by Tania Ingram
Cooper disappeared from the bed and I heard a scuffling noise in his night box.
Good riddance, I thought.
‘JINNY!’ Tyrone shouted.
I turned to Tyrone. ‘What!’
Tyrone held Miss Bunney’s recipe book open for me to see.
On the first page, where the Steak and Kidney Pie recipe had been, were the words SPELLS OF MAGIK AND POTIONS in bold spidery writing.
‘It is a spell book!’ Tyrone exclaimed. ‘It must have had a magic spell on it to make it look like a recipe book.’
I grabbed the book from Tyrone and quickly flicked through it.
Inside were spells of all kinds, from how to turn people into insects to how to make a broom fly.
‘Look at this,’ I said to Tyrone turning to page twenty-two. ‘A glamour spell. It says here that glamour spells are used to disguise objects of the craft, and it has the spell written right here.’
‘What does ‘objects of the craft’ mean?’ Tyrone asked.
‘Basically it means any object that a witch would use, like a wand or a cauldron.’
‘Or a spell book,’ Tyrone added.
‘Right,’ I replied. ‘Miss Bunney must have put a glamour spell on the book so if anyone found it they would think it was a plain old recipe book.’
‘And when Cooper spilt salt on the book it took away the magic’s power!’ Tyrone exclaimed.
Suddenly I felt awful for shouting at Cooper.
I went to his cage and opened up his night box. Cooper was huddled down in his straw, his head buried deep.
‘Cooper,’ I said softly. ‘I’m really sorry for what I said earlier. It turns out that you eating the potatoes and spilling salt in my backpack was a good thing after all.’
Cooper didn’t move. I reached down and gently tickled his back.
‘Please Cooper. Will you forgive me?’
Cooper pulled his head from under the straw and stared at me with big eyes.
‘You said you wished you hadn’t bought me?’ he wailed in a small voice. ‘You said you wished you had bought another guinea pig.’
‘I didn’t mean it, Cooper. I was just angry. I’m sorry.’
‘So you’re glad you bought me then?’
I scooped him up and gave him a big cuddle.
‘You are certainly not what I expected in a guinea pig,’ I said. ‘But I am glad that I bought you. You are one of a kind.’
Cooper snuggled into me and let out a happy purr.
‘I’m sorry to break up this mushy moment,’ Tyrone said, ‘But we have a bigger problem now. If Miss Bunney’s recipe book is actually her spell book . . .’
‘She is going to want it back,’ I finished.
‘She’s going to be mad,’ Tyrone said. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘Well, we have the spell book. Let’s see if we can use it against her.’
‘Good idea,’ Cooper said. ‘I can always drop the spell book on her head.’ He eyed the spell book closely. ‘Although it may not be heavy enough. Perhaps I’ll need to bonk her with one of those encyclopedias or dictionaries as well.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘I didn’t mean like that. I meant let’s see if there’s a spell in here that we can use against Miss Bunney.’
After dinner, Tyrone, Cooper and I searched through Miss Bunney’s spell book for any clues on how to get rid of her. We found a banishing spell but it contained weird ingredients such as dried wart weed and raven gizzards. I had no idea where we could get such ingredients. Then Mum called for me to come downstairs.
‘She probably wants me to help bring in some more firewood,’ I said handing the book to Tyrone. ‘Here, look after the book.’
As I went downstairs I could hear Mum talking to someone. I was shocked to see Miss Bunney standing in the living room with Mum. I hadn’t even heard the doorbell ring. Mum was holding a piece of paper in her hand.
‘I meant to pass it on to Jinnifer but forgot,’ Miss Bunney was saying. ‘So I thought I’d just drop it over on the way home from shopping.’
Mum smiled at me as I came into the room. She waved a piece of paper in her hand. ‘The lovely chicken noodle soup recipe we had yesterday. Miss Bunney was kind enough to drop it off.’
Miss Bunney held out a bag to me. ‘And here is the cloak and hat for you.’
I took the bag. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’m sure you are going to make a wonderful witch,’ Miss Bunney said.
She handed Mum a plastic takeaway container. ‘I almost forgot these as well,’ she said. ‘Turkish delight. I made them myself last night. I know how much you said you liked Turkish delight.’
Mum took the box and opened the lid. ‘They smell wonderful.’
‘My mother’s recipe,’ Miss Bunney replied. ‘Go on, try one.’
Mum took out one of the soft pink squares and put it in her mouth. ‘Mmmm,’ she said. ‘That is the best Turkish delight I have ever tasted.’
Miss Bunney stepped forward and took the box from Mum’s hand. ‘Well, you had better get going dear,’ she told Mum. ‘You don’t want to be late for the book club meeting.’
Mum seemed bewildered. ‘Book . . . club . . . meeting,’ she slowly repeated.
‘Yes,’ said Miss Bunney. ‘The book club meeting at the library tonight. You asked me to come around and watch the children while you went to it.’
‘Yes, the book club meeting at the library,’ Mum repeated in a daze.
Miss Bunney hustled Mum to the door and handed Mum her coat, scarf and purse. ‘Have a nice night, dear,’ she said as she opened the front door. ‘And don’t worry about the children. They will be fine.’
Mum wandered out the front door and got into the car. Miss Bunney smiled and waved until the car pulled out of the driveway. Then she closed the door and slipped the lock across. She slowly turned to face me and her smile disappeared.
‘Okay, Miss Jinnifer Langley,’ she said with a snarl. ‘Be a dear and go and get me my spell book . . . RIGHT NOW!’
I turned and ran back through the living room towards the stairs, shouting out to Tyrone. As I reached the third step, the whole staircase began to violently shake and I was thrown backwards onto the floor. I crawled to my feet just as Miss Bunney entered the living room.
‘You can’t hide from me,’ she spat. ‘Now give me my spell book and I’ll be on my way.’
I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the salt shaker Mum kept on the counter next to the stove. I opened the lid and poured the contents onto the floor in a circle around me. Miss Bunney came into the room and looked at the salt on the floor.
‘Clever girl,’ she hissed at me. ‘But how long do you suppose you are going to stand in that circle for?’ Then her face softened and her voice grew gentle again. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Jinnifer,’ she said. ‘If you return my spell book, I will make you forget that any of this happened. I promise I won’t hurt you.’
‘And you will go on sucking the essence out of children then, I suppose,’ I said defiantly.
Miss Bunney stared at me. ‘What do you know about that?’
‘I saw you. With Robert Canfield.’
‘Robert Canfield,’ Miss Bunney snorted. ‘Horrible child. I should have done his parents a favour and sucked all of the life out of him.’
Suddenly Tyrone burst through the kitchen door. He saw Miss Bunney and froze.
Miss Bunney pointed towards Tyrone. ‘Come here,’ she commanded.
She flexed her arm and Tyrone stumbled towards her as though being pulled by an invisible rope.
He stuck his hand into his pocket and produced a potato. He threw it at Miss Bunney who batted it away.
‘I only fall for that one once,’ she told him.
Miss Bunney pushed Tyrone into a nearby chair.
‘I bind you,’ she said, twirling circles in the air above Tyrone’s head. ‘As the root is bound to the ground.’
Tyrone struggled to get up but couldn’t move. Miss Bunney pulled the container of
red lollies from her pocket and pushed one into Tyrone’s mouth.
‘Eat it,’ she commanded.
Tyrone shook his head and spat the lolly out onto the floor. Miss Bunney picked the lolly up and pushed it back into his mouth. She grabbed his chin and pulled his face towards hers.
‘Trust me boy, it will hurt a lot less if you eat the lolly,’ she roared.
A tear rolled down Tyrone’s cheek as he swallowed the lolly. Miss Bunney turned back to me.
‘Your choice, Jinnifer,’ she said. ‘Either you get me my spell book or I’ll suck your dear little brother dry.’
‘Okay,’ I said, stepping out of the salt circle. ‘I’ll get it. It’s upstairs. Please don’t hurt my brother.’
Miss Bunney looked back at Tyrone, whose head was slumped forward as though he were sleeping.
‘You had better hurry,’ she said, licking her lips. ‘I’m beginning to get hungry.’
I ran up the stairs two by two and burst into my bedroom. Cooper was sitting on top of his cage with wide eyes.
‘Where’s the book?’ I asked him.
‘In my night box,’ Cooper replied. ‘Tyrone put it there for safekeeping. You’re not really going to give it back to her are you?’
‘I haven’t got a choice,’ I said. ‘She’s going to hurt Tyrone.’
I grabbed the book from Cooper’s night box. As I turned to run back downstairs, Cooper leapt onto my shoulder.
‘I’m coming too,’ he said fiercely.
He wriggled his nose and disappeared.
The weight of his body on my shoulder was comforting. I ran back to the kitchen and held the book out to Miss Bunney.
‘Here’s your spell book, now let Tyrone go.’
Miss Bunney took the book and placed it on the table next to her.
‘I’ll let him go . . . after I’ve had a little snack.’ She turned back to Tyrone and began to chant.
‘No!’ I shouted charging at her. ‘Leave him alone.’
I pushed Miss Bunney as hard as I could, only to find that she wasn’t as frail as she looked. She grabbed me by my shirt and pinned me against the wall.
‘Perhaps I’ll start with you then,’ she sneered, holding me tight. ‘It’s all the same to me.’
I struggled to get away as Miss Bunney chanted her spell but she was too strong. My mouth suddenly felt warm and my tongue heavy and prickly, as though it had pins and needles.
Miss Bunney leaned in towards me, closed her eyes and sucked in a big breath. I felt a pulling sensation from deep inside my chest as my essence flowed from my mouth as a white light. My head began to spin and my body throbbed with a dull pain.
Suddenly I felt Cooper leap from my shoulder. The stream of white light from my mouth turned a pale golden brown. Miss Bunney, eyes still closed, took in another long, deep breath, this time sucking in the pale brown light.
Her eyes sprang open and she began to cough. Her hands flew up to her throat as though she were choking.
Cooper reappeared, hovering in front of my face. The pale brown light was coming from his mouth.
‘No!’ Miss Bunney cried.
She let me go and pulled away from Cooper, who fell to the floor in front of us. My knees gave way and I grabbed the wall for support. Miss Bunney stumbled backwards, clawing at her mouth.
I noticed the shape of her mouth was changing. It was becoming smaller and thinner, and two long teeth had appeared from below her top lip. Her nose began to twitch and it shrank and flattened. Whiskers sprouted from the sides of her nose, her ears grew large and her cheeks became round. Grey fur began to grow all over her body.
‘No! No!’ Her shouts came out more like squeaks.
She ran to the table and tried to open her spell book but her hands had changed to paws with pointed claws.
She gave a loud squeak and suddenly shrank, disappearing behind the chair where Tyrone was still slumped. I heard another squeak and saw a small grey guinea pig lying amongst Miss Bunney’s clothes.
I raced forward, scooped up the grey guinea pig and the clothes and dumped them into the rubbish bin. I pulled the bin out into the front yard and tipped it over. The grey guinea pig scuttled out of the bin and ran off down the street.
When I went back inside, Cooper was coughing and trying to stand. He looked terrible.
I ran to him and gently picked him up. He was trying to say something. I brought him to my ear.
‘The spell book,’ he wheezed. ‘You need to destroy the spell book so she can’t turn back.’
I took the spell book to the living room and threw it into the fireplace. It burst into flames, spitting and crackling like bacon in a pan. A low humming sound came from the book, building quickly to a high-pitched whistle. I covered my ears and watched the flames changing colours, swirling and sparkling like mini fireworks.
Eventually the whistling stopped and the fire fizzled into a low black flame. When the flame died, all that remained of the spell book was a smouldering pile of ashes. I wrinkled my nose and shivered as a large black beetle pushed its way out of the ashes and scurried up the chimney.
Now that I was sure the spell book was destroyed, I ran back to the kitchen and found Tyrone sitting up, rubbing his eyes.
He looked around the room and then back at me.
‘She’s gone,’ I said.
‘For good?’
I nodded and threw my arms around Tyrone. ‘For good.’
Over Tyrone’s shoulder I saw Cooper lying on the kitchen floor. He wasn’t moving.
I ran to him. ‘Cooper!’ I called. I picked him up. He was limp in my hands. I gave him a gentle shake. ‘Cooper, wake up.’
But he didn’t.
Tyrone and I took Cooper upstairs and laid him on my bed. Tyrone grabbed a packet of chocolate biscuits but even the smell of Cooper’s favourite food wasn’t enough to wake him. It was as though he were in a deep sleep.
‘Is he going to die?’ Tyrone sobbed.
‘I don’t know. Miss Bunney drank a lot of his life essence.’
The thought of not having Cooper around was unthinkable.
Sure, he could be a pain and he had a knack for getting into mischief but he was also smart and entertaining. More importantly, he had proven himself to be a loyal friend. He had sacrificed himself to save me.
‘Please Cooper, don’t die,’ I whispered to him. ‘We need you.’
There was no response.
Mum stumbled in the door a few minutes later, still feeling confused. She had arrived at the library only to realise that she didn’t know why she was there. Strangely, she didn’t ask about Miss Bunney at all.
She looked at Cooper gravely and suggested we all sleep in the living room so he could be kept warm by the fire while we stayed close.
She found a small cardboard box in the garage and lined it with towels. I placed Cooper inside with a hot water bottle and stood the box on the coffee table.
Mum stoked the fire again and the room soon warmed with a golden glow. We all cuddled together on the sleeping mats Mum had put down onto the living room floor.
I was sure that I would never get to sleep but before I knew it my eyes were closed and I was dreaming of falling into a churning river. In my dream I could see Cooper in the water somewhere in front of me. Every time I reached for him he disappeared under the water and my hands came up empty.
The next morning I woke up with a scratchy throat and a headache.
Tyrone also had a headache and Mum, who seemed to be back to her old self again, said she was feeling a bit off as well.
‘We must all be coming down with a virus,’ Mum said. ‘Looks like no school for you guys today.’ She set about making a pot of chicken soup.
Cooper still didn’t wake. We took him to the animal hospital but even the vet couldn’t rouse him.
The vet took Mum aside and they had a grave conversation in the waiting area. I knew what that meant.
When Mum came back into the room I grabbed her arm and protested that
Cooper needed more time. ‘Maybe he’s just really tired,’ I sobbed. ‘Please Mum.’
Mum spoke to the vet again and they agreed to give Cooper a few more days. ‘But if he is not better by the weekend . . .’ Mum said, letting her words drift off.
By Thursday my throat had become so sore I could barely swallow and my head pounded. Tyrone had managed to avoid catching a severe cold, though he was still pale and feeling flat.
Mum felt better again, although she had no memory of seeing Miss Bunney on the night she had mysteriously driven to the library. In fact, she had no memory of Miss Bunney at all. She found the bag with the witch’s cloak and hat and asked me who it belonged to. When I said it was Miss Bunney’s, Mum had asked if that was a new teacher at my school. It was very weird.
Stranger still, when Tyrone returned to school on Friday, no one else even knew who Miss Bunney was. It was as though she had never existed. Tyrone and I were the only people who remembered her. He told me that my class teacher was now a pretty young woman called Miss Peters.
Tyrone said that Miss Peters sent me her best wishes for a speedy recovery. He also said that Miss Peters was definitely NOT a witch as he saw her eating a baked potato for lunch.
On Saturday morning, Mum sat us both down in the living room to discuss Cooper.
‘I think it’s time we took Cooper back to the vet,’ she said. ‘He’s obviously not getting better and it would be cruel to keep him like this.’
I burst into tears but Mum was gently determined.
‘I know it’s sad, but it is the right thing to do. You wouldn’t want him to suffer would you?’
I shook my head, no.
Mum took my hand. ‘Then after breakfast we will say our goodbyes to Cooper and take him to the vet.’
I nodded at Mum. The lump in my throat felt like I had swallowed a cricket ball. I didn’t want to admit it, but Mum was right. Cooper didn’t deserve to suffer. He wouldn’t have wanted to live like this.
Mum cooked sausages and eggs for breakfast. Tyrone only ate a few mouthfuls but I couldn’t bring myself to eat at all. Mum told us to go and spend some time with Cooper while she did the dishes.
