The Swamp Boggles by Linda Chapman Page B

at sports as he was, and just as strong. “Anthony probably would be a better Guardian,” added Sophie glumly.
    â€œNo way!” Sam exclaimed.
    â€œYes way.”
    Sam shook his head so hard that his red hair stood up. “Anthony would be a useless Guardian. I bet if he saw one of those Ink Cap Goblins we met the other day, he’d scream and look like this…” He pulled a bug-eyed face. “Or this!” He pulled another face, crossing his eyes and pulling his ears out. “You were really brave, Soph. You fought those goblins and beatthem. If it hadn’t been for you, they’d have got away with the green gem.”

    Sophie felt much better. “You were braver than me,” she said generously. “I had my Guardian superpowers to help me fight, but you were just you and you still fought them.”
    Sam shrugged. “Couldn’t leave you to fight them on your own.”
    Sophie glowed. When she had first become the Guardian, Grandpa had told her that no one must know, but Sam had found out by accident and since then he’d been helping her. She was very glad. He was incredibly good at figuring things out, and though he might not be the best at throwing and catching things, he was the best friend in the world, and she knew that he’d never let her down.
    â€œI think we need superhero names,” Sam declared now. “Actually, you’re OK. You can just be The Guardian. But I need to be called something. I’ll be… I’ll be…” He thought for a moment. “I know! I’ll be Book Boy!”
    Sophie looked at him teasingly. “Book Boy? Oh, yes, I can just see those goblins running away, yelling, ‘No, no, not Book Boy! Don’t let that Book Boy get me!’”
    Sam grinned. “They’ll tell their little baby goblins terrifying stories about me and run for their lives when they hear I’m coming! They will live in fear of The Book Boy!”
    Sophie chucked a large stuffed dragon at him. “Stop messing!”
    He threw it back, but she didn’t even have to duck. It sailed past her shoulder and hit the bin.
    Sophie giggled. “Good throw, Sam – not! Now come on. We have to start looking for clues that tell us where the remaining five gems are hidden.” She opened the book on the floor. It was bound in brown leather with its title on the cover in faded gold letters: The Shadow Files . The pages were very thin, and covered with drawings and notes made by all the different Guardians of the Gateway. There was information about the different shadowcreatures they’d each encountered, so that any Guardian coming after would know how best to fight them.
    Sophie flicked through the yellowing pages. “Grandpa says the clues will all be in here somewhere, in case the Guardian ever needs to find the gems.”
    Sam frowned. “What I don’t get is how come your grandpa doesn’t know where the clues are. He’s had the book for fifty years and seems to know it inside out, so why doesn’t he know which pages the clues are on?”
    â€œOh, I asked him that when we finished training today,” said Sophie, remembering. “I meant to tell you earlier. Every time a new Guardian takes over, the magic moves the gems, so that they’re hidden in places where the new Guardian will be able to get to them.Then new clues appear magically in the book.”
    Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “So that explains why the green gem was in Mrs Benton’s cottage!”

    Mrs B was the Smiths’ housekeeper. She lived just down the road from Sophie, and the green gem had been hidden in her basement. They had found it on the first day Sophie had become the Guardian.
    Sophie nodded. “I know, I wondered about that too. So now we just have to find the rest of the clues and track down the gems.” She looked down at The Shadow Files and shook her head. “I just wish it