Florence sniffed. “THIS IS A LOVELY STORY SO FAR,” she said, wiping an eye.
“BUT…,” Queen Denise continued.
“OH,” Florence grunted. “I DON’T LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT BUT….”
“One night,” Queen Denise started, “McJiggle did not return home. Gretta waited and waited, but morning came and still there was no sign of him.”
“No sign…,” Amelia murmured to herself, remembering the scribbles covering the cave walls. “Wait! Was that Gretta Grubbikins inside the cave?”
King Jamie nodded. “Most probably. She’s been hiding away in that cave for years now. She never comes out.”
Denise nodded sadly. “So with every night that passed, Gretta grew lonelier. And as the years went by, the Sugarplum Tree was Gretta Grubbikins’s only reminder of her beloved McJiggle.
“And in her sadness, she no longer wished to share the sugarplums with anyone else until McJiggle came home. But the creatures of the island loved the fruit so much, they would still sneak into the garden to pick it.
“Before hiding herself away for good, Gretta cursed the tree. This curse meant that anyone who ate a sugarplum from the tree would shrink to the size of a sugarplum themselves. Then they would never be able to pick from the tree again.
“One by one, the creatures of the island seemed to disappear, and soon enough, Sugarplum Island appeared to be deserted.”
“And that’s the story of the Curse of the Sugarplum Tree,” King Jamie the Eighth said, grimacing. “I’m sorry it’s not better news for you all.”
“I think that every day McJiggle didn’t come back, Gretta Grubbikins recorded it on the walls of her cave,” said Amelia.
“She lives in the hope that McJiggle will return,” said Denise. “Wouldn’t you, if someone you loved had disappeared?”
“Yes,” Tangine said sadly. And Amelia realized that he was thinking of his own mom, who had been missing for years before Amelia, Tangine and the gang had rescued her from a unicorn prison. Amelia gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“If we can free your mom, Tangine, then we must be able to free ourselves from this curse, somehow!”
“There must be a way to break it,” Grimaldi agreed hopefully. “All curses can be broken, right?”
“Well, yes, dear,” said Queen Denise. “But I think the only way to break the curse would be if McJiggle came back, and he was lost to the sea—lost forever.”
“WELL, HOW ABOUT WE GO BACK TO THE CAVE AND TALK TO GRETTA?” said Florence. “TELL HER THAT CURSING ISN’T GONNA MAKE HER FEEL BETTER.”
“I don’t think it’s quite that easy, fair yeti,” said King Jamie kindly.
“Wait!” Amelia suddenly piped up. “Maybe, just maybe, we could wish ourselves big again at the Wishing Well of Well Wishes back in the Kingdom of the Light!”
“OOOH, THAT’S A GOOD IDEA, AMELIA!” Florence said, looking impressed. “I KNEW YOU’D COME UP WITH AN ANSWER—YOU ALWAYS DO.” She smiled and put a big hairy arm around Amelia’s shoulders.
“It’s a strong curse,” King Jamie said. “But a valiant idea and worth a try indeed!”
“We’ll need to reach Ricky and Graham so they can take us back to the Wishing Well. But I don’t know how we’re going to do that while we’re this small,” Amelia said, feeling very frustrated by it all.
“Where is your campsite?” King Jamie the Eighth asked.
“It’s on the beach, facing the Dazzling Docks,” Amelia replied.
“Ah, the west of the island,” King Jamie said. “I can take you there in my special Nectar Carriage.”
“Really? That would be amazing. You’re being so kind to us, King Jamie,” said Amelia. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
King Jamie smiled and stood up straight. “You are guests in my home. As king, I strive to do good for the community and help others. You are lost and in need of help, and I can do my very best to provide that help.”
“Truth is, he loves ANY excuse to use his shiny new Nectar Carriage!” Denise said, with one raised eyebrow.
Amelia giggled.
King Jamie gave his wife an affectionate nudge. “Is that what you think?” he asked. “That may be a very tiny part of it. But what’s the point of a king who does nothing but sit on his throne and look pretty?”
“When I’m King of Nocturnia, I definitely plan to sit on my throne and look pretty,” Tangine said, admiring his reflection in a long mirror on the wall. “But if I can be even half the king you are, King Jamie, I’ll know I’m doing something right.”
King Jamie and Tangine bowed to one another.
“And I wouldn’t mind a unicorn horn either,” Tangine added.
The sleigh-style carriage (made entirely of solid honeycomb) zipped through the air silently with Amelia and her friends tucked inside safe and sound. King Jamie sat on a small ledge at the front of the carriage, holding reins attached to a bustle of harnessed fireflies. Their bright glow lit the way through the night sky.
Pumpy was wriggling around on Tangine’s lap, trying to catch the breeze in his mouth.
“May I ask that the big pumpkin be kept as still as possible, please?” King Jamie called back from the driver’s seat. “We’ve never flown this fast before, and I don’t want anyone to fall!”
Florence scooped Pumpy up with one paw and wedged him under her arm, much to the pumpkin’s dismay. “HE’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE NOW.”
As the flying carriage approached the west of the island, tiny beacons of light became visible from around the Rainbow Ranger campsite. The lights were moving, heading toward the sea. As the Nectar Carriage drew closer, Amelia noticed the Rainbow Rangers, including Ricky and Graham, holding flashlights and climbing into their boats.
“Wait a minute,” said Amelia, feeling like a brick had fallen into her stomach. “They’re leaving!”
“What?!” Grimaldi shrieked. “They can’t leave! Ricky and Graham will be gone, and we’ll have no way of getting big again. We’ll be stuck here forever!”
“We need to hurry!” Amelia said, feeling panic wash over her.
“Which of those creatures are Ricky and Graham?” King Jamie asked.
“THOSE BIG UNICORNS THERE!” said Florence, pointing toward them.
“Okay, hold on tight!” King Jamie yelled. “FASTER!” he commanded the fireflies, guiding them downward at top speed.
Everything appeared to blur as the carriage whizzed through the air faster and faster, making Amelia’s eyes water. The fireflies’ wings were flapping so quickly, it looked as if they weren’t moving at all. Then, close to the ground, just as they had almost reached Ricky and Graham, a high-pitched SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK was heard.
One of the fireflies floundered in midair and the Nectar Carriage swerved, spinning high into the air as the frantic insects reared off course.
Amelia gasped as King Jamie went tumbling to the sand below.
Florence clambered to the front of the carriage and grabbed the reins.
“Can anyone see King Jamie?” Amelia cried, leaning as far over the side as she dared.
Her head spun as she looked down from high up. But sure enough, there on the sand, with his crown knocked off, lay the royal bumblicorn.
Just a few yards away, the Rainbow Rangers were pushing their boats into the water, and for a moment, Amelia didn’t know what to do. If they went back to help King Jamie, the boats would be gone—and the gang would have lost their chance to get home.
But really there was no choice.
“We have to go back and make sure that King Jamie is okay!” Amelia said, climbing into the seat next to Florence and taking one of the reins.
“But I don’t want to be small forever!” Tangine protested from the back.
“Tangine…King Jamie helped us,” Amelia gently reminded her friend. “We have to help him!”
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Tangine nodded, looking a little bit ashamed.
“BAAAAAACK!” Florence bellowed at the fireflies as she and Amelia pulled tightly on the reins—and away from the Rainbow Rangers.
When they landed, they found King Jamie with his legs up in the air and his bumblicorn horn stuck in the sand.
“Is…is he dead?” Grimaldi asked nervously.
“No.” King Jamie the Eighth opened his eyes slowly and weakly waved up at the concerned faces above him. “But you must go! Fly on, young Nocturnian friends!”
“THANK THE GRAVE!” Florence cried. “LET’S GO!”
But when Amelia and her friends looked up, all they could see were the silhouettes of little boats bobbing away toward the horizon.
It was too late.
They were in a very sticky situation indeed. And this time it had nothing to do with jam.
“They’ve gone.” Grimaldi’s little voice broke through the shocked silence.
Amelia couldn’t speak. She clutched Squashy tightly to her chest as tears dripped down her face.
“I am so sorry,” King Jamie said. “I shall renounce my crown straightaway and give it to that young one-eyed man over there.”
Florence sighed sadly. “NO, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT, KING JAM—” She stopped. “ER, WHAT? WHAT YOUNG MAN?”
Everyone looked up to see Kevin the Cyclops running toward the shore, dragging a small boat behind him. “Wait for meeeeee!”
Amelia jumped into action. “King Jamie, can we borrow your carriage to fly over to that cyclops, please?”
“Of course!” the royal bumblicorn replied, looking very relieved. “And may all the luck of Buggintonshire be with you!”
The Nectar Carriage veered up toward Kevin, their very last hope of being big again.
The cyclops climbed into the boat, and Amelia shouted as loud as she could, “KEVIN! HEY, KEVIN! IT’S ME, AMELIA, AND EVERYONE ELSE! WE’RE HERE!”
But Kevin couldn’t hear her. He picked up his oars.
The carriage drew closer.
Kevin seemed to sense something near his head and sat up a little straighter.
“OI, KEVIN!” Florence yelled. She had a much louder voice than Amelia.
“He can’t hear us!” Amelia shouted. “We need to get in front of his eye!”
Florence managed to steer the Nectar Carriage back around to face Kevin.
“KEVIIIIIIIIIN!” they shouted again as they flew toward his face to get his attention. Everyone waved their arms.
Kevin’s one eye twitched. He put down an oar and slowly lifted a hand in the air. He must have recognized them!
“ARGH! BLASTED BUGS!” His hand swatted the carriage away.
The Nectar Carriage went crashing toward the Sea of Sparkles. The fireflies scattered and flew away in different directions.
Amelia saw King Jamie flying nearby. He tried to reach out and grab her and her friends, but they were just out of reach.
The stars in the sky disappeared from her view. King Jamie was but a distant buzz, and the last thing she saw was the flickering glow of the fireflies as she sank deeper and deeper into the water.
“You okay, honey?”
Amelia felt something nudge her shoulder softly.
She slowly opened her eyes. She felt dizzy.
“Easy does it, lovely one,” said a voice.
Amelia was lying on something soft and kind of fluffy. As she yawned, a big bubble of water rose from her mouth. She felt as if she was moving in slow motion. Everything seemed wibbly wobbly, like she was underwater.
And then, as everything came into focus, she realized…she was underwater!
“Thank the oysters you’re okay!” said the voice again.
Amelia looked to her side to see a friendly-looking creature with caramel skin; short, squiggly white hair and big eyes staring straight at her.
“I’m Nurse Bubble!” the creature said. “How are you feeling, Amelia?”
Amelia winced as she sat up a bit too fast, her wing still hurting. “Where am I? Where are my friends? And Squashy? Is he okay?”
Nurse Bubble placed a hand gently on Amelia’s shoulder. “It’s okay, your friends are well, tucked up nice and cozy too, here in the Oyster Infirmary in the Kingdom of Aquatica! Grimaldi, Florence the rare fluffy one and Prince Tangine are all together! And your little pumpkin and his large pumpkin friend are busy munching on a bowl of Kelp Krispies.”
Amelia took a deep breath. Her thoughts slowly unjumbled, and she remembered what had happened. Her heart sank—because of her decision, they had missed the boat. She knew they had done the right thing saving King Jamie, but she couldn’t believe they weren’t on their way to the Wishing Well of Well Wishes.
Amelia leaned back against the pillow and looked around. Everything around her was spectacular. Clusters of colorful sea plants of all shapes and sizes swayed lightly in the current, and small creatures with tails, fins and googly eyes swam in and out of them.
Stretching as far as the eye could see were bobbly huts covered in brightly colored lichen and pretty flowers. Curly weedlike plants weaved themselves around pebbles, and every so often, bursts of rainbow bubbles would erupt from pointy rocks.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” the nurse said, swishing her glimmering yellow fishtail. She gave a big friendly smile, revealing two big vampire fangs.
Amelia gasped.
“Why, you look a little alarmed,” Nurse Bubble said as she turned around and plumped up Amelia’s pillow. “Ooooh, of course! You’ve probably never seen a mer-pire before, have you? But look!” Nurse Bubble clapped her hands. “Here are your friends to see you! I would prepare yourself a little, Amelia Fang!”
“Why do I—?” But Amelia stopped midsentence, staring in amazement as a star-shaped Squashy, with suckers on each of his five-pointed arms, came bobbing through the water to her bed.
He was followed by Grimaldi, who had a wispy black fishtail.
Pumpy soon appeared, munching on something red. He had a big curly seahorse tail. It was a very strange sight indeed.
Nurse Bubble rushed over and removed the red thing from his mouth. It turned out it wasn’t food at all—it was another nurse who happened to be a very anxious-looking crab.
“Sorry about that, Brenda,” said Nurse Bubble as Brenda huffed and scurried away.
“I THINK I LOOK QUITE GOOD WITH A TAIL!” bellowed Florence, swimming in and swishing her big fluffy tail in circles, creating a mini whirlpool.
“At least you GOT a tail!” said a familiar voice. Tangine swam over. “Do NOT laugh.” He folded his arms and frowned. Instead of a fishtail, Tangine had eight long tentacles. “These do NOT suit my complexion!”
Amelia giggled while fixing her blankets. That was when she saw it. Instead of a pair of legs, she had a fishtail.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Coral Juice!” the mer-pire nurse gently ordered a shocked Amelia, brandishing a flask in her face. “It’ll make you feel much better. And, you know, it’s what gave you all the ability to swim and breathe underwater!”
Suddenly a jolly voice boomed, “Nurse Bubble! My ol’ whipper-snapper! I hear we’ve some new patients in need of my silliness.”
“Our new patients are awake and are certainly in need of your love and care!” Nurse Bubble said, giving a small and old mer-creature a big hug.
“Aye, jolly good, jolly good,” he replied. He was very wrinkly, with a long white beard and long hair. He had a green glittery fishtail and wore an apron that was covered in paint splatters. His face was a kind one, with rosy cheeks and a mischievous smile. “I’m Mr. Grubs, resident artist, entertainer, smile-maker and General Takerer-Carerer of the injured. I’m here to make you laugh and help heal those wounds.” He did a little jig and spun on the spot.
Nurse Bubble introduced the fri
ends to Mr. Grubs. “This is Amelia, Florence, Grimaldi and Tangine.”
Tangine tried to hold out a royal tentacle to be greeted by Mr. Grubs but ended up in one big knot.
“They’re creatures from the Land Above. Took a terrible fall about an hour ago,” said the nurse.
An hour ago?! thought Amelia. Ricky, Graham and the Rainbow Rangers would definitely be back in the Kingdom of the Light by now—probably on their way back to Nocturnia. How would they ever get back now?
“You look sad, Amelia. What’s wrong?” Nurse Bubble asked gently.
Amelia turned to her uncomfortably. “It’s just, um, I’m sorry, Nurse Bubble. But we really need to get back home to reverse a curse—we need to get ourselves big again. I just don’t know how we’re going to do it….”
The others all looked worried too. Tangine gave Florence’s hairy hand a reassuring squeeze, and Squashy gave Amelia’s fishtail a comforting lick.
“A curse, you say?” Nurse Bubble’s already huge eyes widened, and she glanced at Mr. Grubs quickly, before shaking her head as if dismissing a thought. “Well, that does explain why you were the size of my hand when I found you. The trusty Coral Juice made you bigger,” she said.
“That stuff’s a doozy!” Mr. Grubs chuckled.
“Wait,” Grimaldi said, the big black holes of his eyes as big as Nurse Bubble’s. “Does that mean we’re not tiny anymore? And the curse is broken?”
Amelia felt an ounce of hope explode inside her chest, and Florence snorted in shock.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Nurse Bubble said. “I’m afraid not. You’ll return to your tiny size the minute you’re back on dry land. The Coral Juice only works underwater.”
Amelia sighed and watched as a huge manta-ray dragon floated past the window, making a low, rumbling WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA sound.
Amelia Fang and the Rainbow Rangers Page 5
