Ellie Featherbill All Alone Read online

  “Oh, Jess,” she said. “Poor Ellie must be terrified. We have to save her!”

  Mr. and Mrs. Featherbill waddled over to the girls and Goldie.

  “Oh, no! Ellie will be so frightened,” Mrs. Featherbill worried aloud.

  “We’ll go after the barge,” Lily promised, “and bring her back safe and sound.”

  “And we’ll stop the Boggits from polluting the river, too,” said Jess.

  Goldie smiled at the Featherbills. “These girls are brave and clever,” she told them. “They’ll keep their promises.”

  Jess got up. “Let’s go.”

  Goldie and Lily followed her upriver. They could still see the barge, but they couldn’t catch up with it because the bank was covered with flowers, reeds, and prickly brambles. Soon, the plants and bushes became so dense that they couldn’t go any farther.

  “The barge is completely out of sight now,” said Jess. “What are we going to do?”

  Lily spotted something shining in the sun. It was on the river, but tucked into a thick clump of cattails. Then she saw a long curving neck.

  “A swan!” she said. “But it can’t be. It’s silver. There’s no such thing as a silver swan.”

  “Let’s see,” said Jess, pushing through the rushes. “Hey!” she called back. “It’s a sort of swan—but come and look!”

  Lily and Goldie joined her at the river’s edge. Bobbing gently in the shallows was a silver-painted raft. The front was shaped like a swan’s neck and head. Three silver-speckled white ribbons trailed into the water, one from the graceful neck, and the others from the front corners.

  “Why don’t we use this to follow the barge?” suggested Jess. “Jump on.”

  Lily held back. “There aren’t any oars,” she said. “How can we make it go upstream?”

  “You can’t,” said a clear, firm voice. “That raft belongs to me and my sisters.”

  They spun around to see three snow-white swans emerging from a group of shady trees. The front one wore a pretty sunhat, but she looked stern and very proud as she stared down her bill at them.

  “Careful, girls,” Goldie murmured. “Swans aren’t always friendly.”

  “I know,” whispered Lily. “We had one at the wildlife hospital once, and it chased me out of the pen when I tried to feed it, then banged on the gate with its hard beak!”

  “I’ll be careful,” whispered Jess. She gave the swans a friendly grin. “Excuse me,” she said. “We need to rescue a duckling, and we have to get upstream. Could you take us on your raft? Please?”

  The swan sisters looked at each other. “What do you think, Silvia?” said one of the swans.

  “We could, I suppose,” the swan called Silvia replied. “But we would want something in return.”

  “Anything,” Lily said.

  Silvia explained that she’d lost her favorite necklace. “I came in for a steep landing,” she said, “and my necklace fell off and landed in a tree. My wings are too wide to fly between the branches.”

  “Show us where the necklace is, Silvia,” Lily said. “We’ll get it back for you!”

  The swan stretched her elegant neck toward a lime tree. Dangling from a high branch was a string of pearls.

  Goldie grinned. “Easy!” she said. In seconds she was halfway up the tree, leaping from branch to branch. She stopped and called down, “I can’t see it because of all the leaves.”

  “Left a bit,” Lily called, guiding her. “Up to the next branch—look right—there!”

  With a flick of her paw Goldie freed the necklace, and down it tumbled into Lily’s cupped hands.

  She put the necklace on Silvia. “There!”

  The grateful swan ruffled her feathers in delight. “Thank you!” she said, then turned to her sisters. “Ladies, the raft!” she told them. “We have a duckling to rescue!”

  Jess stepped carefully onto the raft, followed by Goldie and Lily.

  Each swan took a silvery ribbon in her beak and started pulling the raft along.

  The river was quiet apart from birdsong and the hum of insects. Lily trailed a hand in the water.

  “This would be a lovely ride,” she said, “if only we weren’t so worried about Ellie and the Boggits.”

  Goldie pointed upstream to where the river forked. “We’re almost there,” she said.

  “But which way?” asked Jess. “Left or right?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Goldie said. “The right side goes around an island and joins up with the left side. This is as far as the river goes.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “So the source must be on that island!” she said.

  Goldie nodded. “It’s hidden, right in the center of Mystery Maze.”

  Jess and Lily exchanged a glance. Mystery Maze! That sounded fun!

  The island was bordered by a high, thick hedge. The swans towed the raft toward the shore and they drifted along, curving around the bank until Jess gave a shout.

  “The barge!” she cried. “It’s moored up ahead.”

  Lily shaded her eyes from the sun. “It looks quiet,” she said. “The Boggits are probably already in Mystery Maze, searching for the river’s source.”

  “Come on,” said Jess. “Let’s get there first and stop them from polluting it.”

  Goldie held her back. “What about Ellie?” she said. “She’s probably hidden herself somewhere on board. Silvia,” she called, “stop the raft beside the barge, please.”

  The swans pulled them silently through the water, until the raft bumped gently against the bank, right next to the barge.

  Goldie, Jess, and Lily jumped ashore, calling their thanks to the swans. Then they climbed carefully aboard the barge and began searching for Ellie. The Boggits had messed it up so much during their journey up the river, it looked like a different boat. Furniture had been hauled out of the cabin and thrown around the deck. Squashed food and crumbs coated the roof and there were huge dirty footprints all over the place.

  Lily made a face, stirring a pile of garbage with the tip of her shoe. “What a disgusting mess those Boggits made!”

  They searched for the duckling, calling softly, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  “Poor Ellie! She must be so scared. And it’s her birthday, too!” Goldie said sadly.

  “Don’t worry,” said Lily, taking the cat’s paw in her hand. “We’ll do our best to make it up to her.”

  Jess jumped ashore again. “To do that, we’ve got to find her first,” she said, turning left. “Let’s try this way.”

  “You won’t find Ellie over there,” came a small voice.

  The girls and Goldie looked around but they couldn’t see anybody.

  “Who said that?” asked Lily.

  “I did! Look down here!” called the little voice.

  “Oh, it’s Dotty Redcoat!” exclaimed Goldie, peering at a sunflower stalk. Sitting there was a little smiling red ladybug.

  “Hello, Goldie,” said Dotty.

  “Hello, Dotty! These are my friends, Jess and Lily,” said Goldie. “Did you say that you know where Ellie Featherbill is?”

  “Yes, I do,” said Dotty. “I saw her sneak away from the barge when the Boggits weren’t looking. She went into the Mystery Maze.”

  Lily looked horrified. “How will a little duckling find her way around the maze? She might be lost in there forever!”

  Goldie smiled. “She’ll be fine,” she said. “One of the Featherbills’ duties is to check that the source of the river is clean and pure. Ellie will have been there many times. In fact,” she went on, “she’ll probably go straight there, thinking it’s a safe place to hide from the Boggits.”

  “That’s good,” said Jess. “But what if the Boggits sneak along behind her? She’ll lead them straight to the source!”

  “Then we’d better hurry. Thank you for your help, Dotty,” said Goldie.

  “You’re welcome! I hope you find her,” replied Dotty, before fluttering away.

  The three friends entered Mystery
Maze. Lily could feel her heart beating more quickly, and she and Jess shared a worried glance. Could they find their way through the maze before the Boggits? Goldie looked worried, too, her tail twitching nervously from side to side.

  “Let’s look down here,” she said, leading the girls through the hedges.

  They moved quietly, trying to head toward the center, but the high walls of the hedge twisted and turned until they had no clue which direction was which.

  Soon they were completely lost!

  Lily groaned as they reached yet another dead end. “What are we going to do?” she asked. “No matter how hard we try, we’re never going to find Ellie!”

  A stomping noise from the other side of the hedge made them stop still. It was followed by a snuffling sound.

  “Boggits!” whispered Goldie. “They’re very close.”

  They crouched down and peeped through a gap in the hedges. All they could see were four pairs of furry, grubby feet, with filthy toenails.

  Sniff’s voice reached them. “Bodda, bodda, bodda!” she said angrily.

  “Boggits has been in the maze for ages,” Whiffy whined. “Now Boggits is at another dead end.”

  “Nasty hedges is in the way.” They heard Pongo growl. “Boggits bash them down!”

  “Good idea,” said Reek. “Boggits find river source quicker, then make it dirty and smelly.”

  “Bash the bushes,” said Whiffy. “Bash them! Smash them!”

  “All fall down!” Sniff laughed. “Haargh! Haargh!”

  Jess and Lily couldn’t see what was happening, but they could certainly hear. The Boggits stamped, grunted, ripped, and tore, and the branches cracked and thudded as they fell. The sounds faded as the Boggits thundered off in a different direction.

  “We need help,” said Lily. “What about asking Mr. Cleverfeather, the owl? He’s got so many amazing inventions in his shed. Surely there’s one that can help us find Ellie?”

  “Good idea,” said Jess, “except Mr. Cleverfeather’s shed is so far away from here. We could shout as loud as we liked and he wouldn’t hear us.”

  “Actually, I can hear you cloud and dear,” came a voice from above. “I mean, loud and clear.”

  “Mr. Cleverfeather!” the girls cried. The owl flew into view. He was wearing a harness with whirring blades fixed to the back.

  Jess stared in amazement. “He’s turned himself into a helicopter!”

  Mr. Cleverfeather zoomed toward them and hovered just above their heads. “I was flying above the cheese—I mean, trees—when Dotty Redcoat flew up to me. She told me you might need help finding Ellie.” He glanced around the maze. “The hedges are too close together for me to land, but fevver near!”

  Lily laughed. “He means, ‘Never fear!’ ”

  “We’re so happy to see you!” Jess told the owl.

  Mr. Cleverfeather lowered something down to them on a rope. It had a round disc on the end of a long handle. Goldie reached up to guide it to the ground.

  “It looks like a metal detector,” said Lily. “Wait, it’s got something written on the handle.” She turned it around and read, “Feather Finder.”

  They looked blankly at one another. Then Jess called up. “Mr. Cleverfeather, what’s it for?”

  “Bush the putton—I mean push the button,” said Mr. Cleverfeather. “It will pull you toward Ellie!”

  “Wow!” said Lily.

  “It’s attracted to feathers,” called the owl. “Baby birds are always getting lost, so I use it to find the pittle lickles.”

  Lily giggled. “I think you mean ‘little pickles,’ ” she said. “Thanks—”

  Before she could finish, there was an especially loud crash behind them. Down came a whole chunk of hedge!

  There, looking as surprised as Goldie and the girls, were the Boggits!

  For a moment, nobody moved. Then Pongo grinned, showing big, dirty teeth.

  “Boggits wondered what that owl was up to,” he said in his rough voice. “Fly away, owl!” he bellowed up at Mr. Cleverfeather. “Girls and cat won’t spoil Grizelda’s plan this time.” He turned to the other Boggits and jerked his grubby, hairy head toward Jess and Lily.

  “Get them!”

  As the Boggits lunged for the friends, Jess switched the Feather Finder on. It lurched away, pulling her through Mystery Maze. Goldie and Lily tore after her—left, right, then left again.

  They left the Boggits quarreling behind them.

  “Pongo tripped me up!” roared Reek.

  “Whiffy pushed Pongo!” bellowed Sniff. “Oof!”

  “Yow!”

  “Aaargh!”

  Lily glanced back at the pile of squabbling Boggits, but they were already struggling to their feet.

  “Faster, Goldie!” she yelled.

  The Feather Finder zipped right, left, then straight on between tall hedges. It zigzagged around fallen bushes, with Jess hanging on and Lily and Goldie close behind.

  But the Boggits were close behind, too!

  Suddenly, Lily felt a big furry hand touch her shoulder. Pongo! And he stank!

  She screamed and pushed him away, racing after Goldie and Jess. Just as she was sure they would be caught, the Feather Finder lurched through a gap in the hedge. Jess skidded after it, then Lily and Goldie scrambled through after her.

  “That hole’s too small for the Boggits,” Jess yelled over her shoulder as the Feather Finder pulled her along. “They’re too wide.”

  She was right. Soon they heard Sniff wail. “I is stuck!”

  “Get moving, Reek,” growled Pongo.

  “Can’t!” snapped Reek. “Sniff’s big bottom’s in the way.”

  Whiffy roared. “Boggits push!”

  Lily heard a beeping sound. “That’s the Feather Finder!” she said. “We must be getting near Ellie.”

  They followed Jess around a corner.

  “Faster!” cried Lily. “I can hear the Boggits on the other side of the hedge!”

  The Feather Finder beeped furiously. Beep! Beep!

  “We’re getting closer,” said Goldie.

  Just as the beep beep turned into beepbeepbeepbeepbeep, they burst through the hedge and found themselves in a sunlit grassy clearing! In the middle, a crystal-clear spring of water bubbled up like a fountain. As the water fell, it flowed into small channels that entered the ground in all directions, like the points on a clock.

  “The source!” panted Jess, leaning on the Feather Finder to get her breath back.

  “And look!” cried Lily. “There’s Ellie!”

  The little duckling, her birthday crown now tattered, was paddling in the small pool formed by the gushing water, staring with wide, frightened eyes.

  “Boggits!” she whimpered.

  As Lily ran to comfort her, the Boggits ran into the clearing. Reek jumped around in excitement.

  “Boggits found the source!” he shouted.

  Whiffy, Sniff, and Pongo lumbered around in a clumsy dance. “Now Boggits can spoil the nasty river!” they chanted.

  Jess winked at Goldie. “Do as I say,” she whispered. “Lily, look after Ellie.” Then she said loudly, “Quick, Goldie. Let’s get back to that pile of revolting garbage we found. We can’t let the Boggits get it. They could use it to ruin the river!”

  She and Goldie raced away.

  The Boggits chased them, whooping with delight.

  “Silly girl told us about lovely garbage!” shrieked Whiffy.

  “Haargh! Haargh!” Pongo laughed. “Boggits dump it in the river. Turn it nice sludgy brown!”

  “Boggits make Grizelda happy!” puffed Reek, as they disappeared around a corner.

  Lily picked Ellie up and smoothed the trembling duckling’s feathers. “You’re safe now,” she told her.

  Ellie wriggled against her. “I was so scared,” she said in a shaky voice. “And the beautiful birthday crown my brother and sisters made for me is all ruined.”

  Lily kissed the top of her downy head. “Don’t worry, Ellie. We’ll make
you a new crown, just as pretty as the first.”

  There was a hoot from above. “Hoo-yoo!”

  Lily looked up, and grinned. Mr. Cleverfeather even got “yoo-hoo” wrong!

  “Ellie, can you remember how to get out?” the owl called down.

  Ellie nodded. “Yes!” She hopped to the ground in a flutter of feathers. “It’s this way, Lily. I’ll show you.”

  Once Jess and Goldie were out of sight of the Boggits, they dove beneath a hedge and hid.

  The Boggits stomped past.

  Jess squeezed Goldie’s paw. “We’ve tricked them,” she whispered gleefully.

  There was an angry bellow of “Girls gone!”

  Then Reek growled. “Boggits found the source. Now Boggits lost it. Boggits can’t make it dirty.”

  “Grizelda will be angry.” Whiffy snarled. “Her plan not work.”

  Sniff’s voice screeched, “Pongo’s fault!” and an almighty squabble broke out.

  “Let’s go,” whispered Goldie.

  Jess heard a whirring sound and looked up to see Mr. Cleverfeather hovering above them. She waved to catch his attention.

  “Follow me!” he hooted. “I’ll guide you out of the maze.”

  As Goldie and Jess crept away, they heard a rough, frightened voice. “Sniff doesn’t want to be here when night comes. Might be monsters.”

  “Only hedges, no monsters,” said Pongo.

  But Jess didn’t think he sounded too sure.

  On and on they went, until at last they reached the exit, where Lily was waiting with Ellie in her arms.

  “Listen,” said Lily. “You can just hear the Boggits. They’re panicking.”

  “Help!” Reek yelled from deep inside the maze. “Help! Boggits is lost!”

  “Whiffy wants mud pool by Grizelda’s tower!”

  “Help!”

  Mr. Cleverfeather offered to go back and lead them out. “I think they’ve forgotten about Grizelda’s plan by now,” he chuckled, lowering the rope for his Feather Finder.