by Holly Webb
The Series
Becky’s Terrible Term
Annabel’s Perfect Party
Katie’s Big Match
Becky’s Problem Pet
Annabel’s Starring Role
Katie’s Secret Admirer
Becky’s Dress Disaster
Emily Feather and the Enchanted Door
Emily Feather and the Secret Mirror
Emily Feather and the Chest of Charms
Emily Feather and the Starlit Staircase
Catmagic, Dogmagic, Hamstermagic, Rabbitmagic,
Birdmagic, Ponymagic, Mousemagic
www.holly-webb.com
Contents
Cover
Half Title Page
Series by Holly Webb
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Sneak Peek of Annabel’s Perfect Party
Back Ads
About the Author
Ten Quick Questions for Holly Webb
Copyright
Chapter One
It was half-past seven on the first morning of the new school year – and things were not going to plan in the Ryan house.
“Mum! Where’s my pencil case?”
“And my PE kit?”
“And my other shoe?”
Three excited and slightly panicky voices spoke at once, and Mrs Ryan looked round from the kitchen counter in horror. “What on earth’s happened? You had everything yesterday – it can’t all have disappeared overnight.”
Sometimes, generally when all the floor-space in the house had disappeared under piles of washing, Mrs Ryan wondered how her daughters managed to cause at least ten girls’ worth of confusion. What was it about the triplets that made them seem like three blonde hurricanes? She looked at the girls scurrying round the kitchen in a panic and laughed. At least she got more than three times the fun as well!
“Your shoe’s there, Becky, under the table, look.”
“I definitely didn’t leave it there – I wish you’d play football with your own shoes, Katie. It’s always mine that end up kicked into stupid places.”
“I’m wearing my shoes, silly. You shouldn’t leave them lying around – it’s too tempting. Where is that pencil case, I know I had it. . .”
Katie rummaged around on the kitchen table, rootling through Mrs Ryan’s newspaper, and threatening to disturb the large pile of her mother’s filing that was towering in the middle of the big pine table.
“Oh, Katie, I was reading that! And please don’t knock that pile over, I’d just sorted it – oh, well,” Mrs Ryan sighed. “Look – your pencil case is here, in your bag where you put it last night. Honestly, you three, I think you all need glasses. Annabel, what did you say you’d lost?”
“My PE kit, but I haven’t, Orlando’s sitting on it. Get off, you great lump!”
Annabel tugged at her purple PE bag, trying to dislodge the fat ginger cat who’d decided that her tracksuit and trainers were definitely comfier than his expensive cat basket. Orlando yawned, and stretched, and then shook out his fearsomely clawed paws as slowly as he could. He gave Annabel a look of total contempt and strolled over to Becky to see if he could get a second breakfast out of her.
“Come here, Orlando,” said Becky, picking him up and rubbing her face against his ears, starting a rumbling purr from somewhere deep inside him. “Ignore that awful Annabel, she doesn’t love you at all, does she?”
“Huh. When that cat apologizes for being sick on my best T-shirt, then I might just decide to like him again. But I’m still waiting. Fleabag!” Annabel hissed, mock-furiously.
Orlando hissed back, and then turned his “I’m starving” face on Becky, and gave a piteous little mew.
“Uh-uh,” said Becky. “I’m not falling for it today, puss. I know I’ve fed you. It’s your own fault if you ate the whole bowl in ten seconds flat.” She tapped his nose with one finger firmly. “No more food!”
Orlando wriggled crossly till Becky put him down, and then stalked off to sulk in next door’s garden. Maybe today would be the day that all his hours of watching their bird table finally paid off.
“Sit down and eat your breakfast, you three. You need to have plenty to keep you going. I should think you’ll be running about all over the place,” said Mum, sipping her coffee.
“I’m really glad that we went to the Open Evening,” said Katie. “At least we know where we’re going. I think I do, anyway.”
“Well, I can’t remember anything,” said Annabel. “Except that all the corridors had paint the colour of sick.”
“Uurrgh! Bel, that’s disgusting. I was going to have some muesli and now you’ve really put me off.” Becky pushed her bowl away, shuddering. Her stomach wasn’t happy anyway, as all her nervousness about the new school seemed to be having a party in there, but now she felt even worse.
“I don’t know how you can eat that stuff, anyway. It looks exactly like the mix you give the guinea pigs. It’s probably just the same thing in a different packet.”
“Except I think the guinea-pig food costs more,” put in Mum. “Your zoo in the shed is eating us out of house and home, Becky.”
Becky grinned. She knew Mum didn’t mean it. She loved having all the animals around. It wasn’t just Orlando and the guinea pigs – there was Pixie, the little black cat who’d turned up in the garden one morning two years ago, and stayed, and every so often a bird that Becky had rescued, generally from Pixie, who was a ruthless hunter. Becky thought it might be because Pixie had lived as a stray – she wasn’t used to two delicious bowls of Whiskas a day, and she liked her food on the move.
“How about some toast instead?” Mum offered.
“OK. I’ll put some on – anyone else?” said Becky, jumping up. Perhaps a piece of toast would help her feel less weird.
Annabel looked longingly at the loaf that Becky was waving at her in a tempting fashion. “Nope,” she said finally. “Can’t manage it.”
“I’m not surprised. You practically inhaled that cereal,” said Katie. “I’ll have some, please, Becky. Can you pass the peanut butter, too?”
Mrs Ryan started to assemble three packed lunches from the fridge. “So you think you know where your classroom is, Katie?” she said.
“Yes, I think so. And the hall. And I definitely know how to get to the playing fields. They looked excellent. Loads more space than our old school. I can’t wait.”
Annabel looked at her sister sadly. “Mad. Probably got hit on the head by a football – a tragic case.”
“Huh. Well, at least I’ve got some clue where I’m going. Can you remember anything? Oh no, course not – there’s no clothes shops at school. And Becky’ll only know where there’s a bird’s nest in the playground. It’ll be me looking after the two of you, as usual.”
Katie was quite right. She was much the most organized of the triplets, and she did tend to lead the other two around. The triplets might look identical, but their characters were totally different. Katie, confident and a bit bossy, Annabel, a head-in-the-clouds, happy-go-lucky show-off, and Becky, the shyest and most thoughtful of the three.
And of course, thought Mrs Ryan, as she surveyed the fridge, they would all like different food. Had she got it all in the right boxes? One purple and silver lunchbox with cheese sandwiches, one Manchester United lunchbox with ham, and one blue box with a kitten on,
with cheese and ham. At least they all liked granary bread – this week, anyway!
Mrs Ryan finished her coffee, then noticed the time and panicked. “You’d better have one last check that you’ve got everything, girls, and then put your jumpers on. It’s nearly quarter-past eight.”
Becky and Katie licked toast crumbs off their fingers and went to put their plates in the sink.
“Are you working at home today, Mum?” asked Annabel, running her spoon round her cereal bowl for the last few drops of milk. Mrs Ryan worked as a translator, translating books in French and German into English, and the other way round. Most days she worked at home, but about once a week she went into an office. It was a good system, as it meant she was able to fit in work and looking after the triplets.
“Yes, I’ll be here all day. I’m in the office for a meeting on Thursday. I’ve got a lot to do this week.”
“Excellent. Does that mean we get to cook dinner?” asked Annabel. She loved to cook – especially cakes that she could decorate afterwards – and then eat! The others loved to cook, too, but it generally ended up with Becky doing the washing up, after Katie had fought with Annabel to try and make her clean up her own mess.
“Mmm, I could certainly do with some help. Of course, I’ll have to fit in the shopping first. Any requests?”
“Fish fingers. Can we have them for tonight’s tea?” asked Katie.
“We’re nearly out of crisps, too. And can we have some more of those minty biscuits?” added Annabel.
“You’re such a junk-food freak,” said Becky. “Don’t forget the cat food this time, Mum.”
“Hang on, hang on, I need to write this down. Biscuits, yes,” muttered Mrs Ryan, grabbing a pad from by the kitchen phone. “Cat food. . .”
“Come on, Mum, if you’re sure you really want to come.” Katie had her arms folded, and was looking impatient.
“Of course I’m coming with you on your first morning! Get your things together, girls, we’d better be off. Manor Hill is a bit further away than your old school.”
“I’m glad we can still walk though,” said Katie, closing the front gate behind her, and patting Pixie, who’d managed to squash herself on to the gatepost. “Watch it, Pixie – move one paw a centimetre and you’ll be in a real state. I don’t know how she can sit there like that – it can’t be comfy.”
“I think she’s just proving she can!” giggled Becky, as they all headed up the road towards their new school.
Chapter Two
Manor Hill School was about two kilometres from the Ryans’ house. It was a nice walk, past the park, where the triplets had been going to play on the swings and feed the ducks for as long as they could remember, and then up the high street – definitely Annabel’s favourite part of the journey.
“Come on, Bel!” shouted Katie, when she and Becky and Mum realized that they had lost a member of the party. “Look, she’s window-shopping at Silver again.” Silver was absolutely Annabel’s favourite shop. Katie and Becky quite liked it, too, but Annabel would have spent all her pocket money, and all her weekends there, given half a chance. Silver was mostly a clothes shop, but it also sold fab jewellery and lots of makeup – including nail polish, Annabel’s main weakness. Practically her favourite possession was a big, pale pink, circular cardboard box filled with bottles of nail polish, in all colours. Sparkly, scented, glow in the dark – Annabel had them all, plus transfers and nail jewels.
“Bel! We’re going to be late if you don’t come on!” called Becky. “Let’s look on the way home this afternoon.”
Annabel reluctantly dragged herself away from the window of Silver and ran to catch up with her sisters. “Sorry! There’s such a gorgeous dress in the window. I’ll show you later on.”
“OK, Becky, it’s going to have to be quick march past the pet shop – got it?” said Katie, firmly grabbing her sister’s elbow. “We’re not being late on the first morning!”
“Oh, that’s so unfair!” gasped Becky. “All the animals are inside – even I’m not animal-mad enough to want to look at a hamster-cage display for that long.”
“Could have fooled me,” said Mrs Ryan cheerfully.
Katie and Annabel laughed, and Becky grinned. “OK, OK, but you never know. We might get a hamster one of these days. I could really fancy having one of those tiny little Russian ones – they are so cute.”
“Yeah, Orlando and Pixie would love one of those,” added Katie. “Well, maybe one each.” She dodged out of the way as Becky swung a PE bag at her.
They were getting quite close to Manor Hill by this time, and there were lots of other children around, wearing the same uniform of grey trousers or green checked summer dresses. Even though it was September, it was still summer-hot, and none of the girls wanted to wear the stifling grey skirts and white blouses that were the winter uniform. Well, apart from the older-looking girls stalking past and giving all these new little children disgusted looks. They all looked as though they’d never been seen within ten metres of a checked summer dress. Practically everyone had on the dark green sweatshirt with the red Manor Hill badge in the middle.
The uniform meant that for once the triplets were dressed almost identically. They’d never really been keen on dressing in matching clothes, even when they were quite little. Their grandmothers were always sending them three sets of the same outfit (generally pink, and flouncy) and Mrs Ryan would get them to wear it long enough for a few very sulky photos, and that would be it.
Katie, Becky and Annabel were keeping an eye out for any of their friends from their old school – quite a few were coming to Manor Hill, too. They walked past St Anne’s just at the end of the high street. It felt very strange to see all those children going into the playground when the triplets had to walk straight past. They were starting to feel a tiny bit nervous now, and Annabel looked back at their old school and said, “It’s scary. We’ll be the youngest ones, the babies. We knew everybody at St Anne’s and now we’ve got to start all over again.”
“I know what you mean,” Katie answered. “But I think we’ll be OK. Remember our first day at St Anne’s in the reception class? We were all terrified – you cried.”
“I did not! It was Becky!”
“You all did, as far as I can remember,” Mrs Ryan intervened. “But don’t worry, Annabel. Think of it this way – there’ll be some children there who don’t know anybody at all. You three have got each other to rely on. But that doesn’t mean letting Katie do all the work, you two.” Mrs Ryan pointed firmly at Becky and Annabel. “You can all help each other. And then there are all your old friends from St Anne’s, too – you’re really very lucky.”
“I suppose so,” said Annabel. “I do wish it was next week, though. Then we’d have met everybody, and we’d know where things were. I hate having to ask people, it makes me feel so silly.”
“And you think you’ll know how to get everywhere by next week?” Katie asked disbelievingly. “You’ll still be getting lost at the end of term, Bel, you know what you’re like.”
“Yes, all right,” admitted Annabel. “But you know what I mean – by next week we’ll kind of know what’s going on, who the teachers are, and which ones are nice.”
“Our form teacher is new, too, isn’t she, Mum?” asked Becky. “She’ll be just as lost as we are. That’s probably a good thing.” She looked round at the swarms of green and grey going past her. How many people would fit into this new school? Somehow, she suspected that not everyone was feeling lost, either. They didn’t look it, all talking loudly and chasing after each other.
“You three will have to be careful,” warned Mum. “You know some teachers are horrified by the idea of having identical twins in the class – let alone identical triplets. Be on your best behaviour!”
“Yes, Mum,” chorused the triplets, grinning at each other. They liked the idea of being a teacher’s nightmare. Even Becky fe
lt a bit more cheerful as the triplets imagined their new teachers realizing they had three identical girls in nearly identical uniforms to deal with – this would be fun!
“Hmmm. Well, just remember – I don’t want any notes home!”
Three pairs of totally innocent, round blue eyes gazed up at her angelically. “Us?” they seemed to be saying. “Would we?”
Mrs Ryan sighed – after seven weeks of practically non-stop triplets over the summer holidays she had a lot of sympathy for their new school. The staff were in for a shock. Mrs Ryan had a twin sister herself – twins and triplets quite often run in families – and she remembered the mischief that she and her sister Janet had got up to at school.
“Look, we’re nearly there,” said Becky nervously. The triplets and their mother were part of a flood of children now, all heading for the school gates. Becky looked round – no familiar faces. Manor Hill was quite a large school, drawing pupils from a wide area, and to three brand new year sevens it looked like there were thousands of them, all huge.
Suddenly Annabel was waving. “There’s Fiona!” she exclaimed happily.
Fiona was a girl the triplets had known at St Anne’s – they’d quite often walked to school with her, as she only lived a couple of streets away from them. It made all of the triplets feel a bit better to see at least one other person they knew.
“Right, girls. Are you going to be OK if I leave you here?” asked Mrs Ryan, putting down all the bags she’d been carrying.
“Yes!” gulped Katie, and Becky and Annabel nodded.
“Don’t forget – if your teacher gives you any letters to bring home about school trips, or anything like that – I do actually need to see them! I don’t want to find them three weeks later in all the grot at the bottom of your schoolbags. Have a good day. Remember what you do so that you can tell me all about it when you get home. I’ll see you at about four, yes? Come straight home! Bye darlings!” Mrs Ryan gave each of the girls a big hug, and then turned to go.
