Chapter 16: Fish And Drift Ride To The Rescue

There were a great many more rumblings of “BLIMMIN’” this and “BLASTED” that before the creature called Ava finally dragged herself off the rocky outcrop. Drift shook and even Fish held her breath and stepped back.

Ava was made of snow, just like Block and Blast and Drift were. But she was so much more. To say she was big is like saying the great white shark is a fish. She was enormous. Block and Blast would have been like toes on an elephant to her. She did not, however, look anything remotely like an elephant.

No, Ava was roughly the size of a cathedral and looked more like a dragon. A cathedral sized dragon with two heads. A cathedral sized dragon with two heads which looked as though it had been violently hewn from snow and ice by a team of angry walruses. She was a fearsome sight. She also breathed ice and her eyes glowed blue. But she did have cute ears.

Drift shrank back into the snow. “I’ll… er… let you do the talking,” he muttered.

Fish was only too happy to do the talking. She stood her ground. In fact she moved towards Ava. The mountain shook under Ava’s slow and ponderous movements but Fish didn’t budge an inch.

“We should run,” Drift whispered. “There’s no way we can fight her. We’d be better off fighting Block and Blast.”

“WHO’S THAT TALKIN’ ‘BOUT ME BOYS?” Ava bellowed, spying Fish but missing the fact that Drift was hiding in the snow (he covered his nose). “YOU AINT BLOCK, AND YOU AINT BLAST. YOU’S JUST A LITTLE GIRL FING.

“Tell her we’re just passing through,” Drift muttered. “I’m not the snowman she’s looking for.”

“OO ELSE IS WIV YOU? OO’S THAT HIDING BEHIND YOU?”

“Hush,” Fish told Drift. “We’re not here to fight.”

“HERE TO FIGHT ARE YOU?” Both of Ava’s heads snaked round, circling around the girl. Fish didn’t know which head to talk to.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Fish said, choosing the left head.

“OH. SO AVA AINT GOOD ENOUGH FOR LITTLE MISSY IS SHE?” Ava mocked, swinging her heads. “WELL MAYBE I’LL JUST FLATTEN YOU, LITTLE MISSY.” Ava’s tail rose into the air and slammed into the floor. The mountain heaved and a heavy slab of snow slid past the spot where Fish and Drift stood. It careened over the edge and crashed into the ice far below.

“Have you quite finished stomping and shouting?” Fish asked, looking first at the left head and then the right. She sounded a little like Florence, all prim and proper and in charge. Ava reared up on her back legs and hissed at the sky but didn’t answer. “My name is Fish. And you are Block and Blast’s mum.”

“Is she?” Drift said, still hiding.

Fish nodded. “Florence said so. Said she was the only one who might be able to deal with them. And I thought this is where we’d find her.” She raised her voice and pointed at Ava. “We need you, Ava. We need you to stop them from hurting my mum or anyone else.”

“I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT I’M GONNA DO, LITTLE MISSY,” Ava sneered. The snow dragon pulled back her heads and, with a howl that could split clouds, she lunged and breathed an icy plume directly at Fish.

Quick as winter, Drift jumped to defend Fish. He sprang out from behind the girl like a cat smelling food and formed himself into a solid wall, shielding her from Ava’s breath. Icicles struck him everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. “Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch OUCH,” he said, and with good reason. Those icicles were sharp, even for a snowman.

Ava saw him and raised a terrible claw.

And then she lowered it again. She looked closely at Drift. She recognised the snowman.

“DRIFT?” she said. “THAT YOU? IS THAT MY LITTLE DRIFT?”

Drift risked a quick look at Ava. “Yes,” he said. “It’s me.”

“DRIFT,” Ava said again. “COME AND LET ME ‘AVE A LOOK AT YOU.”

This time it was Fish who peered out from one side of her friend as he began to revert back into his regular snowman shape. “Drift?” she asked. “How does she know you?”

“I dunno,” Drift said. “I’m innocent. I didn’t do it. I’m wanted for a crime I–“

Fish put a hand on his mouth and stepped out from behind him. “You’re Block and Blast’s mum,” she told Ava. “How do you know Drift?”

“I GOT THREE BOYS, LITTLE MISSY.”

Neither Fish nor Drift said a word.

“TWO OF EM ARE BAD. BAD LIKE THEIR OLD MUM CAN BE. BUT THE OTHER…” She let the words hang there, frozen.

Fish understood at once. Smiling, she gave Drift a nudge and nodded her head towards Ava who was now settling her mammoth body onto the side of the mountain.

Drift nodded back.

“Three boys,” he said. “That’s nice. Who’s the third? Have I met him?”

“DRIFT!” Fish poked him in the chest. “SHE’S YOUR…”

“NO NO, LITTLE MISSY. THAT’S AWRIGHT. HE WAS JUST A BAIRN WHEN HE SORTA WANDERED AWAY. SHOULDA FOLLOWED HIM I S’PPOSE BUT I AD ME HANDS FULL.” She padded over to Drift and nuzzled him gently.

Drift smiled and patted her on the head. One of them, anyway. Then he turned to Fish and, shielding his mouth with one hand, spoke quietly. “It’s ok. I think she likes me. Just don’t make any sudden moves.”

Fish gave him a pat on the head. It was no use explaining anything to Drift. “Thanks,” she said. “I can take it from here.”

“We need your help,” she said to the snow dragon. Quickly, she outlined the details of how Viktor had used Block and Blast to kill her dad and steal from her mum, and of how Drift had been framed. The snow dragon listened to every word with sadness growing in her eyes like a snowflake.

When Fish had finished telling her story, Ava walked away from them. “OH YOU DON’T WANT ME HELPING YOU, LITTLE MISSY. I CAN SEE AS HOW YOU FINK YOU MIGHT WANT THAT, BUT REALLY YOU DON’T.”

“We do, Ava,” Fish pleaded. “We do. There’s no other way. I have to save my mum. I have to… try.”

“YOU DON’T UNNERSTAND, LITTLE MISSY,” Ava said. “IF I COME DOWN FROM HERE THEN THERE’LL BE TROUBLE. REAL TROUBLE. I CAN’T HELP MESELF. YOU SEEN HOW I WAS WHEN YOU WOKE ME. FINGS JUST SORTA SEEM TO ‘APPEN AROUND ME. YOU RECKON BLOCK AND BLAST ARE CAUSING PROBLEMS – WELL WAIT UNTIL I WADE IN THERE. THEY’D WRITE STORIES ABOUT ME, THEY WOULD.”

“But…” Fish couldn’t finish her sentence. Ava had to help. Mums always help. They just had to. She slumped back into Drift’s arms.

Drift cleared his throat. “Right,” he said. “So that’s that sorted. Are we going to run now? Ava’s third child might turn up at any moment and we don’t want to bump into him, do we?”

Despite herself, Fish laughed. “Oh Drift,” she said. “You silly thing. You never change.” She hugged him so tightly he was almost cut in two. It didn’t matter what Ava said now. She had Drift. “We’ll just have to find another way.”

Ava watched them, and sighed.

“WELL I AINT MADE O ICE NOW, AM I?” she said. “‘COURSE I’LL TRY AND HELP. CLIMB ON. LET’S GO GET YER MUM.”

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Illustration © Carl Pugh