Дейзи Медоус - Ellie Featherbill All Alone

Their cat friend looked serious. “She might be,” Goldie said. “The butterflies say that something strange is happening by Willowtree River. They’re not sure what.”

Jess grinned. “Then let’s find out. Come on!”

Jess and Lily hurried through the forest after Goldie. Soon they caught a glimpse of sunlight glinting on silvery water.

“That’s Willowtree River,” Goldie said.

“It seems so calm,” said Lily. “I wonder why the butterflies thought something strange was happening.”

She tried to look more closely at the river, but her view was blocked by one of the beautiful willow trees. Some stepping-stones led out to the center of the river and Lily ran across them, stopping on a large one in the middle. Jess and Goldie followed and stood beside her.

“Can you see anything?” asked Jess.

Lily shook her head. The sparkling water looked clean and peaceful.

Just then, an orb of yellow-green light appeared over the water. Lily’s tummy fluttered. They’d seen that light before!

It zoomed toward them, then with a flash and a cra-ack , the orb exploded into green sparks. In its place on one of the stepping-stones stood a tall, thin woman, wearing a shiny purple tunic and pants, and high-heeled boots with sharply pointed toes.

“Grizelda!” cried Lily.

The witch glared. Her long green hair twisted about her head like a nest of snakes. The air around the girls seemed to turn cold.

“Silly girls!” She sneered. “And the foolish cat! You won’t spoil my plans this time. When my Boggits have finished, the forest will be ruined. No more trees and flowers!” She laughed, her eyes flashing. “Green is for hair, not leaves!”

Jess clenched her fists. “We won’t let you ruin Friendship Forest,” she said, trying not to let her voice tremble.

Grizelda cackled. Then her hair sparked and she began muttering.

“What’s she doing?” Lily asked nervously.

Goldie swallowed. “I think she’s casting a spell.”

“Oh, no! Look at the river!” cried Jess.

The water swirled, turning sludgy brown as it churned up mud from the bottom. It rose higher and higher until it lapped at their toes. In no time, the river had covered all of the stepping-stones except the one they were standing on!

“Now what do we do?” cried Lily.

“Stop interfering, that’s what!” Grizelda screeched. “You can’t stop me. When my Boggits are finished, all the animals will have to leave—and I can have Friendship Forest for myself! Ha!”

Snapping her fingers, she disappeared in a yellow flash.

“Thank goodness she’s gone,” said Lily. “But now we’re trapped!”

Goldie gave a groan. “And while we’re stuck here, we can’t stop the Boggits from carrying out her plan. I wonder what she’s told them to do this time?”

Jess was peering into the water. “Do you think we could wade to the bank?”

Lily picked up a stone. “I’ll throw this in. If we can see it land, it’ll be shallow enough to paddle across.”

She tossed the stone.

Plop!

It sank out of sight.

“The water’s still swirling,” said Jess, “but maybe we could swim...”

“I can’t swim at all,” said Goldie. “Oh, what are we going to do?”

As they stood thinking, Jess spotted something moving in the water. It looked like a large, round, flat stone. “What’s that?” she cried. “A swimming stone?”

“Look! There are six more following behind,” said Lily.

As they watched, something bright red bobbed up in front of the first swimming stone, then bobbed down again.

Goldie clapped her paws. “That’s not a stone, it’s a turtle!” she said. “It’s the Flippershell family.” She splashed the water with her paw. “They’ll hear that,” she explained.

The red blob bobbed up again.

Jess and Lily grinned when they realized it was indeed a turtle’s head—wearing a swimming cap!

“Ahoy there, Goldie!” the turtle called.

Six more heads popped up, each wearing a brightly colored cap.

Goldie explained what had happened. “Can you help us get to shore?” she asked.

“Aye, aye,” said the biggest turtle. “Flippershells! Stepping-stones from the island to the bank,” he ordered. “Rainbow formation! Go!”

The turtles swam into line. Each called out their hat color as they reached their position.

“Red!” That was the big turtle.

“Orange!”

“Yellow!”

“Green!”

“Blue!”

“Indi—indi—go!” puffed a little one.

The last turtle was swimming in circles, singing quietly to herself. The others sighed. “Come on, Violet!”

Once they were in line, Mr. Flippershell called, “Rainbow formation, ready and waiting?”

“Aye, aye, sir,” they replied.

“Hold fast!” Mr. Flippershell ordered. They clasped flippers. “Go, Goldie!”

Jess and Lily followed the cat, hopping across the turtles’ backs to the riverbank. They all shouted their thanks to the Flippershells.

“One last thing,” said the big turtle. “If you go upriver, watch out. Those horrible Boggits were heading that way. Making trouble, I’ll bet.”

“I bet he’s right,” said Goldie as they hurried along the water’s edge. “They must be carrying out Grizelda’s orders.”

Soon they came in sight of a pretty blue barge moored against the riverbank. It had a yellow cabin on the deck, and round, yellow portholes just above the waterline.

“That belongs to the Featherbill family,” said Goldie. “They take care of Willowtree River. They’re probably inside, getting ready for Ellie’s birthday party.”

Suddenly, the barge rocked violently from side to side.

“That’s weird,” said Jess. “Little ducks couldn’t make it rock like that.”

“I know who could,” Goldie said grimly. “Boggits! They must be on board!”

The barge rocked harder, churning the water into frothing waves.

“It’s going to tip over!” Lily cried.

But just as the barge looked like it really was about to capsize, they saw the Boggits clambering onto the roof of the cabin. They were snorting and yelling.

“Hide!” hissed Goldie, pulling the girls down behind a cluster of cattails. “Oh, I hope the Featherbills are okay!”

Jess parted the cattails to take a look. “The Boggits are reaching into the cabin through the portholes,” she whispered. “They’re pulling things out and throwing stuff in the river. It’s sandwiches!” she said in surprise. “And cakes and—whoa! There goes a bowl of Jell-O!”

“That must be for Ellie’s party,” said Lily. “They’re ruining it!”

Four scruffy Boggits laughed as they hurled food over the side of the barge. Their fur, made up of patches of dingy green, washed-out blue, and sickly yellow, was matted with mud, and their rotting-cauliflower smell wafted downriver to Goldie and the girls.

“Chuck it in the water!” yelled Pongo, tossing a pie overboard.