Читать книгу The Fog Boggarts - Linda Chapman - Страница 6

Chapter 2 Going Exploring!

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 she was near to a shadow creature, the Guardian magic made her super-strong and super-fast. It always started as a tingling feeling in her feet. Just like this!

“What’s up?” said Sam, seeing her face.

“There must be some shadow creatures nearby!” Sophie whispered. “I can feel my powers starting to work.” She raced along the path, jumping over tree roots and pushing aside branches.

“Sophie! Wait!” Sam had to sprint to catch up with her. She could go much faster than him when her powers kicked in.

Sophie slowed down a bit, but excitement was churning through her. Her Guardian powers always made her feel very brave. “What’s that noise?” she asked, hearing a low roaring sound through the trees.

Sam frowned. “It almost sounds like a waterfall.”

“It is a waterfall!” said Sophie in astonishment as they emerged through the trees. There was a craggy grey cliff, with water cascading over the top of it into a river below.

“Weird!” said Sam, turning off his torch. “I didn’t even know there was a waterfall in these woods.”

Sophie shook her head, lost for words. The exploring they had done in the Shadow Woods had made her realise they were very strange indeed – they never seemed quite the same from one day to the next. Suddenly she noticed something else.

“Look!” She pointed to the base of the cliff where there were some shadowy caves, their entrances like dark doorways. “They look like just the sort of place a shadow creature might live. Come on, let’s go and check it out!”

Sam stared uncertainly at the dark opening. “Or we could just walk on by. I bet it’s a quiet and polite shadow creature, staying out of trouble, doing its own thing…” His voice trailed off as Sophie strode off towards the caves, her blonde ponytail swinging. “Oh, why do I bother?” he said, rolling his eyes and hurrying after her.

Sophie had reached the entrance to the first cave. As she stepped inside the dark, clammy space, she felt her Guardian powers whooshing through her with new force. “Sam, there must be a shadow creature really close by now!” As she spoke, a banner of fog swirled up in front of them. It formed into a column.

Sam gave a yelp, and his torch slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor, rolling a few inches away. “What’s going on?” he cried. “Where did that fog come from?”

“I don’t know,” said Sophie, watching the white mist warily. “But I don’t like it.”

A shiver ran through the fog, and it suddenly became a tall, thin creature with grey skin, a large mouth and the longest, boniest fingers Sophie had ever seen.

“Whoa!” Sam said, stumbling backwards.

With a growl, the fog-thing charged straight at them!

Sophie reacted with superspeed, grabbing Sam out of the way just in time. The creature shot past, swung round in the cave entrance and faced them again.

“Leave us alone!” said Sophie fiercely, standing in front of Sam. “I’m Sophie Smith. I’m the Guardian!”

“So?” the creature snarled. “Fog Boggarts are not scared of anyone!” It lunged at them again.

Sophie spun round, her foot kicking out hard. She expected to feel the creature’s body, but her foot went straight through it. It was like kicking a ghost! The creature laughed as Sophie fell to the ground.

“You cannot hurt a Fog Boggart, Guardian, but I can hurt you and your friend!”

He lashed out at Sophie with his long bony fingers. She ducked to the ground, feeling the damp soil and leaves beneath her hands.

“Leave her alone!” Sam was scrabbling about on the dark floor, looking for something to use as a weapon.

Sophie rolled swiftly to one side, her heart pounding. How could she fight something like this? Before she could jump to her feet, the Fog Boggart was upon her. Its ghostly fingers clutched her arm, seeming to freeze her in place.

As she watched in horror, its mouth drew closer, opening wider and wider…