The Swamp Boggles (3 page)

“Get off her!” Sam yelled. He threw his lunch box at it. There was a splatting sound as it hit the creature and dropped to the floor.

Through the trees, Sophie heard a very faint cry. “Cutie-Pie! Cutie! Please come back!” But she didn't have time to think about it. She felt the creature's hands on her shoulders, saw its pointed teeth coming closer to her face, smelled its rotten breath. She struggled as hard as she could, but her fingers just sank into its squishy skin. Panic rushed through her. How could she fight something that she couldn't hurt or grip or kick?

“No!” she cried as the creature's teeth came closer…

S
ophie yelled as the shadow creature reared over her. Suddenly it stopped. It pulled back sharply, looking all around it with wide eyes…

Sophie seized her chance. Rolling swiftly to her right, she leapt to her feet. As she did so, she saw the
little white dog she'd noticed earlier come bounding along the path following the slime trail, the top knot and ribbon bouncing on its head. It wagged its tail when it saw her, looking like a cuddly toy come to life.

“Quick! Sam! Grab that dog!” she gasped. She had a feeling that creatures like the one in front of her would eat a ridiculously sweet, fluffy dog like that in one gulp!

Sam swooped down and scooped up the little dog as Sophie quickly got into her tae kwon do stance, readying herself for a fight. Great – now she had to protect herself, Sam
and
the dog!

The creature's eyes bulged as it stared at Sam. Suddenly it made a weird, scared, choking cry, covered its face… and then sneezed explosively.

“ATCHOO!”

Sophie quickly spun round and lashed out with her foot, trying to throw it off balance while it was distracted. But before her foot could squish into the creature, it had turned and run away down the path. It disappeared into the shadows, still sneezing uncontrollably.

“What did you do to it?” Sam exclaimed, the dog still held safely in his arms.

“I… I don't know!” Feeling equally astonished, Sophie lowered her arms. “I didn't do anything.”

“So, why did it run away like that?” Sam demanded.

“I dunno.” She grinned. “Maybe it was scared off by the dog.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, right.” The white pooch reached up and licked his chin with its pink tongue. “Did you scare off the horrible shadow creature, then, you big fierce dog?”

“I wonder what it was that
did
make it go,” said Sophie, staring down the dark, tangled path where the thing had vanished. “And what kind of creature it was.”

Sam nodded. “We'd better check
The Shadow Files
straight after school. We can ask your grandpa too. He might know.”

Sophie's heart sank. What on earth would Grandpa say when he heard that she'd had a chance to get the key back and hadn't managed
it? Or that the creature had nearly bitten her? She really didn't want to have that conversation at all!

Just then there was another faint cry through the trees. “Cutie-Pie! Cutie-Pie! Come back!”

Sam rolled his eyes. “
Cutie-Pie?
”

“That must be the dog's owner,” said Sophie. “Come on, let's take it back.” She'd be glad to get out of here, she realised, glancing around her. The woods seemed to be closing in on them somehow. It felt like dozens of eyes were watching them.

They hurried back down the path. An old lady with grey hair was standing on the edge of the wood, looking very anxious as she called into the trees. She exclaimed in delight when she saw them. “You found my Cutie-Pie!”

“Yes. He's OK,” said Sam, putting the dog
down. “He just followed a scent into the trees.”

Cutie-Pie bounded up to his owner and put his paws up on her legs.

“Thank you so much for bringing him back, dears,” said the old lady, picking the little dog up. “I had such a fright when I realised he'd gone! You naughty little Cutie,” she scolded, tapping the dog's nose. “Come on, I'll give you a nice bowl of chicken for breakfast.” Looking very relieved, she carried the dog away.

Sam looked at his watch. “We should get to school.”

Sophie took a breath. After all the excitement it was hard to imagine just going to school like normal, but they'd be late if they didn't hurry. “Let's just hope we don't meet any more shadow creatures on the way!” she said.

 

It was too risky to talk about what had happened while they were at school, but as soon as the day was over with, Sophie and Sam hurried back to her house to check out
The Shadow Files
.

Mrs B opened the door for them. “How was school?” she asked cheerfully.

“OK, thanks,” said Sophie as they went inside. She swallowed, glancing around her. “Is, um… Grandpa in?'”

“No, he's at Jack Badgett's shop,” said Mrs B. She shut the door behind them.

Sophie let out a relieved sigh. Jack Badgett was Grandpa's friend, and when they got talking they chatted for hours. At least that meant that she didn't have to tell him what had happened, just yet!

“Come on, let's go upstairs,” she said to Sam as they started to take their shoes off.

Mrs B's blue eyes were twinkling. “First, come into the kitchen. I bought you a present today!”

“Oh.” Sophie tried to look pleased. Mrs Benton was wonderful, and she often bought Sophie presents to make up for the things Grandpa had always treated Anthony to, but the trouble was she had a strange idea of what kind of things Sophie might like. When Sophie was little, Mrs B had bought her endless princess dresses, when all Sophie had wanted was to dress up like a knight or Spider-Man. Just recently, Mrs B had started buying Sophie hair and make-up sets, but although Sophie had waist-length blonde hair, she could never be bothered with trying to put bows or slides in.
Still no matter how awful Mrs B's presents were, Sophie couldn't bear to hurt her feelings, so she always had to pretend that she liked them.

“It might not be
that
bad,” Sam whispered, reading her thoughts.

Anthony's voice floated out of the kitchen. “Oh, let me tell her! Let me!” he was begging Mrs B.

“Something tells me it's going to be bad,” Sophie muttered, her heart sinking as she heard the delight in her brother's voice. She braced herself and went into the kitchen.

Mrs B was holding out a plain white plastic bag. “Here it is, duckie!” she beamed. “I was in Jack's shop this afternoon, and he's just got a job lot of them in. He was telling me how much his granddaughter, Daisy, loves hers. All the
girls at school are playing with them, apparently! You really should have said.”

Sophie felt a flicker of horror as she thought about what all the girls in her class had been playing with for the last two weeks. No, surely Mrs B couldn't have bought her a… a…

“It's a
Fluffy
!” Anthony crowed, unable to keep quiet a second longer.

Sophie opened the bag and peered inside. Big blue eyes stared back at her out of a round plastic baby face. She cautiously took the creature out of the bag. It had a tiny rosebud mouth, long eyelashes and a body shaped like a fat baby, but it was covered in fluffy pale pink fur.

“Press the button on its tummy – go on!” Mrs B urged.

Reluctantly, Sophie did.

“Mama!” it said in a voice like a dalek. It blinked its eyes and stared at her. “Feed me!”

“It even comes with its own bottle,” cooed Mrs B. “Well, what do you think, Sophie?”

Sophie thought the Fluffy was the grossest, yuckiest thing she had ever seen in her life, but
she forced herself to smile. “Thanks, Mrs B. It's… it's great.”

She saw the horror and sympathy on Sam's face as she gingerly held the Fluffy at arm's length. It was still staring at her with its ridiculously big eyes. “Mama! Baby hungwy! Feed me, Mama!”

Anthony chortled. “Go on, sis! Feed it!”

Cringing inside, Sophie took the bottle out of the bag and pressed it to the Fluffy's lips. Immediately it began to make slurping, sucking noises. Then it blinked again. “Wanna cuddle! Wanna kiss-kiss. Wanna…” It seemed to pause and look at her. “WEE-WEE!”

Sophie's heart dropped like a stone as Anthony and Sam both collapsed laughing, united for once. How
could
Mrs B have given this to her? There was no way she could take it
into school! She could just imagine how the boys who she played football with at break time would laugh at her too.

“Honestly, you two!” huffed Mrs B at Sam and Anthony. “Don't laugh at Sophie's lovely present.”

Anthony and Sam sniggered.

Mrs B frowned. “That's enough. Now come and help me get the ironing things out. I really must get it done before teatime. Sophie and Sam, can you fetch the laundry basket, iron and starch spray from the utility room, and Anthony, can you get the ironing board out for me, please?”

Anthony sighed, but Sophie and Sam helped willingly as Mrs B fetched biscuits and drinks for them all.

“What's this spray for?” Sam asked curiously,
taking the iron and starch spray to Mrs B. “My mum and dad don't spray our clothes when they iron.”

“Starch, duckie?” Mrs B said, plugging the iron in. “It takes out the creases and stiffens the clothes.” She chuckled. “When I was a girl I used to use so much starch on my father's shirts they could stand up all on their own. Now, I'd better get some hangers and get started.”

Looking interested, Sam started to read the back of the can.

“Weirdo alert!” Anthony muttered under his breath as Mrs B bustled out of the room to fetch the hangers. “Only
you
could be interested in some dumb ironing spray, Sam.”

Sam flushed, quickly putting the spray down again.

“Shut up!” Sophie hissed.

Anthony grinned. “Why? What will you do? Hit me with your ickle-wickle Fluffy?”

Sophie saw the glee in his face. She started towards him, but he was too quick for her. Still chuckling, he grabbed a biscuit and darted out of the room.

“Never mind him,” muttered Sophie to Sam. “Come on, let's go and check out
The Shadow Files.
”

Grabbing their drinks and biscuits, they went up to Sophie's room and closed the door. Pulling
The Shadow Files
out from under her bed, Sophie opened the book up and Sam quickly started leafing through.

“No, not a Marsh Goblin,” he muttered. “Or a Slime Troll, or a Snail Gnome… Yes!” he exclaimed suddenly. “Look, here it is! I
thought I'd seen one in here.”

Sophie stared. The creature on the page Sam was holding out looked exactly like the thing they had seen that morning!

S
am read out. “‘
Beware the vicious, rotten-breathed Swamp Boggles who come from the swamps and marshes. For they are hard to injure and almost impossible to fight. Their skin is filled with water and blows will cause them no harm. They fear not humans, often travelling between houses and
buildings using drains and underground waterways.'
”

Sophie listened with mounting dread. “That's really not good. If they can travel through the town, they'll be able to find the gems. Because the key glows whenever it's near one of them, remember?”

“There's another note here.” Sam pointed to the bottom of the page. “It looks like your grandpa's handwriting. ‘
Fighting a Swamp Boggle
',” he read out. “‘
See Fighting Slime Trolls and Marsh Goblins. Many similarities. Same things may work?'
”

Sam quickly found the Slime Troll page.

“What does it say?” Sophie looked at him hopefully.

“‘To fight a Slime Troll, one must first dry out their skin through use of wind or heat for then
they will become vulnerable to blows.'”
Sam looked at Sophie. “We could try that on the Swamp Boggle!”

“But how?” said Sophie.

Sam scratched his head; Sophie could sense his brain whirring. “Let's see… we could rig up
a massive fan. It would need to be on wheels so we could transport it, and battery powered of course, so it wouldn't need a cable, and then…”

“Whoa!” Sophie broke in. “Where are we going to get a massive fan from, let alone a battery pack to power it?” She sighed. “I wonder if the page on Marsh Goblins is any more use.”

Sam flicked the pages. “Here it is! ‘
When a Marsh Goblin is terrified it will dissolve into a puddle of water and never recover.'”
He looked up at Sophie. “So we have to scare one to death!”

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Let me see. Hands the size of bicycle wheels, teeth like a ninja piranha, body that can't be hurt. Oh, yeah, a Swamp Boggle is going to be so easy to terrify!” With a groan, she got up and went
restlessly to the window, looking across the lawn to where the woods pressed up against the fence. The washing was fluttering on the line, but then another movement caught her attention. What was that? She peered more closely at the trees. Surely it wasn't…

But it was.

“Sam!” she hissed. “Look! By the fence!”

Sam joined her and followed her gaze. “Oh, no – it's the Swamp Boggle!” he said in dismay.

They watched as the Swamp Boggle stared over the fence towards the house.

“Sophie!” said Sam suddenly. “What if Mrs B goes into the garden to get more washing in?”

They looked at each other in horror and the next minute were both racing down the stairs.

“We're just going outside!” Sophie gabbled as she and Sam ran past Mrs B, who was still
standing at the ironing board. “Stay here! Don't go out!”

“Oke-dokey. But could you bring the rest of the washing in for me, then, please, duckies?” Mrs B didn't look surprised. She was used to Sophie and Sam's games.

Only this time it wasn't a game! As Sophie got outside and saw the Swamp Boggle, she felt the familiar feeling of power surge through her. She whizzed to the bottom of the garden. “Stop right there!” she commanded as the Swamp Boggle put its hands on the fence.

The Swamp Boggle gave a burbling hiss. “You again!”

“Yes, me!” Sophie breathed slowly and deeply, like her tae kwon do teacher had taught her. It kept her calm, which she really needed right then. She had no idea how she was going
to fight this thing. “This is my house. Go away!”

“No,” the creature gurgled.

“Then take this, you great big slime ball!” Sophie leapt into the air and felt her feet splat against the creature's shoulders. The Swamp Boggle hissed, showing off his set of spiny, giant teeth.

“Soph, wait! I've got an idea!” Sam burst out.

Sophie didn't have time to ask what it was – the thing was lunging at her with its long bony fingers. As she dodged, she saw Sam run off. What was he doing? Suddenly she felt very alone.

The Swamp Boggle lashed out again. Sophie raced round behind it and jumped into the air, whipping her body sideways and kicking out hard. Left foot… right foot.
Splat! Splosh!

The Swamp Boggle stumbled forward slightly, but then swung round again, unhurt.

Great –
that
had really worked. Sophie glanced about. Where was Sam?!

“We will find the hidden gems, little girl!” hissed the Swamp Boggle.

We?
thought Sophie. At the same moment there was a laughing sound behind her, like swamp mud glooping. Two more Swamp Boggles emerged from the trees!

Sophie's heart flipped in her chest. There were three of them now – how was she ever going to fight them all? Straightening her shoulders, she tossed her ponytail back. Never
mind how – she had to try!

She lunged forward, but the first Swamp Boggle – the chief – lifted her into the air as easily as if she was a doll. “Let go of me!” she yelled.

“With pleasure,” snarled the boggle, throwing her over the fence. She crashed on to the ground, but managed to roll over, breaking her fall. The other two Swamp Boggles charged towards her with a roar. Only slightly winded, Sophie leapt to her feet. She ducked and dodged, avoiding one set of fingers, swerving from another set of teeth, seeing the first Swamp Boggle climbing back over the fence towards her too.

The Swamp Boggles made a circle round her and began to close in. She looked frantically from side to side.

“Sophie! Catch!”

Sam appeared at the fence, holding up a blue and yellow spray can. What was
that
? Sophie stared in bewilderment as he threw it towards her. It soared into the air. Using all her Guardian agility, Sophie shot upwards, just as the Swamp Boggles pounced on the space where she'd been standing a split second before. They squelched into each other, falling into a slimy heap.

Sophie landed on the grass behind them, holding the can.

“Spray them with it, Soph!” Sam called.

Sophie had no idea why she should spray them, but she trusted Sam absolutely. Pressing down the nozzle hard, she aimed the spray at the boggles. A white cloud hissed out, and Sophie smelled the familiar sweet scent of Mrs B's starch.

“Argh! Ow! Ouch! Urgh!” The Swamp
Boggles started hopping around as the mist covered them, hardening and stiffening their slimy skin.

“Yes! Try fighting them now!” shouted Sam.

Sophie leapt at the first one, kicking out with her right foot. This time as her foot made contact there was a satisfying cracking sound.

“Yargh!” the chief Swamp Boggle yelped.

Hope spiralled through Sophie, spurring her on. “Hi-YA!” she shrieked, spinning round again and attacking with kick after kick. Smack! Crash! Thump!

The Swamp Boggles had had enough. With a howl of dismay they charged back into the woods, their dry skin not leaving even a trace of their usual gooey slime trail.

Sam punched the air. “Fear the starch!” he yelled at them.

Sophie grinned at him, her green eyes sparkling. “Now,
that
was cool!” She shook her head. “Whatever made you think of using the starch spray?”

“It just came to me!” Sam exclaimed. “I was thinking we need something to make them less squishy so your kicks would hurt them, and
then I remembered Mrs B saying how starch used to make her dad's shirts really stiff. I had to try it!”

Sophie leapt back over the fence and high-fived him. “Well, it was wicked! I owe you one, Book Boy.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “So you'll do me a favour in exchange?”

“Anything!” Sophie promised.

Sam glanced round to where Mrs B had just come out into the garden. “OK then…
you
can tell Mrs B that we've just used up all her starch!”