Curse of the Werebottom

Chapter 8

 "Some things in life are good and some things in life are truly great," said Larry. "But my dad says that the absolute best things in life are the truly great things that you forget are truly great, right up until they are laid out right in front of you."

They were all seated around the large table in the kitchen in Eddie's house about to eat the lunch that his mother had prepared for them. Larry began to hungrily devour his beans on toast with a fried egg on top with absolute gusto. Eddie and Max nodded in agreement with Larry's appreciation of the simple, yet delicious meal and for a couple of minutes all that could be heard in Eddies mothers very large and bright white dining kitchen was the sound of cutlery scraping across bright white plates. "Beans on toast," Max said appreciatively, "Best lunch ever!"

"OK folks," said Eddie, "Let's get busy with the fizzy." Larry and Eddie spent the next ten minutes bringing Max completely up to date with the events of the last night and this morning. They described how there had been an unexplained attack at Sunnydays Camp Site and how they had managed to discover the tracks of an unidentified monster that could prove the victims claims to be true. They further explained the mysterious trail of the tracks, that rather than offer answers to the puzzle, only provided even more questions.

"This is where you come in," said Larry. "You're the brightest student in school and you've just about read every book in the library and every interesting fact on the internet. What do you think could be responsible for this?"

Max didn't reply straight away. Instead she very slowly looked from one boy to the next. From Larry, to Eddie, back to Larry and then to Eddie again before resting her gaze finally back on Larry.

"Are you two winding me up? Is this some sort of joke? A right good old wind up just to prove just how 'strange', 'Strange Max' can really be?" Her voice was rising slightly and tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "I'll be going now, thank you very much for lunch. I'm sure that I'll see you around school." Max made to stand from the table and reach behind her for her jacket that rested on the back of her chair.

"Wait!" said Larry and Eddie in unison. Max stopped and stared at them, almost challenging them to try and tease or ridicule her further. Eddie stood and walked over to Max and stared her straight in the eye. "We believe that Diddlesbury is in danger. We believe that there is a monster on the prowl that has the potential to seriously harm or even kill people. We believe that we have an opportunity and a responsibility to stop this beast. And we believe that we cannot do this without your help. We are serious Max. We like you and we respect you. Please help us."

Max lowered her head and murmured, "Alright then. It's just that it seems so..." She was lost for words. "Unbelievable." Larry finished her sentence for her.

"Well, yes!" replied Max, "Completely!" Larry grimaced at her. "This is undoubtedly the most boring and unremarkable town in the whole of England. The very idea of anything even remotely interesting happening is completely unlikely and the idea of anything dangerous and dare I say it, supernatural, happening is completely bonkers!" Larry took a step towards her. "But it is happening, I can't explain exactly how I know, but I know that it is. Help us Max!" he said with urgency. "We really need your help!"

A surge of determination and a new found sense of belonging crept over Max. "Alright boys, I'm in." she simply stated. No apologies or further explanations were needed. They all understood that they had made a commitment and a promise to each other.

In the future all three of them would think back to this meal together and as their memories faded and as minor details would become confused, they all would remember exactly the same thing.

That this was the very moment that started their astounding adventure together.