Magical Mayhem (8 page)

Finally the largest dragon's head came up. Peering towards the sunset, he narrowed his eyes. A moment later, all three dragons were taking off into the air. The little dragon dipped close to Twink and Bimi, his face alight with joy.

‘Goodbye, dragon!' called Twink, waving as hard as she could. ‘I'm really glad that you've found your parents.'

The adults nodded to the two fairies, saying
thank you
with their eyes. A moment later, all three dragons were flapping away silently over the wood, the little one zooming playfully about his parents.

In no time at all, Miss Shimmery and the others arrived, landing in a flurry of brightly coloured wings.

‘
What
has been going on?' demanded the HeadFairy. ‘First Teena's been telling us about her unfortunate dandelion wish, and now there are
dragons
here?'

Hastily, Twink and Bimi explained what had happened, their words rushing over each other. The HeadFairy tapped her rainbow wings together thoughtfully. ‘A young dragon, not yet in control of his magic, having nightmares . . . Yes, that would certainly be enough to disrupt our own magic!'

Miss Twilight's cloak glittered with moonstones as she nodded. ‘I suppose his parents couldn't find him sooner because the magic around the tree was in such chaos – it would have thrown off any spell they were doing. But then, once it broke down completely, they were able to locate him.'

‘Oh, poor little dragon!' burst out Teena. ‘It was all my fault, wasn't it? If I hadn't caused the storm with my wish, he wouldn't have got lost!'

Twink's heart went out to her sister – but before she could say anything, a low rumbling noise reached their ears, growing louder every second.

Mrs Lightwing took to the air. ‘It's a car!' she called down grimly. ‘The humans are back. They're driving one of their awful vehicles right across the hills, heading straight for us!'

.

Chapter Eight

Miss Shimmery swung into action. ‘Now that the dragons are gone, we may be able to save our school!' she said. ‘We've no time to put the magical protection back into place before the humans get here – but Gloriana, could we perhaps cast a glamour spell?'

Miss Twilight nodded as the car roared closer. ‘Yes, if we're quick! I'll need all of your help – Twink, you and Bimi, too!'

Twink gulped. Though she and Bimi had studied Star Magic for almost a year now, they were hardly experts at the tricky art of illusion.

‘But Miss Twilight, don't we need starlight to cast a glamour?' said Bimi fearfully.

‘Usually, but we'll have to make do with what we have!' Miss Twilight ushered them all together, apart from Teena. ‘Now then, everyone, the humans will have seen our hill already, so our only hope is to convince them that Glitterwings is an ordinary oak tree –
completely ordinary
!'

Teena watched anxiously from the sidelines as the others began to cast the glamour spell. Their eyes were all closed as they made strange, intricate motions with their hands and wings.
Oh, please let it work, please!
thought Teena, biting her lip.

Meanwhile the car's engine had been drawing closer and closer, roaring angrily through the air. Suddenly it stopped, leaving an ominous silence.

Teena started as three car doors slammed shut on the other side of the hill, one after the other. The humans were almost here! Beside her, Sal crouched low to the ground, looking as frightened as she felt.

The huddle of fairies were now holding hands, not moving a muscle as they cast their spell. Was it taking effect? Hugging herself, Teena craned to hear the approaching footsteps.

‘There it is. Wait till you see it up close; you won't believe your eyes!' said the man's voice.

The spell wasn't working
. Holding back a sob, Teena stared up at Glitterwings, rising up against the blazing sunset. Oh, if only there was something she could do to help! Any moment now their school would be seen, and it would be too late.

Suddenly Teena's attention was drawn by a tiny flickering in the evening sky. The first star had come out, shining faintly. All at once, Summer's words came back to her –
sometimes humans make a wish on the first star
.

Teena gulped. Another wish spell. Did she dare, after last time?

‘Hold on, let me get my camera ready,' said a male voice, so close now that prickles ran over Teena's wings. ‘Mate, you and your missus better be right – this place is in the middle of bloomin' nowhere.'

‘Oh, we are; just wait and see!' said the woman. ‘Come on, we're almost there.'

The footsteps trudged closer. Teena glanced at the other fairies, and saw that Twink and Bimi were beginning to tremble with the strain. Their spell wasn't going to work!

I've got to do it
, Teena thought frantically.
It might be our only hope
. But she couldn't make a mess of it again – she had to wish carefully this time!

Taking a deep breath, Teena gazed up at the first star and closed her eyes.
I wish that Miss Twilight's glamour spell would work, so that the humans don't see our school and they go away from here!

Slowly, Teena opened her eyes again.

At first nothing seemed to have happened . . . and then another tiny star appeared in the sky, winking alongside the first. And then another. Suddenly there was a small handful of twinkling stars, shining starlight down on to the circle of fairies.

As Teena watched in wonder, silvery flakes of magic began to gather around them. The sparkling flakes swirled upwards, growing larger and larger, until the entire hill was enveloped in a glittering silver sphere.

‘Here we are!' said the man's voice. ‘I bet you've never seen anything like
this
before.'

Teena's heart dropped down to the ground.
It still hadn't worked.

‘No, I certainly haven't,' replied the other man. ‘An oak tree! Well, blimey, that's front page news. Stop the press; there's an oak tree growing in the countryside!'

‘What do you . . .' The first man's voice trailed off. ‘Martha, the windows are gone!' he burst out.

‘But it was different before!' gasped the woman. ‘Honestly, Mr Taylor! It – it had little windows, and doors, and –'

‘And a polished floor! Something lived in there!' babbled the man.

‘Uh-huh,' said Mr Taylor drily. ‘What a waste of time – you're both nutters!' His footsteps stomped off back down the hill.

There was a long silence.

‘Martha, I – I don't feel very well,' said the man finally. ‘Let's go home, and have a nice cup of tea.'

‘Yes, and I want extra sugar in mine,' mumbled the woman. ‘I think I'm having a funny turn, Frank.'

Teena drooped with relief as the couple staggered off. At her side, Sal swished his tail joyfully. A moment later they heard the car doors bang shut again, and then the vehicle roared off.

The circle of fairies jumped into life. ‘Hurrah, we did it!' shouted Twink. She and Bimi hugged tightly, bouncing up and down. ‘They've gone, they've really gone!'

‘Oh, well done, everyone!' breathed Mrs Lightwing. ‘I'll go and tell the other teachers, so that we can get the students back into school where they belong!' She sped off towards the darkening wood, with Miss Twilight following after her.

‘Yes, well done, girls,' said Miss Shimmery warmly to Twink and Bimi. ‘However, if I'm not very much mistaken, we had a bit of help with that spell. Teena, do you want to tell us something?'

Teena felt her cheeks catch fire as Twink and Bimi looked at her in surprise. ‘I – I made another wish,' she confessed, rubbing her wings together. ‘Summer told me about another piece of human magic – wishing on stars. So – so I sort of did.'

Miss Shimmery looked grim. ‘Teena, human magic is
extremely
unpredictable! Nobody knows much about it – least of all humans themselves. It is
not
something for fairies to be meddling in, do you understand? Anything might have happened!'

‘Yes, Miss Shimmery,' mumbled Teena, staring down at her pixie boots. She looked quickly up again as she heard a soft chuckle. Why – Miss Shimmery was
laughing
!

‘Having said that, I'm rather glad that you
did
decide to meddle with it again, just this once,' admitted the HeadFairy with a wry smile. ‘That extra starlight gave us just the boost we needed for the spell to work. What was your wish?'

Teena told her, and Miss Shimmery nodded in approval. ‘A much more exact and carefully thought-out wish than your first one. I take it that you see now how foolish it was to wish for “something exciting” to happen, without specifying
what
?' She straightened her sparkle specs, gazing sternly at Teena.

Teena squirmed. ‘Yes,' she said in a small voice. ‘Yes, I really do, Miss Shimmery. I – I know that this whole thing was my fault.'

‘Not entirely,' corrected the HeadFairy. ‘The snowstorm was the direct result of your wish – but like all things, it had consequences, and the poor young dragon got caught up in them. That's why it's so very foolish to cast a spell without knowing
exactly
what you want the outcome to be.'

‘I understand,' whispered Teena. She couldn't bear to look at her sister, or Bimi. How disappointed they must be in her! She took a deep breath. ‘Will – will I be expelled?'

‘Expelled?' Miss Shimmery sounded surprised. ‘Your only crime was to be very foolish, Teena. If I started expelling my first-year students for
that
, I'd soon not have any! But you should have told us the moment you realised what had happened. You really have caused us all a great deal of trouble and worry, you know.'

Teena hung her head in shame. Miss Shimmery's quiet words seared through her.

‘Miss Shimmery, wait,' burst out Twink. ‘I – I think I'm to blame as well.' Teena looked up in surprise.

‘Oh?' said Miss Shimmery, raising an eyebrow.

Twink nodded guiltily. ‘You see, I was so wrapped up in my Weather Magic project over the hols that I ignored Teena. I was going to spend more time with her this term, but – well, I put it off.' Twink's cheeks reddened. ‘Anyway, I'm sure that she wouldn't have made such a silly wish if she hadn't been feeling cross with me.'

‘But Twink, it wasn't
your
fault!' exclaimed Teena. ‘I mean – well, it's true that I was a bit cross with you, but . . .' She shook her head, not sure what she wanted to say.

‘Consequences again,' pointed out Miss Shimmery softly. ‘But Twink, Teena is right – it's not your fault that she made her wish. She has to take responsibility for her own actions.'

Turning back to Teena, Miss Shimmery went on, ‘As punishment, you will lose your free time for the next four weeks. You'll also write me an essay on the importance of always casting precise spells – and avoiding human magic!' Miss Shimmery paused as her words hung in the air. ‘And Teena, I think it would be wise to keep your part in this episode quiet from the rest of the school.'

Teena let out a breath. ‘Oh Miss Shimmery,
thank you
!' she burst out. ‘I'll write you a brilliant essay, I promise! And Zuzu and Summer won't tell anyone, if I ask them not to.'

‘Good,' said Miss Shimmery, patting Teena's shoulder. ‘And now, I think we've all had enough drama for one day. Let's join the rest of the school, and go inside.'

Once the teachers had cast the complicated spell that protected Glitterwings and its surroundings, the students joyfully flew back to the school in long, colourful streams, chatting and laughing in the moonlight.

‘Here, ah – I'll take Sal,' said Mr Woodleaf to Twink, picking up the salamander's lead. ‘And well done for going after him, you two. I'm, ah – proud of you,' he mumbled.

Twink and Bimi exchanged a smile as Mr Woodleaf flew off towards the Creature Kindness log, with Sal trotting along below.
Good old Mr Woodleaf!
thought Twink. It made her feel warm inside to know that he was pleased with her.

She and Bimi started off. It was fully dark now, with thousands of stars twinkling in the sky.

‘Isn't it beautiful!' said Bimi, tipping her head back. She had been reunited with Chirpy, and held his cage gently under one arm. ‘I'm so glad that things are really back to normal now.'

‘Not as glad as I am!' said Teena, fluttering up alongside them. Moonlight glinted on her lavender wings. ‘Twink, thanks for sticking up for me,' she added. ‘But it really
wasn't
your fault, you know!'

‘No, I suppose not,' said Twink ruefully. ‘But I'm sorry anyway, Teena. I don't blame you for feeling fed up when you made your wish – I was a real moss brain over the hols!'