Magical Mayhem

by Titania Woods

  ‘Yes, I know,’ mumbled Teena, not meeting Twink’s gaze. ‘I’m – I’m fine, Twink.’

  Twink frowned. Oh, poor Teena! She was really scared. But before Twink could say anything else to comfort her, the HeadFairy’s voice rang through the Branch.

  ‘Everyone to your mushrooms, please,’ called Miss Shimmery, hovering at the front of the room. The school’s teachers sat on a platform below her. ‘Promptly, girls – we need to get started!’

  Hastily squeezing Teena’s shoulder, Twink flitted to the Violet Branch table and sat on the spotted mushroom seat that Bimi had saved for her. An expectant silence fell over the Branch.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Miss Shimmery. Her rainbow wings shone in the dim light. ‘Well – it may not have escaped your notice that it’s snowing outside,’ she said with a smile.

  A relieved laugh rippled through the Branch. Twink felt herself relax. If Miss Shimmery wasn’t worried, then everything must be all right!

  The HeadFairy continued. ‘Mrs Starbright estimates that the storm might continue for several days. School will begin as usual tomorrow, but outdoor classes are cancelled until further notice. The butterfly post service is also suspended until after the storm, as of course the butterflies can’t fly in this weather.’

  Twink listened carefully. Outside, the wind rattled at the windows as if it was trying to get in. The storm was beginning to feel exciting!

  ‘Now then, on to our usual announcements.’ Putting on her sparkle specs, Miss Shimmery peered down at a petal pad.

  ‘School uniforms are required from tomorrow; Mrs Hover will be on hand to create them for the younger years. Students are reminded that oak-leaf caps must be worn at all times. No high-speed flying in the –’

  THWACK!

  Twink stifled a shriek as one of the windows banged open. A fierce gust of wind swept the room, blowing snow over some of the second-year tables. At the same moment the glow-worm lanterns went out. The room plunged into shadows.

  Screams echoed throughout the Branch. Twink swallowed as she felt for Bimi’s hand. The two friends clutched each other tightly.

  ‘CALM DOWN!’ commanded Miss Shimmery’s voice, cutting through the panic. ‘Is this how Glitterwings girls react to a bit of darkness? Calm yourselves, girls, this instant!’

  A spark of light came from the platform. Miss Sparkle, the Fairy Dust teacher, had conjured up a fairy globe – a light made of fairy dust. It grew larger as Twink watched, until it bobbed over the platform like a small sun.

  The students were wide-eyed in the sudden light. Glancing at the Snowdrop table, Twink saw Teena’s frightened face and longed to fly over to her. She must be terrified!

  ‘Thank you, Miss Sparkle,’ said Miss Shimmery. ‘Mr Woodleaf, would you check the glow-worms?’

  The Creature Kindness teacher flitted about the ceiling, peering into the lanterns. A moment later he touched down on the platform again and murmured something to Miss Shimmery. After consulting with the other teachers for a few moments, the HeadFairy addressed the school again.

  ‘The glow-worms have been startled by the storm, and need to be left alone to recover,’ she announced. ‘They’re sociable creatures, which means the school’s other glow-worms will be affected as well. Since it’s not practical to light the whole school with fairy dust, we’ve decided that the safest thing is for you all to sleep in the Great Branch tonight, where we can keep an eye on things.’

  Sleep in the Great Branch? Surprised whispers filled the room.

  Miss Shimmery smiled. ‘It will be fun,’ she assured everyone. ‘I believe the humans call it a sleepover! After dinner Miss Sparkle will conjure up some bedding for us, and we’ll get settled down.’

  It was an odd dinner, with teachers and sixth-year students serving the food instead of butterflies. Twink felt a bit subdued as she and her friends ate their seed cakes and sipped fresh nectar. Outside, the storm still raged. The windows were now completely covered in white.

  ‘It’s a bit spooky, isn’t it?’ said Sili, a fairy with bright silver hair. She shivered dramatically. ‘I hope no one wants to tell ghost stories tonight!’

  A pointy-faced fairy called Mariella gave a superior smirk. ‘You’re not scared, are you, Sili? It’s just a bit of snow!’ Just then the window nearest their table gave a loud rattle, and Mariella yelped. They all laughed nervously.

  Suddenly Twink thought of Sal, out in the Creature Kindness log with the school’s other animals. ‘I’ll be right back,’ she whispered to Bimi.

  The Creature Kindness teacher was on his way out of the Branch when Twink caught up with him. ‘Mr Woodleaf, will Sal and the other animals be OK?’ she asked breathlessly.

  Though clearly as nervous as he always was when speaking to his students, Mr Woodleaf managed a smile. ‘Yes, ah . . . I’m just flying down there to check on them. Don’t worry, Twink, they’ll, ah . . . be fine.’

  Twink sighed in relief as she flitted back to her table. It had been awful to think of Sal and the other creatures on their own out there, perhaps frightened by the storm.

  Later, when the last crumb had been eaten and the oak-leaf platters all cleared away, Miss Sparkle magically created some cosy bedding for everyone as promised. The students settled on the floor, wrapped up in soft petal duvets. The fairy globe dimmed, filling the room with shadows.

  Twink glanced over at the first-year area. Should she check on Teena before she went to sleep? But her little sister seemed fine. She was talking with Zuzu and Summer, their three heads close together as they whispered.

  Good, thought Twink with a smile. It looked like they were enjoying themselves.

  She settled down between Bimi and Sooze. Bimi was already sound asleep, her midnight-blue hair spilling across her pillow.

  ‘Goodnight,’ murmured Twink to Sooze.

  ‘Goodnight, Opposite,’ Sooze mumbled back. Then she gave a soft laugh. ‘It’s been an interesting first day back, hasn’t it? I wonder what the rest of the term will be like!’

  Across the Branch, Teena was wondering the same thing. ‘I can’t believe that my wish caused all this!’ she hissed anxiously to Zuzu and Summer. ‘Do you think I’d get in lots of trouble if Miss Shimmery found out?’

  ‘Don’t worry, we’ll never tell,’ said Zuzu, rubbing her lavender wing against Teena’s. ‘It’ll all be over in a few days anyway. No one will know it was you!’

  Summer gave Teena a shaky grin. ‘Well, I suppose you got your wish,’ she said. ‘This is pretty exciting, all right.’

  ‘Hush, girls,’ chided Mrs Lightwing, appearing beside them. ‘It’s time for bed now.’

  Silence fell over the little group. Teena curled up in her petal duvet, her thoughts spinning. Yes, she had definitely got her wish! But Zuzu was right – it’ll all be over in a few days anyway.

  Wouldn’t it?

  Outside, the world was a shrieking whirlwind of snow. Birds sat huddled in bushes; hedgehogs took hasty shelter under piles of leaves; and in the trees the dryads shivered, feeling their sap slowing with the cold.

  In the sky, a winged creature about the size of a cat was tumbling through the air, flapping and fluttering. A robin peeking out from a bush gasped in dismay. A dragon! The bird ducked quickly out of sight.

  The young dragon didn’t notice. The stinging snow was blinding him, and the wind whipped cruelly at his wings. Where was he? Panicked, he called again and again for his parents . . . but the storm had blown him many miles away, so that he was now hopelessly separated from them by the raging snow.

  What was he going to do? His parents had no idea where he was – and now the wind was blowing even harder, tearing at his wings and making it impossible to fly.

  The young dragon landed clumsily on the ground, nearly turning a somersault in the snow. Almost immediately, the heat from his red scales
melted the patch of snow around him, though the swirling flakes still stung his eyes.

  The dragon peered around him miserably. He couldn’t stay out here! It felt unnatural being so exposed – his usual home was a rocky cave that he shared with his parents.

  To his relief, he spotted a small hole in the ground, not quite covered by a drift of snow. The dragon scuttled over to it, his spiked tail lashing back and forth. Fresh snowflakes began to cover the bare patch of ground behind him, coating it once again in white.

  The dragon felt better the moment he was in the tunnel. It smelled faintly of rabbit, but he could tell that no rabbit had lived here for many years. Pointing his snout downwards, the dragon crept deeper and deeper underground, until finally he was in a small chamber lined with tree roots.

  With an unhappy sigh, the dragon curled himself up tightly, tucking his nose under his tail. His heart ached as he thought of his parents. Even with their magic, how would they ever locate him down here? Yet he knew he’d had no choice but to take shelter. He’d just have to hope that they found him, somehow.

  Closing his eyes, the dragon slowly drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

  And began to dream.

  .

  Chapter Three

  The storm continued for two days – and then abruptly, on the morning of the third day, it ended. The students awoke to soaring blue skies, with sunshine sparkling on the snow like diamonds.

  Like everyone else, Twink was relieved to hear that the glow-worms had finally recovered, and that the fairies could return to their branches. Sleeping in the Great Branch had been fun, but it was good to get things back to normal again!

  ‘Brr, it’s cold!’ said Twink later that afternoon, rubbing her chilled wings together. She and Bimi were outside with Sal, measuring the temperature for their Weather Magic project. The salamander seemed unimpressed with the snow, sniffing at it disdainfully.

  Bimi wrapped her thistledown scarf tightly about her neck. Like Twink, she was wearing a dress made of violet petals, with the bright yellow sash that showed they were third-year students. ‘It’s freezing!’ she agreed. ‘Do you have the temperature pad?’

  Twink brought out the special petal pad that Mrs Starbright had given her. ‘These results are going to be very different from the ones I took at home,’ she said, flipping through the pad. ‘I think the only thing our project’s going to show is that the weather’s gone completely topsy-turvy!’

  She tugged on Sal’s lead, and the salamander came scampering over. ‘Here, Sal,’ said Twink, showing him a fresh page. ‘What’s the temperature?’

  Though salamanders couldn’t live in fire as humans had once believed, they did love heat – and were experts on temperature! Sal stood very still for a moment, closing his eyes and twitching his tail. Finally he touched his nose to the pad.

  There was a swirl of golden light, and then the page turned a pale, icy blue.

  ‘That’s the coldest I’ve ever seen it!’ exclaimed Twink. ‘It looks like winter’s properly here, all right.’

  Bimi nodded. ‘I checked on the mice this morning, and most of them have gone into hibernation already. I thought it would take weeks yet.’

  ‘So did everyone else,’ said Twink, tucking the pad back in her petal bag. ‘It’s strange how not even Mrs Starbright saw the snowstorm coming.’ She frowned, remembering what Sooze had said. Had there been something unnatural about the storm?

  Twink started to ask Bimi what she thought – and then saw that the salamander was standing stockstill, sniffing the air. Suddenly he took off at a run, jerking the lead from Twink’s fingers.

  ‘Sal! Come back here!’ she shouted, flitting after him. Bimi followed close behind.

  Sal’s black tail disappeared around a low hill. Putting on a burst of speed, Twink jetted over the hill’s crest – and then stopped in confusion.

  ‘Bimi, look at this!’ she cried.

  The salamander was on a large, circular patch of ground with no snow on it. All around the circle, snowdrifts stood higher than the fairies – but where Sal had stopped, there was only grass.

  Bewildered, Twink touched down beside him. What on earth did it mean?

  ‘Oh, it’s warm!’ burst out Bimi as she landed. Twink blinked as she realised that her friend was right. The ground felt toasty under their feet!

  The two fairies gaped at each other. Sal was trotting this way and that about the warm grass, sniffing excitedly at the ground. ‘What is this?’ said Twink. ‘I thought that the school’s dance circle was the only bit of enchanted ground nearby!’

  Bimi shook her head. ‘Maybe there’s an underground hot spring here? We’ve never had such a heavy snow before, so that could be why we’ve never noticed it.’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Twink uncertainly. The patch was almost a perfect circle – would an underground hot spring do that? Even so, Bimi must be right, she thought with a shrug. It was the only explanation that made sense.

  Just then the magpie’s call came from the tree. ‘It’s almost time for Flower Power!’ exclaimed Twink. She grabbed the salamander’s lead. ‘Come on, Sal, I’ve got to get you back to your log.’

  But Sal didn’t seem to want to leave. He dug his feet into the ground, straining against the lead as Twink tugged. ‘Come on,’ huffed Twink. ‘We’re going to be late!’

  Finally, with Bimi’s help, they hauled the reluctant salamander away. Once back on the snow, he walked sulkily, dragging his tail behind him. As Twink shut him into his pen in the Creature Kindness log, he gave her a grumpy look and turned his back on her.

  ‘I wonder what’s got into him?’ said Twink, once she and Bimi were speeding their way up the tree trunk to class. ‘I’ve never seen him act that way before!’

  Bimi shrugged as they landed on the Flower Power ledge. ‘I suppose he just liked the warm ground over the hot spring,’ she said. ‘You know how salamanders love the heat.’

  Twink’s pink eyebrows drew together. ‘Yes, but how did he even know it was there? It was really strange the way he –’

  She broke off as the magpie’s call shrieked again. They were late! Hastily, Twink pushed open the door.

  Miss Petal, the young, pretty teacher who taught Flower Power, shook her head as they dashed in. ‘Take a mushroom, girls.’

  Once Twink and Bimi were settled, the teacher went on, ‘As I was saying, I’m going to teach you a spell today that you can use on a single plant to learn the health of a whole forest. Ivy, would you help me pass these out?’

  With the help of the green-haired fairy, Miss Petal gave an acorn pot to every student. In each one was a drooping plant. Twink’s was a wilted fern, and she touched a curling frond with sympathy. Oh, the poor thing!

  When everyone had a pot, Miss Petal continued. ‘Now then, I’d like you to do a cheering-up spell as usual. Once your plants are feeling a bit healthier, I’ll explain what comes next.’

  Eagerly, Twink rested her hands on the fern’s leaves. A cheering-up spell was one of the first she’d ever learned, but she never tired of doing them – it was lovely to see plants perk up!

  Closing her eyes, Twink started to think happy thoughts. Bright yellow sunshine. Birds singing. Laughing and sharing jokes with Bimi. Her hands tingled as magic flowed from them into the fern. After a moment, she smiled and opened her eyes. There, that should do it!

  ‘Oh!’ she gasped. The fern was worse than ever! Ugly black spots had appeared all over its fronds, which hung limply over the pot’s rim. As Twink gaped in shock, one of the fronds fell completely off, landing on her mushroom desk with a plop.

  Sooze burst out laughing. ‘Opposite, what did you do to it?’

  ‘Nothing!’ protested Twink. ‘I just did the spell as usual!’ She turned the pot around, but the fern looked just as awful from every angle.

  ‘O
h dear,’ said Bimi, biting her lip. ‘It doesn’t look very good, does it?’

  Miss Petal came over. Her mouth twitched as she held back a smile. ‘Twink, I don’t think you could have had your mind on the spell,’ she said gently. Putting her hands on the fern, she performed the magic herself. The black spots vanished as the fern burst into green, vibrant life.

  ‘But – I’m sure I did it right,’ said Twink in confusion. ‘Honest, Miss Petal. I’ve done that spell a hundred times!’

  Miss Petal nodded understandingly. ‘Yes, but it’s still easy to get it wrong, if your thoughts wander even just for a moment. Here, why don’t you try again?’ She produced another pot, this time with a drooping blade of grass.

  As the class watched with interest, Twink placed her hands on the grass and redoubled her efforts, bombarding it with every happy thought she could think of. Sudden laughter made her eyes fly open. Oh, she didn’t believe it! The grass had withered until it was dried and brown!

  ‘You must have something on your mind that’s keeping you from concentrating,’ said Miss Petal, quickly healing it. ‘Never mind, Twink. You can take notes while I explain the technique; I’m sure you’ll be able to try it out for yourself next time.’

  ‘But –’ Twink stared in frustration at the now-healthy blade of grass. Though she knew Miss Petal must be right, she could have sworn she’d performed the spell exactly the same as she’d always done!

  Later at lunch, Sooze regaled the Violet Branch fairies with the story. Even those who had been present in the class were soon howling with laughter.

  ‘And then . . . she killed the SECOND one,’ finished Sooze, waving her arms dramatically. ‘Ker-plop! Dead! With the sheer power of her thoughts –’

  ‘Sooze, it wasn’t dead!’ protested Bimi with a smile. ‘Miss Petal was able to heal it.’

  Sooze’s eyes sparkled. ‘Well, it’s a good thing she was there, with Twink the plant-killer around!’

  Twink laughed despite herself. She supposed it was pretty funny – though she still had no idea how she’d managed to mess up the spell so badly!