“Come on, let’s make Smudge change his mind!” Jess said determinedly. “Everyone, make some music!”
The nighttime animals gathered in a circle, lit by the golden lights. Melody Sweetsong the nightingale started to sing. Mr. Silverback clapped his paws while the Longears bat family whistled.
Ruby’s pointy ears pricked up happily. She held on to her tail with one paw and skipped in a circle. Goldie held her tail and followed after her, while the girls pretended to hold tails, too, and skipped along after them.
“Now hop like this!” Ruby called. She jumped from right to left, waving her tail in the opposite direction. Goldie and the girls copied her, the girls waving a hand instead of a tail. They were all grinning.
“This is so much fun!” cried Jess.
Lily giggled as Ruby started shuffling backward, wiggling her paws in front of her. As she copied the fox cub, she saw Smudge peeking out of the hollow in his tree. He was bobbing his head in time to the music.
“Let’s keep going,” Lily whispered. “I think it’s working!”
Ruby led them in a waltz around Smudge’s tree. Every few beats, she paused to kick out a paw and shimmy her tail.
Jess was last in line, and a movement from behind caught her eye.
It was Smudge! He was skipping after them, flapping his wings and dancing!
“Hee!” laughed Smudge, clapping his scaly paws. “Look at me!”
“Hooray!” cried Lily.
They all gathered around the dancing dragon. Ruby took his paw in hers. “Hold your tail in your other paw, like this,” she said, showing him, “then hop from foot to foot!”
“Whee!” said Smudge, doing as Ruby said. He finished the move with a flap of his wings and a wiggle of his head.
Goldie clapped. “That’s great, Smudge! You’re a really good dancer!”
Just then Smudge tripped over his tail. Jess held her breath. If Smudge didn’t manage to dance, he might not help the Fuzzybrushes!
But to their relief the dragon wobbled, then turned it into a twirling dance move!
“Good job, Smudge!” Ruby cried.
Jess pointed up at the glittering lights. “We couldn’t dance without Mr. Cleverfeather’s bright lights, though,” she said. “We wouldn’t be able to see what we’re doing. Smudge, will you lift the spell you put on the Fuzzybrushes? Then you can dance under the stars every night.”
Smudge nodded his scaly head. “I want everyone to see me now,” he said. “Yes, I’ll take away the spell!”
Ruby gave a cry of delight. “I’ll get my family back!” she cried.
“And the Friendship Tree will be safe,” said Jess, smiling. “Lily and I can keep coming to the forest!”
Chapter Seven
Starlight
The Wisefeathers flapped through the forest, holding the bright lights to guide the way. Smudge flew along beside them, carrying the magical moonstone. When his tail got in the way of his legs, he turned his stumble into a dance move, hopping and waving his paws.
“Go, Smudge!” cheered Jess.
But a terrible surprise awaited the group as they passed the Friendship Tree.
“There are hardly any leaves left!” Jess gasped. “We’re running out of time!”
They raced to the lighthouse, where three fox shadows stood waiting.
“Don’t worry, Mom, we’re going to take the spell off you,” Ruby said.
The two big shadows reached out to the little cub, but stopped when Smudge skipped toward them.
“It’s okay,” Lily told them. “Smudge is going to free you.”
With a final hop, Smudge huffed a dark sooty cloud over the three shadows. It swirled around them, and then, with a puff, it was gone, and there stood Mr. and Mrs. Fuzzybrush and Rusty!
The whole fox family hugged one another, rolling over and over in a jumble of legs and fluffy tails.
Finally, they got to their feet. Their ears pricked up as Goldie told them about their adventure.
“Thank you for saving us,” said Mrs. Fuzzybrush, “and for looking after Ruby.”
“She’s a very good dance teacher,” said Jess. “We couldn’t have done it without her!”
Ruby hugged the girls and Goldie. “It was a wonderful adventure,” she said, “but I was a little scared.”
Mr. Fuzzybrush kissed her nose. “Scared? You?” he said. “No other fox cub has ever been brave enough to teach a dragon how to dance!”
“Speaking of dancing, can you do your star dance, please?” Jess said, looking up at the sky. There was just one little star left.
“Hurry,” begged Lily, thinking of the leaves on the Friendship Tree.
Everyone ran into the clearing. Smudge put the moonstone in the middle and as the girls and Goldie watched, the foxes began their stepping, gliding, twirling dance. Smudge sat nearby, swishing his tail in time. As the tips of the foxes’ bushy tails touched, the moonstone began to glow.
“There!” said Jess, pointing up at the inky sky. A star was twinkling. More and more appeared, and soon the sky was dusted with sparkling starlight.
“Perfect for dancing under!” said Smudge, clapping his paws as he gazed up at the twinkling stars.
As the moonstone shone brighter than ever before, the Fuzzybrushes finished and took a bow. The star dance was complete.
“That looked so magical!” said Jess.
“It was magical!” said Lily. “Now the Friendship Tree will be safe.”
Ruby was whispering to her parents. They nodded, and she went to stand close to where the black shadow dragon was perched.
“Smudge, would you like to learn some more dance moves?” she asked.
“Oh, yes!” Smudge cried.
“Then my mom and dad say that you can come and stay at the lighthouse with us,” Ruby said, “as long as you promise not to make everything too sooty.”
Smudge flew in a big loop-the-loop, got tangled in his tail, turned it into a hop through the air, and landed in front of the Fuzzybrushes. “Thank you!” he said happily. “I’ll be good, I promise!”
Ruby, Rusty, and Smudge held paws and twirled around the moonstone.
Lily and Jess grinned at each other, then ran to join in, followed by the other nighttime animals. They all danced happily under the twinkling stars.
Finally it was time for the girls to go home. They hugged Ruby and her family good-bye, and gave Smudge a hug, too.
As they walked happily back through the forest, Jess turned to Lily and Goldie. “Have you noticed that Grizelda’s dragons don’t seem to like helping her very much?” she said.
Goldie nodded. “Maybe Grizelda forced them to be her helpers.”
“I feel sorry for them,” said Lily.
Jess agreed. “Maybe we should find a way to send them back to wherever they came from,” she suggested.
“Do you think we could?” asked Lily. “Oh! Look at the Friendship Tree.”
New silver leaves were already appearing on the branches, sparkling in the starlight.
“I’m so glad the tree is safe,” said Lily. “Imagine never being able to visit Friendship Forest again!”
Goldie touched a paw to the trunk, and a door appeared. “I’m so happy you girls can still come here,” said Goldie. “I don’t know what we’d do without you! Grizelda still has one more dragon, and she’s bound to cause more trouble soon!”