Magical Mayhem (5 page)

‘Yes, but we've got something important to tell her!' cried Twink. Across the Branch, the HeadFairy vanished through the doors, with the teachers flying after her.

Mrs Hover glanced at the younger years' tables, and then ushered Twink and Bimi closer to her.

‘Listen, my lovelies,' she whispered. ‘Miss Shimmery and the other teachers have gone to try and fix the tree's magical protection. If they can't do that, then anything you have to tell them won't matter a whit! Now, do try and finish your lunches – we all need to keep our strength up.' She bustled off, patting her pink hair worriedly.

Twink and Bimi gaped at each other. ‘The tree's magical protection?' whispered Bimi as they started back towards their table. ‘But if
that's
not working . . .'

Twink's wings felt clammy. The tree's magic kept Glitterwings and its nearby grounds shielded from all sorts of dangers. Without it,
anything
could happen!

‘What was that about, Opposite?' demanded Sooze as they sat down again. The rest of the table were gazing at them, too, their expressions a mix of curiosity and fear.

Twink and Bimi exchanged a glance – and decided in the same moment not to worry the others unless they had to.

Twink managed a shrug. ‘Nothing,' she said, picking at her seed cake. ‘We just wanted to ask if we could do anything to help, that's all.'

Teena felt cold as she watched Miss Shimmery and the other teachers fly from the Great Branch. She had thought that the adult fairies could solve the problem easily – but clearly, this wasn't the case.

‘Did you see how worried they all looked?' whispered Zuzu, her violet eyes wide.

‘It looks really serious,' agreed Summer. She swallowed. ‘Teena, I know it would be awful for you, but – but maybe . . .' She trailed off.

Dread swept over Teena as she realised what her friends were thinking. She
couldn't
tell what she had done; she just couldn't! ‘Come on, let's finish our lunches,' she said hurriedly. ‘Then we'll go to the library. Maybe we'll find an answer in there!'

.

Chapter Five

The Glitterwings library was a tall room with shelves that stretched to the ceiling. Quite a few students had gathered here on this strange afternoon with no classes, though not many seemed to be looking for books. Instead they sat at the mushroom tables in worried clusters, whispering together.

Teena and her friends waited until Mrs Stamen's attention was elsewhere, and then flitted into the Restricted section.

‘What are we looking for?' asked Zuzu doubtfully, gazing up at the lofty shelves.

‘Anything that might help!' Teena pulled out a book at random, flipping through its petal pages. No, that one was no good! She shoved it back into place.

Summer was looking more methodically, reading titles out loud. ‘
Befuddled, The Magic of Confusion . . . Advanced Biped Transformation . . . Spells on the Wing: Mid-Flight Magic . . .
Hang on, what's this?'

She took down a dusty volume with an old, cracked spine. ‘
Wish Spells
,' she read, her voice rising in excitement. ‘Oh, Tee, I think this is it!'

Teena and Zuzu darted to Summer's side as she opened the book to its table of contents. ‘
Chapter Seven: When Wishes Go Wrong
,' read Teena in wonder. ‘Summer, you star!'

Taking the book from Summer, Teena shoved it under her uniform. She peeked out to check that Mrs Stamen wasn't watching. ‘Come on!' she hissed.

With her friends following, Teena flew to an empty table in the corner. Trying to look casual, she spread her wings. ‘There, now no one can see what we're doing!' she whispered, taking the book out.

The three girls huddled together as they read the strange, old-fashioned words. Teena blinked as she saw that the chapter was mostly about
humans
who had made foolish wishes. Apparently fairies in olden times used to grant wishes to humans, though she couldn't imagine why. The humans seemed to have messed it up every single time.

Like me, I suppose
, thought Teena, her cheeks reddening. Her wish hadn't been very clever either!

‘Wasps! Who would have thought that there are so many ways for wishes to go wrong?' murmured Summer, turning a page. ‘Teena, look – here's something!'

The girls leaned forward. ‘
Inexact wishes and how to reverse them
,' read Teena. Holding back a shout of delight, she bounced on her mushroom seat. ‘Oh, Summer, that's it, that's it! Now I just have to do the spell, and everything will be all right again.'

‘But –' started Zuzu, frowning.

Teena was already scanning the instructions. ‘And it's an easy one as well. All I have to do is say it out loud, and imagine what outcome I want. Perfect!'

‘Well, do it in a hurry – Mrs Stamen will notice us in a minute,' urged Summer.

Zuzu tapped her wings together. ‘Wait a minute, you two! There's something we've forgotten about –'

‘Zu, we haven't time!' said Teena. Quickly committing the little rhyme to memory, she closed her eyes and imagined that her wish had never happened.

She began to speak. ‘
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride, but a foolish wish one must deride. If a horse is a beggar and the beggar's a horse, then the wish must be reversed, of
– MMPH!'

Teena spluttered to a stop as something clamped over her mouth. Her eyes flew open, and she pushed her friend's hand away. ‘Zuzu, what are you doing?' she cried. ‘I almost had it!'

‘Yes, and what would have happened then?' demanded Zuzu. ‘Tee, Miss Shimmery told us not to do
any
magic. And that's because all the spells are going wrong! So why do you think
this
one would go right?'

Horror prickled at Teena's wings as she saw what Zuzu meant. ‘Oh!' she gasped. ‘If
this
spell went wrong too, then –'

‘Yes, exactly!' said Zuzu. ‘Things might get even worse than before!'

Summer hurriedly shut the book. ‘Oh, Zu! I'm so glad you thought of that – Teena and I were being a pair of wasp brains!'

‘Then that means we can't do anything at all,' said Teena slowly.
Except tell the teachers the truth
, she thought. But that was still too awful to contemplate, and she went on in a rush, ‘So – so I suppose we'll just have to wait, and hope that the teachers can –'

She stopped as an unfamiliar noise came from outside.

‘What's
that
?' said Zuzu, her eyes wide.

The three friends flitted to a nearby window. Teena's mouth fell open as she saw that two humans were coming up the hill.
Humans!
But no humans had ever been here before – the tree and its surrounding area were protected by magic!

Teena's heart hammered in her chest as she watched the humans approach. There was a man and a woman, both wearing boots and carrying walking sticks. They seemed to be arguing.

‘You see?' came the man's voice. ‘I
told
you you're not reading the map properly. You didn't even know this hill was here, did you?'

‘It's not! Here, look for yourself.' The woman thrust a folded-up piece of paper at him. The two of them consulted it.

‘Well, that's strange,' said the man. ‘We should be in Parson's Field now! How on earth did this hill and that wood get here?' He squinted up at Glitterwings, and Teena shrank back against the window.

‘See, I told you!' laughed the woman, taking the folded-up paper back. ‘Less about my map-reading skills next time, hmm? It must be a printer's error or something.'

Teena's head swam dizzily. Humans,
here
– and it was all her fault! Beside her, Zuzu and Summer looked just as stunned and frightened as she felt. The humans began walking up the hill towards the school, talking and laughing.

‘What's that noise?' said a second-year student. Suddenly a small crowd had joined them at the window – and a moment later, there was chaos.

‘Mrs Stamen! Mrs Stamen! There are
humans
out there!' shrieked a purple-haired fairy.

‘
What?
' The librarian hurried out from behind her mushroom desk. ‘Oh!' she gasped.

Teena felt herself jostled from all directions as everyone clustered around the windows to see. Dozens of wings stirred the air as fairies took to the air to get a better view.

‘Oh, it's true!' cried another girl. ‘They're coming this way! Mrs Stamen, what should we do?'

‘Teena!' hissed Zuzu, shaking Teena's arm. ‘You
have
to tell now – you just have to!'

Teena nodded weakly. But before she could get the words out, Mrs Stamen had flown into action. ‘Get away from those windows!' she shouted, clapping her hands. ‘The library's closed – I have to go and find Miss Shimmery immediately.'

‘Mrs Stamen, I – I mean, there's something –' stammered Teena.

‘Hurry, Teena!' urged the librarian. ‘Go back to your own branches, all of you!' she called out. ‘Go, go!'

The fairies streamed out of the doors in a flurry of different-coloured wings. ‘Mrs Stamen!' cried Teena, close to tears. ‘
Please
– I have to –'

‘Not now!' The librarian swept Teena and her friends out of the library and into the trunk, banging the doors shut behind her. ‘There's no time – the humans might –'

‘AAAGGGHH!' screamed a voice.

Whirling about, Teena saw a fourth-year student pointing at a window in the trunk. ‘There's an eye up there! Something's looking in!' The girl burst into tears, and Mrs Stamen flew quickly to her, shepherding her away.

‘You girls! Go to Snowdrop Branch this instant!' she called over her shoulder as she sped off.

Teena hovered in place, staring in frightened fascination at the blue-green eye peering into their school. As she watched, the eye vanished – only to reappear at another window further up.

‘Isn't it amazing!' said the man's voice.

‘I don't believe it!' said the woman's from the opposite side of the tree. ‘Why, the windows go all the way up!'

‘Oh!' yelped Zuzu, whirling about. ‘They're on both sides! There's another eye up there, a brown one!'

‘We
can't
fly past them to Snowdrop Branch,' gasped Summer. ‘Quick, you two – in here.' She pulled Teena and Zuzu behind a large knothole. They hovered together, trying to make themselves as small as possible.

Peering around her, Teena saw that they weren't the only ones hiding. Frightened fairies had taken refuge in every knothole and bend of the trunk. As a terrified stillness fell over the tree, the humans' voices could be heard more clearly.

‘But what
is
it?' said the man. Teena winced as a banging sound reverberated around them like thunder. The man was knocking on the school with his fist! ‘Listen, it's hollow,' he said. ‘But the tree's
alive
! How can that be?'

‘Maybe – maybe it's some sort of art installation,' suggested the woman doubtfully. ‘You know, like something in a gallery.'

‘But the hill wasn't on the map!' said the man, sounding frustrated. ‘And see here, Martha – there are
doors
at the bottom. Look how tiny the hinges are!'

Peeking downwards, Teena saw one of the front doors open. She held back a shriek. The man's finger was in their school!

‘There's a floor – and it's
polished
,' he said. ‘I can feel how smooth it is! I don't know what we've found, but . . .' He trailed off. To Teena's great relief, his finger disappeared, though the door stayed open.

‘I . . . I don't know either,' said the woman. ‘Frank, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that something actually
lives
here!'

There was silence. Risking another peek, Teena saw that the windows were all clear now. Were the humans gone at last? But then the man's voice came again.

‘Typical – I've left my mobile in the car! We'll have to go back. We need to get the press out here, pronto.'

‘You mean, ring the papers?' said the woman, sounding surprised.

Press? Papers? Teena strained to hear.

‘Of course!' said the man. ‘This should be studied. If there really are – well, fairies, or pixies, or something – then the public deserves to know!'

‘I suppose you're right,' said the woman. ‘How exciting!' Their voices began to fade. ‘I wonder how much we'll get for selling our story to them?' she said . . . and then they were gone.

Almost immediately, the magpie's call rang through the school – three long, urgent caws. Up above, Miss Shimmery appeared, diving down the trunk with the other teachers behind her.

‘To the Great Branch!' shouted Miss Shimmery as she flew past. ‘Everyone to the Great Branch, hurry!'