Читать книгу Little Wolf’s Book of Badness - Ian Whybrow, Tony Ross - Страница 18

Day 8 – Afternoon

Mister Twister said I was a good worker and would I stay? I wanted to but I told him I had to go to Cunning College and study for my BAD badge. “You amaze me!” he said, and his sharp eyes went wide, and his red fur went even more bristly. “Do you mean to tell me that you are going to Cunning College in Frettnin Forest?”

I said, “Yes, do you know it?”

He said, “My boy, I was a teacher in that school many a full moon ago! Your uncle and I used to be partners! Can you really be the nephew of that nasty mean bad horrid crook?”

I said a proud “Yes”.

The fox told me more. He and Uncle Bigbad met ages ago in Broken Tooth Caves when they were both hiding from the police. Uncle had the idea to stay out of sight in Frettnin Forest and start a school for bad beasts. He promised Mister Twister that if he worked hard, teaching the naughty pupils everything he knew, he would soon be rich.

Mister Twister said, “My boy, it was dreadful. The pupils never gave me a moment’s peace! They were most awfully sly and squirmy, all those little skunks and stoats and rattlesnakes and cubs! How they got on my nerves, those spoilt little brutes! And what a fuss their horrid parents made, always wanting to know when their ghastly offspring would be getting their BAD badges! They quite wore me out. But when I asked your uncle for some money, just enough to allow me to take a short holiday, he threatened to eat me!”

I said, “What did he say?”

Mister Twister said, “He told me to get out and he said that if I ever put a paw in his school again, he would boil my bones and serve me up as soup.”

I said, “Oo-er!”

The fox said, “So you see, your uncle is a miser and a cheat. He has bags of money hidden away but he will not part with a penny of it. You would be unwise, my boy, to leave Borderlands Market. What is more, Frettnin Forest is a SHOCKING place, dismal, dark and lonely. Your Uncle Bigbad is dangerous. He has a terrible temper. In short, he is Mister Mean. My strong advice to you, my boy, is STAY AWAY FROM CUNNING COLLEGE!”

I said, “Yikes, you have got a point!”

Yours having a good think,