Trouble At School
Page 4
PUTTING THINGS RIGHT
Bella and Magda were allowed to nip down to the dining hall before everyone else for an early lunch.
“You two first again? What’s the excuse today?” asked the dinner lady. “Are you vegan? Vegetarian? Pescatarian?”
To Bella it was like she was speaking a foreign language. “What’s a pes-cat-arian?”
“Someone who eats fish but not meat,” explained Magda, and Bella remembered that her mum and dad ran a café. “No, we’re allowed in first because we’ve got to stay in at lunchtime.”
“Oh dear. You been up to no good?” asked Mrs Mole, cutting nice fat slices of pizza for them.
“Not yet,” said Magda.
When Bella and Magda went back to the classroom, it was empty. Everyone else was at lunch. The Famous Artist had put a brand new, extra large piece of paper ready for them on the wall.
“We’ve got more colours to work with now,” said Magda, helping herself to Claudia and Hetty’s paint pots. “We can have a blue sky and green fields.”
Bella couldn’t get over how well Magda had taken the sabotage. She’d had to ask Magda what sabotage meant. Magda had explained that it was A DELIBERATE ACT OF DESTRUCTION, which made it sound very serious.
“Claudia and Hetty spoiled our picture because they thought it would win the competition. Don’t worry. We’ll get our own back on them.’
Bella thought it was very noble (and surprising!) of Magda to see that the best way to do that was by painting their picture all over again. But she couldn’t help worrying it wouldn’t be finished on time.
The door opened and Bella froze. Was it Claudia and Hetty, intent on more sabotage?
It was Tom.
“D’you want some help with the cows?”
“Yes please!”
Quickly Tom sketched out two in the foreground and two in the background. There was no time for more.
“Can I paint them?” asked Magda. “Tom, you do the background, and Bella, you do the sky.”
So the three of them started painting. Tom was very quick. Before long he’d finished his bit and went off to play football. The girls continued, Bella standing on a chair to do the sky while, beneath her, Magda concentrated hard on the cows.
“Getting there,” said Magda, with satisfaction. “Oops! Now we’ve used Claudia and Hetty’s paints we mustn’t forget to top them up again.”
To Bella’s surprise Magda took the tops off their paint pots, filled them up again and screwed the tops back on. Then she put them back where she’d found them.
Magda was so thoughtful. Bella felt Claudia and Hetty didn’t deserve such kindness.
TRUE COLOURS
Everyone streamed back into the classroom.
“That’s not fair!” Claudia Cleverley scowled when she saw that they’d nearly finished their painting. “They’ve had more time than us.”
“They had to start all over again because of your clumsiness,” said the Famous Artist, who was beginning to get the measure of Claudia and Hetty. “Now hurry up and finish off.”
“I’ve just got to paint your lovely blonde hair, Miss,” simpered Claudia, trying to get back on the right side of her. She dipped her brush into the pot with the yellow top.
“And I’ve got to paint your lovely blue eyes,” gushed Hetty, dipping her brush into the pot with the blue top.
This is what happened next.
Claudia and Hetty started painting.
Claudia and Hetty screeched so loud the whole class came running to see what had happened.
Bella stared in surprise at the picture of the Famous Artist.
She had a streak of bright purple in her hair and one red eye!
“They’ve made you look like a zombie, Miss,” observed Magda.
“Or a vampire!”
“Or a witch!”
“No, a ghost!”
“No, a ghoul!”
“What’s the difference between a ghost and a ghoul?”
“She looks like a goblin to me!”
Everyone was shouting out and laughing.
“That’s enough!” cried the Famous Artist, who was staring, horrified, at her portrait. “That’s not very flattering. I don’t think I’d like that picture to be on display for all the world to see.”
“How did it happen?” asked Claudia, looking perplexed. Then her face changed and she looked furious. “Oh I know. Someone’s filled the pots up with the wrong paint on purpose! I bet it was Magda.’
“Or Bella!” Hetty glared at her.
The Famous Artist turned to them.
“Bella? Did you put the wrong paint in Claudia and Hetty’s pots?”
“No, Miss,” said Bella, round-eyed with shock.
“Magda? Did you? Now, tell me the truth.”
“No, Miss,” said Magda. “I swear on my honour and my mum and dad’s café, I never filled the pots up with the wrong paint.”
She sounded completely sincere. If Bella didn’t know better, she would have believed her.
The Famous Artist studied them both with her arms folded.
Magda studied her back.
“They’re lying. Send them to the Head, Miss,” said Claudia spitefully.
Beside her, Bella, even though she hadn’t done anything, was quaking in her shoes. It was Magda who’d filled the paint pots up, but now she was going to get into trouble too.
Then, to her surprise, the Famous Artist said, “We don’t have time for wild accusations. Claudia and Hetty, hurry up and paint over it. The rest of you, get on with your work.”
Bella breathed a huge sigh of relief. They weren’t going to get in trouble after all.
Then the door opened and a head popped around it.
Not just any old head. It was the Head’s head.
The class fell silent.
“Excuse me, Miss Pringle,” said the Head. “Could I speak to Bella Button?”
IN THE HEAD’S OFFICE
Bella followed the head teacher to her office with her heart thudding.
She was in BIG TROUBLE!
Claudia and Hetty must have gone to her office at lunchtime and reported her for not doing her homework, which was three broken rules. What was worse, when the truth came out about Magda swapping the paints and ruining their painting she’d probably get blamed for that as well!
The Head held the door open and told Bella to take a seat.
Bella did as she was told, her knees knocking. She was about to be expelled!
“Would you like a drink, Bella?” the Head asked. “And perhaps a biscuit?”
She held out a packet of chocolate Hobnobs and Bella took one, mute with surprise.
“I like to have a little welcome chat with all my new pupils. How are you settling in, my dear? Making friends? I hope everyone’s being kind to you?”
Bella choked on her biscuit.
The Head poured her a glass of water and told her that she had moved house and started a new school when she was Bella’s age and how hard she had found it.
Then she said, “Tell me all about yourself.”
So Bella took a deep breath and told her all about Mum and Dad and Sid, and her new very best friend Magda, and her new house, which was an old house, really, and the ghost in the attic, and Konrad’s Café, and walking to school with Tom and Kizzy.
On and on and on she went, until the Head suddenly looked at her watch and said, “Goodness me! Is that the time?”
Then she said, “You can come and talk to me any time you want to, Bella. My door is always open.”
Then she ushered her out and closed the door firmly behind her.
Bella walked back to her classroom feeling much better. To her surprise, only Magda was there, putting the finishing touches to their painting.
“Where is everyone?”
“They’ve all finished. Miss sent them out to play. I think she’s gone for a quick lie-down. She said I could stay in and finish our painting.”
“Let’s see!”
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But Magda stood in front of it with her arms wide and said, “No! It’s a surprise! How did you get on with the Head?”
“She gave me Hobnobs.”
“She gave me them too when I came to the school.”
I’m going to like it here, thought Bella.
AND THE WINNER IS...!
The Famous Artist clapped her hands.
“OK, everyone. Time’s up. Now I need to select the winning project. By the way, who would like to stay behind and help me clear up afterwards?”
Hetty and Claudia’s hands shot up.
Magda rolled her eyes. “They’re just sucking up so she picks theirs. They’ve got no chance.”
But Bella thought their picture was looking much better now. The Famous Artist had helped them paint over it. She didn’t look like a zombie or a witch or a ghoul any more. She looked like herself again. Though perhaps not at her best.
Her face was smudgy grey where the purple had run and her eye was still a bit red. She looked like a tired, baggy-eyed version of herself, the way Bella’s mum looked after a night out.
To be honest, the Famous Artist was looking a bit grey, tired and baggy-eyed in real life too. Working with children on FREE EXPRESSION, EXPLORING THEIR CREATIVITY and LETTING LOOSE THEIR IMAGINATION had proved far more exhausting than she’d anticipated.
She examined all their paintings and said nice things about them, even if they weren’t very good. But Bella could tell she’d had enough and just wanted to get home to a nice cup of tea.
The last one she looked at was theirs. Bella held her breath as the Famous Artist stood back and stared at their painting. Then she moved close, lifting her glasses and peering intently at the cows.
“Who did this?” she spluttered.
Bella’s heart sank. What had Magda done now?
The Famous Artist’s shoulders started to shake and she let out a honking noise like a donkey.
Bella stared at her in horror as tears poured down her cheeks. It was something so bad it had made her cry! They would be in real trouble now.
“Ohhhhh!” groaned the Famous Artist, holding her sides. “Oh, dear me! This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in years!”
The Famous Artist was laughing, not crying!
“I do enjoy humour in art,” she said, with a hiccup. “Who can spot the subtle comic touch?”
Everyone leaped forward to examine the painting closely. Bella wondered what was so funny about it. It looked nice. Tom had painted the grass and flowers beautifully, her sky was blue with fluffy white clouds and Magda had done a good job on the cows.
UH-OH! Magda had done a really good job on the cows. Especially the two in the background.
One by one, people began to titter, then chuckle, then hoot and then howl. It was very contagious. Some people were doubled up; some people were even rolling around on the floor. A big roar of laughter filled the room as everyone got the joke.
Everyone, that is, except for Claudia Cleverley and Hetty Snoop.
The two cows in the background were each wearing a jaunty blue bow tied round their right ear, exactly the same as Claudia and Hetty’s.
And when you looked closely, one of them had a sticky-up nose, just like Claudia, and the other had a long, pointy nose, just like Hetty.
It was unmistakeably them.
And, best of all, beneath each one was a steaming pile of cow poo!
TELLING THE TRUTH
“I told you we were going to win!” Magda was triumphant on the way home. “Thanks for helping us, Tom.”
“No worries. It was worth it to see their faces.”
“They didn’t like staying behind to clear up,” recalled Bella.
“Serves them right! They offered!”
“Only so the Famous Artist would choose their painting. And then she chose ours instead and they were really cross!”
“We’re going to be famous,” gloated Magda. “Our painting will be on display in her studio and we’ll be in the newspaper.”
“So will they, just like they wanted,” pointed out Tom. “Only they’ll be in the picture instead!”
Everyone laughed.
Bella thought how nice it was to be walking home from school together. Magda, Tom, Kizzy, Bella and Sid. She felt like one of the Famous Five, especially when Fetch, Tom and Kizzy’s dog, ran up to greet them, wagging his tail. Though, actually, that made them the Famous Six.
She was glad she’d moved to the countryside.
She was glad she was at her new school.
She was especially glad she had a best friend next door.
Magda was exciting and funny and honest and brave and not scared of anyone.
Only …
Bella sighed. Something was bothering her.
When Tom and Kizzy said goodbye and continued down the lane to their farm, and Sid rushed in to see Mum, Bella waited at the gate. There was a question she had to ask.
“Magda? Tell me the truth. Did you really fill Claudia and Hetty’s paint pots up with the wrong paint?”
Magda blinked at her in surprise. “No, of course not. I swore on my honour and my mum and dad’s café.
Didn’t you hear me? I don’t tell lies.”
“I’m sorry,” said Bella. “I didn’t think you did. But the trouble is, I don’t understand how the yellow paint came out purple and the blue paint came out red.”
“Easy. I never switched the paints,” said Magda, grinning from ear to ear. “I swapped the lids instead.”
READ BELLA AND MAGDA’S NEXT ADVENTURE IN
COMING AUGUST 2018
CHRIS HIGGINS began writing young fiction when she rapidly acquired a whole bunch of grandchildren, and is the author of the My Funny Family series. Chris has travelled the world and lives in Cornwall with her husband. Her books for Bloomsbury are Trouble Next Door and Trouble At School.
EMILY MACKENZIE is an award-winning illustrator and keen knitter. She is the author and illustrator of Wanted! Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar and Stanley the Amazing Knitting Cat. Emily lives in Edinburgh.
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi and Sydney
First published in Great Britain in January 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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This electronic edition published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Text copyright © Chris Higgins 2018
Illustrations copyright © Emily MacKenzie 2018
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted
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ISBN: 978-1-4088-6885-0 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-4088-6886-7 (eBook)
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