‘WHAT?!’ said Amelia, Florence, Grimaldi and Tangine all at once.
‘SO, YOU’RE SAYIN’, WE’RE TRAPPED INSIDE A PLANT THAT WILL EVENTUALLY EAT US?’
‘To put it simply . . . yes,’ said Wooo.
The friends began to clamber up the sides of the tall bush, but it was no use. Tangine tried to fly and Grimaldi tried to float over the wall of wiggling plants; but the higher they rose, the higher the Wiggleroot grew, as if it knew they were trying to escape.
‘AARGH! It’s no good!’ shrieked Amelia. ‘What are we going to DO? The caticorns are trapped in here somewhere too. We have to find them! I was meant to be responsible for them, and now they’re about to get EATEN!’
‘We’re ALL about to get eaten!’ said Grimaldi, hugging his scythe tightly.
‘I’m FAR too beautiful to be consumed!’ cried Tangine.
‘I’m the only one who can pass through the walls of Wiggleroot,’ said Wooo. ‘So, I’ll go and find help as quick as I can!’
‘Okay. We’ll hunt for the caticorns while you search for help,’ said Amelia firmly.
‘Keep moving and try not to stay in one place for too long. That’s how the Wiggleroot gets you!’ said Wooo, and he disappeared through the leaves.
The Wiggleroot began to stir.
‘Collect the pumpkins. We’d better get going,’ said Amelia, picking up Squashy and hugging him to her chest. ‘Quick! This way!’ she said, following a clear path in front of her.
Tangine tried to pick up Pumpy, but didn’t have much luck. ‘Why must you work out so much, Pumpy?! ’ he said, straining to lift the heavy vegetable. ‘Why can’t you just be small like Squashy?!’
‘I’LL TAKE ’IM!’ said Florence, scooping Pumpy up as if he were as light as a feather. ‘LET’S GO!’
Amelia, Florence, Grimaldi and Tangine hurtled down a clear route between the bushes.
‘OOOF !’ Florence, who had been leading the charge, suddenly bounced backwards and landed on her bottom with a thud. ‘IT’S ALWITE, I STILL GOT YOU, PUMPY!’ she declared, looking quite proud.
The walls of the maze had twisted and transformed around them, blocking their way again. Amelia hadn’t even noticed it happen this time.
The others skidded to a halt. Amelia and Tangine reached down to help Florence up.
‘What shall we do now?’ asked Amelia, feeling slightly desperate.
‘This way?’ suggested Grimaldi, pointing down the new and only clear path with his scythe.
Everyone turned around, running until they approached a crossroads.
‘Now what? ’ asked Tangine, looking from side to side.
‘I don’t know,’ said Amelia. ‘GERRARD? BUTLER? MO? Where are youuuuu?! ’ she called out as loud as she could.
‘Meeeeeeeeew!’
Amelia whipped around. ‘GERRARD?! BUTLER?! MO?!’ she shouted even louder. ‘WE’RE HERE! KEEP MEOWING SO WE CAN FOLLOW THE SOUND!’
‘Meeeeeeew! Meeeeeew! Meeeeeew!’
Amelia ran towards the distressed mews of the caticorns, and soon found herself face first with a tangle of Wiggleroot vines. A new bush quickly formed in front of her.
‘I HATE WIGGLEROOT!’ she yelled, thrashing at the wriggling creepers.
‘This is impossible!’ said Tangine. ‘The plants won’t stop changing shape!’
‘Mew ?!’
‘Mew, mew ?!’
‘I FINK THE CATICORNS MIGHT BE ON THE UVVA SIDE OF THIS HEDGE,’ said Florence, pressing her ear against the wall of Wiggleroot.
Suddenly, the vines slithered and twisted around Pumpy, who was still nestled under Florence’s arm.
‘OI!’ yelled Florence, trying to yank the gripping plant off the bewildered pumpkin. But the more she tugged, the more the Wiggleroot wrapped around him and tightened its grip. Pumpy let out a distressed squeak.
Tangine came hurtling towards the hedge as fast as his high heels could carry him. He grabbed Grimaldi’s scythe as he passed and swung it through the air.
‘WATCH OUT, FLORENCE!’ he yelled, a look of sheer determination and anger on his face. He lurched forward and screamed as loud as he could: ‘GET AWAY FROM MY PUMPKIN, YOU BRANCH!’
He swiped at the Wiggleroot with Grimaldi’s scythe, cutting it clean in half.
Pumpy went tumbling to the ground as the snake-like branches recoiled into the bush. The wall of plants pulsed and groaned, before beginning to twist and snarl and change shape once again.
‘We’d better run before they try to eat one of us again!’ said Amelia urgently.
Florence swept both Pumpy and Tangine up under one arm. The friends ran as fast as they could, away from the wall of branches.
Amelia’s legs were beginning to ache as she sprinted through the labyrinth of Wiggleroot, turning corner after corner. The friends winged round one path and then another, then turned back on themselves. It felt as if they were running around in circles. Amelia had absolutely NO idea where the bats they – or the caticorns – were.
‘GERRARD?! BUTLER?! MO?!’ she called out again.
‘Meeeeeeeew !’
Amelia stopped suddenly and listened.
‘Meeeeeeeeeeew !’
‘They’re close!’ she panted.
Amelia did a three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn and ran towards the distraught sounds of the little caticorns. She stumbled around a corner and tripped over something soft and fluffy, before tumbling face first into the mud. Squashy fell out of her arms, rolling across the ground. Grimaldi stumbled over Amelia, and Florence fell over Grimaldi, doing an ungraceful roly-poly across the dirt and landing on top of a very unfortunate Tangine and Pumpy.
Amelia spat out a mouthful of mud and looked up to see what she had tripped on.
‘Gerrard!’ she cried out with relief. ‘Butler! Mo!’
‘Meeeeeeeeeeeeeew!’
The little caticorns ran over to Amelia and, to her surprise, helped her to her feet. They looked scared.
‘I’m so relieved you’re all okay,’ said Amelia. ‘I was really worried about you!’ She then sighed. ‘Why the bats did you go running off like that?’
Something fell out of a small bag dangling from Gerrard’s paw. Just before it dropped on to the muddy ground, Mo leaped forward and caught the object in her paws.
‘What’s that?’ asked Amelia.
Mo stepped forward and opened her paws slowly.
Amelia gasped.
There was a little pumpkin ornament exactly like the one that had belonged to Amelia.
When she picked it up, she saw there was a price tag dangling from it. It was brand-new.
‘You weren’t running away, were you?’ she said.
Gerrard shook his head. Butler pointed at the pumpkin. Mo gave Amelia a small, regretful smile.
‘Mew,’ she said.
‘Mew,’ said Gerrard apologetically. He put his paws around Amelia’s waist, followed by Butler and Mo.
Amelia felt tears well up in her eyes. ‘That’s really really nice of you to buy this for me,’ she said sincerely, and wrapped her arms around the three little creatures. ‘Thank you.’
‘UM, AMELIA,’ said Florence, tapping her on the shoulder. ‘YOU MIGHT WANNA SAVE THE EMOTIONAL MOMENT FOR LATER COZ, UM, WELL, WE’RE ABOUT TO GET EATEN BY A BUSH . . .’
