Linda Chapman - The Bat Sprites

“Fungus brain!” King Ug thundered as the bat flew away.

“King Ug! We’ve got one, we’ve got a sprite!” yelled two more goblins as they galloped into the clearing. One had a very flaky face and one had very large feet. Big Feet brandished something at the king. It looked like a small frog except that it had fangs and fingers and toes instead of webbed feet.

“Ribbit!” it croaked as it glared at King Ug.

“Oh, give me strength!” King Ug groaned. “That’s not a Bat Sprite, it’s a Frog Sprite! You lot have brains the size of peas! Tell me, what do you have?”

“Brains the size of peas,” muttered the goblins, staring at the ground. The Frog Sprite hopped huffily away, pausing to kick Big Feet’s ankle before it left.

“Don’t you understand how important this is?” shouted King Ug. “There’s just one more gem left to find! One last chance of opening the gateway! I need shadow creatures who are vicious and strong. I need large, evil, foul-smelling sprites…”

A bat flew into the clearing. As it swooped down, a ripple ran through it, and it changed into a figure slightly smaller than King Ug. “Like a Bat Sprite, you mean?” it screeched as it landed.

“Erp!” King Ug squawked.

The Bat Sprite had a thin body covered with grey fur, with large bony hands, red eyes and wide black wings. “My family and I are the most vicious, evil and foul-smelling shadow creatures in this whole wood!” The Bat Sprite’s voice squealed like a wet finger sliding down glass.

“So, King Ug, I hear you want our help opening the gateway?”

Trying not to make a face at the smell, King Ug cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “Yes… er… yes, I do. The key glows whenever it’s near a gem, and I’ve noticed it glowing near the Guardian’s house. I believe the final gem is in there. Find it and bring it to me – then I’ll open the gateway and we shadow creatures shall once more rule the world!”

The Bat Sprite nodded. “We shall do it!”

King Ug looked suddenly wary. “The Guardian is strong, you know. She’ll try to stop you.”

The Bat Sprite gave a shrieking laugh and showed its pointed fangs. “Then I promise you, she will be very sorry indeed!”

Back at Keeper’s Cottage, Sophie had just come to the end of her training session. “We must try to find the last hidden gem,” Grandpa said, as he put the pillow back on his bed. “Have you got the other gems safe, Sophie?”

Sophie patted the purse belt she always wore under her clothes. The five shadow gems that she and Sam had found so far clinked together inside the leather pouch. “Yes, they’re here,” she said.

“Good. There must be a clue to the whereabouts of the sixth gem in the Shadow Files somewhere. Keep searching for it.” The turquoise gem was the only gem they hadn’t yet found, and they knew that King Ug would do everything in his power to find it before they did.

“Already on to it.” Sophie went to the door. “Book Boy!” she shouted.

Sam’s red head popped out of her bedroom further down the landing. “Yep?”

Sam was Sophie’s best friend. He was the only person in the world apart from Grandpa who knew that Sophie was the Guardian, and he’d helped her in every one of her adventures so far. Grandpa hadn’t been keen on him knowing at first, but Sam had proved to be very helpful. He loved reading and researching and was just as brave as Sophie.

“Any luck finding the final clue?” Sophie asked.

Shaking his head, Sam came to Grandpa’s room, bringing an old leather-bound notebook with him – the Shadow Files. Over the years, all the previous Guardians had written notes in it about the creatures they’d faced. The Shadow Files also had clues to the hiding places of the six shadow gems. When each new Guardian took over, the gems magically moved to new hiding places and new clues would then appear in the book.

“No sign of the last clue yet,” said Sam, flipping through the pages.

“We have to find it,” said Grandpa. “It’s absolutely essential! Once we get the final gem then we can hide them all somewhere safe, and try to get the key back. We must not fail! You’re staying here tonight, aren’t you, Sam?”

Sam nodded.

“We can talk more later then,” said Grandpa. “I’m going out for a run.”

“Should we go down to the kitchen?” Sophie said to Sam after Grandpa had gone. “I’ve been trying to teach Nigel to fetch. Come and see.”

“Cool,” said Sam.

Sophie grabbed her black fishing waistcoat from the bed and they headed downstairs.

Ten minutes later, Sophie pointed to the spoon she’d put on the table. “Go on. Fetch!” She tempted the parrot with a nut. “Then you can have this.”

Nigel the parrot swooped to the table, picked up the spoon and flew back. He dropped it on the worktop beside Sophie, then landed on her shoulder and clicked his beak hopefully.

Sophie was delighted. “Good boy! You did it!” She stroked his feathers. “What a clever parrot.”

“Gimme a carrot!” Nigel said, bobbing his head. He was very good at talking, though he often got the words wrong.

Sophie grinned. “I haven’t got any carrots, but you can have a nut.”

“Big butt!” Nigel replied, affectionately nuzzling her cheek.

Sophie giggled and glanced at Sam who was sitting at the table. He had started reading the Shadow Files again. “Did you see Nigel? He fetched the spoon!”

“YAY!” Sam leapt to his feet.

Sophie blinked. “Well, OK, I know it’s good, but…”

“I’ve found the clue! Soph, look!” Sam’s blue eyes shone as he jabbed his finger at the Shadow Files.

Sophie ran over. On a page about King Cobra Goblins, four tiny lines were written near the bottom in slanting, curly writing:

Hidden near where the Guardian sleeps

Search for a board that doth creak

Lift it up and you shall see

A gem shining beautifully.

Sophie gasped. “It is the clue! Oh, wow! We can start trying to find the gem right now.”

“And it sounds like it might be easy. Look at the first line,” said Sam. “Hidden near where the Guardian sleeps. That must mean the turquoise gem is in this house!”

“I wonder what that bit about a board doth creak means?” said Sophie, puzzled.

“A floorboard, I bet. Have you got any creaky ones?” asked Sam.

“Not that I know of. Hang on – look! What’s that?” Sophie pointed to a few other faint lines of text at the other side of the page. “Is that more of the clue?”

She read it out:

“If the goblin king joins gem and key

And opens the door then soon you’ll see

There’s no point fighting, it’s too late

One Guardian will never close the gate.”

Sophie and Sam stared uneasily at each other. “I don’t like the sound of that!” said Sam. “If you can’t shut the gateway once it’s opened, then we’d better make sure that it’s never, ever opened!”

“We’d really better find that sixth gem before the shadow creatures do!” agreed Sophie, jumping to her feet.

There was the sound of a key in the front door.

“Mrs B and Anthony!” hissed Sophie. “Quick! Give me the Shadow Files!”

Sam passed the book to her and she slipped it into the big inside pocket of her waistcoat.

“We’re back!” called Mrs Benton. Mrs B did all the cooking and cleaning at Keeper’s Cottage, and when Sophie and Anthony’s parents were away for work, she helped Grandpa look after the twins.