The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [49]
‘Over here,’ Elan shouted to Camelin and Jack.
They raced over towards where Elan stood at the mouth of the tunnel. They ran as fast as they could away from the cave. They’d only got halfway when they heard shrill voices shouting and screeching not far behind. The Spriggans were after them! Every so often Jack saw a light flicker in the tunnel. The Spriggans were closing the distance between them.
‘Run faster,’ Elan shouted.
It wasn’t easy but Jack and Camelin managed to reach the garden before the Spriggans caught up with them. The sunlight blinded them for a moment. They stood panting, waiting for Elan. Motley and the Night Guard had broken the circle around the mouth of the tunnel.
‘Where’s Nora,’ Camelin gasped.
‘She’s gone in the house,’ Motley said in a very shaky voice. ‘Are there Spriggans down there?’
‘Run!’ shouted Elan as she bolted out of the hole. ‘There’ll be Spriggans up here soon. Don’t let them catch you.’
As the rats scattered Nora came out of the kitchen. She’d already transformed and held her wand high in the air. Jack expected her to seal the entrance but instead she waited. First one head appeared, and then all three Spriggans tumbled out of the tunnel.
‘Stop!’ cried Nora.
The Spriggans stopped. Light burst out of Nora’s wand.
‘You have something which belongs to me.’
‘You got something what belongs to us and we wants it back,’ screeched Pinch.
No one spoke. Nora waited patiently for the Spriggans to hand over the golden acorn. The Spriggans shielded their eyes from the light coming out of Nora’s wand. They shuffled expectantly, waiting for Nora to return the drawstring bag. All of a sudden a smell of burning reached Jack’s nostrils. The others smelt it too and were looking from Spriggan to Spriggan to see if their candles had set fire to their hats.
‘No!’ shouted Nora when she saw what was burning.
The rope that secured Grub to Whiff was on fire.
It was too late. As the rope burnt through Whiff and Pinch shot back down the tunnel. Grub began to grow and grow, and grow. Soon he’d passed the kitchen window. He didn’t stop until he’d reached the bottom of the roof.
‘Giant!’ warned Elan.
Grub started blundering around the garden. He crushed the picnic table and flattened the benches. Nora pointed her wand at the bottom of the trellis and twirled it around in an upward spiral. The fallen ivy picked itself up and started to wind its strong tendrils around Grub’s feet, legs and finally his body and arms. In seconds he looked like an old tree trunk with only a small part of his face visible. When Nora was completely satisfied that Grub was immobile she lowered her wand.
‘That should make sure he doesn’t trample on anyone. Now, is everyone alright?’
Whiff and Pinch were nowhere to be seen. Motley and the Night Guard peeped out from behind the shed, then came to join everyone else by the kitchen door.
‘And I don’t want to hear another word from you,’ Nora cautioned Grub.
The gigantic Spriggan frowned down at everyone.
‘Did you get her back?’ whispered Motley.
‘We did,’ replied Nora.
Everyone cheered.
‘She’s in the kitchen but she’s a bit shaken. You can see her in a minute.’
‘What about the golden acorn?’ Jack asked.
‘I’d hoped it was going to be in the bag, but it wasn’t.’
Everyone looked worried.
‘How did the fire start?’ asked Elan.
‘With this,’ croaked Camelin as he waddled towards Nora. In his beak was a small lantern dangling from the top of a long silver stick.
There was something strange about the lantern. Instead of a light Jack thought he could see a tiny green shape inside.
‘What have you got there?’ Nora enquired.
‘Please don’t hurt me,’ said a very frightened voice from inside the lantern cage.
‘My goodness me!’ exclaimed Nora. ‘It’s a dragon.’
‘Dragon!’ exclaimed Jack.
Everyone crowded around to see the small creature.
‘No one’s going to hurt you,’ Nora assured him. ‘Let’s get you out of there and you can tell us what you’re doing