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“Help!” she squeaked.

Jess clenched her fists. “Put her down!”

Goldie sprang at Pongo, reaching out for Lucy. But the Boggit dodged aside.

“Go, Pongo!” Whiffy yelled. “We show rabbit what happens when you mess with Boggits.”

Clutching Lucy, Pongo ran off.

“After him!” yelled Jess.

The girls and Goldie followed as Pongo crashed through the forest. But the Boggit had gotten a head start, and soon he was far ahead of them.

“This way!” called Lily, leading her friends around a bush with white flowers that were shaped like stars. But when they reached the other side, Pongo had vanished among the trees.

Jess felt as if her heart had sunk into her sneakers. “He could have taken Lucy anywhere. How will we know where to look?”

“There must be a clue somewhere,” said Lily.

She peered around a tree while Goldie sniffed the air for his horrible, rotting smell.

“Nothing,” the cat said.

Jess wriggled right under the bush, but there was no sign of Pongo or the little rabbit.

“Do you think he might have taken Lucy into our world?” Jess asked, rubbing mud from her leggings.

Goldie shook her head. “I can visit the human world because I was born there, but the other animals can’t—and you’re the only humans who can visit Friendship Forest.” For a moment, her worried frown faded and she smiled up at the girls. “Your love of animals makes you special, you see.”

“So Lucy’s somewhere in the forest,” Jess said. “But where?”

Lily sat on a patch of moss, trying to think. Beside her, the star-shaped blooms nodded in the soft breeze. Most of them were as white as milk, but one was gray, just like the flower Grizelda had turned to dust. Then another of the white blooms turned as dull as stone.

“Look!” Lily cried. “The flowers are dying because the Boggits are hurting the Blossom Briar.”

With a gasp, Jess pointed to a patch of yellow flowers. Lots of them were gray, too.

“This is terrible,” said Goldie. “The sooner we find Lucy, the sooner we can stop the Boggits! If we don’t hurry, all the flowers in Friendship Forest could die.”

Almost all of the star flowers were gray now. But Lily noticed that one of them still had a purple, silky center...

Her heart racing, Lily picked out a scrap of material from the flower. “Look!” she cried. “This comes from Lucy’s bow, doesn’t it? The ribbon must be unraveling. Everybody look for scraps of purple fabric. The trail will lead us to Lucy!”

Chapter Six

Mr. Cleverfeather

The girls and Goldie darted through the forest. Lily spotted a second piece of material.

“This way!” she called.

Soon, Jess found a third strand, then Goldie saw another, beneath a tall tree.

“This must be the right way,” she panted.

But that was the last scrap they found.

Jess groaned. “I can’t believe it! We were so close.”

They were all wondering what to do when a loud buzzing sound from above made them jump.

Jess looked up. “Watch out!” she cried, as hundreds of dead leaves showered down from the tree.

“Do you think it’s Grizelda?” Lily asked, looking up anxiously. The thought of the witch lurking nearby made her shiver.

Buzzzz!

More leaves tumbled down. Jess darted away and leaned against a tree. Beneath her fingers, she felt the trunk move...

Jess spun around. The surface of the trunk was rippling and twisting!

“Hey, look at this!” she called.

Lily and Goldie hurried over. A staircase appeared on the tree, winding around the trunk up into the branches.

“More magic!” Lily breathed.

“Maybe Lucy’s up there,” Jess suggested. “Let’s find out!”

She put one foot on the bottom step and began to climb, with Goldie and Lily close behind.

At the top, Jess called down, “There’s some sort of shed up here!”

“Did you say a shed?” asked Lily, amazed.

“Yes,” said Jess. “The door’s open. Maybe Lucy’s inside!”

Goldie and Lily followed Jess into the ramshackle tree house. The girls had to stoop slightly because their heads touched the ceiling. It was gloomy, with leaves everywhere, and no sign of Lucy...

But there was an owl. He wore a striped vest with lots of little pockets, and a monocle fixed in front of one eye, like half a pair of eyeglasses.

“Yeeeek!” the owl screeched. He pressed a button on the long tube he held.

Buzzzz! It blew the leaves into a spin, making the girls and Goldie squeal.

“Yeeeek!” the owl screeched again. He dropped the tube and his monocle flew off.

“Don’t be scared!” cried Goldie. “It’s me, Goldie, and my friends, Lily and Jess!”

The owl felt around the floor with his wing tips. “Where’s my monocle?” he wailed. “I can’t see properly without it.”

Lily found it and gave it to him.

“Thank you,” he said. “I do jolly pies.”

“Jolly pies?” Jess wondered aloud.

“I think he means ‘apologize’!” said Lily.

“Girls, this is Mr. Cleverfeather,” Goldie explained. “I think we’ve found his secret inventing shed!”

The girls gazed around. Half-finished gadgets, drawings, and tools covered every surface. A diagram labeled FOR TWINKLETAIL FAMILY showed plans for a double-decker stroller that held five baby mice on each level. Another was a machine for catching baby birds that fell out of their nests.

“What’s the long tube for?” asked Lily, pointing to the contraption that Mr. Cleverfeather was holding.

“It’s my latest invention,” Mr. Cleverfeather said. “A beef lower. Er, I mean a leaf blower. Leaves get everywhere, you see, and mess up my inventions.” He squinted at Jess and Lily. “What sort of creatures are you?”

“Jess and Lily are young humans,” Goldie explained. “They’re clever and brave.”

“Most interesting,” said Mr. Cleverfeather. “But why are you here?”

Goldie told him about Lucy, the Boggits, and the Blossom Briar.

“Have you seen Lucy?” Lily asked.

“I’m afraid not,” said Mr. Cleverfeather.

Lily wasn’t surprised. He didn’t seem to have very good eyesight.

“You could try my telescope,” Mr. Cleverfeather suggested. “Maybe you can spot the runny babbit—er, bunny rabbit.” He opened the back door and led them onto a balcony.

Mr. Cleverfeather lifted a cover made of leaves stitched together, revealing a wooden telescope. Lily crouched down to look through it, scanning the forest in all directions. Suddenly, she caught sight of something moving at the top of a chestnut tree.

“It’s Lucy!” she yelled. “But she’s in a cage. Her ears are droopy and she looks so sad.”

Jess and Goldie gasped as they took turns looking through the telescope at the little rabbit.

Faintly, Lucy’s voice floated toward them. “Help! Please, someone help me!”

“She’s really scared!” Goldie cried.

Jess clenched her fists. “Let’s get her out of there, right now!”

“But she’s so high up in that tree,” Lily said despairingly. “We’ll never reach her!”

Chapter Seven

Boggit Blaster

“Ahem. There is a way,” said a voice.