School of Mischief

by Sue Bentley

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Copyright Page

  Title Page

  Chapter ONE

  Chapter TWO

  Chapter THREE

  Chapter FOUR

  Chapter FIVE

  Chapter SIX

  Chapter SEVEN

  Chapter EIGHT

  Chapter NINE

  Chapter TEN

  Chapter ELEVEN

  About the Author

  To Reuben—a boisterous and

  bouncy spotty boy.

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  ★ Prologue ★

  Storm padded silently across the frozen lake. The young, silver-gray wolf took a deep breath of cold air. It felt good to be back.

  Suddenly, a terrifying howl rang out, echoing in the violet night sky.

  “Shadow!” gasped Storm. The powerful lone wolf who had attacked the Moon-claw pack was very close. Storm should have known that it wasn’t safe to return.

  There was a bright flash of light and a dazzling burst of golden sparks. Where the young wolf had been standing there was now a tiny puppy with fluffy, gray and white fur, a round face, and midnight blue eyes.

  Storm hoped this disguise would protect him until he found a place to hide.

  Over by the shore, thick clumps of bushes stuck up through the ice. Storm sped toward them, his little furry sides heaving. When he reached the bushes, Storm flattened his belly against the ice and crawled into them.

  There was a crackling of broken stems nearby. A dark mass appeared and a large paw, almost as big as Storm was now, reached out and scooped him up.

  Storm whimpered with terror. His claws scrabbled desperately as he was drawn backward.

  “Be calm, my son,” growled a deep, gentle voice. “You are safe for the moment.”

  “Mother!” Storm yipped with relief. His whole body wriggled and his gray and white tail twirled as he licked Canista’s muzzle.

  Canista’s gold eyes softened as she smiled down at her tiny disguised cub. “I am glad to see you again, but you cannot stay. Shadow is looking for you. He wants to lead the Moon-claw pack.”

  Storm’s lip curled, exposing needle-sharp puppy teeth. “Is it not enough that he killed my father and litter brothers and wounded you? We must fight Shadow and make him leave our lands!”

  Canista shook her large head. “He is too strong for you and I am still weak from his poisoned bite and cannot help you,” she rumbled gently. “The others will not follow Shadow while you live. Go back to the other world. Return when you are wiser and stronger . . .” She bit back a wince of pain.

  Storm hated to leave her, but he knew his mother was right. Opening his mouth, he huffed out a glittering puppy breath. The sparkly, golden mist whirled around Canista’s injured paw and then sank into her gray fur.

  “Thank you, Storm. I feel a little stronger,” she breathed.

  Another fierce howl rang out and there came the sound of mighty paws thundering across the ice.

  “Go now! Save yourself, Storm!” urged Canista.

  Storm whimpered as he felt the power building inside him. Bright gold sparks ignited in his fluffy, gray and white fur. A bright light glowed around him. And grew brighter . . .

  Chapter ★ ONE ★

  Julie Harding sat on the rug in her grandmother’s cute apartment. Sunlight poured on to the Victorian dollhouse that stood open in front of her.

  Usually, Julie loved playing with all the miniature dolls and furniture, but even that couldn’t cheer her up today. She sighed as she tucked a strand of brown hair behind one ear.

  “Are you all right, sweetie?” asked Granny Harding, looking up from her newspaper where she was doing sudoku puzzles.

  “I was just wondering if my old friends were missing me yet,” Julie said wistfully. It was right at the beginning of the school summer vacation and she and her parents had moved to be closer to Granny Harding.

  Gran put down the newspaper and took off her glasses. “A great girl like you! Of course they are,” she said, smiling. “I would expect they’ll keep in touch. But you’re bound to make lots of new friends when you start your new school.”

  “That won’t be for a while,” Julie grumbled.

  “Time passes more quickly when you’re having fun,” said Gran. “Do you want to do some cooking? We could pretend we’re a couple of TV chefs!”

  “I don’t really feel like it. Couldn’t I go back to the new house? I’ll play computer games or e-mail my old friends until Mom gets back.”

  Gran shook her head. “I’m afraid not, sweetie. We agreed that you’d stay here with me while your parents are at work.”

  Julie’s shoulders slumped. “I am nine years old. I know tons of kids my age who take care of themselves for the whole day.”

  “Well, you’re not going to be one of them,” Gran said firmly. “If you’re feeling restless you can take a walk to the store.” She stood up and reached for her handbag. “Here’s some money. Will you get a loaf of bread and some milk, please? And buy yourself a comic.”

  “Gra-an! No one says ‘comic’ anymore!” Julie teased.

  Gran’s eyes sparkled. “Get a magazine, then. Same difference, you silly girl! But if you’re not that interested . . .”

  “No, I’ll go,” Julie said hurriedly. It was something to do and the town store was interesting in a weird kind of way. It sold boring stuff like knitting wool and dusty little cards of pins, but it also had yummy, old-fashioned candies in big glass jars.

  Julie opened the front door. “I’ll bring you a treat back. Lemon sherbets or pear drops?” she called over her shoulder.

  “Surprise me!” Gran called.

  Julie went downstairs and out of the converted shoe factory building. The store was just down the street. As she opened the door, a bell clanged loudly. A man popped his head out of a back room. “I’ll just be a minute. Give me a shout when you’ve found what you’re looking for,” he called.

  “Okay, fine,” Julie replied, but he’d disappeared
again.

  Julie looked around at the cluttered shelves of the quiet, little store. There didn’t seem to be anyone to talk to or to make friends with in this new town. Julie sighed as she realized she was just going to have to make do with Gran’s company for the summer until her new school began.

  She was wandering over to the big glass jars of candies to choose something her gran might like, when she was stopped in her path by a bright, golden flash that lit up the whole store.

  Julie rubbed her eyes, blinded for a minute. One of the store’s display lights must have been faulty.

  When she could finally see again, Julie opened her eyes to see a realistic-looking toy sheepdog puppy. It was sitting on the shelf right in front of her, squeezed in among the glass jars. The toy was very lifelike, with fluffy, gray and white fur and sparkling midnight blue eyes peeping out from beneath a fuzzy little fringe.

  “Oh, aren’t you gorgeous! I wonder how much you are?” she said.

  “I am not for sale!” the puppy woofed. “Can you help me, please?”

  Chapter ★ TWO ★

  “Wow!” Julie blinked in fascination. The cute toy puppy must have some sort of noise-activated computer chip inside. “Say something else!”

  Julie leaned toward it. “Grr-uf ! Grr-uf !” she said, hoping that the sound of her voice would make it speak again.

  The puppy blinked and stood up, balancing carefully on the shelf. Its little tail drooped and just the end of it started wagging. “I am afraid that I do not understand you. I am Storm of the Moon-claw pack. What is your name?”

  Julie’s jaw dropped and she did a double take. “You . . . you’re . . . real!”

  Storm nodded. “Yes, I am.” He put his little head to one side and looked at her with big, serious, midnight blue eyes.

  Julie swallowed, not quite sure that this was really happening. She looked up at the counter to see if the shopkeeper was watching, but he still hadn’t returned from the storeroom.

  Julie realized that the little puppy seemed to be waiting for her to reply. “I . . . I’m Julie. Julie Harding,” she found herself gulping.

  Storm dipped his fluffy little head. “I am honored to meet you, Julie,” he yapped politely.

  Julie was still puzzled. “Um . . . thanks. But how come you can talk? And where did you come from?”

  “All of my kind can talk. I have come from another world, which is far away. I need to hide from the fierce lone wolf who attacked us—his name is Shadow,” the tiny puppy told her. His furry little brow wrinkled in a frown. “Shadow wants to lead the Moon-claw pack. I am the only cub left. The other wolves are waiting for me to grow strong and become their leader.” Julie frowned, confused. “Wolves? Cub? But you’re just a tiny pup-”

  Storm lifted his chin. “Stand back, please. I will show you!”

  There was another dazzling burst of golden light and a fountain of bright sparks sprayed out and sizzled as they trickled down all around Julie.

  The tiny, cute puppy had disappeared from the shelf. Standing in the aisle before her was an impressive young silver-gray wolf with glowing midnight blue eyes and a thick neck-ruff that seemed to glitter with a thousand tiny, gold diamonds.

  “Storm?” Julie gasped, backing away as she eyed the young wolf’s muscular body, huge paws, and big sharp teeth.

  “Yes, it is still me, Julie. Do not be afraid. I will not harm you,” Storm said in a deep, velvety growl.

  And then, before Julie had time to get used to seeing Storm as his majestic real self, there was a final blinding flash of light and Storm appeared once more as a tiny, helpless, gray and white puppy.

  Julie blinked hard. “Wow! That’s so cool. What a fantastic disguise!”

  Storm looked up at her from the floor and she noticed that he was beginning to tremble all over. “My disguise will not fool Shadow. He is looking for me. I need to hide now.”

  Julie bent down and reached out her hand. Storm sidled up close. He sniffed her hand and then licked her fingers with his warm, pink tongue. Julie’s soft heart went out to the scared, little pup. Storm was amazing as his real self, but as a tiny, helpless puppy with fuzzy, gray and white fur and the brightest midnight blue eyes she had ever seen, he was totally irresistible.

  “I’m taking you back to my gran. She’ll know what to do. Just wait until I tell her all about you,” she decided, picking him up.

  “No!” Storm woofed. He twisted around to look up into her face. “No one must know my secret. You must promise never to tell anyone, Julie!”

  “Okay,” Julie said quickly, to reassure him. She really wished she could have told Gran, who was great at keeping secrets, but if it meant her magical, new friend would be safe, she was prepared to agree. “I’ll just say that you’re a stray or something.”

  Storm nodded. “Thank you, Julie.”

  The shopkeeper came out of the back room with a box in his arms and put it on the counter. “Hello there. Did you find what you wanted?” he called.

  “Oh . . . er . . . yes, thanks. I’ll be right there,” Julie said, quickly putting Storm down. “Maybe you’d better hide and then you can slip outside with me when I leave,” she whispered to Storm.

  Storm nodded. “That is a good plan.” He quickly scampered under a rack of postcards.

  Julie grabbed a loaf of bread and a plastic container of milk from the fridge. As she went to pay for them, her mind was racing.

  A few moments ago, she’d been lonely and fed up and wondering how she was going to get through the next few weeks. Now she had the most amazing new puppy friend anyone could wish for!

  Chapter ★ THREE ★

  “Oh my goodness!” said Gran as Julie came into the sitting room with Storm in her arms. “Wherever did you get that puppy?”

  “I . . . um . . . found him outside the shop. He was all by himself. I’m sure he’s a stray, so I told him . . . I . . . um . . . mean I’ve decided to take care of him,” Julie said, quickly correcting herself.

  “Now don’t go getting carried away, sweetie,” Gran said in a sensible tone. “I expect his owner’s nearby. That puppy looks like he’s been well cared for.”

  “But Storm was definitely by himself. I had a really good look around. There was no one looking for a puppy,” Julie said. “And there’s no card in the store window about a lost pup.”

  Gran nodded thoughtfully. “Well, he’s not wearing a collar. Maybe he’s a stray after all.” She reached out to stroke Storm’s fuzzy little head. “Storm, eh? It suits him. Isn’t he gorgeous? He looks like an Old English sheepdog puppy to me. But as for keeping him . . . Well, I don’t think your mom and dad will be that into the idea.”

  Julie’s heart sank as she realized Gran was right. She’d wanted a pet forever but hadn’t been allowed to have one because no one was at home for most of the day. But Julie had promised to help Storm and she wasn’t going to give up that easily.

  “It’s not fair,” she said sadly. “I always have to do what Mom and Dad want. No one ever lets me do anything!”

  She stomped across the room and plonked herself down on the sofa. Storm trotted after her and she picked him up and settled him on her lap.

  Storm yawned. “I am very tired. I will sleep now,” he yapped. Tucking his little button-black nose under his soft front paws, he closed his eyes.

  Julie tensed, amazed that Storm had just spoken, but Gran didn’t appear to have noticed anything odd. She stood there, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

  Julie leaned over and kissed the top of Storm’s fluffy head. “Be careful. Gran almost heard you,” she warned him in a whisper.

  “Only you can hear me talk, Julie. Everyone else will think I’m barking,” Storm woofed sleepily.

  Julie sat up again. That was so cool!

  Gran checked her watch. “Your mom will be here to pick you up in an hour. I’ll have a word with her about Storm. Maybe we can work something out.”

  “Really?” Julie said excitedly. “Thanks, Gran.”

&n
bsp; “Now don’t get your hopes up. I’m not promising anything,” said Gran, reaching for the shopping bag and peering inside. Her eyes twinkled. “Although, those lemon sherbets might have helped.”

  “Oops.” Julie gave a sheepish grin. After finding Storm, it was a total miracle she’d remembered anything from the store!

  Julie held her breath and crossed her fingers and toes as her mom sat with a cup of tea on her lap. Please, please, please let her agree to me keeping Storm, she thought.

  “. . . and I wouldn’t mind having Storm here in the daytime, when school starts. I miss dear old Snowdrop. And it would be good exercise for me to take him for dog walks,” Gran was saying.

  Snowdrop was Gran’s beloved miniature poodle, who had died over a year ago.

  Mrs. Harding sipped her tea. She wore her beautiful, dark green work suit and a white blouse. “I hadn’t banked on having a puppy, but I suppose Storm would be company for Julie during the holidays,” she mused. “If you’ll have him when we’re not at home, Mom, it might work out.”

  “So we can keep Storm?” Julie burst out, unable to keep quiet any longer.

  Her mom smiled. “On two conditions. Storm goes to the vet for a checkup and if someone claims him as their lost puppy, we hand him over—no arguments.”

  “Fine!” Julie was prepared to agree to anything. She gently scooted the sleepy puppy over onto the sofa cushion and then went and threw her arms around her gran and her mom in turn.

  “Yay! That’s so amazing. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Gran. You’re the best!”

  “We’d better get going,” Mrs. Harding said. “I need to stop at the store to get something for dinner. We can get some dog food and other treats, too, while we’re there. Can you carry Storm out to the car?”