Oh, how I wish I’d never set eyes on that goblin, let alone thrown pennies into the wishing well! All I ever wanted was to create extraordinary toys, but that fiendish goblin granted my wish in the most twisted manner imaginable. I cannot risk making new toys. Not with that vile goblin’s magic poisoning the entire factory.
I fear I have no choice but to close the place. My life’s work is in ruins …
Tess trailed off. Then she said, “He goes on about his life’s work being in ruins for a bit after that.” She flicked back to the start of the journal and scanned the pages rapidly. “It looks like he discovered a wishing well in a cave while out on a country walk,” Tess told the other two. “So he built his toy factory on top of the wishing well on purpose – in order to keep the wishing goblin to himself.” She shook her head. “Stupid thing to do,” she tutted. “The goblin didn’t like having his home built on and so he granted the toy maker’s wish with an evil twist. When Caractacus Hoggle wished for his toys to come to life, the goblin made the bears wicked. But only children can see it. Adults are normally clueless.”
Stacy and Niles stared at Tess with wide eyes.
“The goblin must have been the sneeze we heard,” Niles said in a low voice. “In the walls. The thing with the yellow eyes.”
Stacy and Tess nodded. Everyone knew that goblins were allergic to children.
“I bet that’s why Hoggle is hiring kids,” Tess said. “To scare the goblin away. He almost said as much earlier.”
“So now we have an angry goblin to deal with as well as mad teddy bears,” Stacy said.
The children gave each other grim looks.
“Well, come on,” Tess said. “We still need to find this key. Oliver is depending on us.”
They tore around the room, very aware that Hoggle himself might return at any moment. Tess was just beginning to despair that they might never find the key when Stacy gave a shout of triumph from across the room.
“Here it is!” Stacy exclaimed. “It was hidden inside the giant atlas.”
“Well done!” Tess said, and hurried over to take the big brass key from Stacy. It felt cold and heavy in Tess’s hand as she curled her fingers around it.
The children returned to the locked door and everyone held their breath as Tess inserted the key.
There was a soft click as she turned it and the door swung slowly open. They saw a staircase leading straight down to a dark, silent basement. Tess peered into the gloom and then glanced back at the twins, who’d both gone pale.
And Tess knew that she couldn’t take them with her down there. Not after what had happened to Oliver. She couldn’t risk losing Stacy and Niles too. She had to get them out of harm’s way. But she knew they wouldn’t simply agree to abandon her to the darkness and the evil teddy bears. So Tess thought carefully about what to say next.
Finally, she said, “I need you two to go outside and stand guard.”
“Outside?” Niles repeated, wrinkling his nose. “But—”
“I saw Hoggle walk off down the road from the window in his office,” Tess lied. “So I need you two to stand at the front gates and keep watch for him. If Hoggle comes back, then one of you can keep him talking while the other one comes to warn me.”
The twins hesitated, but Tess said, “I really need you to do this. It’s very important that Hoggle doesn’t discover me down there.” She glanced back towards the basement.
“All right,” Stacy said at last. “We’ll stand watch.”
“Good,” Tess replied. “And if I’m not back in an hour, then I want you to go straight home and tell Mum and Dad what’s happened. Make them believe you. OK?”
“But you will come back, won’t you?” Niles said, looking scared. “With Oliver?”
Tess tightened her grip on the mop. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come back with Oliver. But there’s no time to lose, so you two go outside and I’ll see you soon.”
The twins gave Tess a quick hug before leaving her alone.
Tess turned back to the open doorway and gazed at the stone staircase leading into the darkness. Her hand already ached from holding onto the mop so tightly.
“Don’t worry, Oliver,” Tess whispered. “I’m coming.”
CHAPTER 10The Goblin’s Lair
Tess’s heart was thumping so loudly in her chest as she went down the spiral stairs that she felt sure the goblin would be able to hear it. The stone walls were wet and there was a damp, musty smell in the air.
She had to go slowly to allow her eyes time to adapt to the dark. But as she got nearer the bottom, a greenish glow spilled out of the darkness towards her. And the smell of damp gave way to the scent of goblin, which was something like black pepper and toffee apples mixed up together.
Finally, Tess reached the end of the staircase and found herself in a long tunnel. She knew at once that the goblin lived down here, because the tunnel was lined with goblin candles. Goblins made them from their bogies, so they were a yucky green colour. And the candle flame burned green too. The light made Tess feel like she was in some kind of underwater swamp. She could even hear the trickle of running water from somewhere.
Tess really didn’t want to be in the tunnel, and part of her longed to run straight back up the stairs and all the way home to the farm. But she had to find her brother
