The Chocolate Factory Ghost by David O'Connell

Author:David O'Connell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408887059
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2018-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

With a new sense of purpose, Archie decided he would go and meet Fliss and Billy after school that afternoon, instead of waiting for them to come to the Hall. He hadn’t seen much of Dundoodle, so it was a good chance to explore. He snapped Sherbet’s lead on to the dog’s collar and together they trudged into the cold afternoon air. The sky above them was like a bag of cotton wool about to burst: snow was on its way.

They had just got past the gates at the end of the drive when there was a flutter behind Archie’s ear and the magical letter swept past, travelling at great speed. Sherbet strained at his lead, trying to chase the piece of paper and almost pulling the boy over.

‘It’s flying away from the Hall!’ said Archie. ‘That’s odd. The next clue must be in the town.’

But the letter zigzagged around chimney pots and plunged between rooftops, taking an erratic course and flying far too quickly for them to follow.

‘Why is it going so fast?’ said Archie, his breath turning to steam as they ran to keep up with it. ‘What’s the hurry?’ The reason soon became clear. As Sherbet dragged him down into the warren of streets, a small, dark shape zipped overhead like a hawk. The mobgoblin was back! There was evil intent in its movements. It was hunting the letter!

The chase was on. The letter ducked and dived, flapping its paper wings with all its might. The mob­goblin was bigger and ungainly but it shadowed the letter relentlessly, sometimes kicking its scaly feet against a chimney to give it an extra boost.

‘Rip it! Shred it! Slice it!’ the creature cackled.

Down below, Archie followed as best as he could, watching helplessly. Occasionally he lost sight of the race as it took him down back lanes where the eaves of houses cast sinister, jagged shadows, or twisted through roads where uneven cobbles seemed to trip him almost deliberately. Often he was so busy looking up that he bumped into passers-by, bouncing off their thick winter coats like a pinball and losing all sense of direction. But luckily Sherbet always knew which way to go.

Eventually they found themselves at the gates of Dundoodle School, just as its pupils were pouring out at the end of lessons. Fliss saw him and ran over, eager for news. Archie, out of breath, pointed upwards.

‘If that thing gets the letter we’ll never be able to complete the Quest!’ he panted. Fliss stared as the letter circled the school, its little wings beating desperately. No one else seemed to notice – the letter was just litter fluttering about in the icy breeze. Billy appeared at their side, horrified at the sight of the mobgoblin swooping down on the defenceless piece of paper. It fled around the side of the school, into an empty alleyway. Fliss rummaged in her school bag as they dashed after it.

‘I said we’d be ready for that thing the next time it showed up,’ she said.

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