Sophie Flufftail’s Brave Plan

Chapter Four Chilly’s Icy Spell

“Dragon?” shrieked Mrs. Flufftail. “Children, hide!”

The young Flufftails scattered. Woody and Dasha ran squealing behind Lily and Jess, and Hazel and Lulu hid under Mr. Flufftail’s tail.

As Chilly swooped down to land, he blew a big raspberry, scattering ice flakes everywhere. “Pffffttthh!” he said. “I’m going to make the forest nice and cold!”

“No!” cried Jess.

But Chilly pointed his wings at the Flufftails and chanted:

“Magic make these squirrels change

So they hate the golden sun

Then wintry cold will chill the trees

And bring snow for everyone.”

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then Goldie gasped. “Look at the Flufftails!” she cried.

The squirrel family were curling their tails over their eyes.

“Too bright,” they moaned.

“The sunshine’s horrible,” Woody said with a groan.

Chilly grinned, flicking icicles from his tail.

“Change the squirrels back to normal,” Jess demanded.

“Won’t!” Chilly said, and stuck out his tongue. He beat his wings again.

Instantly, an icy wind blew over the Shining House, and Chilly flew up into the sky, high above the treetops.

As the dragon flew away, the Flufftails disappeared into the woods, still covering their eyes.

“Wait!” Jess called. “Woody! Hazel! The poor Flufftails.” She sighed as she turned to Lily and Goldie.

But Lily and Goldie were staring at the Shining House in dismay. The gleaming glass was covered with frost so thick they could barely see inside. The sunflowers were already drooping in the cold. Worst of all, no light was shining out into the forest.

Goldie gave an upset sniffle.

“Everything will be fine,” Jess promised. “We won’t give up until it is.”

“I know you won’t,” said Goldie. Her whiskers lifted a little.

There was a crackle from the bushes next to the Shining House.

“Someone’s coming!” whispered Jess. “Careful, it might be Grizelda.”

The girls held their breath. But instead of Grizelda, little Sophie Flufftail crept out from behind a bush. She was trembling and looked very upset.

Lily knelt down. “It’s okay, Sophie,” she said. “The dragon’s gone.”

Sophie ran to Lily, who scooped her up, stroking the little squirrel’s silky fur.

“I hid behind the bush when the dragon came,” she told them. “Now my family all have a spell on them! I wish I’d come out and helped them.” She burst into tears.

“There wasn’t anything you could have done,” Lily told her gently.

Jess stroked the trembling squirrel. “Don’t worry, Sophie,” she said. “We’ll help your family.”

“Really?” sniffed Sophie. She wiped her eyes with her tail.

Goldie nodded. “Of course we will. Lily and Jess always help animals in trouble.”

“Thank you!” cried Sophie. She wriggled down from Lily’s arms. “But first I’ve got to fix the Shining House.”

She scampered over to it and rubbed the frosty glass with her tail. As soon as her bushy tail touched the glass, the frost started to fade. But even though she rubbed and rubbed, she only cleared a tiny patch of the glass.

Sophie’s face fell. “I only have a little tail,” she said sadly. “I can’t polish it all on my own.”

Everyone looked around the darkening forest anxiously. Without the Shining House, light was already fading away.

Jess turned to Goldie. “We need to lift Chilly’s spell on the Flufftails so they can all fix the Shining House. We’ve got to find them!”

“The spell has made them hate the sunshine,” Lily said, “so maybe they’ve gone somewhere dark and cold. Goldie, do you know anywhere like that?”

Goldie shook her head.

“Then we’ll just have to look for it,” Jess said determinedly.

“We’ll search the whole forest if we have to!” agreed Lily.

“Okay,” said Sophie. “Come on.” She bounded ahead but stopped suddenly, jumping back in fright. A big mound of earth had simply popped out of the ground, right in front of her.

Another mound popped up nearby. Then another. And another!

Jess scooped up Sophie and huddled together with Goldie and Lily. “What’s happening?” she whispered. “Is it more dragon magic?”