Amelia Fang and the Half-Moon Holiday. Laura Ellen Anderson

Strawberry

      Streams. Although Amelia and Grimaldi

      agreed the smell of the dank,

      algae-covered River Styx was better.

      Squashy was snoring lightly in

      Amelia’s lap and she also began to

      feel her eyes drooping.

      Back home she would

      usually be fast asleep at

      this time of the morning.

      But in the Kingdom

      of the Light,

      where the Rainbow Rangers were heading, things were the other way around. Amelia gave a big yawn.

      After many winding roads and having scoffed too many sugary sweets, Grimaldi had managed to use every single sick bag available. He did not deal well with travelling for long periods of time. But finally, and much to everyone’s relief, the Rainbow Wagon reached its destination; the Dazzling Docks. And boy were they dazzling – the sea sparkled fiercely, making the Rainbow Rangers squint and

      shield their eyes, as the shining waves lapped up on to the sandy beach.

      ‘SO MUCH DAZZLE,’ said Florence, shielding her eyes as she stepped out on to the soft sandy ground.

      ‘Wow! I’ve never seen water like that before,’ said Amelia, staring at the sea. The bright shimmering waves washed away

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      the last of her sleepiness. ‘It’s so different to the Frogleg Falls or the Putrid Pond back home.’

      ‘It’s definitely more sparkly,’ Grimaldi agreed, lifting a hand to cover his mouth. The brightness wasn’t helping his travel sickness. ‘I think after a week of all these bright colours, I’ll be relieved to go back home to the grey murkiness of Nocturnia.’

      The Dazzling Docks were packed full of little wooden boats all painted with different colours and patterns. Amelia liked the fact

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      that each boat seemed to have its very own personality. Ricky and Graham had gathered the Rainbow Rangers on the pier where a huge sparkly polar bear

       with a wooden leg and an eye patch was waiting. Amelia thought he was a bit grizzly to be working in the Kingdom of the Light amongst the glittery fairies and cute puppy-dragons.

      ‘Alright, you horrible lot, listen up!’ said Ricky. ‘The very nice Mr Shivery Tim Bear here, has kindly offered to lend us a bunch of his row boats to get across to Sugarplum Island.’

      Mr Shivery Tim Bear grunted and nodded.

      ‘And, GUESS WHAT?!’ Graham added. ‘This is your first chance to earn a badge.’ He did an awkward wobbly twirl

      just to emphasise exactly how impressed

      everyone should be about this.

      Grimaldi sniggered.

      Mr Shivery Tim Bear stood next to Graham in silence. The polar bear didn’t look very impressed.

      ‘If you successfully cross the water without sinking, you could earn yourself

      your first badge! But . . .’ Graham paused dramatically. ‘You won’t just be rowing across to the island . . .’

      ‘Oof!’ exclaimed Amelia, as Frankie pushed in front of her, eager to be first to hear how to win the new badge.

      ‘You will be racing!’ Ricky declared, taking over from Graham. ‘The first Rainbow Ranger to reach the coast wins an I GOT THERE FIRST badge. So, in an orderly fashion, go and pick a vessel!’

      Without hesitation, the Rainbow Rangers scrambled forwards, desperate to find a boat and win the race.

      Florence pushed her way through the crowd and launched herself into a small polka dot boat. A huge wave of water rose in the air, soaking a shocked Ricky and Graham.

      Amelia and Squashy made themselves comfortable in a black and white stripy boat, while Grimaldi found a swirly patterned one.

      Tangine chose the most extravagantly decorated boat in the docks; adorned with four wrought iron posts and lavish frilly red

      curtains. It rather resembled a floating four-poster bed.

      In the water next to Amelia was Frankie. Her narrow boat was covered in green spikes – it looked a bit like a floating cactus. ‘Don’t expect to beat me,’ Frankie said with a glare, poising herself for the race.

      Amelia rolled her eyes and braced her oars.

      ‘Good luck Amelia,’ whispered

      Grimaldi from the boat next to

      her. ‘And make sure you don’t let Frankie win!’

      ‘Don’t worry, I’ll try my best!’ Amelia said, smiling. She looked out towards Sugarplum Island as it glimmered on the horizon.

      ‘Okay, Rangers!’ Graham shouted across the docks to the eagerly waiting racing creatures. ‘Before you set off, there is one thing to be aware of – there have been rumours of shadows beneath the waves of

       the Sea of Sparkles; wiggles in the tides and secrets in the sea spray . . .’

      ‘Graham, you’re doing your annoying

      explaining-things-in-weird-ways-nobody-

      understands thing,’ said Ricky.

      Graham sighed. ‘Fine. There’s weird stuff in the sea but no one knows what it is. Okay?’

      The Rainbow Rangers muttered nervously amongst themselves and Grimaldi peered warily over the side of his swirly boat. Amelia leaned across and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘Whatever it is, it can’t be as bad as

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      what lives in the Putrid Pond or beneath the Nocturnian graveyard, right?’ Grimaldi giggled and nodded.

      ‘You’ll be fine!’ Ricky reassured everyone with a big grin. ‘Just stay in your boat and everything will be grand.’ The Rainbow Rangers were silent.

      Ricky cleared his throat. ‘Alrighty then! Let’s get this show started. Ready, steady . . . ROW!’

      Nobody moved.

      Apart from Florence.

      ‘OH, COME ON WIMPITS! IT’S JUST A SILLY SEA STORY!’ called their yeti classmate who was already ploughing through the waves using her own great paws instead of oars. ‘THAT BADGE IS MINE!’

      At the word ‘badge’ Frankie suddenly begun to row. ‘I’m totally getting the I GOT THERE FIRST badge!’

      One by one, the Rainbow Rangers began to move away from the dock and then, when nothing odd seemed to happen in the water below, they each sped up until a fully-fledged race was on. Splashes and sploshes and shrieks of delight were heard as the Rainbow Rangers pulled themselves across the water.

      ‘Come on Grimaldi, let’s go!’ Amelia called, setting off through the water as fast as she could row. But the little reaper was tucked away inside his boat, frozen to the spot.

      ‘I . . . I’m worried about what’s under there . . .’ he peeped over the side of his boat.

      Amelia saw her fellow Rainbow Rangers rowing away across the water and felt that extra badge slipping away, too. ‘It’s fine, Grimaldi!’ she urged. ‘Look, nothing is happening! Row next to me the whole way.’ She smiled encouragingly. ‘You can do it!’

      Grimaldi hesitated, then pulled himself up

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      into a seated position. He began to slowly move away from the dock.

      ‘That’s it, you’ve got this!’ said Amelia. ‘Now, just move a biiiiit faster