The key to the Dark Circle

By Georgia Beyers

Get ready to Join Ziggy Bean and Her Friends on the Adventure of a Lifetime!

Ziggy, an unemployed fairy, joins the bureau of young human defence (BYHD) as an undercover agent. Along the way, she dodges a death dart, survives a filton by stilton spell, rescues and arch enemy, save a temperamental werewolf, flies an empathic unicorn and gets

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linellen Press
• Release date: May 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781922343697

Book preview

Ziggy’s Reviews

One for the big screen. In The key to the Dark Circle, I loved how the author invented the transportation from a bird to a bottle, and where they lived in trees, the top shelf of the library or small cracks between builds - really just under our feet. Georgia Beyers has opened a whole new world to me, one that I just loved.

Aoife Marie Sheridan, www.reviewoffantasy.com.

G.E. Beyers really grabbed my attention and my heart with The key to the Dark Circle and didn’t let go until the end, leaving me wanting more! The essence of Ziggy’s character was so well developed I couldn’t have asked for more in this whimsical fairy tale. The trials and tribulations, the first kiss, everything was just spectacular about this story.

Savannah Mae for Rebecca’s reads choice awards.

The original first edition of this book– ‘Pumkiniah the Brave’- Won Rebecca’s Reads Choice Awards 1st place fantasy

An accomplished and neatly contemporary slant on classic fairy folklore. The sort of fairy heroine you really wouldn’t mind your daughters (or sons) idolising. Move over Tinkerbell, your time’s up!

Read it daddy reviews.

There is a depth to the unforgettable, heart-warming characters, that makes your heart glow, and stays with you long after you’ve finished the book.

www.telltalereviews.com.au

The key to the Dark Circle is an amazingly well- written story! Ms. Beyers weaves a very interesting storyline and brings her characters to life perfectly. I foresee Ziggy Bean making her way to the classics in short order. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up - I’m personally looking forward to more from this author.

Sass reviews.

This masterpiece of children’s literature flows beautifully, and each chapter leaves you with a feeling that the next chapter will hold something even more wonderful. An adorable read in the vein of the writings of C.S. Lewis, bringing some of that old-fashioned magic and wonder into a modern world, imparting a deep feeling that good will always win over evil.

J. Smartes. Author.

I have just finished reading ‘The key to the Dark Circle’ and I found it a thumping good read! With just the right mix of action and adventure, characterisation and emotion to keep me turning pages until the very end. An excellent book that I would recommend not just to children, but also to adults who enjoy stories about fairies and fantasy.

Ethan Somerville. Author

The key

to the

Dark Circle

Georgia Beyers

Previously published in 2013 as Pumkiniah the Brave

by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC

Copyright © 2013 G.E. Beyers. All rights reserved

Previous ISBN:978-1-62510-503-5

Second Edition as The key to the Dark Circle

Copyright © 2021 Georgia Beyers

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1-922343-69-7

book logo

Linellen Press

265 Boomerang Road

Oldbury, Western Australia

www.linellenpress.com.au

For my children Daisie, Ruby & Jak,

who inspired me to write, this when

they were still young enough to believe

in magic, and for my grandchildren,

and foster children who still do!

Love & thanks to my daughter

Ruby Eira for the lovely cover design

concept, and to Sampath Fernando at

SMStudioInc for bringing it to life.

Contents

I am forgotten!

Miss Nobody!

The painful pear

Firestrum and the BYHD

Moleskin Manor

Love at first flight

History of the Dark Circle

Filton by stilton

The Forest of Silent Souls

The last prophecy

No more rat skin

Ziggy the brave!

Within these walls

Stolen away

The ultimate betrayal

The ‘‘bang on the head’ prophecy

A right royal rescue!

The sword of truth

A triumphant return!

A picture containing clock, flying, airplane, plane Description automatically generated

1

I am forgotten!

Ziggy Bean marched up and down outside the Queen’s Imperial office, shaking in her boots, although she wasn’t sure why. After all, she was there at the request of the Bureau of Young Human Defense, to receive a medal for extreme bravery –

The velvet heart.

She sat down in an old blue velvet chair that almost swallowed her up, and waited, her thoughts taking her back to the adventures that had brought her here. Oh, how she had changed since that day when it all began. So much had happened in such a short time. She was still the same Ziggy. But now her world was much bigger somehow.

Sun shone through the long Victorian windows behind her, onto the front of a scruffy little book that lay in her lap. On the cover in curly letters, it read Alpha Manual. She flicked open the pages and chose a passage at random. It read:

Be brave little one, your strength lies not in your size, but in your faith.

This brought a little smile to her face, as if she had remembered something lovely, and maybe just a little bit magnificent. She closed the book softly, leant back in the chair, closed her eyes and took herself back – back to where it all began.

On a quaint little windowsill, in a quaint little house, in a quaint little town called Bickenspa, sat a rather small, auburn-haired tooth fairy called Ziggy Bean. Her skinny pin-like legs dangled over the edge of the windowsill as she gazed thoughtfully up at the moon and stars that hung above the trees in the park opposite. Behind her in the darkened room, a small boy lay sleeping. Ziggy turned to look at him, a worried expression on her face.

I’m sorry I’m such a failure, Jak, she whispered as a small tear fell from her eye. She quickly wiped it away and turned her gaze back to the midnight sky, remembering something that took place a few months earlier when she had taken Jak over to the park to play.

It had been such a lovely sunny day, and the park was empty and quiet. Ziggy had sat on a bench, watching Jak as he went up and down the slide, and back and forth on the swing. They had climbed trees up on the big hill, and later in the day, they had settled by the lake. Quite worn out, they had both stretched out on the grass in a super warm spot looking up at the clouds. It had been such a peaceful feeling lying there in the sun, and without realising it, they had drifted off to sleep. Suddenly a blood-curdling scream had woke Ziggy up. She’d flown to her feet and searched the spot where Jak had been lying. But he was gone! – nowhere to be seen – he had completely vanished.

Ziggy had flown high above the trees to get a better view. Then she saw him on the east side of the park. A large net enclosed Jak and he was being dragged along the ground. She flew down closer, as fast as she could, pulling her beechwood wand out and shaking it towards those dreadful kidnappers. When she was almost on top of them, she could see the witches. They pulled and pinched and cackled at poor little Jak. He was quite small by now as the shrinking potion they had forced him to swallow had taken effect. He looked up at Ziggy, desperation in his eyes.

Grabbing at the grass with one hand, he reached out to her with the other. Help me! Help me! he screamed.

Ziggy flew closer, reaching out her hand to touch his. She shook her wand madly, but in her panic, she couldn’t remember the child protection wish. It had been so long since she needed to use it. And because she couldn’t remember the words, she panicked even more and forgot to flap her wings. She fell to the ground at great speed and, letting go of Jak’s little hand, head-dived straight into a bush and blacked out.

Moments later she woke up, though it felt like hours. Ziggy looked up, and with her blurred eyesight, tried to focus on the words directly in front of her. As she sat up, she saw she was surrounded by trolls wearing arrow-proof vests, all of which had BYHD written on the back of them.

Mmm … the Bureau of Young Human Defense. What could they be doing in a Bickenspa park? That’s rather strange, said Ziggy to herself.

As she peeked over the top of the bush, a large grey troll flew over the top of her head, just missing her, but he landed on a witch, squashing her flat. The petrified witch screamed as the air disappeared from her body and, when she had stopped screaming, the troll stood up and began rolling her up like a sheet of pastry – that’s how deflated she was!

He pushed the rolled-up witch into a small tube-shaped canister and added it to a row of other canisters attached to his belt. He took a running jump and flew through the air once more towards another unsuspecting witch, who was also soon as flat as a pancake.

To the left, a whole bunch of trolls were pulling Jak out of the net. Arrows were flying everywhere, and one landed in the bush right beside Ziggy, almost hitting her foot. She screamed, which alerted a couple of trolls nearby. They ran over and dragged her out of the bush by the tips of her fluffy white wings.

Ouch, ouch, ouch! shouted Ziggy. That hurts!

What ‘ave we ‘ere then, said the ugliest troll, pushing his face into hers.

Ugh, you smell rotten, said Ziggy. Let me go, stinky beast!

She wriggled and turned up her nose in disgust. Then she heard a familiar voice.

It’s okay, lads, you can put her down. She’s the boy’s tooth fairy and a very dear, old friend of mine.

Ziggy would have recognised that snooty voice anywhere. It was Faniella Firestrum, her old school pal. Firestrum walked over to Ziggy and gave her a big hug.

Boy, you were lucky the BYHD were in the park this afternoon, Ziggy. Your boy Jak would have been stolen if we hadn’t been close by. Those dreadful Gladden Mar witches had shrunken him so small they would have disappeared with him in seconds. Thank goodness we were on a stakeout.

Stakeout? said Ziggy, her voice shaking.

Yes, we’ve had an undercover surveillance team working on a lower tree cavity here in the park. Had a tip-off about fairy dust being used illegally in the area – a few teenage elves flying around late at night, using the fairy dust without a fairy dust authority badge. Can’t have kids flying around on that stuff. It increases your flying ability up to five times the usual flying speed. Could be very dangerous that. Bound to be an accident before long.

Oh dear, said Ziggy, not really knowing what else to say. She was still in shock and all she could think about was Jak. Is Jak okay? she asked Firestrum.

Oh, he’ll be fine. He has a few bumps and bruises, but hey, it could have been much worse. He’ll get over this in no time at all.

Are you sure? said Ziggy.

Yes, of course, I’m sure. I’m Faniella Firestrum, fairy extraordinaire. I know my stuff! she replied with a know-it-all grin.

The Bureau of Young Human Defense – better known as the BYHD – are dealing with kidnappings every week, Ziggy. The witches are very active in these modern times, and the streets are not safe for children anymore. Any parent that lets their child out alone is just asking for trouble. Not that it would be their fault, of course, because how could they be aware of the danger when, as adults, they are unaware of the ethereal world?

I thought I could protect him, said Ziggy, looking sad. I couldn’t remember the words to the child protection wish, she added guiltily.

Firestrum wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder and looked at her with a little smirk that half said, ‘Poor you.’ The other half said, ‘You’re just not good enough.’ Though she didn’t have to say it out loud.

The BYHD wrapped up their operation and returned to their hidden posts to continue their undercover stakeout while Firestrum walked Ziggy and Jak back to the house.

I’m sorry, Ziggy, I hate to have to do this to you, but I’ll be advising the ethereal government that a hobgoblin is what the BYHD recommends for this household. Hopefully, you can work happily alongside each other because it is really needed for the safety of the child – hobgoblins are stronger than a hundred men. The ethereal government is placing one in most homes now as a security measure. We have to keep the children safe, Ziggy. You do understand, don’t you? said Firestrum with a note of concern.

Yes – yes, of course, said Ziggy. Whatever it takes.

Within a few weeks Wilbur had arrived. He was about three-foot-tall but sturdily built, and he had the longest eyelashes Ziggy had ever seen! He was a happy, extremely vigilant fellow who was constantly on the lookout for trouble, and always stayed close to Jak.

Life was good with Wilbur on board, everything fine and dandy, and Ziggy actually liked this new intruder. She didn’t think she would, but she knew Jak would always be safe with him around. And that was a nice feeling.  Besides, she still had pride of place on his bedside table under his night lamp. She slept on a lovely, knitted pillow that had belonged to his sisters, Daisie and Ruby, when Ziggy had been their tooth fairy many years ago. Now the pillow had been handed down to Jak. So Ziggy had used the same knitted pillow for almost seven years. That’s a long time to be with one family.

Oh, how she loved this family – she loved it with all her heart – and how she loved her memories of this house in Bickenspa. She could not imagine ever being anywhere else.

That night, after checking all the doors and windows, Wilbur snuggled up next to Jak to read him a bedtime story. Once the boy nodded off, he slipped out from under the cover and snuck under the bed to sleep – with one eye open of course!

As Ziggy lay on her old familiar knitted pillow in the dark, she realised Jak had gone to sleep without the usual Goodnight, Ziggy. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember the last time he had wished her a Goodnight or pressed his fingertip to her tiny lips with his goodnight kiss on the end.

Ziggy suddenly felt sick in the pit of her tummy. She sat up and looked at Jak sleeping and listened to his soft breathing, as Wilbur’s snores rumbled from beneath the bed.

I am forgotten, she whispered to herself. I am forgotten. And a little tear dripped from her cheek onto her small, knitted pillow.

As the weeks turned into months, summer became autumn and leaves began to fall. Ziggy sat by and watched an amazing friendship grow. Jak and Wilbur were inseparable. They often played Cowboys & Indians, and Jak loved to go across to the park after school to play football or rugby or basketball, knowing he was safe with his hobgoblin by his side. Jak loved the freedom – loved Wilbur – and Ziggy just sat at home on the windowsill watching them from a distance, feeling left out and rather useless.

Jak was so happy and laughed and smiled all the time. He obviously felt secure in Wilbur’s company. He was over his ordeal with the witches, as Firestrum had predicted. But one day when Ziggy had asked him if they could go to for a walk in the garden together – not even to the park, just the garden – Jak had pretended to have a tummy ache so Ziggy would leave him alone. Then, as soon as Wilbur came in, they began play fighting and rolling around on the floor then, at Wilbur’s suggestion, they grabbed a football and ran off to the park for a kick-around. Ziggy called Jak’s name as he rushed out the front gate, thinking she might join them, but he didn’t even look back.

So that’s how life was now for Ziggy: she was a redundant tooth fairy. Jak was older now and just starting to