The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star

by Jill Murphy

  ‘You think you’re really great now, don’t you, Mildred Hubble?’ said Ethel, her voice rising dangerously. ‘Just because you’ve lit a few lanterns without burning the school down, you think everyone’s suddenly dying to hear what you think about everything.’

  ‘No I don’t, Ethel,’ said Mildred wearily, ‘and I’m not getting into an argument about nothing, so why don’t you find someone else to pick on?’

  Ethel stalked away down the corridor and Mildred felt a sudden stab of alarm as she imagined what Ethel would do if she found out about Star.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  he competition was to take place at the Supreme Magician’s residence – a vast, rambling castle with a hundred and fifty rooms, one of which was a gigantic hall, large enough for three schools to fit in at once, cheering on their acts in front of the three judges. There were thirty schools for sorcery, magic and witchcraft scattered about the country, most of them flying in from isolated places, and it would take ten days for all thirty acts to be judged at a rate of three a day, five days a week. Miss Cackle’s Academy was to perform on the last day of the competition along with Pentangle’s and Moonridge High.

  By a fantastic stroke of luck, Miss Cackle’s Academy was only three mountains away from the Supreme Magician’s castle, which meant that they would not have to stay overnight. Mildred had been racking her brains for a furtive way of bringing Star with her under the watchful eye of Miss Drill (who was, unfortunately, proving every bit as vigilant as Miss Hardbroom, despite the zany outfits), and Mildred breathed a sigh of relief that she would only be gone for the daytime hours – when Star was used to having his long sleep under her bed anyway.

  Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom sat in the staffroom with all the teachers on the night before their schools’ auditions.

  ‘I think that’s everything covered, Miss Cackle,’ said Miss Hardbroom, who had just read out their travel plans in minute detail, including the transport of costumes and scenery, plus the making of nearly two hundred packed lunches.

  ‘Do you think we might actually win?’ asked Miss Drill. ‘I’ve seen one of the rehearsals and I must say it did look quite special.’

  ‘I think we have an excellent chance,’ replied Miss Hardbroom. ‘My only worry is whether there might have been an over-abundance of broomstick ballets during the previous nine days. If so, the judges might be a little bored by yet another ballet routine. I must say, I rather wish we weren’t the very last act of all.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Miss Cackle. ‘Surely it’s worse to be at the beginning, nearly two weeks earlier! The judges are much more likely to remember the last act than the first one!’

  ‘And the judges are all getting on for a hundred years old,’ laughed Miss Mould. ‘So it’s better to be fresh in their memories, I’d say!’

  ‘Now, now, Miss Mould!’ scolded Miss Cackle, a twinkle in her eye. ‘We’re none of us getting any younger and I’m sure that the combined brains of the three most honoured sorcerers in the country are quite adequate to judge a talent competition!’

  ‘Well, if you don’t mind,’ announced Miss Hardbroom, ‘I’m off to bed, as there will be a great deal to contend with tomorrow morning. One last thing, Miss Mould, could you assist me with taking the costumes down to the front hall, ready for Form Five to tie on to their broomsticks in the morning? I shall be carrying the rolled-up backdrop underneath my own broom for the journey, as it really is rather unwieldy and we don’t want any accidents before we get there! All pupils to be assembled in the playground by ten o’clock sharp, ready for take-off. Well, goodnight, everyone.’

  ‘Goodnight, Miss Hardbroom,’ called Miss Cackle as Miss Hardbroom swept out of the door. She was going to say ‘pleasant dreams’, but somehow she couldn’t imagine her deputy dreaming of anything but school rules and timetables, so there didn’t seem much point.

  The following morning Mildred was up and dressed even earlier than usual, ready to zoom round the corridors, take Star for his walk and hurry back to hide him under the bed before the journey. She put down a bowl of catfood for Tabby, left the door ajar so he could go for his morning wander, stuffed Star into the holdall and set off down the corridor.

  She was now an expert Lantern Monitor, taking her duties extremely seriously. She had changed all the candles the day before and polished the glass so that there was no maintenance to do that morning and she was making very good time. She soon reached the entrance hall and flew up to douse the candle in the large lantern which hung above the main doors leading to the playground.

  It was a cheerful, sunny morning, most unusual for the academy. Mildred glanced around at the rays slanting in through the windows and noticed the rail with the four ballet costumes, awaiting broom-transport. Star was already wriggling about in the bag, keen to have his breakfast on the grass and a run about through the trees.

  ‘Stop it!’ giggled Mildred. ‘You’ll have me off the broom!’

  ‘Talking to yourself now, are you, Mildred Hubble?’ said a sharp voice right behind her.

  Mildred jumped and almost overbalanced as she was now fifteen feet up and not expecting anyone to be there.

  ‘Ethel!’ she exclaimed. ‘Careful! You made me jump – what are you doing here?’

  ‘Following you,’ said Ethel unpleasantly, hovering next to Mildred and nudging the holdall with her foot. ‘You weren’t quite quick enough outside the gates yesterday. I was looking out of the window when the mist cleared, just in time to see you putting something in your bag. What was it, Mildred? A badger? A large hedgehog? It was definitely an animal, that’s for sure.’

  ‘It was only Tabby,’ said Mildred, feeling desperate, as the holdall was now noticeably beginning to judder. ‘He’s in there now, so I’d better get on, Ethel, if you don’t mind, or we’ll both be late for take-off.’

  Unfortunately, just at that moment Tabby (unmistakeable as he was the only tabby cat in the school) strolled underneath them and out into the yard through the communal cat flap set into the wall.

  ‘I think not,’ said Ethel. ‘So, what have you got in the bag, Mildred? Come on, show me!’

  Mildred had flipped open the lantern door and was poised with the candle-snuffer when Ethel made a dive for the zip on the holdall.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  verything happened at once. Ethel yanked the zip open and Star’s head sprang into view, barking. Ethel was thrown off balance and seized Mildred, who also overbalanced. Mildred tried to stop them all from falling by grabbing the lantern but, to her horror, she only succeeded in wrenching it clean out of the wall. They watched helplessly as it hurtled across the slate floor below, smashing open and setting light to the costumes.

  Dangling from both brooms, Ethel gripping Mildred’s holdall and Mildred hanging on to Star, they twirled down together like a helicopter with a broken rotor, fortunately cushioned by Ethel’s holdall as they hit the flagstones.

  ‘Quick, Ethel!’ yelled Mildred, jumping up and rummaging in her holdall. ‘Grab your fire extinguisher!’

  Star was bouncing up and down barking hysterically, but the only thing Mildred could think of was putting out the fire. She found her own fire extinguisher, stood back and aimed it at the base of the flames, which were roaring up all four costumes with heart-stopping speed. Ethel lay frozen with shock on top of the holdall where she had fallen, watching as clouds of foam enveloped the burning mass of clothing.

  ‘Ethel!’ bellowed Mildred, still frantically spraying foam up and down the flames. ‘Do something! Get your fire extinguisher now!’

  Ethel snapped out of her trance. She scrambled to her feet, pulled her fire extinguisher out of the bag and aimed it at the remaining shreds of the costumes until the flames were completely engulfed.

  The hallway was now a blackened mess, knee-deep in foam, with bits of charred material floating delicately through the air. Mildred aimed one last burst of foam into the broken lantern.

  ‘It’s OK, Ethel,�
�� she said, ‘it’s out.’

  Star had stopped barking and had tucked himself behind Mildred’s legs, looking shamefaced. Something was clearly wrong and he was rather worried that it might be his fault. Mildred and Ethel stood staring at each other in a state of shock. They were both covered in soot, their clothes drenched, the ballet costumes utterly ruined.

  ‘We are going to be in such trouble,’ murmured Mildred, glancing nervously towards the door.

  ‘You certainly are, Mildred Hubble,’ said Miss Hardbroom’s unwelcome voice as she materialized silently from a dark alcove. ‘This is quite unbelievable! You do realize that we now have absolutely no prospect of even entering the competition, let alone winning it – added to which, the two of you have almost burnt down the school.’

  ‘It was an accident, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Ethel, beginning to sob. ‘Mildred had a dog in her bag and I was investigating.’

  ‘It wasn’t my fault!’ protested Mildred. ‘I was on my morning lantern round, minding my own business, when Ethel flew up behind me and grabbed my bag and –’

  ‘I didn’t just grab it,’ said Ethel. ‘I was trying to stop you from hiding that dog!’

  Miss Hardbroom brushed a floating piece of charred owl costume from her nose as they all looked down at Star, now cowering behind Mildred.

  ‘Go to Miss Cackle’s office,’ said Miss Hardbroom in a voice quivering with anger, ‘and wait for me there while I attend to this mess. Then we will need to gather everyone together in the Great Hall, where you can both explain to your fellow pupils why all their hard work has been in vain. I’ll take the dog, Mildred,’ she added as the two girls turned to leave the scene of their crime, followed closely by Star.

  ‘He needs to go out, Miss Hardbroom,’ gibbered Mildred. ‘Could I just –’

  ‘No, you couldn’t,’ snapped Miss Hardbroom. ‘I’ll take him if he needs to go out, Mildred, he’s no longer any concern of yours. Give me your sash so that I can use it as a lead.’

  Mildred took off her sash and knelt down to tie it round Star’s neck. ‘Do as you’re told, won’t you?’ she said in a quavering voice, as he tried to jump up and lick her face. ‘Be a good dog – he’s called Star, Miss Hardbroom.’

  She handed the makeshift lead to the terrifying teacher but to Mildred’s surprise the little dog didn’t struggle at all. He just sat down, stuck his nose in the air and began to howl mournfully, as if he knew that all was lost.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ave you heard the news?’ gasped Maud, bursting into Enid’s room.

  ‘What?’ asked Enid. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘It’s really terrible,’ said Maud, ‘in every way you can think of! Ethel and Mildred had a fight and knocked over one of the lanterns and all the ballet costumes were burnt to a cinder and they nearly burnt the school down and Miss Hardbroom’s got Star!’

  ‘What about the competition?’ asked Enid.

  ‘What about the competition?’ said Maud grimly. ‘There isn’t going to be a competition, not for our school anyway – not without costumes.’

  ‘Poor Mildred,’ said Enid. ‘Everyone’s going to be so cross with her – the teachers, the dancers, the entire school! It’s going to be awful.’

  ‘At least it wasn’t just her,’ said Maud. ‘It sounds as if Ethel was at least equally to blame, though I’m sure she’ll do her best to wriggle out of it. It’s the dog I feel dreadful about. Mildred really loved him and she’d done such brilliant work with him – that flying routine was good enough to go on the stage.’

  They suddenly looked at each other as an idea crossed their minds at exactly the same time.

  Mildred and Ethel waited in Miss Cackle’s office in a state of terror, both wondering if they would be expelled. Ethel was just as scared as Mildred and for once couldn’t think of a single gibe to hurl in her direction. There really seemed to be no way out of the huge mess they were in.

  The door suddenly crashed open and Miss Hardbroom marched in, leading Star on Mildred’s sash, followed by a very serious-faced Miss Cackle. Star sprang hopefully towards Mildred and was sharply yanked back by Miss Hardbroom. Both teachers sat on the other side of Miss Cackle’s desk facing the wrongdoers, while Star slunk underneath, his eyes fixed longingly on Mildred.

  Miss Cackle had just begun to speak when there was a soft tap at the door.

  ‘Who is it?’ called Miss Hardbroom irritably.

  The door opened very slowly to reveal Maud and Enid looking petrified.

  ‘What is it, Maud?’ asked Miss Cackle.

  ‘Um … we heard about the costumes –’ said Maud.

  ‘– and we thought of a way that we could still enter the competition,’ explained Enid.

  ‘That’s very school-spirited of you, girls,’ said Miss Cackle, ‘but I’m afraid it really is too late.’

  ‘But it isn’t!’ burst out Maud. ‘The dog is amazing! Mildred does a flying routine with him that’s absolutely brilliant – we’ve seen it, haven’t we, Enid? Honestly, Miss Cackle, it’s funny and clever –’

  ‘And the dog’s so cute,’ said Enid, getting carried away. ‘And Mildred flies the best we’ve ever seen her when she’s with him – doesn’t she, Maud?’

  They carried on in this fashion, singing the flying duo’s praises, getting more and more enthusiastic, until Miss Hardbroom put up a hand to stop them.

  Everyone stared down at Star, who didn’t look like a competition winner, hunched in the shadows, trying to keep out of the way.

  ‘I don’t think so, Maud,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘Even if what you say is true, we don’t have any time to put the pair through their paces and we certainly don’t want the academy to be made a laughing stock in front of such an illustrious panel of judges – don’t you agree, Miss Cackle?’

  Mildred stood up and took a deep breath. ‘Please, Miss Cackle,’ she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. ‘I think we could do it really. I’ve been training him for weeks on end and the auditions are only ten minutes long. I know we could manage to keep everyone entertained for at least that long and the school entry is called “The Joy of Flying”, so we could still enter under that title – please, Miss Cackle, it’s the only way I can possibly make amends for messing up our chances. Wouldn’t it be better than nothing – to try and win?’

  Incredibly, Miss Cackle was moved by Mildred’s plea. She over-rode Miss Hardbroom’s protests and announced that she agreed with Mildred – that it was better to make an attempt at winning than to give up.

  At this point Ethel couldn’t restrain herself any longer. ‘But it’s not fair, Miss Cackle!’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s that stupid dog’s fault that we can’t do the ballet and I think –’

  Miss Hardbroom fixed Ethel with one of her most blood-curdling stares. ‘Miss Cackle is speaking!’ she said icily.

  ‘Thank you, Miss Hardbroom,’ continued Miss Cackle. ‘As I was saying, Mildred, I’ve decided to trust you, and the opinion of your two friends here, mainly because I think I know you and I don’t think you would risk putting yourself up in front of the school if you didn’t feel sure you could do it – am I right?’

  ‘Yes, Miss Cackle,’ said Mildred gratefully.

  ‘Well then,’ said Miss Cackle, ‘you’d better take the dog and get yourselves ready to assemble for take-off at ten o’clock as planned. Miss Hardbroom and I will deliver the news to all the pupils and tell them that we will be competing after all.’

  ‘Just a moment,’ said Miss Hardbroom to Ethel, who was attempting to sneak out with the others. ‘Would you just stay behind – I have a few questions I’d like to ask you …’

  As soon as they were out of range of Miss Cackle’s study, the three friends hurled their arms round each other and jumped about.

  ‘Thank you so much for saving me,’ said Mildred to Maud and Enid, scooping up Star who was ecstatic to be back in her arms.

  ‘You’re not out of the woods yet,’ said Maud. ‘You’ve got to actually win the
competition and Pentangle’s have probably got something brilliant up their sleeve – they usually have.’

  ‘And Form Five are going to hate you and Ethel,’ warned Enid.

  ‘It wasn’t really my fault about the costumes,’ said Mildred. ‘Ethel knew I was hiding Star in the holdall and she grabbed it; that’s why we fell. I s’pose I shouldn’t have had him in the bag in the first place, but if she hadn’t been snooping it would never have happened.’

  ‘Whatever the reason,’ said Maud, ‘it’s a bit hard on Form Five after all their hard work. Even if you do win, they’re still not going to be pleased.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  hey weren’t pleased. All four broomstick-ballet dancers were in tears when everyone lined up in the playground with their broomsticks, cats and packed lunches, and Mildred felt terrible that she had been part-responsible for ending their dream, even though it really hadn’t been her fault.

  Before departure, Miss Cackle addressed everyone as they stood lined up in rows. ‘We still have a small chance of winning this competition, girls,’ she announced. ‘Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow would like to offer their sincere apologies for the unfortunate accident which ruined the costumes. However, I would like everyone to find it in their hearts to cheer on Mildred and her stray dog, who are to be a last-minute replacement, which I am assured is very much worth the judges’ consideration. Onward and upward, girls! We must all hope for the best!’