The young oak tree 1/8

Jennifer Jane had spent most of the night wondering how to find out who was trying to get rid of her from the alternate world. Of course she eventually drifted off to sleep, then as is often the way with this sort of problem, woke up at her usual time in the morning with a possible solution in her head.

She went down stairs for breakfast feeling quite her normal self. Mum and dad were already sitting at the table looking a bit worried.

“I’m not at all sure we should let you go to the witches’ school any more,” said mum, “one of these days some one horrible is going to find a way round your protection spell and we’ll never see you again!”

“You’ve been lucky up to now,” added dad, “but so far it’s only been normal magic accidents. This time some one is really trying to get rid of you and it’s getting more and more dangerous!”

“Well I still trust Abigail, any way I’ve had an idea how to start finding out who might be behind all this. I’ll go to work this morning and let you know how I get on, after all the school has taught me better ways of defending myself, so I stand more of a chance than I used to if the worst comes to the worst.”

As soon as she’d finished her meal, she went straight to Esmerelda’s shop and began calling for Fred the rat, who had once been turned into a dragon.

She hoped he might be able to remember some more details about who had turned him into a dragon in the first place, then she could go searching from there.

She didn’t have any luck until the three witches arrived for the day’s work.

“I feed him every morning,” said Ermintrude, when Jennifer Jane asked to see Fred, “then he goes off for a nice quiet sleep before he does whatever it is that rats do during the day. So he won’t come out for anyone except me,”

“Very true,” said a squeaky little voice from under a nearby bush. “The last time I met that one she nearly drowned me. You’ve heard the expression ‘like a drowned rat’; well I can tell you exactly what it feels like!”

“I was only going to ask if you could remember any more about the person who turned you into a dragon?” asked Jennifer Jane.

“Since I’ve lived here and talked to my nice friend who feeds me every morning,” said Fred rather sarcastically, “I have seen one or two more people who look the same, she says they’re called red goblins. I’ve already told you that and it seems I guessed right. I suppose they live up north where you found me, but I don’t know any more than that.”

Jennifer Jane looked enquiringly at Esmerelda.

“Go on kid, you take the day off. We’re not going to get any work out of you until this is settled.”

“Yers right!”

Jennifer Jane thanked Esme and flew off towards the area where she had first met Fred. It didn’t take too long before she began searching for the village where the goblins might live.

Then remembering how difficult it had been to find the goblins who lived in the woods at the end of her own garden, she kept flying until she could find a normal human to speak to.

For the first time ever, the identity scroll given her by Abigail actually worked. The man she’d found immediately gave her the directions she needed.

“You take care though; they can be a nasty lot!”

“Are they any worse than the ones in Happy Valley?”

“Well no, of course not, it’s only the really horrible ones who get sent there”

“I should be alright then. I’ve landed in Happy Valley before and managed to get out again, so this lot shouldn’t be any real problem!”

“Have you now,” said the man, looking at her with a bit more respect. “I’ve heard about you of course, but you’re only a bit of a kid aren’t you and not nearly as tall as I’d been led to believe!”

Jennifer Jane laughed and flew off in the direction the man had pointed out. She landed in a suitable clearing among the trees and looked around carefully for goblin signs.

The first she knew that there was anyone about, was when she felt a thump in her back. Someone pushed her over and began to run off with her scooter.