’ He spat the words out as if they were lemon pips.
    ‘This is our chance to get revenge for Beaky!’ Slasher cried. Now he understood.
    ‘And on Klob for making me clean her poo-bucket !’ Thug chuckled.
    ‘And on Biscuit for juggling with us!’ Pig screeched.
    ‘What about Claw?’ Gizzard asked.
    ‘We’ll mash him later,’ Jimmy said. ‘When we’ve got the treasure. Maybe we can conjure up a curse for him. Like being pecked to death by crows or something. Now let’s get on with it.’
    ‘Which spell, Boss?’ Thug asked.
    ‘Er …’ Jimmy hesitated. ‘Let’s try the one with the sock.’
    ‘We don’t have any hair,’ Wally complained.
    ‘We can use a bit of Biscuit’s,’ Slasher suggested. ‘He moults all over the place.’ He collected some off the carpet in his beak.
    ‘We’ll have to use pike instead of sardine,’ Gizzard said. ‘It’s the only fish we’ve got.’
    ‘Pike’s stronger,’ Thug said. ‘Trust me, it’ll be even better.’
    ‘What about the fish oil?’ Pig asked.
    ‘Let’s squeeze some out of the pike’s brains,’ Jimmy flexed his claws.
    The magpies assembled the ingredients andplaced them on top of the kitchen counter. Luckily Zenia had an old sock that she wore over her head for her bank robber disguise, which Pig found in the washing machine. They put everything into a saucepan and pushed the pan on to the cooker.
    Soon the pike head went soggy and mashed into the oil and salt. Together with the hair it made a pleasantly smelly, sticky mixture, but the sock remained stubbornly sock-like.
    ‘We need something to dissolve it,’ Jimmy chattered . ‘It’s no good like that. I’ll bet that’s what the Thumpers’ Traditional Beard Grow is for.’
    ‘What about some feather dye remover?’ Wally suggested. ‘There’s some left over from the Crown Jewels job. It’s under the sink.’
    ‘All right,’ Jimmy agreed. ‘Let’s give it a try.’
    Soon the mixture looked even better. The sock didn’t exactly dissolve, but all the colour came out instead and turned everything sludge brown.
    ‘So …’ Jimmy eyed the gang. ‘Who’s going to volunteer?’
    All the magpies took a step back.
    ‘I vote Thug should do it,’ Gizzard said, ‘seeing as how he found the book.’
    ‘Yeah! It’s like he’s the chosen one,’ Slasher agreed. ‘No offence, Jimmy,’ he added hastily.
    ‘Chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka-chaka!’ The other magpies hopped about in agreement.
    ‘What do you say, Thug?’ Jimmy put his head on one side and blinked.
    ‘All right.’ Thug sighed extravagantly. ‘If you think it’s my duty.’ He gazed skyward at the caravan ceiling. ‘Oh great Egyptian bird god, Horus, bring me your magical wisdom!’ he prayed. ‘Let me be the special magpie who discovers the lost city of Nebu-Mau without getting crushed by the curse of the cat pharaoh or bashed by my new bessie, Nube!’
    ‘How does he know so much about it?’ Pig whispered to Wally.
    ‘Magpiedia,’ Wally explained. ‘He’s been on the Internet.’
    ‘Nicely put, Thug.’ Jimmy gave him a pat. His eyes glittered . ‘Now drink it.’

    Thug dipped his beak into the saucepanand slurped up some of the mixture. ‘Not bad!’ he