The Wizard in the Woods

by Louie Stowell

  They reached the egg and crowded round it. Kit thought she heard something. A tap-tap-tapping sound.

  It was coming from inside the egg.

  “Is it going to hatch right now?” she asked, feeling a fizz of both magic and excitement flowing through her.

  “Not yet,” said Faith. She pulled out her thaumometer and held up the flute-like magical device, like someone using their wet finger to test the direction of the wind. The gem at its end glowed purple. “Tomorrow!” she said, with satisfaction. “Just in time for the opening of the library. The hatching energy will give the wood an extra boost of growth to get it going, so next time you’re down here – or rather, up there,” she pointed above their heads, up to the new book wood, “you’ll see so many trees. Unless you’re lucky enough to be down here exactly when it hatches.

  “Now … time to go home. School tomorrow!”

  School … Kit thought … and a brand-new baby dragon.

  She knew which one she was more excited about.

  “Phew, we made it here before everyone else!” said Josh. They’d gathered in the library before school to go and visit the dragon egg.

  “I’m not sure anyone else was making a bolt for the library on the first day of school,” said Kit.

  “Well, everyone else SHOULD rush here,” sniffed Josh. “It’s where the books are!”

  “But the playground is where the climbing frame is,” Kit pointed out.

  “Shh! We’re not alone,” said Alita. She nudged Kit in the right direction.

  A man was sitting behind the desk at the back of the library, with his head in a big book. The three children approached him. He was skinny and white, with a lot of dark brown hair sticking up in all directions, and blue eyes behind square-framed glasses. He wore a tweed jacket with elbow patches over a T-shirt that said ANARCHY, and bright green skinny trousers.

  “Hello?” said Kit, trying to get his attention.

  He looked up with a start, almost dropping his book. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you there. Deep in this.” He held up the book. It was the first Danny Fandango.

  “Ooh where are you up to?” asked Josh.

  “I just met Lara Fandango’s pet fox!” he said. “Now I want a pet fox.”

  “Me too!” said Alita. “Actually I want lots of pet foxes. Especially talking ones.”

  The man smiled, then turned his gaze to Kit. His blue eyes were intense behind his glasses. “So. Are you the young wizard I’ve heard so much about?”

  “Shhh!” said Josh. “We’re not supposed to say the W word in public!” He glanced around nervously, eyeing a couple of younger boys who’d just come into the library and had made a beeline for a few of the lower shelves. Luckily they were out of earshot.

  “Sorry!” said the man. “I’m not used to this cloak and dagger stuff. Literally, I haven’t worn my cloak in years. I’ve been away…”

  “Living on a distant Scottish island?” asked Kit. “And is your name…” She put her fingers to her head, as though working magic. “Ben Picarda?”

  “How did you know?” asked the man. He blinked, looking impressed.

  “I’m a mighty wizard,” said Kit in a mysterious whisper.

  “Also, Faith told her,” added Josh.

  “Spoilsport,” said Kit.

  Ben laughed. “Yes, I’m Ben. And you must be Kit … and Alita and Josh?”

  “Did the Wizards’ Council tell you about us?” asked Alita, nervously playing with one of her thick dark brown plaits..

  Ben shook his head. “Oh no, I’m too lowly a wizard for them to tell me much. Faith did. She called me on the duradar when she heard I was coming. She said you’re both very clever and capable, and I should trust you.”

  Alita and Josh looked pleased.

  “What did she say about me?” asked Kit.

  “That you like fireballs, and that you have the potential to be a great wizard, as long as you don’t blow yourself up first,” said Ben.

  Kit was going to object, but then she realised that it was a fair summary.

  “Welcome to our library,” said Alita.

  “Apparently we have your mum to thank for it existing?” said Ben.

  Alita smiled shyly. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s magnificent!” he said. “I only got here a couple of minutes ago, so I haven’t even had a chance to go downstairs yet to where the real magic happens.”

  “We can show you the book wood if you like?” said Alita, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement.

  “Please!” said Ben. “Can’t wait to meet the new dragon. I wonder if it’s hatched yet? Though, can I confess something? I don’t have any experience with real, live dragon care, so I’m a little bit nervous.”

  “That’s OK. Alita’s really great with dragons,” said Kit. “All animals, actually!”

  “Brilliant!” said Ben. “Lead the way!”

  “I’m very good with books!” said Josh, following on as Kit and Alita led Ben to the stacks.

  “Vitally important!” said Ben, hanging back so that Josh wasn’t on his own.

  As they walked down through the tunnel, into the book wood, Ben kept stopping to look around him, by the light of a magical flame Kit had conjured. “I haven’t actually been in a proper library for so long! While I was on the island, I had books but no library. Oh, I’ve missed this. The smell. The feel of the air. The rustle of the pages…”

  Kit looked up to see him beaming in the dim light. “Brilliant!” he breathed again. “I can just feel the magic tingling!”

  “It’s nice, isn’t it?” said Kit shyly.

  Soon they were in the centre of the book wood. It had grown since yesterday, with the smaller saplings they’d seen then now turned into trees.

  “Let’s go and see if the baby’s hatched!” said Alita.

  They descended the stairs, chatting as they went.

  “What was it like living on an island?” asked Alita. “Were there cool animals?”

  “What type of magic were you working?” asked Josh. “Did you turn into animals?”

  “Yes, and I can tell you ALL about it,” said Ben. “But I think it’s probably not a good idea to take notes while you’re walking downstairs. Call me an ancient adult killjoy but that’s the way necks get broken.”

  Josh put away his notebook.

  “Later, I promise!” said Ben with a grin. “It’s so exciting to be able to share ideas with you. We have SO much ahead! Kit, I have so many spells to teach you.”

  Kit felt her heart swell with possibilities.

  All of a sudden, Dogon came barrelling through the air towards them. He landed on Alita’s shoulder and started whining.

  “Shhh,” said Alita. “I’ll give you a treat soon.”

  That didn’t stop Dogon. In fact, he only whined louder.

  “He really wants that treat!” said Ben, laughing.

  Just then, they reached the bottom and entered the dragon’s lair, through double doors patterned with tiny scales.

  As the light glinted from the mound of treasure in the centre of the room, Kit realised that something was wrong.

  Vey wrong.

  The dragon egg was gone.

  Kit felt her stomach drop. What had happened to the egg? Could someone have taken it? Unless … maybe Ben had moved it? But her hopes were dashed as soon as she saw his expression of utter horror.

  “Oh no!” said Ben. He started to pace. “This can’t be happening. I should have come down earlier. I shouldn’t have waited. This is all my fault. I’ve failed in the most important part of my job as a wizard. On the first day, I’ve lost the dragon.”

  “Don’t worry! We’ll find it!” said Kit, trying to sound much more confident than she felt.

  “Yes,” said Josh. “Let’s go and get Faith!”

  That made Ben look even more upset.

  “You’re probably right,” he said, and pulled a glass globe out of his pocket. It was a duradar. “I’ll call her.”

  W
hen Faith answered the magical phone, Ben told her what had happened. All she said was, “I’m coming. Wait there.”

  By the time Faith arrived, it was almost time for the children to go to class.

  “Kit – Josh – Alita – are you all right?”

  They nodded.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Ben. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. They got stuck in a tangle, and he shook his head to free himself. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  Faith came over and gave him a hug. “You always did tend to lose things. Remember when you managed to lose the cat, back in our Academy flat? And it turned out to be under your bed, because you forgot you left some fish and chips under there.”

  That made Ben laugh for a moment. “Oh yeah. Bosie did like fish and chips.”

  “Kit, Alita, Josh, go back to class. Come back at lunch and we can see where we’ve got to,” commanded Faith. “Ben and I will start investigating.”

  “But I want to help!” said Kit.

  “Class!” Faith gave her The Look, and Kit scurried away upstairs.

  “Am I … going to get fired?” Kit heard Ben whisper to Faith, as Faith shooed them back up to the school.

  “We’ll work this out somehow,” said Faith. “It’s going to be OK.”

  But, as Kit looked back over her shoulder, Ben didn’t look OK. He looked like someone who thought it was never going to be OK again.

  Lessons went painfully slowly before lunch. Even Josh and Alita, who usually loved maths, agreed.

  “You haven’t accidentally done a time-slowing spell, have you?” whispered Josh, as Kit copied his answers.

  “I wish I could do that,” said Kit. “But no. If I could, I’d be doing a fast-forward spell right now!”

  After what felt like nine hours, the lunch bell went. Alita and Josh rushed to the library, while Kit grabbed her lunch. This was an emergency, but there was no way she was dealing with an emergency on an empty stomach. After gulping down her peanut butter sandwiches, she joined them all down in the book wood.

  A desk was now set up in the wood, surrounded by chairs that looked like they’d been pinched from the school cupboard. On the table were piles of books.

  “Sorry it’s not much,” said Ben. “I was going to make a proper common room when the book wood had grown more. But, without the dragon…” He tailed off, looking ashamed.

  “It’s plenty for now,” said Faith. “Kit, we were starting to do some research to see who or what might have taken the egg. You three can take over. Ben and I will go and do some investigating out in the world.”

  “Why can’t I do investigating out in the world?” asked Kit, looking in despair at the huge pile of books.

  “Because it’s a school day, and you have to be back to lessons in forty-five minutes!” said Faith. “But we’ll see you after school, down here, right?”

  Josh and Alita, already deep into books, didn’t answer. Kit nodded.

  “Are you sure we can’t let them skip school this once?” asked Ben.

  Faith gave him a Look.

  “Point taken,” said Ben “Happy researching! We’ll see you later!”

  Kit picked up a book on dragon eggs. Alita had one about Dark Magic spells and Josh was deep in a volume called USES OF MAGICAL EGGS OF DIVERSE KINDS.

  Kit’s own book didn’t make for fun reading. She read about monsters that ate dragon eggs, and about a time when a dragon egg cracked and blew up a building. I can’t believe this book is making me hate reading about explosions, she thought glumly. Normally, when it came to joyful reading experiences, explosions were up there with car chases and people falling in poo as far as Kit was concerned.

  Josh was meanwhile furiously taking notes. Kit peered over his shoulder.

  Apparently one evil wizard collected dragon eggs in the past, stopping them from hatching using a spell, and hoarding them so he could use their power one day, if he needed to. Like how my cousin keeps all his action figures in their boxes and won’t play with them. But evil.

  Suddenly Alita gasped and looked up from her book. “Oh no! I just read that if you use a particular spell, you could use the power of a dragon egg to basically wipe out life on Earth. The eggs are even more powerful for some spells than living dragons!”

  “Well, that’s incredibly terrifying,” said Josh.

  “Maybe it’s just a weird collector like in Josh’s book,” said Kit quickly.

  There was a buzzing sound – the school bell. Alita and Josh started packing up. “We could just stay down here,” said Kit. “Faith and Ben would never know.”

  But there was another buzzing sound. This time it was coming from Kit’s pocket. She reached inside, and pulled out something she hadn’t noticed was in there. A small square of what looked like paper. It was vibrating. The paper said: “Get to lessons. This paper will keep buzzing in a really annoying way until you do. Love, Faith.”

  Kit sighed and put the paper back in her pocket. “That was sneaky of her,” she said, but she headed up towards school anyway. Apparently there was no escaping the watchful eye of Faith.

  After school, Kit, Alita, Josh, Ben and Faith gathered in the book wood underneath the public library, down in the common room, which sat nestled in a tree. It was very cosy with its battered armchairs, and Faith had brought some ginger cake for them to eat as they plotted.

  “I’ve been asking around,” said Faith. “A wizard I know saw some hooded figures in the cemetery, near the abandoned church. He walks his dog that way, and he thought he overheard something that might be a spell. I went to check, and there was no one there, but my thaumometer showed traces of past spells that mean someone’s been doing a lot of magic there. Dark Magic,” she added. “What did you find, Ben?”

  “Nothing so far,” said Ben glumly. “Maybe we should all do some more research?”

  “I think we should all go and check out the cemetery,” said Kit.

  “You just don’t want to do any more research,” accused Josh.

  “No, I don’t just not want to do any more research. I don’t want to do any more research AND I think we should check out the cemetery. They might come back! Or we might find clues!”

  “Maybe it’s worth a try,” said Faith. “Everyone could use some air. And you might spot something I missed.”

  “I think we should stay at the cemetery until they come back!” suggested Kit.

  “So, like a stake-out?” asked Josh. He’d been sneakily reading a detective novel in art class. “We should have a flask of coffee if it is. I don’t like coffee, but I don’t make the rules of detective novels.”

  Faith brought out a flask. “No coffee, but here’s some chocolate tea. I think we can bend the rules to have something we actually want to drink.”

  Josh took it eagerly.

  At the cemetery, they headed for the abandoned church, and settled down to wait.

  And wait

  And wait.

  No one turned up except a couple of joggers.

  “Unless that man’s doing a spell to make his face as red as a tomato, I don’t think he’s a wizard,” said Josh, disappointed.

  “While we wait, tell us what you found out during your lunchtime research,” said Ben.

  “I found out that Faith bugged my pocket with a magic piece of paper,” said Kit.

  Faith smiled. “My motto is trust, but also verify.”

  “We also found out that some monsters eat dragon eggs. So maybe there’s a monster in the school?” asked Kit.

  “All the monsters I’ve met so far have been nice,” said Alita. “Lizzy was lovely!”

  “Those mermaids weren’t very nice. Or the Dragon Masters,” said Josh. “Although I don’t know if mermaids are monsters, technically.”

  “Monster isn’t a technical term,” said Alita, playing with her plaits, thoughtfully. “It’s just a thing humans say about creatures they don’t like.”

  “Very true,” said Ben. “After all, some people call dragons m
onsters, and…” He made a sweeping gesture. “Well, you know the truth about dragons. Dragons are amazing and wonderful—”

  “It’s not a monster, I don’t think,” said Faith, interrupting Ben, who looked like he was going to go off on a long speech about the amazingness of dragons. “I searched the book wood, and the rest of the school, and there were no traces of wild magic that didn’t come from the dragon egg itself. We’re pretty sure it must have been a human wizard. Or wizards…”

  She trailed off suddenly, looking around at the trees and the graves nearby. “Kit, Ben … did you feel something?”

  Ben shook his head. “Kit, can you?”

  Kit focused her mind. “There’s … something. I can’t quite tell. It’s like something’s blocking me. Like I can’t see clearly…”

  “It’s a spell, isn’t it?” said Josh. He glanced around. “Where’s the wizard, do you think?”

  Faith pulled out her thaumometer, holding it up to the air. “I have this programmed to recognise my, Kit’s and Ben’s magic, so it will be able to spot any other spellwork nearby.”

  She waved it around. The closer she pointed it to the empty chapel, the more it glowed. Faith frowned. “Hmm, I’m getting very confused readings. The thaumometer thinks there’s a spell being cast right in front of us!”

  They all turned to stare at the empty chapel, then back at the glowing thaumometer.

  “There isn’t anyone there,” Josh whispered.

  “Let me try mine,” said Ben. He pulled out another thaumometer, which was like Faith’s but had an extra gem. “I made some modifications while I was on the island, to detect more distant magic. I have a theory…” He held up the device in the air, and a moment later both gems glowed, then flashed. “Oh!” said Ben. He turned to Faith and Kit. “It’s an echo. The magic isn’t actually here! It’s in another part of the cemetery, and there’s a spell bouncing it here to put us off the scent.”