by Angela Fish
Ben rushed up the stairs to his room. He found his notebook and pencil, and he ran back down again.
‘Ready. What’s next?’ he said.
3
Ben Learns The Magic Rhymes
Gran told Ben to write down what she told him. There were the two rhymes and the way that the secret could be passed on. He turned to a clean page in his notebook and waited.
‘Right, the first rhyme is the one to make you small,’ said Gran. ‘It’s better if you try to remember it, but be very careful about saying it out loud and doing the actions at the same time, as you could end up using all your chances in one day! It might be better if I just teach you both the rhymes before I pass over the secret to you. What do you think?’
Ben scratched his head. ‘Yes. That means I’ll have more time to make sure I know the rhymes properly. Is it a lot to learn?’
‘Not really,’ Gran smiled at him, ‘but you have to make sure you get it right, especially when you want to come back. Now, write this down. I’ll say it slowly.’
Ben took his pencil and wrote down exactly what his gran said.
Hold my breath and count to four,
breathe out slow and count four more.
Turn three circles, count to ten,
touch the floor, turn once again.
Close my eyes and touch my nose,
now make me small from head to toes!
Ben opened his eyes wide and his mouth too! He wanted to try out the magic rhyme so much, but he knew he’d have to wait until Gran was ready to pass over the secret. She began to recite the rhyme for getting back to normal size. It was exactly the same, except for the last line which was “now make me big from head to toes!”
Ben stopped writing. ‘What happens if I say them the wrong way around? Will I become a giant? Or even smaller if I’m already small?’
‘No,’ Gran shrugged her shoulders. ‘It doesn’t seem to work like that. I don’t know why, but as long as you say the words in the right order and do the actions properly then the magic happens. You understand that it’s important to learn the words exactly, don’t you? Just imagine how scared you’d be if you were small and couldn’t remember how to become your proper size again.’
Ben shivered. ‘Ooh, yes, but what if I was in a small place and said the rhyme, but there wasn’t enough room for me to be big in there?’
Gran took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. ‘Well, that would be a bit silly, wouldn’t it? You’d have to make sure you were in a good place first. Now, just one more thing and then I think I need to rest. You remember that I said you could use the rhyme for someone else to become small? Well, it’s very easy. Instead of saying ‘me’ in the rhyme, you just put their name instead, but you have to do the actions. You must be careful if you do this, and you shouldn’t really do it unless the person agrees. I know I didn’t ask you when I did it, but I guessed you’d be excited about the adventure. If you do decide to use the magic like this, you need to think carefully about how you’ll bring the person back again. You wouldn’t want to lose someone, would you?’
Ben thought for a moment. ‘I suppose it would have to be for something important, wouldn’t it? I mean, to use the magic on someone else?’
‘Yes,’ Gran agreed, ‘and it would have to be someone you trusted very much, because you’d have to tell them something about the secret wouldn’t you? Anyway, that’s a lot for you to think about for now. Go and help your dad in the garden for a while and try not to think about the secret too much. I expect you’ll have lots more questions for me tomorrow.’
Ben went into the kitchen and pulled on his coat and his boots. His head was bursting with all the things his gran had told him. He just couldn’t wait for tomorrow!
The next afternoon, when Ben arrived home from school, he ran upstairs and slammed his bedroom door. Mrs Jenkins, who lived at the end of the lane and had called in to see Gran, jumped and spilled her tea. She mopped it up with a tissue, and said she’d leave now that Ben was home.
‘Oh dear,’ Gran said, ‘it sounds like Ben’s had a bad day. Would you mind calling him for me on your way out? I still can’t manage the stairs properly.’
Mrs Jenkins shouted up to Ben and then left. After about ten minutes he came down the stairs very slowly. He went into the kitchen to fetch a glass of milk, and then took it into the living room.
‘Hello, Ben.’ Gran patted the seat next to her. ‘Come and sit here and tell me what the problem is. Bad day at school?’
He sniffed. ‘Sort of.’
‘What kind of answer is that? Come on, you can tell your Gran, can’t you? Then we can talk some more about the secret.’
Ben sat down. ‘Well, you remember I told you about the new girl who came to our school at the start of this term? Miss James put her on the table with Jess and me, and said we should look after her. She didn’t know anyone else.’
‘Yes,’ Gran said, ‘I remember. Her name’s Kelly or something like that? So what’s happened? I thought you were all getting along well.’
Ben sighed. ‘We were, but ever since the half-term holiday they don’t want to play with me, or even talk to me much. They just keep giggling together. I tried to ask Jess if I’d done something wrong but she didn’t really answer me. She just said “no” and ran off.’
Gran rubbed the end of her nose. ‘You know, sometimes friendships change, or even end, as you grow older. You have other friends in your class, don’t you? Maybe you should spend a bit more time with them?’
‘But Gran,’ Ben said, ‘Jess has always been my best friend and I’ve been hers. We like the same things and the same games and everything.’
Gran could see that he was upset, so she thought it was best to talk about something else until he calmed down. She told him to fetch his notebook again and to read her the rhymes. He managed quite well, but there were a few words that Gran had to help him with. Then he tried it with the actions, and they both laughed when he fell over.
‘Now then. Any questions about anything I’ve told you so far?’ Gran asked.
Ben linked his hands behind his neck and rocked in his seat. ‘Yes. If I used the rhyme and I went off exploring or something, wouldn’t Mum and Dad wonder where I was? I’d be in trouble if they thought I’d gone out on my own again, wouldn’t I?’
‘There’s something else you need to know about the secret,’ Gran said. ‘When you use the rhyme, it’s as if time doesn’t move at all. It doesn’t matter how long you’re away, when you come back it’s the same time as when you left. Didn’t you notice that last year?’
‘Not really,’ Ben replied. ‘I wasn’t small for very long – I just met Lox and we found the first piece of the gate. If it was you that made me small, how did you know when to make me big again?’
‘I was watching you all the time,’ Gran frowned. ‘I was a bit worried that Scoot would think you were something to play with, but he was sleeping in the shade. You have to be very careful when you’re small. There are lots of things that could hurt you. You’d make a nice meal for the magpies!’ Gran poked him in the stomach, and they both started laughing again.
Ben went upstairs to put his notebook away and to think about what his gran had told him. Lox would be coming back on Wednesday. Ben knew the secret now, but he didn’t know if his gran would let him use it just yet. He wanted to talk to Jess about it but he didn’t think she’d listen. The other problem was that he didn’t want to share the secret with Kelly.
4
Ben Tells Gran About The Spider Prince
Ben woke early on Wednesday morning, and climbed out of bed as quietly as he could. He opened the curtains and looked out for Lox. There was no sign of the spider, so Ben put on his dressing gown and started drawing a picture of the two magpies that had broken the spider gate, as well as one of Lox. He had just started drawing Scoot when he heard a tap on the window. Lox was waving at him, so he opened the window and the spider climbed in.
‘Hello Lox,’ Ben said, �
��are you all right?’
‘Hello, Ben,’ Lox shook a big raindrop from his back, ‘just a bit wet. Did you talk to your gran?’ Ben nodded. ‘Did she tell you what you needed to know?’
Ben sighed. ‘Gran told me about the secret but she hasn’t passed on the power, so I can’t use it yet. I can ask her if she will, and then I can help you. I’ll do that today when I come home. I promise.’
‘I’ll tell the queen and the wizard. When’s the next time that you don’t have to go to school?’
‘That’s Saturday,’ Ben said. He counted on his fingers. ‘Today is Wednesday, then Thursday, Friday, Saturday.’
‘Can you meet me near the spider gate on Saturday morning?’ Lox asked. ‘If you have the secret then I’ll take you into the kingdom. If you can’t come, or you don’t have the secret, hang a piece of ribbon out of your window and I’ll come to see you as soon as I can. Thank you, Ben.’
Ben opened the window and Lox ran out. Ben watched until the spider was out of sight, then he began to get ready for school.
By Friday Ben had still not spoken to his gran about the secret. Every time he tried to, something happened to stop them talking. There were visitors on Wednesday, and then Gran had to go back to the hospital on Thursday for a check-up, and was late coming home. Ben was sad that he might not be able to help Lox after all. He decided that as soon as he was home from school he’d ask Gran if she would pass on the secret to him. He’d have to tell her about Lox, but he was sure she’d understand. He’d been practising the rhymes and he thought he knew them now.
When he opened the kitchen door at four o’clock he knew that Gran was on her own. She was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.
‘Hello,’ she smiled at him. ‘Home already? Would you like some milk or some juice?’
‘Hi, Gran,’ Ben said. ‘Milk, please. Can we talk some more about the secret? I need to ask you something.’
‘Of course we can,’ she said. ‘Let’s sit here at the table. Your mum and dad won’t be home from work for a while, so we have plenty of time. Now, what’s worrying you?’
‘It’s about the secret.’ Ben wriggled in his chair. ‘Lox needs my help again, and if I can’t go into the spider kingdom to meet the wizard and the queen, the Spider Prince might die. I need to be small again, but you said that once the rhymes had been used seven times each they wouldn’t work unless the secret was passed on, didn’t you?’ Gran nodded. ‘So that means you can’t make me small, I have to have the secret myself.’
‘I don’t know, Ben. I’ll have to think about it.’ Gran frowned. She wanted to help him but she was afraid that he wasn’t really old enough to take care of the secret, and use it safely.
‘Lox wants me to meet him tomorrow,’ Ben said. ‘There’s not a lot of time left, Gran. I promise I won’t use the magic unless I have to, and I won’t tell anyone else about it. Jess knows about what happened last year but she doesn’t know about the secret. I don’t think she’d want to anyway.’
‘Things are still not right, then?’ Gran asked. Ben shook his head. ‘Never mind. Give me a little while to think. I promise I’ll tell you my answer before you go to sleep tonight.’
Later that evening Ben went to say goodnight to his gran. She told him that she would hand over the secret to him in the morning. Ben was so excited that it took him a long time to go to sleep. He dreamed all night long about dark caves, spiders with pointed hats, and a big bottle of yellow liquid.
5
Gran Gives Ben The Power
The next morning, after breakfast, Ben and Gran sat at the kitchen table. She looked a little bit worried and he was afraid that she might change her mind.
‘Ready, Ben? This might seem a little bit strange, but you need to listen carefully and do what I tell you without saying anything at all. If you interrupt me while I’m handing over the power to use the magic then it won’t work. I’ll write down the words and the actions for you, but I’ll keep them somewhere safe until you’re older. You have to be very sure about the person that you give the power to.’
Ben leaned across the table. ‘Yes, Gran, but I couldn’t give the power away until I’d used it all, could I?’
‘Well, that’s the thing,’ she said. ‘You could if you wanted to, but it would mean that you couldn’t use the magic again. The person you passed it on to would start with their seven straightaway.’
Ben pulled down the corners of his mouth. ‘Is that why you don’t want me to know this part then? In case I give it away too soon?’
‘That’s right,’ she told him, ‘but don’t worry about that now. We need to do this before your mum and dad finish the shopping if you want to go and see Lox this morning.’
She took Ben’s notebook and wrote in it for a few minutes. Then she tore out the page and put it in her pocket. She asked him to fetch the vinegar bottle, the salt shaker, the pepper pot, and a bowl of water. He put them on the table and then sat down again. Gran asked him to hold out his hands, and she put three shakes of salt on one hand and three shakes of pepper on the other. Then she put the vinegar bottle in front of her.
‘Ready, Ben?’ she asked. ‘Now remember, not a word until I tell you to speak. Only make the movements I tell you. It won’t take long.’
He was a little bit afraid, but excited as well. He watched as his gran held her hands just over his. She began to whisper. Then she picked up the vinegar bottle and tipped three drops onto Ben’s right hand, and three onto his left hand. With the middle finger of her left hand, she mixed the pepper and the vinegar. With the middle finger of her right hand, she mixed the salt and the vinegar. Then she took both of Ben’s hands and put them together.
‘Keep them tight. Don’t let the vinegar run away. No! Don’t say anything,’ Gran warned him, just as he was about to ask why.
She took a feather from her pocket and Ben gasped. It was so pretty, and he’d never seen one like it before. It was shiny green and blue, and had some gold shapes on it. It was long and wispy at the ends, and Gran began to wave it over his head then down his arms. She told him to put his hands out, and she brushed the feather over them. He shivered.
Gran put the feather on the table and took a small stone from her pocket. It looked like glass, but it was cloudy and it had a hole in the middle. She put the bowl of water in front of Ben and dropped the stone into it. His eyes opened wide as he watched the stone. It plopped into the water and sank to the bottom, but then began to float around the bowl as if it was made of cork. He had to bite on his lip to stop himself from speaking! Gran lifted the bowl.
‘Take three small sips,’ she told him, ‘but don’t swallow the stone.’
He sipped the water. It didn’t taste nasty, but it wasn’t the same as usual. Gran put the bowl on the table and stood behind Ben. She put her hands on his shoulders and tapped three times. She did some more whispering and then stood in front of him. She didn’t say anything for a minute, and then she put her hands over his eyes.
She said out loud, ‘Now the power is yours. Use it wisely.’
Ben felt a bit dizzy and Gran told him to wait a few minutes before talking. She took the stone from the bowl and dried it, and told him that it was called an adder stone. It had magical powers, and could protect its keeper against evil spells. She threaded a piece of string through the hole, tied a knot in it and put it around Ben’s neck. She told him to look through the hole if he ever felt that he might be in danger. She said that it had come from the wise woman on the hill. She’d found it on the shore of the magic lake, high in the mountains. Then Gran told him to go upstairs and pack his rucksack for his journey into the spider kingdom.
‘What do you think I should take?’ Ben asked. ‘I’m only going to meet the wizard so that he can tell me what I need to do.’
‘I know,’ Gran said. ‘You’d better take your torch and I think you ought to take Scoot’s whistle as well. Just in case you get into any trouble. If he starts barking near the hedge I’ll know somethin
g’s wrong.’ When Ben and Jess had been lost in the woods Scoot had found them when he heard them blowing the whistle.
Ben went to his room and found his rucksack. He packed his notebook and pencil and the things his gran had suggested. When he was back in the kitchen Gran handed him a ball of yellow wool. He looked puzzled.
‘What’s this for?’ he asked. ‘I don’t think the spiders want me to knit for them!’
‘Silly boy,’ she said. ‘Do you remember the film we watched about the Greek prince who had to go into a big maze where there was a monster? How did the prince find his way out?’
Ben thought for a moment. ‘I know! A lady had given him some magic string, and he tied it to a tree before he went into the maze. When he wanted to come out he wound it up until he was back at the beginning.’
‘Well done,’ Gran said. ‘So, use this wool in the same way.’
Ben thought this was a bit silly, because he knew that Lox would be with him all the time, but he promised his gran that he’d do as she said. He put on his coat and boots, and went down to the bottom of the garden.
6
Ben Meets The Spider Wizard
Ben couldn’t see Lox at first and he wasn’t sure if he should say the rhyme. If he said it and then Lox didn’t come, he’d have wasted a turn. He leaned against one of the big trees. Suddenly he felt something tickling his ear. Lox was hanging from a cobweb just above him!
‘Ready Ben?’ Lox asked. ‘Come on, do what you need to do and then we can go.’
Ben took a deep breath, then said the rhyme and did the actions. He had the same dizzy feeling that he’d had before, and he sat down quickly. After a moment he felt fine. He stood up and realised that the grass was now taller than him. He’d done it. He’d made the rhyme work!
Lox and Ben went under the hedge towards the spider gate, but before they went in Ben tied the end of the yellow wool around a low branch. Lox looked at him a bit strangely, but he didn’t say anything until the guards had let them through the gate.