Kitabı oku: «The Amelia Fang Series»
For my marvellous, magnificent,
musical sister Marie!
The memories we’ve shared
are unforgettable and I love you
more than freshly baked cookies xxx
First published in Great Britain 2018
by Egmont UK Limited
The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN
Text and illustrations copyright © 2018 Laura Ellen Anderson
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 4052 8707 4
eISBN 978 1 4052 9341 9
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available
from the British Library
Printed and bound in Great Britain by the CPI Group
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CONTENTS
MAP OF THE KINGDOMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
MEET THE NOCTURNIANS AND GLITTEROPOLANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
1. GOBLIN-SLIME SUPERGLUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. MY LIFE . . . IN SONG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3. SUBLIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
4. PUMPKIN PARADISE PARK . . . . . . . . . . . .43
5. I JUST WANNA PLAY GOBLIN TAG. . . . . 51
6. BAKE FASTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7. BAD BOGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
8. THE PUMPKIN PATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
9. WHAT THE BATS IS GOING ON?. . . . . . 93
10. SIT YOUR ROYAL BOTTOM DOWN . . .105
11. LOOSE LIMBS LIBRARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
12. UNICOOOOOORN! THE TERROR! . . . . .129
13. THE FIELD OF FORGET-ME-NOTS. . . .143
14. PA-DOOF! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
15. JUST LIKE ME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
16. LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
17. THE PUMPKINS AND THE GRUMPKINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
18. TAKE ‘IM AWAY! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
19. PUMPKIN-SHAPED DREAMS. . . . . . . . . .205
CHAPTER 1
GOBLIN-SLIME
SUPERGLUE
On a misty Wednesday night after school,
young vampire Amelia Fang sat in her
bedroom with her pet pumpkin, Squashy,
surrounded by complete and utter mess.
‘Darkling,’ called Amelia’s mother, Countess Frivoleeta, from downstairs. ‘It’s time for your organ practice with Wooo. Remember your exam is coming up soon.’
‘Do I have to practise tonight?’ Amelia
replied, her heart sinking at the thought of
more organ practice – despite how ghoulishly
enthusiastic Wooo, their ghost butler, was.
‘I’m making Squashy a cute costume for my
birthnight party!’
Squashy squeaked and span on the spot
delightedly.
‘Isn’t it exciting, Squashy! Soon I’ll be eleven
moon-years old!’ beamed Amelia, flicking
through her Positively Pumpkin magazine.
‘And we get to celebrate in style at the Pumpkin
Patch! Golly Ghouls, I do love pumpkins.’
Amelia wanted to be a Pumpkinologist more
than anything in the whole world when she
grew up – she could imagine studying and
caring for pumpkins like Squashy forever!
Amelia also loved making things, and she
especially loved making things for Squashy.
Tonight her bedroom floor was covered in
black-and-orange material, goblin-slime
superglue and various cobwebbing tools.
The bedroom door creaked open, revealing
Countess Frivoleeta’s huge beehive hairdo
before the rest of her body. When she saw the
mess in Amelia’s room, she gasped.
‘Amelia, my dreadful little wart-picker, I
can’t see your bedroom floor!’
‘It’s creative mess,’ Amelia grinned. ‘Look,
I’m making some sunglasses for Squashy and
some tiny bow ties.’
The countess made a strange noise. ‘Amelia
Fang! It’s like you’re living in a goblin cave.
Wooo is waiting for you in the organ room, so
tidy this mess up and then go downstairs for
your practice. Quick-smart my dismal one!’
Amelia felt her cheeks flush. ‘But Mum, it’s
nearly my birthnight, and I’ve so much to
catch up on in Positively Pumpkin! Can’t I
skip organ practice just this week?’
‘Certainly not, darkling – you already
missed last week because you were at
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pumpkin-patch digging. Organ practice is
important – pumpkin magazines are not.’
Amelia sighed. ‘Okay, Mum, I’ll be down in
a minute,’ she said, as the countess left the
room. Sometimes it felt like her mum just
didn’t understand.
‘Don’t worry Squashy, we’ll have your
costume ready, even if I have to stay up all
day to finish it.’
Squashy pa-doinged in excitement, but
landed on the tube of goblin-slime superglue
and a giant purple glob spurted all over
Amelia’s dress.
‘Oh no, be careful Squashy!’
shrieked Amelia, looking down
at the slimy patch.
But the little pumpkin leapt forward and landed on Amelia’s lap – slap-bang in the pile of goblin slime.
‘Uh-oh!’ cried Amelia. ‘You just sat in the glue . . .’
Squashy tried to pa-doing
out of her lap, but he
was firmly stuck.
Amelia looked around her bedroom in
search of some glitter – the only thing that
could dissolve goblin slime – but she couldn’t
see any.
‘We have to hurry, Squashy,’ urged Amelia.
‘Wooo is waiting for me and you’re stuck to
my lap . . . Argh!’
She tried her best to pull her dress off, but it
was rather difficult with a pumpkin stuck to
the front of it. Amelia found herself caught
half in and half out of the dress. Squashy had
begun to squeak in a panic and was swinging
from side to side, trying to free himself.
‘Whoa! Squashy, what are you doing?’ said
Amelia, trying to wriggle out of the tangled
garment. ‘Stop it, you’re making me lose
balance!’
But, determined to free himself, the little
pumpkin carried on swinging – causing
Amelia to stumble around the room like a
frenzied zombie.
‘OUCH!’ she cried out as she stomped on a small box full of buttons and lost her footing.
CRASH!
Amelia and Squashy went tumbling into the pumpkin-themed creations, sending the
whole lot flying across the room.
A few seconds later, her mum burst through
the door.
‘What the gravestones is going on?’ she
exclaimed, surveying the carnage.
‘Um . . . I can explain . . .’ said Amelia
sheepishly.
‘And what’s happened to your dress?’ her
mother said sternly.
Amelia looked down. Where Squashy had been swinging, there was a massive rip.
‘It was an accident, Mum, honest!’ said Amelia, scrambling to her feet. ‘I was just about to leave, and the glue spilt out and
Squashy got stuck and . . .’
‘I have had enough, Amelia!’ said the
countess, holding up a hand. She picked up a
copy of Positively Pumpkin. ‘You’ve always
got your head stuck in this silly magazine!
You’ve been neglecting your vampiress
etiquette studies and organ practice for too
long now.’
‘It’s not a silly magazine!’ cried Amelia,
snatching it away from her mum.
‘Do NOT take that tone with me,’ said the
countess. ‘One more outburst like that and
I’m cancelling your Positively Pumpkin
subscription!’
‘But, Mum, that’s not fair! It was an
accident, and you know how important
pumpkins and Squashy are to me!’ said
Amelia.
Countess Frivoleeta’s left eyeball twitched.
But she composed herself.
‘Wooo is waiting,’ the countess said through
gritted fangs. ‘Change your dress and then you
had better be downstairs in two minutes.’ She
swiftly left the room.
Amelia sighed and slumped on to the floor.
‘Oh, Squashy,’ she said sadly. ‘I don’t think
Mum knows me at all.’
CHAPTER 2
MY LIFE . . . IN
SONG
‘So, are you excited about your birthnight
party, Amelia?’ said Grimaldi Reaperton the
next night before school. ‘I heard your mum
and dad hired out the Pumpkin Patch for a
whole night!’
Amelia sat quietly, tickling Squashy’s
tummy. ‘I guess so,’ she said without feeling.
Amelia and her best friends Grimaldi,
Florence Spudwick and Prince Tangine La
Floofle the First sat under the Petrified-Tree-
That-Looked-Like-a-Unicorn . Florence was a
huge hairy yeti, an extremely loyal friend and
a great pit-digger who did NOT like being
called a beast by anybody. Tangine, on the other hand, was half-vampire, half-fairy and partial to a good face scrub.
‘A Pumpkin Patch birthnight party sounds super fun!’ said Tangine. ‘I know Pumpy will love it!’
Pumpy, Tangine’s own genetically modified pet pumpkin, tried to roll over, but fell asleep halfway through the roll.
‘Although, I’ve recently discovered Pumpy suffers from Chronic-Upside-Down-Sleep-Syndrome . . .’ said Tangine, giving Pumpy a nudge so that he was upright once
again.
The huge pumpkin flexed his six-pack
and PA-DOOFED once into Tangine’s
arms, causing the prince to fall backwards.
‘PRINCE DOWN!’ yelled Florence as
Tangine groaned.
Amelia tried to smile but couldn’t quite
manage it.
‘You seem sad, Amelia,’ said Grimaldi.
‘What’s up?’
‘Me and Mum had a bit of an argument,’
sighed Amelia. ‘I told her I didn’t want to play
the organ this week so that I could finish
Squashy’s costume – and read more Positively
Pumpkin. And she got really cross. I just don’t
think I can be the perfect vampiress she wants
me to be.’
‘THAT’S TOO BAD,’ said Florence, putting
a big hairy arm around Amelia’s shoulders.
‘YOU’LL BE ’APPY YOU STUCK WIV THE
ORGAN THOUGH. I WISH I COULD PLAY.’
She yawned.
Amelia and her friends were all feeling a
little tired after the big Petrifying Palace
Parade a few nights before, where everyone
had celebrated the Kingdom of the Dark and
the Kingdom of the Light becoming friends.
After many years of being completely
terrified of the other, Creatures of the Light
and the Dark could now live alongside each
other in peace, since the evil Alpha Unicorn
had been defeated by Amelia and her friends.
Along with a group of mighty unicorn lords,
Alpha Unicorn had been spreading false and
scary rumours about the creatures from each
kingdom to keep them divided. But thanks to
Amelia and the gang, everyone was now free
to roam wherever they pleased. Things were
better than ever, and the Creatures of the
Dark now accepted the wonders of glitter;
once the stuff of utter DAYMARES!
The parade had been a LOT of fun,
but after much dancing, singing and pumpkin
juggling, Amelia and her friends could have
done with a little bit more sleep.
From across the graveyard came the rattling
sound of the Catacomb Academy welcome
bones.
‘C’MON, FANG,’ said Florence to Amelia
affectionately. ‘I’M SURE A BIT OF BORING
OL’ SCHOOL WILL ’ELP CHEER YOU UP!’
Amelia couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Squashy,
you can stay out here in the graveyard and
play with Pumpy while we’re at school.’ She
gave the little pumpkin a pat on the stalk.
Squashy pa-doinged once and blew a
raspberry at Pumpy. Pumpy responded by
puffing his six-pack chest out at Squashy.
‘You two need to learn to be friends,’ Amelia
said kindly. ‘I hope you are by the time
school finishes.’
Amelia would usually sneak Squashy into
class with her, but she felt having a pumpkin buddy would be good for him. It didn’t stop her from missing Squashy every second they were apart, though. Luckily, Amelia had lots of new school subjects to focus on and keep
her mind occupied.
Since the Kingdom of the Dark and the Kingdom of the Light had become friends, Catacomb Academy had introduced a variety of new Kingdom of the Light themed lessons, to educate the Creatures of the Dark. Alongside Pumpkinology and Slime Skills, Amelia and her friends now also studied
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Angel-Kitten Singing, Cloud Crafts, Glitterology
and History of the Bug Blossoms.
‘Good evening, class,’ said the headmistress,
Miss Inspine, as the students settled on to their
plinths. ‘Firstly, I’d like to welcome the fairy
exchange students from the Kingdom of the
Light. I appreciate you may be a little sleepy
while you get used to the time difference,’ said
Miss Inspine, addressing the fairies.
Five fairies of varying sizes waved shyly
from the back of the classroom, not looking
remotely alarmed that their new headmistress
was a skeleton. One teeny weeny fairy with a
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