Her dark gaze bored into him. “May I see the key?”
Trying to hide his shaking fingers, Ug took the key from around his neck and held it out. A whisper ran round the circle of Fog Boggarts.
“The key that can unlock the gateway,” Spindle Fingers breathed.
Ug pointed to a hole in the handle. “But – but only if a shadow gem is fitted in here. Without a shadow gem it won’t work. And there are only three gems still hidden.”
Queen Spindle Fingers’s eyes gleamed. “Ah, but the key glows when it is near a gem! We shall search all of the human world until we find where one is hidden.” Moving forwards, she whipped the key out of Ug’s hands. “We Fog Boggarts have many tricks up our sleeves we can use. If one way doesn’t work, there are others.”
With a ripple, she changed to a human form, taking on the shape of a pretty woman with shoulder-length blonde hair.
She simpered at the group. “Between this and our other powers, those pitiful humans won’t know what’s hit them! We shall find a gem, open the gateway and all shadow creatures will bow before the Fog Boggarts.”
A hissing laugh ran round the group. Spindle Fingers smiled evilly, stroking the key, and then dissolved into the mist. One by one, the other Fog Boggarts followed after her, until none were left.
There was silence.
“You idiots!” burst out King Ug, wheeling on the three Ink Cap Goblins. “You are my guards. You’re supposed to guard me! Now the Fog Boggarts have the key!”
“Maybe they’ll bring it back with a gem,” said Flaky Face hopefully.
Ug glared at him. “They most certainly will, because you will make sure of it.”
Flaky Face’s mouth fell open. “Me?” he squeaked.
“Yes, you! Follow them – don’t let that key out of your sight! When they find the gem, make sure they bring it here. And if they don’t, steal it!”
“Steal it?” quavered Flaky Face. “From the Fog Boggarts?”
The other two goblin servants sniggered.
Ug turned on them. “I don’t know what you’re laughing at. You’re both going too!” He cuffed them around the ears. “Now follow that key and don’t come back without it!”
Picking up some pine cones, he started throwing them at the trio. They ran from the clearing, howling as the hard missiles bounced off their soft white heads.
Marching back to his throne, Ug threw himself down. For a moment, he sat scowling, but then his face began to crease into a smile. If anyone could find a shadow gem, it surely had to be the Fog Boggarts. As Ug thought about the Fog Boggarts sneaking their way into the town of Upper Gately, his smile grew even wider. That pesky girl Guardian wouldn’t stand a chance against the Fog Boggarts. No, not a single chance…
Sophie and Sam stood in front of the kitchen window. A grey parrot was sitting on the curtain rail, watching them. “Hello, Nigel,” Sam said.
The grey parrot cocked his head to one side. “Hello, Nigel.”
“No, you should say hello to me – say ‘Hello, Sam’,” Sam told him. His spiky red hair stood almost straight up from his head. Nigel seemed to be eyeing it.
“Strawberry jam!” he squawked, flapping his wings.
Sophie and Sam giggled. Nigel the parrot was staying at Sophie’s house while his owner was on holiday. Sophie loved him – not only was he funny when he said things wrong, but he had also proved to be very useful the last time she and Sam had been fighting the shadow creatures.
Just then, the kitchen door opened and Mrs B, the housekeeper, came in. Her cheeks were pink and her grey hair was escaping from its bun. Sophie’s parents were archaeologists, and often had to go abroad to work. When they were away from home like now, Sophie’s grandfather moved in, and he and Mrs B looked after Sophie and her twin brother, Anthony.
“Hello, you two,” said Mrs B, putting her shopping down. “What are you doing?”
“Just going out to play in the garden,” said Sophie quickly. She kept her expression innocent. It would never do for Mrs B to suspect what she and Sam were really hoping to do!
“Okey-dokey.” Mrs B looked up at the parrot. “Now, I’ve got tea to get ready, so time to get back in your cage now, Nigel. Down you come!”
“BUM!” shrieked Nigel, throwing his head back as he screeched the word.
Sophie and Sam burst out laughing. Mrs B gave an embarrassed chuckle as Nigel flew down and landed on her shoulder. “Oh, Nigel, what are you like!”
He rubbed his head against her cheek. “Bum!” he told her happily.
Still giggling, Sophie and Sam went out of the back door. But their mood grew more serious as they gazed at the dark woods at the bottom of Sophie’s garden.
“You’re really sure about this plan of going into the Shadow Woods to explore?” Sam questioned.
Sophie nodded. “Yes! We haven’t seen any shadow creatures all week and I bet King Ug’s planning something. He’s not going to give up on finding the three remaining gems. If we go into the woods we might discover what he’s up to. Of course, you don’t have to come with me,” she teased as they reached the fence at the bottom of her garden. “You can stay here and help Mrs B and Nigel cook tea, and I’ll have an adventure on my own and—”
Sam threw himself over the fence. “Last one into the woods is an Ink Cap Goblin!”
Sophie scrambled after him. Grinning at each other, they ran into the darkness of the trees.
Two weeks ago there was no way Sophie would have thought about exploring the Shadow Woods, but that was before she found out that she was the Guardian of the Gateway. Her grandfather, the old Guardian, had explained that she had to make sure the gateway was always kept locked. Unfortunately, on the day before Sophie had become Guardian, one of the shadow creatures, King Ug, had managed to steal the key and now he was trying to open the gateway himself. Sophie was determined to stop him and get the key back!
The track twisted and turned. Brambles snagged at Sophie’s jeans and trainers and leaves caught in her long blonde ponytail. The branches were thick overhead and there wasn’t much light. Sam got out his new super-bright wind-up torch and turned it on. The beam dazzled out.
“Don’t you think it was really clever of someone to invent a torch like this?” he said, examining it. “You just wind the handle and the battery recharges.” Sam loved science and was very brainy. “You see, winding the handle creates kinetic energy,” he said, as Sophie shook her head. “Which goes into the battery where it changes to electrical energy and…”
Sophie held back a groan. “Too much info! I prefer this kind of energy!” Running forwards, she jumped into the air and kicked out with her feet, one after the other. Sophie was good at all sports, but particularly loved tae kwon do. One of the best things about being the Guardian was having a chance to use tae kwon do for real.
“Hi-YA!” she cried, pretending there was a shadow creature behind her.
She stopped with a gasp as her toes started to tingle. Whenever