Castle Magic

by Miranda Jones

  “It was painted by Wolfgang Popplehoff, who was a very famous artist” Mrs. Ledbetter went on.

  Tiffany Andrews sniffed. “My dad's got a painting like that in his study. Ours is much nicer”

  Mrs. Ledbetter glared at her Ali could see thatTiflany was starting to get on her nerves! Ali smiled, but then she spotted something that knocked the smile right off her face.

  The lady chained to the rock was Genie!

  Ali leaned forward as far as she dared and stared hard at the picture. The maiden in distress had a blond ponytail and was wearing sparkling pink pants. It was Genie! She was staring up at the fire-breathing dragon, looking scared to death.

  As soon as Mrs. Ledbetter turned away to take the group to the next room, Ali put her ear close to the picture.

  “Help!” called a tiny voice. Genie sounded really frightened.

  Ali glanced at the knight He didn't look as if he was going to be very much help. He looked as scared as Little Genie.

  Ali bit her lip. She'd promised herself she wouldn't use any wishes on this trip, but she knew there was only one thing she could do to get Genie out of trouble.

  “Come on, Ali,” Mary called. She was helping Barry to follow the others.

  “In a sec,” Ali called back. “I've got to get something out of my backpack first.” She hung around, pretending to unfasten her backpack, until Mary and Barry had left the gallery. Then she turned to the picture again and took a deep breath.

  “I wish I was inside the picture too,” Ali said, adding quickly, “with Barry's armor to help me fight the dragon and rescue Genie!”

  There was a puff of silvery smoke, and a gust of cold wind lifted Ali off her feet Coughing, she flapped her hand in front of her face until the smoke began to clear She was standing on the rock next to Genie. In front of them the knight was halfheartedly waving his lance at the dragon, which was roaring and spitting flames. It looked as if Ali was going to have to rescue the knight, too!

  Ali looked down at herself. Something didn't feel right Then her heart sank She'd wished for Barry's armor … but instead she was wearing the striped apron and holding the egg whisk! What use would they be against an enormous fire-breathing dragon?

  “Am I glad to see you!” Genie exclaimed. “It took you long enough to make the wish.” She nodded in the direction of the knight, who was trying to dodge the flames the dragon was breathing at him. “I don't think he's going to rescue me!” Then Genie stared doubtfully at the egg whisk in Ali's hand. “But I'm not sure you've brought the right equipment.”

  “I wished for Barry's armor;” Ali grumbled, helping Genie out of her chains. Luckily, they were just looped around her wrists and ankles, so it was quite easy to untangle her “But I got the whisk and the apron instead!”

  ‘The wish didn't work because you wished to be in the picture and for Barry's armor, that's why,” Genie said, rubbing her wrists. “That's two wishes, really. Well, call it one and a half.”

  “Never mind,” Ali said urgently, hearing the dragon roaring behind them. “Do some genie magic and get us out of here!”

  But before Genie could do anything, the air echoed with the sound of flapping wings. Ali felt hot, fiery breath on her neck The dragon was flying straight toward them!

  “Help!” Ali cried, waving frantically at the knight “Help!”

  “Sorry,” the knight said, looking petrified. “I'm not a real knight you know. I'm just the kitchen boy. Baron Wolfgang asked me to pose for this picture, but I don't know anything about fighting dragons!” And looking very apologetic, he scrambled onto his horse and galloped off, clinging to the horse's mane. “By the way, nice whisk,” he called back over his shoulder to Ali. “Very good quality.”

  “Yes, but it's not going to help me stop a dragon, is it?” Ali threw the whisk down in disgust.

  The dragon was hovering above Ali and Genie now, shooting flames in their direction. Ali ducked, feeling the ends of her hair singe.

  “Quick!” Genie said suddenly. “Get Barry's peppermints out of your backpack!”

  Ali stared at her “Genie, this is no time to be thinking about food. We're being attacked by a fire-breathing dragon!”

  “Just do it,” Genie insisted.

  With shaking fingers, Ali undid the other backpack pocket and pulled out a handful of peppermints. She passed them to Genie, who waited until the dragon opened his mouth to roar again. Then she hurled the mints toward him.

  A couple of them landed right in the dragon's mouth. He stopped roaring and looked surprised. There was a faint hiss and all the flames disappeared.

  Genie turned to grin at Ali. “See?These mints give you ‘cool, fresh breath'!” she explained, singing the last few words of a jaunty tune. “I saw the commercial while you were at school.”

  “Thankgoodness for that!” Ali said. The dragon was crunching noisily on the peppermints as if he was enjoying them. He didn't seem half so scary now. Gently flapping his wings, he flew down and landed on the rock beside them. Then he began nosing around Ali's backpack like an inquisitive dog.

  “Here, have them all!” Ali said. She took out the rest of the peppermints and put them down on the rock The dragon sniffed at them, his enormous nostrils quivering.

  Genie reached out and patted his shiny green scales. “He's cute, isn't he?” she said. “Can we take him home with us?”

  Ali shook her head, remembering what had happened with the tiny purple tiger that had come to life from the chocolate ad. Although he was very cute, it had been nearly impossible to keep him a secret from Ali's mom. A fire-breathing dragon would be even more of a challenge! “I think we'd better leave the dragon here in the painting where he belongs,” she said. “Come on, let's get back to the castle before anyone wonders where I've gone.”

  “Okay.” Genie sighed, patting the dragon on the head. “Bye!”

  She raised her arms in the air and murmured a couple of magic words. A cool breeze swirled around Ali and Genie, lifting them off their feet and wrapping them in drifts of smoke.

  Ali closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she found to her relief that she was back in the Long Gallery beside the painting. Genie was mini size again, hanging out of Ali's backpack pocket

  “I hope the picture isn't damaged,” Ali said. But the painting was exactly the same as it had been before with the handsome kitchen-boy knight fighting the fine-breathing dragon. The only difference was that there was now a red-haired lady in a long white dress chained to the rock instead of Genie:

  ‘Thank goodness for that!” Ali said. “Now we'd better try to find everybody. I have no idea where they've gone.”

  “Shhh.” Genie put her finger to her lips and grinned. “If you listen carefully, you can hear Barry Jones clanking!”

  Ali followed the noise of moving armor out of the Long Gallery and down another corridor The rest of her class was heading to the castle restaurant to eat their packed lunches. By the time Ali joined them, they were already sitting at the tables in the wood-paneled room, which was hung with more paintings. Barry's suit of armor was standing in the corner and Mary was sitting at the table closest to it

  “I'm starving!” Barry was complaining in a muffled voice.

  “We'll have to share our lunches with Barry,” Mary said in a low voice to Ali. “Otherwise he's not going to get anything to eat”

  “Okay” Ali agreed. She opened her lunch box and took out a cheese and tomato sandwich. She made sure that no one was watching herTiffany Andrews and her friends were sitting at the next table. Ali knew that Tiffany would go straight to Mrs. Jasmine if she found out Barry was stuck inside a suit of armor But Tiffany, Sara, and Melanie were too busy talking to take any notice, so Ali quickly slid the sandwich through the slit in Barry's visor

  “Cheese? Yuck!” Barry said in disgust. “I hate cheese.”

  “I've got ham,” Mary said, pushing a sandwich through the hole.

  “I hope it hasn't got any lettuce on it,” Barry grumbled.
<
br />   Ali and Mary rolled their eyes at each othenThen Ali's heart sank as she noticed Mrs. Ledbetter staring at the suit of armor from the other side of the room.

  “That's not supposed to be in here!” Looking very put out, the guide stood up with her hands on her hips. “Who's moving all these suits of armor around, that's what I'd like to know! I'll have to have a word with the curator about this.”

  “Keep still, Barry,” Ali whispered nervously.

  “Mrs. Ledbetter, perhaps you could tell us something about the paintings in this room while we're eating our lunch,” Mrs. Jasmine said.

  “Very well.” Mrs. Ledbetter waved her hand around the room. “These are alt portraits of the Popplehoff family through the centuries.”

  Ali gazed at the pictures. The Popplehoffs seemed quite a miserable bunch. Not one of them was smiling.

  “They don't look like much fun, do they?” Genie whispered, echoing Ali's thoughts as she poked her head out of the backpack pocket “Can I have some lunch?” Ali rooted around in her lunch box and gave Genie a chunk of cheese and the top of a chocolate sandwich cookie. “This is Henrietta Popplehoff when she was ten years old.” Mrs. Ledbetter pointed at the portrait hanging above the fireplace. It showed a sulking girl in a frilly blue and white dress, holding a china doll. “Apparently, Henrietta was very spoiled,” Mrs. Ledbetter explained, glancing at Tiffany Andrews. “She used to have a fit of temper if her father didn't bring her a new doll whenever he'd been away from home. The collection of dolls we saw in the Green Bedroom belonged to her”

  “Henrietta sounds even brattier than Tiffany!” Mary whispered to Ali.

  “I'm still starving,” Barry moaned from inside the armor “Can I have a cookie?”

  Making sure no one was looking, Ali slid a chocolate cookie through the opened visor and sat down again.

  “Henrietta's ghost is supposed to haunt the castle,” Mrs. Ledbetter added with a smile. “Some people claim to have seen a ten-year-old girl in an old-fashioned blue and white dress wandering about.”

  “Don't be scared, class,” Mrs. Jasmine said hastily. “There's no such thing as ghosts.”

  “Oh, I wouldn't be scared if I saw a ghost.” Tiffany Andrews yawned, looking bored. “I'd just walk right up to it and Say ‘Boo!'“

  Sara and Melanie giggled.

  “I tell you what” Tiffany had lowered her voice, but Ali and Mary could still hear what she was saying. “Let's go and look for the ghost!”

  “Ooh, yes!” Sara and Melanie said together

  The three girls pushed back their chairs and slipped out of the restaurant. No one saw them go except for Ali and Mary.

  “I bet Tiffany would be frightened out of her wits if she did meet a ghost,” Mary said, laughing. “I wish she would!”

  “So do I,” Ali agreed.

  Then she froze. Oh no! Had she just used her thind wish? What if Tiffany really did meet a ghost now? But it wasn't really my wish, Ali told herself It was Mary's wish-^she had just agreed with it! But she couldn't stop worrying.

  Mary was feeding Barry another chocolate cookie, so Ali tapped gently on the backpack pocket. “Genie, was that a wish?” she whispered.

  Genie appeared, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “Was what a wish?” she asked. “Sorry, I didn't, hear anything. I was having a nap.”

  Quickly Ali explained what she had said when she was talking to Mary.

  “I don't know if that was a wish or not,” Genie said. “I do feel a bit strange, J?ut that doesn't necessarily mean there's magic around. It might be the cheese I just ate.”

  Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream echoed down the corridor; and Tiffany, Sara, and Melanie rushed into the restaurant

  “It's, the ghost!” Tiffany shrieked, her face white. “We've seen the ghost!”

  “Oh no!” Ali muttered guiltily. “It was my third wish!”

  “Do you think it's really a ghost?” Mary gasped, her eyes wide with excitement

  Everyone started talking at once. Tiffany, Sara, and Melanie were shaking all oven and Tiffany was quite hysterical.

  “Th-there she was in the corridor; r-right in front of our eyes,” she stammered. “Penrietta Hopplehoff— I mean, Henrietta Popplehoff. She had that very same blue and white dress on!” She pointed dramatically at the portrait above the fireplace.

  ‘Tiffany, do try to calm down,” Mrs. Jasmine said, patting her on the back

  Mrs. Ledbetter looked stern. “Henrietta's ghost is just a story we made up for the visitors,” she said. “Are you girls playing a silly joke?”

  “They do seem scared,” Mrs. Jasmine pointed out.

  Ali grabbed her backpack “Let's go and look” she said to Mary.

  Mary stared at her in amazement “You're joking!” she gasped. “Aren't you frightened?”

  Ali shook her head. She couldn't see any reason to be scared of a magic ghost. “I bet there's nothing there at all,” she said.

  “Okay, I'll come with you,” Mary said bravely. “But what about Barry?”

  Ali glanced over at the suit of armor. Faint snores were coming from inside.

  “He's having a nap!” she said with a grin. “Come on.”

  Everyone else was still crowding around Tiffany and her friends, so they didn't notice when Ali and Mary slipped out. The girls walked down the corridor and looked^round, but they couldn't see anything.

  “There's no one here,” Mary said, sounding relieved. “It looks like Tiffany and the others were just playing a joke.” Ali felt relieved too. Perhaps she hadn't used her third wish after all.

  “WHOOOOOOO!”

  Ali and Mary jumped, then froze as a girl in a long blue and white dress drifted out from behind a cupboard and flew straight toward them. Her old-fashioned buttoned boots hovered a few inches above the floor; and Ali could see right through her

  “Oh!” Ali and Mary gasped together

  “It is Henrietta Popplehoff!” Mrs. Ledbetter shrieked behind them.

  Ali and Mary spun around. They hadn't noticed the guide following them into the corridor.

  “I must fetch the curator at once!” Mrs. Ledbetter said, and she dashed off.

  Henrietta stopped halfway down the corridor and glared at Ali and Mary.

  “What are we going to do?” Mary whispered, clutching Ali's arm.

  “Don't worry,” Ali said confidently. “I don't think she's going to hurt us.” After all, Henrietta was only there because of her wish. Genie's magic must have used the portrait of Henrietta to come up with the ghost that Ali had wished for

  Crash!

  Mary jumped again, looking scared out of her wits.

  ‘That came from inside the restaurant,” Ali said. “I think Barry's fallen over! You'd better go and help him.”

  “But I can't leave you here with … with the ghost!” Mary stammered.

  “I'll be fine,” Ali promised, feeling a bit embarrassed that Mary thought she was being really brave. “But don't say anything to Mrs. Jasmine, or Tiffany will panic again!”

  Mary nodded. Then she backed cautiously toward the restaurant door, her eyes fixed on Henrietta.

  “Um—excuse me, but she's not a magic ghost'“ Genie said suddenly. She had popped up out of the pocket and was staring at Henrietta.

  Ali frowned. “Of course she is!” she said.”! used my third wish, I told you.”

  Genie shook her head. “No, you didn't. If I'd used my magic to make a ghost, it would be a nice, smiley, cheerful one, not a miserable one like that!”

  Ali felt all the color drain from her face. “You mean she really is a ghost?”

  “I suppose so,” Little Genie said solemnly.

  “Help!” Ali whispered, her throat suddenly dry.

  “Don't worry.” Genie wriggled out of the backpack and perched on Ali's shoulder “She doesn't look that scary. She just looks sad, that's all. Don't you think we should see if we can cheer her up?”

  Ali looked at Henrietta more closely. Genie was right. The ghost didn't look
scary anymore. Her shoulders drooped and she was staring down at the floor

  “Hello, Henrietta,” Ali said. She made herself walk toward the sad little ghost, even though her knees were shaking. “What's the matter? Can we do anything to help?”

  Henrietta looked at hen Her sulky face lit up when she spotted Genie sitting on Ali's shoulder “A doll!” she shrieked. “A new doll!” Before Ali could do anything, Henrietta swooped forward, her hands outstretched. She grabbed Little Genie and flew right up into the air out of Ali's reach.

  “Help!” Genie yelled. “Ali, help me!”

  Ali watched in dismay as Henrietta floated up to thé ceiling. She landed on the crystal chandelier and set all the glass beads tinkling. Then she began to examine Genie more closely. She patted and stroked her hair and felt her clothes.

  “Stop it!” Genie wailed. “I'm not a doll!” She stared down at Ali and then covered her eyes with her hands. “Get me down, Ali!” she called. “You know I don't like heights!”

  “A talking, moving doll!” Henrietta's eyes opened wide in delight “I've never had one of those before.”

  “Henrietta!” Ali called urgently. “You have to let Genie go. She's not—”

  Ali stopped. She had been about to tell Henrietta that” Genie was not a doll at all, but she wasn't sure Henrietta would understand. After all, Genie was the same size as a doll, and Ali was pretty certain that Henrietta had never come across a real, live genie before.

  And Ali wasn't supposed to tell anyone about Little Genie. If she did, Genie could be sent back to live in her Lava lamp.

  “Please give Genie back to me, Henrietta,” Ali said. “She's my doll, not yours.”

  Henrietta scowled at Ali, while Genie looked outraged.

  “Excuse me!” Genie protested “I'm not a doll,I'm a—”