(Josie Sayz: This is the fifth story, from mine and my friends ‘AMSND’ series that we wrote when we was 13 years old. This story actually was not written by me, but by the girl in the stories who goes my “Shada”. Although this is not my story, it follows in the series of the ‘AMSND’ stories, so I felt like I should include it. This story was based on the 101 Arabian Nights story of Aladdin.
Although each story is a stand alone piece, you can find the rest of the AMSND series here:
1) A Magic School’s New Dream: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2025/01/ansnd-1-magic-schools-new-dream.html
2) The War of Crooked Burrow School: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2025/01/amsnd-2-war-of-crooked-burrow-school.html
3) Six Se’enarians Go To Sea: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2025/01/amsnd-3-six-senerians-go-to-sea.html
4) The Arrival of a New Headmistress: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2025/01/amsnd-4-arrival-of-new-headmistress.html.)
The Day before the Last (Day of Term)
By
Shada
The raindrops spattered noisily onto the ground of the quad. Apart from the rain, all was still. In a nearby classroom children yawned and groaned. There were still fifteen minutes of lesson left. They were restless and bored, and it was Science. Their teacher was away so they had a cover teacher who was very strict and would not give them any free time. His name was Mr. Reffs. What’s more, it was coming up for the Easter holidays and their normal Science teacher gave out Easter eggs as prizes for good work.
Woody sat staring out at the rain streaming down the windows. He was bored stiff. Their lesson had been all about rocks. Woody now hated rocks.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Mr. Reffs told them it was time to pack up. Everyone leapt out of their seats and gathered in all the books and textbooks they had been using. Then they stood behind their stools. “Right, get out of my sight!” roared Mr. Reffs when he was satisfied that the classroom was all tidy.
There was a mad rush for the door and Woody got out first. Caleb, his best friend was waiting for him outside. “Do you need to go to the lockers?” he asked Woody, who shook his head. “Right, let’s get up to Music,” Caleb said. They walked the long way round in order to stay out of the rain and avoid all the boys and some girls who thought they were boys coming out of the boys’ lockers. As they walked Woody told Caleb about the Science lesson he had just had. “It was so boring,” he finished with a sigh.
“Mine was boring too,” Caleb stated. “Isn’t Science always boring?”
“Yep,” agreed Woody. The two boys strolled up the Haunted Staircase and looked across at their Year Board. This had become a habit now; every time they came up the Haunted Staircase they always looked at their Year Board as it was directly opposite. There were two new signs on it. One said, ‘Year Nine – your SATs are approaching!’ and had a picture of an open book and the slogan: ‘Get revising now!’ and the other simply said, ‘Please welcome Ms. Harris to Crooked Burrow School’ and had a picture of a nice-ish looking lady of about 30. “Hmmm, I wonder what she’ll teach?” murmured Caleb. “I probably won’t get her.”
“Nor me,” decided Woody. “None of my teachers have left yet.”
“Wait…Mr. Ford did!” Caleb remembered. “He taught English, didn’t he? Same as Dad.” Caleb’s Dad, Mr. Cartwheel, was an English teacher at Crooked Burrow School. He was great as a teacher, but neither Woody nor Caleb had him. Caleb couldn’t, obviously. Woody’s old English teacher, Mr. Ford had only recently left the school as he’d had the flu and almost died because he was in his 60s and also very unhealthy. So Woody’s class had been having cover teachers like Mr. Reffs.
“So maybe you’ll have Ms. Harris if she teaches English…” Caleb pondered. The boys reached the Music stairs. They climbed up them, and went past the Humanities classrooms. Woody looked through the doors (they had windows in them) but it was Year Eights in there. He recognised Bonnie, who was his Head of Year’s daughter. Caleb and Woody carried on down the Music corridor. They went into the Music practice room corridor and opened the door to the second practice room, their favourite room. Inside were their friends Ben and Todd. They all collected their coats and then went out of the room and out of the corridor.
As the four passed the Music room where they normally had their lesson (not the keyboard room) Woody looked in the window in the door. He stood still and stared. Inside was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her name was Elly, and he’d had a crush on her since Year Seven, but had been too scared to tell anyone, even Caleb.
Caleb suddenly realised that Woody had stopped and was staring into the Music classroom. “Woody, who are you staring at?” Caleb demanded suspiciously. Caleb came back and stood behind Woody, telling Ben and Todd to carry on, so he could see who Woody was staring so intently at. “Ah,” said Caleb. Then he took Woody by the arm and dragged him away and down the Music stairs, Woody protesting.
The rain had lessened slightly but it was now that drizzle that soaks you through. Gertrude, Caleb’s girlfriend, was waiting outside for him and Woody. “I’ve been waiting ages for you pair!” she announced crossly, wringing her wet hair out onto Caleb’s shoulder. “Where’ve you been?”
“Oh, we had Science,” Caleb explained. “And then me and Woody got stuck in Music.”
“Well, come on, let’s get home,” she said.
They walked their way home, under the trees which rained hard onto them and along the main road. “How come you got stuck in Music?” Gertrude asked.
“Erm…” said Woody, embarrassed.
“Woody has fallen in love,” Caleb told Gertrude, who laughed, but not unkindly.
“Who’s the lucky girl?” she asked Woody.
He didn’t say anything, so Caleb answered for him. “It’s Elly,” Caleb said.
“Elly…in your Year?” asked Gertrude, looking very surprised.
“Yep,” Caleb said.
“Oh,” said Gertrude. She didn’t know what to make of it, as Elly was one of her friend Ariel’s friends, and was very pretty. Gertrude knew lots of boys liked Elly, and wondered if Woody knew that too.
Then Caleb said to Woody “Did you know that Elly is very good at playing the guitar?”
“No,” replied Woody, looking even sadder. He wasn’t very good at Music, but liked listening to it all the same.
“Hey, cheer up; it’s not the end of the world!” Gertrude smiled.
“It is if Elly won’t like me because I’m rubbish at Music,” Woody moaned.
When they finally turned into Caleb’s road Woody said bye to them both and walked on, to go his way home. The wind had picked up, and soon Woody found it hard to breathe. He decided to go his shortcut through the alleyway because it was more sheltered and he’d be able to breathe better. He had just turned into the alley when a hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck of his school jumper. It pulled him into the shadows…
On the fence a bird with jet black feathers muttered to himself. He was getting cold and wet sitting here. He hoped that his mistress would hurry up with the job. He had done all her bidding and how was he treated? By being forced to sit in the soaking rain.
…The hand turned Woody to face the wall. He could just about see. He was shaking all over. Why him? Why did he have to get into trouble? All these thoughts were racing through his mind. Then he saw the face that the hand belonged to, and the thoughts vanished completely. “Ms. Harris!” he gasped.
She gave an evil chuckle, and said “Yes, it’s me, Ms. Harris,” in a creepy voice. Woody was still shivering, and the creepy voice didn’t help. “W…what do you w…want?” he stuttered.
“What I would like is for you to shut up and do as I tell you!” Ms. Harris barked. “And don’t speak until you’re spoken to!” she added as she saw Woody open his mouth to speak. He shut it again, looking terrified.
“That’s better. Now, I want you to come with me…” she dragged him by his school jumper to where there was a door in the side of a house. She took out a key and opened the door. The doorway was very thin, and there was no way that Ms. Harris would fit through. “You go down there, into the cellar,” she told Woody nastily, pushing him through the doorway. “Go down the steps, and find an old lamp. You’ll find a torch down there first, to help you. And don’t come back until you’ve found it! I shall be waiting…” And with that, she shoved him down the steps that followed the doorway, and realised something. “I’ve lost the key, I’ve lost the key!” she shrieked. Then she pulled the door almost shut, so she could still get the lamp back from Woody, as the door was one that automatically locks when you shut it.
Because it was almost pitch black, Woody nearly tripped over the torch that lay on the floor as Ms. Harris had said. He picked it up and switched it on, causing a faint beam to make its way around the room. He spotted a gleam in the distance, and went over to see what it was. It was the lamp!
Suddenly, the door slammed shut. Woody heard a scream of rage coming from outside and then all was quiet. The wind had obviously blown the door shut, and Ms. Harris had gone storming off. He felt really scared. He was trapped in here! Slowly he moved towards the lamp. Who knew? It might be able to help him. Ms. Harris had wanted it that much, anyway. Woody had heard about magic lamps, and that they could be VERY powerful. He reached the table that it lay upon and shakily put out a hand to touch it. Immediately as his hand brushed the lamp a tall thin boy dressed in old-fashioned clothes appeared to the side of the lamp. “I am the genie of the lamp,” the boy intoned. “What are your three wishes?”
Woody was speechless. Eventually he found his voice and whispered, “What do you mean?”
“I mean what do you wish for? You called me up,” the boy said impatiently.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Woody muttered. “Erm, well, before you grant me my wishes, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but who are you exactly?”
The boy drew himself up to his highest height and said imperiously, “I am Frederick Brooks the third and was enslaved by a cruel sorceress to grant people three wishes.”
“That doesn’t really make sense,” Woody pointed out. “Why would a cruel sorceress give you a nice power?”
“She was cruel because she captured me…but not in any other way, I suppose,” Frederick sighed. “And you can call me Fred.”
“Okay, Fred, I’ll just…um, I’ll just have a think about what you’ve told me,” Woody said. He walked over to a corner of the cellar and faced the wall, thinking. He didn’t want to be caught out, like so many of the characters in stories he’d read. What he needed was advice. He turned back around. “Um, Fred?” Woody asked.
“Yes?” snapped Fred.
“Could I ask you for advice first, before I make my wish?” Woody asked timidly.
“No you may not!” Fred exclaimed crossly. He was getting impatient with this boy who didn’t know anything about wishes.
“Oh,” said Woody. “Okay then, I don’t care; I wish that I wasn’t in this cellar anymore.”
“Yes!” cried Fred. “Right, bring me that carpet and put it in front of me so I can see it clearly. That’s right. Now stand on it. Are you taking me with you?” asked Fred hopefully.
“What, you mean you can come, without your lamp?” Woody asked, puzzled.
“No, stupid boy! In my lamp, of course! Do you think I could stand the light after all these years of darkness?”
“Why, how long have you been here?” Woody asked curiously.
“I shall be one hundred and four next birthday,” Fred solemnly told him.
“And, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old were you when you captured by the sorceress?”
“Almost fourteen.”
“So you’ve stayed that age in appearance throughout…” Woody considered this point.
“Ninety years in this stuffy lamp, in this gloomy cellar with no company. From what I’ve been able to deduce, this is the year 2004, is that correct?” Woody nodded. Fred continued “I can’t believe I missed the millennium! I was quite glad when you got me to come out. A breath of fresh air. Lovely,” Fred muttered to himself.
“Can we get on with my wish now, please?” Woody enquired.
“A toothe for a toothe and an eye for an eye,
I commande this carpet that it should flye!”
Suddenly the carpet rose into the air. Fred stepped on, and picked up his lamp from the table.
“Abracadabra, super glue!
Open this door to let us through!” Fred shouted. The cellar door banged open, and the carpet whisked out into the rain.
Nobody was looking out of their windows at the time. If they had, they would have seen a boy sitting on a flying carpet, clutching a lamp and another boy sitting cross-legged, looking bored. A second later, the carpet and boys were nowhere to be seen. The carpet had flown above the clouds.
“Wow!” Woody had to blink at the sudden brightness of the sunlight, no longer having to squeeze itself through layers of thick clouds. He lay back on the carpet to sunbathe. A minute later Fred spoke again. “You didn’t tell the carpet where to go,” he reminded Woody, who immediately sat up and looked suspiciously at him. “Would this be another wish?” he asked Fred.
“No,” said Fred regretfully. “You just tell the carpet where to go and it will. That’s all part of the first wish.”
“Oh,” said Woody thoughtfully. He looked down at his watch. It was ten to four. “Will this carpet take me to where a person is?” he asked Fred.
“All part of the first wish,” Fred repeated gloomily. Woody suddenly realised something.
“You’re sitting out here in the bright sunlight, and you’re still okay,” he observed.
“I’m not warm either,” moaned Fred, putting the back of his left hand on Woody’s neck.
“Ouch, you’re freezing!” Woody shouted. He moved sideways away from Fred and…fell off the carpet. Fred grabbed him just in time by the coat and Woody was left dangling in mid air.
Meanwhile, in her black castle, Ms. Harris plotted how she was going to take over Crooked Burrow School. If only she had succeeded in getting that lamp. It was hers by rights, as she was the cruel sorceress who had imprisoned Fred in the lamp. The lamp did indeed have great powers and they had already seeped into Fred. If that boy had properly freed Fred from the lamp then all would be lost for her plan. The lamp would be worthless for her school domination, soon to be world domination.
Fred closed his eyes in pain. His arms were killing him. Woody was too heavy for a hundred-year-old genie to hold. “I’m going to have to drop you if you don’t tell the carpet where to go NOW!” Fred screamed.
“OKAY!” Woody shouted back. “Carpet, go to the Music department in Crooked Burrow School!” he commanded the carpet. It seemed in no time at all they were there. The carpet rolled itself up with the lamp inside. Fred let go of Woody’s coat as they were both now standing on the floor of Music. Woody and Fred walked down to the Music classroom window. “Oh! She’s not there!” Woody sighed disappointedly.
“Who?” asked Fred curiously?
“Elly, the most beautiful girl in the whole school if not the world!” Woody moaned. “And she’s gone. She doesn’t even know who I am. She’s really good at Music and I’m rubbish. It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
“I know!” Woody exclaimed. “For my second wish, I want to be really good at Music. Then Elly might notice me.”
“Certainly,” groaned Fred.
“Well…am I now good at Music?” Woody asked hyperly.
“Yes!” was Fred’s exasperated reply.
“Will the carpet still take me to a person?”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Fred complained.
“Right, let’s go!” said Woody happily.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Fred said moodily. “You probably won’t need me anyway.”
“Yes I will, because I’ll need you for my last wish – to make Elly fall in love with me!”
“Selfishness,” Fred muttered.
“I heard that!” Woody said.
“I’m not coming,” Fred sulked. “You go. You’ll be fine. Just keep the magic carpet out of sight if possible,” Fred said. And with that, he bent down and took the lamp out from the carpet. Then he turned around and walked down the Music stairs, as if he knew where he was going.
Ariel was going up the Music stairs when she bumped into him. She almost screamed, but Ariel never screamed. Instead, looking directly into his eyes, she asked “What school are you from, then?”
“I don’t go to school. I used to have a Tutor.”
“Oh. And why don’t you have him anymore?”
“He’s dead.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He wasn’t very nice.” The boy stared out of the window in front of him. “So this is your school? It’s big. The schools in my day were tiny.”
“How old are you?”
“None of your business.”
“That’s not very nice!”
“Fine then. Can you keep a secret?” he asked Ariel, who nodded. “I’m one hundred and four years old next birthday,” he said seriously.
“What? Yeah, right!” You could tell Ariel didn’t believe him.
“It’s true.” He was still staring out of the window. Then he remembered his manners. “I’m Fred Brooks by the way, and you are…?”
“Ariel, just Ariel,” she smiled at him. “Have you got a relative called Charlie Brooks?”
“I don’t know. I had a cousin called Charles, so it might be his grandson or something. Anyway, I don’t care.”
“Charlie’s a nice guy. You’ll like him.”
“No I won’t,” retorted Fred. “I never like my relatives.”
“You’re funny!” Ariel laughed, pulling him by the arm up the Music stairs. “What are you doing here then, you hundred and three year old?”
“I’m just researching. My friend Woody goes to this school and he let me in,” Fred explained as they walked along the Music corridor.
“Oh,” said Ariel. “Woody’s never said anything about you. I wouldn’t have thought you were friends with him; he’s very quiet. Do you know his best mate Caleb?”
“No.”
“Well my mate Gertrude’s going out with him,” Ariel told Fred.
“Do you know someone called Elly?” Fred asked abruptly.
“Yeah…why?” asked Ariel suspiciously. She, like Gertrude, knew that lots of boys liked Elly and Ariel didn’t want Fred to like Elly too. Ariel wanted this stranger all to herself.
“Will you keep another secret?” Fred demanded mysteriously.
“Yes…”
“Woody really likes her.”
“Oh, I already knew that. Elly likes him too. It’s just a matter of time before one of them asks the other one out,” Ariel replied knowingly.
“Know it all,” snapped Fred.
“You’re just jealous,” Ariel smiled, taking him into a Music practice room.
Woody had got onto the magic carpet and told it to find Elly before Ariel had bumped into Fred. Soon Woody could see Elly walking along the main road, and the magic carpet came down to land. It rolled itself up and stood inconspicuously in a corner by a gate. Woody ran to catch Elly up. She didn’t have a coat on and was shivering in the harsh wind. The rain had eased off completely by now.
“Hi Elly,” Woody said shyly.
“Oh, hi!” Elly exclaimed. “I thought you would have already gone home, with Caleb and Gertrude.”
“How did you know I normally walk home with them?” Woody asked worriedly.
“Oh, don’t worry, Ariel told me,” Elly said sweetly, but shivering.
“Do you want my coat?” Woody asked, taking off the sun-warmed garment.
“Oh, that’s very kind of you,” Elly smiled. “It’s lovely and warm.”
“It was the sun,” Woody remembered.
“What, here, in Maycotts Heath? I didn’t know we ever saw the sun,” Elly said, laughing.
“Sometimes,” Woody smiled.
Ms. Harris stormed along one of her castle’s corridors. Her plans weren’t going too well. She needed that lamp, but even with the help of her spying jackdaw, cleverly named “Jack”, she couldn’t get it – it was gone. Jack had searched the cellar from top to bottom – twice. Woody and the lamp had gone. Ms. Harris was so cross with herself for losing the key and letting the door bang shut that finally she let out a scream of rage and then leapt onto her top-of-the-range broomstick and swept out of the window into the open sky, Jack soaring behind her.
“So,” Ariel said. “Why is a hundred and three, coming on hundred and four year old around now, looking like a thirteen, coming on fourteen year old?”
“I was trapped by a wicked sorceress who shoved me into a lamp and forced me to give each person who called me up out of the lamp three wishes. And that’s the truth,” Fred added.
“Yeah right,” said Ariel, laughing. “Can I have three wishes then?”
“Certainly, if they’re easy!” Fred said, smiling. The happiness was catching from Ariel. “Even though you didn’t call me up out of my lamp. That was Woody.”
“Ah, that explains it,” Ariel realised. “Would I be taking Woody’s wishes though?”
“No, it’s for each person. Technically, you shouldn’t be having any, but I think I have enough power for extra wishes. So, what do you wish for?” he asked curiously.
“I don’t really know.”
“Think of what you’d want most of all, now,” Fred said helpfully.
“Now?” Ariel moved closer to Fred. “I would like you to kiss me,” she said softly.
Fred found that he didn’t mind this wish. “That’s easy!” he smiled, leaning across to kiss her. Suddenly, a shadowy figure passed by the window. Ariel broke away from Fred, to run to the window. “That’s impossible!” she breathed. “A SuperJet Speedbroom! The latest model! I’ve wanted one of them since they came out!”
“What?” asked Fred, puzzled and disappointed that Ariel left him just to look out of the window.
“A broomstick. The broomstick,” Ariel told him. “I wonder who was flying it... I hope it wasn’t Bert.”
“Who’s Bert?” Fred asked curiously.
“Oh, he’s my boyfriend,” she said casually.
“You never told me you already had a boyfriend!” Fred shouted furiously. He was really disappointed, because he realised that he liked Ariel a lot.
“You never asked,” Ariel replied craftily. “He’s away at the moment anyway. And he wouldn’t mind, for a bit. He knows I get bored.”
Fred stood still, shocked, trying to get his head round this information. He wasn’t quite used to nowadays.
“Back to broomsticks,” Ariel said. “I’m training to be a witch. For my second wish, can I wish that I will definitely become a witch when I’m older?”
“A good witch or a bad witch?” Fred asked, smiling but sighing at the same time.
“A good witch, silly! Not many good witches can afford Speedbrooms, though. So that makes it most likely that that person that just zoomed past was a bad witch, maybe of the third stage. I can’t fight against them yet. They can turn people straight into stone, and they eventually die.”
As soon as Ariel had finished talking the shadowy figure passed by their window again. A smaller, bird-like figure followed, and suddenly stopped, hovering outside the window. The shadowy figure came back, and hovered there too.
“Oh help,” Ariel moaned. “Where’s Bert when you need him?”
The door of the practice room banged open. Bert swept in. He was wearing his magician’s robes which swirled around him as he walked. He nodded at Fred, winked at Ariel and went over to the window where he proceeded to set up a force field. When he had finished he turned to Fred and Ariel and said “I saw in the crystal what would happen. Sorry, Ariel, I had to come back. Did you miss me?”
“Of course I did!” replied Ariel indignantly. “You know I get bored without you!”
“Okay, okay,” Bert smiled. “And who’s Prince Charming?”
“This is Fred. Fred, Bert, Bert, Fred. Fred’s a genie,” she explained, looking at Bert. “And Bert’s a magician,” she said looking towards Fred. Bert and Fred shook hands.
All of a sudden, the window shattered and the person bounced off the force field.
“Hmmm, I wonder who it is…” Bert said, thinking. The person’s face appeared in through the smashed glass.
“Ms. Harris!” Ariel gasped. “The new English teacher,” she explained to Bert.
“That’s the sorceress!” Fred said in amazement. “I knew she was bad!”
“Well, then the force field won’t be able to protect us against her spells,” Bert said grimly. “You two get out NOW!”
“LET ME IN!” Ms. Harris screeched.
“No!” said Bert firmly. Fred and Ariel had hidden in the corridor.
“WHERE IS THE LAMP?” Ms.. Harris shouted at Bert.
“What lamp?” asked Bert in surprise. Normally evil witches wanted money or power. They weren’t interested in lighting. Unless… “Fred?” called Bert. “Have you got your lamp on you?”
“Yes, do you need it?” asked Fred, coming back into the room.
“Get out!” Bert yelled at him, but it was too late. Fred had been turned to stone.
Woody and Elly had now reached the park opposite Elly’s house. They sat down on a bench and talked about school and their home lives. The wind had stopped and the pale sunlight filtered out from between clouds. “Isn’t this lovely?” Elly murmured, looking up at the sky. “We could just pretend it’s me and you and no one else exists.”
“Would you like that?” Woody asked softly.
“You bet I would!” Elly smiled.
“Will you go out with me then?”
“Yes, of course,” she said shyly.
Bert had dragged Fred’s body out of the practice room. “And don’t you even say he was too young to die!” he warned Ariel. “I know how old he is. And he’s not dead. Yet.” Ariel glared at him until he went back into the practice room.
“Oh, no!” Bert shouted. “Ms. Harris has gone! She’ll probably try the nearest entrance. I doubt she’ll smash another window – she won’t fit through, but she may well try a nearby door. Can you keep Fred and his lamp safe and I’ll keep her away from you?”
“Okay,” came the shaky reply. Ariel knew that she might not see Bert again, as Ms. Harris was a very powerful witch. She heard Bert run down the Music stairs, and felt very sad. But Bert’s last request was to keep Fred safe, and that’s what she would do!
Ariel only had one power left that she knew would be useful for her against Ms. Harris. This was to become as if she had already been turned to stone. Then Ms. Harris’ stone-making and killing power wouldn’t affect her, because it would be like she was already dead. The only thing that would change Ariel back to normal was if someone said the magic word to free her. She didn’t think that many people would know that word.
Then suddenly she had a thought. She turned to Fred and said out loud “For my third wish, I wish that you were turned back from stone.”
The stone rippled into flesh, and Fred was there.
“That’s better,” Ariel said.
“You gave your third wish for me?” Fred said in amazement. “That’s so sweet.”
“No, it’s not. It’s what friends are for,” Ariel replied.
“I wonder how Woody got on with Elly,” Fred changed the subject hurriedly. He didn’t want to just be Ariel’s friend.
“Oh, get over me!” Ariel said crossly, as she could tell he still liked her.
“Just because Bert came back,” Fred sulked.
“And because of Ms. Harris,” Ariel reminded him. “She wants you dead now, so she can have your lamp, and all its magic power.”
“Well, I’d better die then, so I can leave you two in peace!” Fred said.
“Don’t be so melodramatic!” Ariel laughed. “I won’t let you die if I can help it.”
“Because that’s what friends are for,” Fred finished grumpily.
“Yeah,” said Ariel. “You’re getting there.”
Then they both heard a loud THUMP, THUMP of feet coming up the Music stairs. They did not sound like Bert’s.
“Hide!” Ariel whispered, going white, realising that Bert must have given up. But nothing would have persuaded him to give up. He must be injured, or…Ariel didn’t want to have to think about death. She had a job to do. “I’ll stay here. Hide your lamp in a different place.”
“I can smell you!” Ms. Harris screeched. “I know where you are, my genie!”
“Yeah right!” called Ariel. She knew Ms. Harris couldn’t tell the difference between her and Fred.
“Your friend wasn’t quick enough. He’s dead now,” Ms. Harris snapped. She was just at the top of the Music stairs, and couldn’t see Ariel yet. “And you’ll go the same way too!” She carried on. She appeared around the corner of the Music practice room corridor’s doorway. “I see I got one of you!” Ms. Harris cackled. She was looking at where Ariel was. Ariel had turned herself into stone and was holding the door of the second practice room shut. Nothing could persuade her to move. But the first thought Ms. Harris had was to get Ariel out of the way, so she, Ms. Harris, could get into the second practice room where undoubtedly her genie would be hiding. So she tried firing spells at Ariel, to get Ariel’s hand off the door handle so Ms. Harris could open the door. Although there was a window in the door of the second practice room, Ariel was blocking it so Ms. Harris couldn’t see in. And as Ariel knew Ms. Harris couldn’t get Ariel to move, because she didn’t know the magic word to free her. Well, Ariel seriously doubted that she would know it. It was Ariel’s own name.
“Had we better be getting home now?” Woody asked Elly.
“I suppose so,” she sighed.
“I’ll walk you home then,” Woody suggested.
“Thanks,” Elly smiled. They crossed over the road to her house. “You’ll be wanting your coat back, won’t you?” she asked Woody.
“No, you keep it, at least until tomorrow,” Woody told her. “Who knows what the weather will be like?” And with that he turned around and walked back down the road. Elly stared after him. He had been so nice. She hoped they could stay together forever.
“Ariel!” Fred’s voice sounded faintly in her ears. She changed to flesh and bone. “Don’t do that!” she said to Ms. Harris, (who had been firing spells at her at random, none of which had affected her), but aimed to Fred as a hint not to say her name again. Ariel immediately changed back into stone. Gleefully, Ms. Harris tried the same spell she had used before, this time ready for Ariel. But nothing happened. Then again Ariel heard her name called, and changed to herself. “I said NO!” she shouted warningly. But just as she changed back into stone, Ms. Harris realised. “Ariel!” she crowed, and as Ariel changed to herself, Ms. Harris wrenched her hand away from the door and stormed in. “Where are you then, with your precious lamp?” Ariel shut the door again and held it with all her might, but without changing into stone. Ms. Harris was trapped!
Woody hurried down the main road that led from Elly’s house to his school. He needed to find Fred to ask him something. He thought Fred would probably still be in school, talking to the magicians and such-like that hung around Music late after school. When he finally got to school he realised that the caretakers had locked all the doors. “Oh, great!” he moaned. Now he would have to walk all the way round to see if Mr. Tonka would let him in. Mr. Tonka was a fun-loving D.T. teacher, who knew Woody and Caleb quite well, especially as Caleb’s Dad was an English teacher. As Woody was passing Music he heard his name. He looked up and saw Fred holding his lamp. “Woody – catch!” was all Fred said before dropping the heavy lamp into Woody’s hands. “Ouch!” Woody exclaimed. “That hurt!”
“Please could you take this home, Woody?” pleaded Fred. “And hide it somewhere safe. Never let anyone know where you’ve put it, not even me.”
“Yeah, sure. Are you coming home then, Fred?” Woody asked.
“Yes, but not yet. We’ve got a bit of bother with a witch.” Fred pointed to the smashed window on his right.
“I see,” said Woody. “Well, I hope you have a nice time,” and with that he walked off into the gathering darkness. “Don’t be too late home, it’s spaghetti bolognese for tea,” he called. “Do you know where my house is?”
“Yes!” exclaimed Fred. “Now GO!”
Ms. Harris was still searching for the lamp and Fred in the second practice room. “Ariel!” she commanded. “Show me where they are!”
“No chance,” Ariel said confidently. She wasn’t going to help Ms. Harris in any way. She would turn herself to stone if she had to, even though she knew that it wouldn’t be very effective as Ms. Harris knew the counter to it. Then Fred appeared around the corner of the third practice room (that’s where he’d hidden all along).
“I’ve just chucked the lamp to Woody, who’s gone home again. And there’s a black blob out in the playground that we could pretend to Ms. Harris is the lamp.” He said all this in a low voice to Ariel, who nodded. “Shall we let her out then?” Fred asked.
“No! She’ll kill you! Go and hide.”
“I don’t think she’d kill me. Not if she wants all the magic.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ariel.
“I’ve got some magic from the lamp still in me. I can still grant wishes, and it’s been ages since I’ve been in my lamp – about half an hour. The most Ms. Harris will do is capture me again, if she understands that I’m still magical. She won’t want me to get away. But I won’t do anything for her. She’s evil.”
“I know she’s evil. But what makes you sure she WON’T understand, and kill you straight away? For a powerful witch, she’s very stupid.”
“Then I advise you to run,” joked Fred.
“Okay, then, I’ll let her out,” Ariel said seriously, opening the door.
Ms. Harris saw Fred standing behind Ariel and rushed towards him. “Now where’s the lamp?” she hissed.
“Erm, I chucked it out of the window,” Fred said helpfully.
“You stupid boy!” she yelled. “Go and fetch it!”
“No, because then he’d escape,” Ariel told her wisely.
“Grrr,” growled Ms. Harris and stormed off down the Music stairs, dragging Fred behind her. Ariel followed them. “Don’t leave me!” Fred whispered to Ariel. His eyes were wide with fear.
“I’ve got to get to Bert,” she whispered back. “If he’s not dead already…I want to say goodbye,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“Okay,” Fred agreed bravely. “I’ll fight Ms. Harris, outside. I’ve got enough magic to last, I think.”
“Well done,” said Ariel. They all reached the doors to Humanities which were locked and Ms. Harris and Fred went down the next two flights of stairs, but Ariel ran over to Bert, who was lying in the corner by the radiator. He slowly opened his eyes.
“Sorry Ariel,” he whispered.
“You’re alive!” she gasped.
“Yeah,” he smiled. “But I’m lucky. The witch was way stronger than I thought.”
“What did she do to you?”
“I’m not sure. Ariel, do me a favour? Go and fetch Robin.”
“Where will he be?”
“Try Music, even Art, then come back and if he’s not there, you can text him for me.”
“Okay, I’ll be off then,” Ariel said shakily. Even though she knew it might end like this, it still shocked her to see Bert lying there as if he was about to die. She hurried back up the Music stairs, to search around for Robin, their friend, who was quite good at magic and especially good at healing people. She couldn’t see him in Music and there weren’t many people still there. They looked curiously at her as she asked them if they had seen Robin. They answered that he’d just gone home and she might just catch him. She dashed down the other Music stairs to the corridor that goes from Humanities to English. She turned a corner and saw Robin’s coat vanish around the corner at the end of the corridor. “Robin!” she shouted down the corridor. He turned around and came to stand in the middle of the corridor that Ariel was rushing down.
“What do you want, Ariel?” Robin asked in surprise.
“Bert…you’ve got to help him!” she yelled.
“Help Bert? Is that possible?” Robin wondered out loud.
“Yes, he needs healing – he’s gonna die!” she exclaimed.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Robin said, patting her on the shoulder.
“It is!” she sobbed. Robin took her by the hand and started running. “Where is he then?” he shouted.
“I’ll show you,” Ariel said, tears now streaming down her cheeks.
Woody hurried up the main road this time. Fred had said that he was captured by a sorceress; that was a bad witch, wasn’t it? And it was trouble with a witch that Fred had said “they” (whoever “they” were) had. That must mean that he was being trusted to hide the lamp from Ms. Harris. But Ms. Harris knew who he was. She had already caught him once and she could do it again. Knowing her, she probably knew where he lived too. She would search his house from top to bottom to find the lamp. But what if he didn’t hide it in his house? Then she couldn’t find it! But the only other place Woody could think of to hide it was round at Elly’s. To avoid her being suspicious, he would tell her it was a present from an antique shop. He approached Elly’s house and knocked on the door. Elly’s Mum opened the door. “Hi,” said Woody. “Can I speak to Elly for a moment, please?”
“She’s in the shower at the moment, sorry,” her Mum smiled at Woody. “Are you Woody, then?” she asked him.
“Yep,” Woody smiled back. “Could you give her this, please?” he said, handing over the lamp. Unbeknown to him, across the road a black jackdaw stirred and moved in for a closer look.
Meanwhile, Fred had been dragged out into the playground through the D.T. doors which were open, because Ms. Harris had smashed through them earlier. “Where is it then?” Ms. Harris screamed. “If you lied…then it will be so much the worse for you, and your friends!”
“Oh, it’s over here somewhere,” Fred lied.
“Where, where?” screeched the witch.
“There!” Fred exclaimed, pointing to where he had seen the ‘black blob’ from upstairs in Music.
“That’s a rock, you fool!” came a sharp answering voice.
“Oh, sorry,” said Fred humbly, pretending to be sorry that he’d made such a silly mistake. “Maybe I didn’t throw it this far,” he suggested. “It could be over there, behind the fence.”
“Yes, it could, but if it’s not there you will pay!” she shrieked at him.
“Certainly,” he answered politely. He was saving his magic for when she realised the lamp wasn’t there. Suddenly a black shape flew across his face. “Aaargh!” he shouted. “What was that?”
“My jackdaw,” Ms. Harris replied dangerously. The jackdaw seemed to mutter into her ear, and then Ms. Harris straightened up, (she had been bending down, searching behind the fence) looking furious. “You liar!” she screamed, and leapt at him. He didn’t have any time to use his magic, before he felt her stinking breath on his face, and then he felt her hit him hard on the head. She had a sharp ring on, and something wet dribbled down the side of his face. He fell over and rolled to the bottom of the fence, unconscious. She ran away to get her broomstick and flew off.
“Oh Bert!” Ariel sobbed. “I really thought you weren’t going to make it!”
Robin had used all the healing spells he knew and now Bert was better. But Bert wouldn’t let Ariel tell Robin what had happened.
“Robin’s the best there is, thanks,” Bert said quietly.
“You’re welcome,” muttered Robin, thinking Bert was saying thanks to him.
“I wasn’t talking to you!” retorted Bert.
Ariel frowned, wondering why Bert was suddenly being so nasty. Robin looked hurt, like his best friend had stabbed him in the back. Ariel decided to change the subject quickly. “Now what do we do?” she asked Bert.
“Why, what’s wrong?” Robin asked, seeing the look of concern creeping onto their faces.
“Oh, go home,” said Bert spitefully.
“What?” exclaimed Robin. “I’ve just saved your life mate, and this is the way you thank me!”
“Bert’s sorry, Robin,” Ariel said firmly. Then she decided to tell Robin the whole story. She needed another friend; Bert didn’t count anymore. “You know Ms. Harris, the new English teacher?” Ariel continued to Robin. “Well, we’ve discovered that she’s a really bad witch, probably on the third stage. And you know what that means! We’ve been fighting her, to stop her stealing a genie and his lamp. She captured a boy, Fred, ninety years ago and turned him into a genie, and now wants the magic from it for some reason. By the way, Bert, Fred’s outside on his own with Ms. Harris searching for the lamp, which actually Fred gave to Woody who took it home and hid it, and Fred says he’ll fight Ms. Harris on his own. Do you think he’ll be able to?” she asked Bert anxiously.
“No!” exclaimed Robin. “A third stage bad witch? No chance!”
“She asked ME!” hissed Bert.
“Stop it Bert! Sorry, Robin,” Ariel apologised for Bert.
“That’s okay, Ariel,” Robin glowered at Bert. “Now let’s get outta here!”
“I’m staying,” Bert said moodily.
“Cheer up!” ordered Ariel. “We won’t be long.”
“On second thoughts, I’d better come,” Bert decided. He didn’t want Ariel to be alone with Robin.
“Great!” moaned Robin.
“Exactly,” noted Bert.
Ms. Harris zoomed above the trees up the main road to Elly’s house. The jackdaw had told her everything. It had followed Woody home, and saw him give the lamp to Elly’s Mum. Ms. Harris cursed herself under her breath for being so foolish in looking for a lamp that wasn’t there. She quickly formulated a plan to get the lamp back.
Ariel, Bert and Robin ran down the Music stairs and out through the D.T. door that the lock was now broken on. The other door’s lock was broken too, so it was easy for them to get out of school. It was now dark outside and they could only see by the light of the glowing amber streetlights that were in the playground. Ariel saw the large rock that “could have been anything”, but no one was there! Had something terrible happened? Where was Fred? Then Robin spotted him. “Look!” Robin shouted, pointing at Fred’s body lying on the concrete. Ariel and Robin ran over to him and saw that he was still alive, because he was breathing. “It’s a good thing he’s thin,” grunted Robin, helping Ariel to carry Fred inside. Bert just stood there. In actual fact the witch’s magic that had almost killed him would have killed him if he wasn’t such a strong magician. But something was still wrong with him, he could sense it.
Now, it may need to be explained that Robin, as a healer didn’t bother with first aid. He didn’t need to, as his magic would take care of any broken bones or internal bleeding or anything terribly wrong with them. It didn’t matter if the patient was moved from the recovery position to him – Robin could always heal them.
When Ariel and Robin had brought Fred inside they tried opening the nearest classroom door but it was locked. Then they tried Room 19, which fortunately was still open. The teacher inside did not even look up from her laptop as they carried Fred’s body inside the classroom. She didn’t seem to have noticed they’d even come in.
“Right, let’s put him here, under this table,” Ariel suggested.
“Okay,” agreed Robin. They laid him down and Robin smiled to himself.
“What are you smiling about?” Bert asked suspiciously.
“Oh, nothing, nothing…” Robin muttered sneakily. Bert frowned, and then looked away. He felt odd. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t usually this mean to everyone! He felt like he wanted to hit someone, preferably Robin or Fred. But why? He went through the possible solutions in his head, and the reasons. Then he realised! “Robin!” he yelled. “What did you think you were playing at?”
“Bye sir!” called Bonnie to Mr. Tonka. The five friends Larissa, Bonnie, Samantha, Zilla and Shada walked slowly towards the door to the D.T. corridor.
“Bye girls!” answered Mr. Tonka. “And don’t be late next time!” They all laughed as Mr. Tonka shut the door behind them.
“Do you think the door that’s normally open at lunch to come in from the playground will be open?” asked Samantha. “I need to get home quick.”
“I doubt it,” replied Bonnie. “It’s always shut after lunchtime, and locked so strangers can’t enter the school premises.”
“Alright,” moaned Samantha.
“I need to get home quickly too,” remembered Shada. “It’s Thursday, isn’t it? Max is washing up, so I have to rescue my CD from by the sink so he won’t listen to it.”
They walked out of the D.T. block into the cold air.
“The door is open!” Shada pointed out.
“Well it shouldn’t be,” laughed Bonnie, shaking her head.
“The lock is broken!” Larissa realised.
“Well, we may as well go out this way. Come on Sam,” said Shada.
“Bye everyone!” called Sam.
“Bye Sam! Bye Shada!” Laz, Bonnie and Zilla called back. Sam and Shada escaped through the open door, and the others went into the main school building, where they passed Room 18, which was locked and had no light on, and then Room 19 whose door was slightly ajar. As Laz, Bonnie and Zilla passed the room they peered inside to see who was in there and saw Bert, Robin, Ariel and the Art teacher, Miss Bell, who nobody liked. Ariel saw the three friends walking past. She hurried over to them before they could disappear and asked them if they could wait while she got her stuff from up in Music, so she could walk part the way home with them as it was getting dark. They agreed because Ariel was always fun and really nice to them so they waited by the bottom of the Humanities staircase. They were about to discuss their D.T. project (which was to build a good scarecrow that would scare away as many crows as possible), when what Bert and Robin were saying inside Room 19 distracted them.
“Robin!” Bert yelled. “What did you think you were playing at?”
“What do you mean?” asked Robin in surprise. The friends outside could tell he was faking it.
“You know very well what I mean,” Bert said grimly.
“Okay, I admit it, I didn’t heal you completely,” Robin confessed.
“I wouldn’t have minded if you’d told me that in the first place!”
“I wouldn’t have told you now, would I?” retorted Robin defiantly
“No, but what you did was cowardly and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you.”
“Forgive who what?” asked someone else whose voice the three friends didn’t recognise.
“Oh, great, the baby’s woken up,” said Bert disagreeably.
“What are you on about?” asked the voice. “And who’s this?”
“You’re a baby because you couldn’t even stay awake to fight the witch…”
“That’s not fair!” began the voice.
“And now she’s gone, to find your lamp, I presume,” Bert finished. “And this is Robin, caster of many great healing spells, but who only casts spells that will help himself too.”
“What’s that meant to mean?” came the voice.
“It’s meant to mean that Bert is cross with me because I never cast the last spell, to heal his heart. So because of the last bit of the witch’s magic left in him he was bad tempered and jealous of everyone who liked Ariel, like you, and me,” said Robin.
“And why did you do that?” asked the voice.
“Because then Ariel wouldn’t like Bert because he was being nasty to me and you, who were his friends, and Ariel was Bert’s friend too, and she might think that Bert would be nasty to her, too. Then Ariel might like me,” finished Robin proudly.
“That’s disgraceful!” shouted Ariel, coming down the Humanities stairs and into Room 19, past the three friends who followed her inside to stand by the door. Ariel had heard the last bit of Robin’s proud speech.
“I’ll never like you Robin, never!” she yelled at him and ran to Bert to hug him. “I love you,” she whispered and he smiled at her. Robin ran past the three friends out of the room, almost crying. He was desperately unhappy, because he loved Ariel very much, and she didn’t like him back.
The three friends, by now being in the room, could see the person whose voice they hadn’t recognised. They could also see that Miss Bell was glaring at them all.
“We’d better get outta here,” noted Laz. Everybody followed her out, except Miss Bell who muttered “Good riddance,” under her breath as they shut the door.
“Who are you then?” asked Fred to Laz, Bonnie and Zilla.
“Oh, they’re my friends, some Itarians,” said Ariel.
“Some WHAT?” exploded Fred.
“Itarians are just people who do magic, and are in Year Eight,” Ariel explained. “This is Laz, Bonnie and…Zilla, I think her name is.” Zilla nodded; surprised that Ariel would have remembered her name. “They have two other friends called Sam and Shada, who they always go around with,” Ariel continued. “But they’re not here at the moment.”
“Well duh,” said Bert. Fred just nodded.
A while later, Fred, Ariel, Bert and Laz were all walking home. Bonnie had gone her way home which was entirely the opposite way to the other’s way and Zilla was waiting outside school for her parents to pick her up.
“Well then, how’s life?” asked Ariel to Laz.
“It’s okay,” smiled Laz. “Since I’ve been going out with Aidan, everything’s been nice and everyone I’ve met seems to have been happy.”
“We haven’t been,” muttered Bert.
“Well we have been in a bit of trouble,” Fred admitted.
“What sort of trouble?” Laz asked worriedly, hoping Ariel was okay.
“Oh, just a third stage bad witch,” Ariel said airily.
“No!” exclaimed Laz. She didn’t know much about witchcraft, but knew Ariel was training to be a good witch and that the higher up the stage, the more experienced a witch was in either goodness, or badness.
“Oh yes!” said Bert gleefully, hoping he was tormenting Laz.
“Now you’re really scaring me, Bert,” Laz giggled, walking over to Ariel and hiding behind her. Bert sighed in mock exasperation because he hadn’t succeeded in teasing Larissa. “Ariel, I’ve never really understood about the stages. I mean I know that the third stage is either really good or really bad, but how do you know which is which? What are the differences?” Laz asked Ariel.
“Well, there are three classes of magic, I suppose you can call them,” Ariel began.
“Yeah, they’re kind of three different…er…stages that you have to go through before you’re a fully qualified witch or wizard,” Bert interrupted to explain. “The first stage is when you speak the spells, the second stage is when you move your hands and stuff, and then the third stage is when you just control stuff using your mind, which is really difficult sometimes.”
“But you can do that, can’t you Bert?” Larissa asked him.
“Only for some things, like for example I can turn people invisible.” Bert turned Ariel invisible, and then back again.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Ariel complained. “It feels so weird when I’m not expecting it. You wait until I can turn you invisible.”
They were nearly at the park opposite Elly’s house. “Oh, I’ve got to go to Woody’s, haven’t I?” remembered Fred. “Well, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow at school.”
“You’re coming to school again?” Bert asked in disgust. He was still trying to get over being jealous of everyone, as Robin had left before Bert could ask him to fix his heart.
“Yep, certainly,” Fred assured him. “I’m joining your school. I didn’t have the rest of my education back in the olden days because Ms. Harris put me in the lamp, remember?”
“Duh!” said Ariel to Bert.
Fred turned and walked the opposite way to cross over the road. Then he looked back to see Larissa laughing as Bert chased Ariel down the road past the park.
Ten minutes later he was walking up Woody’s road, thinking about spaghetti bolognese and wondering what on earth it was. He hoped it tasted nice. He was so busy thinking about it that he failed to notice a broomstick leaning beside the nearby wall. Then suddenly a big black shape enclosed itself around him and he was falling… falling… down.
“Ow, my head!” was the first thought Fred had. He cautiously opened his eyes and banged his head on…a tree, of all things. He was flying. “Owww!” he yelled in pain.
“Shut up!” came a shriek.
Fred thought whether to reply “no”, but didn’t in the end because his head hurt so much. He wondered who had said that. “Ms. Harris,” he sighed after thinking about it. This was so much like what she would do. “Great!” he moaned. He wasn’t having a very good day at all. It was now about seven o’ clock at night he guessed from the amount of darkness. He’d only been out of his lamp since around four o’ clock. In three hours he had granted five wishes, met lots of new people and almost battled a witch by himself. Not bad, after ninety years in a stuffy lamp.
After agonisingly long minutes of harsh wind buffeting Fred’s head they eventually landed on the rooftops of a castle. Ms. Harris shoved him inside the castle through a trapdoor and down a long, long, long flight of stairs. Then there was a landing, and then another, shorter flight of stairs. She opened another trapdoor and pushed him through that, banging the trapdoor and bolting it behind him. It was pitch black inside, so Fred couldn’t see anything at all. Feeling rather scared, he rolled over on the floor and tried to get to sleep as there was nothing else for him to do.
“Woody!” called his Mum. “Your friend’s still not here. Shall we have tea now anyway?”
“Okay then,” Woody sighed, wondering where on earth Fred was and what could have happened to him. It must have been something bad for sure. Nobody would stay far away from home when it was spaghetti bolognese for tea. Not that Fred could count Woody’s house as home, but still! Maybe Fred would live with his family’s descendants, like Charlie Brooks, if they were related to each other. Woody knew Charlie, and thought he was okay as a friend. Woody had tea, and then went up to his room to think about Elly and to try to do his English homework that was in for tomorrow, set by one of his stupid cover teachers.
Woody passed an almost sleepless night, but, in comparison, Fred didn’t seem to have any sleep at all. There was nothing Fred could do to make sleep come to him. He tried counting sheep, but each of the sheep jumping over the fence seemed to have Ms. Harris’ face. He wanted to be safe inside his lamp still, with nothing being able to touch him or make him come out. At around seven in the morning (not that he could tell what time it was as he had no clock and no watch of course) he finally fell asleep, and soon after had a nightmare about a witch boiling something in her cauldron. The witch’s name was Griselda, and in the dream she wanted to eat him.
A knock sounded at Elly’s door. She ran to open it, thinking it might be Woody, as it was now almost eight o’ clock in the morning.
Outside stood a short-ish lady of about 30. “Hello,” the lady said. “Are you Elly?” Elly nodded. “I’m Ms. Harris, and I’m Woody’s friend’s Dad’s friend and I was wondering if you had a lamp given to you by Woody last night? Because ours went missing a few days ago and we would like it back. It was an antique lamp, quite priceless. Of course, Woody has been known to steal before, and I would watch out for him if I were you.” Elly looked frightened.
“Oh…yes,” she stammered. “I’ll go and fetch it right away.” She disappeared, and then reappeared a few moments later with the lamp.
“Thank you!” the lady spoke in glee. “And good day to you!” And with that, she walked away down the street with a funny little skip and a jump, like she was very happy about something.
“Oh,” sighed Elly sadly.
Woody walked around to Elly’s house, humming happily. Despite the fact that Fred still wasn’t home, Woody couldn’t be disheartened by that, because HE WAS GOING OUT WITH ELLY, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WHOLE WORLD! (That was in his opinion, of course, as Ariel was the most beautiful girl in the whole world to Bert and Robin, and Gertrude was the most beautiful girl in the whole world to Caleb).
Woody rang Elly’s doorbell, expecting Elly to be nearly ready for school. He had often seen her walking to school at a little bit later than this. At the moment it was about ten past eight.
Elly’s Mum opened the door. “Yes, what do you want?” she asked in disbelief. How dare he come here, after what had just happened?
“Is Elly nearly ready for school?” Woody asked brightly.
“She’s already gone to school, for your information, and probably won’t ever talk to you again. Poor girl! She’s heartbroken!”
“What do you mean?” asked Woody in bewilderment.
“You know perfectly well what I mean, you dirty thief!”
“What?” exclaimed Woody.
But Elly’s Mum shut the door in his face. He banged hard on the door and by now half the neighbours were looking out of their windows all down the street. He didn’t care. He wanted to know what had happened. However, she didn’t open the door, so he crossed over the road, and stopped. The magic carpet was rolled up by a gate. It had been out all night! That gave Woody an idea. He would tell it to find Fred, and then Woody could make Fred give him his last wish, and he could wish to find out what had happened! He snuck the carpet away, and walked down the road and into the park. No one was around, which was surprising as lots of people went to school at this time, but fortunate. So Woody rolled out the carpet and sat on it, saying “Carpet, please take me to Fred!” He said ‘please’ because he figured that if it had been left out all night then it might be a little crotchety. Unwillingly, it flapped off and soon they were in sight of a castle. They squeezed in through a window (none of the windows had glass in, because it was an old-fashioned castle) and then the carpet tipped him off onto the ground with a thump. “Oy!” he cried. The carpet rolled itself up and Woody picked it up. “You’re not staying here, my friend,” he told it seriously. “I might lose you.” As if in agreement, the carpet shrunk itself smaller. Now all Woody had to do was to find Fred!
Bert and Ariel were walking to school, talking about what had happened the previous day. Bert had something very important to tell her, when Robin came running up behind them. “You guys!” he puffed. “I just want to say…I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay, Robin, we’ll forgive you!” smiled Bert who by now was back to normal. “Just don’t try to take Ariel away from me again, will you?”
“No,” muttered Robin, ashamed. “But I’ll still have a place in my heart for Ariel, and you can’t stop that!”
“Nah, you’re right there,” agreed Bert happily. It was back to old times. Well almost. There was Fred now too. He would have to become one of their friends. That reminded him that he still had to tell Ariel that important thing that he was going to tell her before Robin came. Then Robin ran off to join his friend Lyra and Bert was free to talk to Ariel.
“Ariel…” he paused, not sure how to put into words what he needed to tell her, without making her too upset.
“Yes?” she questioned.
“I was looking in the crystal again last night, and do you know what I saw?”
“What did you see?”
“I saw that you and me will die on the same day, and I will die before you by a few minutes.”
“Ah, isn’t that sweet?” Ariel asked, thinking this would be when they were in their seventies or something.
“Sweet?” Bert exclaimed. “This is in a couple of years’ time that I’m talking about!”
Ariel gasped in shock. “No!” she breathed.
“Oh yes,” said Bert grimly. “And do you know who kills us BOTH?”
“No, and I don’t think I want to know.”
“Fred, that’s who!” Ariel closed her eyes. She wasn’t hearing this, she told herself. It was just a bad dream, and soon she’d wake up. Nevertheless, Bert carried on. “So I was thinking, if we make everyone who was involved forget what’s happened; you, me, Robin, Fred, Woody, and most importantly Ms. Harris, then we can stop this incident of Ms. Harris trying to get more power or whatever and it will be less complicated in the future. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” muttered Ariel, not taking in all of what Bert was saying. Fred, of all people? And she had thought she could trust him! Well, she’d have to see about that! Then she remembered she’d forget what she’s just heard. “Oh,” she sighed. “When do you want to get everyone?”
“I was thinking, breakfast time will probably be best,” said Bert. “I’ll get out of lesson at your breakfast time, and you can call everyone to me in the third Music practice room. That’s big enough, I think. And nobody has music lessons in that room until after 11:00am.”
“Right,” agreed Ariel quietly.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” said Bert, realising how she must feel and putting an arm around her. “But it’s gotta be done.”
“Yes,” sighed Ariel.
“And then Fred can live with his cousin Charlie. I’ll tell Charlie, I know he’ll be okay with that.”
“So they are related!” Ariel realised. “They’re not exact cousins, are they?”
“Nah, Charlie is Fred’s cousins’ grandson.”
“Makes sense.”
“Or…maybe Fred could stay with his brother.”
“Who would that be?”
“Joe, of course!” exclaimed Bert. Joe was Charlie’s cousin, and therefore vaguely related to Fred. Joe was also Bert’s friend.
“Anything else you found out in the crystal that you would care to tell me about?” Ariel asked sarcastically.
“Not anything that you need to know about. Just when Ms. Harris dies, and when Fred dies too. Charlie stabs Fred, and then before Fred dies he kills Charlie, in about two years and three quarters’ time.”
“I didn’t want to know that,” said Ariel hurriedly. She wished she hadn’t asked.
Bert had found out lots more stuff too, about him and Ariel mainly, but couldn’t share it with anyone, especially not with Ariel. He wanted to, as he knew both of them would forget it after breakfast time. But she would be upset by it, and he didn’t want to upset her more than he had done already.
Instead, he decided on the course of action he would take. He was going to alter everyone’s mind by using magic, without them noticing, so it would be extra effective. Only Ariel would know what was coming. Instead of having memories of what actually happened, everyone would invent what had happened yesterday evening, like they went to the park and stayed out there for a while or something like that. Ms. Harris would become a normal schoolteacher and teach until what was written into the future came to happen. Everyone would think they had just met Fred, who would live a normal life, helped by Joe and Charlie. And Bert could finally forget what he’d seen in the crystal. He would also use magic to make sure he never looked into the crystal to see their futures again.
Woody crept silently down a small flight of stairs. He was going towards where he thought the dungeon would be. All castles had dungeons, and wouldn’t Fred be locked in the dungeon? Unless he often came here. Woody still hadn’t guessed who the castle belonged to and thought maybe Fred might possibly live there. Or his family’s descendants.
Woody reached a big trapdoor and jumped on it, to see if there was anyone down there that might hear him jumping on it. They might be able to tell him where Fred was. But he couldn’t hear anything. So he put the magic carpet that he was still clutching down and with difficulty managed to unbolt and heave the trapdoor open. Light flooded into the room, and Woody could see Fred asleep on the floor. “Fred!” he whispered. “Fred, wake up, it’s me Woody!”
Fred awoke from his nightmare with a start. “Woody!” he grinned in relief. “It’s you! Where’s the witch?”
“What witch? Oh, Ms. Harris! I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”
“Good.” Fred paused. “What time is it?”
“About twenty past eight in the morning.”
“And what time does school start?”
“Twenty to nine.”
“Well let’s get to school then,” said Fred, climbing up out of the dungeon. They both sat on the now-normal-sized-magic carpet which whisked them off to school.
On the way, Woody asked Fred about Elly and why Elly’s Mum would accuse him of being a thief. Fred almost lost his temper with Woody for not realising that Ms. Harris must have told Elly that he had stolen the lamp from Ms. Harris and she was just trying to get it back. Then Woody thought of the best way of paying Fred back.
“Fred?” he asked timidly.
“Yes, Woody my friend?” asked Fred laughingly.
“For my third wish…” Fred frowned at Woody, hoping he would say the words that might free him forever.
“Carry on!” Fred demanded impatiently
“I wish…that you were freed from your lamp and from being a genie.”
Fred gave a sigh of relief and almost fell back to sleep, but then they arrived near school so he had to wake up.
Charlie met Fred and Woody coming to school. He had been told to by Bert. He didn’t really want to, because he didn’t like meeting new people especially relations, but respected Bert and if Bert wanted him to then he would.
“Hey,” said Charlie.
“Hi Charlie!” said Woody. “This is Fred.”
“Pleased to meet you,” said Fred politely, though he wasn’t. Charlie just frowned. They all went inside and Charlie and Woody told Fred what Crooked Burrow School was like, and what uniform he would have to wear after the Easter holiday. Fred was still wearing his old-fashioned clothes. The school didn’t seem too bad to Fred, who had after all been brought up in a very strict time, just after the Victorian times. Schools in his times had had very serious punishments, and staying behind after school for an hour detention seemed fun compared to having the cane.
Charlie told Woody and Fred that at breakfast time they had to go up to Music to meet Bert who had to tell everyone something. They said they would make sure they came, and then Charlie took Fred to Mr. Buttons, their Head of Year, who would tell Fred which form he would be in. To Charlie’s disgust, Fred was in his mate Louis’ form, and the same band as Charlie, which meant that they might be in the same classes for some subjects. Charlie wasn’t looking forward to that. He didn’t like his relatives.
At ten past nine Ms. Harris stormed down the dungeon stairs. Now she had the lamp, all she needed was Fred and all the power for her world domination would be hers. It had taken her such a long time but now she was nearly ready to achieve her goal. Then she reached the dungeon, and cursed loudly. The dungeon door was open, and no one was inside.
“Those meddling kids!” she screeched and attempted to run back up the stairs to fetch her broomstick. She almost succeeded but someone was standing at the top of the stairs in her way. “Get out of my way!” she shrieked but they didn’t move. She looked up at the person. “Albertus…?” she questioned curiously. Then suddenly a spark of bright white light exploded around Ms. Harris’ head and Bert laughed softly as she crumpled to the floor. He was descended from Albertus the Great Sorcerer and that’s why he was so good at magic. Although Albertus was evil, his descendants had all been good magicians. Ms. Harris had thought he was Albertus because she had been around at the time of him. She had been Albertus’ servant, and had been granted immortality until someone managed to outwit her. That time had nearly come, and Bert was looking forward to it. He dumped Ms. Harris onto the magic carpet which he had found nearby school and then sat on the carpet himself. “Carpet, take me to the second Music practice room at Crooked Burrow School!” Bert commanded the carpet. It flew him back and he rolled it up and stuffed it in a small cupboard in which he stored things for the magic after school clubs. Then he made his way to the third Music practice room, to erase everyone’s memories. He sighed sadly, but reminded himself that it was for the best.
It was the last lesson of the last day before everyone broke up for Easter. Woody had English, and they had a new teacher called Ms. Harris. She was really nice, and very good at Drama, which was what everyone wanted. She told them that after their SATs they would be practising for the play entitled “Wyrd Sisters”, which included at least three witches. Everyone liked that idea, and it made them work harder for their SATs.
Elly met Woody coming out of school. “Erm…” Elly began, embarrassed.
“Yes…?” asked Woody enquiringly.
“Well, I’m sorry…”
“What for?”
“For believing what Ms. Harris said. She told me that you had stolen that lamp, and now I realise that…”
“What lamp?” Woody asked quickly, looking puzzled.
“…That you wouldn’t have stolen it unless it was for a reason,” Elly continued. “So, will you forgive me?”
“Of course I will,” Woody smiled at Elly, even though what she had just told him made no sense to him at all and they walked on together happily. They reached the park opposite Elly’s house, and sat on a bench in the sun.
“I still wish it was just me…and you,” Elly murmured.
“Would you like that?” Woody asked softly.
“You bet I would!” Elly smiled.
“Will you go out with me then?”
Elly gave him a strange look. “I already am and have been since yesterday,” she told him. “You can’t have forgotten that!”
The End
