Goblins on the Prowl Read Online Free

kindness made me feel guiltier than ever.
    â€œGive William my greetings,” she said.
    I promised to do so, thanked her, and started to leave. When I was a few feet from the cottage, she called me back. She looked troubled. I was afraid she was going to scold me about the collar. Instead, she said, “Be careful walking home, and when you go to the ­castle tomorrow.”
    This puzzled me. I’m always careful, and Granny knows it. As if she could see the question on my face, she said, “Because of the goblins! There may be more than one mischief out and about.”
    â€œI know. I told you, there were five of them.”
    Granny smiled. “You saw five goblins, but only one mischief.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œâ€˜A mischief’ is the name for a group of goblins. Like ‘a flock of birds’ or ‘a herd of cows’ . . . ‘a mischief of goblins.’ Anyway, be careful. You have been declared a Goblin Friend, but something strange is going on, and you may not be able to count on all ­ goblins being friendly to you right now.”
    I nodded, not happy with this news.
    â€œAll right, now scat. Enjoy the party . . . and your gift!”
    A prickle ran over my shoulders. Was Granny telling me she knew what I had done with Solomon’s ­Collar?
    As I walked away, I felt a mix of fear, confusion, and unhappiness. This annoyed me, since I do not like to feel more than one thing at a time. Then I realized that being annoyed was another feeling. That brought the total up to four, which was even more annoying.
    I needed to think. Normally, walking is good for this, because there is no one to bother me. But now that I was wearing the collar, I could hear the animals talking.And what they were mostly talking about was me.
    â€œThat’s her!” I heard one rabbit tell another. “The girl the squirrel told us about!”
    â€œDoesn’t look as silly as I expected,” the other ­rabbit said. “Certainly not silly enough to have put on that collar when it wasn’t meant for her!”
    â€œNever can tell with humans,” replied the first. “Even the sensible ones do foolish things sometimes.”
    â€œAnd even the foolish ones can make rabbit stew!” I shouted.
    The rabbits scampered into the brush.
    I didn’t sleep well that night, partly because I was fretting about the collar, partly because several mice were having a party in my wall and they kept singing naughty songs.

    Late the next afternoon I slipped the bottle of Sleep Walk into my coat pocket and tucked the rose behind my ear. I hesitated for a moment, then put the ball of blue goo in my other pocket. Then I headed for Toad-in-a-Cage Castle.
    I am always cautious in the forest, but this day I was even more so, watching and listening for any sign of goblins.
    What was going on with them? Had somethinggone wrong in Nilbog? And what could they have been looking for in my cottage?
    I was still trying to work this out when I reached the castle.

    Toad-in-a-Cage Castle has four towers, one at each corner. The rest of the castle sits between them, which does make it look a bit like a toad in a cage. However, the real reason for its name is that in the center of its Great Hall is a large cage with iron bars as thick as my thumbs. Inside that cage, mounted on a low pedestal, squats an enormous stone toad. From nose to butt it is almost twice as long as I am tall.
    The first time I entered the castle, a chill skittered along my spine when I saw the toad. I couldn’t say why it frightened me, but it did. The strange thing is, it also fascinated me.
    The castle is surrounded by a moat, but the drawbridge was down tonight . . . which makes sense if you are expecting a guest. Actually, the drawbridge was usually down, since there was no war going on and no attacks were expected.
    I am always careful crossing the drawbridge.