Did owls eat goblins? Mallie-Ann wasn't sure but she thought perhaps they might. She pulled the blanket back up over her head. Pollie, Mollie and Edward snuggled up to her chest and eventually Gollie slipped from under the pillow and nestled comfortably under her arm. Downstairs she heard the old grandfather clock chiming midnight. Outside in the garden, there was quite a ruckus going. Old Gobby Goblin had, had his P.L's stolen Old Gobby Goblin had just discovered that one of his most prized possessions; a yet unopened box of peppermint larks had been stolen from his hideaway by two mischievous brownies. He was furious, more so because he knew that they had access to any amount of the delicious candy as they lived in the basement of the house, just below the kitchen area, whilst he had had to risk life and limb to get past the vicious house pets to get his loot. To add insult to injury, he had been keeping it for a special The other Brownie thief, he, he, he. occasion, his birthday no less, so that he could eat his belly full of them, and now here were these two rascals with a trail of opened wrappers strewn around the place, laughing at him. He was furious. He banged his fists against the branch of an old tree, causing a cascade of leaves and small berries and his howls of rage could be heard for miles around. The two brownies were laughing uncontrollably, high-pitched sounds shattering the night air. In her bed Mallie-Ann snuggled even closer to her dolls. Osito. Mallie-Ann's huge teddy She even thought that she should go and bring the huge stuffed bear Osito and her spotted dog Dalmy that were in a corner of her room, but reluctant to leave the safety of her bed, she convinced herself that they would be more useful there, guarding her room from any intruders. When she felt Gollie’s shivering, she squeezed his paw and whispered, “It’s okay Gollie, it’s just the night animals howling, and the wind rustling through the trees.” The little brownies were cheerful flat-faced hairy little creatures, very attached to the family in whose house they lived. They had become Mallie-Ann's loyal Dalmation Dog quite indignant when they saw Gobby steal into the house one night, sprinkling some sort of magical dust over the sleeping dog and cat, head straight for the cupboards where the different candies were stashed, and make off with the new fairly large box of peppermint larks … Mallie-Ann’s favourites. It would be too much for them to retrieve the box, and bring it back to the house undetected, but they were determined that he would not enjoy them either, and so they planned how they could get into his hideaway and eat as many of the candies as they possibly could, leaving the wrappers so that he would know that he had been robbed. The owl hooted again. Really he did not understand this fascination with peppermint larks and chocolate - he had tried the latter once and found it a sticky and distasteful substance that clung to his beak and made him feel quite thirsty. As for larks - he preferred the flesh and blood variety! Still, it was amusing to watch the antics of the mischievous brownies and the consternation of old Gobby Goblin - what a frightful face the fellow pulled! But what on earth was he up to now - no good by the looks of it... a trapdoor had opened in the earth next to the old tree and out of it climbed not one, not two, not three, but FOUR more grumpy looking goblins, not any old goblins mind but village elders decorated with fish-heads and old chicken bones. Pooh - what a stink! They did not seem at all pleased at being roused by Gobby from their slumber (highly placed goblins such as these liked to have at least 16 hours of sleep per day) but once they grasped the situation they barked indignantly and took to stamping their feet on the ground, muttering nasty goblin curses and shaking their fists. There's nothing goblins dislike worse than being cheated of their purloined comestibles by house brownies - such cheerful and polite creatures... and to think that some authorities even claimed that they and goblins came from the same stock! An honest goblin would never consent to live inside a house full of humans and even do household chores for them such as clearing House Brownie away cobwebs at night and keeping evil dreams at bay. Why, it was positively sickening.