Chloe Slipperslide's Secret

by Daisy Meadows

  Jess shook her head. “I don’t know, but we’ll find a way.” She turned back to the otters. “We need to find out Chloe’s secret, too. Does anyone know what it might be?”

  All the Slipperslides shook their heads.

  “How about Chloe’s favorite place?” asked Lily.

  The otters shook their heads again. “This is terrible,” said Mrs. Slipperslide. “How are we going to help Chloe?”

  “Don’t worry,” Jess told them. “Do you know what her favorite food is?”

  Richard, Johnny, and tiny Tallulah splashed up onto the shore, wriggling about and shouting over the others in excitement. Finally, Flo wriggled past them. “We know that one!” she said. “Rainbow water lily salad! That’s Chloe’s favorite food!”

  “Mine, too!” said Richard.

  “And mine!” said Johnny.

  “Yum, yum!” squeaked tiny Tallulah.

  “That’s great,” said Jess with a grin. “It sounds delicious. Where do rainbow water lilies grow?”

  But to the girls’ surprise, the otters all suddenly looked worried.

  “There aren’t any left around here,” said Mrs. Slipperslide. “We ate the last ones this morning!”

  Mr. Slipperslide’s whiskers drooped sadly. “There are some on the other side of the Rushing Rapids, but it’s too dangerous to swim there. What are we going to do?”

  The Slipperslides hugged one another. “Poor Chloe!” cried Flo.

  “Don’t worry,” Goldie told them. “I know how to get past the rapids—on a raft!”

  Goldie led the girls back to Silvia and her sisters. They found them looking beneath their lace cloth, in their picnic basket, and even under their wings.

  “Where are they?” Silvia muttered.

  Then she saw the girls and Goldie. “Have you seen our silver spoons?” she asked. “They’ve vanished!”

  Jess shook her head. “Sorry, no,” she said. “We’ve come to ask for your help. We have to get past the Rushing Rapids. Please, would you take us on your raft?”

  But the three swans shook their heads.

  “We’re very busy,” said Silvia.

  “We can’t eat strawberry mousse without spoons!” said her sister.

  “Please, Silvia, it’s important,” said Lily. She told the swans about Chloe.

  “Well, my dear, why didn’t you say?” Silvia pointed a wing at the pearl necklace she was wearing. “Little Chloe mended this for me when it broke. We must help her. Come along!”

  They followed the swans to the riverbank. When they reached the water, the girls gasped.

  The silver raft was gone!

  Silvia ruffled her feathers, clearly upset. “First the spoons go missing, now our raft!” she cried.

  Lily and Jess looked up and down the bank. “But it was just here!” Jess cried out.

  “Look,” Goldie called. “Paw prints!”

  Everyone crowded around. There were two different sets of paw prints in the soft mud at the water’s edge.

  Lily peered over Jess’s shoulder. “Those must be Snippit’s,” she said, looking at the bird prints. “He stole the scissors from Agatha’s shop, remember? I bet he’s stolen the spoons and the raft, too!”

  “And those must be Chloe’s,” Jess groaned, looking at the other paw prints. “Now how will we get to those water lilies?”

  Goldie’s ears suddenly pricked up. “What’s that noise?” she asked.

  The girls listened carefully. “It’s quacking!” said Lily.

  Around the river bend, a pretty blue-and-yellow barge appeared. A family of ducks stood on deck, waving.

  “It’s the Featherbills!” cried Jess. “Thank goodness—we can ask them to help us!”

  “Hello!” Mr. and Mrs. Featherbill and their eight ducklings quacked.

  “Can you help us?” Jess called. “We need to get past the Rushing Rapids to save Chloe Slipperslide!”

  “Certainly,” said Mrs. Featherbill. “We heard about poor Chloe. What a flapdoodle! Come aboard.”

  “Good luck!” Silvia the swan called as the girls scrambled on board and the barge moved away from the bank. “We hope you help poor Chloe.”

  “Thanks! We’ll look out for your raft and spoons!” yelled Lily.

  “We need to get some rainbow water lilies,” Goldie explained to the Featherbill family.

  “We’ll find them in no time,” said Mr. Featherbill. “Don’t you worry!”

  Mr. and Mrs. Featherbill turned the tiller, steering the barge out into the center of the lake. Ahead, the water was dark blue and bubbling.

  “The Rushing Rapids,” called Mrs. Featherbill. “Hold on, everybody!”

  The girls and Goldie held onto the railing at the edge of the barge. Little Ellie Featherbill ran to cling to Jess’s ankle, and her seven brothers and sisters held onto Lily and Goldie. As they reached the rapids, the barge rocked backward and forward. The ducklings quacked with excitement.

  “It’s like being on an amusement park ride!” said Lily.

  Then the rocking stopped, and the barge was gliding through calm waters once more.

  “Look!” cried Lulu Featherbill. “There, in the middle of those green lily pads!”

  Jess and Lily craned to look. Rainbow-colored blooms shimmered on the surface of the huge round leaves.

  “We found them!” cried Jess.

  “We have to stop here,” said Mrs. Featherbill. “The barge can’t go any closer or we’ll damage the lily pads.”

  Jess and Lily looked at each other in dismay.

  “Don’t worry! We ducklings are so light we can walk on them,” said Ellie.

  The ducklings jumped overboard and arranged themselves into a chain, holding one another’s wings, as they reached across the lily pads to the flowers in the middle.

  “Hooray!” Jess cried as Ellie picked the first water lily and passed it from duckling to duckling until it reached the girls.

  Lily gazed at the gorgeous flower.

  The petals really were every color of the rainbow. “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  Once they had enough flowers and the ducklings were safely back on board, Lily couldn’t resist tasting a petal. “It’s delicious!” she said. “Like fresh lettuce flavored with ripe blueberries! No wonder these are Chloe’s favorite.”

  “They should be your favorite, too,” Ellie said, “because of your name.”

  Lily smiled and stroked the duckling’s feathery head.

  The ducks took the friends back through the Rushing Rapids to where they’d picked them up. Goldie and the girls thanked them for their help and waved good-bye.

  “We’ve got Chloe’s favorite food,” Jess said happily. She looked down at the footprints they’d seen earlier. “Now we just have to find a way to get her necklace! Let’s follow these—hopefully they’ll lead us to Chloe.”

  Lily and Goldie agreed, and they set off. Alongside the paw prints were some strange marks, as if something heavy had been dragged along.

  “It must have been the swans’ raft!” said Lily. “But where were the Witchy Waste creatures taking it?”

  “I think it might be to Toadstool Glade!” said Goldie. “Look, we’re almost there.”

  As they entered the glade, they stopped and stared in astonishment. The pretty little cottages and the Toadstool Café were empty. But right in the middle was something huge, silvery, and messy, glittering in the sunlight.

  “What is it?” gasped Goldie.

  Jess moved closer. It was a huge pile of objects, all thrown on top of one another. “It’s an enormous nest,” she said, “but it’s not built of twigs—it’s made of all sorts of shiny things! Pots … and pans …”

  “Silver spoons!” said Lily, pointing. “I bet they’re Silvia’s.”

  “And the Whitewings’ raft!” Goldie cried. “I’ll bet everything here has been stolen!”

  “Those naughty creatures,” said Jess, shaking her head.

  They heard a scuffling sound and whirled around to
see Chloe and the Witchy Waste animals entering the glade, each carrying shiny buttons, bowls, and buckles.

  Hopper, Masha, and Peep hurried to the nest and stood guarding it while Snippit flew to the top. “Look what Chloe’s stolen!” he screeched.

  “Heeheehee! I like making a lovely, shiny mess,” squawked Chloe.

  Lily looked at Jess in dismay. “She sounds just like Snippit!” she said.

  Jess nodded. “And look at her fur,” she said. Chloe’s fur wasn’t smooth and sleek anymore—it was sticking up in muddy tufts. “She’s just as dirty as Snippit now,” Jess said.

  Goldie put her paws to her face. “We have to get her favorite necklace and break the spell!”

  “I’ll do it!” said Jess. She crept up behind Chloe as quietly as she could, then dove for her. But the little otter wriggled free and raced away.

  “Missed!” Jess groaned.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Lily. “Look, she’s not wearing her necklace anymore!”

  “But now what?” said Goldie. “It could be anywhere!”

  “Wait!” said Jess. “The necklace is shiny. I bet Chloe put it on the nest!”

  Lily smiled in relief. “That means all we have to do is find it.”

  Goldie pointed at Hopper, Masha, and Peep, who were still standing close to the nest. “But how are we ever going to get close enough to look?”

  As Goldie and the girls were working out what to do, some of the Friendship Forest animals crept back into Toadstool Glade.

  Mrs. Longwhiskers held Lily’s hand. “They took my frying pan,” she said.

  “Hard luck!” cawed Snippit.

  “I want my jewelry back!” said Agatha Glitterwing.

  “They’ve got my shiny pen!” said Mr. Silverback the badger.

  “And we need that necklace,” Jess whispered to Lily.

  She marched to the nest, but Snippit flew at her, snapping crossly. She quickly stepped back.

  When Agatha flew toward the nest, Snippit jabbed at her with his beak.

  “If we’re going to search for the necklace,” Lily said softly, “we have to make those Witchy Waste creatures leave the nest. And Chloe, too.”

  Jess sighed. “Even if we manage to make them leave, there’s too much stuff to search through it all,” she said. “We’ll never find the necklace quickly enough.”

  “What’s this?” said a familiar voice. “A nettle mest? I mean a metal nest?”

  It was their friend Mr. Cleverfeather the owl.

  “Hello!” cried Lily. “Maybe you can help us!”

  “Goodness! Less and Jilly,” he said, getting his words muddled as usual. “I came to look for my telescope. I heard the thinny shings were here. I mean, shiny things.”

  Jess told him what had happened, and why they needed to find Chloe’s necklace.

  “Do you have an invention that might help?” Lily asked.

  Mr. Cleverfeather put a wingtip to his forehead and frowned in thought. “I’ve just the thing!” he said. “Sack boon!” he cried, flying off. “I mean, back soon!”

  The girls turned back to the nest to see Snippit hopping on top of it. “We need more!” he screeched. “It’s not big enough or messy enough yet!”

  “That gives me an idea!” Lily whispered to Jess and Goldie. “Let’s pretend we know where there are lots of shiny things they could collect.”

  “Okay,” whispered Jess. “Here goes.”

  They moved closer to the nest, and Jess in a voice just loud enough for Snippit to hear, “It’s lucky the animals have hidden their best shiny things behind the flowering plum tree.”

  “Yes,” Goldie replied loudly. “That’s right down by the river …”

  Snippit gave a delighted squawk. “Silly humans!” he said. “Silly cat! Now we know where more shiny things are. Let’s get them!”

  The Witchy Waste creatures hopped, flew, and scurried away, with Snippit in the lead. Chloe flapped her paws clumsily behind them.

  Jess clapped her hands gleefully.

  “It worked!” said Goldie. “Snippit isn’t as smart as Grizelda thought. Come on, let’s find Chloe’s necklace!”

  The animals joined the girls as they clambered over the nest.

  Jess and Lily poked and prodded as they searched, sending shiny things rattling, tumbling, and clanging to the ground.

  “My pen!” cried Mr. Silverback.

  “And my frying pan!” said Mrs. Longwhiskers.

  Goldie and the girls kept searching. After a while, Lily pulled out a telescope.

  “Mr. Cleverfeather will be pleased,” said Jess. “Here he comes!”

  The owl flew down, carrying a little round object with lots of magnifying glasses stuck out of it.

  “Lake a took at this,” he said. “I mean, take a look. I invented it when Clara Curlyshell the snail got lost. It’s my Shell Seeker.”

  “That’s just what we need to find Chloe’s necklace!” said Jess. “And here’s your telescope, Mr. Cleverfeather.”

  “You found it!” He beamed. “Dell won! I mean, well done!”

  There were two horns sticking out of the top of the machine. Mr. Cleverfeather bent over and spoke into them. “Find silver shells!”

  Fooff! With a burst of pink smoke, the Shell Seeker rose up and floated toward the nest. The magnifying glasses twitched this way and that, looking in all directions.

  Suddenly, pink smoke puffed—fooff!—from the top of the Shell Seeker. The Shell Seeker dived downward, and then the girls heard clatters and rattles as it rummaged around inside the nest. Then there was another loud fooff! and it reappeared. An arm was sticking out of it—and it was waving Chloe’s necklace!

  “Hooray!” cried Lily.

  As the Shell Seeker returned, she reached up and got the necklace. Jess grabbed the machine and gave it to Mr. Cleverfeather.

  “Janks, Thess,” he said. “I mean …”

  She laughed. “We know what you mean.”

  “We’ve got Chloe’s favorite food, and her necklace to show her favorite hobby,” said Lily. “Now we have to find out her secret and her favorite place. And I think I know how.”

  Goldie gave a puzzled frown. “Even the other Slipperslides didn’t know,” she said. “How will we find out?”

  “Do you remember how upset Violet Flippershell was when Snippit did his spell?” asked Lily. “That’s because she’s Chloe’s best friend. We can ask her about the things we need.”

  Jess grinned. “And as Violet’s a turtle,” she said, “she’ll be easy to find—with the Shell Seeker!”

  Mr. Cleverfeather balanced his invention on his wingtips. “Seek a green shell!” he told it.

  As the Shell Seeker took off through the forest, Goldie and the girls dashed after it.

  They ran through the trees. Soon, they could just make out screeches and squeals of rage from the Witchy Waste creatures, coming from the path to the river.

  “They must have realized that we tricked them,” said Lily. “They sound really mad!”

  The Shell Seeker led them back toward the Wide Lake. They left the trees behind and found themselves on a little beach, with soft, powdery sand and shallow pools surrounded by pearly rocks. The lake stretched out before them.

  “This place is called Summer Sands,” Goldie told them.

  The Shell Seeker lay still on the ground. “It’s stopped,” said Lily. “That must mean Violet’s nearby.”

  “She is!” cried Jess. “Look, beneath that overhanging rock!”

  The little turtle was sitting alone, staring sadly out across the lake.

  “Violet!” Lily called.

  The turtle turned. “Chloe?” she said excitedly. Then her face fell. “Oh, hello. I’m glad to see you all, but I really miss my friend.”

  Lily lifted Violet up and hugged her. “We’ll find Chloe,” she said.

  Jess picked up a pair of little yellow armbands, each marked with a C. “Are these Chloe’s?” she asked.

  Violet’s head and l
egs disappeared into her shell. “Well …” she mumbled from inside.

  Lily stroked her shell. “It’s okay. You can tell us,” she said.

  Slowly, Violet came out again. “She’s the only Slipperslide who isn’t very good at swimming,” she said, “so I’ve been giving her lessons here. She’s using the armbands until she gets better at it.”

  Lily grinned in delight. “And these lessons … are they a secret?”

  When Violet nodded again, Jess popped a kiss on her tiny swimming cap. “Thanks to you, we have almost everything we need to break the spell!”

  As they talked about what to do next, Lily noticed some little silver shells on the sand. “Look! They’re just like the ones on Chloe’s necklace,” she said.

  Violet sniffed sadly. “This is where she collects shells,” she said. “Summer Sands is her favorite place.”

  Jess and Lily couldn’t believe their ears.

  “We have everything we need to break Snippit’s spell!” said Goldie. “The necklace for Chloe’s favorite hobby, the rainbow water lilies for her favorite food, the armbands for her secret, and Summer Sands as her favorite place. Now we can do the spell to change Chloe back to her normal self!”

  Jess pulled her sketchbook out and read the end of the spell out loud:

  “Put these things in your favorite place,

  The place you love to be.

  If someone chants the names of those things

  Yourself once more you’ll be.”

  She looked up, eyes shining. “We’re ready. All we need is Chloe.”

  “Caw! Caw!”

  Lily turned around. “It’s Chloe! And Snippit! They must have seen us on their way here and followed us.”

  The crow was flying low to the ground alongside Chloe, who was flapping her front paws, hopping and pecking at things with her little brown nose.

  “There they are,” screeched Snippit angrily. “They tricked us!”

  Goldie’s tail twitched with worry. “Chloe’s really acting like a crow now,” she cried. “We’d better hurry up and do the spell!”