Free Hunk and Thud by Jim Eldridge Page A

through. Finally, they reached the widening crack in the middle of the dam.
    Big Rock, Sam Dent, the Masked Avenger and Grit were working together as a team, passing the ends of ropes to one another along a chain they had formed, and wrapping and tying them around the trees. Jack and Milo worked their way along the mass of slippery logs and joined them.
    But how much longer will those ropes hold? wondered Jack. And why can’t I turn into Thud? If ever there was a dangerous life-threatening situation, then it’s right here and now!
    Grit passed a length of rope along to Jack, and as Jack reached out to take it and pass it along, there was a sudden
woosh!
and the section of dam right in front of Jack suddenly cracked open and a gush of water burst through, hitting Jack and sending him tumbling backwards, and away from the dam towards the river below.
    For a second, Jack seemed to hang suspended, frantically stretching back at the dam and the ropes, and the others. But his hands just touched thin air.
    And then he was falling!

CHAPTER 8
    I’m going to die! Jack thought as he fell, and saw the river far below rushing up towards him …
    SMACK!!!!
    Something grabbed him around the chest, and then he was sailing upwards instead of falling downwards.
    I’m flying, he realised.
    He looked down, and realised that a massive pair of rock-like legs had wrapped themselves around him, with two enormous rock-like feet holding him securely. He looked up, and was astonished to see the friendly face of Hunk smiling down at him. The half-troll still had one arm in a sling, but with his good hand and arm he was holding tightly onto a rope.

    Hunk swung back towards the dam, and took the impact of the crash against the dam with his feet and legs, protecting Jack from the collision.
    â€˜Thanks, Hunk!’ burst out Jack. ‘You saved my life!’
    â€˜You’d have done the same for me,” Hunk called up.
    â€˜Of course!’ yelled Milo in realisation. The large net would hold the logs back far more securely than tying them together.
    Milo, Jack and the Masked Avenger moved as swiftly as they could down the wall of timber. To speed things up, some of the townspeople had realised what was needed and grabbed the ends of the net and began to haul it up to where Milo, Jack and Ava could get hold of it.
    They grabbed the net, and were just about to haul it up, when there was another sudden gush of water bursting through a new crack in the dam, this one just below them.
    For the first time, Jack saw that a small boy had been in the group of townspeople that had scrambled up the wall of shaking timber, obviously doing his best to help the grown-ups haul the heavy net up the dam. The water struck the boy full in the chest, the same as Jack had been hit just a few moments before, and hurled him outwards.
    Instinctively, Jack leapt out towards the boy, his hands grasping to try and save the boy, catch him, but Jack’s grip on the dam wall vanished and Jack found himself falling … falling …
    Jack couldn’t even see the boy properly; the rush of water pouring past him filled his eyes. No, there was something more than that, a film was forming over his eyes, a glassy, brownish film. As he fell he felt a tingly sensation going through him, then he felt his hands grab something soft. It was the boy!
    Still falling, Jack felt himself crash into the raging water and sink, going down, down, down, the boy still held in one hand …
    And then Jack was suddenly standing up, his head clear of the water, his feet on the bottom of the river. He realised that he was no longer short and thin Jack, submerged beneath the waters, but he was a very tall, very powerful troll.

    He was Thud.
    Thud stood in the raging river torrent as the waters poured around him, just beneath his chin. Above him, held aloft in one of his huge hands, was the small boy, soaking wet – but very much alive.

CHAPTER 9
    Jack sat with