The Pony's Hoof
Page 4
‘Yes, I couldn’t have got this far without you,’ agreed Hattie fondly. Then she and Mith Ickle called a friendly goodbye to Billy and Archie, and watched them head back to Unicorn Meadows.
‘Time for me to go too,’ said Hattie, reaching for the vet’s bag that would take her back to the real world. ‘Bye, Mith – and take care. I’ll need my friends on my next visit. It doesn’t look like Ivar’s going to give up without a fight!’
Just mentioning the nasty imp made his parting words ring in Hattie’s ears: Nothing will stop me in my quest. NOTHING!
However, knowing that all her friends would be there to help her, Hattie put Ivar out of her mind. Then she peered into the bag and began her familiar tumble back home.
Once back in her room, Hattie quickly shoved the vet’s bag under her bed and reached for a hairband on her bedside table. Since she’d told Chloe she was going to get one, she thought she should at least come back with her hair tied back! Then she hurried downstairs, out of the front door and back to school.
No time had passed in the real world while she had been in Bellua. So back on the sports field everyone was just starting to form into groups, depending on what they wanted to practise.
‘Ah, there you are!’ said Chloe, who was about to pick a small red ball from a net bag. ‘I’m going to do some throwing practice, like I said. How about you?’
‘I might try that too,’ said Hattie, reaching for a ball herself.
‘But I thought you hated throwing?’ Chloe’s eyebrows were raised in surprise.
‘Well, maybe I’m not as bad at it as I thought,’ replied Hattie. Then she added a little mysteriously as she stretched her throwing arm: ‘I’ve had a bit of practice lately.’ She would never forget the Guardian’s secret oath, even though she was itching to tell Chloe all about what had happened in the Enchanted Orchard.
Just then, Mr Kennedy blew his whistle. Hattie followed her group and lined up to take her turn. When it came, she grasped the ball firmly, raised her arm and threw as hard as she could.
‘Oh, Hattie!’ laughed Chloe, as the ball curved so far to the left that another group of children had to duck to avoid it.
With a laugh, Hattie decided she must be more suited to throwing apples!
When Hattie and Chloe emerged from the girls’ changing room after Sports Club, they discovered a huddle of children in the playground all talking excitedly.
‘I wonder what’s going on there?’ asked Hattie, as she and Chloe wandered over.
In the middle of the crowd, Rishi was smiling happily, while several of their classmates gave him friendly pats on the back.
‘You’re in our team for football tomorrow then?’ a boy called Leo was saying.
‘And you’ll come to the hockey trials next week?’ asked a blonde girl called Josie.
‘Your running’s awesome! We should have a race sometime,’ said a boy who Hattie knew was one of the fastest runners in the school.
‘Looks like Rishi’s settling in pretty well,’ said Chloe. ‘It’s just as well he made it to Sports Club. No thanks to Victoria.’
Hattie and Chloe had reached the school gate when they heard footsteps behind them. Rishi appeared at their side.
‘Thanks for helping me out before,’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s nice to know that most of the kids are friendly here.’ Then he called goodbye as he jogged away.
At the crossroads near the school, Hattie and Chloe said goodbye as they set off for home. Hattie was taking her usual route down the village high street when a cheery ‘hello’ caught her attention.
Looking up, she spotted Uncle B coming out of the greengrocer’s. In his hand he was clutching a brown paper bag.
‘Ah, Hattie, would you like an apple? I’ve heard you like them, and these are lovely and sweet.’
Then, without waiting for his niece to reply, Uncle B tossed a shiny red apple towards her – and, to her surprise, Hattie caught it perfectly!
‘Got to dash,’ said Uncle B. Then he added with a wink, ‘Enjoy your apple, won’t you? Cheerio!’
Hattie bit into the crisp fruit. Uncle B was right – it was the sweetest apple she’d ever tasted.
By the time Hattie got home, all that was left of the apple was the core. As she tossed it expertly into the bin, the charms swinging side by side on her bracelet caught her attention. There were six of them, now that she’d added Archie’s pegasus charm.
Hattie knew she had to keep a close eye on them. At the first sign of a glow, she would have to hurry back to Bellua. She was more ready than ever to face King Ivar. She had to save the magical kingdom for the sake of all the creatures who lived there. Old friends, new friends and those she had yet to meet – Hattie knew she could rely on them all when the call came again.
It was a sunny Friday afternoon, and Hattie Bright and her best friend, Chloe, were sprawled on Hattie’s bed, surrounded by a pile of magazines.
‘Another week of school over,’ sighed Hattie happily. ‘I can’t wait for two whole days of chilling out!’
‘Me neither,’ agreed Chloe. ‘It was really nice of your mum to invite me for tea today too.’
‘Perfect end to the week!’ said Hattie.
She turned on the stereo on her bedside table and selected her favourite song. A happy beat filled the room. The two girls jumped off the bed and began dancing around, as if they were shaking off a whole week’s worth of schoolwork.
As the song finished, Chloe did a crazy spin, and both girls ended up in a giggling heap on the floor.
‘Ouch, you’re on my wrist!’ laughed Hattie, whose right arm was pinned beneath her friend’s leg.
‘Is that what it is? Sorry!’ said Chloe, giggling and rolling to one side.
‘Too much dancing,’ replied Hattie, As she said that, she could feel a funny warm tingling feeling creeping up her other arm.
Chloe got up and slotted Hattie’s MP3 player into the stereo, choosing another song, and Hattie glanced at her left wrist, where she always wore her favourite charm bracelet. All six charms were swinging gently. And, just as Hattie suspected, they had started to glow a warm yellowy-orange. Hattie’s stomach lurched. She wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement, but she was certain of one thing: the evil Imp King Ivar had stolen another power from one of the animals in the magical Kingdom of Bellua. That meant they needed her there … now!
As Guardian of Bellua’s magical creatures, only Hattie could cure Ivar’s latest victim. Not only that but when she last left Bellua the Imp King had threatened the next power he would steal was going to be ‘the ultimate one’, stronger than any of the five he’d taken already!
Hattie shivered. Had Ivar succeeded in his quest? Would it finally be impossible to defeat him? There was only one way to find out. She had to go to Bellua right away! But how could she grab the old vet’s bag hidden under her bed and let it secretly transport her to Bellua when Chloe was right there in the room?
Hattie knew she couldn’t wait until Chloe went home after tea – that would be leaving it dangerously late. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
Think, think! she said to herself.
There had to be a way to get to Bellua and still keep the secret oath. Hattie only needed Chloe to leave the room for a few minutes – long enough to go to Bellua and return as if nothing had happened.
‘I love this one, don’t you?’ said Chloe, as a new song burst from the stereo. She began dancing around the bedroom again. ‘Come on, Hattie. On your feet, lazybones!’
But Hattie stayed right where she was on the bedroom floor.
‘Er, actually I don’t know if I do like this one that much – and anyway it’s probably nearly time for tea. Can you go down and ask my mum when it’ll be ready while I choose another song?’
‘OK then,’ agreed Chloe, smiling at Hattie. ‘But I’m trusting you to make a good choice!’
Hattie quickly jumped up and busied herself with the stereo, while Chloe slipped out of the room and headed downstairs.
&nb
sp; With her heart pounding, Hattie hurried to her bed and reached under it. She pulled the bag out of its hiding place, dropped it on to the bed and sat down next to it. From downstairs she could hear the muffled voices of Chloe and her mum.
As fast as she could, she pressed the glowing star charm on her bracelet against the bag’s star-shaped lock. It clicked open immediately and, as the bag began to sparkle and shimmer, Hattie strained her ears for any sound of Chloe making her way back up the stairs. Was that a creak?
Hattie didn’t have time to check. She grasped the bag firmly and pulled it wide open. Then she peered inside and found herself tumbling down, down and down …
‘Your mum says tea’s in ten minutes, Hattie!’ called Chloe as she pushed the bedroom door open. ‘Hattie? Hattie, where are you?’
Chloe glanced towards the silent stereo, then at Hattie’s empty bed. What was that sparkly silver bag lying on it? Chloe couldn’t remember seeing Hattie with it before. Moving nearer, she looked at the bag more closely, then gasped as she took in the strangest sight she’d ever seen – Hattie’s blue trainers disappearing inside!
‘H-Hattie?’ whispered Chloe, her voice trembling. ‘A-are you i-in there?’
Chloe knew the question was ridiculous and wasn’t surprised when there was no answer. With shaking hands, she picked up the bag and looked inside. Suddenly she had the strangest sensation. Her whole body tingled and she felt as though she was being pulled into the bag by something invisible.
Then, all of a sudden, she too was tumbling down, down and down …
puffin.co.uk
WEB FUN
UNIQUE and exclusive digital content!
Podcasts, photos, Q&A, Day in the Life of, interviews and much more, from Eoin Colfer, Cathy Cassidy, Allan Ahlberg and Meg Rosoff to Lynley Dodd!
WEB NEWS
The Puffin Blog is packed with posts and photos from Puffin HQ and special guest bloggers. You can also sign up to our monthly newsletter Puffin Beak Speak.
WEB CHAT
Discover something new EVERY month – books, competitions and treats galore.
WEBBED FEET
(Puffins have funny little feet and brightly coloured beaks.)
Point your mouse our way today!
Puffin is over seventy years old. Sounds ancient, doesn’t it? But Puffin has never been so lively. We’re always on the lookout for the next big idea, which is how it began all those years ago.
Penguin Books was a big idea from the mind of a man called Allen Lane, who in 1935 invented the quality paperback and changed the world. And from great Penguins, great Puffins grew, changing the face of children’s books forever.
The first four Puffin Picture Books were hatched in 1940 and the first Puffin story book featured a man with broomstick arms called Worzel Gummidge. In 1967 Kaye Webb, Puffin Editor, started the Puffin Club, promising to ‘make children into readers’. She kept that promise and over 200,000 children became devoted Puffineers through their quarterly instalments of Puffin Post.
Many years from now, we hope you’ll look back and remember Puffin with a smile. No matter what your age or what you’re into, there’s a Puffin for everyone. The possibilities are endless, but one thing is for sure: whether it’s a picture book or a paperback, a sticker book or a hardback, if it’s got that little Puffin on it – it’s bound to be good.
www.puffin.co.uk
PUFFIN BOOKS
UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia
India | New Zealand | South Africa
Puffin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
puffinbooks.com
First published 2015
Text and illustrations copyright © Penguin Books Ltd, 2015
Story concept originated by Mums Creative Content Ltd
Illustrations by Lorena Alvarez
With thanks to Claire Baker
Cover illustrations by Lorena Alvarez
All rights reserved
The moral right of the copyright holders and illustrator has been asserted
ISBN: 978-0-141-35245-9