The Crystal Key

An extract

When Snuggle saw the boys float off, he jumped up on to the garden wall, down the other side, over the road, across the field, always looking in the sky at the balloons of red, blue and green, and the boys dangling underneath, disappearing fast into the distance.

          "Do not worry:  I shall save you," Snuggle murmured as his mind reached out to the boys.

          "Snuggle is on the way," whispered Julius to his brothers.  "I heard him in my mind."  "So did I."  "Let's try to reply."

          Their minds reached out to Snuggle.  "We have been captured by Griselda."  "She has fattened us up."  "She is going to eat us for her supper."

"I'm running fast.  Delay her as much as you can."

          The three boys thought hard.  Alexander was a treasure hunter, a great collector of sticks and stones.  He looked through his pockets, found a piece of wood in the shape of a Y and whispered to his brothers: "I could take the elastic from Benjamin's trousers, make a catapult and get the guards to spill the ingredients for supper." 

          Benjamin was not keen but in the end agreed.  When the guards returned laden with the ingredients, Alexander took the catapult from his pocket, picked up a stone and fired at a wasp's nest just above them in a tree.  The wasps rose up in a swarm and attacked.  "Ow!" cried the dwarf Julioso, as he tried to brush the wasps away and dropped the dragon's blood and mashed newt over Aliano.

          "Ugh!" cried Aliano, as dragon's blood ran down his neck and he poured sewer water and maggots over Benjio.

          "Pong!" cried Benjio, as the sewer water ran down his neck and  he dropped the wings of bat and wriggling worms over Julioso.

          Griselda heard the noise and ran out of the tower.  "Guards!  Guards!  What is the matter?  Where are the ingredients?"  The guards pointed to the ground.  "I'm not eating them.  Get some more." The guards were tired and did not move.  "Get out of here before I reduce your height to two foot three."

          The guards were sensitive about their lack of height.  They felt that they were already small enough.  So with moans and groans the guards stumbled off.  By the time they returned it was nearly dark.

          "Here they come," whispered Alexander.

          "Out with the catapult," hissed Julius.

          "No.  Put it away.  Keep very quiet," purred Snuggle, who had just arrived.

          The dwarves went into the tower, followed silently by Snuggle. "Start preparing the food," ordered Griselda, licking her lips, and suddenly feeling in a more cheerful mood.  "Boris come here.  I shall scratch your bony head."

          "Mistress, yes!" hissed Boris excitedly, his eye sockets beginning to spin as he floated to Griselda and rested on her knee.  She cradled him in her arms and scratched and tickled his bony head. His eye sockets flashed in ecstasy.

          Snuggle raised a paw and took the key to the fattening cages out of Griselda's pocket.  She looked round and screamed, "Boris, stop that cat!" Boris floated off and hid.  "Guards, get that cat!"  The dwarves ran after Snuggle but not fast, for his claws were very sharp.  Snuggle threw the key to Julius and disappeared into the dark.

          Griselda ran out of the tower but as she raised her magic staff Snuggle leapt from the dark, landed on the hand which held the staff, wrapped himself around, dug in his claws and applied his teeth to Griselda's gruesome flesh.  "Aarh!" she screamed, as she dropped the staff.

          The boys unlocked the cages, so fat they could hardly move.  Snuggle hung on to Griselda's hand, burying claws and teeth more deeply as she tried to pick up her magic staff and, stepping backwards, tripped over Benjamin who was bending over (his trousers without any elastic had fallen down around his ankles).  She fell into the magic cauldron and, with a scream and loud meow, she and Snuggle disappeared. As Griselda vanished, her magic was destroyed and the boys became their normal size.

          "Snuggle!  Snuggle!  I'm coming after you," Benjamin cried, as he too jumped into the magic cauldron.  With a yell, he disappeared.  Julius and Alexander stretched out hands, held each other tight and crying,  "Benje!  We're coming after you," followed him into the cauldron and also disappeared.

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