The two big squirrels waved through the glass roof.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Flufftail!” Jess and Lily called up to them.
“This is my brother, Dasha,” explained Woody, “and my big sisters, Hazel and Lulu.”
A tiny squirrel wearing a striped T-shirt peeked out from behind Woody.
“And this is Sophie,” Woody said. “She’s the youngest Flufftail.”
“Hi!” said Sophie, waving at the girls with her tail.
“Hi, Sophie!” said Lily. “It’s lovely to meet you all.”
“Flufftails, we need your help,” Jess said urgently. “We think Grizelda is going to cause trouble here. Can you tell us how the Shining House works?”
“Of course.” Mr. Flufftail scurried down from the roof and over to them. “The trees have so many beautiful green leaves that the sun can’t shine through them all to reach the forest floor,” he explained, pointing at the trees with his tail. “So the Shining House collects the light. Then the sunflowers magically reflect the sunshine through the glass and out into the forest, to make the whole forest lovely and light and warm.”
“We keep the glass polished,” Woody said proudly. “Only a Flufftail fluff tail is soft enough to clean the Shining House. Feel!” he added, flicking his tail out toward her.
Lily stroked his beautiful bushy tail. It felt as soft as silk. “It’s gorgeous,” she said.
“Do you really think Grizelda is going to come here?” Woody asked sadly.
“Don’t worry, we’ll stop her,” Jess said firmly.
“We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again!” Lily agreed.
But just then the air turned icy cold. There was a whoosh and a cloud of snowflakes blew over them.
Jess heard wings flapping and looked up. “Oh, no! It’s Chilly the ice dragon!”
Chapter Four
Chilly’s Icy Spell
“Dragon?” shrieked Mrs. Flufftail. “Children, hide!”
The young Flufftails scattered. Woody and Dasha ran squealing behind Lily and Jess, and Hazel and Lulu hid under Mr. Flufftail’s tail.
As Chilly swooped down to land, he blew a big raspberry, scattering ice flakes everywhere. “Pffffttthh!” he said. “I’m going to make the forest nice and cold!”
“No!” cried Jess.
But Chilly pointed his wings at the Flufftails and chanted:
“Magic make these squirrels change
So they hate the golden sun
Then wintry cold will chill the trees
And bring snow for everyone.”
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then Goldie gasped. “Look at the Flufftails!” she cried.
The squirrel family were curling their tails over their eyes.
“Too bright,” they moaned.
“The sunshine’s horrible,” Woody said with a groan.
Chilly grinned, flicking icicles from his tail.
“Change the squirrels back to normal,” Jess demanded.
“Won’t!” Chilly said, and stuck out his tongue. He beat his wings again.
Instantly, an icy wind blew over the Shining House, and Chilly flew up into the sky, high above the treetops.
As the dragon flew away, the Flufftails disappeared into the woods, still covering their eyes.
“Wait!” Jess called. “Woody! Hazel! The poor Flufftails.” She sighed as she turned to Lily and Goldie.
But Lily and Goldie were staring at the Shining House in dismay. The gleaming glass was covered with frost so thick they could barely see inside. The sunflowers were already drooping in the cold. Worst of all, no light was shining out into the forest.
Goldie gave an upset sniffle.
“Everything will be fine,” Jess promised. “We won’t give up until it is.”
“I know you won’t,” said Goldie. Her whiskers lifted a little.
There was a crackle from the bushes next to the Shining House.
“Someone’s coming!” whispered Jess. “Careful, it might be Grizelda.”
The girls held their breath. But instead of Grizelda, little Sophie Flufftail crept out from behind a bush. She was trembling and looked very upset.
Lily knelt down. “It’s okay, Sophie,” she said. “The dragon’s gone.”
Sophie ran to Lily, who scooped her up, stroking the little squirrel’s silky fur.
“I hid behind the bush when the dragon came,” she told them. “Now my family all have a spell on them! I wish I’d come out and helped them.” She burst into tears.
“There wasn’t anything you could have done,” Lily told her gently.
Jess stroked the trembling squirrel. “Don’t worry, Sophie,” she said. “We’ll help your family.”
“Really?” sniffed Sophie. She wiped her eyes with her tail.
Goldie nodded. “Of course we will. Lily and Jess always help animals in trouble.”
“Thank you!” cried Sophie. She wriggled down from Lily’s arms. “But first I’ve got to fix the Shining House.”
She scampered over to it and rubbed the frosty glass with her tail. As soon as her bushy tail touched the glass, the frost started to fade. But even though she rubbed and rubbed, she only cleared a tiny patch of the glass.
Sophie’s face fell. “I only have a little tail,” she said sadly. “I can’t polish it all on my own.”
Everyone looked around the darkening forest anxiously. Without the Shining House, light was already fading away.
Jess turned to Goldie. “We need to lift Chilly’s spell on the Flufftails so they can all fix the Shining House. We’ve got to find them!”
“The spell has made them hate the sunshine,” Lily said, “so maybe they’ve gone somewhere dark and cold. Goldie, do you know anywhere like that?”
Goldie shook her head.
“Then we’ll just have to look for it,” Jess said determinedly.
“We’ll search the whole forest if we have to!” agreed Lily.
“Okay,” said Sophie. “Come on.” She bounded ahead but stopped suddenly, jumping back in fright. A big mound of earth had simply popped out of the ground, right in front of her.
Another mound popped up nearby. Then another. And another!
Jess scooped up Sophie and huddled together with Goldie and Lily. “What’s happening?” she whispered. “Is it more dragon magic?”
Chapter Five
Little Lola
“Stay back,” Jess said as another mound of earth appeared. “It could be Chilly, making more magic spells.”
Pop! A fresh mound sprang up right by her foot. Suddenly, a face appeared in the middle of the mound! It was a mole, wearing round purple-framed eyeglasses.
Goldie ran over, purring happily. “It’s okay! Those mounds are molehills, and that’s Lola Velvetnose!”
“Phew,” said Lily with a grin.
“Hello, Goldie!” Lola said, squinting up at them through her glasses. “Who’s that next to you? She smells like honey!”
“This is Jess,” said Goldie, going closer so the little mole could see her clearly. “She’s a girl, and so is Lily.”
Lola peered at Lily, then sniffed. “Mmm, you smell like strawberries,” she said.
“You scared us, making all those molehills!” Lily laughed.
“Sorry,” said Lola. “I’m investigating a strange new scent underground—a strong smell of chestnuts.”