“Now,” Mrs. Jasmine went on, “there are lots of valuable pictures and furniture in the castle, so make sure you don't touch anything unless you're told you can. I expect you all to be on your best behavior”
And that's why there won't be any wishes or any genie magic! Ali thought.
The driver opened the doors, and everyone grabbed their bags and followed Mrs. Jasmine off the bus.
“Welcome to Popplehoff Castle.” Mrs. Ledbetter strode briskly forward and beamed at them. “It's very nice to meet you. Now, we have a lot to see, so will you please follow me?” “She has a British accent!” Ali said.
“Maybe she came over with the castle!” Mary whispered back
Everyone crowded around the guide as she ushered them through the huge archway. She told them that the first Baron Popplehoff had built Popplehoff Castle in Europe six hundred years ago.
“The present-day Baron Popplehoff and his family liked living in the castle so much, they decided to bring it with them when they moved to Cocoa Beach twenty years ago,” Mrs. Ledbetter added.
“That's kind of weird, isn't it?” Mary remarked to Ali. “Having people walking around looking at your house while you're still living in it!”
Mrs. Ledbetter overheard her “The baron's living quarters are private,” she explained. “We'll just be visiting those parts of the castle that are open to the public.”
Ali felt something poke her in the shoulder It was Genie, nudging her from inside the backpack. Ali moved away from the rest of the class and opened the pocket. Genie's head popped out.
“What's the matter?” Ali whispered.
“Can you leave the pocket open now?” Genie whispered back. “I want to see the castle.”
“Well, okay,”Ali agreed reluctantly.”But remember, no magic!”
“I promise,” Genie said,
Ali slung the backpack back onto her shoulder and hurried to catch up with her class as they walked into the cobbled courtyard.
“Isn't this great?” Mary said, gazing around. “It's like traveling back in time.”
Ali nodded. “Yeah, you can just imagine knights in armor and ladies in long flowing dresses walking around, can't you?”
“We'll start with the famous Green Bedroom tn the West Tower;” announced Mrs. Ledbetter. She led them over to one of the towers, and they began to climb the steep spiral staircase. “Many princes and princesses are supposed to have stayed in this room when visiting the Popplehoff family.”
“Wow!” Ali breathed when she reached the top of the stairs and squeezed into the bedroom with the rest of the class. A vast four-poster bed stood in the middle, surrounded by pale green silk curtains. The furniture was cream and gold, and there were huge pictures in gilt frames on the walls. “It's fantastic!”
“What's in those glass cases over there?” Tiffany asked, pointing across the room. She bent down to duck under the rope that separated them from the main part of the room.
“Come this way, please,” Mrs. Ledbetter said, giving Tiffany a stern look She shepherded them around the roped-off section to the other side of the room where the glass cases were.
Ali was fascinated to see that they were filled with china dolls of all shapes and sizes. They were dressed in old-fashioned outfits with long dresses, petticoats, and frilly bloomers.
“This is the world-famous Popplehoff collection of antique dolls,” Mrs. Ledbet-ter told them.
“They're really nice,” Ali said to Mary. “But I couldn't imagine playing with dolls that cost so much money!”
“Excuse me!” Tiffany said rudely, elbowing Ali out of the way. “Do you mind if someone else takes a look?”
Ali rolled her eyes and shuffled sideways. It wasn't worth arguing with Tiffany.
“Look, Tiff,” Sara Parker said. “That one in the pink dress looks like your antique doll.”
Tiffany peered into the glass case. “Oh, yes,” she agreed. “But mine's a lot nicer than that. Mine must be worth loads of money!”
“Ali!”
Ali jumped as she heard Little Genie's voice. Quickly she moved away from the rest of her group before anyone else could hear.
“Can I get out of the backpack and have a look at the dolls?” Genie asked.
“No!” Ali whispered firmly. “What if someone sees you?”
“I'll just keep really still,” Genie told her “They'll think I'm one of the dolls!”
Ali groaned. “For one thing, the dolls are in a glass case. And none of them are wearing bright pink pants! You won't exactly blend in.”
“Let's go out into the corridor” Mrs. Ledbetter called, leading the way out of the bedroom.
“It's not fair;” Genie grumbled from her pocket as Ali hung back to let the rest of the class leave the room.”! can't see very much from in here.”
“Shhh!” Ali whispered. She was beginning to think it had been a very bad idea to bring Little Genie along.
The wood-paneled corridor was long and wide. Suits of silver armor were lined up along the walls from one end to the other Ali thought suits of armor looked a bit scary. Someone could hide inside one of them, she thought, and you wouldn't even know they were there.
Mrs. Ledbetter was pointing out the large and colorful tapestries hanging on the walls. Some of them showed scenes of battles, while others had elaborate patterns of leaves and flowers. ‘Tapestries were often hung up to try to stop the chilly drafts,” the guide explained. “Castles didn't have central heating, you know!”
Ali was standing at the back of the group listening to the guide when suddenly she noticed Barry Jones out of the corner of her eye. He was trying to pull one of the metal hands off a suit of armor
“What are you doing?” Ali said in a low voice. “Mrs. jasmine told you not to touch anything.”
“I just wanted to try the hand on,” Barry mumbled, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Mrs. Jasmine wasn't watching.”! wish I could try the whole suit!”
“I wish you could too,” Ali said crossly, “tt might keep you from annoying me for a minute!”
The second she said the words, Ali could have kicked herself But it was too late. Way too late. Barry Jones had disappeared in a puff of glittering silvery smoke!
“Barry!” Ali gasped. “Where are you?”
“In here!” said a muffled voice.
Ali bit her lip. She'd wished Barry Jones inside the suit of armor!
“That worked well, didn't it?” Genie popped up out of the pocket and beamed at Ali. “Maybe that'll keep Barry quiet”
“But I didn't mean to make a wish!” Ali groaned.
“How did I get in here?” Barry asked in a puzzled voice. “Did you do something, Ali?”
“Never mind that,” Ali said. Quickly she looked around. The class was following Mrs. Ledbetter down the corridor “Just get out of there as fast as you can.”
There were a few clanks as Barry tried to lift his hands inside the suit of armor “I can't,” he said at last. “It's too heavy!”
“What?” Ali exclaimed. “Let me try.” She grasped one of the metal hand pieces and tried to pull it off. But she couldn't move it Ali frowned. What was she going to do? She couldn't unwish the wish, unfortunately; it didn't work that way. She would have to wait for all the sand to run through the hourglass before Barry was free again.
“Don't worry, Ali,” Genie said cheer– fully, hanging out of the backpack pocket. “I think the armor really suits him.”
“How can you tell?” Ali said. “You can't even see him!”
Genie grinned. “Exactly!”
“Ali!”
Genie ducked out of sight and Ali jumped. Mary was coming toward them.
“Come on!” she called. “Mrs. Ledbetter's taking us to see the kitchen.”
“What about me?” Barry said from inside the suit of armor
Mary almost leapt out of her skin. “That—that suit of armor just spoke to me!” she spluttered.
Ali heard a tiny chuckle from inside the bac
kpack. “It's Barry Jones,” she told Mary. “He's inside it.”
“Oh, honestly!” Mary exclaimed. “That's just the kind of stupid thing he would do!”
“Hey, I heard that!” Barry, called out. “It wasn't my fault. I don't know how I got in here.”
“He's stuck,” AN explained quickly before Mary could start asking questions about exactly how Barry had got into the armor “What are we going to do? If Mrs. Jasmine or Mrs. Ledbetter finds out, there'll be big trouble.” And Barry would be in big trouble too, Ali thought guiltily
“You've got that right” Mary agreed with a frowa “Mrs. Jasmine might make us leave before we've seen the rest of the castle.”
“We'll just have to try to make sure she doesn't find out” said Ali. She crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping that all the sand would have run through the hourglass by the time they went home. “Maybe Barry will find a way out of there by the time we leave,” she suggested weakly.
“I hope so.” Mary grinned. “I think Mrs. Jasmine might notice if there's a suit of armor sitting on the bus!”
“Barry, listen to me,” Ali said, standing on tiptoe so that she could speak into the helmet “You're going to have to come with us. But if Mrs. Jasmine or Mrs. Ledbetter or anyone from our class sees you, you'll have to stand really still and pretend you'ne one of the displays. Okay?”
“All right, but I don't know how easy it's going to be to walk around,” Barry grumbled. “This armor's really heavy.”
Ali and Mary watched anxiously as Barry began to move his arms and legs inside the metal suit
“We'd better hurry” Mary warned. “The others have already gone downstairs.”
With a good deal of huffing and puffing and creaking, Barry began to clank down the corridor toward the stairs. Ali and Mary followed on either side.
“I don't think I can get down the stairs,” Barry said worriedly. “My legs won't bend!”
“We'll give you a hand,” Ali told Barry. She and Mary each took one of Barry's metal arms. He shuffled to the edge of the step and lurched down to the next one with Ali and Mary holding on to him tightly.
By the time they got halfway down, Ali's arms were beginning to ache. The suit of armor really was heavy. But it was her fault that Barry was stuck in there, so she couldn't leave him behind. At last they made it to the bottom of the staircase, where they could hear Mrs. Ledbetter's voice farther down the corridor
“This painting is over three hundred years old,” she was saying. “It shows Popplehoff Castle in the eighteenth century.”
“Wait here for a minute, Barry,” Ali whispered. “You'll have to follow us as quietly as you can, But keep well back from the rest of the class.”
Okay.” Barry tried to give Ali a thumbs-up, but he couldn't lift his arm very far.
“Now we'll go to the kitchen,” Mrs. Ledbetter announced. “We have refurbished it to look as it would have two hundred years ago.”
Ali and Mary hurried down the corridor to catch up with the rest of the group. Suddenly there was a loud clang from behind them.
“What was that?” Mrs. Ledbetter exclaimed.
Ali's heart began to thump as everyone turned around to look But to her relief, Barry was standing against the wall, as still as stone. He looked just like one of the empty suits of armor!
“I think he just bumped into that table,” Mary whispered in All's ear. “I don't suppose he can see very well with a helmet on.”
Ali glanced anxiously over her shoulder as they went toward the kitchen. Barry was lumbering along behind them again, keeping a good distance between himself and the rest of the class.
The kitchen was enormous, with a high wood-beamed ceiling. An ancient wooden dresser with shelves full of heavy white crockery stood against one wall, and a log fire crackled in the hearth.
“We'd better help Barry,” Ali whispered to Mary. “There are too many things in here for him to crash into!”
As Mrs. Ledbetter began to explain what kind of food the Popplehoffs would have eaten hundreds of years ago, Ali and Mary helped Barry into the room,
“Let's put him in the corner by the fireplace,” Mary said in a low voice. “He'll be out of the way there.”
“Hey, it's really hot here!” Barry complained as Ali and Mary shuffled him into position.
“Shhh!” Ali told him. “It's only for a few minutes.”
Leaving Barry by the fire, Ali and Mary quickly rejoined the group.
“And meat was cooked over here on the spit above the fire,” said Mrs. Ledbetter turning to the fireplace. Then a look of surprise came over her face. “What on earth is that suit of armor doing in here? There certainly weren't any knights in the kitchen back then!”
Ali bit her lip, praying that Barry wouldn't move. Mrs. Ledbetter stared hard at the suit of armor for a minute and then shrugged. “Someone must have moved it,” she murmured to herself. “Well, anyway, class, as I was saying—”
“Hey, Ali.” Genie had wiggled out of the pocket again and was tugging at Ali's sweatshirt “I know how I can help Barry look as if he belongs in the kitchen!”
“No, Genie!” Ali whispered in alarm.”You promised you wouldn't do any magic!”
But it was too late. There was a tiny puff of glittery smoke and suddenly Barry was wearing a blue and white striped apron over his suit of armor. He held an egg whisk in one of his metal-covered hands.
“That doesn't help at all, Genie!” Ali protested, but Genie was already wriggling back down inside “the pocket,
“And it was the job of the kitchen boy to turn the spit to make sure the meat cooked properly,” Mrs. Ledbetter went on. AJi held her breath as the guide turned back to the fireplace. This time Mrs. Ledbettèr's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw Barry's outfit
‘Well!” Mrs. Ledbetter said as everyone but Ali burst out laughing. “I can see that someone's been playing a very silly joke.”
Ali thought quickly. “Weren't some knights specially trained to help in the kitchen?” she piped up. She had to stop Mrs. Ledbetter from going over to the armor or she might realize there was somebody inside! .
Mrs. Ledbetter raised her eyebrows. “I've never heard of such a thing!”
“Um … I read it in a book somewhere,” Ali babbled. She turned bright red as everyone in the class, including Mary, stared at hen “I've been doing a lot of research about castles and knights. And I've learned all about the kitchens. I'm very interested in cooking.”
For the first time Mrs. Ledbetter looked a bit unsure of herself. “Well, let's move on,” she said hastily. “Now I'm going to take you to tfie Long Gallery!”
Ali breathed a sigh of relief as the group set off again.
“What do you mean you're interested in cooking?” Mary nudged Ali, a grin on her face. “What about those pepper cookies?”
“I had to stop Mrs. Ledbetter from going over to Barry,” Ali explained.
Mary frowned. “Do you think he put on that apron and picked up that egg whisk himself? It's just the sort of silly thing he would do!”
“Maybe someone in our class did it as a joke,” Ali said. “Come on, let's go and help him move.”
“Quick, get me out of here. I feel as if I'm about to catch fire!” Barry grumbled when Ali and Mary ran over to him. Ali touched the armor It did feel hot Poor Barry must have felt as if he was cooking in a giant saucepan!
“And who put this stupid whisk in my hand?” Barry added crossly.
“Never mind,” Ali said. “Just keep following us, okay?”
Muttering to himself, Barry clanked out of the kitchen behind Ali and Mary. The class had stopped farther down the corridor, and Mrs. Ledbetter was pointing to some of the beautiful paintings that hung on the walls. Ali began to wonder how much sand still had to run through the hourglass. The wishes might come to an end very soon, she thought hopefully, and then Barry would be able to get out of the armor
“Genie?” Ali whispered, tapping gently on the backpack pocke
t. “Genie, show me the hourglass.”
There was no reply. Puzzled, Ali peered into the pocket Then she let out a gasp.
Genie had vanished.
Ali was so shocked that for a moment she couldn't think straight. Had Genie climbed out of the pocket, or had she fallen out?
Ali spun around to look back down the corridor: All of a sudden, a familiar flash of pink caught her eye. The painting on the wall beside her showed an old-fashioned ballroom. Men in black suits were waltzing around the dance floor with ladies wearing full-skirted ball gowns. And there, half hidden behind some of the other dancers, was Genie!
She was the same size as the other people in the painting but was still wearing her swirly-patterned floaty pink pants and top. A very dashing young man with a twirly mustache was whisking her around the dance floor
“Oh no,” Ali groaned. Genie had put herself into the picture!
Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Ali crept over to the painting. She had to talk to Genie and get her out of there right away.
“Keep away from the pictures, please!” Sharp-eyed Mrs. Ledbetter had spotted Ali. “Now if you'll all follow me, I'll take you to see a very special painting.”
Ali glanced anxiously over her shoulder at the ballroom picture while Mrs. Jasmine and Mrs. Ledbetter ushered the group down the corridor: She'd have to try to give the rest of the class the slip so she could stay behind and speak to Genie.
There was a clank from behind her as a suit of armor moved away from the wall and started to shuffle across the carpet. “Come on, Ali,” said Barry. “Why are you hanging around?”
“I'm coming,” Ali said. She took another look at the painting and blinked. The dashing young man was dancing with a dark-haired lady in a blue dress. Genie had vanished again!
“Where can she be now?” Ali muttered as she helped Barry down the corridor
“This is the most famous painting in the castle,” Ali heard Mrs. Ledbetter say. The guide was standing in front of an enormous gilt frame. It was so big that it took up the whole end wall of the gallery. Ali left Barry by the wall and squeezed between the others to take a closer look. In the foregrc-und of the picture there was a knight brandishing a lance at a very real-looking dragon with green scales. A maiden was chained to a rock behind them, waiting for the knight to rescue her
Castle Magic Page 2