‘Thanks Grimaldi,’ said Amelia. ‘I’m going to take a little walk outside. I think Squashy is due a poo break anyway . . .’

  It was true. For the past half hour, Squashy had been producing some very unpleasant smells.

  ‘I won’t be long,’ said Amelia.

  ‘I’ll just be here munching on eyeballs,’ said Grimaldi.

  The yeti gardens sat on a plateau at the very top of the Yeti Mountain. It was snowing heavily and long narrow icicles hung from the fluffy white petals of strange flowers.

  Amelia wrapped her dad’s velvet cloak around her shoulders tightly. It still smelt of Count Drake – a mixture of crossword puzzle paper and scream tea. It was comforting for Amelia, especially since she was feeling quite glum, confused and a bit cross. These were her least favourite feelings.

  Whilst Squashy did his little pumpkin poos, she wandered around the ice-speckled gardens, before stumbling upon a large bare patch of snowy soil marked out by a small crooked wooden sign that read:

  ‘CLEMENCE’S PUMPKINS –

  DO NOT DISTURB.’

  ‘STILL NUFFIN’ GROWING . . .’ said a voice, making Amelia jump. It was Clemence, holding a mug of vintage super-belch in one paw and a slice of mud-worm cake in the other.

  ‘PLANTED A LOAD OF PUMPKIN SEEDS MONTHS AGO AND NUFFIN’ EVER GREW,’ said the old yeti, settling herself down next to the snowy soil of the pumpkin patch. ‘ALL I EVVA WANTED WAS ME OWN PUMPKIN PET! I EVEN WISHED FOR ONE TONIGHT WHEN I BLEW OUT ME CANDLES. YOU SAID YOU LOVED PUMPKINS, AMELIA. WHAT DO YOU FINK I’M DOING WRONG?’

  Amelia let out a long sigh. She DID love pumpkins and would usually be super excited to talk about it. But it was pumpkins that had made Florence so upset with her!

  ‘Um, it’s pretty cold here in the mountains,’ Amelia said quietly. ‘That’s why I knitted Squashy his onesie. Maybe it’s too cold for your pumpkins to grow normally.’ She scooped up Squashy who, having finished his business, was rolling round happily in the empty pumpkin patch.

  Clemence tipped her big fluffy head to the side and looked at Amelia thoughtfully over the top of her spectacles. ‘AH THAT’S A SHAME,’ she replied. ‘BUT FOR NOW. . . COME JOIN ME FOR A MINUTE.’

  Clemence patted the ground next to her.

  Amelia sat herself down next to the big old yeti and tried not to shiver too much. She didn’t have the protection of wonderfully thick yeti fur and her bottom was very chilly on the snow.

  ‘YOU AND FLORENCE ’AVE ’AD A DISAGREEMENT, ’AVEN’T YOU,’ said Clemence. It wasn’t really a question.

  Amelia was shocked. ‘I . . . We . . .’ she stammered. ‘We haven’t really . . .’

  Clemence put an arm around Amelia’s shoulders. ‘I’VE BEEN AROUND LONG ENUFF TO NOTICE THESE FINGS. ALSO, I ’EARD FLORENCE’S GRUMPY OUTBURST.’

  Amelia looked at her feet and tickled Squashy’s tummy for comfort.

  ‘I feel bad, because I want to spend time with Florence and Grimaldi and Tangine,’ said Amelia. ‘But the Pumpkineers Club is really exciting too. There’s a big pumpkin patch party tomorrow that I’d love to go to, but Florence got really upset about it.’

  Amelia found the words pouring out of her mouth. She paused and frowned. ‘I don’t know why.’

  Clemence smiled. ‘HMMM. ’AVE YOU MADE NEW FRIENDS AT THIS PUMPKIN CLUB OF YOURS?’ she asked.

  Amelia nodded. ‘All the Pumpkineers are SO nice, and we all love pumpkins, so we have lots to talk about.’

  ‘THERE’S YOUR ANSWER THEN,’ said Clemence. ‘FLORENCE IS JUST A BIT JEALOUS.’

  ‘Jealous of what?’ said Amelia.

  ‘OF YOU MAKIN’ NEW FRIENDS,’ said Clemence.

  Amelia twiddled her thumbs. ‘I . . . I didn’t really think about that. Florence is one of my BEST friends and always will be. The Pumpkineers are just . . . well . . .  friends. They’ll never be as special as Florence, Grimaldi and Tangine.’ She looked up at Clemence. ‘I feel bad now.’

  ‘YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL BAD FOR MAKING NEW FRIENDS. IT’S PART OF LIFE!’ said Clemence with a kind smile. ‘AS YOU GROW UP, YOU’LL MEET LOTS OF NEW CREATURES. SO WILL FLORENCE. THAT’S WHAT MAKES LIFE EXCITING!’

  Amelia looked up at Clemence. ‘I guess we’ve always done everything together. But the Pumpkineers Club is just my thing. I want to be a pumpkinologist when I grow up and help poorly pumpkins.’

  ‘FLORENCE WILL BE FINE!’ said Clemence, giving Amelia a friendly squeeze. ‘SHE’S NOT REALLY ANGRY WIV YOU. NOBODY LIKES CHANGE. BUT WHILST SOME FRIENDS WILL COME AND GO, WHAT YOU HAVE WITH FLORENCE, GRIMALDI AND TANGINE IS SPECIAL. YOU’LL CARRY IT WIV YOU FOREVVA. FLORENCE WILL REALISE THAT SOON. AND ANYWAY, JUST WAIT ’TIL YOU GET OLD AND RETIRE LIKE ME. YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO GET RID OF YOUR FRIENDS! YOU’LL WISH YOU ’AD MORE FUN ACTIVITIES TO GET AWAY FROM ’EM!’ She winked.

  Amelia giggled.

  ‘NOW, GO INSIDE AND GET PRANCING!’ said Clemence, giving Amelia a nudge. ‘I’M OFF FOR A YETI POWER NAP TO MAKE SURE I’M FULLY REFRESHED FOR THE FINAL PRANCE OF THE NIGHT!’

  Amelia put both arms around Clemence and hugged her tight.

  CHAPTER 6

  JANE’S FLAMINGO-DRAGON KNICKERS

  Amelia felt much more hopeful when she returned to the Party Pit. She decided to find Florence so that they could make up, but there was no sign of her on the dance floor in the mass of ancient yetis.

  Grimaldi and Tangine, who were tango dancing (and surprisingly good at it), mentioned they’d last seen her at the food table gobbling a pus pie.

  The party was starting to wind down now with lots of yetis already in bed. Amelia made up her mind to go and look for Florence in their room. But then she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Margot, the yeti who usually wore a sparkly tiara.

  ‘Um, excuse me,’ Margot said politely. ‘But have you seen my glittery tiara? I can’t seem to find it anywhere.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I haven’t,’ said Amelia. ‘But I’ll keep an eye out for it.’

  The yeti looked sad. ‘Thank you dear,’ she said, and hobbled away to ask someone else.

  ‘POOR MARGOT. THAT TIARA IS ’ER PRIDE AND JOY.’

  Amelia turned in surprise to see Florence.

  ‘I . . . ’ER . . . WELL, THE FING IS . . .’ Florence stuttered, staring awkwardly at her paws.

  Amelia’s cold little vampire heart filled with hope when suddenly an almighty cry echoed through the tunnels.

  Amelia and Florence turned to see what all the commotion was about. Derek the ancient yeti came trundling at full speed into the Party Pit and he did not look happy. In fact, he was frowning so hard that his fluffy eyebrows had completely covered his eyes.

  ‘IT’S GONE!’ he cried.

  ‘WHAT’S GONE, DEREK?’ asked Florence.

  ‘My bubble flute,’ Derek snapped, pointing his walking stick at Florence.

  ‘WHEN DID YOU LAST ’AVE IT?’ asked Florence.

  ‘I had it earlier on at the party,’ said Derek. ‘That flute is one of a kind: specially hand-carved by the oldest leprechaun in the Kingdom of the Light. It produces the glitteriest glitter bubbles you ever did see!’

  ‘DON’T WORRY, DEREK,’ said Florence. ‘I’LL ASK DAD TO PUT A PICTURE OF IT UP ON THE “MISSING FINGS” NOTICE BOARD ALONG WITH MARGOT’S TIARA . . .’

  But before Florence could finish, Grand-yeti Clemence burst back into the Party Pit looking flustered.

  ‘FLO FLO!’ she cried.

  ‘WHAT’S GOING ON, GRAND-YETI?’ Florence said urgently.

  ‘OH, FLO FLO!’ said Grand-yeti Clemence in a wobbly voice. ‘I WENT TO BED FOR MY POWER NAP WITH MY NECKLACE ON BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED TO TAKE IT OFF . . . THEN I SNEEZED AND WOKE MYSELF UP, AND NOTICED IT WAS GONE!’

  ‘Are you sure it didn’t fall off in your bed?’ asked Amelia. ‘Maybe we could have a proper look for you?’

  ‘Or maybe you sneezed it right off ?’ said a sleepy Grimaldi.

  ‘I’VE SEARCHED ALL OF MY BED, TOP, MIDDLE AND BOTTOM,’ said Grand-yeti Clemence. ‘I’VE SEARCHED MY ’OLE ROOM AND I CAN’T FIND IT ANYWHERE! I’M SO SORRY, FLO FLO. I FEEL AWFUL ABOUT IT.’

  ‘IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT,’ said Florence, giving her grand-yeti a hug. ‘I’M SURE WE’LL FIND IT. WE CAN ’ELP YOU LOOK AT MOONRISE AFTER SOME SLEEP, YEH?’

  Grand-yeti Clemence sniffed and nodded. Amelia and Florence guided Clemence back towards the yetivator at the end of the tunnel. Amelia felt ever so slightly sick at the memory of her last yetivator experience.

  ‘DON’T WORRY, GRAND-YETI,’ said Florence. ‘WE’LL FIND IT. BEST GET SOME SLEEP BEFORE MORE CELEBRATIONS AT MOONRISE, EH!’

  ‘YOU’RE RIGHT, FLO FLO.’ Clemence kissed Florence on the forehead and pressed a big red button for the yetivator. ‘YOU YOUNG ONES MAKE SURE YOU GET SOME SLEEP, TOO.’

  As the yetivator doors opened, a yeti emerged, wearing a silky dressing gown.

  ‘OH ’ELLO, JANE?’ said Clemence. ‘YOU LOOK SAD. WHAT’S WRONG?’

  ‘Clemence, I’m so glad to see you,’ she moaned. ‘You won’t believe this, but my favourite pair of glittery knickers have gone !’

  ‘NOT THE ONES WITH THE FLAMINGO-DRAGONS ON THEM?’ asked Clemence, stepping into the yetivator.

  ‘Yes!’ cried the yeti called Jane.

  ‘OH, THEY WERE A LOVELY PAIR OF KNICKERS,’ said Clemence, giving Jane a sympathetic rub on the back. ‘I’VE LOST MY WONDERFUL NECKLACE, BUT I PROB’LY JUST SNEEZED IT OFF OR SUMFIN’.’ Then she whispered, ‘YOU ’AVEN’T GOT THE KNICKERS ON AND FORGOT ’AVE YOU?’

  ‘Nope. I have my unicorn knickers on at the moment. Oh, I don’t know how I’m going to live without my flamingo-dragon knickers,’ sobbed Jane.

  ‘Erm, I’m sure we could club together to buy you another pair?’ Amelia suggested helpfully.

  ‘Oh no.’ Jane sniffed. ‘They were LIMITED EDITION. The most glittery knickers there ever were and ever will be . . .’

  Florence’s dad came waltzing out of his pit in his pants. ‘WHAT THE BATS IS GOING ON OUT ’ERE? WHY AREN’T YOU ALL IN BED?’

  ‘GRAND-YETI’S NECKLACE ’AS GONE . . .’Florence replied. ‘AND SO ’AVE JANE’S FLAMINGO-DRAGON KNICKERS.’

  ‘ALWITE, WELL, I’LL ADD ’EM TO THE “MISSING FINGS” NOTICE BOARD,’ said Laurence. ‘THOUGH IT SEEMS TO BE FILLING UP FAST.’

  ‘Doesn’t it seem a little odd that all these things have gone missing just after Tangine’s pit got trashed? AND all of his glitter polish disappeared?’ said Amelia. ‘Not to mention that mysterious moving carpet bump I saw earlier.’

  ‘MYSTERIOUS MOVING CARPET BUMP?’ said Florence and her dad together.

  ‘Did I not tell you?! I was so distracted by Tangine’s messy room earlier, I must have forgotten,’ said Amelia, her eyes wide. ‘I saw it when we were playing hide and seek. Squashy followed it all the way back to Tangine’s pit where we found the empty glitter polish tubs.’ She paused for breath. ‘Maybe everything is connected in some way?’

  Florence burst out laughing. ‘I DOUBT IT!’ she bellowed. ‘’OW CAN A MOVING CARPET BUMP MESS UP TANGINE’S ROOM AND TAKE ALL ’IS POLISH?!’

  Laurence raised his eyebrows. ‘WELL, THERE’S NUFFIN’ WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW. IT’S VERY LATE AND WE’RE ALL VERY TIRED.’ He yawned loudly. ‘EVERYONE BACK TO YOUR BEDS, AND WE’LL SORT THIS OUT AT MOONRISE. I’M SURE THE MISSING FINGS WILL TURN UP. THEY’VE PROB’LY JUST GOT SWEPT UP WIV ALL THE CELEBRATIONS.’

  Amelia, Squashy and Florence headed back to their pit and slumped into their beds. Grimaldi was already fast asleep, lightly snoring. Amelia hadn’t realised how tired she was until she hit the pillow. Drifting off, she remembered that she and Florence hadn’t really made up properly yet. Amelia sleepily raised her head to call to her friend when something in the shadows caught her eye. She squinted into the darkness, but nothing was there.

  Amelia lay back down on to the pillow and fell into a land of dreams filled with pumpkin patches and fluffy white petals.

  CHAPTER 7

  I WOKE UP IN THE WALL

  At midday, Amelia woke up so thirsty that even her fangs felt dry. She needed a glass of water.

  Florence was snoring loudly, and Grimaldi was muttering in his sleep. Amelia thought he was perhaps dream-collecting dead toads. She wrapped her dad’s cloak around her to keep warm and made sure not to wake Squashy as she slipped gently out of bed.

  After having a drink in the kitchen pit, Amelia made her way back to bed. The tunnel was long and dimly lit and Amelia shivered despite the count’s cloak. A candle went out ahead of her with a quiet hiss and then a long CREEEEEEEEEEAK made Amelia almost jump out of her skin.

  She swung round to see that it was just Tangine’s pit door opening. ‘Pottering pumpkins, Tangine, you made me jump!’ she said, with a nervous laugh.

  But nobody was there.

  ‘Tangine?’ Amelia whispered, leaning round the door into Tangine’s pit. ‘Tangine, where are you?’

  There was no answer. Amelia frowned.  Perhaps he’s gone to fetch a glass of water too? she thought. But surely she would have seen him on her way back from the kitchen pit?

  ‘Tangine?’ Amelia called, holding her lantern up into the room to get a better look. And then she gasped.

  Tangine’s pit was an absolute MESS. Again.

  ‘What the bats?’ she whispered.

  Amelia searched the pit high and low. She didn’t spot a thing and Tangine was nowhere to be seen.

  Amelia looked one last time, even checking under his bed, using the lantern to peer into the dark nooks and crannies. But there was still no sign of Tangine. Just a few scattered socks and the small hole in the wall.

  She shuffled out from under the bed in frustration and bumped her head on one of the picture frames on the wall, causing it to fall off with a loud SMASH!

  ‘Grieving gobblepots!’ Amelia cried.

  She picked up the broken frame, but as she did so, something fell out of the back.

  Amelia watched as a very tatty piece of paper floated down to the ground. She picked it up and held her lantern close to get a better look. ‘What is this?’ she muttered.

  Amelia could make out what looked to be some kind of map sketched on the paper with a large X at the very bottom. ‘How odd,’ she said.

  Then she sighed – whatever it was didn’t tell her where Tangine had gone or what had happened to his room. Tucking the mysterious map into her cloak pocket, she decided to sit outside Tangine’s pit to wait for him to come back. She had to know he was okay before she went back to bed herself.

  Amelia sat down, leaning against the wall with her dad’s cloak pulled tightly around her. Minutes passed, and the harder she tried to stay awake, the more Amelia’s eyelids began to droop. The last thing she remembered was seeing what looked like splodges of glitter all the way down the tunnel, before she fell into a deep slumber . . .

  ‘Amelia . . .’

  ‘Ameeeeelia?’

  ‘AMELIA!’

  Amelia awoke to find Tangine far too close to her face.

  ‘Aaaaaagh!’

  ‘Aaaaaaagh!’ Tangine screamed back.

  ‘Oh Tangine, you’re back! Where were you?!’ Amelia scrambled to her feet and hugged her friend.

  ‘I woke up inside the wall,’ Tangine said coldly.

  ‘You what?’ said Amelia, feeling confused. ‘It was awful,’ said Tangine grumpily. ‘It took me forever to find my way back! I came out through that hole under my bed. Thank goodness I didn’t come up through the toilet or something!’

  ‘How the bats—’ Amelia began, before loud yells echoing through the tunnels cut her off.

  Florence and Grimaldi emerged from their pit into the tunnel.

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked a sleepy and confused Grimaldi.

  ‘THE MOON HAS ONLY JUST RISEN AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE ANCIENT YETIS ARE ALREADY UP!’ said Florence. ‘THEY SURE KNOW ’OW TO PARTY. I FORT I WAS ’ARDCORE, BUT EVEN I CAN’T KEEP UP WIV ’EM.’

  But as they headed towards the noise, the friends soon realised that the commotion was not celebratory at all.

  A group of ancient yetis were gathered around the notice board near the Mountain Pit entrance and they all looked very upset indeed.

  ‘What’s going on?’ said Amelia, approaching the group of distressed yetis.

  ‘S’CUSE ME, S’CUSE ME PLEASE,’ said Florence as she made her way through the crowd.

  The notice board was FULL to the brim with pictures of missing items.

  A rare breed of yeti with glasses and slicked back hair was sticking a picture of a glittery ear scoop on to the board.

  ‘BEST EAR SCOOP THERE EVVA WAS, Y’KNOW,’ he said, wiping away a tear. ‘IT ONCE SCOOPED AN ’OLE BROCCOLI OUTTA ME RIGHT EAR. NUFFIN’ ELSE CLEANS ME EARS LIKE ME PRECIOUS EAR SCOOP.’

  The yetis were becoming more agitated by the second. Amelia squeezed her way through the yetis, trying not to get wedged between them. They seemed to be arguing about whose missing shoe was the glitteriest.

  ‘MY MISSING SHOE IS DEFINITELY MORE GLITTERY, THEREFORE IT’S MUCH MORE IMPORTANT!’ said a curly-haired yeti.

  ‘Don’t be preposterous, Michelle,’ said another yeti. ‘MY shoe is FAR glitterier. It almost BLINDED Derek when we went prancing last Wednesday.’

  ‘SPEAKING OF BLINDED, ME GLASSES ’AVE GONE!’ cried a yeti in a knitted jumper.

  ‘Mine have gone too!’ moaned someone else. ‘EVERYTHING is blurry! I need my glasses!’

  ‘AND MINE!’

  ‘ B E E E E E E A S T ! ’ Laurence bellowed suddenly.

  A bunch of white-furred yetis, including Florence, suddenly threw their arms up in the air and all shouted at once:

  ‘I AM NOT A BEAST, I’M A RARE BREED OF YETI!’

 

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