by Jill Murphy
Mildred stomped away feeling desperate. If Maud and Enid thought she was mad and wouldn’t help her, then no one would and the only course of action was to go ahead with the kidnapping plan. Mildred quailed at the prospect.
The morning of the celebrations dawned and the whole day was given over to ironing best robes, practising on broomsticks and chanting. Mildred and Ethel sat miserably at their desks, feeling very left out of all the bustle.
As the afternoon drew to a close, Mildred crept downstairs and out into the darkening yard. She hurried to the pond and peered among the reeds to see if her friend was visible.
‘Mr Algernon, sir,’ she whispered, ‘come out, Mr Algernon. I’ve got something to tell you, sir.’
For a moment the water lay dark and still, then a ripple touched the surface and two green eyes appeared like periscopes.
‘Oh, Mr Algernon!’ exclaimed Mildred with relief, and before he had time to hide away under a stone, as he usually did, she shot a hand into the water and scooped him up. He did not want to be caught at all, and although Mildred told him where they were going and tried to soothe him, he struggled madly and looked at her with great suspicion. Mildred slid him carefully into her pocket and raced up the stairs to her room, where she transferred him to a small box with holes in the lid which she had prepared specially for the journey.
‘You’ll be all right there for a while,’ she told him, tying on the lid with a piece of string. ‘You mustn’t worry. It’ll be all right I promise.’
The next step was to find and kidnap a suitable victim. Of course, the easiest thing to do would have been to change someone into a frog or snail or some other small creature which could easily be kept hidden in a box until she returned. But, to be honest, Mildred felt that there had been quite enough animal enchantments in the school to last a lifetime, and it seemed a less desperate measure to do a nice, straightforward kidnap where at least you could see exactly what was happening.
As she came out of her room, Mildred saw a third-year witch named Griselda Blackwood approaching down the corridor, carrying her cat.
‘Excuse me!’ gasped Mildred. ‘Er – I was wondering if you could just come and help me for a moment?’
‘Whatever for?’ asked Griselda. ‘What’s the matter, Mildred. You look quite pale.’
‘There’s something horrible under my bed!’ exclaimed Mildred. ‘Could you come and help me get it out?’
‘Something horrible?’ repeated Griselda, drawing back in alarm. ‘Why, what do you mean something horrible? You can’t really expect me to go fishing about underneath your bed if I don’t even know what I might find under it. now can you?’
‘It’s a er – beetle!’ replied Mildred triumphantly. ‘I’ve got this thing about beetles. A horrid brown one with pincers ran up my pyjama leg once and I’ve never got over it. Please help me, Griselda. I won’t get a wink of sleep otherwise.’
‘A beetle!’ laughed Griselda. ‘Is that all? I thought it must be a tarantula at least with all the fuss you’re making. Come on, then.’
While Griselda was half under the bed, feeling about, Mildred very stealthily tied her bootlaces together.
‘I can’t seem to find anything,’ said Griselda, shuffling out and sitting back on her heels.
As quick as a flash, Mildred pulled out a lasso of rope which she had hidden in a drawer and slipped it over the astonished girl’s head and shoulders, yanking it tightly enough to bind her arms to her sides. Before the poor victim had a chance to scream, Mildred had tied a gag around her mouth. As a last resort, Griselda tried to run for it, but of course her bootlaces were tied together so she fell flat on her back.
‘I’m really ever so sorry to do this to you,’ apologized Mildred humbly, as she tied Griselda’s ankles together with her sash. ‘It’s really in a very good cause and I’ll explain everything to you later when I get back. I’m so sorry, I really am. I don’t usually go around doing this sort of thing. I hope you don’t mind too dreadfully.’
Griselda stared up at Mildred from the floor with horror.
‘Mmmmmmmm!’ she raged through the gag, ‘mm-mmm, mmmm-mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mmmm!’
Mildred pulled some bedclothes from her bed and covered Griselda tenderly.
‘There really isn’t any point in shouting,’ said Mildred, putting a pillow underneath the victim’s head. ‘No one can hear you. They’re all getting ready in the playground. I’ll borrow your cat if you don’t mind. Mine’s awful on a broom and anyway it’s too easy to recognize.’
Mildred changed from her ordinary school uniform to the best robes which the girls always wore for special occasions. She unplaited her hair and shook it out loose. (The whole school, including the teachers, always wore their hair loose when they dressed in their best robes.) She put on her cape and turned up the collar and pulled her hat low over her eyes.
There was a soft ‘meeow’ from the top of the wardrobe, and Mildred saw her little tabby cat watching reproachfully as she prepared to go without it.
‘Oh Tabby,’ said Mildred, reaching up and tickling its chin, ‘I can’t take you or the whole school will recognize us.’
She picked up the box with the frog-magician in it and wedged it into her cape pocket. Then she slung Griselda’s cat around her shoulders and took her broomstick from its place against the wall.
‘Good-bye, Griselda,’ said Mildred, slinking out of the room feeling like a criminal. ‘I won’t be long and then I’ll explain everything and you won’t be cross any more.’
CHAPTER TEN
ut of the window, as she hastened down the spiral staircase, Mildred saw the fires which were being lit in the ruins of the old castle where the celebrations were always held. Her heart pounded as she joined the throng of girls in the gloomy yard, all looking most dramatic with their hair loose and their long black robes and witches’ hats.
‘Thank goodness, it’s almost dark,’ thought Mildred, tagging on to the end of form three as their form-mistress counted them all.
‘Is everyone accounted for?’ asked Miss Cackle.
All the form-mistresses answered ‘yes’ in turn, and the pupils began their flight to the castle.
The school receded into the distance as the pupils skimmed above the treetops, and Mildred was grateful that no talking was allowed in flight, so nobody could ask her any awkward questions. The borrowed cat was a wonderful balancer, and Mildred felt rather disloyal as she found herself thinking how nice it would be to have a well-behaved sleek black cat which she could feel proud of.
Back at the academy, Ethel sat fuming in bed and watched from her window as the pupils rose like a flock of bats into the twilight and sailed away without her. She picked up her candle and decided to go along to Mildred’s room and have a grumble at her.
Outside Mildred’s room, Ethel pressed her ear against the door and was surprised to hear a strange noise from within.
‘Mildred?’ called Ethel, knocking softly. The noise grew louder.
‘Mmmmmm! Mmmm, mm, mmm!’
Ethel opened the door and held up her candle to reveal the awful sight of Mildred’s victim trussed up on the floor.
‘What on earth has happened to you?’ gasped Ethel, untying the gag and pulling at the knots in the sash and rope.
‘It’s that Mildred Hubble!’ said Griselda, who was almost in tears. ‘She must have gone berserk. She got me in here under false pretences, tied me up, stole my cat and went to the display in my place. Honestly, Ethel, she sounded really mad, wittering on about beetles up her pyjama leg and suchlike. Whatever shall we do?’
‘Go after her, of course!’ answered Ethel, delighted at the thought of the praise they would get when they revealed Mildred’s wicked behaviour.
‘Come on, Griselda, I’ll change into my outdoor clothes and meet you in the yard with my broom in five minutes. We’ll have to hurry. Goodness knows what that girl is planning!’
‘All right,’ agreed Griselda. ‘I’ll run and fetch my broom.’
Meanwhile, the academy was alighting on the castle hillside and being welcomed by the chief magician and all the other witches and magicians. The chief magician, Mr Hellibore, looked most imposing in his purple robe embroidered with moons and stars and a tall, pointed hat. Mildred would have been absolutely thrilled by it all if she had not been so terrified of the task ahead of her.
There was a long delay between the pupils’ arrival and the commencement of the displays and chanting, during which Miss Cackle and the teachers greeted friends and acquaintances, and the girls all stood to attention, being neat and well-behaved and a credit to the school.
Suddenly there was a commotion in the sky and everyone looked up to see Ethel and Griselda swooping down on their brooms, waving and shouting.
‘Mildred Hubble’s down there!’ shrieked Ethel.
‘She kidnapped me!’ yelled Griselda. ‘And she tied me up, so she could come in my place!’
‘That’s enough now, girls, thank you,’ ordered Miss Cackle, who was not at all pleased at such unseemly shrieking from her girls.
Miss Hardbroom strode across to the rows of pupils and Mildred pulled her hat even lower over her face. From under the brim she could see the chief magician nearby, looking rather puzzled at all the shouting.
‘If you are here, Mildred,’ said Miss Hardbroom, ‘I would advise you to step forward at once and explain yourself.’
The pupils all began looking round at each other and Mildred knew there was little time before someone recognized her. There was no alternative but to make a dash to the magician before anyone could catch her. Summoning every scrap of courage, Mildred suddenly barged through the rows of pupils and threw herself in front of Mr Hellibore.
‘Please forgive me, Your Honour,’ she said, thrusting the box containing her friend into his hands. ‘I know you didn’t want me to come here tonight, but there is an enchanted magician in that box and I promised him that I would get him to you so that you could change him back. I’m so sorry to cause such a lot of trouble but I didn’t know what else to do.’
‘What on earth is all this nonsense about?’ asked the chief magician sternly. ‘And are my eyes deceiving me or are you not the girl who ruined the broomstick display last year? If so –’
‘We do apologize most humbly, Your Honour,’ grovelled Miss Hardbroom, seizing Mildred’s arm in a vice-like grip. ‘The girl seems to have taken leave of her senses –’
‘I haven’t, Miss Hardbroom!’ interrupted Mildred. ‘Please, Your Honour, Mr Hellibore, sir, it really is a magician. His name is Algernon Webb-something, Stonely-Webb, oh something like that, only he couldn’t quite remember. He’s been a frog for simply ages.’
‘Good gracious me!’ exclaimed Mr Hellibore. ‘Do you know, Miss Hardbroom, it might just be Algernon Rowan-Webb. He was my room-mate in the days when your school was used as a sort of summer camp for magicians and he actually did disappear one day and we all thought he must have gone home. But it was decades ago – why the poor chap! If you’ll excuse me, Miss Hardbroom.’
Mildred kept her eyes firmly closed as the chief magician opened the box and intoned the release spell. Suddenly there was a gasp from the crowd. Mildred opened her eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Standing in front of them was an extremely old man with a beard that trailed on the ground and long flowing white hair. He was very bent over and was rubbing his eyes as if he couldn’t quite believe it.
‘Algy, old chap!’ exclaimed the chief magician with joy. ‘It’s Egbert, your old friend, don’t you remember?’
‘Egbert!’ replied Algernon. ‘Yes, of course, I remember, though you were a lot younger in those days. Excuse me a moment, I shall have to sit down. It’s all a bit much for me after all these years as a frog. My legs and arms feel awfully cramped. Egbert Hellibore! Well, well, what a piece of luck.’
‘The luck came from your little friend here,’ said Mr Hellibore, placing a hand on Mildred’s shoulder. ‘This child braved all our displeasure to bring you here.’
Mildred felt very shy as the vast crowd fell silent and every pair of eyes swivelled in her direction.
‘Do you remember me, Mr Rowan-Webb, sir?’ asked Mildred. ‘We were frogs together.’
‘Remember you?’ repeated Algernon. ‘My dear Mildred, how could I ever forget you. No one ever had a truer friend. Without your help I would have been a frog for ever. And please call me Algernon.’
‘Well, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Mr Hellibore, ‘we can hardly send the girl back to school again after this act of heroism, now can we?’
Miss Hardbroom ground her teeth and managed a horribly false smile. ‘Whatever you wish, Your Honour,’ she replied.
‘Is there anything you would like as a reward my child?’ asked Mr Hellibore, smiling kindly down at Mildred.
Mildred thought for a moment. ‘Oh yes, sir!’ she replied. ‘There is one thing.’
She stepped forward on tiptoe and whispered in his ear.
‘Is that all?’ said Mr Hellibore with a laugh. He leaned across and quietly told the ancient magician what Mildred had asked for. Algernon smiled dreamily. ‘What a wonderful memory you have, my dear,’ he said. ‘Yes, that would be very nice, very nice indeed.’
The crowd watched in fascinated silence as Mr Hellibore snapped his fingers and a small table appeared in his hand set with a white table-cloth, tea for three, and a huge plate of toast, crumpets and butter. Algernon peered at the table, then snapped his fingers and a pot of honey appeared. ‘Mustn’t forget that,’ he commented as he set it on the table and, with a glow of pride, Mildred walked away arm-in-arm with the two most important people at the celebrations, to have a proper old-fashioned tea by the nearest bonfire.