The Worst Witch to the Rescue (11 page)

Ethel sat up in bed and stared in amazement.

‘A tortoise!’ she laughed. ‘What on earth is Mildred Hubble doing with a
tortoise?
’

Drusilla laid Einstein on the bedcover and Ethel held up the candle so they could get a better look at him, but Einstein had completely retreated into his shell and was glowering at them from the depths as if he was hiding inside a dark cave.

‘Shall we take it to H.B.?’ asked Drusilla. ‘You know we’re not allowed to have any pets except the cats. She’d probably get
expelled
after the snakes incident and the non-holiday project.’

Ethel sat up in bed, contemplating Mildred’s fate. She agreed with Drusilla
that it was highly likely that Mildred would be expelled if they took the tortoise to Miss Hardbroom after such a disastrous start to the term – even by Mildred’s standards. The trouble was, lessons would be much less fun without the possibility of undermining Mildred Hubble on a daily basis. Ethel didn’t see this unpleasant trait as a flaw in her own character, it was just part of life to her, ‘getting’ Mildred Hubble, and the days would pass more slowly if Mildred wasn’t actually there.

‘Let’s be merciful,’ said Ethel jauntily, smiling a regal smile.

‘Why?’ asked Drusilla, who was every bit as ghastly as Ethel.

‘Well,’ explained Ethel, ‘I am feeling just a
teensy
bit mean about the snakes and the holiday project.’

‘But that was just Mildred being an idiot,’ exclaimed Drusilla. ‘Wasn’t it?’

‘Not
exactly
,’ laughed Ethel. ‘I
did
just
sort of try out a snake spell on Mildred’s stupid pot and I
did
sort of accidentally-on-purpose knock her bag down the tree when she’d told me all about her “oh so brilliant best idea I’ve ever had” holiday project. It
was
actually, and as I couldn’t think up a project of my own for the first time in my life, I just sort of borrowed it for the time being and replaced it with some of her own plain paper and some nice little smiley faces.’

Drusilla gawped at Ethel, feeling slightly uncomfortable. ‘How do you mean
borrowed
it, Eth?’ she asked. ‘Are you going to give it back?’

‘Don’t be
dim,
Drusilla,’ said Ethel, beginning to be irritated. ‘Anyway I threw Mildred’s project into the kitchen bin after I’d brought it up here and copied it out word for word. She’ll get over it. It shows she
can
have a good idea. She’ll just need to have another
one. Come on, let’s take Mr Plod back to her and make her day.’

No one was in the corridor, but they could hear voices coming from Mildred’s room, where the door stood open. Ethel put a finger to her lips and they crept silently along until they could hear what was being said. (Ethel always waited for a few minutes before she entered a room in case she heard anything useful.)

On this occasion, she heard something extremely useful.

‘ Please
,’ Mildred was begging her friends. ‘We could meet up after lights out and creep about
very
quietly –’

‘We
can’t
, Milly’ said Maud, sounding exasperated. ‘You
know
we’ll get caught.’

Mildred burst into tears. ‘You don’t
understand
,’ she sobbed. ‘He’s only under the spell for one more day. In fact, not even a whole day. By midday tomorrow the spell will have worn off. It’s all my fault. I should have shut my bedroom door and now he’s lost and, knowing my luck, we’ll find him when he can’t speak any more – then
no one
will ever know that Ethel stole my project. He really
can
speak, you know. I had a long conversation with him.’

Ethel made another silencing gesture to Drusilla and motioned her to creep away from the door, back to their room.

Once inside, Ethel closed the door hastily and held up Einstein, who was so deeply withdrawn into his shell that they couldn’t see him at all.

‘Who were they on about?’ asked Drusilla.

‘Our little friend here,’ said Ethel. ’Apparently he’s not as dense as he looks. Mildred’s spell must have worked on him nearly two weeks ago. Now I come to think of it, she
was
hiding something
in her cat basket when I met her in the tree and if it was Mr Plod, then he
might
have heard a few things I’d rather he didn’t repeat.’

‘What shall we do with him, Ethel?’ asked Drusilla.

‘Easy-peasy,’ said Ethel. ‘We’ll hide him. Mildred said he can speak for another day, but we’ll hide him for two, just to be on the safe side. Then we’ll get him out and give him back to Mildred as if we’ve just found him – no harm done either to Mr Plod
or
to me, and Mildred will be grateful just to have him back. You know how ridiculous she is about animals. Only Mildred Hubble could love a tortoise.’

instein hunched himself deep within his shell as Ethel lowered him into a cardboard box which also contained the toad that Ethel had used for the animal spell during Miss Hardbroom’s class. There were airholes punched in the lid and Einstein emerged from his shell and stretched his long neck upwards and tilted his head.

‘Are you OK?’ whispered the toad.

‘Shh,’ said Einstein. ‘I’m trying to listen.’

Ethel and Drusilla were hatching a plan which involved a very tall pine tree, just outside the school gates, with a hollow near the top, big enough to hide a tortoise in. They were discussing whether to rig up a barrier at the entrance so that he wouldn’t fall out. Drusilla was in favour of this, but Ethel wasn’t.

‘He’ll be
fne.
There’s no need to make such a fuss. He won’t fall out anyway’ she explained to her friend.
‘If he really can speak, I’ll just tell him not to leave the hollow or he’ll smash himself to bits. We’ll wait until H.B.’s done her rounds and fly him up there. It’ll only take five minutes.’

‘Shouldn’t we leave him something to eat?’ asked Drusilla.