But the strange thing about the rocking horses was that they all looked terrified. Some of them had wide, staring eyes, as if they’d just seen something dreadful. Other horses had flaring nostrils or open mouths. One horse in particular caught Tess’s eye and she walked over to it.
Most of the horses were brown or black or dappled grey, but this one was white, with a golden mane and pink ribbons in its tail. It had a silver twisted pole in the middle and reminded Tess of the horses she’d seen on fairground carousels.
“You’re beautiful,” Tess breathed.
Like all the others, this horse had a wild, desperate look on its painted face. Tess slowly reached her hand out to stroke its nose. Her hand rested there for a moment as she looked into the horse’s frightened eyes.
And then the horse snorted into her hand. Tess felt the warm puff of its breath against her skin. Niles heard it and let out a yelp behind her, then shouted a warning. But Tess didn’t think the horse meant to hurt her. In fact, there was a look in its eye that seemed almost … pleading.
“Tess, let’s go,” Niles said. “We know these horses are evil, and Oliver isn’t here.”
Tess turned away from the white horse reluctantly. She was halfway back to the door when there was a soft whinny behind her. The kind of sound she’d heard real horses make in the fields around their farm. Tess turned back towards the white rocking horse and saw that its face had changed. It now looked more heartbroken than scared and Tess felt guilt twist in her stomach.
“Let’s go!” Niles said again.
Tess joined her brother and they walked out of the Rocking-Horse Room.
“Maybe it’s not what we thought,” Tess said as she closed the door behind them. “Those horses didn’t seem evil. They just seemed scared.”
She glanced at the horrible wallpaper of the teddy bears’ picnic and thought about what they’d done to the dolls.
“We know the bears are dangerous,” Tess went on, remembering Biffy. “But perhaps the other toys aren’t like them?”
Niles shrugged. “Who cares?” he said. “I hate this place. The sooner we find Oliver, the sooner we can leave.”
Tess didn’t say anything more, but the encounter with the rocking horses had got her thinking.
She and Niles started to make their way down the corridor to the room next door. Then they heard the sound of whistling. Something was coming towards them from the corridor up ahead – and it was getting closer.
CHAPTER 7A Buffalo Hunt
Tess tightened her grip on the mop. The whistling sounded loud, so whatever it was must be big. Tess’s mind filled with visions of giant teddy bears that could squeeze the life right out of her with one evil cuddle.
But there was no time to hide, because it was almost upon them. Tess shoved Niles behind her, stood firm and raised the mop, ready to strike.
But it was only Hoggle who charged around the corner. He was still wearing his large green coat, purple top hat and mismatched gloves, but now he also gripped a stick with a huge net hanging from the end of it. It looked like a butterfly net but was much, much bigger.
Hoggle stopped whistling when he saw them and came to an abrupt halt. For a moment he looked startled, but then he said, “Ah, yes, the children. Good day to you.” He tipped his top hat. “Excellent job in the foyer.”
Tess stared at the net in Hoggle’s hand. “What’s that for?” she asked, pointing.
“This?” Hoggle asked. He held up the net and gazed at it. For a moment, he was silent, but then he said, “Just a spot of dragonfly hunting, my dear.”
“But that net’s big enough to capture a … a buffalo!”
It wasn’t quite large enough for a buffalo, but it was a very big net just the same – almost as large as Hoggle himself.
“Not many buffalo herds around here that I’m aware of,” Hoggle said cheerfully. “No, I think I’ll stick to dragonflies.” He looked at them again and said, “Weren’t there more of you small people this morning?”
“Our brother, Oliver, went into the—” Niles began, but Tess cut him off.
“Oliver and Stacy are cleaning a different part of the factory,” Tess said firmly. She was afraid that if Hoggle knew that Oliver had vanished, then he might not let them stay in the factory – and then they’d never find their brother. Oliver would become nothing more than a sad memory.
Tess found herself wondering just how much Hoggle did know about the toys. Surely he must have known there was something strange about them or else he wouldn’t be walking around the factory with a gigantic net. Whatever Hoggle had said, Tess was pretty sure he wasn’t really hunting for dragonflies.
“Mr Hoggle, I was just wondering,” Tess said, “was the man who built this factory a relation of yours?”
“Yes, indeed,” Hoggle replied. “Caractacus Hoggle was my grandfather.”
“People around here tell stories about the factory, you know,” Tess said.
“Do they now?” Hoggle replied.
“Yes.” Tess nodded. “They say that Caractacus Hoggle went mad and started making evil toys.”
“Well, well,” Hoggle said.
“Do you think it’s true?” Tess pressed.
“Do I think it’s true?” Hoggle repeated. He paused, then said, “After my grandpops closed the factory and moved back home, he used to tell me the most dreadful stories about this place. I thought he’d just lost his marbles a bit. The Hoggle family are prone to losing their marbles, you know.” Hoggle scratched his neck and said, “When I inherited the factory, I thought I’d come and take a look for myself.”
“And what do you think now?” Tess asked.
Hoggle adjusted his top hat and said, “You ask an awful lot of questions, small girl. And I’m not paying you to ask questions. I’m paying you to scare away … that is to say, I’m paying you to clean the place.”
“You were about to
