Badger the Mystical Mutt and the Enchanting Exchange

by Lyn McNicol

Let the Enchanting Exchange

  Begin with the stars …”

  Badger repeated the start of the spell solemnly, as Bravebark continued.

  “With a solar eclipse

  And a charmed bewitch,

  Shine the light forth

  On this magical switch …”

  Badger repeated the end of the spell and stood back as a blast of light shone in the centre of the Ring of Brodgar standing stones.

  “Wow!” said Badger. “Is that it? Is that all I have to do?”

  There’s a little bit more to it than that,” the Captain smiled. “But, most importantly, do you think you’ll be able to remember the spell?”

  “Of course,” said Badger confidently.

  “Now, you’ll need Pogo Paws to be in the centre of the circus ring spotlight at exactly the same moment as Minty stands in the shaft of light at the back of the Crystal Cave. And that moment has to be exactly when the total solar eclipse occurs in the morning.”

  “Okay,” said Badger nervously. “I’ll need to take Minty to the Crystal Cave, which means I’ll be relying on Pickle to take Pogo Paws to the circus. And right now, they’re not even talking to each other. So, that bit could be tricky.”

  “Well, you have to make it happen. It’s the only way it will work,” said Captain Bravebark. “Now, you’d best get going, as time is running out. Let me know how it goes. Good luck, Badger.”

  Badger grinned anxiously, thanked his relative and stepped back into the Wim-Wim to begin his almighty task ahead. But back at the old oak tree, Pickle was hatching a plan of her own to stop Pogo Paws from ever going home.

  As Badger and his Wim-Wim drifted along the lane back to the garden, he could hear Pogo Paws shouting frantically over the clatter and clang of the engine.

  “Badger, I can’t find Pickle!”

  “Oh no!” yelled the Mystical Mutt anxiously. “Without Pickle’s help, the Exchange can’t go ahead. We need to find her.”

  “But why Pickle, when it’s me who’s leaving?” asked Pogo Paws sadly.

  “She has to help us shine the light, Pogo Paws, so we have to find her. Now, are you sure — very, very sure — you want to do this? Because once the Exchange has been made, you will be back in your original circus, and not here on the Lane,” said Badger, landing the Wim-Wim with a wobble.

  Paws nodded firmly. “Yes, I’m sure. I definitely want to be part of the Exchange with Minty. It’s time for me to go back home to my circus. I miss my family.”

  While Badger told Pogo Paws all about his visit to Baby Unicorn and the Crystal Cave, and what needed to be done, Pickle had made her way to the candy striped tents and was sitting in the audience watching the final show at the circus. She knew that Badger only had that night to help Minty escape before the travelling show moved on the next day.

  She was on alert for Badger’s arrival, all set to ruin his plans.

  But as Badger and Pogo Paws crept into the backstage area towards Minty’s cage, they were totally invisible. Badger chuckled as he remembered how he’d got his spells mixed up before, when he was trying to help Minty.

  “Good job I remembered my invisibility spell earlier, Pogo Paws. Otherwise, we’d never have got past those dogs on the door. Now, if I can just get my shrinking spell right this time, then we can get Minty out. But we’ll need to wait until he’s done his part of the show,” said Badger.

  “So, what do we do now?” asked Pogo Paws.

  “We sit tight and wait. Or we could always join the audience and enjoy the show?” suggested Badger.

  Pogo Paws pointed to the stage and Badger followed. They squeezed onto the end of a ringside bench and looked around the audience. It was packed. Suddenly, Pogo Paws spotted Pickle sitting with her paws folded, looking very cross.

  “Look, Badger, there’s Pickle. Gosh, I’m glad she’s okay,” said Pogo Paws, relieved.

  Yes, me too,” said Badger. “But I wonder why she’s here, when she doesn’t even like the circus.”

  All of a sudden, the brass band started playing and three floppy clowns rushed out clumsily, and paraded around the ring. Then, the ringmaster, in his splendid red hat and tails, emerged from the stage curtains.

  “Good evening, everyone,” he bellowed, twirling his moustache. “Are you ready to observe the greatest show on this earth?”

  The audience cheered.

  “Then sit back and get ready to be dazzled as I introduce to you our first act of the night. Spectacular aerial artistry from the blackest caves of Hairy Mill … I give you … the Swing and Shout Sisters!”

  The audience gawked and gasped.

  Badger and Pogo Paws rubbed their eyes in wonder, and in her own seat far away, so did Pickle. The movement, speed and colour of the entertainment were like looking through a kaleidoscope.

  The ringmaster appeared again and ordered the audience to look up to the high wire above them. “And now, my friends, for the most dangerous of all our acts. Please put your paws together for our very own troupe of Soaring Angels!”

  In between acts, the gloopy clowns flabbered and blundered around the ring. Pickle sniggered as she remembered how she and Pogo Paws had transformed themselves into the Tumble Twins earlier in the day.

  The performance continued with jugglers, unicyclists, plate-spinners and much much more, until the ringmaster appeared once again, and requested hush in the audience.

  “I now bring to you our star attraction of the evening. Never before has such a frightening beast been captured. Nowhere on this living earth, has our next dangerous act, ever been found. But tonight, my friends, we bring it to you, straight from its labyrinth in Esterious …!”

  There was a drum roll, and the ringmaster continued: “Let me introduce to you, the only living minotaur in this world; half-big-folk, half-bull. Please put your paws together for Minty the Mighty!”

  The audience thundered its applause.

  The curtain opened to reveal Minty in his cape and chunky boots. He trudged around the ring half-heartedly and roared weakly at the audience. The ringmaster cracked his whip and whispered angrily to the minotaur: “Give it some welly, you ungrateful beast. Terrify them!”

  Minty roared more enthusiastically, until the audience held its breath.

  “Quick, now’s our chance, Pogo Paws,” said Badger urgently. “Let’s make our way backstage, and I can get my shrinking spell ready for when Minty finishes his routine.”

  But the invisibility spell was starting to wear off, and as Pogo Paws and Badger sped towards the stage curtain, Pickle spotted the familiar white polka dots of Badger’s red neckerchief.

  “Aha! There they are. Now’s my chance to raise the alarm,” thought Pickle.

  As Minty took a bow, with the audience whooping and whistling for more, Pickle raced outside to the backstage entrance, to look for the ‘please break glass in case of emergency’ box.

  The ringmaster cracked his whip, and the guard dogs led Minty offstage and locked him back up in his cage. Crouched behind some haystacks, Badger and Pogo Paws suddenly emerged and stood in front of the minotaur.

  “We’ve got to do this really quickly, Minty,” whispered Badger, when the guard dogs had disappeared.

  Minty grunted. Badger pointed his ears forward and sparkles of light whirled and whizzed around the cage.

  “Now, sit there in the centre, close your eyes and stay very still,” instructed Badger, as he uttered the words of the shrinking spell he had practised all day.

  “With a sprinkle of Gavaria

  And a slapstick wink,

  Add an origami shuffle

  And a shell bright pink.

  Throw in a sunbeam

  And a cowpat stink,

  Then mix it all up

  And make Minty shrink …”

  Badger stood back and hoped that his spell had worked this time. As he did, an almighty siren sounded and all of the circus performers, led by the ringmaster and Pickle, rushed into the backstage area.

  “’Chie
f,” ordered Badger at once, “Show koo ray, show koo ray, please make this chaos go astray. Buzz up a swarm of honeybees, to bring these chasers to their knees.”

  Everything happened at once. Badger’s neckerchief flew from his neck, and above them a multitude of bees buzzed. The clowns flapped their arms around their heads in a dither, the jugglers swiped and thrashed, the acrobat cats somersaulted out of the way, the unicyclists floundered, and the ringmaster fled screaming about his precious moustache. Pickle slid away quietly. Badger and Pogo Paws looked back into Minty’s cage. The huge beast was nowhere to be seen.

  “Over here,” squeaked a tiny voice.

  Badger and Pogo Paws lay down and looked through the bars of the cage at nose level. There, in front of them, was a really small, toy-sized minotaur.

  “It worked!” sighed Badger with relief. “Right, Minty, you can walk through the bars of the cage easily. It’s time to introduce you the joys of a higgledy-piggledy tower of toast back at mine. I think we all deserve a treat.”

  “Where did Pickle go?” asked Pogo Paws looking around.

  “I don’t know, but I suspect she sounded the alarm. She clearly doesn’t want you to go, Pogo Paws,” said Badger firmly.

  Badger picked up Minty in his paw, and headed back to his garden, followed by a dejected Pogo Paws.

  Back at the circus, and lost in the darkness, Pickle had found her way into the Hall of Crazy Mirrors.

  Pickle shivered and thought, This Hall of Crazy Mirrors is scary. Everywhere she turned, she could see more Pickles in different stretched shapes and squished sizes. The hall smelt musty and mouldy. Whenever she stood in front of one of the mirrors, it lit up and shrieked at her.

  “Mirror, mirror on the wall, I can make you big and tall,” wittered the voice from the distorted reflection before her. She moved on to the next looking glass.

  “Here’s looking at you, kid,” came the voice from behind the wobbly image of herself.

  The next curved mirror made her look bendy and whispered, “Right back at you”. The next one yelled out, “Scaramouche!” and multiplied her face in odd directions.

  At last, she reached the final mirror. “Here we can see ourselves as others see us,” screeched the menacing voice from behind.

  Pickle was baffled. In it, she looked bitter and unkind. Her fur was matted and dirty, and her new collar was threadbare. She peered closer. Her reflected smile was crooked, and she really didn’t seem like a very nice person to know.

  “Here we can see ourselves as others see us,” repeated the voice. “Change your ways now, Pickle. Stop being so selfish or you will lose Pogo Paws anyway.”

  Pickle poked and prodded the mirror. “What are you talking about?” she demanded.

  Just then, the Hall of Crazy Mirrors was overrun with flip-flopping clowns. They swept up Pickle and bundled her off.

  Back in Badger’s garden, the Mystical Mutt, Pogo Paws and the tiny minotaur were tucking into some hot-buttered toast, and discussing the next day’s trip to the Crystal Cave, and the plan for the Enchanting Exchange.

  “Just crumbs for you, Minty. You’re far too small to manage a full slice of your own,” smiled Badger, as butter dribbled down his chin. He winked at Pogo Paws and said, “Which means more for us, of course!”

  Suddenly, Badger saw a pair of huge flipper shoes pass the fence, and something was thrown over onto the grass: a large, white envelope addressed to Badger.

  “I usually get my post via p-mail. What can this be?” said Badger, opening the letter. There in cut-out newspaper letters was a shoddy ransom note that said: “HAND OVER THE MINOTAUR BY SUNRISE TOMORROW, AND YOU WILL GET PICKLE BACK!”

  “Oh no, Pogo Paws. The circus has kidnapped Pickle. They’ll return her safely, if we hand over Minty. But it’s nearly midnight. We’ve only got until tomorrow morning to do the Enchanting Exchange”

  Minty sighed miserably. “Maybe it’s just not meant to be. Maybe I’m destined to spend my life in the circus, and I’ll never return home.”

  Pogo Paws whined. “I can’t leave Pickle at the circus. She’ll end up acrobatting, and her balancing skills are rubbish! Maybe I need to stay here and look after her.”

  Badger looked from Minty to Pogo Paws, and from Pogo Paws to Minty and smiled: “Turn those frowns upside-down, you two. Maybe there’s a way this can work out for everyone. I just haven’t figured out how to make that happen yet. But give me time … and I will.”

  “But we don’t have any time!” shouted Pogo Paws and Minty together.

  Backstage at the circus, Pickle was not happy. She was in the one place she really didn’t want to be. Added to which, she was blindfolded and tied up. She really missed bickering with Pogo Paws. She’d even grown fond of Badger lately. She wanted to be back home on the lane.

  “Let’s see how much your precious pals really love you,” sneered one of the clowns, squirting water in her face. “We’ve sent your beloved Pogo Paws and Badger a ransom note. If they don’t hand over Minty the Mighty before sunrise, we’re sending you to the wire … the high wire!” The clown cackled and clattered off.

  Oh no, thought Pickle, this is all my fault. I wonder if Badger and Pogo Paws will come to my rescue? I wonder if they’ll even care? She closed her eyes to try and sleep, but she could not shut out the nasty image of herself in the last of the mirrors. If that’s how I appear to others, then I really will be stuck here forever…

  Back at Badger’s, the two dogs and the little minotaur were in a huddle discussing a plan.

  “I’m still shrunk,” said Minty helpfully. “So, I can sneak in and get Pickle.”

  “I’ll take on all of them,” offered Pogo Paws bravely. “Nobody does this to my pal Pickle.”

  “Yes, but they’ll be expecting us,” said Badger. “And let’s remember that the ringmaster has a whip and couple of pretty fierce guard dogs. No, we need to hoodwink the circus into believing Pickle has escaped herself. Now, let me think.”

  They all sat quietly for a few moment, and then Badger leapt up and danced around.

  “I’ve got it! Now, Pogo Paws, do you still have those clown disguises you used earlier?”

  “Yes,” Pogo Paws answered warily. “They’re in the trunk in your shed. We never had a chance to return them.”

  “Good! Right, now listen carefully. Here’s the plan …” whispered Badger.

  In the early hours of the next morning, before the sun had risen, Badger awoke, all too aware that an important day lay ahead. He shook Pogo Paws gently, and nudged Minty.

  Pickle, too, awoke in her makeshift bed of a haystack, and stretched as best she could. Her paws were sore from the twine tied around them. Her blindfold had shifted slightly and she could see that daylight was dawning.

  They never came for me after all. So it’s the circus life for me, from now on, she thought sadly. That mirror was so true when it told me to change my ways or I’d lose Pogo Paws anyway.

  But not too far away, a spiky haired, big-footed clown was already making its way into the enclosure where Pickle was imprisoned.

  As the blindfold was untied from Pickle’s head and the twine around her paws came undone, she rubbed the darkness away from her eyes. There, in front of her, was Pogo Paws, smiling.

  “You didn’t really believe I could leave you here, did you? You’re rubbish at balancing. You’d never survive in a circus,” said Pogo Paws affectionately.

  Pickle jumped up and hugged him tightly.

  “I am so very, very sorry, Pogo Paws. I was being selfish. I just didn’t want you to leave. But I understand now … that if I care at all for you, then I have to let you go.”

  Pogo Paws was surprised. He had never seen such warmth before from Pickle. He patted her paw gently.

  “I know,” he said. “I will miss you, but I’ll never forget you. Surely the memories we share mean something? Just because we can’t see each other doesn’t mean we won’t always be in each other’s hearts.”

  “So, you’re still
going then?” asked Pickle haughtily.

  “I am. Although, if you really don’t want me to go, then I won’t. Or you could always come with me?” suggested Pogo Paws hopefully

  Pickle gulped, remembering the mirror’s wise words, and said: “No, you must go. You’ve talked about nothing else since we first met all those years ago. And my home is on the lane. You said it yourself: I’d never survive in a circus.”

  “Thank you, Pickle. Okay then, we have to get you away from here until the solar eclipse, and then I need you to help me in the circus ring.”

  “Stop right there! I have no idea what you are talking about. What or who is Silvery Lips? Is that another one of the circus acts?

  Pogo Paws smirked and explained. “A solar eclipse — not silvery lips, Pickle — is when the sun is blacked out by the moon. During a total eclipse, all we will see is a ring of light. Then, and only then, can the Enchanting Exchange take place”

  “Epic! And what? There’s one of these things happening today?” said Pickle awestruck.

  “Yes, very soon. And that’s why I really need your help. Now come on, we need to hide. Follow me,” said Pogo Paws.

  They made their way to the benched seating, and crawled underneath before the circus realised their hostage had escaped.

  Soon, the circus began to wake up, and discovered that Pickle had vanished. The siren sounded and woozy clowns and slumbering acrobatic cats emerged from their tents. The ringmaster rounded up his search parties and sent them off towards the lane, and a certain Mystical Mutt’s garden.

  But Badger was already high in the skies heading for Nippy Nimbus, the gatekeeper to the Enchanted Forest, with a gradually growing minotaur.

  “Uh oh!” said Badger. “I think my shrinking spell is starting to wear off. I hope we make it to the Crystal Cave before it does, because I don’t think the Wim-Wim can take your weight.”

  The Wim-Wim struggled to climb higher and Badger looked around frantically for anything he could throw overboard to lighten the load. He spotted some heavy spell books on the floor, and chucked them quickly over the side. At once, the Wim-Wim soared higher and higher, and soon Badger spotted Nippy Nimbus, the grumpiest cloud in the world, nearby.