The Icicle Imps

by Linda Chapman

  Sam shouted as an imp bit his ankle. Grabbing a branch off the floor, he waved it around him wildly, swatting at the imps and sending them bouncing away like fanged tennis balls. It didn’t seem to hurt them, though. They just landed, picked themselves up and leapt in again to attack, vampire-like teeth bared and little eyes gleaming.

  Sophie advanced with kick after kick, but it was no use, they just kept coming back.

  “It’s like being attacked by piranhas!” yelled Sam. “Well, fluffy four-legged piranhas who aren’t actually fish and who don’t live in water and—”

  “Sam! Shut up. Let’s just get out of here!” gasped Sophie.

  “Ha! I think not!” scoffed the Icicle Imp leader. He reached for his chest. To Sophie’s horror, he pulled an icicle from his fur, and then another, throwing them like tiny lethal frozen arrows. With a yelp, she pulled Sam out of the way, but one hit her hand and blood spurted out.

  “Let’s go!” she yelled.

  Together they charged at a group of Icicle Imps, thwacking out with Sam’s branch and clearing a way through. Then, grabbing Sam and chucking him over her shoulder, Sophie ran at full pelt down the path and didn’t stop until they reached her garden fence. They scrambled over it and fell on to the icy grass. For a moment, they just lay there, panting.

  “What’s going on?” A voice cut anxiously through the air.

  Sophie sat up and saw her grandfather jogging towards them in his running kit. He had short grey hair and was very fit. He had been the Guardian for many years before Sophie took over and he was the only other person in the world, apart from Sam, who knew about the shadow creatures.

  Sophie groaned. She knew Grandpa wouldn’t be pleased when he heard what just happened.

  “Well?” he asked.

  Sophie and Sam stood up and looked at each other. “We… um… we followed a shadow creature into the woods,” Sophie admitted.

  “You followed a shadow creature into the woods!” Grandpa looked as if she’d just said she had decided to take a shark for a walk. “Why?”

  “It was only little, Grandpa,” Sophie said defensively. “It looked really cute and we didn’t think it could hurt us.”

  “But Sophie!” Grandpa exclaimed. “Surely you know by now that you can’t judge a shadow creature on its appearance alone? It was madness to follow it. You could have been badly hurt! What type of creature was it?”

  “An Icicle Imp,” Sophie answered.

  “An Icicle Imp?” Grandpa echoed. “I’m not familiar with them. So, what happened?”

  Sophie swallowed. “Well, we… er… we followed it and then it stopped and there were about a hundred more Icicle Imps in the woods waiting for us.”

  “They had fangs,” put in Sam. “And they threw icicles at us.”

  Grandpa looked alarmed. “Was either of you hurt?”

  Sophie hastily covered the rip in her jeans, hoping Grandpa wouldn’t see the deep cut in her leg in case it made him even more cross. “We got away,” she said quickly, trying to pretend it had been no big deal. “We’re perfectly all right apart from a few little bites and scratches. There’s nothing to be worried about, Grandpa. Nothing at all.”

  The relief on Grandpa’s face turned to a frown as he spotted her bleeding hand. “Nothing to be worried about? When the two of you clearly have sawdust for brains! You could have been seriously hurt. You absolutely must be more sensible! I can’t watch over you every second of every day. Now, what do the Shadow Files say about Icicle Imps?”

  Sophie took the book out of her pocket and found the page on Icicle Imps. “Not much.”

  “Let’s see.” Grandpa read the page and sighed. “Yes, well, you’re right, there’s not much to go on. Maybe you can add to the notes here after what just happened in the woods. You could write on the back of the page.” He turned the page. “Hang on.” He frowned. “There’s a clue for one of the missing gems here!” He held out the book incredulously.

  Sophie read the words:

  “‘To find the diamond gem…

  Where ponies and horses slept for the night

  Look in a gable, the gem is in sight.’

  “Oh,” she said.

  “‘Oh’?” spluttered Grandpa. “I think this requires more than just ‘oh’! So, you’re telling me you didn’t even check the pages on Icicle Imps properly before you went haring off into the woods!”

  A voice carried down the garden. “Bob!” Mrs B was at the back door. “Would you mind giving me a hand, please? My friends are coming around later and I’m worried about the driveway being so icy. There are some bags of rock salt in the shed. Would you fetch one and spread some on the path so no one slips over?”

  “No problem, Mrs B,” Grandpa called back. He fixed Sophie with a look as frosty as the grass they were standing on. “You’re really going to have to do better than this, Sophie.” He handed Sam the Shadow Files then stomped away towards the shed.

  “Whoops.” Sophie bit her lip. “I don’t think he’s very pleased with me.”

  Sam looked at the page of the Shadow Files. “At least we’ve got another clue though. We’ll be able to use it to find the diamond gem.”

  “What’s a gable?” said Sophie, reading the clue over his shoulder.

  “It’s the triangular bit of a building where two sides of a sloping roof meet,” Sam explained.

  Sophie gave him a confused look.

  “I’ll show you.” Sam dragged her to the old brick garage beside the house and took her around to the front of it where the two sides of the roof met in a point over the big blue garage door. There was a round porthole-like window beneath the point. “There!” He pointed up. “That bit between the edges of the roof, where the window is, is a gable.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened. “If that’s a gable then maybe the gem is in the garage!”

  “No!” Sam shook his head. “Remember the first line of the clue? Horses don’t sleep in your garage, do they?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Sophie realised. “Of course not.”

  Sam read the clue out from the beginning. “It says here: Where ponies and horses—”

  “Shh!” Sophie stopped him hastily. “Let’s go inside to read it. The Icicle Imps might come back and listen in. It’ll be safer to talk in my room.”

  They hurried up to her bedroom, and with the door tightly shut they sat down on her floor and read the words from the Shadow Files out again. “OK, so it sounds like the clue’s got to be in a place where horses and ponies live,” Sam reasoned.

  “How about we go to the local riding stables and see if that has a gabled roof?” suggested Sophie.

  Sam nodded. “We could go after lunch.”

  “What if we come across any Icicle Imps on the way?” said Sophie.

  Sam scratched his head. “There has to be a way to fight them. Wind dried out the Swamp Boggles and the Fog Boggarts dissolved in sunlight. What can fight ice? Of course!” he exclaimed. “Heat! Heat melts ice. We could use fan heaters or hairdryers or something like that to blast them with hot air.”

  “We’d have to get the imps inside first.” Sophie frowned. “Those things need electricity.”

  “Lunchtime everyone!” Mrs B called from downstairs.

  “OK, after lunch, we go to the stables and on the way we plan some more,” said Sophie. “Deal?”

  “Deal,” Sam nodded, and jumping to their feet, they ran downstairs.

  When they had finished eating lunch they told Mrs B they were going to go for a walk. “Have you got scarves and gloves?” she fussed. “It’s so cold outside today. I’ve never known weather like it in June. I really hope it warms up before the fête tomorrow.” She insisted on Sophie and Sam taking a flask of hot chocolate with them in a rucksack.

  When she finally let them go, they set off down the driveway. The trees and plants were thick with frost and icicles were hanging from fences and lampposts. “It’s like it’s winter,” said Sophie.

  Sam grinned. “I’ve got a wintry joke! Wh
at does Jack Frost eat for breakfast?”

  “What?” asked Sophie.

  “Frosties!”

  Sophie chuckled. “OK. I’ve got one too. Knock knock.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Icy.”

  “Icy who?”

  “I see a…” She gasped and broke off from the joke. “I see an Icicle Imp up ahead!”

  It was true. A little way further on, an Icicle Imp was sitting on the fence watching them!

  The Icicle Imp saw Sophie and Sam staring at it, and disappeared into the undergrowth in a flurry of white fur.

  “Do you think it was spying on us?” asked Sophie.

  “Maybe,” said Sam uneasily. “Where’s it gone?”

  Sophie glanced behind them. She was sure she caught sight of another little set of white tufted ears ducking behind a tree. “There are definitely more of them. This isn’t good. Should we go back?”

  “No way,” Sam whispered. “We need to look for this gem.”

  “OK, well, let’s get to the stables as fast as we can.” Sophie wished she could use her superspeed, but she didn’t dare. Someone might see them. They hurried on down the road and past the playing field where the fête was going to be held the next day.

  Sam and Sophie cut down a bridle path that led to the stables. “What are we going to say to the owners?” Sam asked, as they approached the gate. “We can’t just ask if we can check in all their stables.”

  Sophie wracked her brains. How would they be able to get a look around without someone asking what they were up to?

  “Hi, Sophie!”

  Sophie saw Daisy, one of the girls in their class at school, walking down the yard towards them. “What are you two doing here?” Daisy asked curiously. “Have you come for a riding lesson?”

  “We were just out for a walk,” said Sam. “Have you got a pony, Daisy?”

  “Yes, he’s called Blue. Would you like to come and see him?”

  “Oh, yes, please!” Sophie replied.

  “Could we have a look around too?” asked Sam innocently.

  “Of course,” Daisy answered. “I’ll give you the guided tour.”

  Sophie and Sam exchanged delighted looks.

  Daisy led them up to a stable where a grey pony was looking out. “This is Blue,” she said.

  Sophie and Sam were more interested in looking at Blue’s stable than at the pony. Sophie was disappointed to see it was a modern stable with a flat roof and no gable at all.

  “Come in and say hello.” Daisy opened the stable door. Sophie stroked Blue’s silky nose. He nuzzled her and then went to his wooden manger built into one of the corners of his stable, licking at his empty plastic feed bowl before looking hopefully around at them.

  Sophie laughed. “I think he’s trying to tell us something!”

  “Oh, he’s always hungry,” said Daisy with a grin.

  Half an hour later, Daisy had shown them the rest of the yard, but none of the stables had a gabled roof.

  “Well… thanks for showing us around, Daisy,” Sophie sighed as they went to the gate.

  “Are you two going to the fête tomorrow?” asked Daisy.

  “Yes,” said Sophie. “How about you?”

  Daisy nodded. “Blue’s giving pony rides. I’ll see you there!”

  Sophie felt very disappointed as she and Sam trudged home again. She’d been so sure that the gem would be at the stables! “What are we going to do now?” she said.

  “I dunno.” Sam glanced at her rucksack. “Have some hot chocolate?”

  “Good plan!” said Sophie with a grin.

  They got the flask out, but just as they started to unscrew the lid, Sophie felt a tingle run across her skin. Looking around, she caught sight of an Icicle Imp peering from behind a tree trunk. Then she spotted another – and another. “Look!”

  Twenty Icicle Imps scurried out and closed in around them in a circle. They didn’t look nearly so cute now that Sophie knew how vicious they were.

  “What are we going to do, Soph?” Sam said, as they edged together.

  “Escape?” suggested Sophie.

  “Great idea. How?”

  “I’m still working on that part of the plan,” admitted Sophie.

  “Give us the gem,” squeaked one of the Icicle Imps with a scowl.

  “We haven’t got a gem,” bluffed Sophie, horribly aware of the belt she was wearing around her waist with the four gems inside it.

  “We know you went to find one. We heard you talking about it.”

  Sophie’s heart sank. The imps must have really excellent hearing. “We didn’t find it,” she told him.

  “I think you lie!” exclaimed the Icicle Imp. He leapt straight at her face. Her Guardian powers tingling, Sophie moved in a blur of speed, kicking out high in the air and catching the Icicle Imp full on the chin. He bounced away, but the other imps were already jumping at her and Sam.

  “Here, Soph! Use this!” Sam thrust the thermos of hot chocolate into her hands.

  “Take that, you crazy ice balls!” Sophie gasped. She splattered hot chocolate everywhere. She expected the imps to howl and run away or even start melting maybe, but nothing happened! The drops of hot chocolate froze as they came into contact with the imps’ icy fur. The imps shook themselves and the droplets flew off like little brown hailstones.

  “Ha! You don’t think we can be hurt by heat, do you?” scoffed the leader. “Our fur is so cold that hot liquid will just freeze if it hits us! And if you try and attack us with heat we can throw invisible icy barriers around ourselves for protection.” He whipped an icicle from his fur and held it like a spear. “You cannot hurt us, Guardian!”

  “Maybe not, but I can get away from you!” Grabbing Sam, Sophie raced off with him up the bridle path, reaching the end in just the blink of an eye and dumping him on the edge of the village green. She swung round, but to her relief felt her powers fading. The imps must have decided not to follow them.

  “Phew!” she said. “They’ve gone. I feel normal again.”

  Sam made a face. “It’s getting embarrassing being rescued like this by you all the time.”

  “Forget about being embarrassed,” Sophie replied. “Think of some way we can fight the imps! If we can’t use heat to hurt them, what can we do?”

  Sam sighed. “I think we’d better go back to yours and make another plan.”

  Mrs B’s friends were all in the kitchen when Sophie and Sam got back. They were helping package everything up and price things for the next day at the fête. Sophie could hear their brisk, practical voices coming from the kitchen.

  “Could someone pass me the greaseproof paper, please?”

  “Shall we say eight or ten biscuits for a pound?”

  Sophie and Sam went up to Sophie’s bedroom and flopped on the bed.

  “OK, so we’ve got two problems,” Sam announced. “The first is how are we going to fight the Icicle Imps and stop them spying on us? The second is where is the diamond gem?”

  Sophie sat bolt upright as tingles swept through her. “Oh, no! My powers! There must be an Icicle Imp nearby again!”

  They ran to the window, but there was nothing to be seen. They went to the landing and checked the windows there, opening them and peering out.

  “What are you two doing?” Anthony said, coming out of his bedroom.

  “Nothing,” Sophie told him distractedly. She didn’t have time for Anthony just then.

  “Do you want to know a secret?” The words burst out of Anthony. For once, he sounded properly excited.

  It was so unlike him that Sophie turned. “What secret?”

  “Come into my room!” Anthony said gleefully.

  Sophie almost dropped through the floor. Anthony never asked her into his room.

  “Come on!” he urged, beckoning them in.

  Sophie and Sam went to his bedroom door.

  “There!” Anthony pointed triumphantly across the room to where the old hamster cage from the garage was now s
itting on his desk. “I’ve got a pet!”

  Sophie stared. In the hamster cage was an Icicle Imp!

  The Icicle Imp stared at Sophie, its eyes glinting evilly behind the bars.

  “But… it’s… a… it’s a…” Sophie stammered.

  “It’s some kind of rare breed of squirrel, I think,” said Anthony happily, going to the cage and stroking the imp through the bars. “I was putting my bike away in the garage, and when I turned round he was just sitting there on the ground. He let me pick him up. He’s really tame. Aren’t you, Snowy?”

  “Snowy?” Sophie echoed weakly.

  “That’s what I’m calling him,” Anthony said, taking the imp out and cuddling him. “You love Daddy, don’t you, Snowy?” The imp’s fluffy face leered mockingly at Sophie and Sam from under Anthony’s arm.

  “But what will Mrs B say?” Sam asked, finding his voice at last.

  “I’m not going to tell her just yet. I’m going to hide him and enter him in the pet show. I’ll think of a way of getting her to let me keep him afterwards.” The imp scampered up Anthony’s arm and perched on his shoulder as Anthony walked over to his desk. “I’ve got an entry form right here.”

  “Anthony, you can’t enter that thing in the show. You—”

  Sophie broke off as Snowy pulled an icicle from its fur and threw it at Sam! Sophie reacted with superspeed, leaping in front of Sam and catching the icicle spear in mid-air.

  Anthony looked round as she landed. “What are you doing?”

  “It just attacked Sam!” Sophie exclaimed, as the icicle melted in her hand.

  Anthony stared. “Um, right. He’s been on my shoulder the whole time.”

  The imp gave Sophie a triumphant smile, showing just the tips of its fangs, and then it nestled against Anthony’s hair. Sophie felt a wave of horror. She had no doubt at all that it would be perfectly capable of managing to get in and out of its cage whenever it wanted to. She, Sam and Grandpa wouldn’t be able to talk about anything to do with the gems or shadow creatures while it was in the house, probably creeping around and listening to their every word. An awful thought struck her. What if it discovered that she kept the four gems they had found already around her waist…?