Midnight Feast (7 page)

Sooze stopped suddenly. A mischievous smile grew across her face. ‘Oh!' she said. ‘That's it!'

‘What?' demanded Twink.

.

.

Sooze grinned. ‘I've just had the most glimmery idea ever, that's all! Come on, let's go and find the others before break's over with. I know exactly how we can get back at Mariella!'

.

Chapter Seven

Twink was certain that she'd be too excited to sleep that night, but she must have dropped off despite herself. The next thing she knew, Sooze was shaking her shoulder.

‘Wake up, Opposite,' she hissed loudly. ‘It's time!'

The fairies of Daffy Branch moved about in the moonlight, whispering and pulling on their dressing gowns. It was just like the night of Twink's birthday . . . except that this time, the whispers were quite a bit louder!

‘Another midnight feast!' said Sili. ‘This is going to be such fun!'

‘Yes, it's just the thing to make it up to Bimi for not believing her!' said Pix in a piercing whisper.

‘I can hardly wait!' put in Bimi.

Twink could see her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. She felt a rush of gratitude towards Sooze. True to her word, Sooze had told everyone exactly what had really happened. They had all been as aghast and angry as she had been at Mariella's trick, and quick to offer apologies to Bimi – who had been only too glad to accept them!

A soft snore came from across the room.
Wasps!
thought Twink, biting her lip. Was Mariella
really
asleep . . . or just pretending? There was no way of knowing.

‘Come on, everyone,' whispered Sooze loudly. She lit a tiny glow-worm lantern. ‘Let's go – but
keep quiet
!
We don't want that awful Mariella telling Mrs Lightwing what we're up to.'

The fairies took off into the moonlit trunk. Flying up to the first-year Common Branch, they went into a quick huddle.

‘Zena, you wait out here and watch Daffy Branch,' hissed Sooze. ‘Hide behind the ledge in case they sneak over here to make sure we're really having a party. The rest of us will go into the branch and act like we're having a good time.'

‘We
are
having a good time!' put in Pix with a grin.

Leaving Zena, the fairies fluttered into the branch. ‘Oh, it's so different in here at night!' breathed Twink. Her friends' faces looked ghostly, their wings gleaming as the light of the single lantern shone through them.

‘Would you pass the sweet seeds, Twink?' asked Pix loudly.

‘Of course!' Twink passed an imaginary plate to Pix. ‘And have some of this sparkling dew, too!'

‘Mmm, these pollen cakes are delicious!' said Bimi.

They chattered loudly about all the wonderful food they were eating. Sooze and Sili pretended to eat, solemnly chewing and drinking nothing at all. Twink bit her lip to keep from collapsing into helpless giggles. If anyone could see them, they would think the Daffy Branch fairies had gone completely mad!

.

.

Suddenly Zena stuck her head around the door. ‘Hurry!' she whispered. ‘They've just been listening outside the ledge, and now they're zooming off towards Mrs Lightwing's branch!'

Quick as lightning, the fairies leapt up and ran from the Common Branch, launching into the air and plummeting downwards. In less than a minute, they were tucked up back in their beds in Daffy Branch, with the lantern out and their dressing gowns put away.

‘Remember, we've been asleep for ages!' whispered Sooze. The branch grew still, with only the soft sounds of pretend sleeping filling the air.

They heard Mrs Lightwing before they saw her. ‘What on
earth
is the meaning of this, Mariella? You wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me that the others are having a feast in the Common Branch, and no one is there!'

‘But they
were
there!' protested Mariella. She sounded furious, and the fairies had to burrow their faces in their pillows to keep from laughing. ‘They must have gone somewhere else!'

‘They were there, really they were!' echoed Lola's squeaky voice. ‘They had all sorts of food, and drink, and –'

‘Glow-worms on!' barked Mrs Lightwing. Suddenly Daffodil Branch was flooded with light. There was a pause.

Opening her eyes the tiniest crack, Twink saw the first-year head standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Mariella and Lola looked stunned, with their mouths hanging open and rather silly expressions on their faces.

‘Well?' demanded Mrs Lightwing. ‘What do you have to say for yourself, Mariella?'

‘I – I – it's a trick!' stammered Mariella. ‘They were all having a feast, they really were –'

Mrs Lightwing tapped her wings together and scowled at the pointed-faced fairy.

‘Well, if they
have
been playing a trick on you, I suspect they had good reason. We don't like tell-tales here at Glitterwings, Mariella – bear that in mind next time! Meanwhile, for waking me up for no good reason, you and Lola will both finish the window-washing that the others have been doing. I believe that they've only got about halfway through, so you'll have plenty to keep you busy!'

‘But that's not
fair
!' burst out Mariella. ‘They were –'

‘Would you like to wash
all
the windows?' snapped Mrs Lightwing. Mariella fell into a fuming silence.

‘No, I thought not!' said Mrs Lightwing. ‘Now, go to bed. Glow-worms off!'

She took off from the ledge. No one said a word until they were quite sure she was gone, and then Pix stirred drowsily, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes.

‘What's going on?' she murmured. ‘What was all that noise?'

‘You mean things!' Mariella stamped her foot. ‘You
were
having a feast, you were!'

Twink lit a lantern and jumped out of bed. ‘We
weren't
,'
she said fiercely. ‘We were paying you back for what you did to Bimi, that's all – and you deserved every bit of it. Show her, Sooze!'

‘With pleasure!' Sooze leapt up and flitted over to Mariella. ‘Come on,' she said, holding out her hand. ‘Let's see what you've got in the pocket of your nightdress!

Mariella's cheeks burned. She tossed her silvery-green hair. ‘I don't know what you mean. I don't have anything in my pocket!'

‘Then turn it inside out, and let us see for ourselves,' demanded Sooze, stepping forward.

Mariella gulped and backed away. ‘I won't! Why should I?'

‘I'll help you, then!' Quick as a bee-sting, Sooze lunged forward. Darting her hand into Mariella's pocket, she pulled out a crumpled bit of petal.

‘Look, everyone,' she said, holding it up. ‘It's just like we told you! Bimi wrote
two o'clock
on it, and Mariella swapped it for another one once Bimi fell asleep!'

The fairies stared stonily at the scrap of petal. Seeing it for themselves made Mariella's trick seem even worse.

‘You should be ashamed of yourself, you horrid thing,' said Zena coldly. ‘You knew we'd all blame Bimi!'

‘I – I didn't mean anything
really
bad by it,' muttered Mariella. She had backed up almost against the wall by now, and looked quite sick. ‘It was just meant to be a joke. Wasn't it, Lola?'

The thin little fairy nodded vigorously. ‘Of course! Mariella wouldn't do anything bad. It was just a bit of fun.'

.

.

‘Yes, great fun!' cried Twink. Her lavender wings trembled. ‘Poor Bimi had to put up with everyone turning against her, and we lost three free afternoons washing windows! Well, you got what you deserve, Mariella.'

‘And you too, Lola,' added Pix sternly. ‘You should choose your friends better!' She turned to Bimi, who had stood pale and quiet throughout all of this. ‘Bimi, I know we all said sorry to you before, but I want to say it again. We should have known that you'd never do such a thing!'

The others clustered around Bimi, echoing agreement. Sooze fluttered over and looked Bimi squarely in the eye. ‘I'm sorry, too,' she said. ‘I was the worst of anyone. Will you forgive me, Bimi?'

Bimi nodded. ‘Of course! And, Sooze, I – well – maybe I was wrong about you,' she said in a rush. ‘I'm sorry, too.'

Happiness burst through Twink as Sooze and Bimi hugged, their wings fluttering. Oh, how perfectly glimmery! Her two friends, friends at last!

‘But we still haven't decided what to do about Mariella and her little insect friend,' said Sooze grimly as she and Bimi pulled apart. She gave the two fairies a hard look.

‘What do you mean?' cried Mariella in alarm. She shrank against the wall. ‘I've already been given my punishment.'

‘Not by
us
, you haven't,' said Zena. ‘And we're the ones who have to live with you!'

‘I think Bimi should decide what to do,' said Twink. She stepped close to her friend and squeezed her hand encouragingly.

‘Yes, that's fair,' said Pix. ‘She was the one most hurt by Mariella. What do you think, Bimi? What should we do about them?'

Bimi hesitated, biting her lip. ‘Well,' she said slowly, ‘. . . since Mariella and Lola seem to dislike us so much . . . maybe we should do them a favour and stop talking to them for a while.'

‘Perfect!' said Pix. She turned towards Mariella and Lola, who stood huddled together, wings touching.

‘From this moment on, no fairy in Daffy Branch will say a word to either of you,' said Pix firmly. ‘Not until we decide that you've learned your lesson. And we'll make sure that the rest of the first year follows suit!'

‘But I didn't mean it!' Mariella looked close to tears. ‘It was only a joke, that's all! Can't you take a joke?'

Sooze looked blankly around the branch. ‘Did anyone hear anything?'

.

.

The other fairies chorused that they hadn't.

‘Come on, everyone, let's go to bed.' Pix's yellow wings fluttered as she stifled a yawn. ‘We've got to get up in the morning, and we're going to be tired enough as it is.'

‘Oh, Twink, do you think I was too hard on them?' whispered Bimi as they snuggled down against the soft moss of their beds. ‘I feel really sorry for them now!'