Where’s Scotty?
Book 1
The Island of DOOM
Cat Crafter
Copyright © KC Global Enterprises Pty Ltd
Alex's Diary
DON'T TOUCH
(That means you, Scotty!)
Monday Morning – Breakfast time – Mood: Grumpy
There I was, not doing harm to anyone, lying in my bed. I was having a dream about being a beautiful mermaid, who decided to trade her fish tail for legs so she could walk on land. I then used my new legs to conquer the planet, and crowned myself Empress Alex – Ruler of Everything. Anyone who tried to resist my rule was fed to my pet shark, Bitey, who lived in the basement of my grand palace. It was a great dream.
That's why it was even worse when I was woken up by a world-shattering-
Being woken up early is the worst. I thought it was the end of the world! I sat upright in bed, and do you know what I saw? Half of my house was missing! Where there was once a wall made of cobblestone blocks, my selection of beautiful paintings of fruit bowls and sheep, and my crafting table, there was now a massive hole and a pile of rubble. The cold morning air slowly filled the room as I stared at the disaster, open-mouthed.
I could see right out to my farm and my chickens. Lucy and Helen looked right back in at me with a confused: bawk?
Then, to make things worse, Scotty appeared. My so-called 'best friend'.
“Hiiiiiii, Alex,” he said in his 'please don't hate me' voice.
“I think I may have startled a creeper near your house.” A creeper. The green, mean, exploding monsters that caused us all no end of trouble. You get too close and they like to explode. I jumped out of bed and stormed over to him.
“You may have startled a creeper? Half my house is missing!”
Scotty looked at the hole with a thoughtful expression. “It doesn't look that bad.” Argh! I could strangle him sometimes!
Monday Morning – After Breakfast – Mood: Calm
I'm Calm. Don't I look Calm? I'm CALM.
OK, I've had my breakfast now. I'm feeling...calmer. On closer inspection, maybe the hole isn't that big. I was planning on extending the house in that direction anyway. I could probably make some stairs, build another floor, who knows. I still have a few chests of supplies that didn't get blown up, so that's nice.
I've managed to get Scotty to help out. By that, I mean that I grabbed him by the front of his stupid turquoise t-shirt that he always wears and told him that if he didn't help me, I'd lead all the creepers to his house and leave nothing except for his bed. He is gathering wood from nearby trees as a way of saying sorry (as he should).
It's going to be a loooong day.
Monday Morning – Building time - Mood: Sigh.
Scotty hurt his hand punching a tree. Who punches a tree?
He is weird.
Monday Afternoon – Time for Lunch! - Mood: A bit hungry
I HATE CREEPERS!
They are a real problem around here. I was walking towards a nearby mine to try and get some stone for my wall, and who should appear from behind a tree? A creeper! I barely managed to dodge before it blew up and took a few blocks of wood with it!
Ugh, it's so annoying.
Monday Afternoon – Still repairing my house – Mood: Really want Scotty to shut up.
Scotty is being a pain. I'm trying to fix my house, and he interrupts me every few seconds. I put the block down and he says:
“Alex, I'm boooored.”
I put another block down.
“Alex, I'm hungryyyy.”
I put another block down.
“Alex, we should go on an adventure.”
I put another block down.
“Alex, why don't we do anything exciting anymore?”
I put another block down and say, “Our lives are exciting, Scotty.”
“But we used to have so much fun, questing, exploring deep mines, fighting monsters, things like that.”
“I have a house now, Scotty. I have a farm. These things can be fun too.”
Scotty just stared at Lucy and Helen for a while. They were doing that thing where they run around in circles and go “Bawk! Bawk!” Those silly chickens are so much fun!
Wow, I just read that back. Maybe I am boring.
No. It's everyone else who is boring. I am fine.
On the plus side, we've spent most of the day adding new improvements to my house. It looks fantastic now. I think I might even add a tower to it tomorrow. Or a moat. Moats are cool.
Tuesday Morning – Breakfast Time. - Mood: Whhyyyy?
I hate creepers!!!
Guess what I woke up to today.
It's almost as if they just want to ruin my house. I mean, Scotty's house is just further down the path. Why can't they blow up his mud hut? It doesn't even have windows! Today, I didn't even get to wake up and inspect the damage, because they blew up next to the other side of my house. That means that I woke to the wall above my head blowing up and the feeling of my bed collapsing beneath me.
My bed. They broke my bed!
To top it all off, Scotty appeared, promising that it wasn't his fault this time.
I would have let him off, but he had to wander into the remains of my house and ask, “How is my sword collection? Is it alright?”
Scotty's sword collection. Why did he even store them in my house? Iron swords, wooden swords, stone swords, a golden sword he found in a chest on time...all stored in my house.
He didn't ask, “How are you, Alex? Are you OK, Alex? Let me make you breakfast, Alex.” Nope. It was all about his swords.
To make things worse, his sword collection was completely fine.
He went over to the weapon rack that they are so perfectly balanced on and took them down, hugging them to his chest.
“Ahhh, swords,” he said. “I remember the adventures we used to go on. How we used to fight bad guys and dark monsters.”
I swear he even started kissing them.
He is a bit creepy sometimes.
He needs to get out more.
To make things EVEN worse, the CREEPER BLEW UP MY KITCHEN! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT IF IT BLEW UP MY KITCHEN?!
OK. Breathe, Alex. Breeeeaaathe. Everything is fine.
I'm so hungry.
Tuesday Morning ish – I'm in a field – Mood: Bored
Scotty found me an apple. I'm slightly less hungry now. I'm trying to fill in one of the holes a creeper made in one of my fields, but my cow, Rebecca, keeps climbing inside it. What is the saying? Curiosity killed the cow? Probably.
She keeps nudging me with her big wet nose.
“Stop doing it rebecca. Get out of the hole so I can fix it!”
She is looking at me now, and moo-ing sadly.
Can she understand me?
Nah, she's a cow.
Maybe I should stop yelling angrily at my cow.
“Sorry, Rebecca.”
Tuesday Afternoon – Arrrrrgh! - Mood: Arrrrrrrgh!
Scotty, being the helpful person he is, has gone to the nearby village of Heredock to see if he can find something 'more interesting' to do. Although I could use his help, I'm a bit glad that he isn't here complaining about how 'boring life is'.
Then again, I could really use his help right now.
Why? Because my sheep have escaped! One of the creepers has blown up the fence to the sheep pen and the crafty sheep have used the time to make a run for it!
I'll make a list of my sheep here and tick them off once I have found them:
Roger, the black sheep – Found him in the nearby river! He's a soggy sheep now.
Sarah, the white sheep – Found her under
a tree.
Bob, the orange sheep – Found him standing on top of the tree (how did he get up there?!)
Jake, the blue sheep – Was eating flowers on a nearby hill. I think he will get a tummy ache.
Samantha, the purple sheep – Found her inside my house! She was asleep under my table.
Phil, the brown sheep - didn't actually escape. Stayed inside the pen like a good sheep.
Sheepy, the yellow sheep – Found in the mine nearby, trying to eat rocks and failing.
Sheepy 2, the red sheep – With Sheepy, trying to lick some coal.
The Sheepanator, the pink sheep – She was walking towards Heredock! I managed to get her back though.
OK! Let's go round these sheep up! I can do it!
Tuesday Evening – Back home – Mood: So...sleepy
Running around after sheep all day is very tiring. Who knew they could run so fast? But I managed to get them all back! In fact, I even managed to get another sheep, that I have named Julie. Her wool is still white, but I have some dyes somewhere that will make swift work of that. I'm thinking she can be a green sheep. Yeah, it would match her eyes.
Someone is knocking on my door! It better not be Scotty begging me to make him dinner again.
Tuesday Evening – Still at Home – Mood: Confused.
It wasn't Scotty outside my door. Instead, it was an old man with a long white beard. He wore a purple robe and had a long wooden staff in one hand that looked like it was made from twisted tree roots. He looked at me with eyes as purple as his robe, stretched out his arms and said in a booming voice:
“I am Abraham, Great Wizard of the Forest, Elder of the Magic Council, Savior of the Diamond Realm, Juggler of Eggs, Maker of Slightly Burned Cakes, Quite-handy-with-a-Spade! Can you help me?”
I frowned. He seemed really weird. For a second I thought he was trying to sell me something. “Hello, Abraham...er...Great whatsit of the thingy,” I said. “What do you need help with?”
“I am on a quest!” he replied. “A quest of great importance! A quest that if I do not complete, it will surely be the end of us all!”
“Ah, OK,” I replied. “How can I help?”
Abraham leaned in close, beckoning me over, as if he planned to whisper in my ear. I moved forward slowly, reluctantly.
“Do you know where I can find the one they call Scotty? For he is destined to save the world!”
Yeah, you heard me right. Scotty is 'destined to save the world.'
Of course he is.
I told the wizard to go and check out Heredock, as Scotty was probably there, and then closed the door in his stupid bearded face.
I'm not angry. No, no. I'm just confused. I mean, why does Scotty get 'destined' to save the world, and all I am destined to do is fix my house over and over again? I mean, Scotty can't even make a sandwich without burning it! How is he going to save the world?
I could make sandwiches and save the world.
I just don't want to.
I'm far too busy.
I've got a farm to run and a house to extend.
I don't care. The old man is gone now, so I can focus on trying to get some sleep.
I am still tired from saving sheep all day anyway.
I don't have time to save the world.
I mean, I could save the world if I wanted to.
Maybe I will, some other day.
Not today, though.
I'm going to sleep.
Stupid Scotty.
Wednesday Morning – Weird times – Mood: Creeped out
I woke up this morning at a normal time, without an exploded house! Yay! Except, another strange thing happened today.
Remember the old man from yesterday? Well, he was still outside my house. It looked like he had walked back up the path to the lane that runs into town and then just...stopped. He was staring intensely into the distance, and was just kind of standing there with his staff. Weird.
When I had finished eating my breakfast, I opened my front door and slowly walked up to him. I didn't want to go too fast, in case it turned out he was a creeper in disguise or something. When I was right next to him, I tapped him on the shoulder. “Hello?”
He suddenly shook, as if waking up from a deep sleep, and said:
“I am Abraham, Great Wizard of the Forest, Elder of the Magic Council, Savior of the Diamond Realm….”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving a hand at him. “I know, we met yesterday, remember?”
He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, inspecting me like I was a rotten apple.
“Hmm,” he said. “You look a bit familiar. I definitely recall a boy with a big nose.”
“I'm a girl,” I snapped at him, resisting the urge to kick him in the shins for the big nose remark. My nose is beautiful, thank you very much. “Have you found Scotty yet?”
“Scotty!” His eyes widened. “Yes! Scotty! The chosen one! Destined to save the world! Bringer of the light!”
I blinked. This old guy sure liked to go a bit overboard with his Scotty compliments.
“Yeah, him.” I said with a sigh. “You found him?”
The old guy frowned and scratched his chin. “No, not yet. I am looking for him, though.”
Clearly this guy's brain was past its best. “Right. You want to come into my house for some food, and then we can find him together?”
The wizard smiled. “That sounds wonderful!”
So now I'm sitting in my kitchen with 'Abraham, weird of weirdos,' who is eating some bread. He even started writing something down in a kind of journal. I glanced over his shoulder and read this:
Bigge nose, haire of orange, mayebee a girle? Gudde Bred.
He really needs to work on his spelling. I guess he likes the bread. When he finishes, we'll head down to town.
Come to think of it, where is Scotty? He should be back by now, being as annoying as ever and trying to break my house. He went down to town yesterday. What is he doing? Maybe he got lost and fell into a lake.
Hmmm. I guess the old man and me both have a quest to find Scotty. Although, mine is more along the lines of 'drag him back here by the ear' and less 'saving the world'. Still, we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
The old man wants more bread. He must really like bread!
Wednesday Afternoon – Going to town – Mood: Frustrated
I've never met someone who gets lost when walking in a straight line before. It's a good thing I am guiding this old man to town, because otherwise he would definitely get lost. I even found him talking to a flower at one point. He stopped in the middle of the road, looked at the flower and said: “Mighty Flower! I am Abraham, Great Wizard of the...oh, what are you doing?”
I grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him along.
“Come on,” I said. “No time to be talking to flowers if you want to find Scotty.”
Abraham stood back up. “You're right! We need to go! Farewell, sweet flower!” and then he started walking down the path... in the wrong direction!
“Abraham!” I shouted after him. “This way!”
He spun on his toes and turned back, walking towards me. “Right, right, yes, of course.”
We've only just made it to town. I guess we need to ask around for Scotty. We'll go to the Jake's first and then....
Oh no. He's wandered off again.
Hang on.
Wednesday Afternoon – The Soggy Spoon Night Club – Mood: On the hunt for Scotty!
There are two things about 'The Soggy Spoon Night Club' that have always bothered me. First, it closes at 6pm, so it is never open at night. Second, it has a jukebox in the corner but my friend Jake, who owns the place, says that music gives him a headache and so he never has it on (except for absolutely special occasions).
I think the Soggy Spoon is actually more of a cafe, but Jake doesn't think owning a cafe is manly enough.
However, the good thing about Jake is that he has his ear to the ground. Not literally, but he knows all the gossip
and stuff that is going on in all the villages around. If I was going to find Scotty, this would be the best place to start. I sauntered up to the bar and flashed him my widest grin.
“Jaaaaake, my buddy, my pal, my best friend,” I said. He isn't actually my best friend, but he doesn't need to know that.
Jake frowned at me from behind the counter, which he was cleaning with his sleeve. “What?” he grumbled. I could tell straight away that he still hadn't forgiven me for beating him at the fishing contest a few weeks ago. It's not my fault his fishing rod broke. He shouldn't have left it on my chair. “Who's the old timer?”
Abraham seemed to be having a very intense conversation with a nearby wall, asking for it to 'divulge its secrets'. I dismissed him with a wave of the hand.
“Ignore him,” I said. “You seen Scotty?”
Jake shrugged. “Maybe.”
This wasn't going to be easy, I could tell. I needed to bribe him somehow. “If I promise to give you back the bow that I won off you last week, will you tell me?”
That got his attention. He loved that bow (unsurprisingly, it was a very good bow) and he would be willing to do anything to get it back. “Aye,” he said. “That might work.” He wiped a particularly mucky spot on the wood in front of him. “I saw him yesterday. Came in here talking about how bored he was and stuff, so I sent him off to the docks. I heard there was a ship down there about to set off on a big quest or something.”
The docks. Had Scotty gone off on an adventure without telling me? If so, there will be hell to pay.
Actually, now that I think about it, was the bow hanging on that wall that got blown up?
Huh. I won't mention that to Jake. Maybe he'll forget.
Yeah. Probably.
Wednesday Afternoon – Down at the Docks – Mood: Everything here stinks of fish!
I'm pretty good at fishing. There is something very peaceful about sitting in a rowing boat that I have built with a fishing rod dangling in the blue water, and just doing nothing. I don't even have to catch fish. It's very relaxing.