Treasure Hunt Page 6

  Twink swallowed hard and tried again. ‘Look, Gran – I’ve brought you something,’ she said. Slipping the ring from her finger, she placed it on her grandmother’s lap.

  At first Gran didn’t seem to notice. Then, with a weary sigh, she looked downwards. Her expression didn’t change.

  ‘Don’t – don’t you recognise it?’ faltered Twink. ‘It’s your old ring, that you lost when you were a student at Glitterwings! You were so upset at the time . . . Oh, Gran, don’t you remember?’ she pleaded.

  ‘My . . . ring,’ murmured Gran, gazing down at it.

  ‘Yes, your ring!’ said Twink’s father, fluttering over next to her. ‘Mum, you’ve told me about it before, remember? And now Twink’s found it for you!’ His hand squeezed Twink’s shoulder.

  ‘My ring,’ Gran repeated more strongly. A faint light appeared in her purple eyes. Slowly – so slowly that Twink thought she was only imagining it at first – Gran began to smile.

  Holding the ring up to the light, she turned it this way and that. ‘I never thought I’d see it again,’ she said. ‘My old ring!’

  Twink held her breath as her grandmother’s smile grew and grew, until all at once joy was bursting across her face like a sunrise. She laughed in delight, slipping the ring on to her finger and holding it up to admire it.

  ‘Gran?’ said Twink softly.

  Gran looked up. Her eyes widened, and she stared around her as if she had only just seen everyone. ‘My darlings, what are you all doing here?’ she cried. ‘Alix, Jasmine – and Twink! Why on earth aren’t you at school, young lady?’

  ‘Mum, you’re back!’ burst out Twink’s father. He hugged his mother tightly.

  Gran shook her head as she patted his shoulder. ‘Back? And where am I supposed to have been, pray tell?’

  ‘Hello, Silvia,’ said Miss Shimmery warmly, coming forward. ‘It’s wonderful to see you again!’

  As Gran exclaimed in surprised delight, Twink’s mum flew to her side. ‘Well done, darling,’ she whispered in a voice choked with emotion. ‘We tried everything, and nothing seemed to reach her. None of us knew what to do – but you did!’

  ‘Yes, I can see that there’s no more reason for me to stay,’ put in the doctor, a short fairy with bright blue wings. ‘And I must say I’m glad of it – she had me very worried!’

  ‘Is Gran really all right now?’ Twink asked anxiously. She rubbed her hands against her violet petal skirt. ‘She won’t slip into the Doldrums again, will she?’

  ‘No, she’ll be fine,’ smiled the doctor. ‘She’s finally had that shock of happiness that we’ve all been trying to give her – I guess we just weren’t shocking enough!’

  Later, when they had explained to Gran all that had happened, Gran called Twink over and put an arm around her. Smoothing back her granddaughter’s bright pink hair, she said, ‘My dear, I don’t remember – did my journal explain why this ring was so precious to me?’

  Twink shook her head, relieved that Gran didn’t seem to mind that she’d read it. ‘You just said that it was your favourite.’

  ‘Yes, because my own grandmother gave it to me when I was very young,’ said Gran. She traced the ring’s smooth silver lines with her finger. ‘I loved her dearly, and it was all I had of her when she died. Losing it felt like losing her all over again.’

  Impulsively, Twink kissed her gran’s cheek. ‘I’m so glad that I found it for you, Gran,’ she said.

  Gran took the ring off her finger and pressed it firmly into Twink’s hand. ‘I’m giving it to you, my dear. It’s a ring that should be passed down from grandmother to granddaughter.’

  ‘But . . .’ Twink struggled to speak. The ring gleamed in her palm. ‘Gran, I can’t –’

  ‘Of course you can,’ smiled Gran. ‘You’ll give it to your own granddaughter some day. And meanwhile . . . thank you, my dear. With all my heart.’

  Slowly, Twink put the ring on her finger. It felt as if it belonged there. ‘Thank you, Gran,’ she said. ‘I’ll wear it always.’

  Her parents and Miss Shimmery had stood silently through this, and now Miss Shimmery cleared her throat. ‘Twink, we should be getting back to school,’ she said gently. ‘You’ll still be able to attend most of the third-year disco, if we hurry.’

  ‘Yes, all right,’ said Twink happily. Now that she knew her gran was well again, the disco sounded brilliant!

  Her parents beamed at her. ‘Dance the night away, Twinkster,’ said her father, ruffling her hair. ‘You deserve it.’

  As Twink and Miss Shimmery prepared to leave, Gran hugged Miss Shimmery with a laugh. ‘And by the way, Aurora – I really might have known that that dreadful cricket of yours would turn out to be the culprit!’

  The star-gazing platform had been transformed into a glittering wonderland of flashing crystals and different-coloured lights. A cricket band played loudly in one corner, and everywhere Twink looked, fairies were dancing.

  Bimi rushed over to her. ‘Pix told me the good news!’ she cried, raising her voice to be heard over the music. ‘Did you give the ring to your gran? Is she OK now?’

  ‘Better than OK!’ said Twink. Her heart felt as light as a floating feather. ‘Oh, Bimi, wait till I tell you!’

  ‘Your attention, please,’ called Miss Twilight, hovering over the party. The music stopped as a hush fell over the platform. ‘I am pleased to announce the winners of the treasure hunt. We have a tie, with nine clues found each! Would Pix Sunbeam and Jade Dewdrop please fly up and collect your prize.’

  A tie! How absolutely perfect! Twink burst into applause with the rest of her year, clapping her wings as hard as she could. Pix and Jade smiled at each other as Miss Twilight handed them a large package, beautifully wrapped in golden dandelion petals.

  ‘You’ll have to share, I’m afraid,’ said Miss Twilight. ‘There was only one grand prize.’

  ‘We don’t mind sharing,’ said Jade. ‘Do we, Pix?’

  Pix grinned at her new friend. ‘No, we don’t mind at all!’

  There was more than one kind of prize to win, thought Twink as she watched the two fairies fly back to their places, holding the parcel between them and chattering eagerly. And she herself had won as well. Knowing that her gran was all right again was the best prize in the world!

  The disco resumed, with the music even louder than before. Sooze started a fairy conga line, and Twink giggled as the fairies all linked together in a long, laughing chain, dancing around the platform to the music. ‘Conga!’ shouted Sooze at the front, waggling her hips.

  As the summer moon rose high in the sky, it caught the green stone in Twink’s ring, flashing brightly. Bimi had said that the ring had magic of its own, and she was right, thought Twink: it was the magic that existed between grandparents and their grandchildren. That was why the ring had wanted to be found – not only to help Gran, but also to be passed along to Twink, so that she could give it to her own granddaughter some day.

  Twink shook her head in amazement. Fancy her being old enough to have grandchildren! But she had only to think of her gran and Miss Shimmery to realise it was true. They had both been girls once, just like she was now. And one day she’d be their age . . . and maybe even as wise as they were.

  But not just yet, Twink thought, dancing under the stars with her friends. Bimi grabbed her hands and they swung around in a circle, shrieking with laughter as the ring shone on Twink’s finger. No, now was the time for her to be exactly what she was: a third-year student at Glitterwings Academy.

  And it was the best thing in the world!

  .

  Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney

  First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  36 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QY

  Text copyright © Lee Weatherly 2009<
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  Illustrations copyright © Smiljana Coh 2009

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  This electronic edition published in September 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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  ISBN 978 1 4088 1352 2

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