Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE!

by Katrina Kahler

  Charlotte sat down in-between Alice and Stef and she tried not to look at Charlie. Her heart felt like it was flipping in her chest but she knew that she had to remain focused.

  She was glad that Charlie had made the boy's team but she couldn't let his presence distract her, she was here to do her best and work hard for her team.

  'As you can see we're in the Dark Forest,' he lifted his arms up to their surroundings. 'You shall begin at opposite ends of the forest. Dale will lead the boys and Molly will lead the girls. From there you will need to make your way into the center of the forest where you shall find a cauldron, a magic spell book and some magical ingredients. However, you will have to collect some special items on your journeys for you to be able to complete the potion you need to mix in your cauldrons.

  He passed a list to Charlie and Margaret and both of their teams gathered around them to read it:

  'A giant toad's wart, yuck!' exclaimed Alice, as she folded her arms, an unimpressed look on her freckled face.

  'Stef rolled her eyes at Charlotte and gave a sly smile.

  'Easy,' one of the boys said.

  'It may sound simple, but I assure you that there will be many challenges ahead,' Alexander said.

  'We've got this,' Harry said.

  'We're so going to win,' Stef smirked at him.

  'It's time for me to bid you farewell,' Alexander dipped his head. 'And I hope that fortune shall favor those of you who show signs of strength of wisdom and courage,' he gave a wave before he spun on the spot and vanished with a puff of black smoke.

  'Okay girls, follow me,' Molly said, as she hopped onto her broomstick.

  Charlotte took one last look over at Charlie and watched as he stepped onto his broomstick and flew up into the air. Quickly Charlotte took off into the air and flew behind Molly.

  The Dark Forest covered a vast area with merging greens that seemed to make up a large span of darkness.

  Molly zoomed down towards the trees and the rest of the girls followed her. They landed in a clearing and Molly signaled for them to gather around her.

  The Dark Forest was intimidating and gloomy and all of the girls were silent as they took in their surroundings. They were all anxious about the challenges that lay ahead and what exactly it was that they'd have to do.

  'Right girls, you are all talented witches and I know that you can win this. You just need to make sure that you work together as a team and to believe in yourselves,' Molly said, as she wiped a loose strand of her flowing hair away from her eyes.

  'You'll need this,' she passed a brown leather satchel to Margaret. 'It's full of vials and I suggest that you each put one in your pockets.

  Molly stared at Margaret until she reluctantly opened the satchel and passed each of the girls two of the small glass vials each. She buckled the satchel closed and placed the strap over her head.

  Charlotte stuffed a vial in each of her skirt pockets and then she readjusted her witches’ hat and gripped tightly onto her broom.

  'You can't possibly expect us to be in this forest alone, what if we get lost?' Alice asked.

  'We're not going to get lost,' Stef rolled her eyes.

  'You won't be saying that when you're lost,' Alice huffed.

  'Whatever.'

  'Girls, you're a team, so act like it,' Molly gave them a stern look.

  'We will,' Charlotte smiled.

  'Yep, we've got this,' Stef put her arm around Charlotte's shoulders.

  'Go when the leaves glow white,' Molly said.

  'Huh?' Demi said.

  'Good luck,' Molly said, just before all the leaves surrounding them glowed a luminous shade of white.

  Margaret immediately grabbed Demi's arm and pulled her forwards.

  'Hurry up,' she snapped at the others.

  'If I get lost or eaten by a troll my parents will hear about this!' Alice shouted over to Molly.

  'Come on!' Stef grabbed Alice's arm and yanked her towards the trees. 'We've got boys to beat.'

  Chapter Two

  The girls had been wandering through the trees for the last half-an-hour and were yet to find any of the items on their list. The leaves had changed from glowing white back to their original shades of greens and browns making the Dark Forest seem more menacing.

  'What if we never get out of here?' Alice grumbled.

  'Shut-up Alice,' Stef replied.

  'Yeah, they're hardly going to just leave us here, are they?' Demi said, a hint of doubt in her voice.

  'Miss Moffat would never just leave us here,' Charlotte said.

  'Will you all stop you whining and hurry up, we have a list to complete,' Margaret glared at them.

  Charlotte nodded before she quickened her pace and weaved her way between the trees. She found herself missing Gerty...if she was here now she would be upbeat and say something positive. Charlotte felt like a deflated balloon and she was beginning to worry that they would spend all day in this forest and they'd never complete the list. Worse still, what if they sent the boys to find them? Charlotte's cheeks reddened at the thought of it.

  'How can an ogre be so hard to find?' Stef asked.

  Just then a loud bellowing sound came up from ahead and caused the ground to shake beneath their feet. Alice clutched onto a tree trunk to balance herself and Stef stumbled into the back of Margaret.

  'Watch it,' Margaret glared at her.

  'Sorry,' Stef smirked.

  'Ew,' Alice looked down at her cardigan that was now covered in slimy sap. 'If this is ruined then Miss Moffat can buy me a new one.'

  'Miss Moffat can buy me a new one,' Stef mimicked and the rest of the girls chuckled.

  'What was that sound?' Charlotte asked.

  'Stef being lame,' Alice said.

  'No not that sound, listen,' Charlotte said and all the girls fell silent.

  The ground trembled beneath them as they heard a loud thudding sound.

  'I dunno but it was loud, do you think there are giants in this forest?' Demi asked.

  'No, not a giant but it might have been the ogre,' Charlotte said, before she hurried in front of Margaret and led the way up ahead.

  She could feel her heart thudding in her chest but she kept on going. She'd never met an ogre before and didn't know what to expect but she knew that she couldn't give-up, not if they were to stand any chance of winning.

  Gaps of light through the thinning trees became visible and Charlotte stepped out onto the edge of a stinky, bubbling swamp with strangely shaped plants floating on it. At the far end of it were oversized red mushrooms, the biggest ones insides had been cut away to make a door. There was even a small window and two stone steps led up to the door. The girls gasped at their find.

  Looking around, at a nearby pond they saw a large ogre with hard green skin bathing in the murky water. The rest of the girls reached the swamp and paused in fright when they saw the ogre.

  'Woah, he's huge,' Stef whispered.

  The ogre spun its head to the side, its eyes fixing on them. It gave a yellow-toothed snarl as it jumped to its feet and took a step towards them. The ground shook beneath them and Charlotte grabbed onto the closest thing to her for balance...Alice's arm.

  'Get off,' Alice shook her. 'You're messing up my cardigan.'

  'It's already covered in tree sap so I don't see how Charlotte touching it will make much difference,' Stef said.

  'Erm, ogre,' Demi pointed at the ogre who was still staring down at them all.

  'WHAT D'YA WANT?' his voice boomed, as he breathed foul breath over the girls.

  Stef and Charlotte began to cough and Alice looked like she was going to be sick.

  'Haven't you ever heard of toothpaste?' Demi asked.

  'WHAT?' the ogre boomed.

  'Or mouthwash, I'd say you'd need a whole river of it,' Stef said.

  'US OGRES LIKE TO HAVE BAD BREATH,' he boomed, as he itched at his calloused skin.

  'Excuse me sir, erm, we're sorry to have interrupted you and will leave you alone but first plea
se can we, erm, have some of your tears?' Charlotte asked politely.

  'TEARS,' he chuckled. 'I AM AN OGRE, US OGRES DON’T CRY.'

  'Pft, you must cry sometimes,' Stef snorted.

  'OGRES DO NOT CRY,' he boomed down at Stef, causing her to jump backwards.

  'Your breath stinks of rotten garbage,' Demi shouted at him.

  'And toilet water,' Stef added.

  'THE WORSE THE SMELL THE MORE ATTRACTIVE THE OGRE,' he smiled proudly.

  'You're so ugly,' Demi said.

  'Yeah, and fat, you're larger than a herd of elephants,' Stef said.

  'You're uglier than a monkeys butt,' Demi laughed.

  'HA, HA, HA,' the ogre laughed.

  'Let me handle this,' Margaret pushed her her way to the front and looked up at the ogre. 'No one likes you and that's why you live alone in this vile swamp in this spooky forest.'

  'CAN'T YOU SEE?' the ogre shook his head. 'MY HOME IS BOOTIFUL, MY SWAMP IS DELIGHTIFUL AND AS FOR BEING ALONE, US OGRES LIKE IT BEST THIS WAY.'

  'You live in that thing,' Alice pointed at his mushroom home.

  'YES.'

  'It's pathetic, you are very lower class,' she scoffed.

  'WELL, YOU ARE PLAIN AND UGLY.'

  Alice burst into tears and Charlotte put her arm around her.

  'IF I LOOKED LIKE YOU I'D BE CRYING TOO BUT I DON'T, SO I HAVE NO NEED TO CRY,' he chortled.

  'You should look in the mirror, although you're so ugly it'd probably shatter at the sight of you,' Stef shouted up to him.

  The ogre sniffed as he brought his hands up to his eyes and began to sob. Margaret nudged Demi forwards and she took a cautious step, her vial ready to collect his tears.

  The ogre pulled his hands away from his eyes to reveal that he wasn't crying at all. He began to laugh loudly and spat large droplets of saliva all over them.

  'Yuck,' Alice lifted up a strand of her now sticky hair.

  'Do you think that spit would do instead of tears?' Demi held up her full vial.

  'I suppose it will have to,' Margaret grabbed the vial off her. 'Come on girls, let's leave this smelly, ugly bully alone.'

  Charlotte let out a laugh on hearing Margaret use the word 'bully'.

  Charlotte watched the others walk off into the trees but she remained where she was.

  'Ahem,' she coughed to clear her voice. 'Excuse me sir?'

  'YER STILL HERE, WHAT D'YA WANT?'

  'I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for all the nasty things that they said to you. I don't think that they're true.'

  'YOU DON'T?'

  'No, I think that your mushroom house is quite charming and I love what you've done with the swamp, especially the plants,' she pointed over to a peculiar looking purple leaved plant that floated across the swamp.

  'I MADE THAT HOUSE MYSELF AND I COLLECTED ALL THE PLANTS FROM THE FOREST. THAT YELLOW ONE IS A THISTLE AM-ETH-IS-YST,' he thudded over to it and picked it up in his large hand. 'FOR YOU,' he held it out to her.

  'Thank you,' Charlotte smiled as she took it off him. 'Don't listen to the girls, they didn't mean it. In fact, I think that you're quite handsome and you seem interesting, I bet that you have some great stories to tell about the forest. And by far, you definitely have the worst smelling breath that there is.'

  The ogre's top lip began to quiver, his eyes began to glass over and soon large gloopy tears were trickling down his face.

  Charlotte rushed over to him and held a glass vial beneath him. Large tears dropped into it and she quickly put the cork lid on.

  'Thank you very much,' she wrapped her arms around the ogre’s leg.

  She smiled at him before she quickly rushed off after the others.

  'She was with us a minute ago,' Demi said.

  'Well she's not here now, is she?' Stef replied.

  'She was with us at the ogre’s house,' Alice said.

  'Great, so now we have to go back to that revolting swamp to find her,' Margaret sighed. 'If we lose this competition, it will be her fault.'

  'I'm here,' Charlotte darted out from behind the trees. 'And I have ogre’s tears,' she held the vial up to them.

  'That's brilliant Charlotte,' Stef grinned.

  'As if...' Margaret snorted. 'You probably started crying when you got lost and then filled the vial with your own tears.'

  'No I didn't,' Charlotte protested.

  'Whatever,' Margaret shoved the vial full of the ogres spit into Demi's hands before she snatched Charlotte's vial off her and put it away in her satchel.

  'What is that hideous thing?' Margaret pointed at Charlotte.

  'My broom of course,' she held up her broom.

  'Not that stupid,' she scowled. 'That,' she pointed to the strange flower that Charlotte was still holding.

  'Oh, this,' she held up the flower. 'It was a gift from the ogre.'

  'It stinks like his breath,' she yanked it out of Charlotte's hand, threw it onto the ground and then stamped on it.

  Charlotte looked from the squashed flower to Margaret's smirking face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before she opened them again and sighed.

  'What's next on the list?' Demi asked.

  'The milk of the giant toad's wart,' Charlotte said.

  'The milk of the what?' Stef said in alarm.

  'These challenges are ridiculous, wait till my parents here about this,' complained Alice.

  'Buzz.'

  'What was that?' Demi looked around her.

  'Buzz, buzz.'

  'Argh,' Stef swatted at something around her head.

  'Buzz.'

  A mosquito nearly as big as Charlotte's hand landed on her arm and pricked her with its long, tube-like mouth.

  'Ouch,' she shook her arm.

  The other girls swatted their arms, screeched and ran off through the forest as more giant mosquitoes appeared and buzzed around them.

  Something wet landed on Stef's shoulder, at first she thought it was rain and was hopeful that it would deter the mosquitoes. She looked to her side and saw there was a splattered white substance on her cardigan.

  Demi squealed as she wiped a load of the white substance out of her hair.

  'Will you stop all the shouting,' Margaret scowled, just before the white gunk landed on her arm and caused her to shriek, as she vigorously tried to shake it off.

  'Look!' Charlotte pointed above her head. Hundreds of bats were flying over them.

  More white gunk pelted down towards them and Charlotte jumped back just in time to avoid it landing on her.

  'Ew, it's bat poo,' Stef crinkled her nose disgustedly.

  'Gross,' Demi said, as she tried to shelter beneath the branches.

  'Stop just standing there and get a move on,' Margaret shouted, as she got on her broom and quickly flew off.

  Charlotte got on her broom and followed her, but she was too slow starting off and the bats pelted poo all over her arm and broom. The rest of the girls jumped onto their brooms and followed Margaret into a new section of the forest.

  The trees had thickened and long, spiky grass and plants with coiled stems and rainbow colored petals filled all of the ground space.

  The girls struggled to navigate their brooms through the narrow plant-filled gaps, so one-by-one they flew down onto the ground.

  'The bats...they've gone,' Stef pointed up at the sky.

  'Better late than never,' Margaret sniggered. 'It's a good job there aren't any mirrors out here as you're all covered in bat poo. Charlotte, you and your wonky broom look like you've been paint-balling and lost.'

  'What's paint-balling?' Alice asked.

  'Two teams have guns full of paint-bombs and they fire them at each other. My brother did it for his birthday and I was on the winning team,' Stef gave a proud grin.

  'Sounds awfully common,' Alice shuddered.

  'Says the girl covered in bat poo,' Stef smirked.

  'Where's the toad?' Demi said.

  'Good point Demi. You should all be concentrating on the challenge instead of
gossiping amongst yourselves, surely you can save your boring subjects for when you're in your bedroom,' Margaret said in a sarcastic voice.