“But … aren’t you in league with the teddy bears?” Tess asked.
“Me?” the goblin said. Her voice was cold and soft, like ice cream. Betty pointed a finger at Hoggle and said, “He’s the one who made the bears!”
“I most certainly did not!” Hoggle exclaimed, sounding offended. “My grandfather made them. Then he threw a penny into your well and wished for his toys to come to life.”
“It wasn’t my wishing well back then!” the goblin protested. “It was my uncle’s.”
“Well, where is your uncle?” Hoggle asked.
“He died,” the goblin replied. “A few weeks ago. He left me the well. I thought this would make a lovely new home, but then I discovered the place was infested with evil teddy bears.” Betty gave a loud sniff and her lower lip wobbled slightly. “And I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
“Ah,” Hoggle said, and he rubbed the tip of his nose. “I think there has been a misunderstanding.”
CHAPTER 11A Very Special Penny
Tess was glad to learn that the goblin wasn’t in league with the teddy bears, and nor was Hoggle. In fact, it seemed as if everyone wanted the same thing.
“We must get rid of these bears,” Hoggle said, sounding fed up. “I keep thinking I’ve found them all and locked them away. And the next thing I know they’ve popped back up and are running around the factory again. The teddy bears must have secret hiding places. Even the teddies on the wallpaper make rude faces and gestures at me.”
“Some of my uncle’s magic must have gone into the wallpaper,” Betty said. She stuck a bony finger up her nose, pulled a bogey out and ate it.
“What?” Betty said as she noticed their expressions. “Picking my nose is the only thing that will ward off the sneezes.” She turned to Hoggle and said, “The bears can pick the lock of that cupboard you keep putting them in. And they hide themselves away in the underwater streams that go beneath the tunnels.” She pointed at the back of the cavern. “The streams start there.”
Tess thought about the frightened mermaid dolls and was struck with an idea.
“I think I know what we need to do!” Tess said. She turned to the goblin and asked, “Can you grant wishes like your uncle?”
Betty nodded. “If you throw a penny into the well,” she replied.
“The mermaid dolls told us that the other toys can only talk – they can’t move around like the bears,” Tess said. “The mermaids also said that the bears hate all the other toys and have been attacking them. So what if you bring the rest of the toys to life, Betty? I’m sure they would help us round up the teddy bears. The mermaids and rubber ducks would be able to dig out any bears that try to hide in the streams. The teddies would be outnumbered.”
Betty pulled out another bogey, flicked it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Actually,” she said. “That’s a pretty good idea.”
*
Tess and Oliver went to fetch Niles and Stacy in from outside. The twins were introduced to the goblin and told about everything Oliver and Tess had discovered. Then Betty got back in her wishing well and Hoggle stood ready with a penny to throw in.
They’d agreed Hoggle would give the children a head-start of five minutes so they could grab some sacks from the storage cupboard. Then they were to run into the various rooms and warn the toys about what was going to happen and the plan they’d made to capture the teddy bears.
The children ran around the rooms as fast as they could, talking to the toys. They spoke to the rubber ducks, the jack-in-the-boxes, the Noah’s arks, the toy soldiers and the mermaid dolls. The mermaids wept with relief and promised that they would go straight to the streams to round up the teddies.
Finally, the children reached the Rocking-Horse Room. When Tess opened the door, she saw that the white horse she’d spoken to before still looked heartbroken. Tess hurried over to it and whispered their plan into its ear.
And she was just in time. Hoggle must have thrown his penny into the well and made his wish, because sparkling gold ribbons seemed to fill the room, wrapping around the horses. They could smell the marzipan scent of magic as it fizzed and popped in the air.
Suddenly the rocking horses were coming to life all around them. They tossed their heads and swished their tails and stamped their hooves against their rockers. The white horse nuzzled its soft nose against Tess’s neck, snorting into her hair with joy. Its eyes no longer looked sad and scared but bright and happy instead.
“It worked!” Tess exclaimed. She turned to her siblings and said, “Niles and Stacy, collect as many mermaid dolls and rubber ducks as you can and carry them down to the stream in the goblin’s cavern. It will take them too long to get there without any water to travel on. Oliver and I are going to help the toys up here.”
The twins hurried off. Tess was about to stride towards the door to lead the horses out when the white horse gripped her sleeve between its teeth and gave a gentle tug. When Tess looked back at it, the horse tossed its head towards its saddle. Tess realised that the rocking horse wanted a rider, and she grinned and leaped straight onto its back.
Oliver took Tess’s lead and scrambled onto a dappled grey horse that whickered to greet him.
“Let’s go!” Tess cried.
The horses leaped from their rockers and galloped out of the door into the corridor.
Tess saw that the toy soldiers were already ripping down the teddy-bear wallpaper. The painted bears were throwing dolls’ eyes at the soldiers, but they easily ducked them.
And the real teddy bears were being driven out too. When they reached the foyer, Tess saw a small group of them racing across the floor, chased by
