Midnight Feast Read online

  ..

  ..

  For my mother, with love

  ..

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Imprint

  .

  Chapter One

  ‘Look!’ cried Teena. She stood up in her stirrups, pointing eagerly as Glitterwings Academy came into view. ‘There it is! I see it!’

  Flying up above with her parents, Twink Flutterby looked down at her little sister and smiled. That was me last term, she thought. Riding on a mouse because I couldn’t fly yet, and so excited to be seeing Glitterwings!

  Twink’s mother stopped and hovered, her eyes shining. ‘Oh, isn’t it lovely! When I was a student here, I always thought Glitterwinffffgfggs was at its very prettiest in the summer term.’

  ‘You used to say that every term, if I recall!’ teased Twink’s father. His dark purple hair fell over his forehead as he grinned at his wife.

  Privately, Twink thought her mother was right. The great oak tree that housed Glitterwings Academy was in full leaf, its strong branches basking in the sun. The tiny windows that wound up its trunk sparkled like dewdrops, and the grand double doors at its base seemed to gleam.

  ‘Come on,’ said Twink’s father, glancing at the sun. ‘We still have quite a way to go after we drop Twink off, if we’re to get to Mother’s before dinner.’

  Twink’s spirits plummeted at his words. She had been trying not to think about her family going to Gran’s without her, but now she couldn’t avoid it. She trailed along after her parents as they skimmed over the bright field of wildflowers that encircled the school.

  As they landed, Twink saw crowds of excited fairies flitting about Glitterwings like hummingbirds, shouting welcomes to each other. No one from Daffodil Branch seemed to be there yet, though, and for a moment Twink felt very alone.

  ‘We’ll send you a butterfly when we get to Gran’s,’ Twink’s mother said. She gave Twink a tight hug, her wings folding warmly around her. ‘Have a wonderful birthday, darling. I’m sorry we can’t be with you on the day, but I’m sure you’ll have a good time with your friends.’

  .

  .

  Twink forced a smile. ‘Oh, it’ll be glimmery! I can hardly wait.’

  ‘That’s the spirit, Twinkster.’ Her father hugged her, too, and Twink knew that she hadn’t fooled him. He handed her her oak-leaf bag and ruffled her bright pink hair. ‘Have a good term, love. We’ll see you soon.’

  Twink waved as hard as she could as her family departed. Teena twisted about in Brownie’s stirrups, shouting goodbyes until they had all disappeared from view.

  Twink’s hand dropped to her side. Her bright lavender wings drooped. That was that, then. Her family was gone.

  ‘Twink!’ cried a voice.

  Twink spun quickly about, and saw her best friend. ‘Bimi!’ The two girls embraced, lifting off the grass as their wings fluttered excitedly.

  ‘Isn’t it great to be back?’ laughed Bimi. ‘I never thought I’d miss this place when I first came here, but I really did – everything at home just seemed boring!’

  Twink’s smile slipped away. She dropped back to the ground with a thump. ‘Yes, I – I suppose so,’ she said.

  Bimi landed beside her, staring. ‘You suppose so? Twink, what’s wrong?’

  ‘Oh, nothing.’ All at once tears threatened. Twink made a face, trying desperately not to cry. She didn’t want to say what was wrong – she knew how stupid and babyish it would sound.

  Bimi’s eyes were full of concern. She drew Twink quickly away behind a cluster of bluebells. The fragrant blossoms cast soft shadows over the grass, shielding the two girls from prying eyes.

  ‘Twink, you have to tell me!’ insisted Bimi. ‘What is it?’

  Twink wiped her eyes. ‘It’s – it’s my birthday on Friday.’

  Bimi looked confused. ‘What’s so bad about that?’

  Twink felt a lump in her throat. She took a deep breath. ‘It’s just – well, my family always make it a really special day for me. We go to my grandmother’s, and – and it’s always just wonderful.’ She bit her lip, thinking of Gran’s cosy kitchen and delicious honey cakes.

  ‘Oh, Twink.’ Bimi touched her arm.

  ‘But this year I’ll be at school for my birthday,’ continued Twink. ‘And Gran was away during the hols, so I didn’t get to see her. She’s only just got back, and now my family’s going to go and see her without me. They’ll be doing all these glimmery things without me on my birthday – it’s like they don’t even care!’

  Bimi rubbed her silver and gold wing against Twink’s lavender one. ‘Twink, I’m sure they care! But it’s really too bad that you have to miss all the fun.’

  Twink swallowed hard, already ashamed of her outburst. She knew that her parents had tried their best to make it up to her, with a special party at home before she left. It wasn’t their fault that her gran had been away, or that Twink’s birthday fell during Glitterwings term-time.

  .

  .

  ‘I’ve just – I’ve just never had a birthday without them before,’ she said softly. Her cheeks reddened as she looked down. ‘It’s going to feel a bit strange, that’s all.’

  Bimi nodded sympathetically. ‘I know. I’m glad my birthday comes in the holidays. But you know, that will be strange, too, not being able to spend it with my friends from school.’

  Twink hadn’t thought of that. She stroked a bluebell’s smooth leaf. ‘I suppose things are different when you go away to school, aren’t they? We’re not babies any more, and things are just harder sometimes.’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Bimi. ‘But they’re better, too. Look at us – we can fly now, and we’re going to the best school in the world!’

  They smiled at each other. Twink thought how glad she was that she could talk to someone this way. She was the luckiest fairy in the school, to have Bimi for a best friend.

  ‘Come on,’ she said suddenly. ‘Let’s go to Daffy Branch, and make sure we’ve got beds beside each other again!’

  The two girls took off, swooping over grass and flowers. Twink laughed as they zoomed through the double doors of the school at full speed, dodging fairies from older years.

  ‘Watch it, you kids!’ someone shouted after them.

  When they got inside, Twink paused, gazing upwards. The inside of Glitterwings was even more wonderful than the outside: a high, high tower filled with a soft golden light. Fairies flitted in and out of its many branches like brightly coloured birds.

  ‘Hurry!’ said Bimi. The swirling gold and silver pattern of Bimi’s wings sparkled as she took off, and Twink remembered how she had thought Bimi the most beautiful fairy she had ever seen when she first met her. Now she was simply Bimi – her friend.

  She flew to catch up with Bimi and the two fairies spiralled upwards, passing empty classrooms and dorm branches filled with arriving fairies. On impulse, Twink did a quick somersault in the air, the wind tickling her wings.

  Bimi laughed. Twink grinned back at her, feeling a bit better. It had taken her ages to learn to fly the term before – much to her embarrassment when the rest of the first year was whizzing about like dragonflies! Now, though, she couldn’t get enough of it.

  It’ll be all right, she told herself firmly. I learned how to fly, so I can learn anything – even how to be away from my family on my birthda
y.

  When the girls reached Daffodil Branch, Twink saw with satisfaction that it was just as they had left it – a snug, comfortable branch with cosy moss beds and glow-worm lamps. An upside-down daffodil hung over each bed like a canopy. Their uniforms would be daffodils, too, with the jaunty oak-leaf cap that every student at Glitterwings wore.

  ‘Look, we can have the same beds as last time!’ cried Bimi. She and Twink flitted quickly to the two beds nearest the window. ‘Oh, good!’ said Bimi, bouncing on hers. ‘I was worried that we wouldn’t be together.’

  A few of the other girls had already arrived and were putting away their things. Pix, a clever red-headed fairy, grinned and flapped her yellow wings. ‘We saved them for you!’ she called.

  ‘Thanks!’ Twink called back with a smile.

  A fairy with a pointed face and silvery-green hair sniffed loudly. ‘Well, I don’t think it’s fair, saving beds for people! Maybe Lola and I would have liked to sleep there.’

  Twink made a face at her, and didn’t answer. ‘Mariella hasn’t got any nicer, I see,’ she muttered to Bimi.

  ‘No, she’s still her same old wonderful self,’ agreed Bimi. ‘Lucky us!’

  Twink opened up her oak-leaf bag and began to unpack. Carefully, she arranged her things on the soft brown surface of her bedside mushroom: her thistle comb, a bottle of sparkly wing polish, the drawings of her family.

  .

  .

  Their faces smiled out at her. Twink sighed, her fingers lingering on the drawings. It was very odd, imagining them all at Gran’s house without her.

  ‘It’ll be all right, Twink, really!’ whispered Bimi.

  Twink managed a smile. ‘I’m OK,’ she said. Suddenly she caught sight of something crouching on Bimi’s bedside mushroom, and her eyes widened. ‘Bimi! You’ve got a cricket clock!’

  Bimi nodded, patting the insect on his shiny brown head. He waved his antennae with a cheerful chirp. ‘Yes, my dad got him for me. He knows what a hard time I have waking up in the morning!’

  ‘How does it work?’ Twink tickled the cricket under his chin.

  Bimi showed her a small petal pad. ‘You just write down the time you want waking up, and tuck it under his front foot. They forget otherwise – crickets love to help, but they don’t have very good memories!’

  Before Twink could reply, a shout rang through the branch. ‘Opposite! There you are!’

  Sooze! Twink whirled about as an energetic fairy zoomed into the branch, almost knocking her over with an enthusiastic hug.

  ‘Hurrah, my Opposite is here!’ said Sooze, flapping her wings. ‘Isn’t it glimmery to be back?’

  Twink grinned. Sooze always called her ‘Opposite’, because where Twink had bright pink hair and lavender wings, Sooze had lavender hair and pink wings. The two girls had been best friends for much of the last term, and Twink still liked Sooze – even though she’d found out that she wasn’t the most dependable fairy in the world!

  ‘It’s great,’ Twink agreed happily, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear. ‘Did you have good hols, Sooze?’

  Bimi’s expression had turned stiff the moment Sooze flitted into the branch. She fed her cricket a leaf without saying anything.

  ‘Glimmery!’ Sooze threw herself on to Twink’s bed and bounced up and down. ‘My sister Winn and I did loads of things. Oh, and, Twink, she has all sorts of ideas for things we First Years can do to liven things up around here! We’re really falling behind compared to what she got up to last term.’

  ‘What’s wrong with things the way they are?’ asked Bimi coolly. Twink winced. She knew that Bimi didn’t like Sooze very much.

  Sooze rolled her eyes. ‘Well, we only played one good prank on Madame last term! And we didn’t do anything really fun. We’ve got a lot of catching-up to do, I can tell you!’

  Twink saw Bimi’s lips tighten. ‘Have we got our new timetables yet?’ she asked quickly. ‘We’re supposed to start Creature Kindness this term – I can hardly wait! What about you two?’

  She looked hopefully at them both. If she could just get them chatting about something, maybe the three of them could all get on and be friends.

  But Bimi didn’t say anything, and Sooze just laughed, fluttering her pink wings. ‘That’s all we need, another class! But Winn says Mr Woodleaf is a real pushover. We should have lots of fun with him.’

  Twink laughed too, but was relieved when Mrs Hover, the matron, arrived just then. The silver-winged fairy huffed a bit as her ample frame touched down on the ledge outside the branch.

  ‘Hoo!’ she gasped, fanning herself with her wings. ‘That flight gets steeper every time I do it. Hello, girls – are we all here?’ She counted them quickly, and nodded with satisfaction. ‘Excellent! Come along, now – it’s time for the opening gathering in the Great Branch.’

  The first gathering of the new term! Twink’s wings tingled with excitement. She skimmed across the branch and took off into the trunk with the others. They streamed downwards, single-file. The air hummed with hundreds of wings as fairies from other years and branches appeared, shouting happily to each other.

  As they all poured into the Great Branch, Twink saw their table near the front: a long mossy table with a large yellow daffodil suspended over it. Different flowers and plants hung over the other tables, and glow-worm lanterns hung from the ceiling. When it was dark, they lit the Branch like pieces of sunshine.

  ‘Come on!’ cried Twink to Bimi, rushing to their table. The two friends grinned at each other as they grabbed seats side by side on the red and white spotted mushrooms. On the platform above them, the Glitterwings teachers sat talking.

  Twink saw Mrs Lightwing, their Flight mistress and first-year head, and bit back a rueful smile. The gruff, no-nonsense teacher hadn’t had an easy time of it last term, trying to teach Twink how to fly!

  Once the fairies were all seated, Miss Shimmery, the HeadFairy, hovered into the air and clapped her hands for attention. Silence fell over the Great Branch. There was a rustling noise as the students all twisted on their mushrooms to face her, their expressions expectant.

  ‘A warm welcome to all of our students,’ said Miss Shimmery in her low voice. Her white hair shone, and her rainbow wings glimmered gracefully. ‘It’s a new term, and I expect a lot of good work from all of you. In fact, I expect much better work than last term, when a few of you took the fairy fun in our school song a bit too much to heart!’

  Her gaze fell on a fourth-year table halfway along the Branch. Looking over her shoulder, Twink saw the Primrose table – the branch where Sooze’s sister Winn lived. Winn and her friends grinned sheepishly at each other.

  ‘Now, I know that some pranks are inevitable in a school full of young fairies, but there will be far less this term,’ said Miss Shimmery firmly. ‘If anyone finds it difficult to settle down, we’ll assume that you have too much free time, and need more to do. Does everyone understand?’

  The Branch was so silent that you could have heard a mouse sniff. Miss Shimmery scanned the school. A very slight twinkle shone in her eyes, but Twink knew that she meant exactly what she said.

  ‘I’m glad that we understand each other,’ smiled Miss Shimmery at last. ‘Now then – all rise, and sing the Glitterwings song!’

  Twink stood up with the others. The school cricket-band jumped into place behind Miss Shimmery, and a moment later their rousing music filled the Branch. The fairies eagerly lifted their voices, opening and closing their wings in time to the song.

  .

  Oh, Glitterwings, dear Glitterwings

  Beloved oak tree scho-ool.

  Good fairy fun for everyone,

  That is our fairy ru-ule.

  Our teachers wise,

  Their magic strong,

  With all our friends,

  We can’
t go wrong.

  Oh, Glitterwings, dear Glitterwings

  Beloved oak tree scho-ool.

  ‘Butterflies commence!’ announced Miss Shimmery as the song ended. She lifted her arm and a colourful stream of butterflies swept into the Branch, carrying oak-leaf platters piled high with seed cakes and acorn jugs of fresh dew. The tables buzzed into conversation as the girls sat down and started to eat.

  ‘It sounds like a challenge to me!’ grinned Sooze, sprinkling pollen over her cake. ‘How much can we get away with without being caught?’

  Pix shook her bright head. ‘I think we’d better be careful. Miss Shimmery wasn’t joking.’

  Twink played with her food as the conversation went on around her. Her family had probably arrived at Gran’s house by now. Gran lived in a snug tree stump in a green wood, and her home was always bright and clean, with delicious smells drifting from it. A neighbouring mole family lived nearby, and Twink and Teena always had great fun playing with the babies. And at night, Gran would tell wonderful stories about life when she was a young fairy.

  All of that would be going on without her now, thought Twink. Would her family even remember her on her birthday? Oh, don’t be silly! she scolded herself. Of course they would.

  ‘Are you all right?’ whispered Bimi.

  Twink smiled gratefully at her friend. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. She took a bite of seed cake and sighed, thinking of the wonderful honey cake that Gran always made for her birthday.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she repeated. ‘But . . . I’ll be a lot happier once my birthday is over with.’

  .

  Chapter Two

  Long after the others had gone to sleep that night, Bimi lay awake in her bed beside the window, worrying about her friend. Poor Twink! What an awful thing, to feel so alone on your birthday. What could she do to cheer her up?

  I’ll give her my new snail-trail pen for a present, she decided. Her mother had bought it for her during the holiday. It was the very latest thing – a pen that left a sparkly silver snail-trail. Twink would love it, Bimi knew.