by Sally Prue
‘She wants us to be ordinary,’ said Anil, sadly. ‘Ordinary and boring and just like everybody else.’
The red-haired man snorted.
‘You mean Mrs Knowall wants to make this a place where all the children are squeezed into the same shape, so the fat ones can’t breathe and the thin ones rattle?’
Anil nodded sadly.
The red-haired man seemed to swell a little.
‘Well, we’ll soon see about that,’ he said.
He marched over to where Mrs Knowall lay on the ground surrounded by the rest of Class Six.
‘Let me through!’ he ordered. ‘I’ve come to take her away!’
Class Six looked at each other.
Serise stepped aside with a be-my-guest gesture, but the others didn’t budge. The red-haired man looked from one to the other of them in amazement.
‘Don’t you want her taken away?’ he asked.
‘That would be very kind,’ admitted Winsome. ‘But...’
‘It would make Mrs Knowall cross,’ said Emily, sadly.
‘She’d go and tell Mr Ogersby,’ said Jack.
‘And that would be the end of everything,’ said Slacker, gloomily.
The red-haired man gave a jolly laugh and pulled off his gloves to reveal hands covered in fur. Then he pulled his scarf from his face to show a great thrusting jaw and some sharp fangs.
Emily clapped a hand to her mouth.
‘An ogre!’ she squeaked.
The red-haired man smiled at her indulgently.
‘An ogre?’ he echoed. ‘No, my dear child, I’m not an ogre. I’m the ogre!’
He strode forward, picked up Mrs Knowall, and slung her over a mighty shoulder.
‘I,’ he went on, triumphantly, ‘am Mr Obadiah Ogersby. Have you heard of me? The District Chief Inspector of Schools?’
The children gasped.
‘And do you know what that means?’ he demanded.
‘Not exactly,’ admitted Slacker.
The ogre gave a very wide grin indeed.
‘It means that what I say, goes. And do you know something? Mrs Pomposa Knowall is most definitely going to go!’
And, giving Class Six a cheery wave and a large wink, he carried her away.
* * *
Mrs Broom was back at school on Monday morning.
‘How was training college, Miss Broom?’ asked Emily, after Miss Broom had given Algernon the snake a hug and Class Six had told her all about the school fair.
‘Not too bad,’ said Miss Broom. ‘Rather dull, of course, but it made a change. I’m glad I didn’t have to go this week: they’ve got a new head starting. Someone with a silly name. Pomposa, I think.’
Class Six stared at her in wonder.
‘Pomposa?’ asked Serise. ‘As in Pomposa Knowall?’
Miss Broom smiled her wide warm smile.
‘The very same,’ she said. ‘She’ll be very happy there, I should imagine, lecturing teachers on rules and regulations.’
‘But who will be the new Chairman of the School Governors?’ said Emily.
Miss Broom laughed, a wild witchy laugh full of midnight and magic and all the most shiveringly exciting things in the whole world.
‘We thought we’d ask someone who’s an expert on being green,’ she said.
‘What, a frog?’ asked Jack, a little surprised.
‘No, no,’ said Miss Broom. ‘A recycling expert.’
Anil’s hand shot up.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘A troll! They can turn anything into manure.’
‘And while they have enormous appetites for slime and grime, they have no appetite at all for interfering,’ said Miss Broom.
‘Brilliant!’ said Jack – but Rodney frowned.
‘Trolls don’t exist,’ he said.
Class Six looked at him disbelievingly.
‘But you saw them!’ said Slacker. ‘Those massive potato-headed things licking out the dustbins!’
‘They even ate all those old tins of prunes from the tombola,’ said Winsome.
Rodney smiled and shook his head.
‘Those weren’t trolls,’ he said.
Anil clutched his hair.
‘You think a human being would eat twenty tins of prunes?’ he demanded. ‘Without opening them?’
‘Of course they would,’ said Rodney. He laughed. ‘Honestly, your memories! You’ve been saying for days that’s why everything happens: because of the meal of more prunes!’
Class Six groaned.
‘We’re doomed, aren’t we,’ said Anil, hopelessly. ‘However much the wheel of fortune turns, we’ll always have Rodney.’
Miss Broom smiled.
‘We’ll always have Rodney and magic,’ she said. ‘Lovely, sparkling, mysterious and marvellous magic. I think that’s worth three cheers, don’t you?’
‘Hurray!’ Class Six shouted, because it was. ‘Hurray! Hurray for mer-mer-mer-mer-maggots!’
‘What maggots?’ asked Rodney.
Bonus Bits!
GUESS WHO?
Match the pieces of information below to the people in the story. Check your answers at the end of this section (no peeking!).
1Winsome
2Slacker Punchkin
3Miss Broom
4Anil
5Emily
6Jack
7Mrs Knowall
8Rodney
9Serise
Aalways a couple of conversations behind the others
Balways keen to get down to business
Cnever has much patience with anyone
Dstudious, responsible and hard-working
Ehas ears like satellite dishes and a nose like a vacuum cleaner
Fdoes exciting magic for her class
Galways hungry and often eating
Halways worried about everything
Iknown for doing silly things
QUIZ TIME!
Can you remember what happens in the story? Flick back in the book if you need help. There are answers at the end (but no peeking before you finish!).
1.Who was being strangled by the beanstalk?
ASlacker Punchkin
BMiss Elwig
CEmily
DWinsome
2.Who made a Mrs Knowall alarm system?
AMiss Broom
BMiss Elwig
CMiss Jeanie
DAnil
3.Which teacher loves spending time underwater?
AMiss Broom
BMiss Elwig
CMr Wolfe
DMr Bloodsworth
4.What do you need to turn yourself into a porcupine?
Aa magic wand
Bpickled brains
Cbat droppings
Ddragon claw clippings
5.Who is in charge of all the teachers in the area?
AMr Werewolf
BMr Ogresbreath
CMr Bloodsworth
DMr Ogersby
6.What is the name of Class Six’s pet?
AAlgebra
BAlgernon
CAlgerithem
DAlgerian
7.Who run the firework rides at the school fair?
AThe green men
BThe Brownies
CThe flying ladies
DThe students
8.Who is the supply teacher for Class Six?
AMr Chestnut
BMr Yew
CMr Hazel
DMr Oak
WHAT NEXT?
•If you enjoyed reading this story, why not look for other school stories or magic stories to read?
•Class Six have had lots of exciting adventures with Miss Broom like flying in the hall and going down a meerkat burrow. If you were in Class Six what magic would you ask Miss Broom to do? Why not write a story describing your adventure with Class Six and Miss Broom.
ANSWERS to GUESS WHO
1D, 2G, 3F, 4B, 5H, 6I, 7E, 8A, 9C
ANSWERS to QUIZ TIME
1A, 2C, 3B, 4D, 5D, 6B, 7A, 8C
If you enjoyed this s
tory why not look out for Class Six’s first adventure...
Turn over for a sneak peak!
Class Six and the Nits of Doom
Chapter One
It was the first day back at school after the summer holidays and the playground was full of excited children. Class Three were hopping up and down inside their enormous new school coats, and Classes Four and Five were charging about shouting WE WENT TO THE SEASIDE AND EVERYWHERE SMELLED OF EGGIES! or else huddled in groups comparing hair clips.
But just inside the school gate there was another group of children. They were a bit bigger than the others, but they weren’t excited or running about. These children had pale faces, and eyes that glittered with fear. From time to time a trembling child crept in through the school gate to join them, but not one of them took a single step nearer the school than was absolutely necessary.
One boy was just looking at his watch, as if in some forlorn hope that the hands would start going backwards, when from a long way off there came a rattling. It came closer and closer until a small car came into view. Its bumper was tied on with string, its wings were patched with duct tape, and it was covered in grime and rust.
‘Here comes Rodney,’ said the boy with the watch.
The car stopped by the school gate and one of the doors flapped open. Out of the opening came a large foot. And then another.
All the children, their faces blue with terror, stared at the boy who got out of the car.
Rodney waved a big hand at them.
‘I span round really fast fifty-three times last night,’ he said, proudly. ‘And I still wasn’t sick!’
And then he shouldered his way through the group of children by the gate and strolled happily down towards the school building.
There was a long pause as the children watched Rodney walk away.
‘He’s not scared,’ said Jack, at last.
‘Of course he’s not,’ said Serise grumpily. ‘He’s too stupid to be scared. I bet Rodney’s too stupid to be scared of a charging bull, even. Or a runaway double-decker bus. Or a shark jumping out of the canal with its jaws wide open.’
‘Or a witch,’ said Emily, in a small voice. Everyone froze. Then they all nodded sadly.
‘The bell will be going soon.’ Anil looked at his watch again. ‘And then we’ll have to go in, won’t we.’
Emily started crying.
‘Four minutes, exactly,’ went on Anil. ‘Three minutes fifty-five seconds. Three minutes fifty—’ Slacker Punchkin put a flabby arm absent-mindedly round Anil’s neck and tried to strangle him.
‘The trouble with Rodney is that he doesn’t believe there’s any such thing as witches,’ Slacker said. ‘He’s just like a grown-up that way.’
‘Yes,’ said Serise scornfully. ‘Stupid.’
‘I mean, even my dad said it was silly to worry about a witch,’ went on Slacker.
Winsome rescued Anil. ‘Perhaps it is silly.’
Emily sniffed sadly. ‘But we’ve all seen it,’ she said.
‘Magic, all over the whole school. And we saw how peculiar last year’s Year Six went.’
‘I suppose so,’ agreed Winsome, frowning. ‘But then we never heard any of them actually say my class teacher Miss Broom is a witch, did we?’
‘That’s true,’ said Jack, perking up a bit.
Serise turned on him with contempt. ‘No,’ she snapped. ‘But I’ve heard them say Miss Broom’s a winter vest! and Miss Broom’s a weasel’s nostril!’
Emily started crying again.
‘Yes,’ agreed Anil. ‘Just as if something was stopping them saying the word witch. Just as if they were all under some spell which stopped them telling anyone about it.’
Winsome tried to look brave. ‘Well, at least year’s Year Six all survived, didn’t they? I mean, they didn’t end up turned into toadstools or piglets or anything.’
There was a short pause.
‘Although we never did find out where all those rhinoceroses came from that were out in the playing field that day,’ Anil pointed out.
Jack suddenly grinned.
‘Hey, it’d be brilliant to be a rhino,’ he said. ‘If I was a rhino I’d charge right through the Co-op spearing doughnuts on my horn and no one would be able to stop me.’
‘Oh yes they would,’ snapped Serise. ‘Someone would shoot you.’
Anil looked at his watch again. ‘It’s nearly time for the bell,’ he said. ‘Ten... nine...’
‘No they wouldn’t!’ said Jack. ‘Rhinos have armour-plated skin, don’t they? And anyway they’re really rare so you’re not allowed to shoot them, not even if they charge right into car parks and start crushing all the cars with their enormous great feet, and—’
‘... two... one...’
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the children jumped several centimetres into the air and clutched at each other in terror, and several of them screamed.
Slacker Punchkin shook his head sadly.
‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘There’s no escape, now. We’re doomed.’
Emily began jumping up and down.
‘I don’t want to die I don’t want to die I don’t want to die!’ she shrieked, but Winsome put her arm round her.
‘You’ll be all right,’ Winsome said. ‘Miss Broom would be sent to prison if she did anything bad to us. You know that really. Come on.’
The rest of Class Six looked at each other, and the sound of their knocking knees could be heard even above the chattering of all the other classes as they filed into school.
And then Class Six sighed, and they slowly and reluctantly began to trudge down the school path towards their new classroom.
And towards their new teacher, Miss Broom.
The witch.
Bloomsbury Education
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This electronic edition published in 2017
Copyright © Sally Prue, 2017
Illustrations copyright © Loretta Schauer, 2017
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ISBN
PB: 978 1 4729 3941 8
ePub: 978 1 4729 3939 5
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