The lantern’s light grew from a glimmer to a golden glow. Bella shone it on the friends, casting a huge monster-shadow on the wall.
Lily and Jess roared and wobbled their heads, making the shadow heads rear back and forth. The fox cubs stamped and howled.
“Aaaargh!” screeched Reek.
“Monster attack!” shrieked Pongo. “Run!”
The shadow monster roared and lashed its tail.
“Don’t eat me!” begged Sniff. “Eat Whiffy!”
“No! I be thin and bony,” bellowed Whiffy. “Eat Sniff! Sniff be tasty!”
They fought, pushed, and scrambled to escape the monster. At last, they found a tunnel and stampeded down it, shrieking.
The group of friends, with Bella in tow, followed the Boggits down one tunnel, then another, roaring and howling.
Goldie sniffed. “There’s a horrible smell coming from up ahead,” she called over the roars.
“That’s the swamp,” cried Rusty. “It’s all mud and stink.”
“If we can chase them into it,” Lily said, “maybe they’ll be so happy to find mud that they won’t come back to smash the pillars!”
“Great idea,” said Jess.
Roaring and howling some more, the shadow monster lurched on down the tunnel behind the Boggits. They thundered along, shrieking in fright, and ran out into the gray light.
Lily, Jess, Goldie, and the others waited in the tunnel until the Boggits’ yells died down. Then they crept outside. The Boggits were tramping into the swamp.
Pongo spotted them and roared in fury. “Boggits been tricked!” he bellowed. “Get them!”
But the other Boggits ignored him.
Whiffy grabbed handfuls of the gloop oozing around her. “Lovely!” she said, rubbing it into her fur.
Sniff and Reek sloshed mud over each other.
“Better than Boggits’ muddy pool,” said Reek happily. He flung himself on his back and sank into the mud, shouting, “LOVELY swamp!” He stood up, gloop oozing down his nose.
Even Pongo agreed. “Swamp is enormous,” he said and dove in head first. “Wheeee!”
“I think we’re safe,” Jess whispered. “Goldie, the Boggits love the swamp so much, perhaps we can talk them into staying here?”
Lily hugged her. “That’s a terrific idea!” she said. “Grizelda was going to give them a new home if they ruined Friendship Forest, so they’d obviously be happy to move.”
“It’s a wonderful idea,” Goldie agreed. “If they’re happy here, they’d have no reason to do what Grizelda wants. But it will take some work to turn the swamp into the perfect Boggit home. We’re going to need help.”
“Send a flyer,” suggested Jess. “Lots of flyers!”
Goldie put her paws together like wings and fluttered them. The fox cubs and Bella did the same, then Jess and Lily fluttered their hands.
A moment later, a large yellow butterfly perched on Goldie’s shoulder.
“Hello, Flitta,” said the cat.
A purple butterfly settled on Goldie’s other shoulder.
“Hi, Hermia,” said Jess, remembering her from their adventure rescuing Molly Twinkletail.
Soon they were surrounded by a cloud of butterflies. Their rainbow colors swirled as they danced around one another, chattering in tiny, tinkly voices. Jess and Lily caught some of what they were saying.
“That smell! Oh, dear!”
“I know! Enough to make your wings droop.”
“You can see why,” trilled another. “B-O-G-G-I-T-S.”
Goldie giggled. “Butterflies,” she said, “please ask all the animals to bring supplies—anything suitable for a Boggit home.”
As the butterflies flew away, the girls heard Hermia tell Flitta, “The animals won’t have to think very hard. They can just bring their garbage cans!” and they both laughed.
Chapter Eight
Home, Stinky Home
Jess and Lily helped Mr. Cleverfeather put the roof on a hut for the Boggits. He’d brought a new invention, the Lifter-upper. As Jess sat on a seat and pedaled madly, the Lifter-upper raised the roof. Lily pushed a button, and the roof moved directly above the hut.
Mr. Cleverfeather pressed a button. Down it dropped. Bang!
The Featherbills laid down a carpet of slimy pondweed from near their river barge.
“Urgh, it’s yucky,” said Ellie Featherbill.
“Boggits love yuck,” Lily giggled. “And muck.”
Other animals heaped garbage around the hut. Pongo looked at it fondly, as Reek and Sniff splashed in the mud. Bella and the fox cubs rolled around beside them.
“The smell doesn’t bother you after a while,” yelled Rusty, laughing.
Just then Mr. Cleverfeather called, “The rut’s heady—er, I mean the hut’s ready!”
“Not ready.” Whiffy grunted. “Hut needs mud.” She scooped up fistfuls of swamp goo and threw it over the roof.
The other Boggits joined in happily.
Reek grunted. “Girls and cat find swamp. Girls good!”
Sniff grinned. “Cat good!”
“Mud good!” cried Whiffy.
Pongo turned to Bella. “Kittycat want to help?”
Everybody wanted to help!
Suddenly, Lily’s eye was caught by an orb of light floating across the swamp.
“Grizelda!” she cried. “Grizelda’s here!”
The animals shrieked and ran to huddle behind Goldie and the girls.
The orb hovered, then, with a flash and a cra-ack, it burst in a shower of yellow sparks. In its place stood the witch, wearing her shiny purple tunic and pants, and her boots with their sharply pointed toes. Her green hair swirled around her head like snakes.
“Boggits!” she screeched. “Get back to work. Go and smash those pillars!”
There was a moment’s silence. The Boggits muttered together.
“Oh, no,” Lily whispered. “They’re going to obey her.”
“We can’t let them,” said Jess. “Boggits!” she yelled. “You have a new home. You don’t need to do what she says!”
Pongo looked at Jess. He looked at the dirty new hut. Then he turned to Grizelda. “No!” he shouted. “Boggits not helping anymore!”
Reek lumbered forward. “Grizelda smash pillars herself.” He growled.
“What!” shrieked Grizelda. “Me? Work? Are you crazy? You do it!”
Lily and Jess held their breath. Would the Boggits give in?
“No!” Whiffy snapped, peering from behind Sniff.
Grizelda screamed, “If you want a new home, get rid of the animals first—”
“No!” said Pongo. “Boggits is happy in swamp. Go away!”
Grizelda’s hair whipped the air. Her face was dark with rage. “I won’t give up,” she snarled. “Friendship Forest will be mine!”
She snapped her fingers and vanished in a shower of hissing red sparks.
The animals cheered. “Hooray for the Boggits!”
“Thank goodness she’s gone,” said Lily, then she gasped. “But what about the damage the Boggits did to the cavern? What if they’ve already done enough to harm the forest?”
“Oh, we stopped them before any serious damage was done,” said Goldie. “I’ll go and check later to make sure, but I think Toadstool Glade will be just fine.”
“Hooray! The forest is safe!” Lily cried.
But Jess noticed a flicker of worry cross Goldie’s face. “What is it?” she asked.