A mouse ran across the glade, clutching a tiny umbrella made of ivy leaves.
“Look! There’s little Molly Twinkletail!” cried Lily.
Suddenly, the wind caught the umbrella and whisked the tiny mouse into the air.
“Help!” Molly squealed.
Jess darted across Toadstool Glade. She caught Molly gently. The little mouse sat quivering in her hand. Jess kissed her tiny damp head and lifted her to the front door of the Twinkletails’ cottage, high up on a tree branch.
“You’re safe now, Molly,” she said. “Make sure your family stays inside until this awful storm is over.”
“Thank you, Jess! I will!” cried Molly, as her dad opened the door. She ran inside to a chorus of squeaks and squeals.
“Poor Molly,” said Goldie, when Jess ran back to her and Lily. Her tail twitched anxiously. “We’d better hurry. If the storm keeps going, the littlest animals will be swept away, just like Molly was!”
As the girls struggled through a big cloud of leaves being swirled around by the wind, Goldie gasped.
Ahead was a horribly familiar sight. A yellow-green orb was floating through the storm toward them!
“Oh, no!” cried Jess and Lily together.
With a cra-ack, the orb burst in a shower of smelly yellow sparks that hissed as raindrops hit them. In its place stood Grizelda the witch!
Chapter Three
Gigglepips in Trouble
The witch’s cloak flapped in the wind, whipping around her purple tunic and tight black pants. Her green hair waved wildly in the wind, like a nest of snakes.
Grizelda fixed the girls and Goldie with a cold smile. “You interfering girls are too late to stop my plan this time,” she said, looking at them down her long nose. “And so is your silly pet cat.”
Jess bravely stepped toward her. “Goldie’s not our pet, and she’s not silly, either!” she cried.
Grizelda just cackled. “I’ve saved my most powerful dragon for last,” she told them. “Ha ha haaa! Thanks to Breezy, this storm will rip every leaf from every tree. All the food growing on the Treasure Tree will be blown to the ground and ruined!”
Jess and Lily looked at each other in dismay. This was awful news. The magical Treasure Tree was where all the forest animals got their food.
Grizelda pranced in delight. “All the animals will have to leave,” she screeched, “and the forest will be mine!”
Lily clenched her fists. “We’ll stop you, Grizelda!” she yelled.
“You’re too late,” Grizelda sneered.
“It’s never too late!” Jess shouted over the wind’s howl.
“We’ll stop the storm somehow,” Goldie told the witch. “Lily and Jess are clever and brave, and they won’t let you win!”
But Grizelda wasn’t even listening. She rubbed her bony hands together. “Kidnapping those dragons was the best thing I ever did!” she crowed. Then she snapped her fingers and disappeared in a burst of smelly sparks.
The girls and Goldie stood for a moment, staring at each other miserably.
Goldie said, “Come on. Let’s get to the Whirligig. If there’s a way to stop the storm, I know you two will find it.”
The three friends raced through the forest. They dodged chestnuts, acorns, and twigs as the wind blew them through the air, and skidded over the wet leaves that blew around the ground.
Goldie led them out of the trees to a little hill. On top of it stood a purple-and-yellow-striped windmill with four yellow wooden sails. They were spinning wildly, so fast they were almost a blur.
Goldie gave a gasp. “No wonder the wind is so strong, the sails normally turn slowly and steadily!” she said. “Only the Gigglepips can work the Whirligig and make the storm stop, but I can’t see them anywhere!”
But she had barely finished speaking when faint squeaks reached them through the wind and rain.
“Look!” cried Jess, pointing at a nearby tree. “What is that?”
They peered up into the treetop.
A small column of wind was whirling around on a branch. Through it, they could just see four tiny, frightened faces.
“It’s a tornado,” Goldie cried, “with the Gigglepip family trapped inside! How can we get them down?”
“Shh,” said Lily. She listened hard, straining to hear over the storm. “Did you hear that squeak? It sounds closer.”
“Help!” a small voice squeaked sadly. “Help me!”
“Over here!” Lily led them to a low, thin branch. Clinging to it was a tiny guinea pig. She looked very wobbly and frightened. Her wet fur was the color of vanilla ice cream, with caramel patches, and she was wearing a pretty pink rose on a ribbon around her neck.
Lily gently lifted her down.
“You poor thing,” Lily said, cradling the trembling creature in her arms.
“It’s Rosie Gigglepip,” Goldie said. “It’s okay, Rosie. These girls are Jess and Lily, and they’ve come to help.”
Lily wrapped her cape around the shivering guinea pig.
“Thank you,” said Rosie, snuggling in.
“Can you tell us what happened?” asked Jess gently.
“It was so scary,” Rosie said. “A red dragon flew down and blew at the Whirligig so hard that the sails started turning too fast. Way too fast! My family tried to slow it down again, but then she blew at us and we went flying up into the air! The wind won’t stop until me and my family slow the Whirligig down again.” Rosie’s tiny chin wobbled. “I managed to grab that branch,” she said, “but my mom and dad, and my sisters, Posie and Josie, were swept up in that swirly wind. I was so frightened!”
Rosie looked at the girls and Goldie with tear-filled brown eyes. “Please help them!” she begged.
Chapter Four
The Toadstool Café
“We can’t climb up to the Gigglepip family,” said Goldie. “There aren’t any branches low enough.”
“Even if we could reach them,” said Lily, “I don’t know how we’d get them out of that tornado. It’s spinning so fast!”
“We have to do something,” said Jess. “Let’s go to the Toadstool Café and try to think of a plan. Maybe some of the animals there will know what we can do.”
“Good idea!” said Goldie.
Goldie put her paws to her mouth and shouted up to where the Gigglepip family were trapped inside the tornado. “It’s all right! Rosie’s safe and warm, and we’ll find a way to save you soon!”
“Thank you!” A squeaky voice called down through the wind and the rain.
“Don’t worry about us,” squeaked another Gigglepip, “we’re okay, we’re just a little dizzy!”
Lily tucked Rosie inside her cape and they hurried back to Toadstool Glade, dodging swaying branches and the swirls of leaves being tossed around. Just as the Toadstool Café’s spotty roof came into sight, there was a roar that bellowed over the sound of the wind.
Lily spun around and gave a cry. “Oh, no! Breezy’s here!”
The dragon flew overhead, right toward them. She was almost as big as the girls and her red scales glittered in the rain. She playfully swiped some leaves that were being blown around, then opened her mouth.