Birthday Surprise

by Michelle Misra

  CONTENTS

  Characters

  Chapter 1: An Important Announcement!

  Chapter 2: Heavenly Animals

  Chapter 3: Missing Mail

  Chapter 4: Flying Frenzy

  Chapter 5: Glitter Bomb

  Chapter 6: A Change of Plans

  Chapter 7: Disaster!

  Chapter 8: An Unexpected Discovery

  ‘Secrets and Sapphires’ Sneak Peak! Excerpt

  About Michelle Misra

  For Tula Knowles, a perfect angel

  CHAPTER 1

  An Important Announcement

  WHAT’S GOING ON?” ELLA BROWN fluttered down the spiral staircase at the Guardian Angel Academy, coming to land at the bottom next to her friend, Tilly. The hallway was crammed full of angels gathered around a sign, and excited chatter filled the air. Something was definitely happening!

  “Come and look at this!” Tilly pulled Ella through the crowd. “Excuse me! Excuse me, please,” she said to the other angels until they reached the front.

  The sign was glittery and sparkly and kept changing color. “The Guardian Angel Academy Third-Grade Fireworks Show,” Ella read aloud. “Friday the twenty-fifth of October. Oh, angel-tastic!” she exclaimed, pushing her dark brown hair behind her ears. “We’re having a fireworks show in three days.”

  “I know!” said Tilly, her eyes shining. “It’s the day our parents come to take us home for the midterm break.”

  Ella clutched her arm. “Look—the paper’s changing again!” They watched excitedly as the paper turned purple.

  Tilly read the words. “All third-grade angels will be expected to take part in the show.”

  Ella caught her breath. “So we’re all going to actually perform in the fireworks show?”

  “Yes, indeed,” came a voice from behind them. Everyone swung around. Angel Seraphina, Ella and Tilly’s class tutor, was standing there. “Every third-grade angel will get a turn at carrying the different lights through the sky, and the very best angel will get a starring role in the finale.”

  “Oh, halos and wings!” breathed Ella.

  “That would be really scary,” said Tilly, her eyes wide.

  “It would be amazing!” said Ella, imagining everyone watching her as she swooped and dived, setting off fireworks in the sky.

  “One thing’s for sure, you’re all going to have fun whether you have a starring role or not.” Angel Seraphina smiled. “And I’m sure your parents will enjoy watching the show, before taking you home for the midterm break. However, if you want that starring role you’d better practice your flying.” Angel Seraphina flew away.

  Ella turned to Tilly. “I’ve seen a fireworks show before, but to actually take part in one—maybe have the main part—wouldn’t that be totally glittery!”

  “I wouldn’t get too excited, Ella Brown,” came a haughty voice from behind them. “It’s not likely you’ll get the starring role, is it?”

  Ella turned and saw Primrose standing there. She was the most annoying angel in the whole school. With her sparkling blue eyes, and pretty blonde hair curled into ringlets, she looked perfectly angelic—but she so wasn’t.

  Ella felt Tilly shrink back—Tilly hated arguments—but she wasn’t scared of Primrose. “And why shouldn’t I get the starring role?” she demanded.

  “Didn’t you hear what Angel Seraphina said?” Primrose nudged the angel standing beside her, who had red hair and giggled when prompted. “Only the best angel will get the starring role. And one thing’s for certain—you definitely don’t fall into that category.” Her eyes swept snootily over Ella. “All you’re best at is getting into trouble!”

  Ella put her hands on her hips. “You’ve been sent to the Sad Cloud as often as me, Primrose.”

  “Ella, don’t get into an argument now,” Tilly pleaded, tugging her arm. “You heard what Angel Seraphina said—everyone will get to take part in the show. It doesn’t really matter who has the starring role.”

  “Come on, Veronica.” Primrose turned to her friend. “We’ve got better things to do with our time than stand around talking to troublemakers like Ella.” And with that she flounced off.

  “Right! That’s it!” Ella sprang after her.

  Tilly grabbed her. “No, Ella! Ignore her. She’s just trying to make you mad so you get into trouble.”

  Ella stopped herself. Tilly was right. Primrose loved to make her lose her temper—usually when there was a teacher around. Angels were never supposed to lose their temper. It said so in the handbook that all the third-grade angels had been given a copy of. “All right, I won’t go after her,” said Ella, “but she is just so annoying! I hope she doesn’t get the starring role in this show.” And I hope I do, she added to herself.

  “Forget Primrose,” said Tilly. “Let’s find the others and tell them all about the fireworks show.”

  Ella and Tilly hurried outside into the courtyard, where they found Poppy and Jess, their other two best friends, sitting underneath the marble statue of their founder, Archangel Emmanuel. Jess was bouncing a ball back and forth against a wall and they were sharing cloudberry cookies, their white halos gleaming in the sun. Archangel Emmanuel had been sculpted in full song, mouth open, eyes wide. It was one of Ella’s favorite statues in the school grounds.

  “Where have you two been?” Poppy asked. As usual, her curly blonde hair looked like a bird had been nesting in it and the rest of her looked just as messy—her white dress even had a splotch of sauce from breakfast! Jess was much neater—her dark hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her uniform was clean.

  “We’ve been finding out something very exciting,” said Ella. “Now,” she pretended to tease, “shall we tell them, Tilly? Or shall we not?”

  “Tell us!” said Poppy eagerly.

  “Well . . . guess what we’ll be doing in three days,” said Ella.

  “What?” Poppy said.

  “Only performing in a fireworks show!” Ella exclaimed. She quickly explained about the sign.

  “Oh, glittersome!” exclaimed Poppy.

  “Just think how totally sparkly it will be to take part in a fireworks show,” enthused Tilly.

  Ella looked at Jess. The dark-haired angel was sitting quietly. “It’s really exciting, isn’t it, Jess?” Ella said, surprised her friend hadn’t said anything.

  “Yeah . . . yeah, sure it is,” muttered Jess. Ella frowned. Jess didn’t sound that excited. But then Jess was kind of shy—maybe she didn’t like the idea of performing in front of everyone.

  Before Ella could ask her if that was what it was, the school bell rang. “Time to go,” said Tilly, pulling Poppy up. “We don’t want to be late for class.”

  A bluebird who had been circling around the head of the statue swooped down and pecked up the crumbs from their cloudberry cookies. His coat shone in different shades of indigo and turquoise and his dark eyes sparkled like jewels.

  “Look at him. Isn’t he beautiful!” said Tilly.

  “Bluebirds are supposed to be lucky,” commented Ella.

  “He’ll be very unlucky for us if looking at him makes us late for Angel Gabriella’s class!” said Tilly, setting off. “Come on, all of you! I don’t want to lose any halo stamps today.”

  Halo stamps were what you earned for good behavior and all of the angels at the Academy had halo cards for them. This being their first year, the third graders had been told that when they filled up their card, the color of their halo and uniform would change, and their wings would grow a bit bigger. All the third graders still had the white halos and white dresses they had started with at the beginning of term a few weeks ago, but the next level up was a sparkling sapphire-blue, and they all wanted to change to that. But they had to be careful—halo stamps could
also be taken away for lateness, untidiness, and generally behaving in ways that angels shouldn’t.

  “How many halo stamps have you all got now?” Poppy asked.

  “Four,” said Tilly.

  “Four! That’s fabulous,” said Poppy. “I’ve got three.”

  “Well, I’ve only got two,” sighed Ella.

  “You would have had three if you hadn’t had one taken away for that flying tangle with Primrose last month,” Tilly pointed out.

  “True,” Ella said. “What about you, Jess? Jess . . . ?” Ella looked around. Jess was still standing at the foot of the statue, lost in thought. “Jess, come on!” Ella went back for her. “What are you doing? You should be coming to class with us.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Jess said distractedly. “I was just thinking about something.”

  “Is it the fireworks show?” Ella asked. “Are you worried about performing?”

  Jess looked suprised. “Oh no, I’m not worried about that. I wouldn’t want a main part anyway. It’ll be nice just being in the background.”

  “Oh. So what’s the matter?” Ella said.

  “I’m fine. Nothing’s the matter. Nothing at all.” Jess quickly flew after the others.

  Ella frowned as she watched her go. Jess could say what she liked, but she was beginning to feel sure something was up with her friend. What could it possibly be?

  CHAPTER 2

  Heavenly Animals

  THE FOUR ANGELS FLUTTERED ACROSS the courtyard and flew into the hallway on the opposite side. It was a tall room, covered from wall to ceiling with iridescent moons and stars. Two chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, sparkling like diamonds, and making it look like the most magical starry night ever.

  “Come on,” said Tilly, speeding up. All of the third-grade angels’ flying had improved loads since they had started at the school a few weeks ago. “You all go on ahead,” called Jess. “I want to check the mail room first.”

  “Why?” said Ella, stopping, her wings fluttering.

  The mail pigeons only delivered once a day and the four of them had already checked the pigeonholes that morning.

  Jess shrugged. “I just do.”

  “I’ll come with you then,” Ella offered. Leaving Tilly and Poppy to fly on, she followed Jess into the mail room. There was a row of pigeonholes made out of shining gold. Each student had their own pigeonhole with their name written underneath it in sparkling sapphires. By the window, the mail pigeons perched on jeweled stands. The pigeons had their heads tucked under their golden wings, resting before they set off to get more mail that evening. There were a few older angels also checking their pigeonholes. Jess checked hers. As Ella had suspected, it was still empty.

  “Are you expecting something, Jess?” one of the older angels asked.

  “Yes,” sighed Jess.

  “Me too.” The angel shrugged. “I’ve been waiting for days. There are quite a few of us who seem to be missing packages. Isn’t it strange?”

  Jess nodded. “I was sure there would be something here. . . .”

  “What are you expecting?” Ella asked her curiously.

  “It’s not important,” said Jess, swallowing hard and flying out of the room.

  Ella flew after her. “But—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Ella!” Jess said sharply.

  Ella blinked. Jess never snapped. What was the matter with her? She wanted to ask more but she didn’t want to upset Jess, so she decided to keep quiet. They flew to the second floor where the maze of hallways divided off, leading to different classrooms. As they neared the room where their heavenly animals class was taking place, a loud, unmistakable voice floated out. Primrose!

  “Another halo stamp for neatness,” she was saying smugly. “I’ve got seven now. It’s only to be expected, of course! I am always so neat and tidy.”

  “Not always very modest though,” Ella muttered under her breath. They flew in to find Primrose showing everyone the holographic stamp that Angel Gabriella had just awarded her.

  “All right, angels, settle down,” said Angel Gabriella. “Ella . . . Jess . . . you got here just in time. Take your places quickly please and let’s get started.” Angel Gabriella always reminded Ella of a bun—she was very round and had black eyes just like little currants. They were usually kind and twinkly, but she didn’t tolerate any nonsense.

  “Over here, Ella,” called Tilly, indicating the spaces that she and Poppy had saved for them at a table. There were pads of paper and paint out for all the angels. Ella felt excited. They didn’t usually do art in their heavenly animals class, but she loved drawing and painting.

  “This looks fun! What does Angel Gabriella want us to do today?” whispered Ella, grabbing a jar of glittery paint, a brush, and some water before sitting herself down in the chair beside Tilly and leaning over her paper.

  “We’ve each got to choose a different heavenly animal to paint,” Tilly whispered back. “I’m painting a phoenix. What will you do?”

  “I’ll try a winged horse,” said Ella. Happiness sparkled through her. Lost in her painting, her hands flew over the page, flicking this way and that as she dipped her brush in and out of the dish of water. Finally, she stopped and looked up.

  “Let’s see,” said Tilly.

  Ella turned the pad around.

  “Oh Ella, it’s amazing!” said Tilly.

  “What’s amazing?” Primrose came over.

  “Look!” Tilly said, placing the pad back down on the table.

  Primrose moved dangerously close to the dish of water. “Hmm, let me see.”

  Tilly grabbed the dish of water just before Primrose spilled it.

  “Whoops, silly me,” said Primrose, arching her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t want to ruin your lovely painting, Ella.” She reached out for the picture again, this time her elbow catching intentionally against a jar of blue paint.

  “Careful!” Jess gasped, grabbing the jar before it could spill all over Ella’s picture.

  “Thanks, Jess,” said Ella quickly.

  “Oh, dearie me, I am being clumsy today,” said Primrose.

  “Look, Primrose, can you just go away?” Ella said through gritted teeth. She glanced over and saw Angel Gabriella look in their direction.

  “But I’m only trying to look at your picture,” said Primrose innocently.

  “You’re not,” hissed Ella. “You’re trying to ruin it!”

  Primrose pretended to look shocked. “Me? I wouldn’t do a thing like that!”

  “What’s going on here?” Angel Gabriella came over. “Is there a problem, angels?”

  “No, no problem, Angel Gabriella.” Primrose smiled sweetly. “Ella just seems to think I want to ruin her painting, but of course I’d never do anything like that. Angels must never be mean,” she quoted from the school handbook. “I just wanted to admire Ella’s beautiful painting.”

  “That’s lovely of you, dear. Now, let me see, Ella,” said Angel Gabriella. “Oh, it is rather good, isn’t it?” Her face broke into a big, beaming smile. “I think a picture like that definitely deserves a halo stamp.” With a tap from her wand, a glitter of sparkles spun out over Ella’s card and the most beautiful holographic stamp appeared on it.

  Ella beamed.

  “Thank you for pointing Ella’s picture out to me, Primrose,” said Angel Gabriella. “That was very kind of you. Now Ella, if only you could apply yourself as well to your punctuality as you do to your drawing, you’d be the perfect angel!” She swept on to see what the rest of the class were doing. To Ella’s relief, Primrose moved away, looking annoyed. She put her picture down. Then she noticed that Jess was staring glumly at her own picture.

  “So how are you doing, Jess?” said Ella, going over to her. “What have you drawn?”

  Jess sighed. “It’s not very good.”

  “Let me see.”

  It was a bluebird like the one outside, only its legs were a little long, the beak was a little wonky, and the wings were more like the
size of an eagle’s.

  “It’s beautiful, Jess,” said Ella kindly.

  “You know it’s not,” Jess sighed. “Can you help me?”

  “Well, if you change the legs a little like this”—Ella picked up her brush—“and add a little more here.” She rubbed out a little on the right. . . . Finally she had finished.

  “It’s perfect now, Ella.” Jess grinned.

  “It really is. It’s just like the sweet bluebird by the statue,” Poppy agreed, coming around and looking at it too.

  “Not all bluebirds are sweet, you know.” Archangel Gabriella joined in, overhearing the conversation in passing. “They can be mischievous birds as well. Haven’t you heard about the time a bluebird took Archangel Grace’s brooch? They love all sorts of glittery things, and nest in the strangest places.” The teacher smiled and headed off to join another group of angels.

  “So what’s going on here?” It was Primrose again.

  “Oh, not you again, Primrose,” sighed Ella.

  “Well that’s not very friendly, is it?” Primrose said, looking hurt. “And there I was, coming over to see how Jess was doing as well. So what have you drawn, Jess? Oh!” Her eyes widened. “It’s a blue pelican!”

  Jess’s face crumpled.

  It was the final straw for Ella. Annoying her was one thing, but teasing one of her friends was quite another. Her temper snapped and, before she could stop herself, she had picked up the blue jar of paint and spilled it all over Primrose!

  Primrose shrieked.

  “Ella! What have you done?” cried Jess, covering her mouth as Poppy and Tilly both gasped in horror.

  Hearing all the commotion, Angel Gabriella turned. “Angels! What is happening?” she cried, as Primrose stood there, blue paint dripping down her face and onto the floor.

  CHAPTER 3

  Missing Mail

  OH NO! ELLA CRINGED AS she looked at her furious teacher. What had she done?

  “Oh, Angel Gabriella!” wailed Primrose. “Ella spilled the jar of paint on me—and look at the mess on the floor as well.” She sobbed loudly and dramatically.