Mrs Beggs gave a squeak of surprise as the candle flickered briefly with a pale flame before going out in a puff of smoke. She reached across and tapped the gnome hopefully with her fingers, but it stood unmoving and definitely still concrete.
‘It didn’t work,’ she cried in disappointment.
‘They don’t always work,’ Holly pointed out. ‘This was only an experiment. Besides, you used far too much Magic Mixture so you probably ruined it.’
‘I wasn’t to know the wind was so strong,’ her mother informed her with a frown.
Caitlin shrugged. ‘It’s not your fault, Mrs Beggs. It could be anything. The spells might have been the wrong combination for a start. It was worth a try. We’ll have to think of something else.’
‘Oh bother it,’ Holly said crossly. ‘We could try all sorts of things and still not get anywhere.’
‘We can’t do any more now,’ her mother put in. ‘I want to take Holly shopping for some new shoes.’
‘Right now?’ squealed Holly in annoyance.
‘Yes, now. Otherwise you will go off with Caitlin, as you usually do, and the holidays will be over before we’ve had time to do anything. You need a haircut as well.’
Holly shot her mother a murderous look and Caitlin tried not to giggle.
‘Never mind,’ she reassured her friend. ‘We can try something different tomorrow or the next day. I’m sure we’ll come up with something in the next week or so.’
‘What a waste of good holiday time,’ muttered Holly darkly, as Caitlin handed back the wand and candle.
‘I’ll call as soon as I think of something else.’
Caitlin sighed as she turned to leave. ‘It should have worked though,’ she muttered to herself as she walked home. I wonder what I did wrong?’
The next morning Caitlin was shattered awake by the telephone. On and on it rang, shrill and persistent. Caitlin put her head under the pillow and tried to get back to sleep, but heard her mother calling.
‘Caitlin, phone for you. It’s Holly.’
‘Why is she ringing me so early?’ Caitlin grumbled as she reluctantly slid out of bed.
‘You’ll never guess what’s happened,’ Holly said excitedly.
‘What is it?’ yawned Caitlin.
‘The spell worked. The gnome is alive.’
‘Hey, that’s great.’
‘I don’t know about great,’ said Holly doubtfully. ‘I was asleep when I felt this jab in my arm and there was the gnome poking me with a stick. He says he wants to go fishing.’
Caitlin giggled. ‘What did you tell him?’
‘I said we’d go after breakfast and he’s standing here watching me now so you’d better come over and help.’ She lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘He’s really horrible. It must be something to do with having been made out of concrete. I think it’s warped his mind or something. He’s unbelievably bossy. I really need you.’
‘Okay,’ agreed Caitlin. Hastily cramming a sandwich into her mouth, she dragged on her jeans and T-shirt. ‘I’m off to Holly’s place, Mum,’ she called, as she ran out the door.
‘The gnome is so cute,’ gushed Holly’s mother as Caitlin arrived breathlessly at the door. ‘He wants to go fishing. Isn’t that sweet?’
Caitlin followed the sound of splashing to the bathroom where Holly was filling the bath.
‘Mum says I have to put the goldfish in here for him,’ she said crossly. The pond outside isn’t a real one. It’s only a sheet of mirror with shells around the edges. He says he wants real water and real fish.’
‘I want to fish properly,’ said the gnome in a grating voice. He fixed Caitlin with a baleful stare. ‘It’s not too much to ask, is it? A chap like me has only a few simple pleasures in life.’ He puffed out a cloud of evil smelling pipe smoke.
‘Oh, er, of course,’ stammered Caitlin, trying not to cough.
The gnome glowered at her then turned to Holly, tapping one foot impatiently on the floor. Holly turned off the tap then poured in the contents of her goldfish bowl. A few strands of waterweed floated on the surface while the two small goldfish darted for the cover of the soap dish. The gnome proceeded to climb a stool beside the bath to stand on the edge of the tub, where he dangled his wooden rod and line over the water.
‘I need bait,’ he told Holly gruffly.
‘I could find some bread,’ she began hesitantly.
‘Worms,’ said the gnome firmly. ‘It has to be worms.’
‘Oh gross,’ spluttered Holly. ‘You expect me to go out and dig actual worms for you? That’s disgusting.’
The gnome glared at her and after a few minutes she wilted. ‘Come on,’ she groaned, and dragged a fascinated Caitlin with her outside to the garden. There they both stood with their mouths open in shock.
‘The whole garden’s alive,’ gasped Caitlin. ‘I didn’t notice when I came in, but look!’ She pointed to the wishing well where a group of fairies was whispering with heads together. They looked up as the girls came closer and started simpering.
‘Look at me. I’m the most beautiful of all,’ a golden haired fairy called, holding out her petalled skirt and skipping around a toadstool.
‘This wind is absolutely ruining my hair,’ pouted another, peering at her reflection in a puddle by the path.
‘No, no. Look at me, look at me. I’m by far the best looking here,’ lisped a cherub, with little wings fluttering.
‘Oh my goodness,’ gasped Holly. ‘This is horrible.’
Caitlin began to laugh. ‘It must have been the Magic Mixture. My spell was obviously stronger than I realised.’ She leapt to one side to avoid a hedgehog, which was trotting down the path followed by three waddling goslings with blue ribbons bows flapping limply around their necks. A large wooden butterfly flapped past with a rush of air, and several small pixies began throwing coloured stones at each other across a garden bench.
‘Thank goodness everything isn’t alive,’ Holly gasped as she sank thankfully onto the bench.
‘Nothing seems to have happened to my rock,’ said Caitlin in disappointment. She picked it up and studied it. It still looked like a dull piece of stone and with a sigh she slipped it into her pocket as Holly groaned and stood up again.
‘I’ll have to get the worms for that ghastly gnome,’ she said, wrinkling her nose. ‘Then I’ll tell Mum about this lot. She thinks the gnome is cute, so goodness only knows what she’ll make of all these creatures.’
‘She’s going to love it,’ Caitlin told her.
She was right. Holly’s mother went into raptures of delight over the garden. She rapidly lost interest in the gnome, who eagerly took the tin of worms that Holly had dug up, and impaled a long wriggling one onto the hook of his fishing line. He fiercely cast the worm into the bathtub. The goldfish were swimming madly in all directions and the gnome was determined to catch them.
‘Mum’s lost the plot completely,’ Holly announced sadly, as she and Caitlin ventured onto the porch.
Mrs Beggs had changed into a long floating dress of multi-coloured shimmering fabric, and was skipping around the garden followed by a procession of fairies.
‘I’m in fairyland,’ she sang, as a group of pottery plant pots leered and grimaced at her with their gargoyle-like faces.
‘Ow!’ Caitlin rubbed her leg where a grinning pixie had lobbed a stone at it before legging it behind a small camellia bush. ‘What are those creatures?’
‘They’re pixies,’ Holly informed her gloomily. ‘They are supposed to bring a touch of mischief to the garden. Mum ordered them from a mail order catalogue last winter.’
‘Mischief is right. They’re a menace,’ exclaimed Caitlin, keeping a wary eye out for any more of them. A hail of stones rattled on the side of the garden shed and a couple of fairies shrieked and fluttered to the verandah roof in fright. A group of gnomes muttered together and shot the girls distinctly unfriendly looks from under their bushy white eyebrows. ‘At least they don’t want to go fishing as well,’ she said in relief.
‘Oh no, they’re escaping! Do something!’ hissed Holly. ‘This is awful. We’ll be a laughing stock if any of the neighbours sees this. They already think my mother is potty and this won’t help at all.’
‘I don’t know what to do,’ Caitlin said in dismay. ‘I think it has to wear off naturally. It probably won’t last more than a day or two.’
‘A day or two,’ screeched Holly in horror. ‘An hour or two would be too long. There must be a way of ending the spell. Ouch.’ She swiped unsuccessfully at a small pixie. It had dropped a stone on her foot and was now pulling faces at her from inside an ornamental stone lantern.
‘We’d better go inside,’ Caitlin said hastily. ‘I can’t think out here.’
Holly looked despairingly at her mother who was leading the fairies in song as she tinkled a little brass bell and swayed along the path.
‘Yoo-hoo, Holly. Why don’t you come and join us? We can all be fairies.’ She beckoned encouragingly as the girls shuddered and ran for the porch.
‘We have to find a way to stop all this,’ moaned Holly, following Caitlin inside.
‘I’ll do my best,’ Caitlin promised.
The girls spent the next couple of hours looking though all Holly’s schoolbooks, trying to find a way to reverse the spell. This was not an easy task. The
The Dragon Kepeer and Other Stories Page 5