Florence frowned and looked towards the entrance to the pits.

  ‘I’M NOT WAITING FOR DAD,’ said Florence, taking a deep breath. ‘I’M GOIN’ IN!’ And she ran back into the pits.

  Amelia held Squashy tight under one arm, then gave Grimaldi a knowing look. She knew what they had to do.

  Before anyone had a chance to stop them, they rushed back into the Yeti Mountain Pits behind Florence.

  ‘KIDS! NO!’ shouted Florence’s dad.

  But before he could to stop them, the entrance to the pits collapsed.

  And the friends were left in total darkness.

  CHAPTER 11

  GREAT GLITTER GATHERER

  ‘ARGH! I CAN’T SEE A FING!’ said Florence.

  ‘Hold on . . .’ said Grimaldi. With a small CLICK, his scythe began to glow.

  Amelia gave Squashy a reassuring squeeze.

  ‘Oh man, we’re so totally doomed,’ said Grimaldi, shining his scythe towards the completely and utterly blocked exit.

  The friends were silent for a moment. Then Florence spoke.

  ‘WELL, BETTER TO BE DOOMED TOGEVVA I GUESS.’

  ‘I don’t want you to leave Nocturnia, Florence,’ Amelia said quietly. ‘If I’d known this was going to happen, I’d never have tried to leave the party early.’ Amelia looked down, tears welling up in her eyes. Squashy tried to lick them off her cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered.

  Amelia felt a big hairy paw fall on her shoulder.

  ‘WELL, DON’T BE,’ said Florence. When Amelia looked up, she saw that Florence was smiling.

  ‘I’M SORRY TOO. I WAS ONLY FINKING OF MYSELF. IT’S JUST, WE USED TO DO EVERYFINK TOGEVVA AND NOW, WELL, WE’RE STARTING TO DO DIFFERENT STUFF AND OF COURSE WE’RE GONNA MAKE NEW FRIENDS . . .’ Florence looked sad. ‘I WAS JUST WORRIED YOU MIGHT NOT WANNA HANG OUT WIV ME AS MUCH, COZ YOUR NEW FRIENDS LOVE PUMPKINS AND ALL THAT STUFF, AND ARE PROB’LY WAY MORE INTERESTING THAN ME.’

  Amelia took Florence’s paw and squeezed it tight. ‘Nobody is more interesting than you, Florence Spudwick,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘I’m certainly not,’ Grimaldi added with a wink.

  ‘I JUST DON’T WANT YOU TO FORGET ABOUT ME,’ sniffed Florence. ‘ESPECIALLY NOW I ’AVE TO MOVE REALLY FAR AWAY. I WON’T SEE YOU AS MUCH.’

  Squashy pa-doinged out of Amelia’s arms and nibbled at Florence’s toes affectionately.

  ‘There is no WAY we could forget about you,’ Amelia chuckled. ‘You’re far too big and fluffy for that!’

  Florence wrapped her arms around Amelia, and pulled Grimaldi into a big hug, then nearly slipped over backwards.

  ‘WOAH!’ said Florence, finding her balance. ‘I JUST TROD IN A MASSIVE PATCH OF GLITTER . . . WHERE’D THAT COME FROM?’

  Grimaldi held his scythe up to get a better look around.

  ‘Hey, look, there’s another patch over there!’ he said, pointing into the tunnel. In the glow of the scythe light, small blobs of glitter twinkled all around the walls and in amongst the rubble.

  ‘LOOKS AS IF TANGINE’S BEEN FLAPPIN’ ’IS WINGS ALL OVER THE PLACE!’ said Florence with a chuckle. ‘COME ON, WE’D BETTER GO FIND ’IM BEFORE WE’RE TURNED INTO PUTRID PANCAKES BY ANUVVA COLLAPSING PIT.’

  ‘Where do we start though?’ said Grimaldi. ‘We have NO idea where Tangine is.’

  Amelia caught sight of the notice board which was glimmering fiercely with pictures of all of the yetis’ “MISSING FINGS”.

  Suddenly something occurred to her.

  ‘Grimaldi, can you shine your scythe a little closer to these pictures please?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Grimaldi, floating to Amelia’s side.

  Amelia gasped.

  ‘YOU OKAY?’ said Florence.

  Amelia felt like her brain was doing somersaults. ‘GLITTER!’ she cried.

  ‘Um, what?’ said Grimaldi, looking confused.

  Amelia began pointing at the pictures and mumbling under her breath. ‘Margot’s tiara, Derek’s bubble flute, Clemence’s necklace, Jane’s flamingo-dragon knickers, reading glasses, Glitteropolis socks, sparkly disco ball, unicorn earrings, ballet shoes . . .’

  ‘I FINK SHE’S FINALLY LOST THE PLOT,’ Florence whispered to Grimaldi.

  ‘Can’t you see? Everything that went missing has something in common . . .’ said Amelia. ‘They’re ALL GLITTERY!’

  ‘Oooh, and Tangine’s glitter polish too!’ Grimaldi added. Then he gasped. ‘AND TANGINE HIMSELF.’

  ‘EXACTLY!’ Amelia shrieked.

  ‘WOW, DEEP BREATH GUYS,’ said Florence. ‘YOU MIGHT BURST A KIDNEY IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL.’

  ‘There’s a VERY glittery theme here! Think about it . . .’ said Amelia, pacing back and forth. ‘If something or someone HAS been taking glittery things, then maybe they’ve taken Tangine, too?’

  ‘OOOH, THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE,’ said Florence. ‘GOOD FINKING, AMELIA!’

  Amelia fumbled around in her cloak and pulled out the old map.

  ‘Guys! Remember that map we were looking at earlier? Well, maybe it’s all connected in some way,’ she said, waving around the crinkled paper. ‘I just can’t help feeling it wasn’t a coincidence that I found this map hidden in Tangine’s room . . .’

  ‘Maybe Tangine was set up to look like he stole the items?’ suggested Grimaldi.

  ‘Maybe,’ said Amelia in deep thought.

  ‘WHAT ARE YOU FINKING, AMELIA?’ asked Florence curiously.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure . . . If there was treasure hidden in this mountain once before,’ said Amelia, ‘then maybe Tangine and the yetis’ missing glittery things have been taken to that place again.’

  She straightened up and said with determination, ‘Maybe it’s time to have that adventure you wanted, Florence. Let’s follow the map!’

  ‘X marks the spot?’ said Grimaldi hopefully.

  Florence straightened up. ‘LET’S DO IT,’ she said boldly. ‘LET’S GO RESCUE PRINCE LA FLOOFLE AND PROVE ’IS INNOCENCE! AND IF I ’AVE TO LEAVE NOCTURNIA, I MAY AS WELL ’AVE ONE LAST EPIC ADVENTURE WIV YOU GUYS TO REMEMBER IT BY!’

  CHAPTER 12

  NOPE

  ‘SO, IT LOOKS LIKE THE BIG X IS AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE PITS,’ said Florence, looking at the map. ‘WE CAN TAKE THE YETIVATOR DOWN.’

  Amelia, Florence and Grimaldi set off for the yetivator at the end of the main tunnel. Florence pressed the big red button, but the yetivator didn’t move.

  ‘OH, THAT’S NOT GOOD,’ said Florence, prodding the button. ‘LOOKS LIKE IT’S BROKEN. PROBABLY FROM ALL THE COLLAPSING PITS. WE’LL ’AVE TO TAKE THE LONG WAY DOWN.’

  The friends made their way down rickety staircases and wove in and out of long tunnels, careful not to trip over loose rubble from the collapsed pits. Gaping holes were left in the walls where pits had once been, and the ancient yetis’ belongings were scattered amongst the debris.

  ‘How far down are we, Florence?’ asked Amelia.

  ‘WE STILL ’AVE A WAY TO GO,’ said Florence. ‘IT’S A BIIIIIIG MOUNTAIN!’

  ‘This is going to take us forever !’ sighed Grimaldi.

  ‘Actually . . .’ said Amelia, pointing ahead, ‘I think it’s going to take a little longer than forever.’

  A huge pile of wreckage from the remains of a collapsed pit was blocking the rest of their way.

  ‘What are we meant to do now?’ said Grimaldi, clutching his scythe tightly.

  ‘There must be another way,’ said Amelia, frantically studying the map.

  Florence grunted. ‘THERE IS . . .’ she paused. ‘BUT I DON’T FINK YOU’RE GONNA LIKE IT.’

  ‘Why?’ said Grimaldi shakily. ‘What is it?’

  ‘IT’S A CHUTE. LIKE A KIND OF SLIDE,’ said Florence, not making eye contact.

  ‘Well, that doesn’t sound too bad?’ said Amelia.

  ‘IT’S THE RUBBISH CHUTE.’

  ‘Oh . . .’ said Amelia and Grimaldi in unison.

  The friends followed the map along the dark tunnels to where Florence had indicated the rubbish chute was, with only Grimaldi’s scythe to light the way.

  Suddenly Amelia thought she felt something brush past her feet and squealed, which in turn caused Grimaldi to scream and jump into Florence’s arms.

  ‘WHAT’S GOING ON?!’ said Florence. ‘WHY ARE YOU BOTH SCREAMING LIKE GOONS?’

  ‘Because Amelia screamed!’ said Grimaldi, clutching Florence’s fur.

  ‘WHY DID AMELIA SCREAM?’

  Amelia took a deep breath. ‘I just felt something brush past my leg and it made me jump,’ she said. ‘Sorry . . . maybe it was just my imagination.’

  Squashy began sniffing around and squeaked at something behind her.

  ‘MAYBE IT WAS JUST SQUASHY?’ suggested Florence. ‘E’S ALWAYS UNDER YOUR FEET!’

  Squashy waggled his stalk indignantly.

  Amelia looked back. In the darkness, she swore she saw something move in the shadows – but when she blinked, it was gone.

  ‘OKAY, I FINK WE’RE AT THE RUBBISH CHUTE,’ said Florence.

  In front of them was a large, dark opening. Grimaldi shone his scythe inside to get a better look, then floated back silently.

  ‘I ALWAYS WANTED TO SLIDE DOWN THIS AS A TODDLER, BUT DAD NEVER LET ME,’ said Florence.

  ‘Maybe because it’s a chute for rubbish ?’ said Grimaldi.

  ‘NAH, THAT WOULD NEVER PUT A YETI OFF,’ Florence chuckled.

  Grimaldi looked at the chute. ‘Nope,’ he said.

  ‘Nope, what?’ Amelia asked, confused.

  ‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN “NOPE”?’ said Florence. ‘IT’S JUST A BIG SLIDE. YOU LIKE SLIDES, RIGHT?’

  ‘Nope,’ said Grimaldi, frozen to the spot.

  ‘Is there no other way of getting to the bottom pits?’ Amelia asked, feeling a little sorry for Grimaldi.

  ‘NOPE,’ said Florence.

  Amelia rubbed Grimaldi’s shoulder. ‘You can do this! Just think of it as a big fun slide at the Ferocious Fun Fair.’ She smiled and gave Grimaldi a friendly nudge.

  ‘I hate the slides,’ he said with a shaky voice. ‘There’s nothing fun about them . . .’

  ‘COME ON GRIMALDI,’ said Florence. ‘THIS IS OUR ONLY WAY DOWN . . . WE ’AVE TO FIND TANGINE BEFORE THIS ’OLE PLACE COLLAPSES! AND REMEMBER, THIS IS OUR LAST ADVENTURE BEFORE I ’AVE TO LEAVE NOCTURNIA. DON’TCHA WANT ME TO REMEMBER YOU AS THE BRAVE AND MIGHTY GRIMALDI?!’

  Grimaldi took a few deep breaths and composed himself. ‘Okay . . . brave and mighty,’ he said calmly. ‘I can be brave and mighty. Except . . . um . . . What’s that ?’ he said, pointing a shaky finger down the tunnel, behind Amelia and Florence.

  The two friends swung round to see two green glowing eyes.

  Grimaldi’s eye sockets grew wider by the second. ‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh! It’s heading straight for us! What the bats IS it?! IT’S GOING TO ATTACK US!’

  Grimaldi entered full-blown panic mode, stumbled backwards and fell head first straight into the rubbish chute.

  ‘GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ’ echoed Grimaldi’s voice as he slid away into the darkness.

  Without warning, Squashy bounced into the chute behind Grimaldi.

  ‘WAIT SQUASHYYYYYYYYY!’ Amelia squealed, then jumped in herself.

  ‘ALRIGHTY THEN . . .’ said Florence, taking one last fearful look at the green eyes in the tunnel and psyching herself up. ‘GUESS IT’S MY TURN!’ And she launched herself into the chute. ‘HERE I GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’

  CHAPTER 13

  WHY AM I INSIDE THE WALLS?

  ‘GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’

  As Amelia slid down, Florence shot past her in the chute, but managed to grab Amelia’s hand at the very last second. The two friends went whizzing together down the terrifyingly steep slope. The rush of air made it hard to see what was going on. Amelia tried to sit up straight, but they were just moving too fast.

  ‘WE ’AVE TO CATCH UP WIV SQUASHY AND GRIMALDI!’ Florence shouted breathlessly. ‘BUT WE NEED TO BE MORE STREAMLINED! COPY ME! LEGS TOGEVVA. POINT YOUR TOES. AND ARMS TIGHT BY YOUR SIDES. IT’LL MAKE YOU SLIDE FASTER!’

  Amelia didn’t think she could slide any quicker, but as soon as she did what Florence suggested, she felt the rush of air whizz even faster past her ears! Grimaldi’s screaming began to grow louder and soon Amelia spotted the glow of his scythe down the chute ahead.

  Squashy was rolling so fast by Grimaldi’s side that Amelia could hardly see him. He was a little orange blur.

  ‘SQUAAAAAASHY! ’ she called.

  ‘GRIMAAAAAALDI!’ Florence shouted as loud as she could. ‘WE’RE RIGHT BEHIND YAAAAAAA!’

  But then, just as Amelia thought they were about to catch them up, both Squashy and Grimaldi disappeared – as if by magic.

  Amelia and Florence shot down the chute until they flew out of its mouth into a great big pit FULL of rubbish.

  Amelia took in a deep breath, then really wished she hadn’t – the smell was AWFUL. She removed a mouldy eyeball stuck to her cheek.

  ‘Are they here?!’ she asked, urgently digging through all the rubbish, her heart pounding. ‘SQUASHY?! GRIMALDI?! Where are you?! ’

  Florence began to panic-dig. Gooey limbs, strange broken objects and copious amounts of mouldy food went flying everywhere, bouncing off the walls of the pit as Florence’s large hairy arms ploughed through the mounds of rubbish in search of their friends.

  But finally, even Florence gave up. She and Amelia had to admit the obvious. Grimaldi and Squashy weren’t in the rubbish pit with them.

  So, where had they gone?

  Florence looked around, a trail of intestine dangling from her ear and an empty tin can in her hand. ‘I DON’T GET IT! THEY WERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. SQUASHMEISTER? GRIMALDI?!’

  Amelia couldn’t speak, she was so upset. They’d already lost Tangine. And now they’d lost Squashy and Grimaldi too. Florence looked at her sadly.

  Then, in the silence, they heard something. ‘Guuuuuuuys? ’

  Florence looked at the tin can in her paw in confusion then held it up to her face.

  ‘GRIMALDI?! YOU IN THERE?’

  ‘Grimaldi?’ said Amelia. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘I’m not entirely sure where I am, but Squashy’s here with me and he’s fine too,’ echoed Grimaldi’s voice. ‘Well, he’s kind of wedged under my belly . . . so actually he could be better.’

  There was a small squeeeeak that made Amelia sigh with relief.

  ‘Where are you guys?! ’ called Grimaldi.

  ‘We’re in a big bin!’ Amelia answered. ‘How come we can hear you but we can’t see you? This is so weird!’

  ‘I know, right?’ said Grimaldi’s voice. ‘One minute I was sliding and screaming and the next minute I flew off to the side and got lodged inside what I THINK is a small tunnel just big enough for me. Florence definitely wouldn’t fit in here.’

  ‘OI!’ said Florence.

  ‘Then Squashy flew in behind me,’ Grimaldi continued, ‘and now I’m lodged in even further. Then, well, I heard your voices, and here we are! And you won’t believe how much glitter is in here. I’m covered in it!’

  ‘SO GRIMALDI AND SQUASHY ARE WEDGED IN A SMALL GLITTERY TUNNEL INSIDE THE WALL, AND WE’RE SITTING IN A MASSIVE BIN,’ said Florence. ‘THIS IS A VERY STRANGE SITUATION.’

  ‘Ooo, I’ve found something,’ said Grimaldi. ‘It looks like a half-eaten shoe . . . It’s so shiny. WAIT . . .’ He went quiet for a moment. ‘I recognise this shoe! I know its smell . . .’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Amelia. ‘What does it smell like?’

  ‘It smells like unicorn fart and . . .  magnificence,’ said Grimaldi.

  ‘TANGINE!’ said Amelia and Florence in unison.

  ‘If Tangine’s shoe is in the mystery hidden tunnel with Grimaldi, then where is TANGINE?’ Amelia pondered. ‘And WHY is his shoe inside the wall?’

  ‘More to the point, why are we inside the wall ?’ Grimaldi added. ‘Did I ever mention I start to panic when I’m in small enclosed spaces?’

  ‘YOU PANIC ABOUT EVERYFINK, SO THAT’S NO SURPRISE,’ Florence replied. ‘SURELY, WE MUST BE CLOSE TO TANGINE IF ’IS SHOE IS ’ERE . . .’

  Amelia scratched her head, deep in thought. ‘Okay, so we need to work out how to get Grimaldi and Squashy out of the wall first,’ she said. ‘Then we can try to figure out where Tangine is . . .’

  But Amelia didn’t have time to work anything out, because right at that moment there was a very loud rumbling sound. And then a long crack appeared in the pit wall above Amelia and Florence’s heads.

  ‘UH OH,’ said Florence.

  ‘Why is Florence uh-ohing?!’ Grimaldi’s small voice shrieked. ‘What’s going on?! ’

  Everything was silent for a second, before another bigger crack opened up. Something round and orange fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Florence’s head.

  ‘Squashy! ’ cried Amelia. She waded through a pile of cabbage and wrapped her arms around the little pumpkin.

  And then Grimaldi followed with a PLOP as he fell into a big pile of gooey plug-hair.

  Grimaldi gagged. ‘I think I’d rather be back in the confined spaces of the walls than in here!’ he said.

  ‘GLAD TO ’AVE YOU BACK!’ said Florence, putting a big arm around the little reaper. CREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAK!

  ‘UH-OH,’ said Florence.

  ‘Great, another uh-oh,’ said Grimaldi. ‘What now?!’

  ‘I FINK THE RUBBISH PIT MIGHT COLLAPSE AT ANY MINUTE,’ said Florence. ‘WE NEED TO GET OUT. FAST!’

  But they weren’t fast enough. Another crack appeared, and this time it was the crack to end all cracks.

  Chunks of pit came crashing down into the pile of rubbish. The walls crumbled. And the pit finally collapsed on top of the three friends and the little pumpkin.

  CHAPTER 14

 

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