“Jeepers creepers!” Lily clapped her hands. “Will we be able to do that on our own when we’re proper Stargirls?”
“You’d need to use the Travelling Tower,” Fairy Prim told her.
I was feeling worse and worse. “Are you sure it’s all right?” Everyone turned to look at me in surprise, and I knew I was blushing. “I mean, we haven’t ever done anything like that before…” My voice trailed away. I could see from the way Melody and Jackson were staring that they thought I was completely pathetic.
Sophie leant over and gave me a hug. “It’ll be exciting, Olivia! You said you wanted to see what happens when Hannah’s at school, didn’t you? Well, if we go back to yesterday you can do that!”
“Yes,” I said. Sophie was right, but I still felt anxious. “What will Fairy Mary say? We’ve never time-travelled before.”
“You’ve never had five shining stars on your magic necklace before.” Fairy Prim gave me a reassuring smile. “You’re very nearly a proper Stargirl, Olivia.”
“And surely someone who’s nearly a proper Stargirl should be brave. Isn’t that right, Fairy Prim?” I knew Jackson was sneering at me, even though she was smiling, and I suddenly thought of Harry sneering at Hannah.
I took a deep breath. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t try,” I said. “What do we have to do, Fairy Prim?”
Fairy Prim strode towards the door, and beckoned us to follow. “Onwards and upwards,” she said.
Madison hurried to join her. “Upwards? How far up will we go, Fairy Prim?”
My stomach gave a horrible lurch. Would we have to fly? But Fairy Prim gave her big booming laugh. “Only up to the Travelling Tower,” she said, and she led the way out of the workroom.
Chapter Eight
As we walked along the corridor that led to the Travelling Tower, I tried to think of a plan to help Hannah. If we went backwards in time we’d be able to see what happened to her when she was at school. But what then? I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to help her learn to read by magic. It didn’t work like that. So what would we be able to do?
“What are you worrying about now, Olivia?” Sophie can always tell when I’m worrying. She says my face screws up.
“Hannah,” I said with a sigh.
Sophie squeezed my hand. “It’ll be OK. You’ll see.”
She was kind to say so, but I didn’t feel much better – and a moment later we arrived at the Travelling Tower.
Fairy Prim looked at the glass walls with interest. “Mary told me about this,” she said. “So much more modern than in my day. We always had to make our own way to the castles or palaces or orphanages where people needed help. Now, how does it work?”
Ava pointed to the switches and levers. “This lever takes us up,” she explained, “and this one takes us down.”
“Let’s get going, then.” Fairy Prim looked in my direction. “What school does your cousin go to, Olivia?”
“Merrywood Juniors,” I said. “It’s on Grisewood Drive.”
Fairy Prim nodded. “And when would be a good time to arrive, do you think?”
I wasn’t sure what she meant, but Emma did. “The beginning of breaktime,” she said firmly. “We can see what happens in the playground. That’s one of the times when bullies pick on people.”
“I see.” Fairy Prim nodded again. “Then let us aim for 10.30am, yesterday morning.” And she pulled out her wand and waved it in the air.
At once there was a sickening jolt as the Travelling Tower pulled away from the walls of Stargirl Academy, followed by a series of horrible lurches. Madison and Lily fell over, and I only saved myself by hanging on to the safety rail. If I’d had any breath left I’d have screamed. Sophie clung to my arm, and Emma, Melody, Ava and Jackson tumbled into a corner in a heap.
“Whoops-a-daisy!” Fairy Prim was quite unbothered. “Perhaps you should all sit down, my dears. This might be rocky to begin with. It’ll take me a moment to get used to the steering.”
“Stop! STOP!” Lily sounded almost as scared as I was. “Fairy Prim! We don’t do it like this! We always float to where we need to go!”
“That’s right!” Melody’s voice was shrill. “The academy sits on a cloud— OH!” She was interrupted by another lurch. “That’s why it was called Cloudy Towers!”
Fairy Prim gave a casual shrug. “DO sit down, Melody dear. Of course I know about Cloudy Towers. I learnt everything I know here, didn’t I? But we can’t take the Academy back in time. It’d fall apart for sure. Now, hang on to your hats, and here we go!”
I think I’ll always remember what happened next, even though Fairy Prim said later that she’d used the Forgetting Spell so we wouldn’t have nightmares. It was the most frightening thing that’s EVER happened to me! The Travelling Tower began to turn over and over and over and we were shaken about inside like peppercorns in a pepper pot. I think we all screamed. I know I did … and I rather think Fairy Prim did too – just once or twice. Either that, or she was shouting “WHOOOOOHOOOOOOO!”
It seemed to go on for ages and ages. Sophie and I clung to each other as if we were drowning. But then, all of a sudden, everything was quiet. It took a long moment to realise we weren’t moving any more.
Very carefully, after checking we were all in one piece, we sat up.
“Here we are, my dears!” Fairy Prim gave us a beaming smile. “I’m sorry about the ride, but that’s time travel for you. Olivia, dear, are we in the right place?”
My legs felt like jelly as I stood up and made my way to look out … and when I saw where we were, I had to rub my eyes before I could believe what I was seeing. Fairy Prim had done it! We were floating above Hannah’s school playground. Loads of children were running about beneath us, jumping and hopping, or chatting in little groups.
I peered down, trying to spot Hannah.
“Can you see your cousin?” Ava asked.
“No.” I went on staring, but there was no sign of Hannah anywhere.
“Maybe she didn’t go to school yesterday!” Jackson was half-laughing, half-jeering. “Maybe we’ve all been shaken to bits for nothing.”
I shook my head. “She definitely went.”
“Could she have been kept in?” Madison came to stand beside me.
Fairy Prim reached up and opened one of the glass doors, and a babble of voices filled the Travelling Tower. “I suggest you go and see for yourselves. Is everyone wearing their necklace? Time to be invisible!” And she vanished so quickly it made me blink.
Sophie and I tapped our necklaces, and the magic happened, like it always does. We could just about see each other if we squinted hard, but nobody who wasn’t a Stargirl would be able to tell that we were there. The rest of Team Starlight followed our example, and so did Melody and Jackson. If anybody had peered into the Travelling Tower they would have thought it was empty.
“Ava!” It was Fairy Prim’s voice. “Take us down into the playground!”
Chapter Nine
I wasn’t at all sure it was a good idea to take the Travelling Tower into the middle of a busy playground, but Fairy Prim must have waved her wand when I wasn’t looking. We landed right beside the school entrance, and I heaved a sigh of relief as the glass door slid open. I knew the TT was invisible to everyone except us, but I didn’t want one of the infants crashing into it by mistake.
“Which way to Hannah’s classroom?” Sophie whispered in my ear.
“This way.” I hoped I was right; I’d only been to the school once, when Mum and I had come to collect Hannah. I walked off as if I knew where I was going, and I could feel Sophie close beside me – but then I stopped. I’d had a scary thought. “Who’s going to wait in the TT? What if something goes wrong?”
“It’s OK. Didn’t you hear Fairy Prim?” I could tell Lily was smiling by her voice. “She said, ‘YOU go and see for yourselves’ … so she must be staying.”
I remembered how Miss Scritch had told Fairy Prim not to interfere, so that made sense. All the same, I still f
elt nervous as I led the way through an open door and along a corridor. But then I saw a classroom with Miss Fanshaw’s name on the door, and I knew that at least I’d found the right room.
“Here we are,” I whispered. “Let’s tiptoe inside and see if Hannah’s there. Quiet as mice!”
“We can’t all go in,” Madison pointed out. “Eight of us will be too many. I’ll wait out here with Lily.”
“Me too,” said Emma, and I could just see Jackson nod.
“OK,” I said. I slid inside – and there was Hannah, sitting all by herself in a corner, crying. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and plopping onto the pages of the book in front of her … and I COMPLETELY forgot I was invisible. I rushed forward and hugged my poor miserable cousin – and she let out a terrified shriek, and leapt to her feet. I was so surprised I staggered backwards and knocked against a bookshelf – and it fell over, with the loudest crash ever. Books scattered in all directions, and the jar of pencils on top tumbled to the ground right in front of my horrified eyes. I tried to catch it, but all I did was knock it sideways into the radiator. The jar smashed into a thousand pieces, and pencils flew everywhere.
Hannah froze, her eyes wide. I felt sick.
“Quiet as mice, Olivia?” Melody whispered, and I knew she was laughing.
A teacher came running through the door. “HANNAH! Whatever’s going on here?”
“I … I don’t know.” Hannah was very pale. “Something touched me, and I jumped…”
“Something touched you?” It was clear the teacher didn’t believe her. “Really, Hannah! I leave you here to practise your reading, and you wreck the classroom! Just LOOK at what you’ve done! Books and glass everywhere! Go and report to Mrs Wheeler. I’ll have to get this mess seen to before someone cuts themself.”
“Yes, Miss Fanshaw.” Hannah drooped away from her table, and made her way slowly towards the door.
“Don’t slouch!” Miss Fanshaw snapped, and then she sighed. “If only you’d try, Hannah, life would be so much easier for you. You did so well when you first came here.”
“Yes, Miss Fanshaw.” It sounded as if Hannah had heard it all before. She walked wearily out into the corridor, and we followed her. My mind was whirling. I’d made things a million times worse for Hannah, and I had absolutely no idea what to do next.
“It’s her teacher who’s bullying her!” Ava breathed. “I TOLD you she was being bullied! What should we do?”
“You could try hugging Miss Fanshaw!” Melody suggested. “Hugging Hannah certainly shook her up!”
Lily gave a snort. “Or we could float things around her head every time she’s horrid.”
“No.” I was in a panic, but even so I couldn’t agree with Ava. Miss Fanshaw wasn’t nice, but I didn’t think she was a bully. Something else was wrong, and I needed to find out what it was.
As we followed Hannah down the corridor two girls and a boy were coming in the other direction, and we had to flatten ourselves against the wall to let them pass. The girls gave Hannah a friendly wave, but the boy rolled his eyes and made a horrible face at her. “It’s dumbo Hannah,” he sneered. “Can’t read, can’t write, bet you wet the bed at night!”
“Shut up, Josh.” One of the girls glared at him. “Leave her alone! You’re not that good at reading yourself.”
“I’m better than her.” Josh made an even more disgusting face. “She’s thick as a stick!” And he ran on down the corridor, laughing.
The other girl groaned. “He’s horrible. Ignore him, Hannah.”
“Oh, thanks, Phoebe. Thanks, Sarah.” Hannah gave the two girls a weak smile.
At the other end of the corridor, there was a screech, followed by loud wailing. I swung round, and saw Josh clutching his head. “My ears!” he yelled. “A ghost’s trying to pull my ears off!”
“Serves you right,” Sarah said, and she and Phoebe turned into Hannah’s classroom without giving him another glance. I couldn’t help wondering which Stargirl had decided to teach him a lesson, but Hannah was almost out of sight and I had to run to catch her up.
As I hurried after her, Jackson chuckled in my ear.
“There’s your bully, Olivia! He’ll think twice before he calls Hannah names again!”
“Good,” I said, but I still didn’t think that solved the problem.
I found Hannah standing outside the head teacher’s office.
A small boy came scuttling up carrying a note, and he grinned at her. “Hi,” he said. “Is Mrs Wheeler in?”
“I don’t know,” Hannah told him. “I’ve only just got here.” And she knocked on the door. As she did so, Phoebe and Sarah came towards us; when they saw Hannah, they didn’t look quite as friendly as they had before.
“Miss Fanshaw says we can’t use the classroom until the glass you broke has been cleaned up,” Sarah told Hannah. “And we need to finish our project.”
“I’m really sorry,” Hannah apologised. “It was the weirdest accident – I still don’t know how it happened.”
Phoebe shrugged, then smiled. “It’s OK. We didn’t think you’d done it on purpose.”
Hannah looked as if she was about to apologise again, but at that moment the head teacher’s door opened and a tall elderly woman came out.
“Yes?” she said. “Who knocked?”
Hannah stepped forward, but before she could say a word the little boy wriggled in front of her and held out his note.
“Please Mrs Wheeler, this is dead urgent from Mr Pole. Could you send a helper straight away, cos it’s time for the Special Reading class and I ain’t got nobody to help me!”
“You haven’t got anybody, Vinnie,” Mrs Wheeler corrected him, but she was smiling as she opened the note. “Ah! I see.” She looked at Hannah, Phoebe and Sarah. “I’m sure one of you three would be perfect…”
Hannah blushed. “Please, Mrs Wheeler, I’m in trouble. Miss Fanshaw sent me. I knocked over a bookcase, and I broke a glass jar—”
Mrs Wheeler gave my cousin a considering look. “It’s Hannah, isn’t it? And you only joined us this term. This doesn’t sound like a good start, but I presume it was an accident?”
Hannah nodded furiously. “YES! I mean, yes, Mrs Wheeler. I really REALLY don’t know how it happened, and I’m most dreadfully sorry about it—”
“I’m pleased to hear that,” Mrs Wheeler told her. “Now, you’d better run along and fetch the caretaker. Phoebe, would you go with her? And Sarah, you can go with—”
CRASH!!!!!!
It was the Merrywood Junior School Sports cup. It had leapt off its stand and hurled itself onto the floor. And as Mrs Wheeler stared, open-mouthed, I tried the Choosing Spell again. For the third time. And under cover of the noise I hissed at Sophie, “Help me! She has to choose Hannah!”
Chapter Ten
It was Vinnie’s mention of Special Reading and helpers that had caught my attention. Sometimes I get a feeling that I can’t explain – just like I knew that neither Miss Fanshaw nor Josh were making Hannah so unhappy, although they certainly weren’t helping. It was more than that. And if I could get my cousin to a reading class, surely someone would notice that something was wrong? So I needed Mrs Wheeler to choose Hannah – but Hannah was the last person she’d pick after what I’d done.
I shut my eyes and tried the spell again, and this time I heard Sophie murmuring beside me … then Ava joined in, and Madison and Lily and Emma … and then Melody said, quite clearly, “Come on, Jackson! We ought to help too!”
Mrs Wheeler looked up. “What was that, Hannah?”
Hannah looked blank. “Sorry, Mrs Wheeler?”
Mrs Wheeler put the sports cup back on its stand. “You offered to help. And now I come to think about it, that’s a very good idea. You’re new here, so I’ll overlook your attempts to break up Miss Fanshaw’s classroom – but don’t do it again. It seems as if a lot of things are falling about today. You go and help Vinnie with his reading, and Phoebe and Sarah can fetch the caretaker.” She didn’t
notice – or maybe she didn’t believe her eyes – but at that moment two tiny twinkling stars floated down from the ceiling.
I don’t know how Mrs Wheeler missed my sigh of relief, it was so loud, but she went back into her office, shutting the door behind her. Vinnie took Hannah’s hand. “This way,” he said, and began pulling her across the hallway.
“Wait!” Hannah was as white as a sheet. “Vinnie! I can’t help you! I … I’m not good at reading…”
Vinnie gave her a wide grin. “But that’s what Special Reading’s for, silly! I get it all wrong, but Mr Pole – he helps me. And he says some brains is wired up differently, and THAT’S why the letters get all jumbled up.”
Hannah stared at him as if he’d suddenly sprouted wings and a halo. “WHAT? Do you see letters jumbled too?”
“’Course I do. Come ON!” Vinnie tugged at Hannah’s arm. “It’s FUN! Mr Pole’s the best!” And he towed Hannah away down the corridor. I began to follow them – and that was when I saw Miss Fanshaw coming from the other direction and my heart sank.
“Hannah!” she said sharply. “What are you doing?”
Vinnie looked surprised. “She’s coming to Special Reading with me. Mrs Wheeler said.”
“Nonsense!” Miss Fanshaw snapped. “Hannah reads beautifully when she tries. Why, when she first got here she dazzled us all!”
Vinnie stared, first at Miss Fanshaw, and then at Hannah. “You told me you saw jumbly letters,” he said accusingly. “You told me you weren’t no good at reading.”
Hannah looked wildly around as if she was hoping to escape. I held my breath.
“Go on, Hannah!” I willed her. “Go on! Tell her! PLEASE tell her!”
“I…” she began, and then she let out a long, long sigh, as if she was letting something go. “Vinnie’s right. I’m no good. That book we read – George’s Marvellous Medicine – I know it by heart. I know lots of things by heart, but I need time to learn them … it’s like Vinnie said. When I try to read I get the letters muddled up.”
Olivia's Twinkling Spell Page 3