Bella Tabbypaw in Trouble

Chapter Two Strange Sounds

Bella chattered as they made their way to the Toadstool Café.

“I love exploring,” she said, peering at the wild flowers growing around the clearing. “Ooh! A bumblebee! Have you ever seen so many stripes?”

“Take a closer look with your binoculars,” Lily suggested.

Bella giggled. “These aren’t binoculars,” she said. “They’re night goggles, for seeing in the dark. Mr. Cleverfeather, the owl, invented them.”

“When Bella grows up she’ll have perfect night vision, like me,” Goldie explained, “but she can’t see properly in the dark yet.”

Lily was about to reply when she heard a grunt. “What was that?” she asked. “It came from behind that starflower bush.”

Jess went to look, but didn’t see anyone. “That’s strange,” she said.

Soon they arrived at the Toadstool Café. The tables and umbrellas that dotted around outside were too small for the girls, so they sat on the mossy ground instead. As Bella ran around exploring the glade, Goldie came over to talk to the girls.

“Jess, Lily,” she said quietly. “Remember that grunt we heard, from behind the starflower bush?”

They nodded.

“Earlier today,” Goldie continued, “the Tabbypaws and I heard strange sounds in the forest, rather like that grunt.”

Jess frowned. “Could it have been the Boggits?”

The Boggits were the mean, filthy helpers of Grizelda the witch. She’d promised the Boggits a dirty, muddy new home if they helped her get rid of all the animals in Friendship Forest.

Before Goldie could reply, there was a loud crash from inside the café. She ran inside, while Jess and Lily kneeled to peer through the doorway.

Mr. and Mrs. Longwhiskers, the owners of the café, were scratching their ears and staring at a heap of saucepans on the floor.

“What happened?” Mrs. Longwhiskers wondered aloud. “They were on the draining board by the window a second ago.”

The cat’s ears twitched thoughtfully as she came back outside to join the girls. “Something strange is going on in Friendship Forest,” Goldie said. “I wonder what.”

An hour later, Goldie, Bella, and the girls arrived at Goldie’s grotto. It was a cave in another beautiful clearing. Beside the cave grew the Blossom Briar, a tall bush with colorful flowers as big as footballs. The girls knew that the Blossom Briar was connected to every flower in Friendship Forest. As long as it was healthy, the flowers would bloom, too.

Goldie opened the red front door that had a window the shape of a letter G, and they all went inside. On the mossy floor was a comfy bed, a squishy armchair, a table, and a fat, round footstool.

They ate pumpkin and pine nut soup with wild garlic bread, then curled up on the floor in a nest of quilts, blankets, and piles of soft cushions. Bella put her night goggles into her backpack and hung it on a hook, then clambered onto Jess’s lap.

“It’s so cozy and comfortable,” said Jess, stroking the kitten.

Bella started to purr. “Tell me stories about the human world!” she said.

Lily told Bella all about the wildlife hospital. When she finished, Bella said, “More!” so Jess told tales about school and the funny things their teacher said.

“More! More!” said Bella.

“I know,” said Goldie, “I’ll tell you the legend of Friendship Forest.”

“What’s a legend?” asked Bella.

“A very old story,” said Goldie, “but we don’t know if it’s really true.”

“Ooh!” said Bella.

So Goldie began. “Deep beneath Friendship Forest are many long-lost tunnels …”

“Wow!” said Bella, eyes wide. “Who lives there?”

“Nobody knows,” said Goldie. “The legend tells that the tunnels are filled with wonderful jewels, some as small as apple seeds, and some as big as a kitten!”

“I’d love to explore the tunnels and find some jewels,” said Bella dreamily. She yawned and wriggled into a tighter ball. In a moment, she was asleep.

Goldie giggled. “I’ll finish that legend another time.”

Jess carefully lifted Bella out of her lap and onto a quilt. Her paws twitched. “I think she’s dreaming,” Jess whispered with a grin.

The girls and Goldie snuggled down, too. They were just drifting off when they heard a rough, gruff sound outside.

“Hegga hegga!” it went.

Jess and Lily sat bolt upright. What was that?

Goldie’s ears pricked. “Girls,” she whispered. “I think something’s outside!”

Jess leaped up and ran outside, followed by Lily and Goldie. She spotted a shadowy shape among the trees.

“Over there!” Jess pointed, but the shadow had gone.

They went back inside, and Goldie made mugs of hot honey-milk.

Bella snuffled softly. She hadn’t heard a thing.

“That was strange,” Lily murmured as they settled back among the blankets. She stroked the sleeping kitten anxiously. “I hope Grizelda and her Boggits aren’t back in the forest.” Her mind whirring, Lily drifted off into an uneasy sleep.