Sophie shuddered. He was right. “Any sign of the gem?”
“Not yet.” Sam gave Sophie a stack of old books. Dust flew off them, making her cough. “Are you OK?” he asked in concern as she choked and spluttered.
Sophie felt like she had just swallowed the contents of a Hoover. “I’m going to get some water!”
She went down to the toilet on the first-floor landing. Splashing some water from the sink over her face, she washed her hands and then caught some water in her palms, gulping it down and swilling the dust in her throat away.
As she dried her hands, she looked out of the window down on to the walled courtyard. She frowned. Something down there was moving. The fountain was turned off, but the drain cover on the ground underneath it was slowly lifting up!
Sophie felt her mouth drop open. As she watched, the drain cover fell with a clatter and a slimy head poked out.
“No!” she gasped.
A Swamp Boggle leapt out from the drain and stood in the courtyard.
Pulling the iron key out of its clothing, it held it up towards the building. Even from high above, Sophie could see that it was glowing with a yellow light.
She remembered how the key had glowed with a green light when it had been near the green gem a few days ago. The Swamp Boggle must be using it to try to find the gem!
Two other Swamp Boggles came climbing out behind their leader. Goo dripped from them on to the courtyard. Rubbing their slimy hands, they headed towards the unlocked back door!
Sophie raced up to the attic. “Sam!”
“Sophie, look!” He had got down from the ladder and was holding something in his hand. “I’ve—”
Sophie interrupted him. “The Swamp Boggles are here!”
Sam’s face paled. “Where?”
“Outside! I saw them climb out of the drain in the courtyard! They had the key, and it was glowing. They know the gem is somewhere in this shop!”
“It is.” Sam opened his fingers. Sophie’s eyes became the size of dinner plates as she saw the glowing yellow jewel in his hand. “I just found it, on the top shelf!” he said.
“Oh, wow!” Sophie was torn between relief and panic. “That’s brilliant! Now we just have to somehow get it away from the Swamp Boggles. Maybe they haven’t come in yet.” She grabbed Sam and started pulling him to the staircase. “We might still be able to escape!”
But as they reached the top of the stairs, Sophie knew it was too late. Power tingled through her and she heard the Swamp Boggles below. Squish! Squelch! Their soggy feet moved across the carpet as they searched for the gem. “Where is it?” one of the boggles grumbled.
“It’s got to be here somewhere,” said another with a very hissy voice.
“And when we find it, we’ll take it to Ug and open the gateway. Har… har… har…” Sophie recognised the chief boggle’s laugh.
She and Sam stared at each other and then slipped away as quietly as they could. They crept back to the attic. “We’re trapped!” Sam whispered.
Sophie looked around the room. “What about a window?” But there weren’t any in the attic. She took a deep breath. “OK, so… we’re going to have to fight them!”
Sam paced up and down. “How are we going to do this?” he muttered almost to himself. “I know! Let’s hide and lie in wait. The key will lead the boggles up here. When they come in we’ll attack them with the starch cans, then hopefully you can fight them off and we’ll get past them and escape.”
“Only one problem,” Sophie pointed out. “The starch is downstairs!”
They exchanged dismayed looks.
“OK,” Sam ran a hand through his hair. “Think again. What can we do?” His eyes fell on the pile of dusty hairdryers. “I know! We can use those to dry the boggles out!”
“Great idea!” Sophie gasped.
They quickly took the four hairdryers out of their faded boxes and plugged them into the wall. Then Sophie took the gem from Sam and slipped it into her purse belt along with the green one. She just hoped the boggles wouldn’t realise the gems were on her!
Shoving the thought away, she picked up a hairdryer in each hand and waved them about like pistols. “Hairdryers at dawn!” she said in a small voice.
Sam only gulped in reply.
Sophie sympathised. Even with her Guardian powers surging through her, her heart was racing with fear. Then her scalp prickled as down below she heard a slow squelching noise on the stairs. The Swamp Boggles were coming!
“Come on, we’ve got to hide!” she said. She and Sam ducked behind one of the shelves, holding the hairdryers tightly. After a few moments, Sophie heard the Swamp Boggles’s voices on the other side of the door.
“Look at the way the key’s glowing!” chortled the chief boggle from the attic landing. “The gem must be through there.”
Their footsteps squished and squelched up to the door. Sophie and Sam huddled behind the shelves. Sophie mouthed: “One… two…”
The door swung open and the three Swamp Boggles came in.
“THREE!”
Sophie and Sam flicked the hairdryers on, and the loud whistling noise of the motors filled the attic. For a moment, the Swamp Boggles froze, almost comically surprised looks on their faces. Then they felt the warm air blowing on to their slimy skin.
“ARGH!” they shouted, jumping around.
They tried to turn about to get away from the blasts of air, but only succeeded in tripping over each other’s feet and bumping heads. Sophie heard their skin cracking and saw her opportunity.
Leaving Sam to work the hairdryers, she jumped up and ran round towards the rapidly hardening boggles. “Take that! And that, you slimy slug brains!”
Her Guardian powers surged through her. Turning in mid-air, she kicked out with both feet. There was a loud crunch as the boggle she’d kicked staggered backwards. Yes! thought Sophie. If she could just knock them all over, then she could grab Sam and use her superspeed to whizz them downstairs!
Seeing the chief boggle lunging towards her, Sophie pivoted round and kicked his hands away. Thud! Thwap! Turning a back flip, she landed neatly on the floor. “Go on, make my day!” she declared, dusting her hands down as he came at her.
Then suddenly the hairdryers stopped.
Silence filled the room. Sophie swung round, her eyes wide with horror. The third boggle had reached the socket in the wall and pulled the hairdryers’ plugs out!
The chief laughed. “Or maybe you can make my day!” He grabbed the cables of the hairdryers, pulling them hard so that the hairdryers jerked out of Sam’s hands. The chief tossed them to Hissy Voice, who threw them outside the door. Already, Sophie could see the boggles’s bodies getting squishier again as they refilled with slime and water.
“Uh-oh,” said Sam as he scrambled to his feet. With evil grins, the boggles formed a line and began approaching. “Uh-oh” is right, thought Sophie. Now what were they going to do?
As the boggles drew closer, Sam and Sophie backed off, Sophie almost tripping over her school bag. She grabbed it. Maybe there was something in it she could throw to keep them back? Not The Shadow Files, she couldn’t risk losing that, but she had her school reading book and water bottle. Grabbing them she sent them flying through the air, but the boggles just ducked and kept on coming. Sophie flung her empty lunch box too, but that simply squished off the chief boggle’s shoulder.
Sophie felt the wall behind her back. This was it – she and Sam couldn’t go any further.
Beside her, Sam’s face was pale. Then his foot bumped into the painting of the girl and the kitten that he’d taken down off the shelf earlier. “Right, forget this!” he muttered, scooping it quickly up. “I’m not just going to stand here and be squelched by a Swamp Boggle! Geronimo!”
With a yell, he ran straight at the nearest one. Sophie watched in amazement as he slammed the painting down on the boggle’s head. It popped out through the canvas and the boggle started to yell, then broke off as a sneeze ripped through it.
“ATCHOO!”
The boggle began to stagger about with the picture round his neck. “ATCHOO! ATCHOO!” Slimy green snot flew across the room.
Sophie’s mouth was open as she gaped at the scene. She had no idea why it was sneezing, but at least it was otherwise occupied now. “Way to go, Sam!” she cried, ducking to avoid the snot as it splatted into the wall behind her head.
The other two boggles started to sneeze too. They backed away from the painting.
“What are they doing?” cried Sophie.
“The question’s not what are they doing, but what are we going to do, Soph?” Sam said wildly. “How are we going to get out of here?”
“I dunno! Where’s Cutie-Pie when you need him?” Sophie reached into her bag and found her pencil case. She chucked that at the chief too, but it bounced harmlessly off his chest and that made him notice her again.
Snarling, the two boggles began to approach her and Sam once more, reaching out with their bony fingers. Sophie’s heart pounded. How were they going to get out? She reached desperately into her bag, but the only thing left in there apart from The Shadow Files was the Fluffy. One of the boggles’s mouths started opening. Maybe she could stuff the Fluffy into it! She pulled it out.
“ARGH!” shrieked the boggle immediately. He pointed at the Fluffy, his mouth opening and closing, strange, terrified gibbering noises coming from him.
“ARGH!” yelled the other two – even the one with the picture over its head!
The Fluffy blinked sweetly at them. “Me wanna cuddle!”
“No!” screeched the boggles. They started backing away, all suddenly sneezing violently.
“What’s happening now?” Sam gasped to Sophie.
“I don’t know!” Sophie said. “They don’t seem to like the Fluffy, though.” Her eyes widened as she spoke. The Fluffy… the picture of the girl and the kitten… Cutie-Pie… The Swamp Boggles didn’t like anything cute! Why? She didn’t know and right now, she didn’t have time to think about it. She and Sam had to get out of the attic in whatever way they could.
She advanced, holding the Fluffy out in front of her like a sword. “Say hello to the Fluffy!” she sang at them.
“Mama! Me hungwy! Feed me!” Its mouth opened and closed, making hopeful sucking noises at the boggles.
“No! Please, no!” moaned the Swamp Boggles. Moving as one, they turned and raced for the doorway. Trying to get through all at once, they got stuck, kicking and pushing.
Sophie kept advancing.
“Wanna kiss-kiss!” The Fluffy made a kissing noise. The boggles’s struggles grew more intense. One managed to squeeze his way out and fled down the stairs, with the key in his hand. The other two were too busy fighting with each other to get away. Red spots started to pop out all over them, and between the shrieks they were still sneezing uncontrollably.
“They really don’t like that Fluffy!” Sam said with a grin.
“They don’t like anything cute!” gasped Sophie.
“In which case…” Sam grabbed a cricket bat and swiped at the mountain of Fluffy boxes. “Say hello to the Fluffy army!” he yelled.
The boxes exploded around the room, setting off the Fluffies’ mechanisms. Suddenly the attic was full of the sound of Fluffy voices: “Feed me… Mama… kiss-kiss… cuddle…”
One landed right by the doorway. It waggled its ears and looked up through its eyelashes at the two terrified boggles still stuck there. “Me wanna… wanna… WEE-WEE!” It squealed the last word.
Suddenly there were two muffled popping sounds, like two water bombs bursting one after the other.
Sophie and Sam yelled and jumped back as swampy green water swept over the floor. Sophie stared. The boggles were no longer trapped in the doorway – they’d gone!
What… what just happened?” stammered Sam, staring at the empty attic and the swampy water on the floor.
Sophie whooped, leaping up and punching the air. “Yes! We scared those two boggles to death! Just like The Shadow Files said we could. They’re obviously terrified of cute things.”
“But why?” Sam demanded. “I mean, how can a Fluffy frighten anyone to death?” He picked a Fluffy up.
It looked at him coyly. “Fluffy wanna kiss-kiss.”
“OK, maybe I get it after all!” Sam said hastily putting it back down. He looked at the water on the floor again, and shook his head. “I just can’t believe the boggles have really gone.”
“And we’ve got the gem!” said Sophie, holding it up triumphantly. “Just wait until Grandpa hears about this!”
“And just wait until Mr Badgett sees this mess! He’s never going to let us in the shop again,” Sam said.
Gazing around her, Sophie’s high spirits faded slightly. She had to admit Sam had a point. There were Fluffies and slimy water all over the floor, not to mention the broken picture and cricket bat. “You’re right,” she said. “We’d better get tidying.”
“And fast!” agreed Sam.
Luckily, Grandpa and Mr Badgett took their time over their drink. By the time they got back, Sophie and Sam had just finished clearing away all the mess – including the slime trails the boggles had left downstairs.
“How’s it going?” asked Mr Badgett as he and Grandpa came into the shop.
“Um… well, we haven’t quite finished cleaning the attic yet,” admitted Sophie, putting away the cloths and polish.
Sam nodded. “But we’ll come back again another time and do the rest then, if that’s OK.”
“Oh, there is rather a lot of tidying to be done up there!” said Mr Badgett. “But any time you’re passing and feel like earning a bit of extra money, just call in.”
Sophie saw Grandpa looking around. She could tell his sharp eyes were taking in the damp patches on the floor where the slime had been. “We’d better be going,” he said. “Don’t want to be late for supper. Get your bags, you two.”
Sophie fetched the carrier bag with the spray cans in it.
“See you soon, Jack,” Grandpa said, ushering Sophie and Sam out of the door.
“Bye!” Sam and Sophie called over their shoulders.
“So?” Grandpa demanded in a low voice as they set off down the High Street. “What happened in there?”
They quickly told him everything, from spraying the boggles with the starch to finally defeating them. “But that’s wonderful!” Grandpa exclaimed. “So you have the gem?”
“Yes! Got it right here!” Sophie patted her purse belt proudly.
“And the Swamp Boggles have really gone?”
“Vanished, turned into water,” said Sam.
Grandpa looked stunned. “I can’t believe it!”
Sophie grinned. “But, Grandpa, you know you must always expect the unexpected!” She heard Sam muffle a snort of laughter beside her.
Grandpa harrumphed, and didn’t answer.
“We did OK, didn’t we?” Sophie said, shooting him a look.
“Yes, you did very well.” The grudging look left him and he smiled an unusually warm smile. “Both of you. That was excellent work. Excellent work indeed.”
Sophie couldn’t hold back her grin as a rush of delight swept through her.
“So why were the Swamp Boggles so scared of the Fluffies?” Sam asked Grandpa.
“After what has just happened, I think that Swamp Boggles must be similar to Swamp Imps, who are all severely allergic to anything cute,” said Grandpa. “I once saw a Swamp Imp sneeze itself into pieces when it caught sight of a little ginger kitten with a bow round its neck. Fluffies would no doubt cause a very severe reaction to a creature with such an allergy. The sight of one would be terrifying to a Swamp Boggle.”
“And the sight of fifty would frighten them to death!” said Sophie.
“Exactly.”
“That must be why the Swamp Boggle ran off this morning!” realised Sam. “He was scared of Cutie-Pie, with his bow and sparkly collar!”
Sophie giggled. “Well, at least we’ll know how t
o fight any swamp creatures from now on. We’ll just set a cute little dog on them.”
Grandpa didn’t look amused. “One thing I’m sure about, the Ink Cap Goblins won’t give up easily,” he said. “The Swamp Boggles might have failed, but Ug will soon find some other shadow creatures to help him. We must find the other four gems as soon as we can.”
“We will,” Sophie promised. “We’ll start looking through the files again tomorrow for more clues.”
Sam met her eyes. “You know, that sounds like a job for…”
“Book Boy!” they whooped together. They both started laughing. Grandpa looked as if he thought they were completely mad, which made them laugh even more.
Still giggling, they went into the house. Mrs B and Anthony were in the kitchen. “These are for you,” Sophie said, giving the carrier bag to Mrs B.
Mrs B looked inside. “Three cans of spray starch?”
“I didn’t want us to run out,” said Sophie innocently. “Starch can be very useful. I’m really sorry I used all yours up earlier.” She gave Mrs B a hug.
Mrs B shook her head. “Oh, Sophie, sometimes I wonder what I’m going to do with you.”
“Have her adopted?” Anthony said hopefully from the kitchen table.
Sophie pulled a face at him.
“Still got your Fluffy, sis?” he asked. “You wouldn’t want to lose it now, would you?”
“No way!” said Sophie. She pulled the Fluffy out of her bag. Anthony gave a disgusted squawk as she swooped it at him, pretending to kiss his cheek. “It was the best present ever – the absolute best! Thanks, Mrs B!”
Mrs B beamed, and Sophie grinned at the astonishment on her twin’s face. “Come on, Sam.” They ran upstairs to her room.
“What shadow creatures do you think Ug will send next time?” wondered Sam.
Sophie shuddered. “Nothing can be worse than Swamp Boggles!”
Sam looked at her. “Wolf Trolls?”
“No problem,” she declared.
“Snake Sprites.”
“Easy peasy.”
“Bat Goblins?”
The Swamp Boggles Page 4