by Sally Prue
‘You mean you’ve got all our nits on your own head?’ Serise said.
‘That’s right. They’re a great help. I’m not sure what I’d do without them. Probably be rather evil, I should imagine.’
Class Six looked at each other.
‘So…aren’t you evil, then, Miss Broom?’ asked Anil, at last, politely.
‘I mean, we know you’ve been really nice so far,’ said Winsome. ‘Teaching us our tables and all that. And PE was fantastic. But…’
Miss Broom seemed rather offended. ‘Really!’ she said. ‘Do I look evil?’
Class Six looked at each other some more.
‘Not really,’ said Winsome at last.
‘Not really?’
‘It’s just that the things we see in your eyes are a bit frightening sometimes,’ explained Anil. ‘You know, all those ruined temples and pterodactyls and screaming ghosts and stuff.’
‘And the skeletons,’ said someone, feelingly.
Miss Broom put her hands up to her face in dismay. ‘Skeletons?’ she echoed.
‘And hands with huge claws,’ said Emily. ‘Wearing black nail varnish.’
Miss Broom clutched at her sandy hair in horror.
‘Oh no!’ she said. ‘That’s just terrible! Oh my dears, you poor things. Just a moment, will you?’
She turned her back on the class, and seemed to be trying to take her eyes out.
‘There!’ she said, turning back. ‘Better?’
Class Six stared at Miss Broom’s eyes. They could still clearly see the pictures floating across them.
‘Silver flying horses,’ said Emily, in wonder.
‘And pink teddy bears,’ said Serise, in some distaste. ‘Yuk, where on earth did they get those tartan waistcoats from?’
Miss Broom heaved a sigh of relief.
‘Thank heavens for that,’ she said. ‘You know, I thought I wasn’t seeing as well as I should have been. Just think, I must have been wearing my contact lenses inside out for a whole week. Ooh yes, I can see much better now.’
Behind her Rodney stood up. He was fully clothed and not even slightly a leopard. He walked carefully round Miss Broom’s desk and back to his seat.
Class Six sighed. The sight of those teddy bears had made them feel much calmer. Happier, too. As if having a witch for a teacher might be quite fun. Incredible fun.
Absolutely stupendous fun.
‘Hey, Rodney,’ said Slacker Punchkin, as Rodney settled himself down. ‘I bet you’ve changed your mind now.’
‘What about?’ asked Rodney.
‘About Miss Broom. About what she is.’
‘Changed my mind?’ said Rodney.
‘Yes,’ said Serise. ‘You were wrong, weren’t you?’
Rodney shrugged.
‘So go on, then, admit it,’ said Anil. ‘Tell us. Tell us what Miss Broom is!’
Rodney looked round at the rest of the class, puzzled.
‘Miss Broom? What she is?’ he asked. ‘Well, she’s…’
‘Yes?’ said Anil.
‘She’s…’
‘Yes?’ said Jack.
‘She’s…’
‘Yes?’ said everybody.
‘She’s a teacher,’ said Rodney, still very puzzled.
Class Six couldn’t believe it.
‘You idiot!’ shouted Serise. ‘Five minutes ago you were a leopard!’
‘Yesterday you were flying round the school hall!’ yelped Anil.
‘Oh, those were just dreams,’ said Rodney. ‘I think I must have eaten too much cheese or something.’
Class Six clutched at their nit-free hair in exasperation.
‘It wasn’t a dream!’ they all shouted. ‘It was real!’
Rodney shook his head.
‘That’s impossible,’ he said, patiently.
‘NO IT’S NOT!’ Class Six howled.
‘But how could it possibly be true?’ asked Rodney, bewildered.
Class Six took in a deep breath and tried one last time to get the message into Rodney’s big thick skull.
‘It’s true,’ they shouted, ‘because Miss Broom is a WIBBLE!’
First published 2014 by A & C Black,
an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
www.bloomsbury.com
This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © 2014 A & C Black
Text copyright © 2014 Sally Prue
Illustrations copyright © 2014 Kelly Canby
The right of Sally Prue and Kelly Canby to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ePub ISBN 978 1 4729 0460 7
A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.
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