by Bentley, Sue
As Lola watched in amazement, streams of tiny sparks like miniature laser beams pinged up and down, polishing the can and punching out a pattern of holes in a pretty design. There was a final flash and crackling noise, and the glittery work was done.
“Wow!” Lola picked up the can, which had been magically transformed into a tiny lantern, complete with looped handle and folded-over sharp edges. “This is perfect. It’s like the ones we saw in that fancy store, only much nicer. No one else will think of this. You’re amazing! Thanks, Storm.” She grinned at him, wide-eyed. “Would it be too much to ask you to make a couple more?
Then I can give them to Mom for her birthday.”
Storm’s little muzzle wrinkled in a smile. “I would be delighted to do that! You are welcome.”
The can lantern was a massive hit with everyone in class when Lola placed it on the display table the next morning. Even Ms. Dobson was impressed. “Well done, Lola. That’s really inventive.”
“Yeah! It’s awesome!” Jaidon enthused, forgetting to be shy for once. “So much better than my pen-holder!”
Lola beamed at Storm, who was sitting invisibly on her desk. She really wished that she could tell everyone that he was the one who made it.
“Lola couldn’t have made that lantern by herself. She’s a cheat!” said an accusing voice.
Lola didn’t need to look around to see who was speaking. She sighed. On this occasion, Carly was right. She’d had help and couldn’t deny it, and if Ms. Dobson agreed with Carly, she and Jaidon were about to lose points!
But an amazing thing happened.
“It’s sensible to get an adult to help sometimes, if you’re making something complicated,” the teacher decided. “I’m going to give Lola and Jaidon’s team extra points for showing initiative.”
“
Yay!” Lola did a little dance of triumph and Jaidon laughed. “Look!” she told him. “We’re neck and neck with Carly, Treena, and Lee! We have a good chance of winning!”
“I wouldn’t bet on it! You’ll have to come up with something outstanding to beat me!” Carly boasted, overhearing.
Jaidon glanced at Lola, the light of battle in his eyes. “That sounds like a challenge to me. What do you think?”
“I’m up for it if you are!” Lola said.
Chapter
*SIX*
Ms. Dobson announced some exciting news at the beginning of the following week.
“As part of our project, we’re taking a field trip to the local recycling center.”
“Sounds like fun!” Lola whispered to Storm. “I love school trips.”
Gru-uff! Storm agreed.
At recess, Lola took Storm for a walk across the playing field. He ran around, happily chasing a butterfly, before throwing himself on to his back and rolling around with all four short legs in the air.
Lola looked up from watching Storm’s funny antics to see Jaidon approaching. He looked like he had something on his mind.
“Hi,” Jaidon said, shuffling his feet. He swallowed and went a bit red. “I was thinking, I mean, I . . . um . . . wondered if you’d like to come over my house sometime? I’ll understand if you don’t want to . . .”
“No! I mean, yes, I’d love to!” Lola hid her surprise. Jaidon Brooks was inviting her to his house? “Maybe we could write up our notes together after Friday’s trip to the recycling center?” she suggested.
A relieved grin spread across Jaidon’s face. “Good thinking. Okay, then. Saturday it is. We can pick you up. Dad has to make some deliveries in town.”
Lola nodded eagerly. They arranged the time and she gave him her address.
The bell rang and kids started to file into school for afternoon classes. Lola, Storm, and Jaidon headed back across the playground together.
When they got into class, Lola sat down at her desk and Storm jumped onto her lap. “Can you believe it?” she whispered to him. “It looks like we’re actually going to see where Jaidon lives. I never thought he’d invite me over, not after those kids at his old school were so horrible to him. He must trust me a little bit.”
Storm yapped agreement. He tilted his little round head and looked up at her with a playful I-told-you-so expression.
Lola spluttered with laughter and then, as Ms. Dobson looked over at her and frowned, quickly turned it into a cough.
Friday dawned bright and clear. Lola was relaxing against the back of her seat as the bus headed toward the recycling center. Storm was leaning up out of the bag on her lap to watch the houses and stores speeding past.
Lola looked across at Jaidon, who was sitting beside her. “This beats being in class, doesn’t it?” she said.
Jaidon nodded. “Sure does.”
Carly, Treena, and Lee were on the bus’s long backseat, directly behind them. Treena and Lee were giggling and talking in whispers. At one point, a cascade of chips came pinging over on to Lola and Jaidon.
“Idiots,” Jaidon grumbled, brushing himself down. He looked pale and tense and Lola wondered if he was starting to remember what it felt like to be bullied. “Just ignore them. They’ll soon get sick of messing around,” she said.
Two minutes later, something landed in her hair and Lola reached up to find that whatever it was, it was stuck fast.
Storm gave an indignant little woof. He leaned up, grasped the sticky candy wrapper in his teeth and gently pulled it out of her hair.
Lola patted him to say thanks.
It went quiet in the backseat for about two minutes and then Lola heard a sloshing sound as a can of soda was being shaken up. An arm appeared round the side of their seat and the ring pull popped, spraying soda in Jaidon’s lap.
Lee peered over their seat.
“Jaidon’s wet himself!” he shouted. Treena cackled with laughter. Jaidon was scarlet. He clenched his fists and looked really upset.
Lola prickled with annoyance on his behalf. Whipping round, she glared at Treena and Lee. “Why don’t you two grow up?”
Lee stuck out his tongue. “Who rattled your cage? Do you want a lemonade shampoo?” He shook the can again, before taking aim.
Lola felt a familiar warm tingling sensation down her spine as bright golden sparks ignited in Storm’s black-and-white fur. She shook her head at Lee slowly. “Big mistake. Huge!”
Storm raised a tiny front paw and a stream of invisible sparks shot toward Lee’s can. A huge fountain of soda backfired into the backseat, to a chorus of squeals and loud yells.
Lola and Jaidon turned around and looked over their seats. Treena, Carly, and Lee sat there with drenched T-shirts and faces.
“You total idiot, Lee! Look at my hair!” Carly wailed, wringing it out with two hands.
“It wasn’t my fault!” Lee cried. “It must have been a damaged can!”
The three of them started arguing.
“That showed them. Thanks, Storm,” Lola said, under the cover of all the noise.
Ms. Dobson made her way to the back of the bus. “What’s going on back here?” she demanded, glaring at the three sticky, soaked kids. “Carly and Treena, come to the front and sit near me.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Carly protested, but she got up with Treena and followed the teacher.
“That was weird,” Jaidon said, looking puzzled. “It looked like about ten gallons of soda shot out of Lee’s can. I don’t get it.”
“Beats me,” Lola said innocently.
Fifteen minutes later, the coach reached the recycling center. Ms. Dobson told everyone to leave their coats and bags on the bus. “You don’t need to carry anything. We’ll come back here to have our lunch.”
Lola realized that she wasn’t going to be able to carry Storm in her book bag. “It might safer if you waited here for me,” she whispered to him.
Storm’s muzzle wrinkled in disappointment. “I would
rather come with you. I will be careful to stay close.”
“Well—okay, then,” Lola said reluctantly, still not convinced that a recycling center was the right place for a lively puppy to be on the loose.
After everyone got off the bus, the manager met them. He explained that this was a “hard-hat area,” and they had to wear special head protection.
Lola liked her red plastic helmet and bright yellow coat. “This is great. I feel like a firefighter or something!”
Storm trotted along at heel, as Lola, Jaidon, and the rest of the class were taken on a tour of the center, passing big heaps of smashed cars, lines of rusty fridges and washing machines, and bins full of broken glass.
Jaidon looked across at a pile of old tires. “My dad’s seen people making shoes out of those. He used to work in East Africa, where they make lots of things out of trash.”
Lola was impressed. “Wow! My dad works in a boring office all day.” She felt pleased to have someone to share stuff like this with.
Storm had paused beside Lola. She could tell by his twitching nose and pricked ears that he was eager to go off exploring. She felt sorry that the trip wasn’t turning out to be much fun for him.
They all trooped inside to watch a video about recycling, and Lola managed to give her impatient little friend a cuddle without anyone seeing. After the video, they were allowed to split into smaller groups and return to the bus for lunch.
Lola and Storm wandered past some tall piles of cardboard boxes. A man driving a forklift truck was moving the tall stacks around. Lola spotted a rabbit sitting on a nearby patch of grass beyond the cardboard area.
Storm saw it at the same time. His stocky little body froze with excitement as he zeroed in on the little brown shape.
“Storm, don’t . . . ,” Lola warned.
But it was too late. After being on his best behavior all morning, Storm couldn’t resist the chance of an exciting chase. With an eager little woof, he tore toward the nearest cardboard tower, just as it wobbled. It was going to fall!
Lola gasped in horror as the stack of cardboard began toppling. Storm hadn’t noticed and was almost beneath it!
Chapter
*SEVEN*
“Hey! Where did that puppy come from?” someone shouted.
Lola realized that, in his excitement, Storm must have forgotten to stay invisible, and now he couldn’t use his magic without giving himself away.
Without a second thought, she raced forward. One step, two steps. Grab! By a complete miracle, Lola scooped Storm up by the scruff of his neck, but she was going too fast to stop. She fell, rolling over and over, while still holding the puppy safely against her body.
There was a loud thud as heavy cardboard crashed to the ground, missing them by inches. As Lola rose her feet, pain shot through her right elbow, but she ignored it and went to sit on the grass with Storm.
“Thank you for saving me, Lola,” Storm woofed, looking subdued as she set him on his feet. “You were very brave.”
“I’m not really. I couldn’t bear anything to happen to you,” Lola said. She winced. Now that Storm was safe, she felt sick and shaky and her arm was hurting like mad.
Storm’s eyes widened with concern. “You are hurt. I will make you better,” he woofed.
There were shouts of alarm and the sound of people running toward Lola and Storm, who were still hidden from everyone by the collapsed cardboard tower.
Lola felt a familiar tingling sensation as Storm huffed out a warm puppy breath of tiny gold sparkles. The glittering mist gently swirled around Lola’s sore arm, sinking into it, and she felt the pain fade away completely.
“Thanks, Storm. That was awesome. I’m fine now,” she whispered. She stood up and walked back around the heap of cardboard. “Uh-oh,” she breathed as Ms. Dobson rushed up to her.
The teacher looked pale and shaken. “You silly girl! Whatever did you think you were doing running after that stray dog? Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m . . . um . . . fine,” Lola said soberly. “Sorry, ma’am.”
Her heart sank as she realized that she was in serious trouble. She’d probably get double detention and extra homework for a year. But when she glanced at Storm, who stood there with his big blue eyes looking up at her, she knew that she would have done the same thing all over again.
Before everyone went home on Friday, Ms. Dobson explained that the competition would be judged on Monday. “So you have the weekend to think about bringing one final thing in to school. Try to make it something unusual. There’ll be extra points for originality.”
“I’ve already got a great idea!” Carly said, looking smug.
Lola rolled her eyes at Jaidon. “Trust her!”
He grinned back. As they shared the moment, Lola realized that she and Jaidon were actually turning out to be a pretty good team.
Unfortunately Lola had been right about the detention. She sat in the empty classroom after everyone else had left for home, finishing the extra work Ms. Dobson assigned her. Luckily, Lola had Storm with her, so she didn’t feel quite so bad.
“Can you believe that she’s docked points from my team as well?” Lola complained. “That’s put Carly, Lee, and Treena back in the lead again.”
“I am sorry that you are being punished because of me,” Storm yapped.
“It’s not your fault,” Lola said, smiling fondly at him. He looked so cute with his little fringe falling over his eyes. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I’ll make sure that you’re safe here forever!”
Storm’s face became very serious. “I can’t stay here forever, Lola. One day I will have to return to my home world and the Moon-claw pack. I hope you understand.”
“I guess so,” Lola murmured, realizing that she’d never be ready to lose her little friend.
Ms. Dobson came in to tell her that she could go home. Lola packed her school books and left quickly. She decided not to think about Storm having to leave and to enjoy every single moment with him.
Lola was ready and waiting on Saturday morning, when a brightly decorated van drew up outside. The sliding door opened, and Jaidon jumped out.
“He’s here! Come on, Storm!” she called.
She said her good-byes to her mom and dad, before racing downstairs and going outside. For a moment she felt embarrassed by the graffiti on the walls and the scruffy paths and lawns littered with trash.
But Jaidon greeted her with a grin and didn’t seem to have noticed, so Lola pushed her worries aside. Jaidon’s not like Carly, she reminded herself silently.
“Hi! I like your van!” Lola said, admiring the painted rainbow, swirls of leaves and sunflowers, and the big smiling sun face.
“Thanks.” Jaidon smiled.
“Hello, Mr. Brooks. Pleased to meet you,” Lola said politely.
“The pleasure’s all mine. And call me Piper. Everyone does.” Jaidon’s dad had a tanned face and longish fair hair. His blue eyes crinkled when he smiled, which also revealed a chipped front tooth.
“Why do they call you that?” Lola asked, before she could stop herself. She hoped that hadn’t sounded rude.
Piper didn’t mind. He fished a bamboo panpipe from his pocket and played a few lilting notes. “See? I’m a piper.”
Lola climbed into the backseat and sat with her bag, with Storm inside, on her lap. Jaidon was quiet and seemed tense as they drove through the busy downtown and then headed toward the quieter roads on the outskirts. After another ten minutes, a long wall, with cast-iron gates set between stone pillars, came into view. Piper steered the van through the open gates.
Lola saw a large sign. It read:
Welcome to the Sunlight
Peace Community
“I wonder why we’ve stopped here. Maybe Piper has to make another delivery,” she whispered to Storm, remembering what Jaidon had sai
d about his dad delivering fruit and vegetables to people.
They stopped in front of a huge redbrick house. It had an imposing stone porch and a round tower at one end. Wide paths divided the well-kept lawns and neat flower beds. Lola could see people working in the grounds; others were sitting on the grass relaxing. It looked like they all lived here.
As they got out of the van, Piper flashed Lola and Jaidon a smile. “I’ve things to do, so I’ll see you two later.” He turned to Lola. “You should feel highly honored, you know. Jaidon hasn’t invited anyone home in ages.” He strolled away toward the large house.
Lola turned to Jaidon. “Home? It’s a joke, right? You can’t live here?” she said, gaping in astonishment.
Jaidon’s face clouded. “I knew it was a mistake to bring you here,” he said in a hurt voice. “You’re going to make fun of me now, just like those other kids!” Tears glinted in his eyes as he spun on his heel and marched away.
Chapter
*EIGHT*
“Hey! Wait!” Lola called. She hurried after Jaidon with Storm running by her side. Jaidon didn’t wait for her or slow down. Lola had to walk fast to keep up with him.
“This is me, remember? I’m not making fun of anyone,” she exclaimed. “All I meant was that I’ve been thinking that you lived on some little farm or something. This place’s awesome.”
Jaidon stopped and turned to face her. “Really? You don’t think I’m strange because I live in a Peace Community?”
Lola shook her head. “No! Why should I? It just makes you interesting and different. Do you care that I live in a messy neighborhood?”
