Tales of Bluebell Wood , livre ebook

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd - Sandy Davis

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83 pages

English

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Claudia doesn’t remember what happened that night in the garden but her mother can recognise goblin goo when she sees it. Molly comes to look after Claudia and tells her a story set in Bluebell Wood about a young fairy named Bubbles who causes mischief by stealing a magical triangle. The triangle falls into the hands of Grim the goblin, who uses it to enable the spread of a deadly ‘bog’.
Bubbles goes missing and Commander Jack Edward of Dragonfly Squadron goes looking for her. Meanwhile King Bell asks the queen of the mermaids for advice and instructs Lord Rupert and his knights and dragons, along with the royal archers, to begin their work. But things go horribly wrong and Dr Poppy is called for. It’s quickly realised that their only hope is to find Grim.
Claudia and her friend, Alpesh, become part of the story.

Informations

Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
Date de parution	30 novembre 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781528964203
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0175€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Sandy Davis lives in the West Midlands and is married with one son and two grandchildren.
She likes reading, the theatre and live music. Writing is a pastime she enjoys because it helps
her relax, along with walking in the woods.

Copyright © Sandy Davis (2020)
The right of Sandy Davis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fi manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528923545 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528923552 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528964203 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
I would like to dedicate this story to my amazing husband, Roy, my ‘forever man’.
Thank you for your support and encouragement and your continuous faith in me.
But most of all, thank you for your everlasting love.
I’m so grateful to Austin Macauley Publishers for taking a chance on me and
giving me this amazing opportunity. Also, a big thank you to the production team
and all those involved in making my wish come true.
THE GATE POST
Queen Bell looked at King Bell with inquisitive eyes and asked, “shall we take it back to the nest?” He knew that would be the kindly thing to do but he did love teacakes with their sticky dough and juicy currants and who knew how long it would be before Molly came back. She always left a teacake on the gate post before she left for human business. He looked at her with sad green eyes and said, "one tiny bite fi Queen Bell fl her wings and crossed her legs. Then rested her chin upon her hands and watched as he opened his tiny mouth that managed to bite the teacake in half. Quickly as she could, she snatched up the remaining half and fl back to Bluebell Camp and dropped the treat into the nest which was received by squeals of delight.
Later that night, he couldn’t stop wondering why Molly had left Bluebell Cottage. There must be a very important reason. “What’s wrong my dear?” Asked Queen Bell. He looked at her and his wings gave a little fl , as they always did when the moonlight captured her beauty.
“Nothing, my sweet.” He made up his mind there and then that, no matter how delicious the next teacake that Molly left looked, he would give it to Queen Bell. She could have the fi bite and give away the rest if she wished, not a single crumb would pass his lips. He also decided to appoint Constable Jones to keep a look out at the gate post for signs that Molly had returned, which would be indicated by swirly smoke from the tall chimney and the sweet aroma of freshly baked teacakes.
CONSTABLE JONES
Constable Jones was a very good police pixie, and he took his surveillance duties at the gate post immediately. This gave him a clear view of Molly’s cottage. But he quickly began to think about Lou Bell. His heart had belonged to her since the mid-summer ball. He could hardly wait until the super moon mask ball to ask her to tie the bow with him. Lou Bell felt the same way but she couldn’t wait to be asked. After seeing Jones slip away from the camp, she decided to follow him and soon settled herself down on a post opposite to Jones and said
“Hi Jonesy.”
“Lou Bell, what are you doing here?”
“Oh I’m just stretching my wings.”
“I’m on duty, keeping an eye on Bluebell Cottage.” “That’s OK, I’ll watch with you.”
“Have you heard about the young prince, Wing Commander Jack Edward? Cornfl says he’s amazing, he came fi in his class on dragonfl techniques and he’s very brave, he never lets Wasp Squadron bully his crew into raiding the beehives in Molly’s garden.”
“Sounds to me like Cornfl has got a crush on Jack Edward,” said Jones.
“Oh no, it’s more than that, Dr Poppy says it’s a sickness called ‘love’ sickness. Have you ever had ‘love’ sickness?”
“No,” said Jones blushing, “it’s not a responsible thing to have when you’re a police pixie.”
“Not ever?”
Jones looked at Lou Bell and knew he couldn’t lie to her. “Well maybe when I’m off duty.” At that, Lou Bell leaped in front of him and, in humming bird fashion, kissed Jones right on the lips. “Lou Bell,” said a bedazzled Jones, “do you know what you’ve done?”
“Yes, Jonesy, I do. I’ve chosen you to tie the bow with.”
“I was going to choose you, Lou Bell, anyway, if you’ll have me.” Lou Bell glowed with delight and with a fl she was gone.
MARGARET
It was a cold, miserable morning when Margaret opened the kitchen curtains and she couldn’t help but shed a tear when she looked at the place where the magic mushroom used to be. It was disguised as a garden ornament. But now it was gone. The brown patch stood out amongst the overgrown garden. She had considered tidying it up, but thought it was better to keep it wild to hide the mushroom. The back garden was well hidden from the neighbours, with a high wooden fence, but the front garden was well tended with lots of fl and a wishing well (of course) and a bird bath (because all creatures need to drink). Up till now, Claudia hadn’t remembered that night in the garden but the evidence was clear when she was found, she was covered in goblin goo.
Evening came and it was time to say goodbye to Claudia.
CLAUDIA
Claudia was holding back tears of self-pity. “But my ankle is nearly better now, I can manage on my own.” At that moment the rain pounded against the bedroom window as though trying to force its way in. The sky outside was black and the only light came from a dimly lit bedside table lamp. Margaret sat on the edge of the bed and gently stroked her daughter’s damp cheek.
“Grandma is very ill, she needs me and there is no one else to stay with you. Molly will stay until I come back. Now, hugs and kisses, I love you, be good.” Margaret stood up, tightened the belt on her mac and double knotted her rain hat.
“Bye, bye.” She shut the door and was gone. Claudia couldn’t believe her luck. She sat with her face pressed against the cold windowpane and stared into the darkness until her eyes ached. She couldn’t see a thing.
MOLLY
“Do you like teacakes?” Claudia jumped. She hadn’t heard the bedroom door open or hear Molly walk towards her bed. Molly was very round with fi red hair tied up in a bun. The green mohair shawl she always wore, was wrapped tightly around her shoulders and her long black skirt hid her pointy feet. She leaned in closer and held out a plate with the biggest teacake that Claudia had ever seen. Molly pushed the plate closer and Claudia could see the sugar on the teacake sparkle in the dim light. She took a bite, it was delicious. Molly had moved into the street a while ago. She always wore the same clothes and sometimes, she would disappear for days then just turn up again. Margaret always welcomed Molly and Molly showed her appreciation of this by bringing Margaret something from her garden. Like a cabbage complete with caterpillars or apples riddled with worms. Claudia didn’t like this and pleaded with her mom to discourage Molly’s visits, because she didn’t want her friends from school to think her mom was friends with the local weirdo. But Margaret never listened. She just said, “there’s room for all kinds of creatures to live in the world.” Now, she was stuck with Molly until her mom came home.
“Do you like stories?”
“I’m too old for stories,” replied Claudia as she nibbled her teacake.
“I thought you went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream with your mom?”
“Yes, I did, but that’s Shakespeare,” said Claudia.
“Right,” said Molly, “a story.” Molly handed Claudia a sketchpad and some felt crayons and said, “draw me a picture and I will give you a story.” Claudia looked at Molly and thought for a moment, she saw her eyes blink from black to bright yellow then back to black.
“Do you know how old I am?” Asked Claudia.
“Yes, around a quarter of a notch.”
“What!?” Shouted Claudia. Then she looked at Molly and thought, She’s really batty. I’d better humour her. Claudia drew a picture of an over-grown garden with a mushroom ornament that was covered with vines and a tall bare tree. Then she drew a little man wearing a red jumper and a big black dog with a speech bubble that said Woof. Then she fi decided to draw some rain splashing across the picture. She gave the picture to Molly who began by saying, “once upon a time (Claudia rolled her eyes in disapproval) there was a very unhappy tree.”

“What?” Said Claudia, “what do you mean an unhappy tree?”
“Well, it’s bare, it has no leaves, fairies or pixies and hardly any branches.”
“Stop,” said Claudia, “I’ve changed my mind, I’ll skip the story.” Molly gave a deep sigh and rubbed her hands together and as she did, words like ‘tree’ and ‘fairies’ fell through the air then miraculously disappeared. Then raindrops began to fall, splashing Claudia. “I’m wet,” said Claudia. She couldn’t understand what was happening.
“You can’t just change your mind when having a story,” said Molly.
“Look, all the words have gone now, what a waste of time.”
“I’m wet,” repeated Claudia.
“Well, you have to accept the consequences of your decisions,” said Molly, “you put rain in the picture after all. My, my you remind me of Daphne.”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Asked Claudia.
“Well,” said Molly, "Daphne was told by Grandpa Bell not to