Over The Rainbow

by Meredith Badger

  Elly and Saphie padded back up the dark stairwell as fast as they could, and pushed back through the moon-metal gate just as the bright moonlight began to fade. Then they glided back through the empty corridors towards the library.

  As they zoomed past the sick bay, Elly’s heart skipped a beat. She could’ve sworn she saw a small, dark shape scurry behind the door. But when she looked again, the shape wasn’t there.

  Stop imagining things! she told herself severely. Everyone is fast asleep!

  Still, Elly was very glad when they finally reached the library door and sneaked inside.

  Straight away, Saphie rushed to the broken window and started clearing the books from the window sill. Usually Saphie was very careful with books. But Elly could see that tonight she was hurrying.

  A big, heavy book fell to the ground with a clatter. Elly and Saphie both froze. Had anyone heard?

  ‘Get ready to hide!’ muttered Saphie. But no-one appeared. Elly sighed with relief, then hurried over to the broken window.

  ‘Quick! Put on your turbo boosters!’ whispered Saphie.

  ‘Umm, are you sure that’s a good idea?’ Elly muttered back. ‘I didn’t have a lot of success with them last time. Remember that whole zooming around upside-down episode?’

  Saphie smiled. ‘This time will be different,’ she said reassuringly, climbing up onto the window ledge and preparing for flight. ‘I’ll be right beside you!’

  Chapter Eleven

  If you’d been walking through a certain park in a certain town on a certain night quite recently, you would’ve seen something very unusual. Firstly, a rainbow appeared from nowhere, reaching down from the sky until it touched the path beside the fountain.

  Then, a moment later, two small figures came whooshing at high-speed down the rainbow. They both landed lightly on the ground, then took off like rockets into the darkness. Seconds later, the rainbow vanished.

  But you weren’t around that particular night, so you didn’t see anything. In fact, no-one did. Everyone was already tucked up safely in bed. If you’d listened carefully though, you might’ve heard some giggling. This was coming from Elly. She was laughing even though she had loads of things to worry about that night. The reason she was laughing was because for the first time ever, she was actually enjoying flying!

  Saphie, it turned out, was an excellent Extreme Flying teacher. First, she’d shown Elly how to hold her arms out to stop herself tipping sideways. Then, she’d shown Elly how holding one foot slightly higher than the other prevents her from rolling.

  Finally, she’d taught Elly a simple trick – if you take big, deep breaths, you stay high!

  ‘So what do you think of Extreme Flying now?’ called Saphie as Elly zoomed past her.

  ‘Well, I never thought I’d say this,’ called Elly, ‘but this is almost as fun as skateboarding!’

  ‘See!’ grinned Saphie. ‘I knew you’d like it once you got the hang of it.’

  Then Elly gave a shout. ‘That’s Jess’s house down there!’

  All of a sudden, there were butterflies in Elly’s stomach. What if Jess is really hurt? she worried. What if I’m too late?

  Elly and Saphie flew down and landed in the Chesters’ backyard, behind the pottery studio.

  ‘You go and see Jess,’ whispered Saphie. ‘I’ll keep watch.’

  Elly hesitated. Jess and Saphie would get along really well, she thought.

  But unlicensed fairies aren’t supposed to meet humans, and Saphie had already taken enough risks to help her out. It would be better if she just kept watch.

  ‘OK, thanks, Saphie,’ said Elly, giving her friend a hug.

  It was strange being back in her old street. Elly felt a pang of sadness when she saw her own house, looking so dark and empty. I wonder how long it will be before I’m back there with my family?

  But there was no time to think about that. She had to concentrate on helping Jess!

  Elly crept around to Jess’s bedroom window and peeked in through a crack in the blinds. She could see Jess, sound asleep in her bed. On her bedside table was the Hover-Lamp that Elly had given Jess when she left South Street School. It was glowing faintly.

  Jess doesn’t look crushed, thought Elly, relieved. But it’s hard to tell. Maybe the squashed bits are under the covers?

  Elly tapped on the window. At first, Jess didn’t move. So Elly tapped louder, and then Jess sat up with a start.

  ‘Jess! Over here!’ hissed Elly.

  Jess caught sight of her. Grinning broadly, she leapt over and flung open the window.

  ‘Wow! It’s so great to see you!’ she said, as she helped Elly inside. ‘I’ve missed you so much!’

  ‘I’ve missed you heaps, too,’ said Elly. Then she remembered why she was there. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked urgently. ‘The Human Database said you were hurt.’

  Jess looked surprised. ‘I’m fine,’ she said.

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Elly. ‘The Database said you’d been crushed.’

  Suddenly, Jess’s face went bright red. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I think I know what’s going on. How embarrassing!’

  ‘What?’ asked Elly. She still didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried.

  Jess sat down on the side of the bed, her face getting pinker by the second. The Hover-Lamp flew up from the bedside table and landed in her lap, its motor whirring.

  ‘I’m afraid you’ve come all this way for nothing,’ said Jess apologetically. ‘You see, I haven’t been crushed. I have a crush. Just a tiny little one, on someone at school. I can’t believe it’s in your Database! I haven’t told anyone.’

  Elly was so glad that Jess was OK that she wanted to laugh. But she had a feeling this might make Jess even more embarrassed.

  ‘Who do you have the crush on?’ she asked curiously.

  ‘He’s called Josh,’ said Jess with a sigh. ‘He started at South Street School just after you left. He’s funny and smart and he’s got brown hair and smiley brown eyes.’

  ‘Why are you sighing then, if he’s so nice?’ asked Elly.

  ‘He doesn’t even know I exist!’ said Jess sadly. ‘I think he likes Caitlin more than me. She’s so perfect.’

  Elly put her arm around Jess. ‘You are the most totally awesome human ever,’ she said. ‘If Josh doesn’t like you he must be crazy.’

  Then the Hover-Lamp flew up in the air and did three mad loops of the room.

  ‘See, the Hover-Lamp agrees with me,’ laughed Elly.

  Jess gave a small smile. ‘You know, for the first time ever I almost wish you could do some magic,’ she said. ‘I would so love to know if Josh likes me.’

  Elly had never seen her friend like this before. Usually the last thing Jess wanted was for Elly to do magic! Jess didn’t seem herself at all. In fact, she seemed kind of flat.

  Having a crush must be a bit like being crushed after all, decided Elly. She really wanted to help her friend, but she didn’t know any spells that would help Jess. And even if she did, it was against the Fairy Code for an unlicensed fairy to grant wishes.

  Then suddenly, she felt a warm sensation on her chest. It was her Heart Tracker pendant, glowing brightly.

  Jess looked at it curiously. ‘That’s so beautiful,’ she said, leaning over to look at it more closely. The closer she got, the more the pendant glowed.

  Elly hesitated. The pendant made her feel less homesick. But Jess could really use it, thought Elly.

  Quickly, she undid the clasp and handed the pendant to Jess. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘I want you to have it. Wear it when Josh is near. If it glows, it means he likes you. And if it doesn’t glow, it means he’s crazy!’

  Jess looked at the necklace. For a moment, Elly thought she was going to refuse to take it. Then Jess slipped it around her neck and smiled gratefully. ‘Thanks, Elly,’ she said. ‘Hey, when are you and your family moving back home?’

  Elly shrugged. ‘My family will have to come home first,’ she said.

  ‘They will,�
� said Jess confidently.

  Just then, there was another tap on the window. ‘I should go,’ said Elly, jumping up.

  ‘Thanks so much for the necklace,’ said Jess, hugging Elly goodbye. ‘You’re the best fairy I’ve ever met.’

  ‘Hang on,’ laughed Elly. ‘I’m the only fairy you’ve ever met!’

  But all the same, Elly felt good. Giving away her special pendant was worth it if it helped Jess.

  Chapter Twelve

  Elly slipped out of Jess’s window to find Saphie already hovering in mid-air.

  ‘Is everything OK?’ Saphie asked.

  ‘She’s going to be just fine,’ said Elly, smiling. ‘We’d better get flying!’

  Now that she’d gotten the hang of Extreme Flying, she was actually looking forward to zooming back at top speed.

  Side by side, Elly and Saphie flew as quickly as they could back to the park. After they’d landed near the fountain, Elly pulled Grandmother’s rainbow umbrella out of her backpack. The moment she’d opened it, a rainbow slowly began to form.

  When it was ready, Elly and Saphie climbed on and soon they were zooming up and over the multi-coloured arch. The turbo boosters made the ride extremely fast!

  Let’s just hope the Sky Scanner is still out of action! thought Elly, as they crossed into Rainbowville. The Cloud Writer floated past and Elly held her breath.

  A wiggle of cloud formed near the tip of the Cloud Writer.

  Uh oh! thought Elly. It’s about to write something! But to her relief, no more letters appeared.

  With a whoosh, the two fairies slid down the last stretch of rainbow and landed with a gentle thud in the golden pot. Together, they zoomed through the air back to the Academy.

  They squeezed back through the broken library window, and collapsed, exhausted, against the library shelves.

  ‘I can’t believe we actually did it!’ laughed Saphie. ‘We’ve been in and out of Rainbowville, and no-one caught us.’

  ‘I wonder what our grandmothers would say if they knew?’ giggled Elly.

  Then she nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice said from the darkness, ‘Well, why don’t you ask them?’

  A light snapped on. There, in front of Elly and Saphie, were Madame Fernyfrond and Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly.

  And beside them stood Gabi and Nadia, who had been changed back into fairies. But they still looked a lot like lizards. Their skin was still greenish and scaly, and they both had long tails sticking out below their dressing gowns!

  Usually this would’ve made Elly laugh. But one look at the faces of Madame Fernyfrond and Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly warned her that laughing probably wasn’t a good idea.

  ‘I think we might be in a bit of trouble!’ she muttered to Saphie.

  ‘I can’t believe you would behave so badly,’ said Madame Fernyfrond to Saphie, shaking her head. ‘What were you thinking?’

  ‘Clearly they weren’t thinking at all, Emerelda,’ snapped Grandmother. ‘They have behaved like, well, like humans!

  ’ Then, as if being told off by the grandmothers wasn’t enough, the Ruler in Elly’s backpack finally woke up and decided to make up for lost time.

  ‘Rule number 798!’ the Ruler called. ‘No behaving like humans! Rule number 18! No sneaking out of Rainbowville!’

  ‘It’s just lucky Gabi saw you leaving, and alerted us to what was going on,’ said Madame Fernyfrond.

  That must have been the dark shape I saw when we flew past the sick bay, realised Elly. I should’ve guessed it was a Cruddleperry!

  ‘When Madame Fernyfrond rang to tell me what you’d done, I was shocked. Shocked! ’ said Grandmother to Elly. ‘Sneaking out of Rainbowville is bad enough. But trying to ruin the rainbow is absolutely unforgivable!’

  Elly stared at her grandmother, confused. ‘I didn’t ruin anything!’

  ‘Don’t pretend you weren’t responsible for that, Elinora,’ snapped Grandmother, pointing out the window. Outside, dawn was just beginning to break beneath the rainbow.

  Except, as Elly realised with horror, it wasn’t actually a rainbow anymore. It was a rain-knot!

  Instead of forming a perfect arch, the colours were all tangled around each other. It was a huge, ugly mess.

  ‘We didn’t do that!’ insisted Saphie.

  ‘Well, actually,’ said Elly, in a small voice, ‘it might’ve been my fault. I touched it.’

  ‘Oh, Elly,’ said Saphie, shaking her head. She looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  ‘Don’t you know that even the slightest disturbance to the freshly spun rainbow fabric can completely alter the form and shape the rainbow takes?’ demanded Grandmother.

  ‘It will take a lot of hard work to get the rainbow back to its proper shape,’ frowned Madame Fernyfrond. ‘We’re just fortunate that this half of the rainbow isn’t visible to the humans on the other side. Imagine the confusion a rain-knot would cause the humans!’

  ‘Rule number 124,’ added the Ruler. ‘No messing up the rainbow!’

  Elly wished she could disappear into the floor. It felt like everyone was angry with her. Before she knew it, she’d burst into tears.

  ‘I’m sorry!’ she wailed. ‘I just wanted to see if Jess was OK.’

  Grandmother frowned at Elly. ‘And who, precisely, is Jess?’ she asked sternly.

  But before Elly could answer, her backpack slid off. And as it fell, the Tell Tale book Elly had shoved in it earlier tumbled out, flipping open when it hit the ground.

  The book coughed a couple of times, as if to clear away the dust. Then it began speaking in a loud, clear voice. ‘Fifibella Knottleweed- Eversprightly,’ it said, ‘sneaked out of the Rainbow Academy with her friend Emerelda Fernyfrond. Both fairies then left Rainbowville without permission, and stayed outside for an entire human day – eating human lollies!’

  Quickly, Elly slammed the book shut. But it was too late. Madame’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly’s face became very pale. For a moment, no-one said anything.

  Then to Elly’s astonishment, Madame Fernyfrond started to chuckle. It started as a low, deep rumble that seemed to work its way up her chest until it exploded into the air.

  ‘Do you remember that day, Fifi?’ chuckled Madame Fernyfrond. ‘Do you remember how we had to tiptoe around the Sky Scanner Fairy, and she was snoring so loudly?’

  Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly frowned and opened her mouth to speak. Then something very strange happened to her face. The corners of her mouth began twitching. Then her eyes started crinkling up.

  And then a very peculiar noise poured out of her mouth. Grandmother was laughing! And once Grandmother started laughing, she couldn’t seem to stop.

  ‘I can still picture everyone’s faces when they caught us sneaking back in. I’ve never been more terrified!’ she chortled.

  ‘Our Head Fairy put us on dish-washing duty for three months straight!’ laughed Madame Fernyfrond. ‘And she confiscated our wands for the rest of the year!’

  Elly, Saphie, Gabi and Nadia looked at each other in confusion. They had never seen adult fairies behave like this before.

  Finally, Grandmother wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye. ‘Elly,’ she said, ‘I’ve never told you this, but when I was your age I was always getting into trouble.’

  ‘Really?’ said Elly. It was hard to even imagine Grandmother being her age, let alone getting into trouble!

  ‘I’m afraid it’s true,’ smiled Madame Fernyfrond. ‘We were both very badly behaved. In fact, your grandmother had been to a number of other schools before she came to the Rainbow Academy. And she very nearly got expelled from here, too!’

  Grandmother was a fairy school drop-out, just like me! thought Elly, amazed.

  ‘But after the rainbow incident I became much better behaved. I even topped my class in my final year!’ said Grandmother proudly.

  ‘You did very well, Fifi,’ said Madame Fernyfrond soft
ly. ‘But perhaps Elly is just not cut out for fairy life? Perhaps it’s time to start considering other options.’

  ‘You mean ...’ said Grandmother.

  Madame Fernyfrond nodded. ‘Yes. Maybe Elly should stop trying to be a fairy, and start living like a human.’

  Everyone turned and looked at Elly.

  ‘Is that what you’d like to do?’ asked Grandmother, in a surprisingly gentle voice. ‘Would you like to stop being a fairy forever?’

  ‘Um, well, but I …’ Elly started to say. Then she stopped. She could feel a warmth in her chest. It was the same feeling that the Heart Tracker pendant used to create.

  But Jess had the pendant. What’s going on? Elly wondered.

  Chapter Thirteen

  There was a knock on the library door, and then a familiar voice called out, ‘Hello?

  Is anyone there?’

  Then the door was flung open and a small, dribbly figure flew at Elly and flung its arms around her.

  ‘Kara!’ laughed Elly, hugging her little sister. Then Elly’s parents stepped into the room too, and the warm feeling in Elly’s chest grew stronger and stronger.

  I didn’t need the Heart Tracker at all! thought Elly happily. I knew they were here anyway.

  ‘It is so good to see you,’ said Elly’s mum, hugging her tightly. ‘We missed you so much!’

  ‘We would’ve been here sooner,’ added Elly’s dad, ‘but we had trouble getting across the rainbow. It seems to be malfunctioning.’

  Suddenly, everyone was staring at Elly again.

  ‘Before your arrival, we’d just asked Elinora a very important question,’ explained Grandmother to Elly’s parents. ‘We haven’t heard her answer yet.’

  ‘Yeah, Elly,’ sneered Gabi. ‘What are you going to do? Are you going to give up your wand and live like a human?’

  ‘Or are you going to keep being a terrible fairy?’ sniggered Nadia.

  ‘I think it’s about time that you two went back to the sick bay,’ snapped Madame Fernyfrond. ‘And don’t think that just because you alerted me to Elly and Saphie’s escape, you can avoid punishment. You broke the school rules today by performing a serious spell without supervision. You are on pest control for the rest of the year.’