There was nothing for it but to get out of there as quickly as possible. Poppy reached for her Location Lamp and pressed down on the lid so they could go back to the Quartz Bottle. But the lid refused to move.
Uh-oh, thought Poppy, her throat suddenly dry. Then there was a boom of thunder and a flash of light. A heavy wind began buffeting Rocket from side to side.
‘Poppy,’ said Jake, his voice a little shaky. ‘We’re heading right for the storm.’
‘Don’t worry, Jake,’ said Poppy, keeping her voice calm, although she was feeling scared too. ‘We’ll be fine.’ Then she pressed her hand against Rocket.
‘Turn around, Rocket,’ Poppy said in a firm voice. They needed to get as far away from the storm as possible, and quickly. But to Poppy’s surprise, Rocket didn’t turn around. Instead, he did something very odd. First he started twitching all over. Then he did an enormous shiver and leapt forwards – heading straight for the storm instead of away from it!
‘This is bad, Poppy,’ yelled Jake. ‘Very bad.’
‘It’s under control,’ Poppy called back. ‘I’ll get us out of here in just a sec.’ She hoped the wind would disguise the panic in her voice. With one hand, Poppy tried to steer her outof-control rug away from the storm, and with the other she tried to turn the stuck lid of the Location Lamp. The sky was growing darker.
Desperately, Poppy pressed down on the Location Lamp lid again. ‘Listen, lid,’ she muttered. ‘If you don’t do what I’m asking, I’m going to throw you off the carpet.’
A second later, there was a little popping noise, and finally the lid clicked into place. But the black clouds had surrounded them, and the wind spun Rocket around in a spiral.
‘I’m slipping off!’ yelled Jake, scrambling on the carpet behind her. Poppy grabbed Jake’s arm and pulled him back onto the rug just as the last of the light disappeared and Rocket plummeted downwards.
Suddenly, everything fell silent. The wind has gone, Poppy thought. And then she realised that although her body still felt like it was doing crazy cartwheels through space, she was now lying on firm ground.
When Poppy opened her eyes, she saw that the sky was no longer purple, but a dusty yellow. Relief flooded through her. We’re back in the Quartz Bottle, she thought. She blinked a few times, and found herself surrounded by anxious-looking Bottle Hoppers.
‘You’re OK,’ said Santino in a low voice. ‘We were getting worried. You’ve been gone for ages.’
He was standing next to Zara, who looked every bit as relieved as the others – maybe even more so. ‘It’s … it’s good that you’re back,’ Zara said quietly. There was a strange expression on her face.
Poppy gazed at her mentor for a moment, still feeling a bit light-headed. Then she remembered her friend. ‘Jake,’ she said, sitting bolt upright. ‘Is Jake here?’
‘I’m right behind you,’ said a voice. Poppy turned and sure enough, there he was. And apart from being very windswept, he looked fine.
‘I’m so glad to see you!’ cried Poppy, flinging her arms around him.
Jake shrugged her off, embarrassed. ‘Stop that,’ he muttered. ‘Everyone will think we love each other or something.’
‘What happened to you guys?’ asked Santino.
‘We got caught in a storm,’ said Jake, with a grin. ‘It was so awesome. Poppy nearly fell off and I had to rescue her.’
Poppy raised her eyebrows. ‘Excuse me? Who saved who?’
Jake grinned. ‘Well, close enough,’ he said cheekily.
‘So now that we know everyone is OK,’ said Santino, his usual smile returning to his face, ‘let’s watch the videos of the bottles you guys visited. Zara, you go first. How many bottles did you visit?’
‘I think it was three,’ said Zara in a small voice. She pulled out her Dial-Up.
Jake nudged Poppy. ‘Zara obviously went to some totally dud bottles – you can tell from her face,’ he whispered. ‘That means we might win, even though it’s a tie!’
Poppy nodded. Her mentor seemed very quiet and subdued for once. I would’ve thought she’d be boasting about how many great bottles she visited, thought Poppy. It was almost like Zara didn’t care about the Bottle Hop anymore.
Zara played the video of the first bottle she visited. Poppy gasped. It was a beautiful castle – perfectly preserved in the ancient bottle.
‘It’s amazing,’ she said. ‘It’s like a king and queen are still living there.’
But Zara didn’t seem at all interested in the clip. She clicked through wordlessly to the next bottle.
‘Is that an old lolly shop?’ asked Jake, leaning forward.
Zara nodded. ‘It had some amazing-looking lollies.’
‘I wish we’d found that bottle,’ Jake said, wistfully.
Poppy laughed. ‘Those lollies would’ve been centuries old,’ she pointed out. ‘They would taste terrible.’
‘They look fine to me,’ said Jake.
Zara’s final video seemed to be of a vast desert. ‘Why is the sand so shiny?’ someone asked.
‘That’s not sand,’ said Zara. ‘It’s gold dust.’
Jake’s mouth dropped open. ‘Did you scoop any of it up?’
‘Of course she didn’t!’ said Santino. ‘If you take anything from one of those old bottles – even a single grain of sand – you risk setting off an ancient protection charm. Those charms can be really powerful, like the most massive storm you’ve ever seen.’
‘Oh,’ said Jake, looking strange. ‘Even one grain of sand, huh?’ He suddenly seemed nervous.
An unpleasant thought crept into Poppy’s head. ‘Jake,’ she said, frowning a little at him.
Jake shifted uncomfortably. ‘What?’
‘Did you take a tail feather from that bird in the aviary world?’ asked Poppy. Jake’s face went red.
‘I didn’t pull it out,’ he said defensively. ‘The bird dropped one on the carpet when it flew off. I figured it was a present so I popped it in my pocket.’
Poppy groaned. ‘Why would you do something like that, especially after I said we shouldn’t take anything?’
Jake looked sheepish. ‘I’m sorry. I thought you were being a …’ His voice trailed off.
‘A goody-goody?’ asked Poppy crossly, and Jake nodded. ‘It was a really dumb thing to do, Jake,’ said Poppy. ‘It’s probably the reason why Rocket was acting so strangely too.’
Santino looked puzzled. ‘I’ve never heard of a protection charm affecting a carpet before,’ he said. ‘What happened exactly?’
Poppy described Rocket’s unusual behaviour.
When she’d finished, Santino frowned and bent down to examine Rocket. A moment later he looked up. ‘Just what I thought,’ he said. ‘Look at this.’
Poppy looked where he was pointing. Sprinkled through Rocket’s tassels was a fine white powder. ‘That’s just snow from one of the bottles we visited,’ said Jake.
But Santino shook his head. ‘That’s not snow,’ he said. ‘That’s Go Fast spray. You know, the opposite of Go Slow spray. It’s used to make magic carpets go much faster than they normally would. If you put too much on, it can make the carpet go out of control. It’s totally banned at Genie High.’
‘But how would that have gotten on Rocket?’ asked Poppy, confused.
Santino folded his arms. ‘Someone tried to sabotage your Bottle Hop, Poppy,’ he said bluntly.
‘Who would do that?’ asked Poppy. Even as she said it, she realised there was only one possible answer. Poppy spun around to face Zara. Her mentor was staring at the ground, her face pale.
‘Zara, was it you?’ Poppy asked, her heart pounding. For a moment, Zara stood very still. Then she nodded slowly. All the Bottle Hoppers gasped in dismay.
‘Zara,’ said Santino, shaking his head. ‘How could you?’
‘It was meant to be joke,’ Zara said softly. ‘I didn’t think it would cause so much trouble.’
‘Some joke,’ Poppy snapped, her anger bubbling over. ‘Jake and I coul
d have been seriously hurt!’
‘I can’t believe you’d do something so nasty just to win a race,’ said Santino, frowning. ‘And so dangerous too! Why did you put so much spray on Rocket?’
Zara looked even more ashamed. ‘Because when I sprayed a small amount on the first time, Poppy didn’t even seem to notice,’ she said in a tiny voice. ‘So I thought it would be OK to add a bit more this time.’
Poppy stared at Zara, horrified. ‘You’ve done this before?’
‘Yes,’ admitted Zara. ‘Remember your first day in the Velodrome Bottle when your beginner rug went mad? I sprayed that carpet because I thought it’d be funny to see you fall off. But you didn’t.’
‘What a terrible thing to do, Zara,’ said Jake, disgusted. ‘You should be disqualified from the Bottle Hop.’
Santino nodded. ‘I agree,’ he said, his face hard. ‘I never thought you’d do something like this. You should be disqualified from the whole club.’
‘No!’ cried Zara. She grabbed Poppy’s shoulder. ‘Poppy, I’m so sorry for what I did. And I’m sorry for being such a terrible mentor too. I know it was mean to put Go Fast spray on your carpet. I didn’t think anything bad would happen. I’ve been so dumb! Please forgive me.’
‘Don’t forgive her, Poppy,’ said Jake, still sounding furious. ‘Why should you?’
Poppy hesitated. She was angry with Zara. Really angry. And besides that, her feelings were hurt.
‘Why do you hate me so much, Zara?’ Poppy asked. ‘Is it because I’m a Golden genie?’
Zara sighed. ‘Everyone was so excited about you coming to Genie High. I suppose I wondered what all the fuss was about. And I decided that I wasn’t going to be dazzled by you.’ Looking upset, Zara sank down on the floor right near Rocket. Suddenly, a strange expression came over her face, and she reached out a hand towards the carpet.
‘Don’t touch Rocket!’ snapped Poppy.
But Zara peered even closer at the carpet, her face turning white. ‘Poppy,’ she said, ‘I know you’re angry with me, but this is serious. I think – I think Rocket might be sick.’
‘Don’t try and trick me, Zara,’ Poppy said.
Zara shook her head. ‘I’m not tricking,’ she said. ‘Look. He’s started to fade. That’s a really bad thing in a carpet. It means that his magic’s starting to drain out.’
Poppy examined Rocket closely, but she couldn’t see what Zara was talking about. Was this just another mean stunt?
Then Santino came up beside her. ‘Poppy,’ he said urgently. ‘I know you don’t trust Zara right now and I don’t blame you. But you should listen to her on this. She knows a lot about magic carpets and she wouldn’t joke about Rocket.’
Zara nodded. ‘I’m not messing around,’ she said. ‘Rocket needs to see a repairer. Unfortunately there’s only one repairer good enough for a job like this, and you won’t want to hear who that is.’
‘Just tell me, Zara,’ said Poppy, feeling frustrated.
Zara swallowed. ‘It’s Lady Topaz.’
Everyone fell silent. Poppy stared at Zara, not knowing what to say. Lady Topaz was the last person she wanted to run into right now! She was bound to ask questions about what Poppy had been doing with Rocket.
‘It’s a trick, Poppy,’ growled Jake. ‘You’ll end up being expelled.’
‘Can’t you fix him, Zara?’ asked Poppy. But in her heart she knew that she would have to find Lady Topaz.
Zara looked at Poppy and shook her head. Her eyes were very serious. ‘Rug repairing is an ancient art, and hardly anyone can do it. I can promise you two things. The first is that Lady Topaz is the best genie to fix Rocket. If we don’t go to her, then Rocket might fade away to nothing.’
Poppy imagined Rocket disappearing and felt a lump in her throat. Even being expelled from Genie High would be better than that.
‘What’s the other promise?’ Poppy asked.
‘I’ll come with you to see Lady Topaz,’ said Zara. ‘So if she expels you, she’ll expel me too.’
‘You would really do that?’ said Poppy.
‘Yes,’ nodded Zara. ‘I owe you that much. But we need to get going. Rocket won’t last much longer.’
Poppy’s mind whirled. She still didn’t trust Zara, but it meant a lot that she was prepared to come with her.
‘OK, let’s go,’ she said, bending down to gather up her carpet. Rocket seemed very floppy and Poppy could see now that he was indeed losing colour. It was awful.
Zara gave her a sympathetic look, then unrolled her own carpet and jumped on.
‘Wait,’ said Jake, as Poppy stepped gingerly onto Zara’s carpet. ‘How do you even know where to find Lady Topaz? She could be anywhere in the school. It’s not like her personal genie bottle is listed on our Dial-Up.’
‘It’s true that Lady Topaz could be anywhere,’ admitted Zara, settling in, ‘but I know where her bottle is. We may as well start there. And we won’t be using our Dial-Ups to find it.’ She pulled out her Location Lamp.
‘Zara, you still have the ancient lid on the top,’ said Poppy. ‘Aren’t we going to find Lady Topaz?’
Zara nodded. ‘Hold on tight.’ She twisted the dial and soon they were surrounded by smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Poppy knew from the sky’s purplish tinge that they were back in one of the ancient bottles. They seemed to be in the middle of a dark, dense wood.
Zara expertly guided her carpet in and out of the trees. Poppy had the feeling they were trying to grab at her with their branches. It’s just my imagination, she told herself. All the same, she held on to Rocket extra-tight.
‘How is Rocket doing?’ asked Zara.
‘He’s fading fast,’ replied Poppy nervously, stroking her carpet. ‘Even his tassels look sick.’
Zara urged her carpet on even faster than before. Poppy couldn’t understand how she was managing to avoid the trees. But Zara didn’t even come close to hitting one. She was definitely an expert flyer. ‘Hold on,’ said Zara suddenly, ‘we’re going down.’
The ground started rushing up towards them. We’re going to crash! thought Poppy.
But instead, Zara guided her carpet down into what looked like a giant rabbit tunnel. Inside it was pitch black. ‘We’re almost there now,’ she called back.
A second later, Poppy could see a faint glow up ahead. As the light grew stronger, Zara slowed her carpet down, and finally came to land gently on the ground.
Still clutching Rocket tightly, Poppy stood up and looked around. They were in a vast underground workshop. Wool in every colour imaginable (and some colours Poppy had never seen before) hung from hooks on the ceiling. There were hundreds of carpets stacked up in piles everywhere. In the middle of the room was a giant wooden table, covered with needles of all different shapes and sizes, and more scissors than Poppy had ever seen.
‘Wow,’ said Poppy, looking around. ‘How did you know this was here?’
‘I stumbled upon it once during a Bottle Hop,’ replied Zara. ‘I realised it was Lady Topaz’s bottle when I saw the chairs.’ Sure enough, around the table were chairs with lions’ feet, just like the one Lady Topaz had sat on during their first Carpet Control lesson. ‘Luckily Lady Topaz wasn’t in it at the time, so she didn’t see me.’
‘There’s something I don’t get,’ said Poppy. ‘How come Lady Topaz has an ancient bottle?’
‘Because she’s an ancient genie,’ said Zara. ‘Santino wasn’t kidding when he said she’d been the principal for a thousand years.’
‘Lady Topaz is ancient?’ said Poppy in disbelief. ‘She can’t be. She looks so young!’
‘Oh, I’m definitely ancient,’ said a deep, rich voice. There was a puff of purple smoke, and when it cleared, Lady Topaz was standing in the middle of the workshop.
She came up beside Poppy and gave Rocket a gentle stroke. ‘How are you, Knotty?’ she said, a note of anxiety creeping into her warm voice.
‘Knotty?’ asked Poppy.
‘Yes, this is Knotty,�
� said Lady Topaz, peering closely. ‘Or at least he was, back when I first made him.’
Poppy stared at Lady Topaz, her mouth hanging open. She knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help it. ‘You made Rocket?’
‘Oh yes. It was many years ago now. He’s been handed down from Golden genie to Golden genie ever since, lovely old fellow.’
‘But Lexie – er, I mean, Princess Alexandria gave him to me,’ said Poppy, puzzled.
‘Yes, indeed,’ said Lady Topaz, ‘Princess Alexandria is a Golden genie too. As are all the genies who have owned this carpet, including myself.’
‘You’re a Golden genie too?’ said Poppy, astonished.
‘Certainly. And I excelled at carpet making,’ said Lady Topaz. ‘Knotty was my best carpet. He’s not just any old rug. He’s always been passed on to someone deserving.’ Then her voice became stern. ‘I’m very disappointed to see him like this, Poppy. Are you going to tell me what has happened?’
‘He was injured during a Bottle Hop,’ said Poppy, near tears. ‘Can you fix him?’
Lady Topaz looked at Poppy severely. ‘You do realise that Bottle Hops are strictly forbidden at Genie High?’
Poppy nodded miserably. ‘I know. But can you help him?’
Lady Topaz took Rocket and laid him out on the workbench. ‘Yes, this is very serious,’ she muttered. ‘He’s lost a lot of colour. Zara, please pass me the absorption paper. It’s that big roll on the shelf behind me. Quickly!’
Zara ran over to the jumbled shelves behind Lady Topaz and pulled out what looked like a large roll of tracing paper. She handed it to Lady Topaz, who expertly tore off a length and lay it down over Rocket. The paper turned into a sparkling, golden liquid that seeped into Rocket’s surface.
‘The colours look brighter already,’ said Poppy.
‘Yes, it’s helped,’ agreed Lady Topaz. ‘But it’s not over yet. This rip needs repairing.’ She pointed to a small hole. ‘This is where the colour is seeping from.’ She clicked her fingers and a golden needle with a small pair of fluttering wings swooped over. Lady Topaz threaded it expertly with the finest golden thread that Poppy had ever seen. Then she began to sew.
Genie High School Page 6