Treasure Hunt (3 page)

I'll go in my free time tomorrow,
Twink promised herself. She smiled up at the stars. All at once she felt better than she'd felt all day.

.

Chapter Three

‘Fog,' intoned Mrs Starbright. ‘We fairies use it for many things. Who can tell me the most important one?' The Weather Magic teacher arranged her cobweb shawl about her shoulders as she waited for an answer. Twink shifted on her mushroom seat, glancing around her.

As usual, Pix's hand shot into the air. ‘To cool down the earth,' she said promptly.

Mrs Starbright shook her head. ‘That's one use of fog,' she said, ‘but it's not the most important.'

‘Oh!' said Pix in surprise. ‘But I thought –'

‘Yes, Jade?' interrupted Mrs Starbright. Ivy's twin sister was in a few of Twink's classes this term, and now she had her hand in the air, too, waving it eagerly.

‘To give the sunshine a rest,' she said, tucking a strand of curly, light green hair behind her ear.

Twink found herself staring at Jade. She could never get over how alike Jade and Ivy looked! The only difference was that Ivy wore a violet petal dress with a yellow sash, like all the other girls in Violet Branch, and Jade was in the frilly pink Carnation Branch dress.

Mrs Starbright
tsk
ed.
‘That's not the most important thing either,' she chided. ‘My dears! The most important use of fog is
dramatic effect
!'

Sweeping her arms into the air, she closed her eyes and made a quick, complicated move with her wings. Grey mist began to form in the branch, rolling across the floor in great waves. Soon the fairies could hardly see each other.

‘Yes, indeed!' came Mrs Starbright's voice from the front of the branch. ‘What better way for us fairies to add a bit of . . .
atmosphere
to a place? Fog can soften rough edges, it can soothe, it can conceal! Now then, open your petal books to page –'

‘Please, Miss, we can't see our books,' piped up Sooze. Twink grinned to herself as a snigger ran through the class.

‘Er – yes,' said Mrs Starbright. ‘Wait just a tick, while I get rid of the fog . . .'

Suddenly the grey clouds became so dense that Twink couldn't see her own hand. She gulped in alarm as the branch turned icy cold. It felt like the middle of winter!

‘Miss, it's freezing!' complained Mariella's voice.

‘Hang on . . . fog can be tricky sometimes . . . ah-ha!
There
we go.' Mrs Starbright sounded pleased with herself.

‘Oh!' gasped Twink. Wet, chilly drops had begun to patter on to her wings and oak-leaf cap. Similar exclamations came from all around her. It was
raining
,
right inside the branch!

Slowly, the fog disappeared. The fairies became visible again, though none of them looked very happy. The class sat soddenly on their mushroom seats, wet and uncomfortable. The rain showed no sign of letting up.

‘Remember, girls – rain is always an antidote to fog!' said Mrs Starbright. Her blue hair hung in damp strands around her face. ‘Now then, open your petal books to page –'

‘My book's too wet to read,' said Sili forlornly, holding it up. Its pages dripped on to the floor.

‘Ah,' said Mrs Starbright, blinking. ‘Yes, I suppose that's the one drawback to –'

The class sagged in relief as the magpie's call echoed through the tree, signalling the end of the lesson. ‘Read Chapter Two!' called Mrs Starbright after them as they fled from the soggy branch. ‘We do thunderstorms next!'

The class hovered outside the Weather Magic door for a moment, relishing the warm, dry air of the trunk. ‘Thunderstorms!' exclaimed Bimi with a shiver. ‘Do you suppose she'll conjure up one of
those
inside as well?'

Sooze wrung out her lavender hair. ‘I hope not! I'd like to learn how to
make
one, but I don't fancy being
in
one.'

‘And anyway, I don't think dramatic effect
is
the most important thing about fog,' said Pix, flapping her wet wings crossly. ‘That's not what our book says! I'm sure I was right.'

‘I don't think so,' said Jade.

Twink gazed curiously at her. Was she really as clever as Ivy had said? She certainly seemed to be – though it was very strange to think that there might be a fairy in their year who knew more than Pix!

Pix's jaw dropped. ‘Of
course
I'm right!' she exclaimed. ‘It's very
important to cool down the earth. If fog didn't do that, awful things could happen!'

Jade shrugged. ‘That's true, but I did a special project on fog at my old school, and it's actually even
more
important to –'

Suddenly a group of fairies appeared, swooping close by. ‘Hurry, you lot!' called Jax, a third-year student with spiky green hair. ‘The first clue to the treasure hunt is up in our Common Branch!' She zoomed away up the tree.

The treasure hunt! They'd almost forgotten about it in all the excitement of the Weather Magic class. The fairies sped up the trunk after Jax. Pix and Jade led the way, each looking determined to get there first.

Only Twink and Bimi hung back. ‘Aren't you coming?' asked Bimi.

Twink edged away. ‘No, there's something I want to do in the library. You go ahead.'

‘Oh,' said Bimi, looking worried. ‘Well – why don't I come with you?'

Twink shook her head vehemently. ‘No! It's nothing, Bimi. You go on – I'll catch you up later.'

Before Bimi could respond, Twink flitted away down the trunk. Glancing over her shoulder, she was relieved to see her friend spiralling slowly upwards towards the third-year Common Branch.

The Glitterwings library was a tall, lofty room with shelves reaching to its ceiling. Twink felt herself relax as she flew through its doors. There were no other Third Years in sight.

‘Hello, Twink,' said Mrs Stamen warmly from her mushroom desk in the centre of the room. ‘Can I help you with something?'

Twink fluttered across to her. ‘I was wondering if there were drawings of old year groups that I could look at,' she said shyly.

‘Yes, of course,' said Mrs Stamen. ‘We keep the recent ones just over there.' She pointed to a low shelf beside a window seat in the corner.

‘No, I mean
really
old ones,' said Twink. ‘Decades
old. Maybe even longer.' She felt her cheeks redden, and hoped Mrs Stamen wouldn't ask why she wanted to see such a thing.

But the librarian simply nodded. ‘We keep those up in the Records section,' she said, indicating a shadowy corner near the ceiling. ‘I'm afraid it might be a bit dusty, though,' she added. ‘No one goes up there very much!'

‘That's OK,' said Twink eagerly. ‘Thanks, Mrs Stamen!'

The librarian hadn't been exaggerating, Twink found when she reached the shelves. It looked as if no fairy had touched these books in centuries! Their covers were coated with thick grey dust.

Brushing off one of the spines, Twink read
Glitterwings Academy Year Groups
, with a date under it. She frowned. Which year did she need?

Taking a guess, Twink opened one of the grimy volumes. Long-ago fairy faces stared out at her, with a list of names to the side of each drawing. Carefully flipping through the pages, Twink ran her finger down each list. Gran wasn't there.

Nor was she in the next volume, nor the next. Book after book showed no sign of Twink's grandmother.

Maybe they didn't even
do
year drawings when Gran was a girl
, thought Twink glumly, pulling out the last dusty tome. Opening the book, she glanced through the names – and then all at once she caught her breath.

There it was, beside the third-year drawing!
S. Flutterby!

The drawing showed the Third Years flying in formation outside the tree. Gran was the fifth fairy in the second row, and Twink gazed down at the young girl in wonder. Gran had her arm linked through that of the fairy next to her. The two girls were pulling faces at the artist, laughing.

Why, Gran looked so young! And . . . and she seemed so happy. She had never even heard of the Doldrums back then, you could tell. Tears stung Twink's eyes.

‘Twink?' whispered a voice.

Twink spun about in midair, clutching the book. ‘Bimi! But I said –'

Her best friend hovered uncertainly beside her. ‘Don't be cross with me, Twink! I had to come – I was too worried about you to bother with the treasure hunt. What are you doing?'

Twink wiped her eyes. ‘Look,' she said gruffly, thrusting the book at Bimi. ‘It's my gran. She's that one, right there.'

‘
Really?
' breathed Bimi, staring down at the drawing. Bimi had met the older Mrs Flutterby on several occasions, and she smiled as she took in the girl's laughing features. ‘But Twink, I don't understand –'

Bimi broke off as she looked up and saw the tears running down Twink's face. Hastily placing the book back on the shelf, she put her arm around Twink's shoulders. ‘
Please
tell me what's wrong,' she begged.

Somehow, Twink managed to get the awful story out. ‘And sometimes fairies with the Doldrums never come out of them,' she finished wretchedly. ‘They – they just stay sad and gloomy for ever, and –'

Sobs overcame Twink then, and she couldn't continue. Bimi put her arms around her. ‘Don't cry, Twink! I'm sure it's not as bad as that. She'll be all right, she really will.'

‘You don't know that,' sniffed Twink. But she felt better for having told Bimi, as though a weight had fallen from her. She managed a shaky smile. ‘Anyway, that's – that's why I wanted to come to the library, to see if I could find a drawing of Gran.'

Picking up the book, Bimi opened it to the drawing again. ‘Well, I'm glad you did. And Twink, she looks so much like you!'

‘Do you think so?'
asked Twink. The two girls stared down at the open page. Twink's heartbeat quickened as she saw that Bimi was right. She and Gran looked as if they could have been sisters.

The thought gave her a warm glow. Twink tucked the book under her arm. ‘Come on, let's go and check this book out,' she said.

But as the two fairies turned to leave, Twink found her gaze drawn to the next shelf down. There were books there of all shapes and sizes – including one slim blue volume that was drawn out slightly from the others.

Twink's eyes widened abruptly. ‘Bimi, wait!' she said, clutching her friend's arm. ‘What's that?'

.

Chapter Four

Twink darted to the corner and pulled the narrow book from the shelf. Turning it over in her hands, she saw why her attention had been caught by it. Just visible through the dust, the cover had the word
‘utterby'
written on it in a curling handwriting.

Twink licked her finger and wiped off the dust. The words sprang out at her.
This is the super-private journal of Silvia Flutterby. Keep out! This means YOU!!

‘Your gran's old journal!' cried Bimi, looking over her shoulder. ‘But what's it doing
here
?'

‘I – I don't know,' said Twink in a daze. ‘The books on this shelf are all old schoolbooks and things like that – I suppose it just got mixed up with them, somehow.'

Her wings prickled as she stared down at the journal. Though she knew her explanation must be the right one, there was something very strange about finding Gran's journal just now – almost as if it had wanted to be found along with the drawing of Gran's year group.

But when Twink slid the two books across Mrs Stamen's mushroom desk, the librarian shook her head. ‘I'm sorry, Twink, but volumes from the Records section can't be taken from the library.'

Twink felt herself turn pale. ‘But this was my gran's!' she said. She showed Mrs Stamen the name on the little book.

The librarian's expression changed to one of wonder as she examined the journal. ‘How interesting! Well, then, of course you have to take this, Twink. In fact, I'd say that it belongs to you and your family, rather than Glitterwings!'

‘Oh, thank you!' cried Twink in relief. She slid the slim volume into her petal bag, fastening the clasp firmly.

‘Now, what about the other book?' asked Mrs Stamen.

‘This is Twink's gran, too,' said Bimi, flipping it open and pointing to the drawing.

‘I see,' said Mrs Stamen. She tapped her chin thoughtfully as the two girls held their breath. ‘Well, I can't let you take this book, Twink, but I think we have extra drawings of the old year groups on file – shall I try and find a copy of it for you?'

‘Yes,
please
!' said Twink. Hope tingled through her like fairy dust.

Mrs Stamen rummaged through the library's oaken filing cabinets. Soon Twink had not only a copy of the year group drawing, but one of Gran on her own, when she was just Twink's age.

‘Thank you,' she whispered, staring down at it. ‘Oh, Mrs Stamen,
thank
you!'

‘Not at all,' laughed Mrs Stamen. ‘That's what librarians are for!'

That evening Twink sat in the third-year Common Branch, trying to concentrate on her homework. She had decided to save the journal until that night, when everyone was asleep and she could read it in private . . . but the small blue book was unbearably tempting!

Finally Twink gave up and pushed her Flower Power project to one side. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching, she carefully slid Gran's journal out from under her other books.

Super-private!
shouted the words on the cover. Twink hesitated, biting her lip.
Should
she read the journal? After all, it did say
Keep out
– maybe her gran wouldn't want her to.

I'll keep it for her, and give it to Gran when I see her
, decided Twink reluctantly. She started to push the journal aside . . . but somehow her fingers wouldn't let go of it. What if – what if her gran stayed in the Doldrums for ever? This little book might be all she had left of her.

I'll just take a tiny peek
, thought Twink, her heart pounding. Quickly, before she could change her mind, she flipped to the first page.

It began:

A new term!
It was so sparkly to see Aurora again, and good old Foxglove Branch. Aurora and I got beds next to each other, hurrah! She's brought a cricket clock from home. She says he's a real scamp, and he loves to play tricks. Once he hid Aurora's wing polish from her, only then he forgot where he'd put it and she didn't find it for ages! Anyway, we're having a brilliant time getting him to chirp songs for us. It's going to be such a sparkly term!

The study time went quickly as Twink read and read, forgetting all about her resolution to only take a peek. Gran had told Twink stories of her girlhood before, but nothing about her life here at school! Who would have guessed that her tall, elegant grandmother had got told off for whispering with her best friend during lessons, and that sometimes she'd broken the rules?

Twink grinned at another entry:

Jeni was saying yesterday that no one's ever been down in the school roots, and that there are monsters down there. Can you believe such nonsense, at our age? So Aurora and I sneaked down there last night, just to prove her wrong. Well, we didn't get eaten by monsters, but it IS pretty creepy – all dark and twisty, and it goes on for ages. At least we had Aurora's cricket with us – he chirped songs so that we didn't get too scared. We almost got lost, but we found our way back finally and pretended to Jeni that we'd loved every second of it. Her face was a picture!

Twink stifled a giggle. Her gran had been even worse than Sooze!

A sudden commotion filled the Common Branch. Twink looked up, hastily closing the journal and hiding it under the rest of her books. Jax was standing on one of the fire rocks in the centre of the branch, loudly telling a story.

‘Oh, you all should have seen it!' she laughed. ‘Jade took one look at the clue, and
zoom
, she was off! Pix never even stood a chance.'

Jade and Ivy were sitting together as usual, studying at a mushroom desk. Jade shook her head. ‘Honestly, Jax! It's not a contest between Pix and me, you know.'

Pix's cheeks were almost as red as her hair. ‘No, it's not!' she snapped. ‘And anyway, Jax, I
did
work the clue out – just not quite as quickly.'

‘Well, I think you're
both
doing really well,' said Kiki mildly. ‘I've got no idea what the first clue means!'

‘Oh, you'll get it soon,' Jade assured her. ‘Honestly, it's not hard at all, really.'

Pix seemed to grit her teeth at this. Tapping her yellow wings together, she scowled down at her petal pad.

Sooze flitted over and sat next to Twink. ‘What do you want to bet she's working on the second clue right now, instead of doing her homework?' she whispered. ‘You should have
seen
her when Jade worked it out first. I thought her wings were going to drop off from the shock!'

‘What was the first clue?' Twink whispered back. Sooze unfolded a rose petal. In a low, dramatic voice, she read out:

.

‘Water, water everywhere

That's where this clue is found

And if you were IN the water,

All around you would be round!'

Twink frowned. Did that mean the water was in a round shape, somehow? ‘The school pond?' she guessed.

Sooze shook her head. ‘That's what almost everyone thought. Loads of us went jetting down to the pond – Pix included. But nothing was there except the water sprites, and ooh, were they cross!' She put on a high-pitched voice. ‘
You bad fairies! Barging around looking for stupid clues and disturbing our nice, quiet pond – pah!'

Twink laughed, imagining it.

Sooze lowered her voice. ‘Do you know where the second clue turned out to be? The third-year Bath Branch! It's under one of the walnut-shell buckets, and –'

‘Don't
tell
her,' chided Sili from the next desk. ‘We're all supposed to work it out for ourselves!'

‘That's all right,' said Twink quickly. ‘I – I don't think I'm going to be playing.'

Sooze and Sili gaped at her. ‘Why not?' demanded Sooze. ‘It's the most glimmery thing that's happened in ages!'

Twink shrugged. ‘I've got a lot to do, that's all.' Though it had been fun to hear Sooze's account, Twink couldn't imagine taking part in the treasure hunt herself – not with Gran so ill. It just seemed too silly to bother with.

‘
Opposite!
' said Sooze, propping her hands on her hips. ‘You
can't
–'

From across the branch, Pix suddenly banged her snail-trail pen down with a triumphant grin. ‘Ha! I've got it!' Scooping up her petal pad, Pix flew from the room in a blur of red and yellow.

A startled silence fell, and then everyone burst out talking at once. ‘The second clue! She's worked it out!'

Jax flitted to the doorway, peering out into the trunk. ‘She's heading upwards!' she reported over her shoulder. ‘Where do you suppose she's going?'

‘Ooh, let's follow her!' cried Lola, Jax's best friend. Her thin face was flushed with excitement.

‘No, we can't do that!' laughed Bimi. She was sitting near the window with a yellow-haired fairy called Zena, explaining the Creature Kindness homework to her. ‘We're not supposed to swap answers, remember?'

‘Anyway, Jade, you must be getting worried now!' grinned Jax, coming back into the room.

Jade blinked. ‘Why?'

‘Because Pix is ahead of you!' cried Lola, bouncing on her toes.

Jade looked confused. ‘No, she's not. I worked out the second clue this afternoon.'

‘She's on the third one already,' boasted Ivy. ‘That's my clever sis!'

The branch exploded into uproar. ‘The
third
clue, and it's only the first day!' hooted Sooze, fluttering up into the air and doing a somersault. ‘Oh, poor Pix! She'll never get over it!'

‘When do you reckon you'll win the treasure hunt, Jade?' asked Jax eagerly. She perched on the edge of Jade's desk. ‘Tomorrow? The next day?'

Shaking her head with a smile, Jade shoved Jax off her homework. ‘You lot are awful. And
no
,
I won't finish the treasure hunt by tomorrow, or even next week, probably! The clues are getting much harder.'

‘I bet she
does
win, though,' hissed Sili in Twink's ear. ‘And I don't think Pix will like it very much!'

After glow-worms out that night, Twink waited until the only sound was that of soft breathing. When she was sure that everyone was asleep, she slipped Gran's journal out of her petal bag. She could hardly wait to read the rest of it!

Flitting silently up to the ceiling, Twink unhooked one of the glow-worm lanterns and ducked back under her petal duvet. ‘Glow-worm on – but only a little bit!' she whispered.

The plump green worm yawned. Slowly, a faint golden glow appeared. Twink snuggled down with the journal.

Time flew by as she read. Twink smiled as she turned another page. Gran had been just the sort of bright, bubbly fairy that everyone liked being around. Why, the two of them probably would have been friends, if they'd been the same age!