The Spider Gnomes

by Linda Chapman

  Sam looked offended. “So, just ’cos I’m good at a sport for a change, it has to be magic? Thanks a lot, Sophie!” He turned away.

  “Wait!” Sophie put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. Of course you can be good at sport. I’m just being stupid.” To her relief, she saw the cross look fade from his face.

  “I guess it is a bit weird,” he admitted. “But it feels great to be good at something like this for a change!” He swung his bag over his shoulder. “Look, why don’t we go into town now?” he suggested. “Maybe we’ll see something that’ll help us figure out the clue for the red gem.”

  Sophie nodded. As they left school and walked into Upper Gately, she kept darting worried looks at Sam. Despite what she’d just said to him, she still half thought something strange must be going on.

  But what could it possibly be?

  Chapter 6

  A Nasty Bug

  At first glance it seemed to be a usual Monday afternoon in the High Street. Looking around though, Sophie could see that it wasn’t usual at all. There were spiders everywhere! Thousands of them, creeping over all the buildings in town. Everyone they passed was talking about the tiny creatures, and the newsagent had a sign in the window: “Town meeting tomorrow night at 8 p.m. to discuss spider problem. Please be there!”

  “What do you think they’re all doing?” breathed Sophie, watching as a long line of spiders left the post office and marched towards the bakery.

  “I don’t know, but aren’t they interesting?” Sam gazed dreamily at them.

  Sophie groaned. “Earth to Sam! OK, forget the spiders.” She waved her hand in front of his face. “We’ve got to find the red gem. It must be hidden someplace high. Remember the clue:

  “Hours and minutes

  Near clouds and sky

  The red gem is hidden

  Way up high.”

  Sam nodded. “So we need to find the tallest places in town.”

  They began to look and finally narrowed it down to three places: the war memorial, the church steeple and the town hall’s clock tower.

  Excitement fizzed through Sophie as she stared up at the clock tower. The clock on the wall had a large white face with Roman numerals all the way round. “That’s it!” she burst out. “Sam, that’s what the hours and minutes part of the clue means – the gem must be up there, in the tower!”

  He nodded vaguely. “Mmm.”

  “How are we going to get up there to check though?” Sophie went on, frowning. The town hall was a brick building set back from the road. The clock tower was built over the entrance porch, with a small domed structure at the top of it. “It’s so high.”

  Sam didn’t say anything.

  “Any ideas?” Sophie asked him.

  He shook his head.

  “Well, maybe Grandpa will be able to think of something,” Sophie said, wondering why Sam was being so quiet. “Why don’t we go back to mine?”

  “Actually… do you mind if I don’t come?” Sam rubbed his forehead. “I’m not feeling too good. The scratch is hurting and my head’s aching too. I must be coming down with something.”

  “Oh, no,” said Sophie in concern. “Are you OK?”

  Looking pale, Sam nodded as they started towards home. “I’m sure it’s just a bug or something – I’ll be fine tomorrow. We can figure out how to get up to the clock tower then.”

  But Sam wasn’t fine the next day. When Sophie called for him in the morning, his mum said that he was ill and wouldn’t be going to school. Worried, Sophie walked to school on her own. An awful thought was beginning to form in her head. Maybe Sam was ill because of the scratch. What if the Spider Gnomes had poisonous fangs? She fretted about it all day and after school raced straight back to Sam’s house.

  “Is Sam any better?” she asked when his mother opened the door.

  “I’m afraid not,” his mum sighed. “I’m sure he’d feel better if he went outside and got some fresh air, but he doesn’t want to get out of bed.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I was going to go to the town meeting tonight, but I can’t leave him with a babysitter when he’s sick. Maybe seeing you will cheer him up, Sophie. Do you want to pop up? Don’t stand too close though; you don’t want to catch it.”

  Sophie nodded gratefully and ran up to Sam’s bedroom. He was lying huddled up in bed.

  “You look awful!” she said. Even from the doorway she could see that his skin was a funny grey colour.

  Sam nodded miserably. “I feel really hot, and the scratch on my neck is hurting.”

  The scratch was bright red and purple now. Sophie stared anxiously at it. Was the scratch the reason Sam was so ill?

  “I told Mum I’d scraped it on a tree and she put some cream on it, but it hasn’t helped,” Sam continued. “She thinks I’ve got the flu, but I’m swelling up too.” He pushed back the duvet to show her his tummy. He was usually skinny, but now his tummy was bulging out. “And all my legs ache,” he went on, pulling the duvet back round him.

  “All your legs?” echoed Sophie. “Don’t you mean both your legs?”

  Sam blinked. “Yeah, of course. Sorry, I don’t know why I said all.”

  Sophie went nearer to the bed. “You really do look dreadful.”

  Sam’s skin was even greyer than she had first thought. And something was different about his face. His nose somehow seemed more hooked, his teeth more pointed.

  At that moment, a fly zoomed past. “Mmm. Yummy fly! Come here!” said Sam. He grabbed the fly from the air with super-quick speed. It buzzed furiously in his closed fingers.

  “Sam!” Sophie stared. “What are you doing?”

  “I want to eat it.” Sam’s eyes gleamed greedily. “I haven’t eaten all day. I’m starving!”

  “Sam! You can’t eat a fly! You—”

  Sam threw his head back and stuffed the fly into his mouth! Sophie was so shocked she was speechless for once.

  Sam burped.

  Sophie gazed at him in dawning horror. Of course! It all added up: his grey skin, the swelling tummy. Not to mention his dislike of birds the day before, his love of cardboard, his new talent for jumping – and now wanting to eat flies too!

  “Sam,” she whispered, aghast. “I don’t think you’ve got flu – I… I think you’re turning into a spider!”

  Chapter 7

  Cobwebs for Supper

  “I’m turning into a spider?” Sam echoed.

  “Well, maybe not a spider,” Sophie gabbled. “Maybe a Spider Gnome. All the things you’re doing – they’re all spidery things. You’re even looking quite like a Spider Gnome! It must be that scratch on your neck. Maybe they have poisonous teeth.”

  Sam stared at her in shock. “Spiders often do have venomous fangs. It must be why I’m feeling so odd! What are we going to do?”

  “It said something about an antidote in The Shadow Files, remember? It must have been talking about the antidote you need if a Spider Gnome bites you!” Rummaging in her school bag, Sophie pulled out The Shadow Files, and flipped to the right page. “Here it is – Antidote involves eating web…” she read aloud. “That’s all I can make out, but at least it’s easy. We need to get you some spiderweb – and fast!”

  “But there’s none here. Mum hates spiders and she hoovers up the webs whenever she sees them,” Sam told her. “She’s been hoovering all day!”

  “Then let’s go to my house. I saw some in my room this morning,” said Sophie. “Though how will we get past your mum when you’re supposed to be ill?”

  “That’ll be easy. Mum thinks fresh air is the best cure for any illness.” Sam got out of bed and looked in his mirror. He shuddered. “She’d better not see me like this though.”

  He pulled on some clothes over his pyjamas. Soon he was dressed in jeans and a hoodie, the hood pulled up, and a scarf round most of his face hiding his grey skin and sharp teeth.

  Sam’s mum was downstairs on the phone. When Sam muttered that he was going to get some fresh air, she nodded and waved him off,
hardly even glancing in their direction.

  “Phew!” he muttered through his scarf as he and Sophie hurried out of the house. “Hey!” He stared down at the pavement. “All the spiders have gone.”

  “Let’s check it out later,” Sophie said. “First we need to stop you turning into a Spider Gnome!”

  They let themselves in through the front door of her house. Sam touched the door handle and spluttered. “Yuk! Lemon furniture polish! I can taste it in my mouth!”

  “Mrs B’s put it everywhere,” said Sophie. “That’s why.”

  “Bleurgh!” Sam said, being careful not to touch anything else.

  Just then Mrs B’s voice floated out of the kitchen, where she was talking to Nigel. “Say ‘Who’s a pretty boy then…’”

  The parrot screeched, and Sam leapt straight up, almost touching the ceiling. “A bird!” he gasped in a panic. “I’ve got to get out of here!” He bolted up the stairs.

  Sophie ran after him. She found him cowering behind her wardrobe. “Sam, it was only Nigel!”

  He nodded and stepped out, his cheeks red. “Sorry. I guess it’s a spider thing – hearing him screech like that just really scared me.”

  Sophie saw that the cobwebs were still in the corner of her ceiling. “There you are! Get eating!” She started to pull a chair across so Sam could stand on it, but he didn’t need it. Crouching down, he sprang into the air and grabbed the cobwebs. He landed with a cloud of white strands in his hand.

  “Well, go on – eat it,” said Sophie.

  “I don’t want to,” he replied nervously.

  “You’ve got to! You don’t want to be a Spider Gnome, do you?”

  Sam shut his eyes and shoved the cobweb into his mouth. “Yuk! It’s gross!” he spluttered as he swallowed it down.

  “But has it worked?” Sophie demanded.

  Sam looked at himself in the mirror. “I don’t feel any different.”

  “Maybe you need more,” Sophie suggested.

  Just then there was a sharp rap on Sophie’s door. They jumped guiltily as it opened.

  “I thought I heard you two come upstairs. I—” Grandpa broke off as he took in Sam’s grey skin, and saw the remains of the cobweb in his hand. “What’s going on?”

  Sophie’s stomach felt like it was shooting down in a lift, but there was no escape – she had to tell Grandpa the truth. She cleared her throat. “Um… Sam’s sort of… turning into a Spider Gnome.”

  “He’s what?” Grandpa’s eyes stood out on stalks.

  Sophie quickly told him everything that had happened from the moment they’d gone into the woods. “And in The Shadow Files, it says the antidote is web, so we came back here to get Sam some.”

  Grandpa groaned. “It won’t mean normal spiderweb, you silly child. It’ll mean Spider Gnome web!”

  “Oh!” gasped Sophie. She glanced at Sam, who seemed to have been distracted by a bluebottle buzzing around the room. His eyes were following it hungrily.

  “But I imagine you’re right and Sam is turning into a Spider Gnome,” Grandpa went on. “Many shadow creatures have venomous teeth. A single scratch from a Spider Gnome’s fang could well be enough to infect a person. We must act quickly!”

  “What will happen if we don’t get the web?” asked Sophie in a tiny voice.

  Grandpa gave Sam a grim look. “He will be a Spider Gnome forever.”

  Sophie bit her lip. She rarely cried, but could feel tears in her eyes now. “It’s going to be OK, isn’t it?” she begged Grandpa.

  “We’re in this together,” he told her firmly. “We’ll do whatever it takes to save Sam. Understand?”

  Sophie nodded hard, wiping her eyes.

  “Right,” Grandpa continued. “We can’t let Sam go home while he’s in this state. I’ll ring his mum, tell her he’s feeling much better and ask if he can stay for a while. Then I’ll go into the woods and get some Spider Gnome web.”

  “But what if the Spider Gnomes attack you, Grandpa?” Sophie said anxiously.

  Grandpa looked huffy. “I think I can manage a few Spider Gnomes, child! I might not have the powers of the Guardian any more, but I’m not quite past it yet. I have been honing my fighting skills for over fifty years!”

  “But—”

  “No buts. Here, take my mobile,” said Grandpa, handing her his phone. “I’ve got a spare one in my room that I’ll take with me – the number’s programmed under ‘Emergency’ if you need to ring me. While I’m out you must keep Sam’s problem a secret. Do you think you can do that?”

  Sophie glanced at Sam just as he grabbed the bluebottle out of the air and swallowed it. She winced. “Um, sure,” she gulped. “No problem at all!”

  Luckily, Sam’s mum was only too relieved to hear that he was feeling better, and agreed to him staying longer at Sophie’s. Grandpa set off, leaving Sophie in charge of Sam. She was very glad that Anthony was at a friend’s house, which meant that she only had to keep Sam away from Mrs B. They stayed in Sophie’s room, even though Sam wanted to go outside.

  “It’s horrible in here!” he said unhappily. “Every time I touch something I taste lemon furniture polish in my mouth.”

  “But we can’t go out,” Sophie told him. “What if Mrs B sees you?”

  “We could go to the bottom of the garden.”

  “Sam, even the way you move – you’re… you’re scuttling,” she told him.

  “Am I?” Sam got up and had a go at moving across the floor. He darted sideways very fast and suddenly ran up Sophie’s wall on his hands and feet!

  “Get down!” Sophie exclaimed. As he dropped to the floor, her throat felt tight. If Grandpa didn’t get back soon with the web, it might be too late!

  Sam seemed to realise it too. They stared at each other in horror. Swallowing hard, Sophie started to say something, but Sam put his hand up. “Shh!” he hissed, glancing upwards.

  Sophie blinked. “What is it?”

  “Don’t you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  “Whispering! Almost like…” Sam frowned, his eyes scanning the ceiling. “Sophie!” he said in a low voice. “There are two spiders up there – and I can understand every word they’re saying!”

  Chapter 8

  The Spider Gnomes

  Sophie gaped upwards. Two spiders were now in the cobwebby corner, huddled close together. “You can understand them?” she repeated weakly.

  “Yes, they’re talking about the Spider Gnomes,” Sam whispered. “The reason there have been so many spiders about is that the Spider Gnomes sent them into the town like spies, to see if they could find the gem. And the reason the spiders have all suddenly vanished—” He stopped, going pale.

  “Yes?” demanded Sophie.

  “… is because they’ve found the red gem, and now they’ve gone to tell the Spider Gnomes!” Sam breathed. “It is at the top of the clock tower, just like you thought yesterday. The Spider Gnomes are on their way to get it right now!”

  Sophie’s blood ran cold. “Oh, no! If they get the gem then they’ll open the gate, and let all the shadow creatures loose into our world!”

  Sam grabbed his bag. “Come on, we have to stop them!”

  Then Sophie realised. “But you can’t go. Sam, you’ve got to wait here for Grandpa to get back with the web or you might be a Spider Gnome forever.”

  Fear crossed Sam’s face, but then he shook his head firmly. “I’m not letting you fight those things alone, Sophie! Besides, I bet I could really help you, now I’m like this. I could be of use for once!”

  Sophie wavered. She knew she needed all the help she could get.

  “Sophie, we can’t stand here debating all night!” insisted Sam, flipping his hood over his head again. “I’m going, all right?”

  Sophie took a deep breath. “All right.”

  They slipped downstairs. In the kitchen, Sophie could still hear Mrs B chatting to Nigel. As quietly as she could, she went to the cupboard under the stairs and took out the lemon furni
ture polish.

  Sam looked horrified. “What are you doing? That stuff’s disgusting!”

  “Exactly,” whispered Sophie as she tucked it into her rucksack. “And I bet the Spider Gnomes won’t like it either!” Closing the cupboard door, she quickly scribbled a note to Mrs B, saying they had just popped round to Sam’s to fetch some homework.

  “Right,” she said. “Let’s go!”

  When they reached town, the streets were very quiet. At first Sophie couldn’t think why, and then she remembered the town meeting. Sure enough, the town hall was lit up inside, as everyone gathered to complain about the spiders. They haven’t even noticed that the spiders are all gone now! thought Sophie.

  She stared anxiously up at the clock tower. “How are we going to climb up there without anyone inside hearing us?”

  Sam grinned. “Just leave it to me!” With a sudden spring, he leapt on to the side of the building and scuttled silently upwards, so fast that he was just a blur. A second later, he was standing in the little domed structure above the clock face.

  “Do you see the red gem?” hissed Sophie.

  Sam was searching, poking around. “No, I don’t see it anywhere… No, wait – yes!” His voice became excited. “It’s right behind the clock! I lifted up a sort of trapdoor, and now I can see it down there, glowing in the machinery.”

  Sophie’s heart thudded. “Can you get it out?”

  “Maybe… It’s wedged in really tight though…” Sam’s voice faded. Faintly, she could hear him pulling and tugging at something.

  Sophie clutched her fists in frustration. If only she was up there with him! She knew that the two of them, working together, could get the gem out in no time.

  “Sam, why don’t you—” Sophie broke off as she felt her Guardian powers tingle through her. The Spider Gnomes were nearby! She whirled in place, peering into the darkness. Where were they? “I know you’re there,” she said fiercely. “Come out and fight!”

  “With pleassssure,” hissed a dry voice.

  There was a shadowy blur as Black Legs jumped towards her. Sophie leapt up. Crack! Thump! Her feet struck the Spider Gnome in the stomach.