Kitabı oku: «The Spider Gnomes»

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

The Shadow Woods

Chapter 1 - The New Clue

Chapter 2 - Spider Invasion

Chapter 3 - A Curtain of Cobwebs

Chapter 4 - Escape!

Chapter 5 - Sam Behaving Strangely

Chapter 6 - A Nasty Bug

Chapter 7 - Cobwebs for Supper

Chapter 8 - The Spider Gnomes

Chapter 9 - A Cobwebby Encounter

Chapter 10 - Run For Your Lives!

Chapter 11 - In the Woods…

The Shadow Files

What’s next in store for Sophie

Copyright

About the Publisher

The Shadow Woods…

Very few people ever enter the Shadow Woods. The crooked trees press closely together, their branches reaching out like skeletons’ arms. Strange whispers echo through the quiet air, and eyes seem to watch from the shadows. Anyone who does go in soon leaves, their skin prickling with fear. For these woods are like no others. Hidden deep within them is a gateway to the Shadow Realm – a dark and chaotic world where all the mischief-making creatures like goblins, boggles and trolls live.

Many hundreds of years ago, the Shadow Realm creatures could pass freely between our world and theirs, but they caused so much trouble that it was decided the gateway between the two worlds must be shut for good. Yet no one knew how to do this, until a locksmith with magical powers made an iron key and then slotted a gem from the Shadow Realm into its handle. The secret had been found! The locksmith forced as many shadow creatures as he could back into their own world and locked the gateway firmly behind them.

From that day on, the locksmith became the Guardian of the Gateway, watching over the precious key and stopping the few shadow creatures left in this world from causing too much trouble. As he grew old he passed his powers on to his grandson, who in turn passed the powers on to his. For hundreds of years, the Guardianship has passed down from grandparent to grandchild, and the gate has always remained safely shut.

But now for the first time, disaster looms. The shadow creatures have stolen the iron key! Luckily, there was no gem in its handle when it was taken, but there are six gems from the Shadow Realm hidden somewhere in our world. If the shadow creatures find any of them, they’ll be able to slot them into the key and open the gateway, letting hordes of villainous creatures loose to cause mayhem and trouble.

Only one girl stands in their way… and her name is Sophie Smith.

Chapter 1 The New Clue

I’m a Swamp Boggle and I’m coming to get you!”

Sophie peered cautiously round the tree trunk as the voice grew closer. There he was! She jerked back again, hoping he hadn’t seen her. Wait, she told herself. Let him get nearer…

She counted to ten. Her fingers tightened on the trigger. Now!

Darting out from behind the tree, she lifted her bright orange mega-soaker and fired a jet of water straight at Sam, her best friend. “Got you, you stinky Swamp Boggle!” she yelled.

Sam counter attacked, shooting water back at her. Sophie dodged away, diving to the ground and rolling over before leaping to her feet again.

“Hi-YA!” Dropping her mega-soaker, she jumped into the air, kicking out with her right foot in a tae kwon do move. She timed it closely because she didn’t want to hurt Sam really. He staggered backwards in surprise as her foot missed him by just a few centimetres.

“Whoa!” He tripped and landed on the grass.

“Ha!” said Sophie, dusting her hands down.

“Don’t mess with me, Swamp Boggle!”

She didn’t get to gloat for long. Sam pulled the trigger on his mega-soaker, drenching her legs with water. “Gotcha!”

Sophie squealed. Leaping up again, Sam chased her round his garden until their water pistols finally ran out and they both flopped on to the patio. Sophie’s blonde ponytail was dripping and Sam’s red hair was flattened against his head.

“I’m wet through!” Sam panted.

“Me too, but it was fun!” Sophie’s green eyes shone. “Isn’t it nice just to do something normal for a change.”

Sam grinned. “You mean fighting Ink Cap Goblins and Swamp Boggles isn’t normal?”

“I suppose it is normal for us now,” said Sophie. A week ago, on her tenth birthday, she’d discovered that she was the Guardian of a magical gateway hidden deep in the woods behind her house. Her grandfather, the previous Guardian, had explained she had to stop the shadow creatures from ever opening it. Sam was the only person apart from her grandpa who knew the secret. Sophie was very glad he was helping her.

Sam stretched his legs out. “What do you think Ug will do next to try to find the gems?” Ug, the King of the Ink Cap Goblins, had stolen the key to the gateway and was trying to find one of the six hidden shadow gems. The key wouldn’t work without one of them.

“Whatever it is, I bet it’s something horrible,” answered Sophie. She touched the pouch under her jeans, where she carried the two gems she and Sam had found so far. There were still four others hidden around the town of Upper Gately, where they lived – and they had to find them before Ug did! But who knew what plan he’d come up with next? After she and Sam had defeated him, he’d sent the scary Swamp Boggles to try to find one of the gems.

Sophie shivered, remembering how they had just barely got away from the slimy creatures. She hoped they wouldn’t have to deal with any more shadow creatures… but she had a feeling that they would!

She reached for the leather notebook that was lying on the patio behind her. The Shadow Files was written in fading gold letters on the front. It contained notes made by the past Guardians on all the different shadow creatures they’d encountered.

“If Ug sends another creature after the gems, it could be any of these,” she said, flicking through its pages. Slime Imps, Fire Goblins, Wolf Trolls – each looked worse than the last! “Let’s read the clue for the red gem again.” The Shadow Files had clues to help the new Guardian find the gems. Earlier that morning, she and Sam had discovered the third clue, hidden in tiny letters at the bottom of the entry on Snake Sprites. “We must be able to work it out.”

Sam turned to the correct page and read:

“Hours and minutes

Near clouds and sky

The red gem is hidden

Way up high.”

“Any ideas yet?” Sophie looked at him hopefully. Sam was really brainy, and excellent at working stuff out. But this time he seemed as stumped as she was.

“No, none. The gem’s hidden somewhere high up… but how can hours and minutes be near the sky? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Let’s go back to my house,” suggested Sophie. “Maybe Grandpa will know what the new clue means.”

As Sam picked up the mega-soakers, Sophie noticed a long line of spiders a few metres away, marching across the patio. “Hey, look at all the spiders!” she exclaimed.

“That’s weird,” said Sam, staring down at them. “Spiders normally hide when it’s hot outside. They like cool, dry places.” Sophie raised her eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. “What? Spiders are fascinating creatures.”

“Mmmmm, really fascinating!” she teased.

“They are, actually. Spiders are cool,” Sam informed her. “Did you know some spiders can jump up to fifty times their own length? Some of them use their web silk to make lassoes to catch prey, and others make parachutes with it.” His forehead creased as he looked at the spiders again. “I wonder why so many of them are out at the same time though?”

Sophie shrugged, bored of the spiders. “Maybe one of them’s having a spider party, and texted his friends to say come and have some flies! Come on, let’s go.”

She went to the back door. Taking one last puzzled look at the spiders, Sam followed her.

Deep in the Shadow Woods stood King Ug, the leader of the Ink Cap Goblins. His ivy crown rested wonkily on his dome-shaped head and his white flaky skin was covered with black blotches. He was talking to two squat figures in the shadows.

“Well? Do you think you can get one?” he demanded.

“Yessss,” one of the figures hissed, waving four of its eight legs. “We shall find a shadow gem, no matter what.”

“Those idiot Swamp Boggles said the same thing,” snorted King Ug. “They failed me. Numskulls!”

There was the sound of snapping jaws. “Ah, but we shall not fail you. We know how important it is that we shadow creatures all serve you, King Ug – you are the Keeper of the Key!”

King Ug smiled proudly. The key to the gate hung round his chest, and he reached up and touched it, feeling the empty space where a shadow gem needed to go. “How will you manage to get into the town unseen?” he demanded.

There was the sound of leg joints cracking. “We have many spiessss with many eyessss,” said one of the figures. A line of tiny spiders marched past on the ground. “They will search the humans’ town and find a gem for us, and when they do we shall fetch it and bring it here. Nothing shall stop usss!”

“Excellent!” chortled King Ug. He adjusted his crown. “I can see it was extremely clever of me to call on the Spider Gnomes for help. When you succeed, the gem will be mine and I shall finally open the gate.” His small black eyes gleamed as he imagined the fun that millions of shadow creatures would have, wreaking havoc in the human world.

All he needed was one small gem…