Olivia's Twinkling Spell Read online

  Chapter Four

  We all looked at each other.

  “Oh dear,” Madison said. “The Choosing Spell does sound tricky…”

  “There’s no problem if you’re careful.” Fairy Prim was smiling again.

  Miss Scritch folded her arms. “Fairy Mary! Are you quite sure our Stargirls are ready for this?” She sounded as if she was certain that we weren’t, but I could tell by Fairy Mary’s frown that she didn’t agree.

  “I do think they’re ready, Miss Scritch,” she said. “I have every faith in them. Please go on, Prim dear.”

  Fairy Prim stood up, and began to walk round the table. “Repeat after me:

  I choose to use the Choosing Spell,

  I choose it now, to use it well…”

  We repeated the words, and when we knew them by heart Fairy Prim nodded. “Good. When you need the spell, say the words, point with your star finger and think of the choice you want the person to make. And I warn you, you’ll have to think very hard!”

  “Do we get to practise?” Ava asked.

  Fairy Prim put her silver wand in her pocket and rubbed her nose thoughtfully. “I think we could. What do you think, Mary?”

  “Why don’t we have our morning snack first,” Fairy Mary suggested. “We can practise afterwards.”

  “Excellent!” Fairy Prim whipped her wand back out and waved it madly. “Cake and buns! My favourite kind of spell! What would you like, Miss Scritch?”

  Miss Scritch had been looking extremely frosty, but now she thawed a little. “Thank you, Fairy Prim. Ahem. I have to confess that cucumber sandwiches are a favourite of mine.”

  “Cucumber? Consider it done!” Fairy Prim beamed as an enormous plate of cucumber sandwiches floated down onto the table. “I like banana and peanut butter, myself. And chocolate cake. And iced buns, of course. And—” she said, drawing a couple of zigzags in the air with her wand— “I know what my sister likes. Strawberries and cream!”

  I don’t think I’d ever seen such an enormous bowl of strawberries, and every single one was red and juicy. The jug of thick yellow cream was huge as well. I gave Fairy Mary a sideways glance, and I saw that she was looking pleased … but also worried.

  “Really, Prim,” she said. “If we eat all this we’ll need to lie down and sleep for a week!”

  “Sleeping? Ha HA!” Fairy Prim’s shout of laughter shook the room, and a flurry of dry leaves floated down from the bunches of herbs hanging from the ceiling. Fairy Prim blew them away with a flick of her wand. “There’ll be no time for sleeping. We’ve a full programme today! We’ll practise the spell, then it’ll be time for the Spin, and then we’ll go adventuring! We’re going to have a ball, I can tell you.”

  Miss Scritch put down her sandwich and gave a dry little cough. “Excuse me, Fairy Prim, but the girls are expected to undertake their Stargirl missions on their own. Fairy Mary and I do not ever accompany them.” She coughed again. “Fairy Fifibelle Lee, another member of the Academy, has, from time to time, chosen to be an invisible presence – but she has not, as far as I am aware, ever interfered.”

  Fairy Prim swung round. For a moment I wondered if she was offended, but the next minute she was laughing again. “Don’t worry, Miss Scritch. I’ll make sure I don’t interfere. And the girls will never know I’m there.” She shook her wand, tiny stars shimmered and then she was gone. “Is this invisible enough?” her voice asked, and the bowl of strawberries sailed across the table as if it was flying. “Can you see me, Miss Scritch?”

  Miss Scritch hesitated, then smiled an unwilling little smile. “No,” she admitted. “Even I can’t see you, Fairy Prim.”

  Fairy Mary patted something in the air. “Prim was always top of the class when we were learning invisibility spells,” she said proudly. “Do come back, Prim dear. It’s so difficult to have a conversation with someone you can’t see.”

  There was another flurry of stars, and Fairy Prim reappeared. “Thank you, Mary, for those kind words. Now, who would like some strawberries?”

  Chapter Five

  Fairy Mary was right. By the time we’d finished the delicious cake and sandwiches and strawberries, we did feel sleepy – at least, I did. I found myself yawning as Fairy Mary floated the dirty cups and plates away, but a chilly look from Miss Scritch woke me up.

  Fairy Prim settled herself at the top of the table. “Now, shall we practise our new spell?” She pulled a pack of cards out of her bag and spread them over the table with a flourish. They weren’t at all like the cards Hannah and I use when we’re playing snap; they had the strangest pictures – cats and pumpkins, flowers and castles, and all sorts of other things.

  “Look!” Madison said. “There’s a picture of a pair of glass slippers! And a spinning wheel! Oh, and what a FANTASTIC ballgown! Are they special cards for Fairy Godmothers?”

  “Of course,” Fairy Prim said. “It’s sometimes helpful to remind ourselves what a Fairy Godmother can do.”

  I wondered if she was joking, but I didn’t like to ask. I looked at the cards instead; some of the pictures seemed to be moving. I was almost certain that a big fat cat had winked at me, but when I looked more closely it had its eyes closed.

  “Ava, Emma, Jackson and Lily,” Fairy Prim said, “please leave the room. When you come back, Madison, Sophie, Olivia and Melody will use the spell to persuade you to choose the card they have selected.”

  I began to feel nervous as I looked at my star finger. On our very first day at Stargirl Academy, Fairy Mary McBee had floated stars round us, and a tiny one had stayed glowing on the tip of my littlest finger. “That’s your star finger,” Fairy Fifibelle Lee had told me. “All of you Stargirls will have one. You’ll use it when you do magic … but be careful. If you use it for the wrong kind of magic it’ll disappear.”

  I sighed. My tiny star was glowing, but very faintly. Would I be able to make the spell work? Sophie gave me an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “You’ll be fine!”

  Fairy Prim was looking at Madison. “Which card will you choose for Ava?” she asked.

  Madison studied the cards. “I think … that castle. The one with the flags.”

  Fairy Prim nodded, and wrote something down in a little glittery notebook. I hadn’t seen her get it out of her bag, so it must have appeared by magic.

  Sophie picked a frog for Emma, and I chose a pink fluffy kitten for Jackson, because I knew she thought things like that were silly – and I really did want to see if I could make the spell work.

  Miss Scritch surprised me by giving me an approving nod. “An excellent choice, Olivia.”

  Melody sniffed. “You’ll never get Jackson to choose that. She hates fluffy stuff. I’m going to take the spinning wheel for Lily. It looks boring.”

  “Splendid!” Fairy Prim closed her notebook with a snap. “Sophie, dear, please ask the others to come back one at a time.”

  Jackson was the first. She began heading round the table to her place next to Melody, but Fairy Prim stopped her. “You’re fine where you are,” she said. “Perhaps you’d look at the cards while Olivia tries the spell.”

  I couldn’t believe that Fairy Prim had asked me first! I could feel myself shaking as I tried to remember the words. “I choose to use the Choosing Spell,” I whispered, “I choose it now, to use it well…” I pointed my star finger at Jackson, and I thought of the pink fluffy kitten card just as hard as ever I could. “Pink fluffy kitten!” I thought. “Oh, PLEASE choose the pink fluffy kitten!”

  Jackson was looking down at the cards, frowning. “I can’t feel myself wanting to choose any of them,” she said, and my heart sank. “I’d say Olivia isn’t trying hard enough.”

  I shut my eyes, and tried even harder. I could actually see the picture inside my head … but a little voice somewhere deep inside was telling me that it wasn’t any good. I wouldn’t be able to do it.

  “Ta da!”

  I opened my eyes to see Jackson waving a card in the air – and it was th
e pink kitten!

  I gave a huge gasp of astonishment, and Jackson grinned at me in a superior kind of way. “You see? You couldn’t do it. You’d NEVER think I’d want a fluffy wuffy kitty.”

  I was so surprised I couldn’t speak. It was Fairy Mary who said, “Well done, Olivia!”

  “What?” Jackson stared at her. “What’s she done?”

  “Olivia has given us a wonderful demonstration of the Choosing Spell,” Fairy Prim told her. “That was the card she chose for you. There’s just one thing missing.” She waved her hand, and the tiniest twinkling stars floated gently down from the ceiling.

  Miss Scritch raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t those a little late?”

  Fairy Prim chuckled. “You’ve caught me out, Miss Scritch. I interfered. I delayed the twinkles so Jackson wouldn’t suspect anything.”

  “Hmph.” Jackson was looking puzzled. “That’s so weird! It felt EXACTLY as if I’d made up my own mind!”

  “That,” Fairy Prim said, “is why this is such a dangerous spell.”

  Chapter Six

  I was hugely relieved that I’d managed to get the spell right. Madison and Ava were successful too, but Emma didn’t choose Sophie’s frog. Instead, she picked up a picture of a large green cabbage.

  Fairy Prim smiled. “Don’t be downhearted, Sophie. You’re nearly there. Now, let’s swap round.”

  I’d forgotten that I’d have to have a turn the other way. As Madison, Melody, Sophie and I left the workroom, I saw Jackson looking closely at the cards. “Ooops,” I thought, and I wondered what it would be like to have a spell put on me.

  I didn’t have to wait long to find out. I was the first to be called back, and Fairy Prim asked me to study the cards while Jackson said the magic words. I waited for a moment or two to see if any particular picture attracted my attention, but none of them stood out.

  “Go on, Olivia! Pick a card!” Jackson said.

  “OK,” I said. I’d liked the picture of the cheerful orange pumpkin when Fairy Prim spread the cards on the table, so I picked up that one.

  But Jackson frowned. “That’s not the right one,” she said. “It’s not even the right colour!”

  “Perhaps,” Fairy Mary said quietly, “you were wanting Olivia to choose your card for the wrong reasons, Jackson. Perhaps you wanted to show her that you’re as clever as she is, rather than finding out if you could make the spell work.”

  Jackson made a snorting noise. “No! I certainly didn’t—” she began, but then she saw Fairy Prim looking at her. “Um,” she said. “Maybe you’re right. Just a bit.”

  Fairy Prim clapped her hands. “Well done, Jackson! For admitting that, you can have another turn. But think about the spell. Don’t worry about anything else.”

  Jackson murmured the words again, and this time it was strange. A rather dull picture of a horse suddenly caught my eye, and before I knew what I was doing it was in my hand – and Jackson was punching the air. “I did it!” she crowed, and I couldn’t help giving her a thumbs up in return.

  Fairy Prim cheered so loudly that Madison, Sophie and Melody came running in to see what was going on.

  Miss Scritch made a tut-tutting noise. “Rather too much excitement, if I may say so.” She pulled a small gold watch from her pocket, and frowned at it. “We should be moving on to the Spin very soon.”

  “We’ll be there in no time at all,” Fairy Prim promised. “But everyone must try the spell.”

  While the others had their go, I thought about what had happened. Just like Jackson, I hadn’t felt as if anyone was trying to persuade me to do anything, and I began to see why Fairy Prim had described the spell as dangerous. It would be terrible to change someone’s mind for the wrong reasons … but maybe the spell couldn’t do that? And for some reason that made me think of Auntie June trying to make Hannah read a book she didn’t feel ready for. Was that right?

  I gave up trying to make sense of it all, and discovered that while I’d been thinking Fairy Mary had put the Golden Wand in the middle of the table and was getting ready for the Spin. The room was already beginning to darken, and the wand had begun to glow.

  “Mary, dear!” Fairy Prim obviously thought she was whispering, but she was still VERY loud. “It’s a long time since I’ve done this. Am I right in thinking the wand will choose what happens for the rest of today?”

  Fairy Mary nodded. “When the wand stops spinning, it will point at today’s Stargirl. She will choose who she would like to help, and then the girls will plan how this can best be done.” Fairy Mary’s voice always softened when it was time for the Spin, and she already sounded mysterious and magical. “And now, let us begin…” She touched the wand, and six golden stars floated up and up until they were lost in the darkness. The wand began to spin, round and round and round, and a gentle humming filled the room.

  “Hannah,” I thought dreamily. “It would be so wonderful if I could help her…”

  “Spin, spin, spin,” Fairy Mary murmured. “Who will choose? Who will it be? Whose destiny will change today? Spin, wand, spin.”

  The wand spun on and on, and the humming grew more and more intense. My head was filled with the sound, and it made me feel strange and drifty. My eyelids grew heavy, and I rested my head on my hands—

  SNAP!

  The wand stopped with a jerk, and bright sunlight flooded the workroom. I blinked, and rubbed my eyes. For a moment I wondered if I’d actually fallen asleep; Sophie was shaking my arm as if she was waking me up, but then I realised she was trying to attract my attention.

  “Olivia! Look! The wand’s pointing at you!”

  Sophie was right. The wand was pointing at me, and Fairy Prim had already jumped up from her chair and was towering over us. “Olivia dear, do tell! Where are we going?”

  Chapter Seven

  I still felt as if I might be dreaming. I rubbed my eyes again, and looked around. Everyone was watching me expectantly, even Melody and Jackson.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “The Spin made me feel really weird…”

  “Come on,” Jackson said. “Hurry up! If you don’t know who to help, I can think of HUNDREDS of people!”

  “But I do know,” I told her. “I want to help my cousin Hannah. She’s really unhappy.”

  “Go on!” Melody was impatient. “Why’s she unhappy?”

  I hesitated, and looked at Fairy Mary. “Hannah made me promise not to tell anyone what was wrong.”

  “Then you must respect her wishes,” Fairy Mary said. “I’m sure you’ll think of a way to help her without breaking your promise.”

  Miss Scritch gave me a little nod. “That’s right.” She stood back from the table and took Fairy Prim’s arm in a firm grip. “We’ll leave you to discuss your plans. Fairy Prim, I’m sure you and Fairy Mary would like a nice cosy chat in the sitting-room. The fire’s lit, and the old Fairy Godmothers are longing to see you again. They’ve been leaning out of their portraits all morning.”

  For a moment Fairy Prim hesitated, but then she shook her head.

  “Good try, Miss Scritch!” she boomed. “But I want to see these girls in action.” She gave our deputy head such a hearty slap on the back that she nearly fell over. “I didn’t come all this way just to see Mary, you know.” She saw Miss Scritch’s disapproving expression, and beamed at her. “But I promise. No interfering! I’ll be as quiet as a mouse. And a whole lot more invisible!” And at once she faded away, and there was not the slightest sign that she was in the room.

  “Really!” Miss Scritch snapped.

  But Fairy Mary smiled. “Don’t worry,” she said. “She knows the rules. Let’s conjure up a pot of tea. And I’m sure my poor old dog would love a biscuit…” And, still talking, Fairy Mary led Miss Scritch out of the room.

  “Hmph!” Melody folded her arms. “So how exactly are we going to help your cousin when you won’t even tell us what’s wrong with her, Olivia?”

  I didn’t answer straight away. An idea was slowly making itself clear in m
y mind. “I think,” I said, “we need to see what happens to Hannah when she’s at school. That’s when things go wrong.”

  “Is she being bullied?” Ava asked. “That’s horrible.”

  Jackson looked interested. “We can soon sort that one out. Look what we did to Lily’s mean old aunt.”

  “She’s not mean any more,” Lily said.

  Jackson grinned. “The power of the Stargirls! So where do we go, Olivia?”

  “Hang on a minute.” Madison waved her spectacles at me. “It’s Saturday today. No school.”

  I’d just had the same thought. “Oh dear,” I said.

  “Ahem.” It was Fairy Prim’s voice, coming from the ceiling. “Time travel, my dears.”

  “What?” We stared upwards, and a couple of old dried leaves floated down.

  “Time travel. You have the use of a Travelling Tower, I believe? Well, there’s more than one way to travel.” Fairy Prim chuckled loudly. “There’s up and down, and to and fro … but there’s also before and after.”

  “Can we really do that?” Emma asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

  I could feel a nasty cold feeling in my stomach. Time travel! Would we be safe? What if we couldn’t get back?

  “Sounds like a brilliant idea to me.” Sophie was excited too. “Can we go backwards AND forwards in time?”

  I think Fairy Prim must have shaken her head, because several bunches of herbs swung wildly to and fro. “Oops!” she said as she suddenly materialised, leaves in her hair and a large dusty smudge on her nose. “There. That’s better. Now you can see me. And the answer, Sophie, is no. Only backwards, and only for a very short period of time.”