It was a sweet, quiet afternoon. Skye, Ziggy, Lily, and Dash were in the living room building a little fort with the couch cushions. They had pulled down two big cushions to make the walls, a soft one for the roof, and a flowery blanket for the door. It looked like a castle all their own.

Outside the window, white clouds floated slowly across the sky. There was one shaped like a bunny with long ears, one shaped like an elephant with a curvy trunk, and one shaped like a cat swinging its tail.

"Look, Skye, that one is a cloud-bunny!" said Ziggy, bouncing.

"And that one is a cloud-cat that purrs," whispered Skye, smiling.

Lily arranged the cushions with a serious face. "Our fort has to be very strong," she said. "Or it will fall on top of us."

Dash, lying on the rug, was looking under the couch with curious eyes. She always loved seeing what was behind things, inside jars, and under the furniture.

It was Dash who saw her first.

"Friends, something is moving!" she said in a low voice.

From under the couch, through the fringe of the rug, out came a slipper. An old brown slipper of Daddy's, a little worn on the edges. But it was not a normal slipper: it walked on its tiptoes, as if it were dancing, and it came up to the group without making a single sound.

The children stared with their mouths wide open.

The slipper stopped in front of Skye. Then, with a tiny little voice, she whispered: "Pssst... I have an important clue. Follow me."

Skye tilted her head. "A clue? What is a clue?"

"It is a little sign," whispered the slipper, "that helps us find the truth."

"Oh!" said Skye. "Like when I find crumbs on the rug and I know somebody ate a cookie in secret."

"Just like that," said the slipper, with a soft cloth smile. "My name is Slippy. At night I walk around the house, and today I saw something important. But nobody believes me, because I am only a slipper."

"We believe you," said Lily, sure.

Right at that moment, they heard a familiar sound.

"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"

From under the flowery blanket popped out a little colorful wooden train, with a smoking chimney and a flashing red light. It was Toby, the Magic Train!

Toby stopped in front of the children, puffed a sweet little cloud, and said:

"CHOO CHOO! Climb up on my little train,
I'll take you down a magic lane!
Under the couch hides a secret door,
where a kitchen needs help — let's explore!"

The children laughed. Toby's rhymes were always funny and full of mystery. They climbed onto the train, and Slippy hopped onto the back wagon. Toby gave a sweet whistle, and... POOF! The children became very tiny, and the little train zoomed under the couch.

Under the couch, the world changed.

There was a kingdom made all of forgotten things. The towers were built from cork tops, the staircases were made of wooden clothespins, and the little windows were buttons with a hole in the middle. From those little windows you could still see the sky above, with the cloud-bunny and the cloud-elephant floating slowly by.

"This is the Little Castle Under the Couch," whispered Slippy. "And the problem is over there, in the King's kitchen."

They came closer. From the kitchen door rose a cloud of steam, the smell of boiling broth, and a terrible noise: pots huffing, spoons flying from one side to the other, and a voice shouting very loud.

"IT IS ALL GONE! IT IS ALL GONE! THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!"

They went inside. In the middle of the kitchen, in a cloud of flour, there was a very tall chef, thin as a pinecone, with his white hat all crooked to one side. His face was as red as a ripe tomato. He held a big wooden spoon and waved it like an angry wand.

"It was the kitchen helper!" he yelled. "He wasted the flour! He lost the vegetables! In one hour the King is coming for dinner, and we have NOTHING!"

In a corner, a little kitchen helper with an apron way too big was crying without making a sound. His tears fell into an empty pot.

"That is Head Chef Bartolo," Slippy whispered to Skye. "And he is as stubborn as a mule."

Ziggy stepped forward, full of energy. "Mister Bartolo, we can help you look!"

"THERE IS NOTHING TO LOOK FOR!" Bartolo yelled. "IT IS ALL GONE!"

Lily crossed her arms, sure of herself. "But if we don't look, how can we know?"

"I SAID IT IS GONE!" Bartolo yelled, even louder. "AND I KNOW EVERYTHING!"

Dash tried to look under the table, but Bartolo stepped right in front of her, waving the big spoon. "HANDS OFF! NOBODY TOUCHES ANYTHING!"

The children looked at each other. Bartolo was so angry that he was not listening. He was like a pot boiling too much: every word they said made him boil even more.

Slippy came close to Skye and whispered something in her ear.

"Skye, I saw what happened. Last night I was under the table. Head Chef Bartolo tripped over the sack of flour. It all fell down. He felt so embarrassed, and he hid the proof under the table. That is why he shouts so loud: he is afraid that somebody will find out it was him."

Skye understood right away. Bartolo was not mean. He was only scared. And he was shouting because he was afraid of being found out.

She thought for a moment. If they told him "it was you!", he would get even angrier and close up like a little hedgehog. They had to find another way.

While Ziggy, Lily, and Dash kept on trying, Ziggy asking, Lily insisting, Dash sneaking a look under the table, Skye walked up to Bartolo with her quiet little steps.

"Mister Bartolo," she said, with a soft voice, "can you tell me what really happened?"

Bartolo looked at her sideways. "I told you. It was the kitchen helper."

Skye did not get angry. She did not say "that is not true". She stood right next to him, and she began to speak softly.

"You know, one time at my house something happened. I was carrying a glass into the kitchen, and it slipped from my hands. It fell, and it broke into many pieces. I was scared to tell Mommy. So scared. I thought she would be mad. So I stayed quiet. I felt bad here, in my tummy," and she touched her tummy.

Bartolo lowered the spoon just a little. His red face turned a little less red.

"Then," Skye went on, "I decided to tell her. Mommy gave me a big hug. She was not mad at all. And you know what? Right away I felt better. My tummy did not hurt anymore."

Bartolo looked at Skye in silence. Then he looked at the floor. Then he looked at the spoon. His face was turning a normal red now, not red like a tomato anymore.

"I..." he began, with a tiny voice.

"Yes?" said Skye gently.

"I... it was me," said Bartolo. His eyes filled up with tears. "I tripped. The sack of flour fell down. I felt so ashamed. So I said it was him," and he pointed at the kitchen helper, who by now had stopped crying. "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

The little kitchen helper lifted up his head, amazed.

Just then Dash, who had sneaked under the table while Bartolo wasn't looking, shouted: "Friends! Come and see!"

Everyone came closer. Under the table, hidden well, were the baskets of vegetables, the bags of grain, the pots with the sweet-smelling herbs. They were not gone. They were just HIDDEN.

"But then..." said Lily, "everything is here!"

"Everything is really here!" said Ziggy, bouncing.

Bartolo looked at the big pile of food and burst out laughing, while two tears rolled down his cheeks. "I hid it all because I was ashamed! And meanwhile I was shouting that it was gone! What a silly thing I did!"

"You are not silly," said Skye. "You were only scared."

Bartolo took off his hat and bowed in front of Slippy. "And you, little slipper, you saw it all. You told the truth even when nobody believed you. Thank you."

Slippy whispered: "It is enough for me that the truth came out."

Now there was little time: the King would arrive in half an hour! But there were many of them. They all set to work together.

Ziggy kneaded the dough with quick little hands, laughing when the flour landed on his nose. Lily, with her serious face, cut the vegetables with a little wooden knife. Dash carried the baskets from the table to the fire, running back and forth. Skye, calm as always, lit the fire under the big pot and stirred the broth with a wooden spoon. Head Chef Bartolo, now with a huge smile, was directing everyone with kind, gentle words. The kitchen helper was laughing happily, because finally nobody was shouting at him.

From the little window of the Castle they could still see the sky above. The cloud-bunny, the cloud-elephant, and the cloud-cat were floating slowly by, and they seemed to smile at everyone.

When dinner was ready, it smelled of warm broth, fresh bread, and forest herbs. The King arrived, ate two full plates, and said it was the best dinner of his whole life.

Bartolo hugged all four children tight. "Thank you. Without you I would have stayed hidden behind my shouting."

Then they heard it again:

"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"

Toby had come back to pick them up. The children climbed on, kissed Slippy goodbye, and the little train set off. POOF! In one moment, they were big again like before, in the living room, inside their cushion fort.

Toby, before disappearing under the blanket, gave one last little puff and said:

"CHOO CHOO! The truth is worth more than gold,
a listening heart is brave and bold!
With gentle kindness, fear melts away,
and the shyest heart can shine like day!"

Outside the window, the clouds kept on floating by. The bunny, the elephant, and the cat seemed to wave goodbye with their tails.

Skye smiled, and she leaned back on the cushions of the fort. Lily, Ziggy, and Dash leaned on her too. They felt good just like that.