Treasure Hunt (2 page)

Suddenly Twink spotted Pix coming into the branch. ‘Hi, Pix,' she called out with the others.

Then an idea struck her. If anyone would know about the Doldrums, Pix would! Twink glided down to the main floor, landing beside the clever red-headed fairy. ‘Did you have good hols?' she asked.

Pix nodded as she headed to the last empty bed. ‘Yes, glimmery! I got loads of studying done. How about you?'

‘Er – well, not
much
studying,' said Twink, taken aback. ‘I mean, I only did what we were told.'

Pix shook her head as she started to unpack. ‘We're in the Third Year now, Twink,' she chided. ‘You can't afford to let yourself fall behind, you know.'

‘I'm not
falling behind
,' protested Twink, stung. ‘I just didn't do any extra, that's all.'

From the look on Pix's face, it was clear that she thought it was the same thing! Twink glanced around the branch to make sure no one was listening. ‘Pix, can I ask you something?' she said in a low voice.

‘Of course,' said Pix, pulling a pile of schoolbooks out of her bag.

Twink drew a bit closer. ‘I just wondered . . . have you ever heard of something called the Doldrums?'

Pix's eyebrows flew up. ‘The
Doldrums
? Isn't it that awful condition fairies sometimes get, where they don't show any interest in anything?'

‘I – I suppose,' said Twink.

Pix snatched up one of her books, flipping through it. ‘Yes, I'm sure it is. Oh, it's dreadful! Fairies who have the Doldrums hardly even bother to eat, or laugh, or
anything
. Here, look.' Pix found the page she was looking for and pointed. Twink craned her neck, dreading what she might see.

‘Wasps, it's even worse than I thought,' said Pix, frowning down at the page. ‘It says that if a fairy has the Doldrums and something doesn't happen to snap them out of it, they might never be the same again! They just sit around feeling sad and gloomy for the rest of their lives.'

‘How – how do you snap them out of it?' whispered Twink. Her wise, witty gran, sad and gloomy for ever? The thought turned Twink's blood to ice. No wonder her parents hadn't wanted her and Teena to know!

‘
A shock of joy
, it says here,' read Pix. ‘I suppose that means they're surprised by something really nice, and it helps them get over it.' She shut the book, tossing it on her mossy bed. ‘Why did you want to know?'

‘I – nothing, it was just – just something I read in a petal mag,' stammered Twink, edging away. ‘Thanks, Pix!'

To Twink's relief, no one seemed to notice that anything was troubling her – except Bimi, of course, watching from their loft. Usually Twink loved the way that she and Bimi could almost read each other's minds, but right now she thought she'd give anything for Bimi not to have a clue!

Sooze flitted over, nudging Twink with a friendly pink wing. ‘Guess what?' she said.

‘What?' asked Twink with a smile. At least she never had to worry that
Sooze
might read her mind – the lavender-haired fairy wasn't the sort to think too deeply about things.

Sooze lowered her voice. ‘Well, I was just talking with Sili, and we reckon we know what Miss Twilight's big surprise is! We think that –'

‘Hello, my lovelies!' boomed a voice. Mrs Hover, the matron, landed on the Violet Branch ledge and flitted heavily into the room. ‘Are we all here now? Excellent! Time for the opening session in the Great Branch – come along now, flitter-flutter!'

.

Chapter Two

The Great Branch was the largest branch in the school, with gleaming wooden floors and rows of mossy tables. Every table had a flower hanging over it for each of the different branches, so that the Branch looked like a bright, sunlit garden – especially now, in summertime, when the days were so long and pleasant.

Twink flew to the Violet Branch table, perching on a spotted mushroom seat beside Bimi. Across the Branch, she caught sight of Teena sitting at the Snowdrop table, with her two friends Zuzu and Summer.

Teena grinned and waved at her, and Twink waved back. Thank goodness Teena didn't know about Gran! It would ruin her little sister's term.

Twink sighed. She wished that
she
didn't know either. If only she could turn back time, and not have overheard her parents' conversation! But Gran would still be ill regardless . . . and surely it was better to know than not know, wasn't it?

She started as Bimi nudged her. ‘Good afternoon, Miss Shimmery,' chorused the school. Miss Shimmery, the HeadFairy, was hovering above the platform at the front of the Branch. Her rainbow wings glimmered in the sunlight.

‘Welcome back, everyone,' she said warmly. ‘I've just a few things . . .'

Pretending not to notice Bimi's worried gaze, Twink listened as the HeadFairy made her usual announcements: no high-speed flying in the trunk; uniforms required from tomorrow,
complete
with oak-leaf caps (the older years groaned at this); no bothering the water sprites in the school pond . . .

Twink gazed out of the window, wondering whether her mother had arrived at Gran's yet. How was her grandmother doing? Was the doctor still with her?

‘Listen!' hissed Sooze from across the table. Looking up, Twink saw Miss Shimmery nod to Miss Twilight, who was smiling and looking very mysterious.

‘And finally,' said Miss Shimmery with a twinkle in her eye, ‘may I ask that all third-year students stay behind in the Branch after dinner, as Miss Twilight would like a word with you.'

An excited buzz rustled through the Third Year as Miss Shimmery drifted back down to the platform. ‘Butterflies commence!' she announced.

The doors to the Branch swung open, and in flew the school butterflies, in a bobbing river of colour. Each butterfly carried an oak-leaf platter of food or an almond-shell pitcher of fresh dew, which they placed on the tables before fluttering off again.

‘What do you suppose the surprise is?' asked Mariella, a pointy-faced fairy with silvery-green hair. Mariella had been an awful pain for most of the time Twink had known her – though she finally seemed to have learned her lesson, and wasn't so bad now.

‘Sooze and I have got it all worked out!' laughed Sili as she reached for a seed cake. ‘We think –'

‘No, let me tell it!' squealed Sooze, clamping a hand over Sili's mouth. Sili gave a muffled shriek, flapping her wings in mock struggle. ‘A party!' cried Sooze. ‘We think she's going to give us a super-glimmery party, and –'

‘A party!' Mariella bounced on her mushroom seat. ‘Oh, I hope you're right. That would be brilliant!'

Everyone echoed agreement. ‘We haven't had any real fun in
ages
,' exclaimed a green-haired fairy called Ivy. ‘It's been such hard work since we started Third Year!'

Twink tried to join in with the others while she ate, smiling and laughing. Secretly, though, she hoped Sooze was wrong. How could she possibly enjoy a party right now?

Finally the butterflies cleared away the tables, and the rest of the students departed. The Third Years remained behind, waiting expectantly.

Miss Twilight flew over to the third-year section and perched on the edge of a vacant table. ‘Now then,' she said with a smile. ‘I'm sure you're all wondering what the surprise is.'

Twink nodded along with everyone else.

‘It's very simple,' said Miss Twilight. ‘In my experience, third-year students often start to feel a bit fed up about now – the work is harder than you've been used to, there's a lot more of it, and suddenly it all seems very difficult. Am I right?'

Suddenly Twink's smile felt strained. She didn't want to think about things being difficult – they already felt much harder than she could handle.

‘So,' continued Miss Twilight, ‘I always make a point of arranging some sort of special activity for my Third Years in the summer term, just to ensure that they don't take themselves too seriously!'

Sooze and Sili nudged each other, their eyes shining.

‘This year's activity . . .' Miss Twilight paused dramatically, ‘is a treasure hunt!'

Despite herself, Twink almost laughed at the startled expression on Sooze's face. The rest of the Third Years were murmuring excitedly to each other, thrilled by the idea of a treasure hunt.

‘I've hidden a series of ten clues around the school,' explained Miss Twilight. ‘Each clue leads you on to the next, and the fairy who finds the most clues will win the grand prize!'

‘When does the treasure hunt begin, Miss?' asked Pix eagerly.

Twink and Bimi exchanged a look. Pix would probably win, of course! The clever fairy always did better than anyone else at things like this.

‘Tomorrow,' said Miss Twilight. ‘You'll have three weeks to find all the clues – and I have to warn you, some of them are very tricky! Finally, on the last day, you'll have a day off from your lessons to complete the hunt.'

‘Hurrah, a day off!' whispered Mariella.

‘And does anyone know what that last day might be?' continued Miss Twilight, looking around. ‘It's a very important one.'

Ivy's twin sister Jade, who was in Carnation Branch, raised her hand. ‘The solstice, Miss!'

The summer solstice – the longest day of the year – was a special time to fairies, who depended on the power of sunshine for so much of their magic.

Miss Twilight nodded, swinging her legs from the table as if she were no older than they were. ‘That's right! So to round off the treasure hunt and celebrate the solstice, we're going to have a fairy disco on the star-gazing platform that night.'

‘A disco!' hissed Sooze triumphantly. ‘That's even
better
than a party!'

Miss Twilight's voice turned serious. ‘Now, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that the treasure hunt is for your free time only, except on the final day. I still expect all of you to pay attention to your schoolwork over these next few weeks.'

She gave them all a stern look, and then suddenly smiled. ‘But if I catch anyone paying
too
much attention to it, they'll have me to answer to!'

Back in Violet Branch, Twink got ready for bed, listening to the excited chatter that rang through the room. She made a face. Everyone was so keen to start the treasure hunt, but she just couldn't seem to care about it.

Slowly, Twink opened her jar of wing polish. Taking a pink rose petal, she stroked the polish on to her lavender wings, rubbing it in until they shone like jewels.

‘The treasure hunt sounds like fun,' said Bimi. She brushed her long blue hair with a thistle comb, watching Twink carefully.

Twink nodded. ‘Yes, it does.'

Bimi put down her comb. ‘Twink,
won't
you tell me what's wrong? Please?'

Part of her wanted to tell Bimi, but the words just wouldn't come out. They were too awful, and too scary.

Twink gulped. ‘I – I can't,' she muttered, looking away. ‘I'm sorry, Bimi. I just can't.'

She knew Bimi must have seen she was close to tears, though the blue-haired fairy didn't comment on it. ‘All right,' said Bimi softly. ‘But – but Twink, I'm sure that whatever it is, it's not as bad as you think!'

I wish that were true
, thought Twink. But Pix's words echoed in her mind. Unless something happened to snap Gran out of the Doldrums, she could stay sad and gloomy for ever.

Down below, the other fairies were laughing and teasing each other about the treasure hunt. ‘You'll win, of course, Pix!' called Kiki, a lilac-haired fairy with purple wings.

Ivy looked up from the petal pad in which she was always drawing. ‘My sister Jade could win just as easily,' she said. ‘She's very clever, you know!'

‘Not as clever as Pix,' said Sili loyally.

Pix didn't say anything to this, but Twink noticed that she looked rather pleased as she changed into her nightclothes.

Ivy shrugged and added something to her sketch. ‘Well, Jade was always the cleverest fairy at our old school. I don't think she was really trying last term; we were both having too much fun swapping places.'

‘Now,
that
was a brilliant prank,' grinned Sooze. ‘I'd give anything to have done it myself!' The twins had only been at Glitterwings since the previous term, and for several weeks Ivy and Jade had had great fun switching uniforms and pretending to be each other during lessons.

‘Imagine
you
a twin, Sooze,' said Mariella with an exaggerated shudder.

Sooze laughed and waggled her eyebrows. ‘Who needs a twin?' she said. ‘I've got an Opposite! Right, Twink?'

Up in her loft, Twink managed a smile. Sooze had called her ‘Opposite' since their first term together, because Sooze's lavender hair and pink wings were the exact
opposite
of Twink's.

‘Let's have a vote!' cried Sili. She leapt up on to her bed. ‘Jade or Pix – who's going to win?'

‘No!' burst out Pix, the tips of her pointed ears turning red. ‘Stop it, you lot. Any one of us might win. It doesn't have to be me
or
Jade.'

Despite her protestations, though, Twink thought that Pix sounded pretty confident. Of course she expected to win the treasure hunt – why shouldn't she? Pix had always
been the cleverest fairy in their year, right from the very first term.

‘What does it matter who wins?' put in Bimi, who had been listening along with Twink. ‘The important thing is to have fun, isn't it?'

‘Definitely!' said Sooze. ‘And
I
certainly mean to. Especially at the fairy disco! Remember my dance from First Year, everyone?' She went into the wild, hip-wiggling dance she'd invented. The branch erupted into giggles.

The merriment lasted until it was time for glow-worms out. Lying under her petal duvet in the darkness, Twink stared out of the loft window at the stars. Now that no one could see, it was a relief to let a few tears escape down her cheek.

A beam of silvery moonlight shone through the window, resting on the drawing of Twink's family. Turning her head, Twink regarded it sadly.
Oh, I
wish
I had a drawing of Gran,
she thought again, wiping her eyes.

Suddenly a tingle of excitement swept over Twink's wings. Of course! Gran had been a student here at Glitterwings, and there was always a drawing made of each year group at the end of winter term. Each student was given a copy, but the school must keep copies, too. All she had to do was look in the library, and she'd see Gran!