Olivia Nibblesqueak’s Messy Mischief

Chapter Seven Bluebell Brook

Jess’s cheeks and ears returned to normal. Lily’s nose and hair took a little longer, and Goldie gave a sigh of relief when her whiskers straightened out.

Lily put some pink cherries in her pocket. “We know Olivia’s favorite hobby and her favorite food,” she said, “but we still haven’t discovered her biggest secret...”

Jess thought for a moment. “Maybe Percy Littlepaw the vole would know,” she said. “He’s her best friend.”

“Of course!” said Goldie. “Let’s ask him—he lives next door to the bakery.”

They hurried back and went straight to the Littlepaws’ burrow in a grassy bank covered with climbing dandyroses.

Jess bent down to knock at the blue front door.

Percy opened it. “Have you found Olivia?” he asked anxiously.

“No, we haven’t,” said Lily.

Percy’s whiskers drooped sadly.

“You’re Olivia’s best friend,” Jess said. “We need your help.”

“Do you know what Olivia’s secret is?” Lily asked.

“That’s easy!” cried the little vole. “It’s—” He stopped. “Oh! But it’s not nice to tell someone’s secret,” he said.

Lily stroked his other paw. “Percy, it’s okay to tell someone’s secret if they’re in trouble. We really need to know so we can save Olivia from Grizelda’s magic.”

Percy nodded. “All right,” he said. “Her secret is her baby hamster doll, Nutmeg. Olivia thinks she’s too old for Nutmeg now, so she plays with her in secret.”

Goldie and the girls were delighted.

“Thanks, Percy!” said Lily. She blew him a kiss.

They hurried next door to the bakery. Mrs. Nibblesqueak rushed to answer their knock.

“We just need one more thing to save Olivia,” Goldie explained. “It’s Nutmeg!”

But Mrs. Nibblesqueak wrung her paws with worry. “Oh dear,” she said, “I haven’t seen Olivia play with Nutmeg for months. I wonder where she is?”

Penny appeared in the doorway, too. “I’ll search Olivia’s room!” she said. But when she came back, she was shaking her head.

“I can’t find Nutmeg anywhere,” she said sadly. “Now what?” said Jess.

Mrs. Nibblesqueak’s eyes filled with tears. “Will Olivia turn into a messy bat?” she asked with a sob.

Lily hugged her. “We’re not going to let that happen,” she promised. “We won’t give up.”

Mr. Nibblesqueak passed around cups of raspberry soda, and Goldie and the girls sat down to think about what to do next.

As she sipped her drink, Jess flicked through Olivia’s sketchbook. “Here’s a picture of you, Mrs. Nibblesqueak,” she said. “And here’s the Toadstool Café.” She turned the page and found a drawing of a stream with bluebells growing along its banks. In tiny, hamster-size handwriting, Olivia had written Bluebell Brook.

Jess examined it closely, then gave a cry.

“That’s lovely,” Lily said.

“But look!” said Jess. “In the picture, something’s tucked among the bluebells.”

“It’s a tiny hamster!” said Lily.

“Exactly,” said Jess. “But maybe it’s not a real hamster. Maybe it’s Nutmeg the hamster doll! If Olivia doesn’t want anyone to see her playing with it, maybe she keeps it there—Bluebell Brook!” She kept flipping through the sketchbook, and they saw that Olivia had filled lots of other pages with drawings of Bluebell Brook.

Lily was thrilled. “It must be her favorite place!” She turned to Goldie and the Nibblesqueaks. “Where is Bluebell Brook?”

The Nibblesqueaks shook their heads.

“We don’t know,” said Olivia’s dad, his whiskers quivering with worry.

“There are lots of streams in the forest,” said Goldie. “I’ve never heard of Bluebell Brook, but it’s okay—I know someone who might have seen it. Captain Ace!”

A little later, Lily, Jess, and Goldie gazed down on the forest treetops. They were riding in a basket beneath a brightly colored patchwork hot air balloon!

Captain Ace flew alongside, towing the balloon with a rope in his beak. Whenever he squawked, “pull,” Goldie tugged another rope that hung down inside the balloon. Whoosh! A stream of bubbles shot up into the hot air balloon, keeping it floating high up in the sky.

“Watch out for bluebells growing beside a brook,” said Jess.

As they drifted along, Lily noticed a dark, forbidding building in the distance. “There’s Grizelda’s tower,” she said, shivering.

“And see that gray area next to it?” said Goldie. “That’s the Witchy Waste.”

Now Jess shivered. “I’m glad we’re not going there.”

A few minutes later, Lily spotted a ribbon of sparkling water flowing lazily through a field of buttercups. All along its banks were drifts of blue flowers.

“Bluebell Brook!” she cried, pointing. “It must be!”

“Take us down, please, Captain Ace,” Jess asked.

The balloon flew lower and lower, landing with a gentle bump among the pretty yellow buttercups.

“It looks just like Olivia’s pictures!” Lily exclaimed.

The girls and Goldie climbed out and called, “Thanks, Captain!”

“Good luck!” he replied, and took off again.

The three friends headed toward the brook, where the water bubbled and gurgled over moss-covered stones.

Goldie’s ears pricked up. “Listen!”

They heard shrill squeaking.

“It’s Peep and Olivia!” she said. “They’re coming this way.”

They all crouched down, peering between the bluebells.

They could hear Olivia giggling. “I can’t wait to make all these flowers messy, too,” she said. “Making a mess is so much fun! I want to keep being messy forever and ever!”

Peep flapped around her happily. “Not long to wait, Olivia,” he said. “Grizelda said that it takes a day for the magic to work, so you’ll turn into a bat really soon! Then we can be the messiest friends in the forest!”

Olivia gave a delighted squeak. “Hooray!” she cheered.

The girls and Goldie turned to each other in horror. “If our spell doesn’t work,” whispered Jess, “then Olivia really will turn into a bat—and there’ll be nothing we can do to save her!”