Bab stormed right up to the frozen Unpharaoh. Her hairy face was stuck in a hideous snarl. Cainus desperately scratched at the ice cube but his claws barely made a dent.
That ice looks thick, Bab thought. And it’s magic, so with luck she’s stuck in there for good. But if not . . . well, I guess Mum is an awesome sorceress again now, so she can just refreeze her. Can’t she?
He looked to his mum for reassurance. The Prof’s eyes were screwed up into small wrinkles, and she was pressing her fingers into her forehead.
“Arrgh, brain freeze,” she moaned. “I feel like I slurped one of those blue slushy drinks you love so much, Babby. Always happens with nostril ice magic, you know. Oh, what I would give for a hot cuppa right now.”
Bab noticed that Prong was no longer hugging the Prof. In fact, she had fallen to the floor and her dirty pink hat sat a few feet away. Most notably, her head had swollen up like a giant balloon. It had swallowed up most of her beak, leaving only a tiny bit sticking out, like a pair of tweezers.
Prong stood up, planted her wings on either side of her huge head, and shook it vigorously.
“I can’t hear my potato rattle,” she chirped through her teeny beak. Her voice was high-pitched, like someone was pinching her nose. “My precious potato, where is it?”
Scaler scuttled over and peered inside one of Prong’s bird-hole ears. “Your head’s running on empty,” she said.
Bab rushed to his mum and peered closely at her. She’d changed, too. Her head wasn’t swollen like Prong’s – it was its regular, slightly-bigger-than-normal self. But her face was lined and tired, just as it had been before. The dancing wisps of purple magic had faded to nothing.
“Mum, are you okay?” Bab asked. “You look like . . . regular Mum again.”
“Purple magic is powerful stuff, Babby,” she said, straightening her glasses. “Even in ancient times it was a strain on my brain. I suppose all those nostril blasts were too much for that little mummified brain chunk to handle. It must have exploded inside Prong’s head.”
Bab turned to the big-headed ibis and frowned. “Hold still, Prong,” he told her. Remembering how you let air out of bike tyres, he pulled her tweezers-beak to relieve the pressure in her skull.
Pfffttttt!
Prong’s head deflated back to its normal size. The Ibis Mummy honked with relief.
Scaler placed a rotten hoof on her bird friend’s shoulder. “Sorry Prong,” she said, “but it seems your potato got baked.”
“Baked?” squawked Prong. “I didn’t see any chefs around!”
The frazzled Ibis Mummy flapped about the ruined room. “Where are you, chef? Come out and give me my baked potato please. Preferably with some yummy herbs.”
She spotted her dirty pink hat on the floor and snatched it up. “A-ha. My potato wasn’t baked after all – someone stole it! See, my hat fell off. It had no protection. I made this hat specifically to protect the potato!”
Scaler shot Bab a sideways glance. “And you didn’t believe me when I said the potato made her smarter.”
Bab gave Prong a gentle pat. “It’s gone, Prong,” he explained. “Mum’s magic was too much for it. The brain chunk blew up and now it’s probably just a pile of dust behind your eyes.”
Hearing this seemed to cheer Prong up. She placed the old hat back on her head. “Well I’d best keep wearing this, then. There could be more chefs lurking around. They’d love to get their hands on some potato dust. Mmm, sounds delicious doesn’t it? Ahhh-chooo!”
Prong sneezed a brown cloud into Bab’s face.
“And there’s the potato dust,” Bab said, coughing and spluttering. Wiping the brain powder off his face, he smiled at his ibis friend.
At least Prong is still herself without the brain chunk, he thought. More bonkers maybe, but still my funny, loving friend.
CREAKKK. CRACK-K-K.
Bab spun around to check the Unpharoah in her ice cube. Her scarlet eyes glowed like hot coals. The ice around her was splintering.
CRACKKK. SNAWP-P-P.
Cainus was busy fanning the roots of his Beard with his patchy paws. “Hot hot hot,” he cried. “My queen is furious. This Beard feels like it’s on fire!”
He desperately blew at his chin like it was one of those trick birthday candles that never goes out.
CHACK!
A hot horn of hair burst through the surface of the ice cube.
CHACK!
CHACK!
CHACK!
Wicked spikes of hair pierced the cube in three places. Its surface was webbed with white cracks.
Dammit, thought Bab. His Cotton Beard couldn’t beat the Unpharaoh. And his mum had lost her power again.
I can’t believe I put Mum in this dangerous situation, he thought. She wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t asked her to shop for more marshmallows . . . MARSHMALLOWS!
“Beard,” Bab shouted, “turn into a giant marshmallow. With a tunnel leading inside!”
The fluffy white tuft grew into exactly that.
“Quick, everyone in!” Bab commanded. Prong, Scaler and the Prof scrambled inside the delicious treat and Bab followed them.
“Oooh, it’s cosy in here,” honked Prong. “Reminds me of the Spongy Void!” She sank her cheek affectionately into the side of the tunnel. Bab shuddered at the memory and pushed Prong deeper into the Beard Mallow.
CHACK-ER-RACK!
Like an enraged hedgehog, the Unpharoah Beard burst through the ice cube. She sent showers of freezing splinters all over the mummy room.
Smoke and fire fumed from her nostrils. The hairy horns on the top of her head grew and grew and grew until they pierced through the museum’s ceiling. Whizzing about like a blender blade, she thrashed around the room, sending ancient artefacts, chunks of wall and even whole pillars soaring through the air.
The spinning queen biffed into the fluffy Beard Mallow. It bounced like a beach ball through the broken walls and onto the dusty pavement outside the museum.
“Waarghh!” yelled Bab, Scaler and the Prof from inside the marshmallow.
“Weeee, yippee!” honked Prong in delight.
Cainus looked at his mistress, trembling. He could feel
