Over The Rainbow (4 page)

The next morning, Elly woke to discover that everything in their room had changed from blue to a deep purple colour. Even the door!

‘It's all done with colour-timers,' explained Saphie, as they put on their indigo uniforms. ‘It just changes automatically overnight.'

The indigo breakfast was raisin toast with blackberry jam, which tasted deliciously purple. But Elly's enjoyment was spoiled somewhat by the Cruddleperrys, who sat at a nearby table staring at Elly and muttering to each other.

‘I've got a very bad feeling about those Cruddleperrys,' Elly whispered to Saphie.

‘Same here,' agreed Saphie. ‘They're definitely up to something. But what?'

After breakfast, Saphie took Elly to the Flight Simulator room for their first class, Extreme Flying.

‘Miss Blippy is nice,' whispered Saphie, ‘but she likes us to get things right first time.'

Great
, thought Elly gloomily.

Miss Blippy approached Elly. ‘You must be Elly!' she said, smiling broadly. ‘I went to school with your mother. She was a brilliant flyer. I daresay you are, too!'

Elly sighed. It was really hard trying to live up to the Knottleweed-Eversprightly name. Her relatives were all such high achievers. Everyone expected Elly to be the same.

‘No, I'm not, Miss Blippy,' said Elly earnestly.

But Miss Blippy just laughed. ‘And modest, too, just like your mum! How about you start us off today?'

She handed Elly two silver things that looked like bangles. ‘These are turbo boosters,' she explained. ‘They make you fly much faster than you would with just wings. Normally I wouldn't give them to a new student, but as you're a Knottleweed-Eversprightly I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.'

‘I wouldn't be so sure, Miss Blippy,' said Elly nervously. ‘In fact, maybe I should just watch this time?'

‘Nonsense!' said Miss Blippy. ‘Now, hold on everyone!' Then, pressing a button on her wand, she launched the Flight Simulator.

Immediately, the room darkened and a gale began to howl. Lightning flashed overhead and thunder made the floor tremble and shake. A line of trees sprang up along the walls, bending backwards and forwards as they were lashed by the furious storm.

‘Up you go, Elly!' shouted Miss Blippy.

Elly knew she had no choice. She clipped the turbo boosters around her ankles and immediately they roared into life. Elly found herself being dragged into the air – feet first! Somehow, she struggled back upright.

‘Float around the room!' called Miss Blippy.

Float?
thought Elly. She was heading into a massive storm –– practically a
cyclone
– and Miss Blippy was telling her to
float
?

OK, don't panic
, Elly told herself.
You've done Extreme Flying before. Just remember the three rules in the Fairy Code.

Generally, Elly never remembered things like this. But luckily today, the rules jumped into her head.

Keep your wings at a 90
degree angle to your body.

Press your arms as close to your body
as possible and keep your toes pointed.

Tuck your chin in tightly.

Or was it stick your chin out?
There was no time to decide. Elly could feel herself starting to roll over.
I'll try sticking out my chin and see what happens
, she thought desperately.

So Elly did, and for a moment her flying seemed under control. She found a gentle upward current and started drifting out of the storm.

Then from nowhere, a cold downward current flipped her upside-down like a pancake. Down on the ground she could hear her classmates giggling, especially Gabi and Nadia.

‘I'm stuck, Miss Blippy,' Elly called helplessly, zooming around upside-down.

‘Turn your turbo boosters off then and come back down,' said Miss Blippy.

Elly reached down and fumbled with the boosters. But instead of turning off, the boosters suddenly roared even louder than before. And Elly found herself being dragged across the room by her ankles.

‘You've switched them into Overdrive!' Miss Blippy yelled. ‘Switch off the boosters immediately before you crash!'

But there was no way Elly could reach the boosters now. She was feeling very dizzy. She was also starting to worry.

I'm going to be flying around up here forever!
she thought anxiously.

As she spun around, she caught a glimpse of her classmates' faces. No-one was laughing anymore. Not even Gabi and Nadia.

Chapter Six

‘H
ang in there, Elly!' called Miss Blippy, pushing a button on her wand.

The Flight Simulation storm flickered and spluttered, then finally vanished. Instantly, the wind died down. Then Miss Blippy pointed the wand at Elly's feet as she zoomed around the room, still dangling upside-down.

‘I'm taking over the controls of the turbo boosters, Elly,' she said. ‘I'll have you down in a moment.'

Elly felt herself moving wherever Miss Blippy's wand went. Gently, the teacher guided her back down until she landed with a gentle thud on the ground.

Now that everyone could see she was OK, the class started giggling again. Only Saphie and Evie Glitterwings didn't laugh.

‘Typical!' Elly heard Gabi snigger. ‘Once a fairy school drop-out,
always
a fairy school drop-out.'

‘What kind of fairy doesn't even know how to fly properly?' added Nadia nastily.

‘Oh, and I suppose you two were
perfect
with the turbo boosters straight away?' retorted Elly.

Saphie helped Elly up. ‘Actually,' she said, ‘the first time Gabi and Nadia used the boosters they crashed right into each other.'

Some of the other fairies started to laugh. ‘That's right!' chuckled Evie. ‘You should've heard the way they carried on about it, too. They weren't nearly as brave as you, Elly.'

‘The next class is Human Studies,' said Saphie encouragingly, as the bell rang. ‘You'll be great at that. And Miss Riverella, the teacher, is really nice.'

Gabi snorted. ‘Elly will be just as bad in Human Studies as she is in everything else,' she said. ‘I bet it won't be long before she's thrown out of the Rainbow Academy.'

‘Yeah,' sneered Nadia. ‘In fact, we're going to make
sure
of it!'

‘I will do just fine in Human Studies,' said Elly, sounding more confident than she felt. ‘I've been to a human school, after all.'

All the same, she couldn't help feeling nervous as she and Saphie headed to the next class. What exactly did Nadia have planned?

When they arrived at the Human Studies classroom, Miss Riverella wasn't there.

Instead, Madame Fernyfrond was standing up the front of the class. ‘I've decided to teach this class myself,' she announced, ‘so I can keep an eye on my grand-daughter and her little friend.'

‘But Grandma,' said Saphie doubtfully, ‘you haven't met a human in years.'

‘That doesn't matter,' Madame Fernyfrond said dismissively. ‘I know what they're like.'

Elly glanced around the classroom. It looked exactly like her classroom at South Street School! Elly half-expected Jess and her other human friends to walk in.

Madame Fernyfrond saw Elly looking around. ‘I know what you're thinking, Elly,' she said. ‘This room looks
nothing
like a real human classroom.' She pressed a button on her wand, and all the tables and chairs turned by themselves to face the back of the room.

‘Now, everyone, stand on your heads on the seats,' she instructed. ‘Human students sit like this in class to help the circulation of blood through their brains.'

Elly stared at the Head Fairy in surprise.
Is this a joke?

‘Of course, in some human schools, the students sit in bathtubs,' Madame Fernyfrond added. ‘They believe this helps them absorb what they are taught.'

‘Excuse me, Madame Fernyfrond,' said Elly, putting her wand in the air. ‘Humans don't really have lessons in bathtubs. And they don't do headstands in their seats!'

Madame frowned. ‘Of course they do!'