Treasure Hunt Page 2

  ‘Sooze and I have got it all worked out!’ laughed Sili as she reached for a seed cake. ‘We think –’

  ‘No, let me tell it!’ squealed Sooze, clamping a hand over Sili’s mouth. Sili gave a muffled shriek, flapping her wings in mock struggle. ‘A party!’ cried Sooze. ‘We think she’s going to give us a super-glimmery party, and –’

  ‘A party!’ Mariella bounced on her mushroom seat. ‘Oh, I hope you’re right. That would be brilliant!’

  Everyone echoed agreement. ‘We haven’t had any real fun in ages,’ exclaimed a green-haired fairy called Ivy. ‘It’s been such hard work since we started Third Year!’

  Twink tried to join in with the others while she ate, smiling and laughing. Secretly, though, she hoped Sooze was wrong. How could she possibly enjoy a party right now?

  Finally the butterflies cleared away the tables, and the rest of the students departed. The Third Years remained behind, waiting expectantly.

  Miss Twilight flew over to the third-year section and perched on the edge of a vacant table. ‘Now then,’ she said with a smile. ‘I’m sure you’re all wondering what the surprise is.’

  Twink nodded along with everyone else.

  ‘It’s very simple,’ said Miss Twilight. ‘In my experience, third-year students often start to feel a bit fed up about now – the work is harder than you’ve been used to, there’s a lot more of it, and suddenly it all seems very difficult. Am I right?’

  Suddenly Twink’s smile felt strained. She didn’t want to think about things being difficult – they already felt much harder than she could handle.

  ‘So,’ continued Miss Twilight, ‘I always make a point of arranging some sort of special activity for my Third Years in the summer term, just to ensure that they don’t take themselves too seriously!’

  Sooze and Sili nudged each other, their eyes shining.

  ‘This year’s activity . . .’ Miss Twilight paused dramatically, ‘is a treasure hunt!’

  Despite herself, Twink almost laughed at the startled expression on Sooze’s face. The rest of the Third Years were murmuring excitedly to each other, thrilled by the idea of a treasure hunt.

  ‘I’ve hidden a series of ten clues around the school,’ explained Miss Twilight. ‘Each clue leads you on to the next, and the fairy who finds the most clues will win the grand prize!’

  ‘When does the treasure hunt begin, Miss?’ asked Pix eagerly.

  Twink and Bimi exchanged a look. Pix would probably win, of course! The clever fairy always did better than anyone else at things like this.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ said Miss Twilight. ‘You’ll have three weeks to find all the clues – and I have to warn you, some of them are very tricky! Finally, on the last day, you’ll have a day off from your lessons to complete the hunt.’

  ‘Hurrah, a day off!’ whispered Mariella.

  ‘And does anyone know what that last day might be?’ continued Miss Twilight, looking around. ‘It’s a very important one.’

  Ivy’s twin sister Jade, who was in Carnation Branch, raised her hand. ‘The solstice, Miss!’

  The summer solstice – the longest day of the year – was a special time to fairies, who depended on the power of sunshine for so much of their magic.

  Miss Twilight nodded, swinging her legs from the table as if she were no older than they were. ‘That’s right! So to round off the treasure hunt and celebrate the solstice, we’re going to have a fairy disco on the star-gazing platform that night.’

  ‘A disco!’ hissed Sooze triumphantly. ‘That’s even better than a party!’

  Miss Twilight’s voice turned serious. ‘Now, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that the treasure hunt is for your free time only, except on the final day. I still expect all of you to pay attention to your schoolwork over these next few weeks.’

  She gave them all a stern look, and then suddenly smiled. ‘But if I catch anyone paying too much attention to it, they’ll have me to answer to!’

  Back in Violet Branch, Twink got ready for bed, listening to the excited chatter that rang through the room. She made a face. Everyone was so keen to start the treasure hunt, but she just couldn’t seem to care about it.

  Slowly, Twink opened her jar of wing polish. Taking a pink rose petal, she stroked the polish on to her lavender wings, rubbing it in until they shone like jewels.

  ‘The treasure hunt sounds like fun,’ said Bimi. She brushed her long blue hair with a thistle comb, watching Twink carefully.

  Twink nodded. ‘Yes, it does.’

  Bimi put down her comb. ‘Twink, won’t you tell me what’s wrong? Please?’

  Part of her wanted to tell Bimi, but the words just wouldn’t come out. They were too awful, and too scary.

  Twink gulped. ‘I – I can’t,’ she muttered, looking away. ‘I’m sorry, Bimi. I just can’t.’

  She knew Bimi must have seen she was close to tears, though the blue-haired fairy didn’t comment on it. ‘All right,’ said Bimi softly. ‘But – but Twink, I’m sure that whatever it is, it’s not as bad as you think!’

  I wish that were true, thought Twink. But Pix’s words echoed in her mind. Unless something happened to snap Gran out of the Doldrums, she could stay sad and gloomy for ever.

  Down below, the other fairies were laughing and teasing each other about the treasure hunt. ‘You’ll win, of course, Pix!’ called Kiki, a lilac-haired fairy with purple wings.

  Ivy looked up from the petal pad in which she was always drawing. ‘My sister Jade could win just as easily,’ she said. ‘She’s very clever, you know!’

  ‘Not as clever as Pix,’ said Sili loyally.

  Pix didn’t say anything to this, but Twink noticed that she looked rather pleased as she changed into her nightclothes.

  Ivy shrugged and added something to her sketch. ‘Well, Jade was always the cleverest fairy at our old school. I don’t think she was really trying last term; we were both having too much fun swapping places.’

  ‘Now, that was a brilliant prank,’ grinned Sooze. ‘I’d give anything to have done it myself!’ The twins had only been at Glitterwings since the previous term, and for several weeks Ivy and Jade had had great fun switching uniforms and pretending to be each other during lessons.

  ‘Imagine you a twin, Sooze,’ said Mariella with an exaggerated shudder.

  Sooze laughed and waggled her eyebrows. ‘Who needs a twin?’ she said. ‘I’ve got an Opposite! Right, Twink?’

  Up in her loft, Twink managed a smile. Sooze had called her ‘Opposite’ since their first term together, because Sooze’s lavender hair and pink wings were the exact opposite of Twink’s.

  ‘Let’s have a vote!’ cried Sili. She leapt up on to her bed. ‘Jade or Pix – who’s going to win?’

  ‘No!’ burst out Pix, the tips of her pointed ears turning red. ‘Stop it, you lot. Any one of us might win. It doesn’t have to be me or Jade.’

  Despite her protestations, though, Twink thought that Pix sounded pretty confident. Of course she expected to win the treasure hunt – why shouldn’t she? Pix had always been the cleverest fairy in their year, right from the very first term.

  ‘What does it matter who wins?’ put in Bimi, who had been listening along with Twink. ‘The important thing is to have fun, isn’t it?’

  ‘Definitely!’ said Sooze. ‘And I certainly mean to. Especially at the fairy disco! Remember my dance from First Year, everyone?’ She went into the wild, hip-wiggling dance she’d invented. The branch erupted into giggles.

  The merriment lasted until it was time for glow-worms out. Lying under her petal duvet in the darkness, Twink stared out of the loft window at the stars. Now that no one could see, it was a relief to let a few tears escape down her cheek.

  A beam of silvery moonlight shone through the window, resting on the drawing of Twin
k’s family. Turning her head, Twink regarded it sadly. Oh, I wish I had a drawing of Gran, she thought again, wiping her eyes.

  Suddenly a tingle of excitement swept over Twink’s wings. Of course! Gran had been a student here at Glitterwings, and there was always a drawing made of each year group at the end of winter term. Each student was given a copy, but the school must keep copies, too. All she had to do was look in the library, and she’d see Gran!

  I’ll go in my free time tomorrow, Twink promised herself. She smiled up at the stars. All at once she felt better than she’d felt all day.

  .

  Chapter Three

  ‘Fog,’ intoned Mrs Starbright. ‘We fairies use it for many things. Who can tell me the most important one?’ The Weather Magic teacher arranged her cobweb shawl about her shoulders as she waited for an answer. Twink shifted on her mushroom seat, glancing around her.

  As usual, Pix’s hand shot into the air. ‘To cool down the earth,’ she said promptly.

  Mrs Starbright shook her head. ‘That’s one use of fog,’ she said, ‘but it’s not the most important.’

  ‘Oh!’ said Pix in surprise. ‘But I thought –’

  ‘Yes, Jade?’ interrupted Mrs Starbright. Ivy’s twin sister was in a few of Twink’s classes this term, and now she had her hand in the air, too, waving it eagerly.

  ‘To give the sunshine a rest,’ she said, tucking a strand of curly, light green hair behind her ear.

  Twink found herself staring at Jade. She could never get over how alike Jade and Ivy looked! The only difference was that Ivy wore a violet petal dress with a yellow sash, like all the other girls in Violet Branch, and Jade was in the frilly pink Carnation Branch dress.

  Mrs Starbright tsked. ‘That’s not the most important thing either,’ she chided. ‘My dears! The most important use of fog is dramatic effect!’

  Sweeping her arms into the air, she closed her eyes and made a quick, complicated move with her wings. Grey mist began to form in the branch, rolling across the floor in great waves. Soon the fairies could hardly see each other.

  ‘Yes, indeed!’ came Mrs Starbright’s voice from the front of the branch. ‘What better way for us fairies to add a bit of . . . atmosphere to a place? Fog can soften rough edges, it can soothe, it can conceal! Now then, open your petal books to page –’

  ‘Please, Miss, we can’t see our books,’ piped up Sooze. Twink grinned to herself as a snigger ran through the class.

  ‘Er – yes,’ said Mrs Starbright. ‘Wait just a tick, while I get rid of the fog . . .’

  Suddenly the grey clouds became so dense that Twink couldn’t see her own hand. She gulped in alarm as the branch turned icy cold. It felt like the middle of winter!

  ‘Miss, it’s freezing!’ complained Mariella’s voice.

  ‘Hang on . . . fog can be tricky sometimes . . . ah-ha! There we go.’ Mrs Starbright sounded pleased with herself.

  ‘Oh!’ gasped Twink. Wet, chilly drops had begun to patter on to her wings and oak-leaf cap. Similar exclamations came from all around her. It was raining, right inside the branch!

  Slowly, the fog disappeared. The fairies became visible again, though none of them looked very happy. The class sat soddenly on their mushroom seats, wet and uncomfortable. The rain showed no sign of letting up.

  ‘Remember, girls – rain is always an antidote to fog!’ said Mrs Starbright. Her blue hair hung in damp strands around her face. ‘Now then, open your petal books to page –’

  ‘My book’s too wet to read,’ said Sili forlornly, holding it up. Its pages dripped on to the floor.

  ‘Ah,’ said Mrs Starbright, blinking. ‘Yes, I suppose that’s the one drawback to –’

  The class sagged in relief as the magpie’s call echoed through the tree, signalling the end of the lesson. ‘Read Chapter Two!’ called Mrs Starbright after them as they fled from the soggy branch. ‘We do thunderstorms next!’

  The class hovered outside the Weather Magic door for a moment, relishing the warm, dry air of the trunk. ‘Thunderstorms!’ exclaimed Bimi with a shiver. ‘Do you suppose she’ll conjure up one of those inside as well?’

  Sooze wrung out her lavender hair. ‘I hope not! I’d like to learn how to make one, but I don’t fancy being in one.’

  ‘And anyway, I don’t think dramatic effect is the most important thing about fog,’ said Pix, flapping her wet wings crossly. ‘That’s not what our book says! I’m sure I was right.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Jade.

  Twink gazed curiously at her. Was she really as clever as Ivy had said? She certainly seemed to be – though it was very strange to think that there might be a fairy in their year who knew more than Pix!

  Pix’s jaw dropped. ‘Of course I’m right!’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s very important to cool down the earth. If fog didn’t do that, awful things could happen!’

  Jade shrugged. ‘That’s true, but I did a special project on fog at my old school, and it’s actually even more important to –’

  Suddenly a group of fairies appeared, swooping close by. ‘Hurry, you lot!’ called Jax, a third-year student with spiky green hair. ‘The first clue to the treasure hunt is up in our Common Branch!’ She zoomed away up the tree.

  The treasure hunt! They’d almost forgotten about it in all the excitement of the Weather Magic class. The fairies sped up the trunk after Jax. Pix and Jade led the way, each looking determined to get there first.

  Only Twink and Bimi hung back. ‘Aren’t you coming?’ asked Bimi.

  Twink edged away. ‘No, there’s something I want to do in the library. You go ahead.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Bimi, looking worried. ‘Well – why don’t I come with you?’

  Twink shook her head vehemently. ‘No! It’s nothing, Bimi. You go on – I’ll catch you up later.’

  Before Bimi could respond, Twink flitted away down the trunk. Glancing over her shoulder, she was relieved to see her friend spiralling slowly upwards towards the third-year Common Branch.

  The Glitterwings library was a tall, lofty room with shelves reaching to its ceiling. Twink felt herself relax as she flew through its doors. There were no other Third Years in sight.

  ‘Hello, Twink,’ said Mrs Stamen warmly from her mushroom desk in the centre of the room. ‘Can I help you with something?’

  Twink fluttered across to her. ‘I was wondering if there were drawings of old year groups that I could look at,’ she said shyly.

  ‘Yes, of course,’ said Mrs Stamen. ‘We keep the recent ones just over there.’ She pointed to a low shelf beside a window seat in the corner.

  ‘No, I mean really old ones,’ said Twink. ‘Decades old. Maybe even longer.’ She felt her cheeks redden, and hoped Mrs Stamen wouldn’t ask why she wanted to see such a thing.

  But the librarian simply nodded. ‘We keep those up in the Records section,’ she said, indicating a shadowy corner near the ceiling. ‘I’m afraid it might be a bit dusty, though,’ she added. ‘No one goes up there very much!’

  ‘That’s OK,’ said Twink eagerly. ‘Thanks, Mrs Stamen!’

  The librarian hadn’t been exaggerating, Twink found when she reached the shelves. It looked as if no fairy had touched these books in centuries! Their covers were coated with thick grey dust.

  Brushing off one of the spines, Twink read Glitterwings Academy Year Groups, with a date under it. She frowned. Which year did she need?

  Taking a guess, Twink opened one of the grimy volumes. Long-ago fairy faces stared out at her, with a list of names to the side of each drawing. Carefully flipping through the pages, Twink ran her finger down each list. Gran wasn’t there.

  Nor was she in the next volume, nor the next. Book after book showed no sign of Twink’s grandmother.

  Maybe they didn’t even do year drawings when Gran was a
girl, thought Twink glumly, pulling out the last dusty tome. Opening the book, she glanced through the names – and then all at once she caught her breath.

  There it was, beside the third-year drawing! S. Flutterby!

  The drawing showed the Third Years flying in formation outside the tree. Gran was the fifth fairy in the second row, and Twink gazed down at the young girl in wonder. Gran had her arm linked through that of the fairy next to her. The two girls were pulling faces at the artist, laughing.

  Why, Gran looked so young! And . . . and she seemed so happy. She had never even heard of the Doldrums back then, you could tell. Tears stung Twink’s eyes.

  ‘Twink?’ whispered a voice.

  Twink spun about in midair, clutching the book. ‘Bimi! But I said –’

  Her best friend hovered uncertainly beside her. ‘Don’t be cross with me, Twink! I had to come – I was too worried about you to bother with the treasure hunt. What are you doing?’

  Twink wiped her eyes. ‘Look,’ she said gruffly, thrusting the book at Bimi. ‘It’s my gran. She’s that one, right there.’

  ‘Really?’ breathed Bimi, staring down at the drawing. Bimi had met the older Mrs Flutterby on several occasions, and she smiled as she took in the girl’s laughing features. ‘But Twink, I don’t understand –’

  Bimi broke off as she looked up and saw the tears running down Twink’s face. Hastily placing the book back on the shelf, she put her arm around Twink’s shoulders. ‘Please tell me what’s wrong,’ she begged.

  Somehow, Twink managed to get the awful story out. ‘And sometimes fairies with the Doldrums never come out of them,’ she finished wretchedly. ‘They – they just stay sad and gloomy for ever, and –’

  Sobs overcame Twink then, and she couldn’t continue. Bimi put her arms around her. ‘Don’t cry, Twink! I’m sure it’s not as bad as that. She’ll be all right, she really will.’