“Wouldn’t you think she’d give up now?” I asked hopefully.
“Wishful thinking, Rupert,” Miss Switch replied. “But the really bad news is that we’re not going to be given any free hints from computowitch.com, at least not this time.”
“So what do we do, Miss Switch?” I asked.
“Not we, I, Rupert,” she said. “I’ll be making a little trip to Witch’s Mountain … to Saturna’s lair.”
“You … you mean you’re just going to drop in on them?” I stammered.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Rupert. She happens to have this interesting little opening in the roof of her cave. Skylight, she calls it. I’ll just park up there and listen in. Furthermore, I might have the golden opportunity to …” Miss Switch’s eyes narrowed.
“To what, Miss Switch?” I asked.
“Never mind, Rupert,” she replied. “It’s a long shot. I don’t care to talk about it.”
“Wouldn’t … wouldn’t you like company?” I asked. “I mean, you might need some help, Miss Switch. It’s not like I’ve never been there before. And I was pretty useful the last time, if you recall.”
“All right, Rupert,” she agreed at last. “You can ride along.”
“Thanks, Miss Switch,” I said. “When do we leave?”
“At full of moon, of course,” she replied. “Tomorrow night.”
“Is witch’s noon what I think it is, Miss Switch?” I asked.
“Naturally,” she replied, “midnight, what else?”
“Will you have to take along any … um … witch’s aids?” I asked.
“Oh, absolutely!” Miss Switch said. “Just in case.”
“You mean in case of the golden opportunity, Miss Switch?” I asked.
“Precisely!” she replied.
“There’s one more thing, Miss Switch,” I said. “You don’t suppose we could, well, pick Spook up and take her with us, do you? She’d go batty if she ever found out I’d been back to Witch’s Mountain without her.”
Miss Switch rubbed her chin again. “What do you think, cat?”
“I think definitely why not,” replied Bathsheba. “I really like good old Amelia.”
“All right, then, that’s settled,” said Miss Switch. “You know how to get to her house, I presume, Rupert?”
“Not by broomstick, Miss Switch,” I had to admit.
“You do know her address, don’t you?” inquired Miss Switch.
“Oh, sure!” I said.
“Then we’ll find it,” said Miss Switch.
“But shouldn’t we let Spook know we’re coming?” I asked. “We can’t just show up outside her window. I could send her an e-mail.”
“On what, Rupert?” inquired Miss Switch.
I hadn’t thought about that. My computer was still out of order, and using a school computer was not the cleverest idea.
“I’ll borrow my father’s! And I’ll be careful,” I said. “No key words to give Saturna any ideas … um … just in case.”
“All right, then. Do it!” she said. “But, Rupert, please remember to tell Amelia not to forget to bring her earmuffs!”
17
Together at Last!
The next day really dragged. Twice when Miss Blossom asked me a question, I didn’t even hear her. She reminded me, sweetly of course, that if I didn’t pay attention I’d be warming my desk in Room Twelve the rest of my life. There were times when I wished Miss Blossom would forget that she was a teacher, and keep her mind on being a witch.
I had sneaked down to my father’s home office in the basement when I got home the night before to e-mail Spook. As promised, I was very careful about what 1 wrote. I was also careful to delete the letter as soon as I’d sent it, so that my father wouldn’t find it.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Your availability for midnight phenomenon
Will you be at home and free tonight? If you are still awake at midnight, take a look out your window. A certain phenomenon will be occurring there that will interest you. I suggest you have your earmuffs handy. a reply is necessary soonest. But send it to the above e-mail address, not mine. My computer has crashed.
Broomstick
I sneaked back down to the basement before I left for school in the morning, and already had a reply.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Message Understood—earmuffs ready
Got your message. I’ll be at my window studying the phenomenon you wrote about. I’ll have handy the equipment you recommended. Sounds exciting. Can’t wait.
Spook
Now all I had to do was make it through the day. Of course, I had to have a talk with the pets about where I was going, and why. I pointed out to Fred that, hero though he was, I didn’t want to put my hand in my pocket on this trip and find something warm and feathery in there.
The minutes crawled by that evening, but at last midnight came. It was a sensational night for a broomstick flight. A gazillion stars twinkled. The moon dangled from the sky like a big silver Christmas ball. It was too bad we weren’t just going sailing on a broomstick cruise instead of on a trip to Witch’s Mountain, with who knew what at the other end. But I tried not to think about that.
The hands on my desk clock hit twelve exactly when Miss Switch arrived at my window with Bathsheba. I knew she had a lot on her mind, but she still managed to smile and wave to my pets through the window before I climbed onto the broomstick. Then we zoomed off into the night.
Spook’s house was dark when we got there, except for one upstairs window where we saw the beam from a flashlight. Miss Switch circled the house, anyway, just to be sure there was no one else up. When we stopped at her window, Spook was right there waiting for us. She waved her earmuffs at us as we glided up to the window.
It was quite a reunion. I don’t know whether Spook was happier to see Miss Switch, or Miss Switch to see her. Of course, with Miss Switch you have to know what to look for when it comes to showing feelings like that. Also, I might have been mistaken, but I actually thought I heard Bathsheba purring. As for Spook and yours truly, I guess you’d have to say we were pretty pleased to see each other, too.
Spook really was excited. “I want to hear everything!” she said.
“Climb on then, Amelia,” said Miss Switch. “Rupert can tell you ‘everything’ on the way.”
I moved back on the broomstick, closer to Bathsheba, so Spook could get on ahead of me. I didn’t want to have a busted neck trying to talk to her over my shoulder. There was a lot to tell, and even though I was racing through it, I had just barely finished when suddenly I realized the cruise weather had ended.
The air rushing past us was now icy cold, and we had to put on our earmuffs. The night had grown darker, too; there wasn’t a twinkling star in sight. Mist began to swirl around us. We could still see the moon, but it had become a cold, menacing ball of ice. Spook began to shiver, and so did I. We were both tense, barely breathing, as the dark, silent, deadly Witch’s Mountain rose ahead of us.
I thought for a moment Miss Switch was going to zoom into it. But she knew right where she was headed. It was toward a kind of add-on tunnel jutting out about halfway up the mountain. As we drew close to it, I could see that there were three broomsticks parked in front of the entrance. But Miss Switch flew right past them and landed our broomstick behind a rock a little farther up the mountain. We all climbed off, and she motioned to us to follow her.
Moments later we had reached an opening at the top of the tunnel. I guessed it was the skylight Miss Switch had told me about. She put a finger to her lips, then kneeled down and peered cautiously through the opening, motioning us to do the same. Saturna and Grodork were down there in their long black witch and warlock outfits, of course. But Miss Tuna was there as well. Miss Switch had figured that one right!
Then Saturna started to speak. Her needle-sharp voice carried up the skylight to us. “So now, here
we are. I can’t believe what has happened. I thought, Neptuna, when I sent you and your great brain to that blasted school with Grodork as your cover, you’d be able to accomplish something. But you’re no more than a lovesick idiot whose brains have turned to porridge. Allowing him to talk you into his brilliant twisted tongue bewitchment! I wanted the sixth grade and that boy gone, but all you did was give them a good time. And my great shrinking bewitchment’s gone down the drain. Now what, I ask you, now what?”
“But … but,” stammered Neptuna, “I did get the bewitchments right. Even if one didn’t please you, they did go just the way they were designed to go. I don’t know why they ended up going backward.”
“Well, all I can think is that you must have done something wrong,” snapped Saturna. “Added some ingredient that wasn’t intended. You did use a clean pot for the shrinking bewitchment, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes!” cried Neptuna.
“It almost sounds as if someone was around to perform an unbewitchment,” Saturna snarled. “You’re absolutely certain that hag Sabbatina Switch wasn’t around anywhere? She couldn’t be masquerading as that ridiculous Miss Blossom you told me about, could she?”
Grodork finally came to life. “Nobody would look like that if they didn’t have to.”
“But don’t think it’s all over yet,” Saturna said. “I have another bewitchment worked out. It’s almost foolproof. I called you here because the instructions are complicated and I have to give you the necessary ingredients. Now come over here to my supply cupboard, Neptuna, while I explain it to you. I don’t know what good it will do, but you can listen in if you wish, Grodork.”
The three of them walked over to an enormous black cupboard farther back in the tunnel, aka Saturna’s lair. Her voice could no longer be heard clearly through the skylight. A bewitchment that we couldn’t hear, and would never get over computowitch.com. This was bad news.
We couldn’t hear anything by eavesdropping at the skylight, at least nothing that gave any clues as to what Saturna was planning for the sixth grade, and of course, me. After they had finished their business, Saturna, Grodork, and Neptuna returned to within earshot. Then Saturna ushered them to the front door, told them to get back to Pepperdine ASAP, and warned Neptuna that she’d better get things right this time.
“Aren’t you coming with us?” Grodork asked.
“What on earth for?” snapped Saturna. “You don’t need me to help you find your way back, do you?”
“N-N-N-No,” quavered Neptuna. “We can manage.”
“Well, I hope you can also manage to get the next bewitchment right and not botch one of the best ones I have. I’m fed up with the two of you,” snarled Saturna.
This was all looking pretty bad to me. One of Saturna’s best bewitchments, and we had no idea what it was. But to my surprise there was a thin smile materializing on Miss Switch’s face.
“Perfect!” she muttered to herself. “She’s not going with them. Just what I’d hoped. My golden opportunity!”
I could see from her wide eyes that Spook had heard this, too. But we just exchanged glances and shrugged. Miss Switch had a plan, and we could only hope it worked. After all, we knew that even witches made boo-boo’s. This had better not be one of Miss Switch’s finest!
“Quick!” Miss Switch hissed at us. “Back to the broomstick!”
We crept hurriedly back to the place behind the rock where the broomstick was parked. Peering over the rock, we saw Grodork and Neptuna take off on their broomsticks. But Miss Switch waited a few more moments.
“I want to be sure Saturna isn’t standing there doing anything cozy like waving them off,” she informed us. Then she said that she wanted me sitting directly behind her on the ride back. No explanations. We all climbed on the broomstick. She put it in full throttle, and we zoomed off behind Grodork and Neptuna.
Now, this is something everyone probably knows, but I feel I should remind you that a broomstick in flight makes absolutely no sound at all. And, of course, broomsticks don’t come equipped with rearview mirrors. So as neither Grodork nor Neptuna had any reason to suspect someone was pursuing them, they weren’t bothering to look behind themselves.
“And Grodork is flying behind Neptuna … perfect!” said Miss Switch. “It’s just as I thought it would be. She has to lead him, otherwise he’d probably get lost. But now, Rupert, I’m going to have to give all my attention to maneuvering the broomstick, so I’ll need your help.”
“I … I’ll do whatever I can,” I said. “Give it to me, Miss Switch.”
“All right, then,” she replied. “What I’m going to do now is circle around and cross right over close behind Grodork’s back. Very close. His brain is so overworked following Neptuna, he’ll never notice.”
“Where do I fit in?” I asked nervously. Was Miss Switch going to have me climb on Grodork’s broomstick and wrestle him off it? Was Miss Switch forgetting I was just a skinny, eleven-year-old kid?
But Miss Switch had something else in mind. “Where you fit in, Rupert, has to do with this little bottle,” she replied, pulling it from her pocket. “As soon as I approach Grodork, I’ll pull out the stopper and hand you the bottle. When his back is right next to you, you’re to reach out and pour the contents of the bottle on him. Do you think you can manage that?”
“I … I guess so,” I said.
“But one thing I must warn you about, Rupert,” she replied. “Don’t get a single drop on yourself or Amelia. Be very careful!”
“What could happen if I did?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know, Rupert. Just do it!” Miss Switch ordered.
I have to say that this reply was not too calming on the nerves. Was it too late to get out of it?
But Miss Switch had already begun to describe a wide circle, and was pulling the stopper from the bottle and heading right for Grodork. I felt the bottle being thrust into my hand, and then there we were, right next to Grodork’s back! Grodork the warlock, mind you … not Mr. Dorking, Pepperdine’s beloved principal! My hand was shaking, but I managed to reach out and empty the whole bottle on him. Miss Switch was right, as usual. He never even turned his head as we streaked away. Furthermore, I didn’t get a drop on Spook or me, which was a very good thing, as I came to find out. Poison might have been preferable to what could have happened to us.
“What shall I do with the bottle, Miss Switch?” I asked as we circled around again and came up behind Grodork. I certainly didn’t want to hang on to it if a remaining drop might spill on Spook or me.
“Toss it, Rupert,” Miss Switch replied. “And watch, look, and listen. Something should be happening right about … now!”
The words had no sooner blown past our ears and into the night air, than we heard Grodork calling out.
“Neptuna! Neptuna!”
“You called?” Neptuna shouted back.
“I did! Oh, you dearest, darling, beautiful creature!” cried Grodork.
“Were you … you weren’t by any chance referring to me, were you?” shouted Neptuna.
“I was! I am!” moaned Grodork.
Neptuna did such an immediate about-turn that if she’d been in a car you would have heard the tires squeal. It’s a wonder she didn’t see us hovering in the background, but her eyes were too glued on Grodork to see anything else. She did another turn and ended up flying right beside him.
“When did all this happen?” she asked breathlessly.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I was just zipping along behind you when all of a sudden it struck me that I can’t live without you.”
“M-M-Me? Really?” Neptuna asked. Her broomstick was wobbling so badly, I was certain she was going to fall off.
“Yes, you, my precious!” groaned Grodork. “You must come away with me now to my place. There, my pet, we will live happily forever and ever and ever and—”
“But … but what about Pepperdine?” Neptuna interrupted. “And what about Saturna?”
“Oh,
poop on Pepperdine!” said Grodork. “And poop on Saturna! She can find someone else to do her work for her. Why should we care when we have each other? Just think, my lovely, you’ll be mine to look after forever and ever and ever and—”
“I … I rather thought I’d be looking after you,” Neptuna interrupted again.
“Well, that too,” said Grodork. “I was hoping you might mention it. Oh, but how I wish we were on the same broomstick together at this very moment. You wouldn’t like to climb aboard mine, would you, my lovely?”
“I would, you gorgeous man!” Neptuna exclaimed rapturously. “But what would I do with my broomstick? We’ll need it, won’t we?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” replied the gorgeous man.
“And … and who’s going to tell Saturna?” asked Neptuna.
“She’ll find out from someone or other,” replied Grodork. “But come, my sweet, let us sail off into the sunset now, together.”
“That’s the moon, Grodork, dear,” said Neptuna.
“Why, so it is,” he replied.
And so the two lovebirds flew off into the sunset. Or moonset. Or whatever.
“Will they live happily ever after, Miss Switch?” I asked.
“I certainly hope so,” she replied. “I’m not one to hold a grudge. The bewitchment I performed on Grodork is an extremely powerful one, and almost impossible to unbewitch. Neptuna, of course, was bewitched on her own and didn’t need any help.”
“Could you explain how it all happened, Miss Switch?” Spook asked.
“As soon as I find a place to park, I’ll explain,” said Miss Switch.
“How about the monkey bars at Pepperdine, Miss Switch?” I suggested, trying to be funny
“Hmmm,” was all she replied.
“Bathsheba, it was a good one tonight, wasn’t it?” she said. Then she threw back her head and howled at the moon with laughter.
“Brow-ow-owl!” Bathsheba howled right along with her.
Miss Switch Online Page 10
