She trudged across the yard, annoyed with herself for letting this happen. A shuffling noise behind her made her jump and she turned to see what it was.
Flame was moving about on his favorite branch, he looked down at Molly and stuck out his tongue.
'Flame, come!' she said, but once again he ignored her.
'Right, that's it,' Molly walked away from Flame and back into the Academy.
She crept through the corridors and up the stairs and stopped in front of her bedroom door. She felt like a failure, but she could barely keep her eyes open. She got into her bed fully dressed and even though her mind was full of worries, her exhaustion won out and sleep soon claimed her.
Molly woke up with a start a few hours before breakfast. She rubbed her eyes, jumped out of bed and rushed out of her room. She paused in front of one of the bedroom doors and let out a quiet sigh.
Molly McDonald, it's okay to sometimes need help, she thought to herself, before she slowly opened the door and stepped into Charlotte's room.
Even though daylight was overruling the night…the room was still darkish, the only light streaked through the gap in the curtains, but this didn't illuminate much. Molly didn't want to use a torch spell on her wand in case the sudden light woke the other girls up. She took cautious steps but still managed to walk straight into a bedpost.
'Ouch!' she said without thinking and immediately clutched a hand to her mouth.
She froze on the spot and tried to muster up the courage to move. Someone on the closest bed turned over and she found herself holding her breath. It was bad enough that she had an escaped dragon to deal with, she didn't need Charlotte's room-mates questioning her. A minute passed and the only sounds that filled the room were Alice's soft snores.
Molly paused in front of Charlotte's bed and double-checked to make sure she'd got the right bed. She saw a mass of frizzy brown hair and gave a relieved sigh.
'Charlotte,' she whispered, as she gently shook her. 'Charlotte, wake up.'
'Sleeping,' Charlotte murmured, as she stretched out her arm and snuggled her pillow.
'Charlotte, it's Molly, wake-up.'
Charlotte yawned as she blinked open her eyes. Suddenly realization of who was standing in front of her registered and her mind instantly jolted awake. She shot up in her bed and gave Molly a startled look.
'Molly, is something wrong?' she whispered.
'I need your help, get dressed, bring your broom. I'll be waiting outside your room,' Molly said firmly.
Charlotte gave her a nod and watched as Molly crept across the room. Charlotte pulled back her blanket, hopped out of bed, rummaged around for her clothes and quietly got her broomstick out of the cupboard, before she tip-toed across the room, stepping over any objects as if they were made of lava.
She stepped out into the corridor and carefully closed the door shut behind her.
'What's wrong?' she whispered to Molly.
Molly brought her finger up to her lips and mouthed the word 'shush' and then she signaled for Charlotte to follow her. They walked along the corridor in silence. Adrenaline kept Molly awake as she had barely slept; whilst Charlotte was fuelled by curiosity.
Charlotte followed Molly out in the yard, the morning chill caused her to shiver and she crossed her arms and fidgeted on the spot to try and keep warm.
'Over there,' she pointed up to the branch where a sleeping Flame was curled up.
'Oh!' Charlotte said.
'I went into my room after lessons and someone had opened my window. Flame escaped and I thought I'd lost him, but it seems he's taken a liking to that branch. Problem is…I can't get him down and very shortly the second year girls will be coming out here for their fitness lesson with Miss Dread and they'll see Flame.'
'Why won't he come down, have you tried apples?'
'Of course I've tried them,' she snapped. 'Sorry, I'm just stressed and worried and argh!'
'It's okay Molly, we'll think of something,' Charlotte gave a reassuring smile.
'I hope so,' Molly muttered. 'I'd use the new invisibility spell I've recently learnt, but I never know how long it will last for, so it's probably not a good idea to use it on Flame.'
'Probably not, but I'm sure you'll master the spell soon,' she smiled.
'Soon isn't good enough.'
'Flame,' Charlotte waved her arms and jumped up and down in front of the tree. 'Flame, it's me, wake-up.'
Flame opened one eye before he closed it and went back to sleep.
'It may be harder than I thought, but it'll be fine,' she tried to hide the doubt from her voice.
'This is all my fault, I should have just kept Flame in the dungeon and not let him come into my room. I knew it was a bad idea, but no, stubborn me had to go ahead and do it anyway. And now everyone is going to see Flame and, well, he's the most infuriating, annoying, cheeky creature, but I love him and I don't want him to end up hurt because of me.'
'It'll be okay,' Charlotte smiled. 'He's a good dragon, he'll come down eventually.'
'What if eventually isn't soon enough?'
Charlotte flushed, not knowing what to say. She wasn't used to seeing Molly act like this, she was normally so together. It was clear to Charlotte how much Molly cared about Flame and wanted him to be safe, so she intended to help her the best she could as she wanted Flame to be safe too.
'What have you got in there?' Charlotte pointed to Molly's backpack.
'Apples and rope, but I tried both of them last night and they didn't work.'
'Please can I use the rope?'
Molly nodded as she rummaged in the backpack and passed the rope to her.
'Last night when you tried to get Flame he was wide awake, right?' Charlotte asked and Molly nodded. 'Well, he's not awake at the moment.'
'I like your thinking,' Molly forced a hopeful smile.
Charlotte hopped onto her broomstick and flew over to Flame. She gripped onto the rope, as she tried to fly as close to him as she could without waking him up. His head was curled up against his body so Charlotte knew that she wouldn't have been able to get a good enough throw.
'Flame,' she coughed out.
He opened an eye and slightly moved his head. Charlotte threw out the rope but Flame saw it coming and lowered his head. He coughed out a spark at her before he closed his eyes.
'Flame, come on, it's warm and cosy inside and we have apples, lots and lots of apples.'
Charlotte continued to float on the spot but Flame wasn't interested in her. Sighing, she flew back down to the yard.
'Well, that was a success,' Molly said sarcastically.
'Yes, okay, it could have gone better but…'
'But nothing, Flame is going to be seen, Miss Moffat is going to go ballistic, I'm going to be expelled and Flame, well, I don't even want to think about what will happen to him. If the parents found out we were keeping a dragon here they'd never stand for it. They'd make Miss Moffat get rid of him and she'd have no choice. He doesn't deserve this, he isn't dangerous.'
'If people gave Flame a chance then they'd see that he is harmless. Like me, I was apprehensive when I first saw him, but now I know that he is a sweetie.'
'Not everyone's like you Charlotte, they believe what they've been told about dragons and they aren't open to change. They will see him as a vicious beast and nothing will change their opinions.'
Charlotte looked up at the sky, it was warming up and with it morning had fully arrived. She knew that it wouldn't be long before the yard was full with students.
'Maybe I should go and get Miss Moffat,' Molly sighed. 'I don't want to, but I can’t have people seeing Flame. I'm just going to have to get into trouble. I just hope that Flame ends up okay,' she began to walk away.
'No!' Charlotte grabbed her arm. 'I'll sort this out, I will. Go to breakfast, distract everyone and give me some time, but trust me, I will catch him.'
'You haven't been very successful so far.'
'I'll catch him Molly, now go to breakfast,' she gav
e her a playful shoo.
'I hope you're right,' Molly sighed, as she dropped her backpack down by Charlotte's feet.
She gave Charlotte a serious look before she walked off across the yard. She couldn't believe that she was leaving a first year student in charge of coaxing an extremely stubborn dragon to safety. Molly had tried and failed and she was a far more experienced witch, yet there was something about the certainty in Charlotte's voice that had made Molly trust her.
Charlotte peered up at Flame as she tried to come up with a plan.
'Okay Flame, you like games, so let's play one on my terms,' Charlotte said under her breath.
***
Molly wasn't hungry, instead she felt sick with worry. She looked at the table in front of her that was full of berries and cherry muffins.
'Aren't you hungry?' Silvia asked, as she looked down at Molly’s empty plate.
'Yeah, of course,' Molly smiled, as she grabbed a muffin and took a large bite out of it.
She maintained her smile as she chewed, the muffin felt like paste in her mouth. She had to act normal and normal for her was to eat a large breakfast and keep her cool.
'Molly are the prefects meeting today or tomorrow?' Sonya asked.
Molly kept on chewing and tried to act natural, but all she could think about was Flame.
'Molly,' Sonya glared at her.
'Yeah, what, huh?'
'The prefects’ meeting?'
'Oh right, yeah, it's, it's tonight, no, erm tomorrow, it's tomorrow after classes.'
'Are you okay?' Silvia asked.
'Yeah, fine. I'm just tired, I didn't sleep very well last night.'
'Silvia knows how to make a great sleeping potion, she can brew some up if you want?' Sonya said.
'Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.'
Molly looked around at the other students, most of them had nearly finished their breakfasts and that meant one thing, soon they'd leave the great hall and some of them would go out to the yard for their next lesson and Flame would be seen. She had to stop them, she had to think of a distraction and fast!
She pushed back her chair and rushed up onto the stage. The staff all looked at her from their table and Miss Moffat shot her a questioning look.
'I was thinking,' she looked straight at Miss Moffat.
'Yes Molly, what is it?'
'I have an announcement,' she turned to face the students. 'Well, I was thinking…and I think that it would be a great idea, aahh, if we entered the annual Witches Singing Eisteddfod. After all, we now have the Golden Wand trophy…so we should enter this competition too.'
Some of the students clapped and a couple of them cheered. Molly was just glad that she'd got their attention, although she didn't particularly want to enter a singing competition. She didn't enjoy singing and was well aware that when she sang she sounded like a howling swamp monster.
'Molly, that's a marvellous idea,' Miss Moffat walked up alongside her.
'Thanks,' Molly blushed. 'We'd need the right song of course, it was your idea so no doubt you have a winning song suggestion?'
'Ahhh yes, yes I do.'
'Which would be?' she rose an eyebrow.
Molly tried to pull a song from her head, any song.
'Shake it off,' she spluttered out.
'Excuse me?'
'Shake it off, it's a song.'
'I've never heard of it.'
'It was in the charts, a very popular song and I think it'll be a great for the competition.'
'Well, go on then.'
Molly gave her a questioning look.
'Sing it,' she smirked.
'I, ahhh, of course,' she looked out at the crowd of students and coughed to clear her throat. Molly knew the tune well, but she wasn’t too sure of the words.
'I stay out too late, la la in my brain,' she squawked out.
'That's what people say, that's what people say.
I have too many dates, but often they don’t stay.
At least that's what people, that's what people say,' she stopped singing and scanned her eyes over the crowd, desperately trying to find Charlotte.
'But I keep on cruising.
Won't stop, can't stop moving.
It's like I got this music in my head
Saying it's gonna be okay.'
Again she searched for Charlotte but there was no sign of her. She didn't want to have to sing the chorus, as she knew that she sounded awful, but she had to keep the crowd's attention and her atrocious singing was definitely doing that. She could also tell that she hadn’t quite got the words right...by the giggles and smiles whenever she was unsure of a word.
'Cause now I’m gonna play, play, play, play, play,' she flicked out her hands as she tried to mimic how Taylor Swift did it in the music video. 'And the haters they all hate, hate, hate, hate,' she felt herself blushing, but she forced a smile.
'Baby, I'm gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake,' she swayed her hips, willing for the ground to gulp her up right about now.
Gerty sensed Molly's discomfort so she pulled Stef and Alice up to their feet. She began to sing along with Molly, whilst Stef mimed. Alice soon joined in, shouting out the words as she did over-exaggerated movements.
'I shake it off, I shake it off,' half of the room were on their feet now, singing along with a relieved looking Molly.
Molly stopped singing and turned to face Miss Moffat, hoping that she couldn’t tell just how embarrassed she was.
'That was a, well, it was an interesting song, quite a bit of repetition,' she paused and looked directly at Molly. 'But, I don't think that it would be an appropriate song choice for the Witch Singing Eisteddfod. How about that Let It Go song instead?'
Groans erupted throughout the great hall, including from some of the staff, including the Mistress of the Spells, who immediately covered her mouth with her hand as soon as she'd groaned.
Miss Moffat ignored the groans and continued to look at Molly as she waited for her to answer.
'Perhaps we could sing that,' Molly forced a smile.
'Then go ahead, sing it.'
'Ahhh, well, I will try but I'm not so familiar with the words.'
Singing the first song had been bad enough but singing Let It Go would be far worse! Molly had once turned a second year student into a mouse when she'd heard her sing it along the corridor.
Miss Moffat kept her gaze on her and gave her a look as if to say 'hurry-up'.
'Let it go, let it go,' she wailed out of tune.
Molly's eyes fell on Charlotte, she was standing at the side of the room and giving her the thumbs up.
'I'm sorry Miss Moffat, I'm not familiar with any more of the words, but I know someone who is,' she smiled.
'Very well, bring her up here,' Miss Moffat sighed.
'Alice Smithers, come up here,' Molly beckoned her up.
Alice pointed her thumbs inwards and mouthed the word 'me?' Molly nodded and Alice excitedly pushed her way past the other girls and hurried up to the stage.
Molly had heard Alice sing it enough times when she'd walked past their room, she also knew that Alice was never one to shy away from the limelight.
'I love this song, I know all the words,' she smiled to Molly.
'Great,' Molly forced a smile. 'Sing away.'
Alice patted down her cardigan as she excitedly looked from Molly to the students.
Alice started singing as loudly as her lungs would allow.
Molly watched on as Miss Moffat grimaced as she listened to Alice. It turned out that Alice's singing voice was even worse than Molly's, but unlike Molly, who knew she was bad, Alice obviously thought that she was a brilliant singer.
As Alice continued to murder the song, Molly gradually moved backwards and then crept down the steps and disappeared amongst the crowd.
Molly saw Charlotte walk into the hall. She gestured with her eyes for her to follow her. They snuck out the door of the great hall which proved an easy task to do, seeing as everyone else was watchin
g Alice, some of them clutching their hands over their ears.
It was only when Alice's singing could no longer be heard that Molly gently grabbed Charlotte's arm as she came to a stop.
'Now, give me the details?' she asked.
'Flame loves attention, so I decided to sit down in the yard with my back to him and I began to eat an apple. It wasn't long before he started to fly past me, but I kept on ignoring him. He snatched the apple out of my hand but I didn't react, instead I took another one out of your backpack and took a bite out of it.
Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE! Page 31