“I don’t know,” said Jess, “but we’re about to find out...”
The mother dragon swooped down and landed neatly beside the Whirligig.
“Mommy! Mommy!” yelled the dragons. They flapped over to her, and their mother folded her wings around them.
“My beautiful babies,” the mother dragon said in a deep, soft voice. “I’m so happy to see you!”
And she planted a kiss on each of their heads. The baby dragons gave gurgling roars of delight and snuggled even closer under her wings.
Jess grinned at Lily. “We definitely did the right thing!”
“I’ve been so worried,” the mother dragon said. “Where have you been?”
From the corner of her eye, Lily caught sight of Grizelda tiptoeing away toward the trees.
“I’d forgotten she was there,” Lily whispered to her friend.
“Chilly hasn’t,” Jess giggled. The blue dragon was pointing his wing at Grizelda.
“We were kidnapped,” he told his mother. “Kidnapped by her!”
Breezy, Smudge, and Dusty flapped over to Grizelda. “Her! It was her!” they cried.
The mother’s eyes flashed silver. “Bad!” she thundered. She reared up. With a roar that was far louder than the storm, she blew a stream of red, blue, yellow, black, and ice-white flames at the witch.
Grizelda jumped out of the way just in time. She tumbled into a pool of mud and landed with her legs in the air.
“If you come near my babies again,” the mother dragon roared, “I’ll toast you to a crisp!”
Grizelda scrambled upright. “I’m sorry!” she screeched, staggering as her high heels sank in the mud. Her green hair, covered in brown ooze, stuck to her bony cheeks. “I’m sorry! I’m going!”
With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared in a splatter of smelly sparks.
Everyone cheered. The dragons flew happily around their mother and Lily picked up Rosie and spun her around. The little guinea pig squeaked happily.
“We’ve defeated Grizelda!” Jess cried.
“Friendship Forest is safe!” Lily chanted.
They grabbed Goldie’s paws and danced around each other, not caring about the storm.
The young dragons flapped happily above them, while the mother dragon looked down at the girls.
“I am Saffire,” she said. “Thank you for your kindness to my little ones, and for bringing me here. What are your names?”
“I’m Jess, and this is Lily,” said Jess. “Our friends are Rosie Gigglepip and Goldie. They live here.”
Saffire looked at the trees whipping around in the wind, the snapped branches, and the fallen leaves. “Breezy!” she bellowed. “Did you make this mess?”
Breezy nodded sheepishly.
Saffire turned to her other babies. “And I suppose you’ve been spoiling this lovely forest, too?”
The young dragons hung their heads.
“Sort of,” said Dusty.
“A little bit,” said Chilly.
“Well, maybe a lot,” admitted Smudge.
“Naughty children!” said Saffire. “If you made the mess, you must clean it up. We’re not going home until you do.”
Rosie bravely crept forward and tapped Saffire’s huge clawed foot. “Please, do you think you could help my family?” She pointed up to the tornado in the tree. “They’ve been trapped there for a long time, and Breezy said that you could free them. Then we can fix the Whirligig and stop the storm!”
Saffire’s great head swooped down until her big, scaly nose almost touched little Rosie’s pink one.
“Of course I’ll help, little one,” the mother dragon said.
Chapter Eight
Surprises
Saffire strode up to the tree where the Gigglepips were trapped. She opened her huge mouth, but instead of a roar, she let out a stream of bubbles. They floated around the tornado, and as they burst in a shimmer of sparkles, the whirling wind vanished. In a flash Mr. and Mrs. Gigglepip, Josie, and Posie were standing safely on a branch, free at last.
Rosie squealed with delight. “Thank you!” she cried.
Saffire dipped her nose toward the guinea pigs. “Climb on,” she said with a smile.
The four Gigglepips hopped onto the dragon’s nose, and she carefully lowered them to where Rosie was waiting.
“We’re so happy to see you!” cried Mr. Gigglepip.
“Thank you so much for looking after Rosie!” said Mrs. Gigglepip.
“And for saving us!” squeaked Posie and Josie.
“It’s about time we stopped this terrible storm,” said Mr. Gigglepip. “Come on—let’s fix the Whirligig. Everyone inside and hold tight to a whirler!”
Jess and Lily peeped through the doorway and watched each guinea pig take hold of a whirler, which was like a spinning top. Some whirlers were big and some small, and the Gigglepips darted from one to the other, spinning them, stopping them, then spinning again.
“That’s complicated!” said Jess. “No wonder only the Gigglepips can take care of the Whirligig.”
The sails began to slow down. As they did so, the wind began to drop. “It’s working!” cried Lily.
The rain stopped, the sun came out, and a rainbow arched across the sky. A soft breeze blew gently through the trees.
“Finally! The storm’s over!” said Jess happily, shaking out her tangled curls while Lily shrugged off her cape.
“Look,” cried Goldie. “All the animals are coming out!”
A family of blue birds flapped their wings dry and turned their faces to the sun. Lola Velvetnose strolled over, whistling cheerfully. Lily and Jess waved as the Prickleback family gathered around the Whirligig, drying off their spines. “Sunshine at last!” called Mrs. Prickleback. “Now, what can we do to help clean up?”
Before long, all the forest creatures were busy cleaning up the mess made by the storm. The young dragons flew back and forth, taking fallen branches to Mr. Cleverfeather, the owl, for him to use in his inventions. Saffire breathed warm air into the Toadstool Café to dry it out, then lifted the roof and put it back on.
As dusk fell, the forest was almost back to normal.
Mr. Longwhiskers hopped onto a tree stump. “Everyone’s invited to a celebration at the Toadstool Café,” he shouted. “And the dragons will be our special guests!”
Soon the girls, Goldie, the Gigglepips, the four baby dragons, and all the animals were sitting around tables outside the Toadstool Café. Saffire sat nearby, looking proud and happy.
“My children were very naughty,” the dragon said, “but Jess, Lily, and Goldie understood that Grizelda made them behave like that. To say thank you, I have a gift for you all. Look!”
She breathed a long stream of sparks of every color imaginable, up into the darkening sky.
The animals watched, amazed, as the sparks formed into whirling, spinning, shooting patterns, filling the night with glittering, sparkling light.
“Wow!” said Jess.
“It’s the best firework display ever!” cried Lily.
When it was over, Saffire said, “Now I must take my little ones home.”
The young dragons clung to her, looking upset.
“But Grizelda’s spell means we can’t fly out of the forest,” said Smudge anxiously.
Saffire smiled. “Climb onto my back,” she said, stretching out her rainbow-colored wings. “No spell can stop me flying!”