The monster swung towards him with a hiss. “You keep out of this, boy!”
“No way!” As Sam strode forwards, his foot kicked the fallen torch, and light streamed through the cavern. “Get away from her!” he shouted, waving the branch threateningly.
The Fog Boggart gave a screeching cry and leapt back. “Stop! Stop it!”
Sam kept advancing. With a strangled shriek, the Fog Boggart threw its hands over its face and ran away out of the cave and into the trees.
“Yeah, and don’t come back!” Sam yelled after it. Then he let out a shaky breath, dropping the branch to the floor.
“Sam, you were brilliant!” Sophie gasped as she struggled to her feet. “But – how did you scare it off?”
He shook his head, looking dazed. “I don’t know!”
They stared at each other.
Sophie shivered as she remembered the feel of the creature’s icy fingers. “Well, however you did it – let’s get out of here before it comes back!”
Sam nodded. “Good idea!” He grabbed up his torch, and they hurried back to the waterfall and down the track that led to Sophie’s garden. Neither of them felt like doing any more exploring right then.
“Back safe and sound!” said Sophie in relief as they climbed the fence.
“That Fog Boggart thing was seriously scary,” agreed Sam.
There was a rustle of leaves and Sophie’s twin brother, Anthony, popped out from behind a bush. “What was seriously scary?” he demanded, as Sophie and Sam both leapt about a metre into the air.
Sophie opened and shut her mouth, not knowing what to say.
Anthony folded his arms over his chest. “Come on, what are you two losers up to? You’ve been sneaking round for the last few weeks and acting really odd. What were you doing in the woods?”
“Collecting mushrooms!” Sam burst out. “We’ve got, er… a mushroom collecting club. And some of the mushrooms we’ve just seen are really poisonous, terrifying actually, seriously scary. Isn’t that right, Soph?”
“That’s right,” Sophie said quickly. “Scary mushrooms. Brr!” She pretended to shudder.
Anthony snorted. “You two are such weirdos! And to think I thought you might have been doing something interesting!” He marched away.
Sophie raised her eyebrows at Sam. “A mushroom collecting club?”
He grinned. “I know, but at least it got rid of him.”
“For now.” Sophie watched as her brother disappeared into the house. “He mustn’t ever know about the shadow creatures, Sam. Remember what Grandpa said – most people can’t handle finding out about them.”
“We’ll be extra careful from now on,” agreed Sam.
They headed back to the house too. “Let’s find Grandpa and tell him about the Fog Boggart,” whispered Sophie, glancing around to make sure Anthony wasn’t nearby.
Grandpa was reading in his bedroom. As usual, he was dressed all in black. His grey hair was cut close to his head and he looked very fit. He went running and swimming every day.
“Grandpa, we need to talk to you,” said Sophie. She caught sight of Anthony looking out from his bedroom further down the corridor and shut the door firmly behind them. “We went into the woods and saw a new shadow creature,” she said in a low voice.
“It was really horrible!” Sam added. “It was something called a Fog Boggart.”
Grandpa’s forehead creased as he put his book aside. “I’ve never met one of those.”
They quickly told him everything that had happened. “It was almost like a ghost,” finished Sophie. “I couldn’t kick it or hit it, it was like fighting air. Sam got rid of it in the end, but we don’t know how – it just seemed to be scared, for some reason.”
Grandpa frowned. “Hmm, I remember reading something in the Shadow Files about creatures made of mist, maybe they’re similar. Have you got the Shadow Files with you, Sophie?”
Sophie nodded and took a fat leather book from one of her pockets. The Shadow Files was a notebook that had been kept by all the previous Guardians, with notes about the different shadow creatures they’d met. Clues also appeared by magic in the pages to help each new Guardian find the shadow gems if they needed to.
Grandpa flicked through the thin pages. “Yes, here’s the creature I was thinking about.” He held the book out, showing them a picture of a little round fat creature about the size of a rabbit. Sophie and Sam stared. Apart from the fact that the thing was coloured pale grey, it was nothing like the creature they had just seen.
“Made of mist,” Sam read out from the notes. “And so impossible to hurt or hold, Mist Imps are shy, but can be mischievous. Like Chameleon Gnomes, they can change their appearance, but have also been known to mist people’s minds and control their thoughts.” He squinted at the page. “Then there’s a bit that has a stain over it… I can’t really make it out.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter – that’s definitely not what we saw,” said Sophie. “Isn’t there anything about Fog Boggarts in there?”
But though they looked all through the files they could find no references to Fog Boggarts.
“Maybe you’re the first Guardian to have seen them. You’ll have to write a new entry,” Grandpa told Sophie.
Sophie started to answer, and then saw something in the book that made her heart skip.
“Hey, look!” She pointed to a page on Puffball Pixies. “There’s a clue here! It’s for the blue gem!”
“What does it say?” asked Sam, peering over her shoulder.
Sophie quickly read the clue out:
“Between the hours of nine
And three fifteen,
The blue gem’s there
But can’t be seen,
Behind a locked door
Where playtime dwells.
Search in a corner
Search very well.”
Sophie, Sam and Grandpa all looked at each other. “But what does that mean?” wondered Sophie. “Why can the gem only be seen between nine and three fifteen?”
Grandpa shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. The gems don’t appear and disappear.”
Sam looked thoughtful. “No, wait! I reckon it doesn’t mean the gem vanishes – just that we usually only go to the place where it’s hidden during those times!”
Sophie frowned. “But where can it be? Shops stay open until six and…”
“Sophie!” Sam widened his eyes as he urged her to get it. “Come on, where do we go every day, Monday to Friday, between nine and three fifteen?”
Suddenly the penny dropped. “School!” Sophie gasped.
“Of course!” said Grandpa, clapping Sam on the back. “Well done!”
Sam glowed. Sophie felt warm inside too. When she had first become Guardian, Grandpa had been very unhappy that Sam knew about the Shadow Realm, but gradually, it seemed he was beginning to realise how useful her best friend could be.
“This is great!” she exclaimed happily. “If the gem’s at school, we can look for it tomorrow. What do you think the rest of the clue means, about ‘where playtime dwells’?”
“Maybe it’s hidden in the PE store?” suggested Sam, scratching his head.
“Yes! I bet that’s it!” exclaimed Sophie. “Good one, Sam.”
“Well, if it’s not, you’ll just have to check every locked place in the whole school,” said Grandpa grimly. “We must find that gem!”
Sophie nodded. Enthusiasm was rushing through her, banishing thoughts of the Fog Boggart in the woods. They had the clue for the next gem. She couldn’t wait to start trying to find it!
In her excitement, she didn’t notice the swirl of mist outside the window. The Fog Boggarts had heard everything they had said…
Chapter 4
Searching for the Gem
So, are you ready to start looking for the gem today?” Sophie asked Sam in a low voice as they took their coats off in the cloakroom the next morning.
Sam nodded. “I reckon we should ask if we can tidy the PE
store at playtime.”
“Good idea,” agreed Sophie. “It’s got to be there!”
As they went into their classroom, Anthony and his friends, Brett and Chris, were sitting on their desks talking. Behind them were a group of girls, Ria, Tara and Daisy, who all had matching ponytails and sparkly slides in their hair. They were playing with their Fluffies, toys that were covered in pastel-coloured fur and looked like a cross between an alien and a baby.
“Wanna cuddle?” said one of the Fluffies, making a whirring sound as it blinked its ridiculously cute blue eyes.
Sophie grimaced. Mrs B had bought her a Fluffy and was always trying to get her to play with it, but Sophie thought they were gross. The only good thing about Fluffies was that they were so disgustingly cute that she and Sam had used them to fight off the Swamp Boggles the week before!
Sam leaned against his desk, frowning around them. “I never noticed how many locked cupboards are in the school before,” he whispered. “If it’s not in the PE store, then where do you think—”
“Boredom alert!” called Anthony across the room. “Sam’s talking! “
Sophie glared at her brother. “Leave Sam alone!” she snapped.
Anthony’s pale blue eyes gleamed. “Standing up for your boyfriend, are you? I saw you two yesterday, going into the woods together, holding hands.”
Brett and Chris sniggered.
“We were not holding hands!” Sophie said quickly, as she saw the rest of the class suddenly take notice.
“You were in there ages,” Anthony went on. “I bet you were…” he paused and grinned round at the class, “… kissing.”
Brett and Chris hooted with laughter.
“So are you and Sophie going out, Sam?” Ria called.
“No!” Sam exclaimed hotly. “Of course we’re not!”
“Is she your girlfriend?” cooed Tara, waggling her Fluffy at them.
“NO!” said both Sam and Sophie together.
Just then, Mrs Wilson, their teacher, came in. “Come on, everyone,” she said, clapping her hands. “You should be reading your books before school. You know the rules.”
The giggling and teasing stopped and everyone sat down. Sophie’s cheeks were on fire. Anthony could be so annoying. She wished a shadow creature would come and get him! She didn’t dare look at Sam. She knew he must be as embarrassed as she was. Thankfully, Mrs Wilson was strict, and the class soon settled down.
Then, later that morning, during their science lesson, she led them all up to the roof, where a wind turbine had been set up as an experiment. Sophie stood and stared with the others. There wasn’t much to see – just big windmill blades spinning round in the breeze, and a couple of wires leading to a large brick-shaped battery.
Sam was fascinated, of course! “It works like my wind-up torch, I think,” he murmured to Sophie. “The wind turns the blades, which make energy go into the battery. Then the battery can be used to power things.” He frowned. “Though I wonder what would happen if…” He put up his hand. “Mrs Wilson, what would happen if there was no wind so the blades weren’t turning round, but you connected the battery anyway?”
Anthony sighed loudly. “Geek-brain,” he whispered.
“Enough,” Mrs Wilson said sternly. She turned to Sam. “It’s an interesting thought, Sam. If I left the battery connected and there wasn’t any wind, we’d probably find the blades would start to spin back in the other direction. They’d be powered by the battery.”
“Cool,” said Sam, his eyes shining.
Sophie heard the snorts from Anthony’s group and sighed inwardly. Sometimes Sam made it very easy for them to pick on him!
At break time, she and Sam asked if they could tidy the PE store. Sophie’s heart thumped excitedly as they cleared it out, but there was no sign of the gem on any of the crowded corner shelves.
Sinking back on to her heels, Sophie let out a disappointed breath. She had been so sure that this was what the clue meant by ‘playtime’! “I really thought it was going to be here.”
“I know,” said Sam. He made a face and started putting things back in the cupboard. “Well, we’ll just have to think of something else, I guess.”
After break, the wind dropped, and at lunchtime a thick fog suddenly fell over the school. Looking out of the window, Sophie felt a strange unease come over her. It seemed a bit of a coincidence that there should be a fog when the day before she and Sam had seen shadow creatures called Fog Boggarts. Could the Fog Boggarts be the cause of it somehow?
“It’s indoor play,” Sam reminded her. “Do you want to see if we can clear out the art store too? Art’s sort of like ‘playtime’.”
I’m being silly, decided Sophie. Just because there were Fog Boggarts about didn’t mean that every fog she saw was suspicious. Besides, if they were behind this then she’d feel the magic tingling through her.
“Good idea,” she told Sam.
But just as they reached the staffroom, they saw Mrs Wilson come out, bundled up in a coat and looking pale. She was with Mr Bryan, their tall, cheerful head teacher. “I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” she was saying. “About fifteen minutes ago, I just started to feel really sick.”
“Well, get yourself home and hopefully you’ll feel better by tomorrow,” Mr Bryan comforted her.
“But I haven’t organised any work for my class, or—”
“Don’t worry,” Mr Bryan reassured her. “We’ll cope.”
Before Mrs Wilson could answer, all the lights suddenly went out! Sophie started, looking around in surprise.
“Oh, dear,” said Mr Bryan, running a hand through his hair. “A fuse must have blown. I’d better check it out.”
“Poor Mrs Wilson,” said Sophie to Sam as their teacher left, and Mr Bryan started checking the fuse box by the front door. “She seemed OK this morning. I wonder what’s the matter with her?”
Just then, a young woman appeared in the school entrance porch and tapped on the glass.
Mr Bryan went to the door. “Hello. Can I help you?”
“Oh, hello.” The woman smiled. She was very pretty, with shoulder-length blonde hair and wide-spaced, large grey eyes. “My name is Miss Waters. I’m a teacher, and I was wondering how to go about being put on your list of supply staff. I’ve got all the paperwork you need right here.” She patted her bag.
“Well, we’d have to check your references of course and… and…” Mr Bryan’s brisk voice trailed off. For a moment he just stared at the teacher in front of him and then a dreamy expression crossed his face.
“You don’t happen to need a supply teacher today by any chance, do you?” Miss Waters asked.
“Well, actually, yes,” Mr Bryan answered, sounding dazed. “One of our teachers has just gone home sick.”
Miss Waters beamed. “Why don’t I cover for her?”
“Oh, do, please!” Mr Bryan held the school door open. “Come in. I’m sorry about the lighting in here. The electricity seems to be working OK, so I don’t know why the lights aren’t. It would happen on a day like this too,” he said, motioning to the fog outside the windows. “It’s going to be a dark afternoon in school until the electrician comes out!”
“That’s all right, I don’t mind the dark at all.” Miss Waters dimpled at him as she stepped inside.
Sophie felt a prickle race across her scalp. “Isn’t that a bit weird?” she hissed to Sam. “Mrs Wilson goes home, and a new supply teacher just turns up, completely by chance?”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, and Mr Bryan asks her to teach us, just like that? Without checking anything about her?”
Sophie had noticed something else too. “And how did she know that it was a female teacher she was replacing? She said, ‘I could certainly cover for her.’”
“I suppose she could have seen Mrs Wilson leaving,” Sam suggested.
But Sophie couldn’t squash the worried feeling. “I don’t like this,” she muttered. “I think something sinister’s going on.”
“You mean something to do with the shadow creatures?” said Sam uneasily.
Sophie glanced at the fog outside. It looked thicker than ever. “Maybe,” she said. But in that case, why wasn’t she feeling the tingle of her Guardian magic?
“Now come in here, my dear,” Mr Bryan was saying to the supply teacher as he led her towards the staffroom. “I’m sure you’d like a cup of tea.”
Miss Waters smiled up at him. “That’s very kind of you, Mr Bryan – or can I call you by your first name?”
Mr Bryan blushed like a tomato. “Oh yes, of course, it’s… er… it’s Dan.”
Miss Waters put her hand on his arm. “A cup of tea would be just lovely, Dan.”
As Mr Bryan went even redder and opened the staffroom door, the new supply teacher saw Sophie and Sam. She smiled straight at them, and Sophie stiffened. Miss Waters’s mouth seemed very wide somehow. “Hello, children,” she said.
“Hi,” muttered Sophie, staring at the supply teacher’s red lips. What was going on? Now her mouth looked totally normal!
Miss Waters continued on into the staffroom with Mr Bryan. Sophie blinked as the door shut behind them. Had she only imagined it? “OK, I’ve got a very bad feeling,” she said slowly.
“I’ve got a very good feeling,” sighed Sam. “Isn’t Miss Waters lovely?”
“What?” Sophie spun round, staring at him.
Sam was gazing at the staffroom door. “She’s so beautiful, and I bet she’s really clever too. I’m really glad she’s going to be teaching us.” Smiling soppily, he drifted back towards into their classroom.
Sophie gaped. What had happened? A moment ago, Sam had been normal, and now he was acting as oddly as Mr Bryan. She heard the supply teacher’s laugh trilling out from the staffroom and felt a shiver run down her spine.
Something strange was going on. But what?
Chapter 5
Miss Waters
Everyone in Sophie and Sam’s class looked surprised when the new teacher came into their classroom that afternoon. “Who are you?” Anthony demanded rudely. “Where’s Mrs Wilson?”
The Fog Boggarts Page 2
