“Harry, you didn’t need to bother dressing up, you’re already a right wally, anyway,” Christian said, as he swished in the door fanning his cape out behind him.
“Ha, ha,” Harry said sarcastically, clipping Christian across the head as he flew past. “Hi, Mr and Mrs Gregory, or should I say Batman and Wonder Woman. Well, hello, Animal and your tasty cupcake friend, whoever you are,” Harry said, his gaze fixed firmly on the pretty cupcake girl.
“Hi, I’m Jennifer,” Animal said, shaking Harry’s hand.
“And I’m Claire,” the pretty cupcake girl said. “We work at Noah’s Ark. Noah said that we were all invited. I hope it’s okay that we came?”
“You sure are tasty… er, invited… er, come in,” Harry said, turning a shade of red that matched the stripes on his jumper. “Come on through to the kitchen, I’ll get you both a drink.”
The doorbell rang again and this time Evan answered it. There on the doorstep stood the Brighton and Hove Albion Football team’s mascot, Gully.
“Seagulls… Seagulls… ” Evan chanted, being an avid supporter of the team himself.
The seagull, Gully, took one step inside the door when Womble, dressed up as a Bumble Bee, came running towards him. Womble leapt up at Gully and knocked him back, sending him out of the door and falling to the ground.
“I haven’t got any, I haven’t got any!” the seagull cried.
The seagull’s head had been knocked off when he fell and now Womble had the poor man pinned to the ground and was licking his face. “I haven’t got any biscuits today,” Postman Dave said, flapping his wings as he tried to push Womble’s slobbering face away.
“Womble! leave him!” Evan yelled. Then he held out his hand and pulled Dave to his feet.
Postman Dave looked Evan up and down, grinned, bent down to pick up his seagull head and then said, “Well, that was utter Madness, wasn’t it!” and the pair sang Madness songs loudly as they headed inside the house to grab a beer.
“More guests,” Lizzy called out as she spotted a people carrier pulling up outside. “Dan, can you get the door for me this time please?” she asked, as she continued to pass around the cheese and pineapple chunks on sticks.
Dan stood at the front door feeling rather chilly in his silk shorts and silk robe. The people carrier’s door slid open and Noah Copper emerged, dressed as the Avatar Jake Sully. He was followed by his wife, Pat; she was dressed as the Avatar character Neytiri. Then a group of giggling girls climbed out. They had obviously had a few drinks at home while they were getting themselves ready. They were Sarra and Zoe, the receptionists from Noah’s Ark and Cassey and Flo, a couple of the nurses. Grace and Christian were upstairs, kneeling on Grace’s bed, looking out of the window at the guests as they arrived. They were scoring the guests 0-10 for their costumes.
“TEN!” they both yelled, when they saw Noah and Pat’s awesome Avatar costumes.
“SEVEN,” Grace said, for Cassey’s Cruella De Vil and Flossie’s Dalmatian costumes.
“Nah, six,” Christian disagreed.
“Eight,” Grace said for both Sarra’s sexy fairy princess and Zoe’s sexy fairy pixie costumes.
“Well, I score myself a perfect ten,” Henrietta said, admiring herself in the mirror. She’d crept upstairs and had been standing quietly in Grace’s doorway spying on them.
“Come on, Christian, let’s go downstairs and get some party food,” Grace said, in a bid to escape Henrietta, but her plan didn’t work.
“Good idea,” Henrietta said, twirling her ringleted hair around her finger, “I’m rather hungry,” and she followed Grace and Christian downstairs.
Dan was still standing at the front door trying not to show how cold he was, while he waited for the group of giggling girls to come in.
“Well, hello, Rocky Balboa, what big muscles you have!” Flossie said, rubbing her Dalmatian paw on Dan’s chest and giggling.
“FLO!” Cassey cringed with embarrassment, pulling Flo away from Dan by her lead.
More and more guests arrived. Meals On Wheels Janice came as Cleopatra. Paul from Number Five came as St George and Biker Gregg from Number Three came as himself, a hairy biker. The Prospers from Number Six came as Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men and their boys, Maxwell and Luigi, were dressed as David Beckham and Dexter from Dexter’s Lab.
The party was buzzing. The sound of laughter and the clinking of glasses along with the smell of beer and wine filled the air. A small group of smokers hung around outside the back door, braving the bitter cold to feed their addiction. Grace, Christian and Henrietta sat beside the food table, piling their paper plates high with chocolate fingers and crisps.
The young ladies from Noah’s Ark sang, danced and giggled as they drunkenly swayed with their wine glasses sloshing.
“Great party, Mum!” Dan said, as he watched the girls dancing.
Then there was a break in the music and he seized his opportunity. “So here I am! What are your other two wishes going to be?” he said to the sexy fairy princess.
“Oh, please!” Harry said, rolling his eyes. “Can I get any of you lovely ladies a drink?” he asked.
“Oh, go on then,” Flo said, putting her Dalmatian paw on his arm. She tugged at him, pulling him off towards the drinks.
Dan laughed. “Yeah, go on Harry, I’ll wait here,” he chuckled, as he joined the sexy fairy, sexy pixie and tasty cupcake girl as they danced, and watched while poor Where’s Wally was dragged away, by the slightly plump girl in the Dalmatian dog costume.
The young newlyweds, Rob and Denise Milton from Number Eight, didn’t arrive at the party until almost 11pm.
“Hi Mary, sorry we’re a bit late, I didn’t finish my shift until ten,” Rob said, handing over a bottle of red wine.
“No worries, Rob, glad you made it, and in plenty of time to see the New Year in with us. Go through to the kitchen and help yourselves to food and drink.”
“Okay, thanks, Mary. By the way, who’s the scary-looking couple dressed as monster things, that arrived just before us?” Denise asked.
“I don’t know who that could have been. We’ve had lots of weird and wonderful costumes, but no monsters as far as I’m aware,” Mary answered, puzzled. “Oh, do you mean Noah and Pat Copper? They’re dressed as Jake and Neytiri from Avatar.”
As soon as Mary said this, Noah and Pat walked through the hallway on their way to the kitchen to get another drink.
“Nope, definitely wasn’t them,” Rob said.
“Well, whoever they were, their costumes were amazing. They scared the crap out of us as they ran past the front of our house, didn’t they, D?” Rob said.
“They sure did, especially the one with the orange eyes. They lit up and everything!” Denise said.
“Mmm, strange,” Mary said, wondering who the mystery couple could have been. She certainly hadn’t seen anyone in those costumes at the party and the likelihood of there being another fancy dress party anywhere else in Witern Wood that New Year’s Eve was certainly a big fat zero.
“TEN!” Grace and Christian shouted, as Rob and Denise entered the kitchen dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow and a giant parrot.
The drinks flowed, the music played, people laughed and danced.
“This is a great party,” Grace said to Christian.
“Yeah, it’s the best party I’ve ever been to,” Christian replied.
“Well, I went to Daddy’s work’s Christmas party this year. Children over the age of ten were allowed to accompany their parents, you see. It was on a boat on the Thames with waiter service and everything. They had the most delightful smoked salmon canapés. That was the best party that I’ve ever been to, much better than this,” Henrietta said, looking at her pineapple and cheese on a stick with utter disgust.
“Agghhh, shut up, Henri, go away and leave us alone, will you?” Grace snapped.
“My name is Henrietta, not Henri! Do I look like a boy?” she yelled. Then she threw the pineapple and cheese stick on the floor. “Mu
mmy, Daddy, Grace is being mean again,” she wailed and she stomped off to look for her parents.
“Quick, let’s go and hide in the garden so that she can’t find us,” Grace said, grabbing Christian’s arm.
On her way out to the garden, Grace grabbed her red coat, hat, glove and scarf set and tucked them under her arm.
“Here, Chris, take this.” She gave Christian one of Harry’s jackets out of the cupboard.
They ran down to the bottom of the garden and hid in the gazebo that was opposite the apple tree. They didn’t put their coats on straight away because they didn’t want to cover up their cool costumes. Instead, they put them on the bench seats and sat on them.
“If I were the real Harry Potter, I’d use my magic powers to get rid of horrid Henri,” Grace said.
“Yeah, and if I were the real Superman, I would use my flying powers and I’d fly her all the way up into outer space and leave her there,” Christian grinned.
“Did you know that some people make a wish after the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve?” Grace said. “I think we should wish for our powers to be real.”
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Christian agreed.
“Do it… do it… do it…” they chanted, as they ran around in the garden laughing, their cloaks and capes flying out behind them. Then they darted back inside the cover of the gazebo so as not to be seen by Henri, who was sure to be looking for them by now. The night was clear and crisp. The moon shone brightly and Grace and Christian were beginning to get cold.
“Let’s sneak back in for a while to get warm and then we can come back out here after the twelfth chime of Big Ben and that’s when we will make our wish under the moonlight,” Grace said.
“Yeah, okay, I could really do with a wee, anyway!” Chris said.
“Here, get under my invisibility cloak and I’ll sneak us back indoors,” Grace said, pulling her cloak up over Christian’s head and they ‘disappeared’ and went back indoors.
* * *
“Well, that was another close shave,” Chester said. “Thank goodness Ice managed to increase the power of the enchanted roots, ivy and brambles at the exit before the Nomeds attacked. There was no way Aaron and Francis would have been able to get us through safely without them. Anyway, we’re here now,” Chester said as he perched on top of the back gate. “This is it… this is the house where the girl lives,” he chirped.
Zavier walked forward, hung his head over the gate and looked up towards the house where the music pounded and Christmas lights flashed.
“Hmmm, it’s a little busier than I had hoped,” he sighed. “I will have to stay hidden here in the woods for a while. Chester, you and Benjamin should enter the garden and keep a lookout for the little girl. Ice will watch out for you both. As soon as the opportunity presents itself, you must bring the girl here to me. Meles, Brax, when Chester and Benjamin approach the child, you may need to cause a distraction that directs the rest of the Humans away. Ice, once we have the Human girl you know what you must do.”
“I’ll be ready,” Ice said.
Chester gave a nod of agreement and flew off the back gate and onto a low branch on the apple tree. Benjamin squeezed into a small hole in the ground, scrambled through a short tunnel and then popped out of another hole that emerged under a bush in Grace’s garden; and he remained there, where he was quietly hidden. Ice sat next to a snowy mound that had formed over an old plant pot. She was almost invisible; only the tiny flecks of grey within her white plumage and the yellow flashes of her irises as she blinked gave her position away. Zavier, Chester and Benjamin were aware of her position, but to anybody else who wasn’t looking closely enough, she looked just like another snowy mound. As they lay in wait, a large black cloud began to form on the horizon, swallowing up any stars that crossed its path. The wind began to pick up a little and brought with it a haunting chill that howled softly through the rooftops.
* * *
The music paused.
“Fifteen minutes to go until midnight, everyone,” Mary announced.
The guests raised their glasses and cheered loudly, excited to be welcoming in the New Year together.
Chapter 33
Happy New Year!
“Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… HAPPY NEW YEAR!” everyone cheered.
Loved ones hugged and kissed as they wished each other a Happy New Year. Everyone crossed their arms and linked their hands to sing Auld Lang Syne and then, after numerous drunken hugs and kisses from their families, Grace and Christian managed to escape and ran back into the garden. Grace and Christian looked up at the moon just as the huge black cloud began to cross it and made their wish.
“We wish that our powers could be real,” they said together.
Snow began to fall from the dark sky and large, fluffy snowflakes fell on their faces as they watched the last sliver of moon disappear behind the dark cloud.
“That’s her,” Chester whispered to Ice, as he perched on the mound of snow beside her.
“Are you sure?” Ice asked.
“Yes, she’s dressed differently but I recognise her voice.”
“That’s definitely her. I’d recognise her soft blue eyes anywhere,” Benjamin said, having hopped behind the snowy mound that Chester was perched upon.
“But she’s not alone, so what are we going to do?” Chester asked Ice.
“I’m not sure, let me think,” she whispered.
Zavier had been watching over the top of the gate, obscured from sight by the snow that was now falling thick and fast. He was aware that Chester had recognised the girl child and so he had sent Meles and Braxton to the front of the house to cause some sort of commotion that might attract attention away from the back of the house, away from the Human child. His plan had worked.
Braxton and Meles barked loudly and began to play-fight on the snow-covered front lawn.
“Hey, look at these badgers,” Grace’s Uncle David, the priest, said, having spotted the pair through the window.
Everyone gathered at the front windows of the house and watched in amusement as the badgers rolled, tumbled and twisted while making strange loud barking and chittering sounds. Unfortunately, these sounds also attracted the attention of some unwanted guests.
Adramalech’s head tilted, his attention captured by the familiar sound of one of the Nomeds’ favourite prey, badger! His tongue curled and he made clicking sounds as he tasted their scent in the air. The badgers’ scent was carried on the breeze and as Adramalech followed this scent, he was led toward Grace’s back garden. Unaware of Zavier, Chester and Ice’s presence, he leapt over Mr Avery’s back fence into the Prosper’s back garden, then leapt into Elsie’s back garden and finally, he sprang over Grace’s garden fence, landing in the snow on the ground, directly in front of Grace and Christian.
Grace and Christian were shocked and a little scared, unsure of what had just happened and the only thing stopping them from screaming with fear and running indoors to their parents, was the thought that this was probably just one of the party guests in a really scary costume. Without thinking, Grace held out her wand.
“Stay back!” she shouted.
Adramalech ran his tongue across his rotten teeth, fire flickered within his orange eyes and he lunged at Grace. Grace and Christian screwed their eyes shut, afraid to look, but nothing happened. They slowly opened their eyes to see Adramalech standing only a couple of inches away, his eyes blazing brightly with fury as he clawed against the invisible barrier that Zavier had placed around them. Grace looked at the wand in her hand and then she looked at Christian. Her big blue eyes widened in amazement.
“Oh, my God!” she said. “Our wish… it came true!”
“Flippin’ heck!” Christian said, staring at his hands as he wondered what super-powers he might also now possess.
Adramalech was quickly joined by a juvenile Nomed.
“I don’t like it, Grace… they scare me,” Chris said, his voice
quivering. “Leave us alone!” he demanded and thrust out his hand, gesturing for the scary monsters to go away.
The Nomeds were thrust forcibly backwards, as if they were being rugby-tackled by an invisible opponent. They were forced back until they eventually smashed into the fence at the bottom of the garden.
“Flippin’ heck!” Christian said again, looking at his hand, more shocked than ever. He was now convinced that their wish had most definitely come true. But it wasn’t really his powers at all that had sent the Nomeds hurtling across the garden. Unbeknown to him and Grace, Ice had been hovering above the Nomeds and at the same time as Christian had thrust out his hand, she had performed a powerful propelling enchantment.
The Nomeds had now completely forgotten about the badgers whose scent had brought them there and were now intent on getting to the Human children. For some reason unknown to them, they felt a strong hatred, particularly toward the girl child. They picked themselves up, shook snow off of their slug-like skin and prepared to launch another attack. They lunged forwards, but were stopped in their tracks as Zavier jumped over the back gate and into Grace’s garden. He reared up and, standing on his hind legs facing the Nomeds, neighing loudly, he kicked frantically at them with his front legs and then he turned his rump towards them and bucked wildly, hitting each of them square in the abdomen with his giant hooves. Adramalech and the juvenile Nomed were sent smashing back into the fence with such force that the fence shattered. Knowing that they were defeated this time, the injured Nomeds picked themselves up and ran off into the woods, clambered up the nearest tree and disappeared.
“Grace, whose is that massive horse that just jumped into your garden and kicked the holy bejeezus out of those scary people?” Christian asked.
“I have no idea,” Grace said.
* * *
Most of the guests were still watching Meles and Braxton tumbling around on the front lawn. Others were dancing, the music was still booming and they were all completely unaware of the commotion that had just happened in the back garden.
Hidden Magic Page 17