Every head turned back to Ben’s house.
‘We want Steve! We want Steve!’ the crowd chanted.
Togen’s lips quivered at the rejection. Franco gathered up Togen for a cuddle as he turned to sob on her shoulder.
‘There! There!’ she told him, patting his head. ‘I still love you!’
And the limousine drove on.
Ben and Steve dared to breathe a sigh of relief only once they’d turned the corner and the crowd were no longer in sight.
‘Right! You should be OK from here if you go straight home,’ Ben said.
‘Aren’t you going to come with me?’
‘Not on your life! No one will recognize you. But I’ve got these horrible butterfly beads in my hair and girly ribbons around my plaits – and I can’t even pull them out! I’m not walking down the street like this.’
‘Aren’t you two going to thank me?’ asked Whizziwig.
‘Thank you for what?’ Ben frowned.
‘Well, you’ve both never looked lovelier!’ Whizziwig grinned.
It was hard to say whose expression was more icy, Ben’s or Steve’s.
‘You want to watch that sense of humour of yours, Whizziwig. It might get you accidentally sat on or something!’ Steve told her.
‘I won’t say another word.’ Whizziwig mimed zipping up her lips.
‘Very wise,’ Ben told her. ‘And if any other part of my body changes, Whizziwig, I’ll never let you hear the end of it. I’m going to have to pretend to be ill and stay in bed all day tomorrow as it is.’
Whizziwig looked dismayed. ‘But I thought that tomorrow we were all going to the—’
‘Neither of us is setting a foot outside until these wishes have worn off,’ Steve interrupted.
‘I don’t understand why you’re both so scared to be seen. You look drop-dead gorgeous!’
Ben had had enough. He shut his bag decisively.
‘Ooof. Watch it!’ a muffled Whizziwig complained.
‘I’ll see you on Monday morning!’ said Steve.
‘OK. See you then.’
Ben and Steve turned to go their separate ways. Moments later, Ben turned around.
‘Steve?’
Steve turned back to face Ben.
‘Can I have your autograph?’
‘You’re not funny!’ Steve fumed.
‘A lock of your hair then?’ Ben grinned.
‘You’re still not funny.’ Steve marched off, very annoyed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Results
FIRST THING ON Monday morning, Ben entered the classroom and looked around. There were no girls-only beads and ribbons in his hair and the brace had gone. He was himself again. Steve wasn’t in the classroom yet, but Emma was. After a moment’s thought, Ben walked over to her.
‘Hi, Emma.’
‘Hello, Ben.’ Emma nodded. She returned to the book on her desk.
‘What’re you doing?’
‘Just checking through my homework,’ Emma replied.
‘Why?’ asked Ben. ‘It’s bound to be right.’
‘I just thought I’d make sure.’ Emma didn’t look up. She carried on scrutinizing her homework.
‘It’s hard work, isn’t it?’ Ben said after a few moments.
‘What is?’ Emma asked, looking up.
‘Being good at things, knowing things. Now Mr Archer and everyone else expects you to be right all the time. You probably don’t have time to do anything else but work and study to make sure you don’t slip.’
‘It was the same at my last school.’ Emma looked at Ben, really looked at him. Then she sighed. ‘D’you know, you’re the first person who’s understood.’
‘I sort of put myself in your place – or rather, Mr Archer did!’ Ben smiled.
‘Pardon?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Ben shook his head. ‘Listen! You don’t have to know every single fact in the universe.’
‘Don’t I?’ Emma sighed again.
Charlotte and Sarah, who’d been listening, wandered over.
‘No, you don’t.’
‘But everyone expects me to.’ Emma’s voice had dropped, but she could still be heard.
‘Rubbish!’ said Sarah. ‘You’re harder on yourself than anyone else could be.’
‘You need to enjoy yourself a bit more,’ Charlotte told her.
‘I don’t know . . .’ Emma began.
‘Sarah’s coming over to my house after school for tea. Would you like to come?’ asked Charlotte.
‘I don’t . . . er . . .’
‘It’ll be fun,’ Charlotte insisted.
Emma looked down at her homework, then closed her exercise book. ‘Yes, OK! I’d love to come!’
‘Great!’ Sarah grinned.
‘Can I come too?’ Ben asked.
‘No!’ Charlotte, Sarah and Emma all spoke at once.
‘I get the message,’ said Ben drily and he walked back to his seat.
Mr Archer entered the staff room. The skin around his eye was a gruesome shade of purple. The moment the other teachers spotted him, they all stood up and started clapping. Mr Archer was horribly embarrassed. He tried to hide his face behind his briefcase but Mrs Jenkins held a Sunday newspaper under his nose. The headline read: BROTHERLY LOVE. TOGEN AT IT AGAIN. And beside it was a picture of Mr Archer and Togen rolling about on the floor. Mr Archer groaned. Miss Jute rushed over to him.
‘Oh, Leonard! How are you?’
‘Fine, Judy. Fine.’ Mr Archer mumbled. How he wished the other teachers would all stop clapping and sit down.
‘It wasn’t a very good example to set for your class, was it?’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ Mr Archer agreed humbly.
‘But you were quite dashing – in a yobbo hooligan fashion!’ said Miss Jute.
‘I’m so sorry, Judy. I’ll never be able to live this down. I can’t think what came over me,’ Mr Archer said unhappily.
‘I think I can.’ Miss Jute smiled.
Mr Archer looked at her and smiled back.
‘Never mind, Leonard. I’ve got just the thing to cheer you up.’ Miss Jute dug into her handbag. ‘How about dinner for two tonight, followed by a concert?’
‘A concert?’ Mr Archer looked more happy already. ‘Sounds wonderful! Is it Mozart? Or Brahms?’
Miss Jute glanced down at the two tickets in her handbag. They had TOGEN IN CONCERT emblazoned across them. She decided to leave them in her handbag until the last possible moment.
‘It’s a surprise!’ she told Mr Archer. ‘And you’ll love it!’
Steve entered the classroom, carrying a dark carrier bag. He headed straight for Ben.
‘Hi, Steve. How come you didn’t knock for me this morning?’ Ben asked.
‘It’ll be a while before I can pluck up the courage to go anywhere near your house,’ Steve admitted.
‘Why?’
‘Too many painful memories!’ said Steve. He handed Ben the carrier bag. ‘These belong to you – or rather your mum. Did she miss them?’
‘No.’ Ben couldn’t resist adding, ‘And anyway, I’m sure she’d let you keep them if you really wanted to!’
‘You’re still not funny,’ Steve replied. ‘I’ll show you what I really want to do with them.’
Steve dropped the carrier bag on the ground and started jumping up and down on it.
‘Hang on, Steve. I’ve still got the last set of plaits I cut off,’ said Ben. He dug into his bag. ‘Excuse me, Whizziwig.’
‘Don’t mind me,’ said Whizziwig.
Ben took out some plaits with beads and ribbons attached to their ends and dropped them on to the floor next to Steve’s carrier bag. Then he joined with Steve in jumping up and down on them.
‘Hmmm!’ Whizziwig said from beneath Ben’s table. ‘I obviously still have a lot to learn about humans!’
About the Author
MALORIE BLACKMAN is acknowledged as one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. Her book Noughts & Cro
sses has won several prizes, including the Children’s Book Award. Malorie is also the only author to have won the Young Telegraph/Gimme 5 Award twice with Hacker and Thief! Her work has appeared on screen, with Pig-Heart Boy, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, being adapted into a BAFTA-award-winning TV serial. Malorie has also written a number of titles for younger readers.
In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books.
In 2008, she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature.
www.malorieblackman.co.uk
Also available by Malorie Blackman
The Noughts & Crosses sequence
Noughts & Crosses
Knife Edge
Checkmate
Double Cross
For older readers
The Stuff of Nightmares
Boys Don’t Cry
A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E.
Dangerous Reality
Dead Gorgeous
Hacker
Pig-Heart Boy
The Deadly Dare Mysteries
Thief!
Unheard Voices
(An anthology of short stories and poems, collected by Malorie Blackman)
For junior readers
Cloud Busting
Operation Gadgetman!
Whizziwig and Whizziwig Returns
For beginner readers
Jack Sweettooth
Snow Dog
Space Race
The Monster Crisp-Guzzler
Audio editions available on CDs:
Noughts & Crosses
Knife Edge
Checkmate
Double Cross
WHIZZIWIG AND WHIZZIWIG RETURNS
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 407 04918 2
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company
This ebook edition published 2011
Copyright © Oneta Malorie Blackman, 2005
Illustrations copyright © Neil Chapman, 2005
First Published in Great Britain
Yearling 2005
The right of Malorie Blackman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Whizziwig and Whizziwig Returns Omnibus Page 12
