The “white snake” was, as she had suspected, the flex of Granny’s bedside lamp. Beside the lamp was a round embroidered jewel box with an unzipped lid. Ellen put the ring, watch and cufflinks inside. She wasn’t sure exactly where the scissors belonged but she put them down beside the box and hoped for the best.
Just then she heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Ellen! Where are you? Your tea’s getting cold.”
Ellen’s heart was thumping. If Granny found her here, how would she explain what she was doing? She stood frozen, wondering whether to hide. Then she heard Granny tap at the door of the spare bedroom and go in.
Quickly and quietly, Ellen went downstairs and into the kitchen, where Grandpa was having his tea.
“Your gran’s looking for you,” he said, and a moment later Granny came in.
“That’s funny . . . Oh, there you are, Ellen. Where have you been?”
Ellen muttered something about the bathroom. Granny didn’t look too pleased, and Ellen noticed that she was holding the sugar basin in one hand. In her other hand was the jamjar lid, containing some grape pips and a little bit of cheese.
“What’s all this?” said Granny. “Am I not feeding you enough?”
Ellen felt herself go red, but Grandpa said, “Don’t scold the lass. I bet she was having a dolls’ tea party, weren’t you, Ellen?”
Ellen agreed, even though she was too old for that sort of thing. She didn’t like lying to her kind grandparents, but it seemed the best way out of a tricky situation.
Granny had made a delicious fruitcake, but Ellen decided against smuggling any of it out to Mirror-Belle. Instead, she would try to persuade her mirror friend to go home.
“You’ll have to, Mirror-Belle,” she told her after tea. “I can’t get you any more food, and Granny’s taken your bath back, and . . . well, you must realize that you’re not going to find the golden goose.”
But Mirror-Belle refused to give up. “Tomorrow I search the garden,” she said. “Now, what flavour were those crisps you were telling me about, Ellen? I hope they’re smoky dragon ones.”
The next day was Easter Sunday. There was a big Easter egg for Ellen on the breakfast table, along with the fluffy chick and the bag of chocolate money.
“I’m sorry the bag broke open,” said Granny. “It looked all right in the shop.”
“Stop fussing. The lass doesn’t mind,” said Grandpa. He turned to Ellen and handed her a piece of paper. “Look what the Easter rabbit left in the garden,” he said.
When she was little Ellen had believed in the Easter rabbit, but now she knew that it was Granny and Grandpa who hid the little eggs in the garden every year, with clues to help find them. The piece of paper would be the first clue. She unfolded it and read, in Grandpa’s handwriting:
Red-y? On your marks, get set!
Come and get your feathers wet!
She was rather surprised that Grandpa couldn’t spell the word “ready” – he had left out the “a” – but was too polite to mention it.
“You’d better start looking if you want to beat those magpies to it,” said Granny. “You know how they love anything shiny.”
Ellen was about to run outside when she remembered Mirror-Belle. This could be a good opportunity for her to search the garden and discover that there was no golden goose hidden there after all.
“I’ll just put on a cardigan,” she said, and went up to her bedroom.
Mirror-Belle was still in her purple silk nightdress, lying in the slipper bed.
“You’re interrupting my beauty sleep,” she complained when Ellen picked her up. But as soon as she heard the plan she stopped fussing. “I’ll need my binoculars,” she said, so Ellen gave them to her and she snuggled down into the pocket of Ellen’s thick, knitted cardigan.
Once they were outside, Mirror-Belle peeped out over the top of the pocket. “Where are you going?” she asked Ellen.
“To the bird bath,” said Ellen. “This first clue’s easy.”
Sure enough, on the rim round the bird bath she found seven little eggs. They were all wrapped in red shiny paper, which explained Grandpa’s funny spelling of the word “ready”.
There was a piece of paper beside the eggs, and on it Ellen read the next clue:
Seven others, bright and blue,
In a nutshell wait for you.
“That’s easy too!” she said, and went straight to the half-coconut which Mirror-Belle had wanted as her bath. Inside it were seven blue eggs.
“Excuse me,” said Mirror-Belle, “but why are we hunting for eggs? I thought we were supposed to be finding the goose.” Then she looked thoughtful. “Of course, it would be a different matter if we found some golden eggs. Then I could take one home and hatch it into a golden goose.”
“It looks as though the next lot are green,” said Ellen, and she read out the clue she had found in the coconut shell:
Small green eggs tell small old man,
“Try and catch us if you can.”
Ellen was puzzled at first, and Mirror-Belle said, “That’s ridiculous. Eggs can’t talk and, anyway, there aren’t any small men in giant land.”
“I’ve got it!” Ellen cried. “It must mean one of Grandpa’s garden gnomes.” One gnome had a wheelbarrow and another was smoking a pipe. Ellen searched around them but couldn’t find any eggs. Then, “How stupid of me!” she said, and ran towards the fish pond.
“Slow down! I’m getting pocket-sick!” protested Mirror-Belle.
Standing beside the pond stood a garden gnome with a fishing rod, and at his feet were seven green eggs.
“That’s why the clue says, ‘Catch us if you can,’” explained Ellen. “Do you want to hear the next one?”
“If you insist,” said Mirror-Belle with a yawn.
So Ellen read it out:
In the glass you may behold
Seven eggs of shiny gold.
Mirror-Belle stopped yawning. “The golden eggs!” she cried, and tried to climb out of Ellen’s pocket.
“I wonder what ‘the glass’ means,” said Ellen. “I think it could be a pane of the greenhouse.”
“Nonsense!” said Mirror-Belle. “It’s clearly referring to a mirror.”
“But there aren’t any mirrors in the garden,” objected Ellen.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Mirror-Belle, who was much more interested in the egg-hunt now that the next lot of eggs promised to be golden ones. “If you’d only put me down I’m sure that I’d find them in no time.”
“All right,” said Ellen, “but do be careful.” She put Mirror-Belle down at the gnome’s feet and said, “I’ll see you back here in five minutes.” Then she headed for the greenhouse, while Mirror-Belle ran off in the opposite direction.
There weren’t any eggs inside the greenhouse. Ellen had just started looking around the outside of it when she heard a triumphant cry: “I’ve found them!”
Mirror-Belle was standing at the far end of the garden, holding a golden egg above her head. Ellen was surprised at how far she had travelled.
“I’m coming!” she called, and then she saw something else. A magpie was flying down from a tree just above Mirror-Belle. It must have spotted her and decided she could be good to eat.
“Watch out!” Ellen yelled, and started to run. She saw the magpie land and then take off again. Was Mirror-Belle in its beak? She couldn’t see.
Ellen reached the spot where she had seen Mirror-Belle. There on the ground was a cluster of golden eggs. She didn’t count them, but instead looked round for Mirror-Belle.
“Well? What did you think of the clues?” said Granny. She crossed the lawn and took the piece of paper from Ellen’s hand. “That’s quite a good one,” she said. “Did you spot Grandpa’s secret mirror?”
“No,” said Ellen. “Where is it?”
Granny pointed at a plant covered in pink flowers. It was a moment before Ellen saw the curved mirror which was standing behind it.
“Anot
her of Grandpa’s brainwaves,” said Granny. “He was always disappointed that that peony didn’t have more flowers, but this way it looks as if it’s got twice the amount.”
Ellen smiled – not at Grandpa’s trick, but because she realized that Mirror-Belle must have disappeared safely into the mirror and not been caught by the magpie after all.
“Did you find all the eggs, then?” asked Granny.
“I think so,” said Ellen, and displayed them proudly.
Granny counted them. “There’s one missing,” she said. “There should be seven of each colour, but you’ve only found six gold ones.” She looked all around the peony and then gave up. “It must be those magpies!” she said.
“Yes, of course,” said Ellen, but she knew that even if they found and searched the magpies’ nest the missing golden egg would not be in it. Princess Mirror-Belle must have taken it back to mirror land with her. It was only a chocolate egg really, but Ellen couldn’t help hoping that it would hatch into a golden goose.
About the Author and Illustrator
Julia Donaldson is one of the UK’s most popular children’s writers. Her award-winning books include What the Ladybird Heard, The Snail and the Whale and The Gruffalo. She has also written many children’s plays and songs, and her sell-out shows based on her books and songs are a huge success. She was the Children’s Laureate from 2011 to 2013, campaigning for libraries and for deaf children, and creating a website for teachers called picturebookplays.co.uk. Julia and her husband Malcolm divide their time between Sussex and Edinburgh. You can find out more about Julia at www.juliadonaldson.co.uk.
Lydia Monks studied Illustration at Kingston University, graduating in 1994 with a first-class degree. She is a former winner of the Smarties Bronze Award for I Wish I Were a Dog and has illustrated many books by Julia Donaldson. Her illustrations have been widely admired.
Books by Julia Donaldson
The Princess Mirror-Belle series (illustrated by Lydia Monks)
Princess Mirror-Belle
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Party Hoppers
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Magic Shoes
Princess Mirror-Belle and Prince Precious Paws
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Flying Horse
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Sea Monster’s Cave
Poetry
Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum
Wriggle and Roar
Shuffle and Squelch
Poems to Perform (anthology)
Plays
Play Time
Plays to Read (a series for schools)
Picture books with Lydia Monks
Sharing a Shell
The Princess and the Wizard
What the Ladybird Heard
The Rhyming Rabbit
The Singing Mermaid
Sugarlump and the Unicorn
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Dragon Pox
What the Ladybird Heard Next
These stories first published 2005 in Princess Mirror-Belle and the Magic Shoes by Macmillan Children’s Books
This edition published 2015 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2015 by Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-9557-0
Text copyright © Julia Donaldson 2005
Illustrations copyright © Lydia Monks 2005, 2015
The right of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Magic Shoes Page 3
