'Good one,' Patricia patted Charlotte on the shoulder.
'Victoria, your turn,' Miss Firmfeather said.
Victoria grabbed the princess doll and stepped around the now shrinking, unhappy looking Demi before she began to climb up the ladder.
The tower began to violently shake, Victoria held on tightly to the ladder and leaned in close to the tower whilst Destiny struggled to hold her grip and soon found herself falling onto the ground. The red team let out sighs and groans, as they watched as the tower stopped shaking and Victoria continued her climb.
'I thought you implied that you were the best at this,' Alice snorted.
'Let's see you do better,' Destiny snarled, as she thrust the princess doll into Alice's hands.
'Okay, fine,' she couldn't hide the doubt from her voice, as she headed towards the steps.
'Cito,' Demi flicked her wand up at Victoria. She began to hurry up the ladder with super fast speed, becoming too fast for any arms or snakes that tried to grab her.
'Oh no, she's not far from the top,' Charlotte sighed. 'We have one spell left and so do they.'
'Well let's use it then,' Destiny pulled out her wand.
'No, not yet,' Charlotte reached out and lowered Destiny's wand.
Alice was surprising herself and the other girls, she climbed like a squirrel and weaved out of reach of the grabbing arms. She wasn't far behind Victoria and she was convinced that she was going to reach the top first.
'Multum unguibus,' Demi said, as she aimed her wand at Alice.
'Look out,' Patricia shouted but Alice was already aware of the spell and managed to dodge out of its way.
'That's not fair,' Demi moaned.
‘Looks like you're out of spells,' Destiny smirked, as she goaded the other team.
Lips appeared near the top of the tower and green gooey gunk spewed out from them and covered Alice and Victoria. They both squealed out, Victoria was the first to lose her balance and fall down from the tower, while Alice managed to hold on.
'Yuck,' Alice said, as she stuck the princess doll under her arm and tried flicking the slime off her. 'It better not make my hair green!'
'Keep on going Alice!' Charlotte shouted.
Gerty ran up to Victoria, grabbed the doll off her and raced up the steps. Even though they were now slippery from the slime she still managed to get up them quickly.
'Paulo genus' Charlotte said, as she cast a spell at Gerty and hundreds of little spiders appeared and crawled over Gerty's skin.
'Good one,' Destiny said and Charlotte smiled.
'Ah, eek, eurgh,' Gerty shrieked but she kept on moving up the ladder.
Stone arms reached out and wrapped themselves around Alice. She tried to wriggle free from their grip but they were too strong.
'Hurry up Alice, she's about to overtake you,' Destiny shouted.
'You can do it Alice,' Charlotte said.
'Come on Gerty!' Stef shouted from her place over by the teachers.
None of the teams had any spells left so it was just the girls against the tower. Gerty overtook Alice and dodged the snakes that appeared through the tower gaps, as she made her way up to the top. Alice finally managed to escape the stone hands and hurriedly tried to catch up to Gerty.
The lips reappeared and more gloop flowed down the tower and covered the girls. Alice stopped and clung on tightly to the ladder until the slime had finished, but Gerty kept on going.
'Don't just stand there, move,' Destiny shouted up to Alice.
The gunk stopped and Alice continued to climb but she was too far behind Gerty now. Gerty placed the princess doll at the top of the tower and the black team all cheered.
'That's a black team win,' Miss Dread said.
'Great try girls,' Miss Firmfeather smiled.
'Now, the girls that didn't get to climb wait here, whilst the rest of you can go and sit over there,' Miss Dread pointed across the yard.
'Well done Gerty, you were great,' Charlotte said to Gerty, as she walked up alongside her. 'And sorry about the spiders.'
'Thanks and I forgive you. It was the most fun ever, I hope I get to do it again.'
'I had more slime over me than you did, look, you're barely covered,' Alice pointed at Gerty.
'That's not exactly true,' Charlotte said, as she looked at Gerty's slime-drenched arms, hair and clothes. 'Gerty looks like a slug.'
'You can be a slug too,' Gerty giggled, as she tried to wipe some slime off her arm onto Charlotte, who managed to dodge out of the way in time. They both laughed as Gerty chased after her.
'So immature,' Alice said under her breath, before she glanced up longingly at the top of the tower and let out a sigh.
After all the girls had attempted the princess tower they all gathered around Miss Dread and Miss Firmfeather. Miss Moffat and Molly were now also there, which made Charlotte feel extra nervous.
'Well done girls, although you all got off to an interesting start you all showed great promise and greatly improved. We are yet to decide upon a final team but we can announce who the climber will be. Well done Gerty, you shall be the climber,' Miss Dread looked directly at her.
'Me?' she pointed her thumbs inwards to herself, a surprised look on her face.
'Yes, you are the best witch for the job.'
'Thank you!' she squealed, as she excitedly grabbed onto Stef's arm, covering her in slime.
'Gross,' Stef wiped the slime off her arm as she stepped away from Gerty.
'Sorry,' she grinned.
Alice folded her arms and sighed loudly as she looked away from Gerty.
'Alice, you shall be the substitute climber,' Miss Dread kept her gaze down at her notebook as she spoke.
'Well done Alice,' Charlotte said.
'Yeah, well done,' Gerty smiled.
Alice didn't reply, instead she sighed again, although she couldn't hide the faint smile from her face.
'You are all to report here for Save the Princess training on the dot at sunrise,' Miss Dread's words were followed by groans from the girls. 'It's going to be a tough week but practice makes perfect, I know you can all do it. Oh and darlings, don't forget your broomsticks.'
'My Academy has an excellent reputation when it comes to Save the Princess. We have won many trophies and had students go on to play professionally. Of course it is satisfying to win, but it is more important to know that you've tried your best and that you've played fairly and in the spirit of the game,' Miss Moffat said, as she glanced over the girls with her intense dark eyes.
She gave them all a slight smile before she nodded at the teachers and Molly before flew off on her broom.
'Remember darlings, bright and early tomorrow morning,' Miss Dread said cheerfully. And don't be late,' she added sternly, before she gave them all a wave and walked off with Miss Firmfeather.
'Bye girls, remember to fly smoothly and remain in control of your brooms,' Miss Firmfeather turned and said to them.
'Can we go now?' Stef asked Molly.
'First I want you to all gather around me,' she beckoned them forwards, until they were huddled closely together. 'By all means play fairly, but the girls from Witchery College tend to to be a little darker in their approach and may not play nicely,' she whispered. 'Anyway girls I'll catch you all later,' she walked away from the girls and up the yard, her clipped up hair bouncing as she moved.
The girls gave each other confused looks before they dispersed and left the yard to go back to their rooms.
'What did Molly mean?' Stef said to her friends.
'I don't really know,' Charlotte replied.
'It's exciting, although my legs are really sore right now,' Gerty bent down and rubbed her legs.
'Well I'm glad I'm not the climber when we are against Witchery College as they might cask a dark spell on me,' Alice said.
'You can't use spells you didn't win remember,' Charlotte said, shaking her head. Sometimes Alice really got on her nerves with her negative comments.
'I'm sure it'll al
l be fine and they'll stick to the rules of the game,' Gerty was unable to hide the slight doubt from her voice.
'It'll be fine Gerty, besides you were amazing climbing up that tower. You were like the lizard that I saw run up a building when I was on holiday with my parents once.'
'Gerty the gecko,' Stef chuckled.
'I suppose you were okay,' Alice said.
'Thanks guys,' Gerty smiled.
'And Miss Dread looked at you when she said your name which is a first, usually we just get called darlings,' Stef mimicked Miss Dread's voice on the last word.
Alice gave an annoyed look as she looked away from the rest of the girls, recalling to herself how Miss Dread hadn't looked at her when she'd announced her as substitute climber.
'You guys do stink though,' Charlotte said, as she looked from Gerty to Alice. 'You can both have first dibs on the bathroom.'
'I think we need it,' Gerty wiped some slime off her arm and studied her fingers. 'Alice, you can use the bathroom first.'
'I am the one who is covered in the most slime. If this ruins my expensive tracksuit, then I'm sending the Academy the dry-cleaning bill.'
'I wonder if there's a spell for removing slime?' Charlotte asked.
'Probably, there's a spell for most things. It might come in useful to find out what it is as I have a feeling this isn't the last time I'll get covered in it,' Gerty grinned.
The fitness lesson had been tiring, messy and intense but Charlotte decided that compared to tennis and hockey it was by far the best sport there was. The thought of playing it again made her both excited and nervous at the same time. She hoped that she'd make the team because she enjoyed casting the spells, but she knew that she needed to improve her flying skills for her to stand a chance of making the team.
Chapter Six
The next week bought with it plenty of Save the Princess practice. Not only were they training at sunrise everyday but Miss Dread had decided to increase this to an extra practice before dinner as well. All the girls were tired and their limbs ached but they had also made vast improvements.
It was after their last practice before their match against Witchery College and all the girls were sat in a semi-circle in the yard around Miss Dread and Miss Firmfeather. They only had a morning practice today as Miss Dread wanted them to have time to recuperate before their match tomorrow.
'Darlings, you all did superbly today. Gerty, you're a natural climber,' Miss Dread smiled, as she looked down at her notebook. 'If you don't make the final team then you shall be on the sub-line which is just as important as playing, because you shall remain part of this team. Because of this you all need to keep your fitness levels up and you all must continue to attend practice on time.The team list for your first match is as follows: Gerty as climber.'
Stef and a few of the other girls cheered and Gerty grinned.
'I don't know why you're cheering when we already knew that,' Alice said.
'The rest of the team are Demi, Destiny, Patricia, Stef, Alice, Victoria and Charlotte.'
'We made it,' Stef gave Charlotte a high-five. 'I knew that we would.'
'I knew that I'd be playing, I am the substitute climber after-all. I need to get the feel for a proper game, rather than having my talents wasted sitting on the sub-line,' Alice added.
'Big-headed much,' Stef rolled her eyes.
'You're just jealous because you're not the substitute climber,' Alice huffed, rolling her eyes.
'I know that you can all succeed darlings. You have all trained hard and I am proud of every single one of you girls. Now darlings go and shower then get some breakfast and I'll see you here tomorrow for the match. Remember that we don't give up at this Academy and you all need to trust yourselves darlings, because you can do it. Now go,' she shooed them with her hands. 'Before I make you do extra practice,' she chuckled.
The girls stood up quickly and hurried away, believing that Miss Dread probably would make them do extra practice if they lingered there for too long.
'At least two of our team are good players,' Demi said loudly to Destiny, as they walked past the others.
'Erm, we're all good players else we wouldn't have made the team,' Stef replied.
'If you say so,' Demi said and both her and Destiny sniggered.
'I'm so excited,' Gerty smiled.
'Yeah, me too,' Charlotte chewed on the side of the lip.
Charlotte was pleased that she'd made the team but she was also nervous at the thought of playing against Witchery College. She'd heard so many stories about them, most of which were bad. Worst of all she was afraid that the rumors about Margaret now attending Witchery College were true and that tomorrow she'd be face-to-face with her once again.
***
It was a placid afternoon and the girls were standing in the yard, dressed in team kits that they'd found laid out on their beds after their morning practice. They consisted of a pleated black skirt and a white t-shirt with the crossed wands crest and 'Miss Moffat's Academy' written on the back of them in black font.
Miss Moffat, Miss Dread and Miss Firmfeather were standing next to a broad shouldered woman who wore black shorts and a burgundy top with the word 'referee' written on the front and back of it. As she spoke to the teachers she fiddled with the whistle that was hanging from her neck.
Rows of tiered seats were now placed around the court and most of the seats were filled by the other teachers and students who were chatting excitedly amongst themselves.
'That cloud over there doesn't look good, I hope it doesn't rain as it will frizz up my hair,' Stef pointed at the black cloud that was in the otherwise clear sky, before she continued to stretch her arms behind her back.
'I think it's moving closer,' Gerty said, as she stretched out her legs one at a time.
'Yeah, it definitely is.’
'They better cast a rain-cover spell, or else I'll end up with a cold for the next week,' Alice moaned.
The black cloud seemed to be moving closer towards them, it's speed increasing and with it the sky began to darken. Stef and Demi both placed their hands over their heads in preparation for the rain.
'It's not a cloud,' Destiny sniggered. 'Look,' she pointed up at it.
The black cloud was nearly upon them, only Destiny was right, it wasn't a cloud at all but instead it was a group of witches on brooms surrounded by a fleet of bats.
'Why do you still have your hands over your head?' Alice asked Stef.
'I don't trust them not to turn into an actual rain cloud or something,' she replied, not moving her hands.
A beautiful witch in a long black dress and a shawl made of glossy black feathers was the first to land, closely followed by the students, who were dressed in all black. Charlotte scanned her eyes over the girls in search of Margaret but she couldn't see her there.
'Look, her hair, she's got feathers,' Gerty whispered to Charlotte.
Charlotte looked at the woman and that's when she realized that Gerty was right, her hair was a thick mass of shiny black feathers, just like a ravens.
Most of the girls looked around the same age as the first years, besides a couple of girls who were older. They weren't dressed in the team sports kit like the others but instead wore short black skirts and fitted black blouses with the crest on the right side of it, the words 'Witchery College' written below it. The older girl with dark skin and braided hair glared over at Molly and Charlotte noticed how Molly clutched tightly onto her wand as she gave her a stern look back.
Miss Moffat walked over and greeted the feather-haired woman with an awkward hug before she led her and her team over to the court.
'Come on darlings,' Miss Dread walked over to them. 'And don't forget to suck it up girls. I know that you can all do this, so don't you dare quit.'
'Why would we quit?' Stef whispered to Gerty, as they followed Miss Dread over to the court.
'Are you okay Charlotte?' Victoria asked Charlotte, on seeing how pale she'd gone.
Charlotte nodded, too ne
rvous to speak. She clutched onto her broom tightly for support and looked over at the Witchery College girls who were sniggering over at them.
Miss Moffat and Mistress walked out into the middle of the court and all eyes fell on them.
'To those of you that don't already know, this is Mistress Ravenshawk, the principle of Witchery College. On behalf of my Academy, I welcome her and her students and hope that their time here is enjoyable,' Miss Moffat addressed the crowd.
Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE! Page 6
