Free Milo and the Raging Chieftains by Mary Arrigan

bag. ‘This is not good, not good at all. The town is doomed. We’re all doomed.’
    ‘And what about me?’ asked Ossie. ‘What about my family?’
    ‘Your family would have nothing – no castle, and no lands – you’d be broke and probably have to live on a small farm onan island off the coast of Ireland.’
    ‘What about Miss Lee?’ I put in. ‘What’s wrong with her?’
    Mister Lewis sniffed again. ‘Ah, I know now what that smell is. She has been given an ancient sleep potion disguised with lemon juice. She won’t remember any of this – if we all get away from here, that is,’ he added gloomily
    I looked at Miss Lee’s muddy boots and thought that, when she woke up she’d be devastated about losing the Grant, and she’d be embarrassed by the muddy boots. Well actually, to tell the truth, my feet were aching from those darned red shoes, so I slipped off her boots and put her red high heels beside her feet. At least she’d feel a bit better in her nice shoes.
    Shane and I jumped when we heard voices out in the courtyard. Angry voicesand clanking chains.
    ‘They’re going to chain us to the wall to rot!’ exclaimed Ossie.
    ‘Stay well back from the door,’ said Mister Lewis. ‘I’ll try to scare them away. You try to wake the lady.’
    Shane picked up one of Miss Lee’s boots.
    ‘What are you going to do with that?’ I hissed.
    ‘I’m going to put my arm inside it and clobber the first guy who comes in,’ he hissed back.
    ‘Yeah,’ I scoffed. ‘Like, you’ll knock out Roc and his gang with a wellie? Give it here.’
    I put the first boot on, rolling my trouser leg over it so that Miss Lee wouldn’t notice. Then, when I tried to get my other foot into the second boot, something blocked it. I fished it out. It was a folded document,yellow with age.
    Carefully, Mister Lewis took the paper from me and unfolded it, holding it under my bike lamp.
    ‘The Grant!’ he exclaimed. ‘She had the Grant in her boot all the time! The clever lady. Oh, dear, oh dear,’ he sighed. ‘If only we had found it earlier.’ Then he groaned. ‘It’s too late now. Much too late.’
    My heart sank even more when we heard the shouts and the clanking chains coming closer.
    ‘What will you do with the Grant, Mister Lewis?’ I whispered.
    He shrugged his shoulders and then handed it to Ossie.
    ‘You are Roc’s kin, boy,’ he sighed. ‘He might spare you. Quickly, put this inside your tunic.’
    Now Roc and his men were comingeven closer, shouting and rattling the keys to scare us – which he did, ignoring Mister Lewis’s ghostly moans, which sounded like a cat with a furball. Well, let’s face it, Mister Lewis was nervous for all of us. He knew what it was like to be dead.
    Ossie stared at the document for a moment and then raced across to where Miss Lee was sleeping.
    ‘What are you doing?’ I hissed as he placed the Grant in Miss Lee’s hands.
    ‘Trust me,’ he whispered.
    The key was now turning in the lock.
    ‘Caught like rats,’ Roc sneered through the bars. ‘And now you’ll die like rats. Listen to the chains, people. They will be with you until your eyes fall out and your bones rot.’
    Just then, Miss Lee began to stir in her sleep. She stretched her arms and lookedat the Grant on her lap. Still drowsy and confused, she lifted it up and, as she did so, everything started to change. The air around us shimmered and the walls went out of focus. It was that same sinking feeling as in the woods earlier. Mister Lewis looked around, his face beaming. ‘This is it!’ he whispered. ‘
This
is the third portal. Somehow Ossie’s contact with Miss Lee has opened it. You’re on your way home, boys, you and the nice lady.’
    ‘Oh, my goodness,’ said our teacher, taking a deep breath. ‘Have I been asleep?’
    She rubbed her eyes, and the faces of the soldiers at the window faded, the last one being the angry scowl of Roc.
    ‘Loser!’ I hissed.
    My bicycle torch spluttered and went out,