Canyon Chaos by Axel Lewis Read Free Book Online

wheels.
    “Go, Cabbie, go,” Jimmy cheered. They inched past Zoom and took the lead. Jimmy could see Horace thumping the steering wheel and shouting as they flew past.
    Ahead of them stretched a long straight road and at the end of it a huge crowd was cheering the two leaders on. They could just make out a man standing with a chequered flag in his hands.
    “Look!” cried Jimmy. “The finish line! Come on, Cabbie!”
    “Hold onto your hard drive,” Cabbie replied, then he threw himself back on four wheels.
    Jimmy’s heart was racing faster than Cabbie’s pistons. Zoom and Horace hadn’t given up yet though, and Jimmy could see them in his mirrors, dodging and weaving behind them. The jet engine whirred louder than ever and Zoom inched alongside.
    And in front.
    Then Cabbie took the lead by a whisker.
    Zoom edged back ahead.
    They were neck and neck.
    The finish line raced towards them. Jimmy’s foot was flat to the floor, his grip on the steering wheel steady and solid, his eyes fixed on the chequered flag just a hundred metres away.
    “Go! Go! Go!” Jimmy shouted.
    “Faster, you useless heap of space junk!” Horace shrieked above the noise.
    “This is gonna be tight,” Cabbie said.
    With a whoosh! they hurtled past the chequered flag as the crowd screamed their appreciation.
    “Did we win? Did we win?” asked Jimmy.
    But before Cabbie could answer, a huge crowd of people surrounded them, cheering and screaming and chanting.
    “We did! We did!” yelled Cabbie, his lights and sensors flashing madly as he slowed to a stop in front of the grandstand.
    Photographers and TV cameras pushed their way through the crowd. Reporters shouted questions.
    Even louder than the crowd, a voice echoed from the loudspeakers: “Let’s hear it for our winners... Jimmy Roberts and Cabbie! ”
    The crowd went even more wild.
    I don’t believe it , Jimmy thought to himself. We’ve won a Robot Race!
    Head spinning and feet stumbling, he climbed out of Cabbie’s cockpit and into the crowd. From the corner of one eye, he saw Horace get out of Zoom, slam the door, kick it, and stomp off into the distance. He could just hear him shouting, “Dad! Dad! Get over here! I want that result changed right now. He cheated and it’s not fair. He broke my roof, I know he did. Do something! ”
    Just then two figures pushed their way through the crowds towards Jimmy. It was Grandpa and Jimmy’s friend Max, jostling with the scrum of photographers and the TV cameramen who were fighting to get the best picture. When Grandpa reached Jimmy, he seemed to be lost for words. But he had a grin on his face that was so broad it nearly split his face.
    “We did it, Grandpa!” said Jimmy. “We won!”
    “ You did it, my boy,” corrected Grandpa, crushing Jimmy in a huge hug. “ You did it.”
    “Jimmy...how did you...? Why didn’t you...? When did you get a robot racer?” asked Max, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land.
    “Didn’t I tell you my grandpa was an inventor?” replied Jimmy, trying to look cool. But he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as Max high-fived him.
    “You were awesome,” Max said. I’ve never seen a race like it – and I’ve seen every Robot Race there’s ever been!”
    Just then, the crowd surged around them, and before Jimmy could say anything else to his grandpa or best friend, he was being carried away on a tidal wave of jostling bodies, swept towards a podium where a camera was pointing right at them. Behind the camera was a huge blank video screen.
    “Ladies and gentlemen,” boomed a voice from the loudspeakers. “Please wait as we calculate the results of the qualifiers from all around the world.”
    The video screen flickered into life. Numbers and names flashed up, whizzing by and whirring, as the results from the hundreds of qualifiers were beamed in. Jimmy held his breath. He had won the qualifier in Smedingham – but surely he wouldn’t be one of the fastest