By the KS2 children of Muscliff Primary School

Chapter 13AE

Cody approached the glistening object lying on the soft, green grass. It looked like a necklace and he wondered whether it was expensive or could even be a piece of precious treasure. He slowly walked around it, inspecting it from every angle. "This looks peculiar, it's not like any other necklace I've seen before!" muttered Cody as he stared at the beautiful necklace. Hallie and Snout rushed over to see what Cody was looking at. "Wow, what is that?" Hallie questioned as she kneeled down to get a closer look. “Yeah, what is that?” shivered Snout as he sat down close next to Hallie.

Cody lowered himself to the floor and quickly grabbed the necklace. The necklace sparkled and twinkled in the sunlight. It was gold and covered in shiny, silvery diamonds. Cody suddenly decided to throw it up into the air and catch it. The necklace nearly hit a nearby branch from an old oak tree."STOP! Don't do that! It could break very easily as it's so delicate!" shouted Hallie as she reached up to try and catch it. “BREAK? It won’t break!” shouted Cody as he put the necklace round his neck. Suddenly, the three adventurers noticed the necklace begin to shimmer and hum against Cody's chest.

Chapter 2

3LCAs the adventurers entered the dark, intimidating woods, the necklace's humming increased. The humming was getting louder and louder as they tiptoed through the frightening, suffocating, gloomy woods. In the distance, they could hear a bloodcurdling noise…“What was that?” murmured Cody quietly.“I think it was coming from over there, behind that bush!” whispered Hallie in terror. As the two friends were talking, Snout shivered uncontrollably behind Hallie. Just at that moment, without warning, a gigantic hairy spider with an enormous round body jumped out from behind the prickly bush! Suddenly, Snout screamed loudly and a swirl of flames appeared from his mouth! The enormous, hairy, scary spider scuttled away as fast as his legs would carry him. Quickly, Cody pressed the shiny, shimmering jewel on the necklace and a whirling portal hovered in front of them. With a leap of courage, the adventurers took a step into the spinning vortex.

Chapter 33HR

They felt a rush of cold air as their bodies twisted and turned within the portal before hitting the ground with a thump. A sound like a fire alarm woke Hallie, Cody and Snout from the ground. "What's that noise?" said Snout panicking. Cody stared round with horror in his eyes as he noticed buildings had collapsed and had crumbled around him."I think we have arrived in World War 2!” shouted Hallie horrified over the sound of gun fire. They could hear loud plane engines and propellers whistling in the wind. The smell of smoke filled their lungs from the fires they could see alight in the distance. The sounds of fighter jets were getting louder and louder. A bomb fell from the sky missing Hallie and Cody by a few metres. Snout flew back in shock. "I think it’s time we head back to the portal before we get hurt!" cried Hallie."No, let's stay here a little longer," protested Cody. Amongst the debris of the bomb, a family of spiders had been disturbed by a rumbling tank. From the corner of Cody's eye he could see their hairy bodies moving towards him."Quick, let’s get back home!" Cody shouted with fear as they stepped back into the portal.

Chapter 44AW

The group were propelled out of the portal.

"This is not home!" exclaimed Hallie with wonder. “THAT’S our home!” she screamed, pointing her finger towards a tiny, green and blue planet floating in the far off distance. Glimmering stars surrounded them in the darkness of space. As their eyes adjusted to the pitch black, they could make out colourful planets dotted across the universe, like confetti scattered in the air. The group floated in stunned silence. “Erm... I’m not too sure about this Cody...” muttered Hallie, her voice trembling as she looked at the emptiness. “How can we even breathe?”“It must be the magic of the portal, Hallie! Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be afraid of...” Cody’s voice trailed off as the group felt a tugging sensation pulling them in. “Wait... what’s happening?!” Hallie shouted nervously in disbelief. “Try and swim... I mean fly away!” exclaimed a frightened Cody, flailing his arms around. Snout flapped his tiny, scaly wings in an attempt to escape however it was useless. “Uh oh...” said Hallie, barely a whisper. The group were being rapidly sucked towards a giant, black hole.“If we get pulled into that, there is no way back! The portal is too far away and look, it’s closing!” The children stared back at the glowing portal getting smaller and smaller, further and further from them.

When the group were inches from the monstrous hole, a roaring sound deafened them. A large, metallic sphere with a blinding light soared above them. Two large robotic arms whizzed down and grabbed hold of Cody and Hallie tightly and pulled them sharply upwards. “SNOUT!!” screamed Hallie, arms outstretched. At the last minute, Cody grabbed hold of the tiny dragon’s tail and heaved him towards the unidentified flying object. As the children clattered to the floor, they stared upwards at their rescuers. Tiny green creatures with bumpy skin stared down at the group. Each had six eyes, bobbing gently on top of

their small round heads, and two purple tentacles hanging from their spotty bodies. An unusual clicking sound came from the alien’s mouth.“Wait... I understand them!” said Hallie, surprised. “They are saying ‘Don’t worry we are here to help’”. Hallie responded in an alien language, “Please could you help take us back to our magical portal?” The aliens responded with a nod of their heads and blinked their eyes wide. The group gathered around the large spaceship window and scanned the distance for the necklace. Snout gave a little roar as he spotted the glowing, amber portal. “Well done Snout!” the children exclaimed. The aliens guided their ship alongside a yellow glow.“They say we have to jump on those...” responded Hallie, pointing towards three golden stars, hovering in the air.

“WOW, let’s go! Thank you for saving us!” shouted Cody over his shoulder as he launched himself onto the nearest star grabbing hold of the pointy tip. Hallie and Snout followed, hesitating slightly but taking a massive leap on to the other stars. All three stars rocketed forward through space towards the portal. When they were close to the portal, Cody screamed, “Jump!!” and the group launched themselves from the speeding stars and zoomed through space. The glowing portal floated in the darkness while the children weightlessly drifted towards it.

Chapter 5Jets

The children stepped into a new land with eyes full of wonder and their tummies grumbled.

“Wow, can you believe it? What’s going on? Exclaimed Cody excitedly as they looked around at the rainbow lolly trees. They spotted in ice-cream sun dripping on the orange wibbly floor. Hallie wobbled as she stepped onto the ground. “My feet are sinking!” shouted Hallie . “ Help! Help! Its jelly!”

Snout flew into the air and reached out to Hallie. They both managed to jump onto the chocolate button stepping stones. In front of them they could see an enormous gummy bear castle; their tummy’s grumbled even more. They slowly walked past the huge chocolate fountain flowing up and up into the air. Suddenly the gummy bears split in two! Cody grabbed a piece and scooped up the sticky chocolate to share with Hallie and Snout. “Yummm! “ they all cried in delight.

With stomachs full to bursting, the group waddled through the shimmering portal attempting once more to get home.

Chapter 64KV

"WOW!" Cody exclaimed with a startled expression as he looked round at their new surroundings.

All of a sudden, Cody saw a real life human man. He was tall and had green skin, but the most surprising thing about him was that he walked

through a large holographic brick wall! Snout quietly popped his head from Hallie’s backpack and whispered, “Is it me or does that man look like me?”“Are we in the future?” Hallie nervously questioned.Cody excitedly jumped up and down on the spot then realised the more he jumped the higher he floated up in the air, “We are Hallie, look at meeeeeee!”

Suddenly, Cody heard a strange humming noise, “What is that noise Hallie?”As quick as a flash, a floating car whizzed past them. The floating car went through a narrow tube with headlights that were eyes.“Did you see that Cody? That car did not have a driver?” Cody with his mouth open wide shouted, “The eyes were the driver!”“I don’t like this one bit!” said Hallie as she hid behind Cody.

Then the three amigos looked up to see massive buildings towering over the beaming floating city. Everyone was floating or using jet packs to travel. In one area, the three amigos saw holographic floating plates of food and fizzy drinks with the bubbles floating down.

All of a sudden, Hallie heard an unfamiliar voice, “Welcome to Floating Land Hallie!”Hallie looked up in amazement and saw a huge, colour changing dog with blue wings. “Wow! What does he want?” Cody said in amazement. “Err thank you, how on earth are you changing colour and what year is it?” Hallie confidently asked.“A good logical question young Hallie, we are in the year of Future AE 9999. Animals are in charge here and the humans are green due to the climate change!” stated the colourful dog.

“What’s he saying? When on earth did I say you were in charge! Tell me right away!” demanded Cody with his arms crossed and a smirk across his face.Quickly, Hallie’s facial expressions changed as she pushed snout back down into her backpack and quietly said to Cody, “We must go right away!”"Are you sure we can't stay here?" Cody mumbled as Hallie dragged him reluctantly towards the portal.

Chapter 74TF

The rush of water against snout's warm scales was extremely uncomfortable. This was not a place he was going to enjoy. The children

looked at each other and were surprised to discover that they had gills and could breathe under water. Suddenly, a gloomy shape appeared in the distance. In the blink of an eye, the shape disappeared from their view. Panic was beginning to overcome them."What was that?" said Snout trembling with fear. He could feel a strange tingling sensation from his chest as he became colder. The children turned and were distraught to see a Loch Ness Monster pass his head over Snout devouring the fire within him. "SNOUT!" Cody screamed as he rushed towards the tiny dragon. Hallie could see that something was very wrong. Snout felt cold and was shivering. Quickly but quietly the children and Snout followed the Loch Ness monster. However, all of a sudden, a large shadow loomed in front of them."'sup fish? How’s it swimmin'? The names John!" asked the mosasaur cheerfully."Uuuhhh hi..." Hallie replied suspiciously."What do you call a fish with no eyes?" John asked with a toothy grin."Der, it's a blind fish of course" replied Cody with confidence."No course it’s not it's a FSH" laughed John with a big belly laugh. "Aww he's friendly" Hallie said to Cody."Great! Hey where can we find Snout's fire?" Cody snapped in frustration."Calm down boy you just need to see Lillie and Millie. They're that way" John pointed with his fin as he swam into the distance. Swimming in the direction John pointed to, the children spotted a little cottage made of floating seaweed and shiny shells. From the cottage two beautiful mermaids with flowing blond hair approached the children their tails shimmering with the colours of pink, green and yellow. Snout noticed that they had mysterious bite marks on their arms however he was too afraid to say anything to his friends.

"Can you lead us to the Loch Ness Monster?" Hallie asked mesmerised by the shimmering colours. "Follow us, we know where to go," The mermaids replied together. Unknown to the children the mermaids were leading them into a trap. They approached a dark cave with a lone figure inside and entered cautiously. Unfortunately, behind them four electric eels smothered the entrance and activated their deadly electricity. They heard a low, deep laugh from the entrance of the cave. “HAHAHAHA, you fools have fallen into my trap. I own these waters and the only way to escape is to answer an impossible riddle.” exclaimed the evil monster as his teeth clacked together like castanets.

Awakened from his slumber, an ancient, wrinkly turtle opened his eyes and stared at the group before him. The children noticed that he looked a tad curious. He was missing his shell!“My name is Tim.” The turtle said slowly “You will be here for the rest of your days. I have been hunting for my shell for many years but have been unable to answer the impossible riddle.”“It can’t be that hard surely! I’m sure I can beat it!” Cody replied confidently.“The riddle is as follows – I am a word. The first part of this word is the name of a person undercover and the second part of the word is the sound you make when someone says something obvious. What is the whole word?” moaned the turtle. “I know the first part but I’m not sure on the second.”

Cody replied with a sneer “Duhh that bits easy its spy! It’s the second bit that’s tricky.”“Actually it’s very simple, you just said it,” Hallie said with a smile. “Once again Hallie you are making no sense, leave it to the experts!” Cody said in a bossy voice. The group sat around in the cave, which felt cold and small, for many hours. Cody refused to give in to the riddle or accept any help. “Ok Cody, you have sat for a long time, I’m bored and I know the answer, let me help you!” Hallie shouted with frustration “think of poor Snout he is getting colder by the minute!”“Fine if you think you’re so clever what is the answer then!” Cody yelled in anger.“The answer is ‘der’. When you put the two together it makes the word spider.” Hallie calmly replied.Cody went white with fear, “AAAAHHHH where’s the spider? Monster please come back, just eat me anything is better than this! ““Oh come onnnn, there is no spider! That’s the answer to the riddle! “Hallie said with a bored tone.“I was just pretending, I knew that the answer all along” lied Cody.“Of course you did,” mumbled Snout from the corner.From the entrance of the cave the children heard a terrible roar and the electric eels slithered away from the cave entrance. “HOW DID YOU SOLVE MY RIDDLE!” the monster roared in anger.“I am clever and solved it by myself!” Cody stated proudly. “That isn’t true, the young girl here solved the puzzle,” interrupted the small turtle.“I CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVE BEEN THWARTED! I SUPPOSE I SHOULD RETURN YOUR THINGS” roared the disappointed monster.Snout shimmered and glowed as his fire flowed back into him while Tim’s turtle popped back into place. Both of them pleased to be free and whole again. Snout curled into the hood of Hallie’s coat trembling. Hallie and Snout could barely keep up as Cody stormed towards the portal in frustration.

Chapter 85RD

A soft cushion enveloped the children as they stepped from the troublesome portal. Cody scanned the area and realised this time he was completely out of his depth.“Wow, look guys! We’re in the clouds!” screamed Hallie with delight. She bent down to touch the fluffy surface and realised that she could pick up the clouds like soft snowballs. “I don’t know about this,” cautioned Cody as he nervously stepped onto the clouds. Without warning, a cloud ball smashed into the back of Cody’s head. “CLOUDFIGHT!” shouted Hallie. Cody, always the competitive one, reached down into the cloud and picked up his own cloud ball, launching it at Snout. Snout’s first reaction was to tremble with fear, nervous plumes of smoke leaked from his

nostrils however he soon saw the funny side when the next cloud ball smashed into Cody’s face. Before long, the three of them were engaged in fierce combat, leaping from cloud stacks and hiding in cloud caves in their attempts to pummel their enemies. Laughter filled the sky. Hours passed as they ran, hid and surprised each other until they each collapsed into a soft and luxurious cloud bed and drifted off to sleep. Tearing through their sweet dreams, a loud noise, which sounded like lions roaring, rudely awoke them.“What was that?” questioned Cody.“I want to go home!” cried Snout whimpering into his wings. THUNDER!” screeched Hallie in panic. Blasts of light illuminated the sky. CRASH! BOOM! BANG! “It’s coming towards us!” warned Cody pointing at the lightning. At that moment, another lightning strike hit the cloud they had been sleeping on. The cloud shook like an earthquake; the children ran for their lives. Each lightning strike shook the cloud more violently until they fell through a gap. Time seemed to stand still. Cody and Hallie saw their entire lives flash before their eyes. This was the end.“I wish we never found the stupid necklace,” Cody groaned. Little did they know, Snout was alive. “Look!” shouted Hallie and pointed towards a small figure flying through the sky. It was Snout. The gentle dragon swooped under each of them and caught them in mid-air. Normally one to shy from danger, Snout couldn’t bear to see his beloved friends in trouble“You saved us Snout!” shouted Hallie as she stroked his scales. “Well done boy,” added Cody “Do you think you can get us back to the portal?”

Cody couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at Snout's confidence amongst the clouds, however as they looked at the portal Hallie thought it seemed smaller.

Chapter 95KF

Hallie stepped through feeling apprehensive about what could be in the next world. She longed for her home. This time, it wasn't to be. This time, it appeared to be a fantasy land. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, Hallie saw a glistening unicorn. Using her special talent, she approached the unicorn to engage in conversation. The unicorn and Hallie quickly became friends and Hallie was given a horn to use if she ever got into trouble in this newly found world.

As she waved goodbye to the unicorn, Hallie realised that Cody and Snout were nowhere to be seen. Strangely, she spotted a gremlin carrying two sacks (one a human-like shape and the other smaller). It couldn't be. Could it? Hallie broke into a run to chase the gremlin to get a closer look at the sacks he was carrying; before she could get close enough, the

gremlin vanished into a dark gloomy cave. Hallie knew what to do. She dug out the horn the unicorn gave her and blew it gently. It made a beautiful tune. Almost instantly, the unicorn appeared at Hallie's side along with a larger Pegasus.

Without hesitating, the unicorn and Pegasus, with Hallie on his back,

launched like a rocket into the darkness. Lead only by the glow on the unicorn's horn, they soon found the two sacks that Hallie had seen. Pegasus swooped in and snatched them before making a swift exit out of the cave. Sure enough, inside the sacks were Cody and Snout relieved that the frightening ordeal was over. Cody couldn't help but feel being in charge was too much to handle. He stepped through the portal wondering what problem he will need to solve next.

Chapter 105BP

The smell that hit the group’s noses was repugnant and repulsive. "I don't know how to get us home, Hallie. Snout will you help me?" Cody mumbled.In front of them they saw a murky, damp, disgusting sight. It was a swamp! Out of nowhere, they saw a mammoth, flesh eating spider. Cody screamed. Without warning, he was sick and fainted! Realising that Cody could be of no help, Hallie decided that she must take charge; she needed to lead the group.

As quick as a flash, the spider, who had noticed that nobody was watching, leapt into the air, onto Cody and snatched the necklace! The spider, who had stolen the necklace, used her web to swing to the other side of the swamp and gave the necklace to her babies. Seeing this, Hallie decided that she must create a plan to get to the other side and retrieve the necklace. All of a sudden, a group of tortoises appeared. “Can you please help us get across the swamp?” asked Hallie. The tortoises, who were sweet, friendly and wise, suggested that they could use their magic to make Snout larger. As soon as Snout became bigger, he realised that he had no fears! Everyone, including Cody (who had just woken up and was unaware of what had happened) and the tortoises, jumped onto Snout’s scaly back. Quickly, Snout flew over to the spider and like James Bond, Hallie stealthily retrieved the necklace. Even though the children enjoyed the company of their new friends they were glad when they saw the familiar shine of the portal. Is it flickering?

Chapter 116LA

Upon entering this new realm, the children could tell they were surrounded by magic and wonder. Widening their eyes to adjust to the

darkness, lost, dazed and confused, the children found themselves in an eerie dungeon. It smelt of desperation and fear. Something was wrong…“We should go that way,” demanded Cody with confidence in his voice and determination burning in his eyes. But as he turned and glared at the shadow-filled walls, which danced malevolently as if they were alive, he noticed cobwebs dangling everywhere.“Or m-m-m-maybe a different way,” stammered Cody thinking about spiders.“But where’s Snout? He isn’t with us,” questioned Hallie searching through the thick, uncountable webs.“We have to find him; he might be in danger.” Cody, plucking up the courage in the face of his fears, pressed on through the entangled webs until the pair reached the torture chamber concealed in the very depths of the dungeon. There they found Snout, chained to the damp walls – his lips were sealed with compacted cobwebs.

Suddenly, the children realised that they were not alone… They were being watched by eight menacing eyes. Creeping, scuttling, the gargantuan creature moved towards them – his eight hairy legs sent Cody into trauma and a frenzy of anger and frustration. “You did this! You monster! Let Snout go or-or-or suffer the consequences of my butter knife.” “Do not fear me, child. Just because I have a hideous visage, does not mean that I am evil. We should not be judged by our appearance but by our actions. It was not me who chained your pet dragon. I too am a prisoner here. My name is Arachno and I am an innocent wizard. The one who is responsible is named Terro. This was once my magical castle. But Terro over-powered me, stole my wand and turned me into this cursed beast. Here I have lived as a spider for 50 years.” “Can you restore order to my castle and break this curse?”The children agreed to help him in a matter of minutes, for he was incapable of doing it himself with his eight hairy legs. The children silently crept up the stairs and made their way up the ghostly, crumbling stairs

towards Terro’s tower. There they found Arachno’s wand, which gave the power of transmodification. As they crept back down to meet up with Arachno, the stairs were suddenly transformed into a slippery ice slide. They tumbled down and crashed into the cracked, slimy wall and heard a echoing shout come out from the walls, “What are you doing in my castle? With my wand?” his deep, threatening voice boomed like an ultrasound speaker around the room. Before they knew it, they could see a man in a long, black robe cackling malevolently, “You will pay for what you have done!” After battling him for what seemed like forever, Terro exclaimed, “Oh I truly am getting tired of you! I think it is time I stop this. Now!” As the children glared around them, they could see and feel the world changing around them, they were a dark-purple platform floating in the middle of nowhere. They heard an ear-splitting, menacing roar coming from behind them…

As they turned to look at what was screeching behind them, they discovered that Terro had transformed himself into a dragon that stood at seventy feet tall; it looked like they had a calamitous problem on their hands. But as Hallie pointed the wand at him and said, “Uh, magical wand, cast a spell!” surprisingly, this worked! The wand glowed and a large beam of light burst out of it. As they looked at what they had done, they were suddenly back in the castle and they had turned Terro into a harmless, tiny mouse. In return for the help, Arachno rewarded Cody with a spider characteristic: the power of speed and spider sense. Cody thought about the new abilities that he had and wondered if they would continue after passing through the portal.

Chapter 126LP

With a ringing in their ears, the children slammed to the ground. Around them, shards of portal floated in the air.Dust and sand filled the air and Cody sneezed loudly as he brushed the sand off his knees. The sand covered their legs as they sat in confusion. “Where are we?” questioned Cody.“NO,NO, NO! Not another place!” cried Hallie.“Stop being silly,” snapped Cody, “You go over there and find the pieces whilst Snout and I stay here.”

Hallie looked everywhere but no pieces could be found. All she could see was a breath-taking pyramid dazzling in the sunlight. She shouted to the

others and they headed towards the unknown object that seemed to be calling their name. They slowly approached the door, examining the hieroglyphics that covered entrance. A musty smell hung in the air and they a bright light drew them towards a tall pillar. In unison, they read the words which were embedded onto the rough surface.

Above the sand and around the corner,Is how you guys will be getting warmer,Head down the path to finish your quest,Now you’ve found it search for the rest.

With a sigh, Cody led the other around the corner until they reached a trap door and on it was lots of letters all scrambled up. Hallie realised that they needed to unscramble them to reach the next level. “I don’t think we can do this! We are going to be stuck here forever!” Hallie moaned.“Not this again! Come on you can do this! You’re amazing at problem solving; we need you to do this.” Cody said whilst patting her on the back. Hallie’s face suddenly lit up as she realised that she could do this, the scrambled words were all names of the roads they lived on. They quickly put them into the correct order and the trap door swung open. Suddenly the first piece of the portal appeared back on Cody’s necklace. They suddenly started to fall and hit the cold ground with a bump. They were suddenly surrounded by beautiful mosaics. But they looked different than before. They looked familiar.... “These are the pictures at the Museum!” Cody exclaimed.“Oh yeah!” Hallie repliedCody found himself walking towards a squeaking noise, “Look! It’s a monkey!”“It’s trying to tell me something! “ Hallie said whilst moving Cody to the side. “It’s reading us the next riddle....”

Two more pieces for you to find,Keep on going, don’t get behind,

Use the mosaics to create the picture,Find them all to get home quicker.

As quick as they could, the two children and Snout quickly and silently worked together to try and solve the puzzle problem. With determination in their eyes, they did in no time at all. The second portal piece appeared round Cody’s neck and was glowing a golden orange colour. “One more to go!!” Snout hissed in excitement. The mosaic picture starts spinning around them and they find themselves in a giant rocky cave with lave bubbling below them. They are all stood on the edge of a boiling orange pit. Hallie takes a deep breath and beads of sweat start to drip down Cody’s face. They spot the path way which takes them to a hole just above the lave pit. Hallie realises that this is their only way out. If they don’t make it there then there is no way out. Suddenly, Hallie has an idea, “Snout! You can fly us down there can’t you?” Snout nods his head with a terrified look but knows that he has no option. “I’m going first! Cody shouted, jumping onto Snout’s back. The dragon peers over the edge and gulps. Heights and hot lava terrified him but he knew there was no other option. He took a leap of faith and took off towards the hole, dodging the hot lava all the way down. He just makes it without getting burnt and drops Cody off. Suddenly, he realises that rock Hallie is stood on is slowly sinking into the lava. There is no time to waste. He shoots back up and grabs a petrified and shaking Hallie just before the rock crumbles to the floor and flies as quick as he possible can through the dark hole.

As they hit daylight the whole pyramid starts to collapse around but luckily Snout makes it to the other side and they crash onto the soft sand. The third piece appears on Cody’s necklace and the whole thing lights up green.

With all the pieces collected and the portal reassembled it was time for the adventure to go on. The children walked through the portal once more with one thought on their mind. Home.

Chapter 136DP

As the group scanned their surroundings, they were filled with joy. They were finally home! But something didn't seem right...

As they approached their beloved house, in shock, they witnessed a scene of devastation: the once sparkling-clean windows were grimy and cracked; the ruby-red door to happiness was now a faded maroon; the flowers, that had once grown strong, were now bowing down with age... but more disturbing was that their parents had gone and in their place were two wrinkly elders that claimed to be their parents! What had happened?Cody approached his 'parents' cautiously and asked: "Did you stay in the bath too long? What's happened to you?" "Don't be so cheeky, little whippersnapper," croaked their dad. "Go and wash your hands ready for supper." With tears streaming down her face, Hallie whispered, "But you're sooo-""OLD!" interrupted Cody. "How long have we been away?"Using the zimmer frame they didn't know she needed, their mum ignored the obviously strange animal (Snout), who was looking at her with fear in his eyes, and told them one more time to wash their hands.

After supper, Cody, Hallie and Snout snuck out of the back door and ran to their tree house, which was now rotting, and began to think... Why is everything so old and broken? How long have we been away? What can we do to fix this? Hallie took off the necklace and placed it on the windowsill so she could think clearly. They had had wonderful adventures in a myriad of inter-dimensional and unforgettable worlds but now she just wanted HER mum and HER dad to be normal. SHE wanted to be normal. What could they do? Will they be stuck like this forever?

Just then, as all seemed lost forever, the tree house began to tremor and a strange glow illuminated the room. The blinding light reflected into their

eyes and made everything unclear... except for one thing: ancient and mystifying hieroglyphic-like words appeared on the tree house’s damp, dilapidated and mossy walls. Cody heard strange rasping noises coming from the necklace and spun round to realise that it was Snout... and he was reading the encrypted symbols. “Grshe... shretas... sleshentar... smaltepshka... smoomithswae...” Could Hallie understand him?“Follow the light to where your destiny began, and what is done shall be undone...” whispered Hallie as she translated Snout’s words. “Don’t trust that Dragon... he is scared of everything? He might be seeing stuff that doesn’t make sense in any way!” Hallie looked into Snouts eyes... for the first time, could he be brave enough to help them?“I trust him... YOU trust me! I think we should do what he says!” said Hallie, as she began to descend the ladder.“But what does it mean? Where do we go?” enquired Cody, slowly following her.“It means we have to go back to where we found the necklace the first time!” cried Hallie. After collecting the supplies that would be necessary for their journey, all three set off with a lighter heart... maybe they would get mum and dad back. The next few days were the most gruelling days they had faced so far – all three were exhausted and had to face their fears: spiders covered them in The Forest of Haunt and Hallie doubted that she still had her abilities to talk to animals as the spiders didn’t listen to her; of course, Snout was afraid of every noise that echoed around him and every shadow that crept up behind him.

Finally, they arrived back at that emerald green patch of grass where it had all begun the first time. As they peered into the gloom of the deepening darkness, they observed something moving. Snout speedily hid behind Hallie’s legs... Cody took a step forward but stopped abruptly when he saw what was before him: a ting frog-like creature with a tall top hat and a spotty bow-tie was peering out with his beetle-like eyes that were magnified by the large glasses he wore. His bat-like ears protruded from under his hat while his pale orange skin was entirely covered in fur.

However, his most extraordinary feature was the enormous wings that looked like spider silk had been woven over a frame.“Welcome back my friends... you have been gone a loooooong time,” said the mysterious creature in a ragged yet mouse-like tone. “I have been expecting your return.”“Have we grown or have you shrunk, because we don’t recognise you,” replied Cody with a sneer.“Who are you?” questioned Hallie.“I know who you are and I know what you need... I am the one that crafted the necklace and sent you this gift.” He replied.The elf-like creature, whose name was Goliff, proceeded to tell them that they were in the last world and it was a parallel universe... they were not home yet! “If you solve my riddle, everything will return to normal and I will create one last portal for you to return home. If you do not get it right, the necklace will shatter and you will remain here forever. You have one guess each.”The three heroes looked at each other and agreed.

What has roots as nobody sees,Is taller than trees,

Up, up it goes,And yet never grows?

In an instant, Cody shouted out, “A tree.” With a shake of his head, Goliff looked at Hallie and Snout. Snout was shaking in his scales and Hallie was petrified... she thought she knew the answer but was she right? Would she save them or...“Shlumrepfup,” whispered Snout. “No, it is not a cliff,” replied Goliff. “One guess left.”Hallie had thought of a cliff, but that was wrong. Could it be her second guess? She was always wrong Cody said... but he was wrong this time so maybe...

“A mountain,” Hallie whispered in her softest voice. In an instant, the magnificent portal they were used to appeared, and a sigh of relief escaped them all at the same time. Stepping into the golden light, Hallie turned to take one last look at Goliff to thank him, but he had vanished.

With their world back in order, the children and Snout sat down exhausted.

Chapter 146JT

From swamps to underwater lands, the children had travelled far. However, they must decide what to do with the portal necklace because they had finally realised the power the portal necklace held. They knew if it fell into the wrong hands the necklace could be used to destroy the world. That thought sent a shiver down their spine. Cody wanted to keep the necklace but reluctantly (and for once in his life) agreed with Hallie that to keep it safe they must hide it somewhere. Hallie had finally thought of the most logical solution. “We can bury it in the garden.” she said, gently drawing her hand across

the glistening, golden chains. Cody and Hallie confidently stepped into the wild, natural garden, desperately searching for inspiration for where to conceal it. Suddenly Snout, who was in mischievous mood, snatched the precious portal from Hallie’s hand and ran like a cheetah across the vegetable garden to get to the flower bed. “Hey, clever Snout, he’s found the perfect place to hide it,” laughed Cody. But then, in his usual way, took the necklace back from the excited dragon. Snout flew to Hallie and sat on her shoulder for comfort. Hallie lovingly stroked his little head. “I found it so I should be the one to hide it,” boasted Cody, slowly walking backwards towards the house. THAT WAS HIS MISTAKE...

All of a sudden, a slime-ridden spider scuttled out of the drain pipe; shocking Cody with such a fright that he dropped the necklace into the flower bed. Watching in disbelief, the children saw it slowly sink into the ground. Hallie grabbed the necklace but then found herself being dragged into the damp soil –she quickly let go before she was submerged into its depths. The necklace, however, was travelling through the dark earth: searching for its next group of courageous adventurers. The portal necklace was gone; the children couldn’t help but feel they should have destroyed it instead.