slammed it shut.
They were in Princess Fifi's room. The angry dragon was thumping and flapping and crashing just outside.
"That looked like our little dragon!" the Queen exclaimed. "But it's enormous!"
"Someone must have put a spell on it to make it grow," said Fifi. "Like my giant frog prince."
"A spell? Then I know what's happened. It's that stupid Wizard!" snapped the King. "He's always doing things like this."
"What are we going to do?" asked Fifi.
"I don't know," said the Queen. "We need the Wizard, but we can't reach him. It's a dragon dilemma."
But the King stamped over to the window. He put his head out and bellowed at the tallest tower. "Wizard Watchit! Are you awake?"
The Wizard appeared in the highest window of the tower.
"I am now," he shouted back. "What is it?"
"I want a word with you!" the King shouted. "You come here this minute!"
The Wizard disappeared from his window. A minute later, they heard footsteps running in the corridor outside.
Then they heard a frantic banging on the door.
"Help!" said the Wizard's voice. "Let me in! There's a dragon trying to burn me up!"
Jack opened the door and the Wizard shot inside. He was wearing a night-gown decorated with little cauldrons.
"Phew!" he said. "That was a near thing. Where did that big dragon come from?"
The King glared at him. "That's our dragon! You must have put a spell on it to make it grow!" he snapped.
"No, I didn't," said the Wizard.
"It was the right size yesterday! I expect you magicked it by accident."
"No, I-" Wizard Watchit stopped. He had just remembered that the night before, he had tried to make up a new spell to turn a pen into a sausage roll. His spell hadn't worked on the pen, but maybe it had worked on the dragon...
"You'd better go out there and magic it right back!" the King roared at him.
Wizard Watchit gulped. He wished it was a giant sausage roll waiting outside the door, instead of an angry dragon. "I'm afraid I don't know how," he said. "But I expect the magic will wear off soon."
"Do you mean we're stuck here until then?" the Queen asked.
"But I'm cold," said Fifi.
"And I'm hungry," said the King.
"And I've got loads of jobs to do," said Jack.
"And so have I," said Bella.
Wizard Watchit looked at Bella. "Why don't you just catch the dragon and light the fires?" he asked her.
"Me?" said Bella. "How?"
"The usual way," said Wizard Watchit. "Tie a string around the dragon's neck and lead it round the castle."
"But it's in a rage!" said Bella.
"It's probably just surprised at being so big," the Wizard said.
Bella thought about this. The little dragon was usually quite tame and sleepy. It only got bad-tempered when it was hungry.
"Perhaps it needs food," she decided. "But we've got no food in here to give it."
"I've got chocolates!" cried Fifi. "I've loads of peppermint creams. I don't like them, but the dragon might." She gave Bella a box.
"I'll help you catch the dragon," Jack told Bella. "I just need to borrow a belt."
"Well, hurry up!" said the King. "I want my breakfast! You can tell us when it's safe to come out. Hop to it! Off you go!"
Bella and Jack quietly opened the door and tiptoed out.
They weren't quiet enough. The dragon turned round and saw them.
It opened its mouth wide - but before it could huff fire at them, Bella tossed a peppermint cream into its mouth.
Looking surprised, the dragon began to chew. While it was chewing, Jack slipped Fifi's dressing-gown belt around its neck, and tied it. Then he gave the other end to Bella.
"Let's get to work, dragon," Bella told it. She pulled the dragon along the corridor to the Queen's parlour. The dragon could only just squeeze through the door.
"Well, go on!" said Bella, pointing at the fireplace.
The dragon looked indignant. It huffed red flames at her. Bella skipped out of the way, and the flames went into the fireplace. The wood in the fireplace began to crackle and burn.
"Good dragon!" said Bella, and she threw it a peppermint cream. The dragon ate it up eagerly.
Then Bella and Jack led the dragon from room to room to light the fires. The dragon huffed at every fireplace, and then opened its mouth wide for a peppermint cream.
At last Bella said, "Oops! I've only got one peppermint cream left."
"You'd better save that for the kitchen," said Jack.
"Come on, dragon," Bella told it. "Down we go!" She pulled it down the stairs to the kitchen with a thump thump thump. They squeezed it through the door.
"About time too!" said the Cook. "Hurry up and light my oven! Then we can all have breakfast."
"All right," said Jack. He went over to the oven, threw open its door - and there, curled up inside the cold oven, was a small green dragon, fast asleep.
He stared at it. "That's our dragon!"
"So it is," said Bella, peering at it. "What's it doing in here?"
"It must have come in here at night, looking for something to eat."
"But then what?.?" Slowly Bella turned to look at the big dragon sitting up behind her. It opened its mouth for a peppermint cream.
"Just wait a minute," Bella told it. She hurried to the back door of the kitchen and ran out into the yard.
The dragon bounded over to the back door and squeezed through after her.
"Watch out!" called Jack. "It's looking annoyed. It wants that peppermint cream!"
Out in the yard, the dragon opened its mouth wide again. When Bella did not give it a peppermint cream, it drew a long, deep breath.
It was just about to huff red flames at Bella, when she threw the peppermint cream.
But she did not throw it into the dragon's mouth. Instead she hurled it high into the air.
At once the dragon leapt up after it. Beating its huge wings, it flapped after the peppermint cream and caught it in mid-air.
But then the dragon did not come down again. It kept on flying. It flew higher and higher, while Jack and Bella watched. At last it was just a speck against the clouds.
"I hope it finds its way back home," said Bella. "I wonder how it got into the castle?"
"It must have crashed into it in the dark," said Jack. "Remember that broken window? I bet it came in there, and then didn't know how to get out again. No wonder it was angry!"
They went into the kitchen. The Cook had already used the little dragon to light the oven and the stove. The little dragon was running around looking for food, while the Cook was stirring a pot.
"Porridge?" she said.
"I'd better go and tell the King it's safe to come out now," said Bella.
"Not just yet," said Jack.
"Sit down and have some breakfast first," the Cook suggested. "You've had a busy morning."
So Bella and Jack sat down. The Cook filled four bowls with porridge, cream and honey. She put three bowls on the table, for herself and Jack and Bella.
And she put the fourth bowl on the floor, for the hungry little dragon.
Spring Clean
The King and Queen and Princess Fifi were sitting in the throne room, eating doughnuts.
Bella was there too, but she was not eating doughnuts. She was cleaning.
"Oops!" said the King. "I've spilt some more jam on the throne. Bella - clean it up!"
Bella threw her mop on the floor. She glared at the King, looking very cross.
"Why should I clean it up?" she said. "Nobody ever cleans this castle except me!"
"It's your job," said Princess Fifi. "You're the maid."
"But Custard Castle is too big for just one maid to clean!" said Bella. "There are three hundred rooms! I can't clean them all. You've got to help."
"Me? I'm a King!" said the King, alarmed. "Kings don't do cleaning."
"If you don't hel
p," said Bella, "I'll go on strike and not clean anything, ever again."
"What?" gasped the Queen.
"You can't do that!" cried Fifi.
"Oh, yes, I can."
"But what do you want us to do?" wailed the King.
"You have to help me do a big Spring Clean," said Bella.
"A Spring Clean? What's that?" asked Fifi.
"It means we clean the whole castle from top to bottom. Then we won't need to do it again till next year. But everybody has to help!"
Bella looked so fierce that they agreed.
"I'll clean the bathrooms," said the Queen.
"I'll clean the state rooms," said the King.
"I'll clean the bedrooms," said Princess Fifi.
"All right!" said Bella. "Jack can clean the corridors, the Cook can clean the kitchen, and I can clean the rest."
She got mops and buckets, dusters and brushes, and soap and sponges, and handed them round.
"I'll wear my overalls," said the Queen.
"I'll wear my skateboarding dress," said Fifi.
"I'd better wear my oldest royal robe," the King said glumly. He was not looking forward to this.
Soon the castle was full of the sound of clanking buckets and scrubbing brushes.
The Queen was very happy cleaning bathrooms, because she could do some plumbing while she was there.
Fifi was quite happy cleaning bedrooms, because she could try on everybody's clothes while she was there.
The Cook and Jack the servant boy were fairly happy cleaning the kitchen and the corridors, because they were used to it.
And Bella was happy because everyone was helping her.
The only person who was not happy was the King. He was not happy at all. The state rooms were huge and dusty and musty, and Bella kept on pointing out bits that he had missed.
"I shouldn't have to do this," grumbled the King. His face was red, his hands were black with dirt and his oldest royal robe with grey with dust. "What about the Wizard? Why isn't he cleaning too?"
"You're right! I forgot
Chaos at Custard Castle Page 3
