Dreamweavers: Awakening

Ryan when they had straightened up once more. ‘What do you want me to do about it?’

  ‘Can you stand up and reach it?’

  ‘With you driving like that? I don’t think so.’

  ‘Those idiots behind us are closing in and there’s no way off this road. Look, we’re on a straight now. I’ll hold it steady.’

  ‘Can’t you do a ‘weave or something?’

  ‘I already did one to create the gun that’s now stuffed down your butt-crack. Now, sort it out!’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ said Ryan sulkily.

  He placed both hands on the rim of the cockpit and readied himself for a push.

  ‘Hang on; corner!’ shouted Tristram.

  Ryan hunkered down again and strained against the lateral forces that tried to rip his head from his shoulders.

  ‘Okay, you’re good to go,’ said Tristram, as he finished fighting them out of a wild fish-tail. The noise of the pursuing vehicle’s engine was uncomfortably close behind them, and they no longer needed to look over their shoulders to gauge its distance.

  ‘Right, here goes,’ said Ryan, satisfied that what he could see of the road up ahead was straight, flat and free of obstacles. ‘Don’t you dare try and throw me out.’

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of it,’ replied Tristram.

  Ryan tensed his arms and pushed hard on the edge of the cockpit, hugely conscious of the wheel spinning at an insane speed close to his right knuckles. It went all right at first; his body was free to move up and out of the seat and he was able to shuffle his feet back slightly to get a bit more of a push. Then, all of a sudden, something snagged.

  He tried again, pressing hard with his arms and legs, but something was preventing him from getting up.

  ‘What are you waiting for?’ asked Tristram.

  ‘I can’t… something’s caught,’ said Ryan, continuing his struggle. ‘I think it’s my trousers.’

  Tristram glanced over and burst out laughing.

  ‘It’s the gun, you idiot! It’s caught under the rim of the cockpit.’

  Ryan squirmed and tried to look over his shoulder, but was dazzled by the lights of the vehicle behind them, which was now right on their tail and weaving dangerously.

  ‘Come on Ryan, that thing’s going to have us any moment.’

  Ryan strained again and finally succeeded in getting to his feet. Unfortunately it was at the expense of his trousers, which remained in the cockpit with the snagged gun. Tristram looked over at him again and began crying with laughter. When he turned back to the road he was too late to brake for the upcoming corner. They ploughed into a snow drift at the side of the road and were pitched into the air, sailing high over the top of it and tumbling down the bank on the far side.

  For Ryan it was possibly the most undignified experience of his life; rolling down the slope with his trousers round his ankles. When he finally came to rest it felt like every inch of his body was covered in snow. He spat out a mouthful and lay there, dazed, while somewhere away to his left he could hear Tristram still laughing hysterically.

  Git, he thought. It was going to be a while before he lived that one down. Thank God that Sophie wasn’t around.

  Slowly, he lifted his legs off the ground and tried to shake the snow out of his trousers without covering himself further. When he had got rid of the worst of it, he wriggled them on and stood up to brush himself off.

  As luck would have it they had crashed just where the forest ended and gave way to a broad, open vale, with the river they were searching for at the bottom. On the far side the land rose steeply to form a huge wall of jagged peaks and clefts, while away to the left, past where Tristram was trying to extricate himself from a large mound of snow, still giggling idiotically, was a bridge with a cluster of small buildings at either end.

  Ryan braced himself for a torrent of ridicule and trudged over to join his tutor.

  ‘Ryan! Boy, you’ve got some style,’ said Tristram, shaking a flurry of snow out of his hair and searching around for the hat he had been wearing.

  ‘Yeah, laugh it up,’ shrugged Ryan. ‘Get it all out of your system now.’

  ‘No, seriously, that wasn’t quite the tactic I was looking to employ, but it seemed to work. Look, we’re here in one piece and we managed to lose our tail. A job well done, I’d say.’

  Ryan eyed him suspiciously, and it wasn’t long before Tristram lost his composure and broke down laughing again. Ryan stood with his arms folded, not looking at all impressed. His face was red with a mixture of embarrassment and the cold. Suddenly there came the snarl of a large petrol engine and a pair of headlight beams swung out across the vale from the road at the top of the bank. Slowly, the nose of a vehicle appeared and stopped, looking out over the broad panorama. Tristram stopped laughing and stared up at it grimly.

  ‘What should we do?’ asked Ryan.

  ‘Well, there’s not much point in running,’ replied his tutor. There was no cover between them and the forest, and the snow was too deep to allow them to reach it without being spotted. ‘You could try mooning them again. That might work.’

  ‘You’re funny,’ said Ryan, deadpan.

  As he stared up at the silhouette of the vehicle, something twigged in Ryan's mind. He eyed it for a few moments longer and then it came to him.

  ‘That’s Daisy and Billy up there!’ he exclaimed, starting to make his way up the slope towards the lights.

  ‘What? Ryan, wait…’

  Tristram took a couple of long bounds and fell into step next to him. Suddenly the unmistakable silhouette of Daisy Rose appeared in front of the vehicle, her features cast into shadow by the glare of its lights. Upon spotting them she waved joyously and shouted down.

  ‘Ryan! Tristram! It’s us! It’s us!’

  Tristram looked over at Ryan and shook his head.

  ‘I sincerely hope we weren’t fleeing from those two,’ he said.

  Me too, thought Ryan, though he knew deep down that they had witnessed his moment of shame.

  The awkward shape of Billy Richards appeared beside Daisy and gave them a curt, far less enthusiastic wave.

  ‘Well, that’s two out of three,’ said Tristram. ‘One more to find. How did you know it was them?’

  Ryan gave an arrogant snort.

  ‘I made that vehicle, didn’t I?’ he said nonchalantly. It wasn’t quite the truth, but he considered it to be close enough.

  Tristram looked suitably impressed.

  ‘Then, as your teacher, I feel I should take a look at your handiwork and give you marks out of ten.’

  As they neared the top of the slope, Daisy could no longer contain herself and came tumbling towards them in an avalanche of affection. They caught hold of her as she threatened to sweep straight past them and down to the river.

  ‘It’s so good to see the two of you,’ she gushed, hugging them both in turn. ‘I didn’t recognise you in that outfit Tristram. And Ryan, I can’t believe you made it back here. We’ve been terribly lost without you, but the buggy’s been working perfectly.’

  ‘Looks like judgement has already been passed,’ smiled Tristram. ‘I’m glad you are both safe and sound anyway. I was quite concerned when Ryan told me you were here too.’

  ‘Oh we’ve been fine,’ beamed Daisy. ‘Billy’s been a bit of a grump, but I think that’s because of my bad map reading. This place is so beautiful that I’ve been a bit distracted and have missed a few turnings.’

  ‘Well, you’re here now and that’s what matters,’ said Tristram. ‘I had been banking on the two of you showing up sooner or later; dreams often work that way. Right, let’s take a look at this contraption of yours, Ryan.’

  They climbed up to the top of the bank, where Billy and the monster golf buggy were waiting. It really was an odd-looking machine; all wheels, with a tiny body perched on top. It was the vehicular equivalent of a house-spider. It appeared to have endured its journey remarkably well, though the chrome fittings that had been present when it first materialised were now du
lled by a layer of dirt and grit.

  ‘Wow!’ said Tristram, taking a walk round and inspecting it with keen interest. ‘That’s pretty impressive, Ryan.’

  ‘It nearly went the same way as your bike,’ said Billy. ‘The glare from Butler’s backside nearly blinded me.’

  Daisy giggled.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, well you shouldn’t have been eyeing it up,’ scowled Ryan.

  ‘Couldn’t help it. It was taking up most of the road,’ said Billy, rounding on him.

  ‘Well I’m sure the guys at school will all be happy to know that you were dreaming about my butt!’ snarled Ryan.

  ‘And then maybe they’ll start wondering about how you came by that piece of information. Butler, you may be good at this Dreamweaving stuff, but you’re still an idiot.’

  ‘That’s enough!’ said Tristram, stepping between them. ‘I’ve got a good mind to expel both of you from here right now. I’m certainly starting to think that the Academy’s decision to put you both in my group was a bad one, although it seems that when you do work together it is startling what can be achieved.’

  Ryan and Billy glowered at one another like duellists at dawn; waiting for the moment for a swift and decisive strike.

  ‘Now, I want you two to bury the hatchet,’ said Tristram, stepping out of their way. ‘Not in one another’s backs, I might add. If you don’t I’ll send you both packing and you will wake up in your beds feeling pretty damn stupid. As it is, you shouldn’t be here. But since you are it’s a good learning opportunity, so you should be making use of it. Now, shake on it.’

  Billy and Ryan stepped in close to