Borgon sat down on the tree stump and thought hard. Somehow he had to prove that he had reached the end of the trail, and the other three Raggahoos had not. He needed something to show the dame, but there was only the bird’s nest, a few stones and a dead scorpion, and they wouldn’t prove anything! Borgon kicked the tree stump in frustration.
KRUMPP!
Something rolled out from a hole in the bottom of the stump. It was a bright yellow egg. It must have fallen out of the nest when the Bigfoot had put the rubies in, or when Akabbah had taken them out. Either way, it was such a strange-looking thing, the Bigfoot would be sure to remember it!
Borgon picked up the egg, then made his way back to the skeleton in the tunnel. He borrowed the picnic bag and put the egg inside to keep it safe, then set off again, following the trail of blue stones. All around him was a jumble of rocky slopes, arches and boulders.
‘No wonder these are called the Mountains of Chaos!’ he said to himself.
In the distance, Borgon heard a triumphant cheer.
RAGGA RAGGA HOO HOO!
Obviously Akabbah had met up with the other Raggahoos and they were feeling very pleased with themselves.
‘You’ve made a big mistake, lads,’ muttered Borgon. ‘There’s nothing clever about trying to cheat a barbarian!’
Borgon followed the trail round a few boulders, under an arch and then stopped. The blue stones had come to an end. He ran ahead and stuck his head round a corner. No good. He came back and tried setting off in different directions. There were no more blue stones, just the ones leading back to the tree stump.
That sneaky zebra-legged freak! thought Borgon. He collected up the blue stones, just in case I survived!
Borgon dropped to his knees to see if there were any tracks he could follow. A footprint in the dust, a tiny scratch on a rock, even a few overturned pebbles would give him a clue. There was nothing.
The sun was getting hotter, and the rocks around him were starting to glow. Borgon thought of the poor woman in the tunnel. He didn’t want to end up like her! He HAD to find a way back.
Just then he felt something moving in the bag. He looked inside and saw that the eggshell was broken. At first Borgon thought he must have cracked it, but when he reached in to see, something nipped at his finger. He opened the bag right up. A little face was staring at him.
‘Quammy,’ it said.
It was a little yellow sand duck.
‘Quammy?’ it said again.
‘Do you mean mummy?’ asked Borgon. ‘I’m not your mummy!’
The little duck stuck her head out of the bag, then spotted something in the distant sky.
‘Quammy!’ she said. ‘Quammy quammy quammy!’
Borgon saw the duck was staring at two ragged dots.
‘Quammy,’ said the duck.
‘Your mummy isn’t one of those.’ said Borgon. ‘Those are just the vultures over the stage … Oh!’
Suddenly Borgon knew which way to go, and it was all thanks to the baby duck! He made his way towards the two dots, leaping over rocks and scrambling down ledges. It wasn’t long before he heard voices calling:
‘Borgon! Borgon, are you there?’
It was Grizzy and Mungoid and Hunjah.
Borgon slithered down the last slope, and they ran up to meet him.
‘We got worried!’ said Hunjah. ‘The others are already back.’
‘They said you were dead,’ said Grizzy.
‘Maybe I would have been, if it wasn’t for my new friend,’ said Borgon.
He opened the bag and the little yellow head popped up.
‘Quammy!’ said the duck.
‘Cool!’ said the others, and they gave her a stroke.
‘So what happened?’ asked Mungoid.
‘The Raggahoos cheated,’ said Borgon. ‘So I’m going to teach them a lesson.’
Borgon pulled his axe from his belt.
‘Hooray!’ cheered Mungoid and Hunjah, but Grizzy pulled a face.
‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ she said.
‘This is NOT stupid,’ said Borgon. ‘But it could be nasty, so hold my duck.’
He held the bag out towards Grizzy, but she refused to take it.
‘It IS stupid!’ she said. ‘You can’t just run up and attack the Raggahoos.’
‘Why not?’ demanded Borgon.
‘The dame won’t let you. And besides, everybody will just think you’re being a bad loser for not getting up the mountain.’
‘But I DID get up the mountain, and I can prove it!’ said Borgon.
‘It won’t be easy,’ said Grizzy. ‘The Raggahoos will all say you’re lying.’
‘They wouldn’t dare!’ said Borgon, waving his axe. ‘I’m a BARBARIAN!’
‘Well, just for once, try to be a sensible barbarian,’ said Grizzy. ‘If the Raggahoos think you’re dead, you can catch them by surprise. Hunjah, lend Borgon your hat.’
‘What for?’ asked Hunjah.
‘You’ll see!’ said Grizzy.