And then—disaster.
“Ooof!” Paul tripped over a rock and went sprawling, inches from the dock.
The werewolf screamed with glee and leaped high in the air. It couldn’t miss. It would land squarely on Paul’s back.
“Noooo!” I jumped into the water, grabbed Paul’s hand and jerked him into the water with me, even though I knew it was useless. The werewolf only had to reach out and catch us both.
THUMP!
The werewolf landed right where Paul had been a second ago.
“EEEEEEEYARRR!”
The werewolf screamed in pain and anger. It had been so gleeful and overconfident that it had leaped too high, miscalculated, and come down on its ankle. It stumbled in the sand for an instant before it recovered and lunged at us.
But that instant was all we needed. Paul heaved himself out of the water onto the dock, with me pulling him. The werewolf, again an instant too late, raked its claws into the water where we had been.
Paul and I threw ourselves into the boat tied up at the end of the dock.
Steam hissed from the water as the werewolf thrashed to its feet.
I fumbled with the rope. The knot was tight and unfamiliar. Panic bubbled up inside me like fizz in a shaken soda. I couldn’t undo it! “Stay calm,” I muttered to myself, knowing my shaking hands were only making it worse. But the knot was just too tight. I couldn’t budge it.
THUD!
My head jerked up. The werewolf had landed on the dock, hissing.
“HSSSSSSSSS!”
Most of me turned to ice but my hands kept working at the knot. And getting nowhere.
It was too late. We were doomed.
Chapter 19
Tensing its powerful haunches, the monster bared its long yellow fangs and snarled. Slowly it raised its claws. Reflected light from the pond glinted off the deadly curved claws as the werewolf snapped them at us. Its eyes glowed hotter, enjoying the terror on our faces.
It sprang.
Behind me, Paul screamed. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
I held up the rope, pulling it tight in front of my face. The creature’s claws were aimed straight for my eyes. I yanked on the rope that held the boat, trying to pull it loose.
The werewolf hit the rope, almost jerking it out of my hands. Its claws cut through the rope like it was butter. The monster screamed in frustration as the boat shot away from the dock.
“GRRRRRRRRRR!”
With the rope suddenly free in my hands, I fell backward into the bottom of the boat. Paul was yelling in excitement and terror. He grabbed an oar and tried to push the boat out farther. But for some reason, the little boat had stopped dead in the water.
I grabbed the other oar, pulling as hard as I could. But we weren’t moving.
“RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRRR!”
Paul yelped and I almost dropped my oar as the monster’s head appeared over the side of the boat. Its terrible jaws snapped at us, just missing.
The werewolf was stretched full length on the dock, holding the end of frayed rope that was still attached to our boat.
The boat rocked violently as the werewolf grabbed the side of it with both huge paws, its claws scraping splinters from the wood. Paul fell down but held on to his oar. The werewolf lunged for me and missed, raking the air an inch from my ear.
The werewolf was half into the boat, grunting and snarling with the effort of trying to pull the boat back to the dock without overbalancing and falling into the water. I could see steam rising from its ankles, and black patches where the water had burnt its hide like acid.
Paul was gasping, unable even to scream. The monster lifted its head, flicking its tongue at me like a snake. Its eyes were slits of red fire.
There was a snarling chorus of howling from shore as the rest of the werewolves gathered. In seconds they would swarm onto the dock and help their companion pull us in.
In a fever of fear, I pulled my oar out of the oarlock. I lifted the oar high in the air. And then banged it down as hard as I could on the werewolf’s head.
“AAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
The werewolves on shore howled in a frenzy of rage. The noise was so horrible I knew we had to escape or they would tear us to pieces without bothering to kill us first. The werewolf I had hit lifted its head. Blood bubbled and smoked from a cut on its ugly snout. Its eyes flashed and smoldered as if they would burst into flame any second.
The monster gnashed its fangs and sank its claws into the edge of the boat almost lifting us right out of the water.
SLAM!
I smashed the oar down on its huge paw. It screamed hideously and let go. The boat lurched. I smashed the oar down on its other paw. We might just get away!
The monster screamed and swiped at me, catching the oar. In a flash it snatched it from me. With a shriek of triumph it snapped the thick oar in half like a toothpick.
I pitched backward, landing hard in the bottom of the boat. Pain shot up my backbone. I couldn’t move.
The werewolf rose on its hind legs. It flung one half of the oar away and I heard it land way out in the middle of the pond with a soft splash.
Then the monster pointed the jagged half of the oar like a spear. It was aimed right at my heart.
Chapter 20
“No!” screamed Paul.
The werewolf bared its fangs in a grin and threw the spearlike oar with all his strength. It was over. I shut my eyes.
The boat rocked and I heard a loud splash. Then a scream of pain. Not mine.
I opened my eyes, amazed to be alive. Paul was digging his oar into the water as hard as he could and the boat was spinning away from the dock. The broken
