Over The Rainbow (9 page)

‘We didn't do that!' insisted Saphie.

‘Well, actually,' said Elly, in a small voice, ‘it might've been my fault. I touched it.'

‘Oh, Elly,' said Saphie, shaking her head. She looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

‘Don't you know that even the
slightest
disturbance to the freshly spun rainbow fabric can
completely
alter the form and shape the rainbow takes?' demanded Grandmother.

‘It will take a lot of hard work to get the rainbow back to its proper shape,' frowned Madame Fernyfrond. ‘We're just fortunate that this half of the rainbow isn't visible to the humans on the other side. Imagine the confusion a rain-knot would cause the humans!'

‘Rule number 124,' added the Ruler. ‘No messing up the rainbow!'

Elly wished she could disappear into the floor. It felt like everyone was angry with her. Before she knew it, she'd burst into tears.

‘I'm sorry!' she wailed. ‘I just wanted to see if Jess was OK.'

Grandmother frowned at Elly. ‘And who, precisely, is
Jess
?' she asked sternly.

But before Elly could answer, her backpack slid off. And as it fell, the Tell Tale book Elly had shoved in it earlier tumbled out, flipping open when it hit the ground.

The book coughed a couple of times, as if to clear away the dust. Then it began speaking in a loud, clear voice. ‘Fifibella Knottleweed- Eversprightly,' it said, ‘sneaked out of the Rainbow Academy with her friend Emerelda Fernyfrond. Both fairies then left Rainbowville without permission, and stayed outside for an entire human day
–
eating human lollies!'

Quickly, Elly slammed the book shut. But it was too late. Madame's mouth dropped open in astonishment. Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly's face became very pale. For a moment, no-one said anything.

Then to Elly's astonishment, Madame Fernyfrond started to chuckle. It started as a low, deep rumble that seemed to work its way up her chest until it exploded into the air.

‘Do you remember that day, Fifi?' chuckled Madame Fernyfrond. ‘Do you remember how we had to tiptoe around the Sky Scanner Fairy, and she was snoring so
loudly
?'

Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly frowned and opened her mouth to speak. Then something very strange happened to her face. The corners of her mouth began twitching. Then her eyes started crinkling up.

And then a very peculiar noise poured out of her mouth. Grandmother was laughing! And once Grandmother started laughing, she couldn't seem to stop.

‘I can still picture everyone's faces when they caught us sneaking back in. I've never been more terrified!' she chortled.

‘Our Head Fairy put us on dish-washing duty for three months straight!' laughed Madame Fernyfrond. ‘And she confiscated our wands for the rest of the year!'

Elly, Saphie, Gabi and Nadia looked at each other in confusion. They had never seen adult fairies behave like this before.

Finally, Grandmother wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye. ‘Elly,' she said, ‘I've never told you this, but when I was your age I was
always
getting into trouble.'

‘Really?' said Elly. It was hard to even imagine Grandmother being her age, let alone getting into trouble!

‘I'm afraid it's true,' smiled Madame Fernyfrond. ‘We were
both
very badly behaved. In fact, your grandmother had been to a number of other schools before she came to the Rainbow Academy. And she very nearly got expelled from here, too!'

Grandmother was a fairy school drop-out, just like me!
thought Elly, amazed.

‘But after the rainbow incident I became much better behaved. I even topped my class in my final year!' said Grandmother proudly.

‘You did very well, Fifi,' said Madame Fernyfrond softly. ‘But perhaps Elly is just not cut out for fairy life? Perhaps it's time to start considering other options.'

‘You mean ...' said Grandmother.

Madame Fernyfrond nodded. ‘Yes. Maybe Elly should stop trying to be a fairy, and start living like a human.'

Everyone turned and looked at Elly.

‘Is that what you'd like to do?' asked Grandmother, in a surprisingly gentle voice. ‘Would you like to stop being a fairy forever?'

‘Um, well, but I …' Elly started to say. Then she stopped. She could feel a warmth in her chest. It was the same feeling that the Heart Tracker pendant used to create.

But Jess had the pendant.
What's going on?
Elly wondered.

Chapter Thirteen

T
here was a knock on the library door, and then a familiar voice called out, ‘Hello?

Is anyone there?'

Then the door was flung open and a small, dribbly figure flew at Elly and flung its arms around her.

‘Kara!' laughed Elly, hugging her little sister. Then Elly's parents stepped into the room too, and the warm feeling in Elly's chest grew stronger and stronger.

I didn't need the Heart Tracker at all!
thought Elly happily.
I knew they were here anyway.

‘It is so good to see you,' said Elly's mum, hugging her tightly. ‘We missed you so much!'

‘We would've been here sooner,' added Elly's dad, ‘but we had trouble getting across the rainbow. It seems to be malfunctioning.'

Suddenly, everyone was staring at Elly again.

‘Before your arrival, we'd just asked Elinora a very important question,' explained Grandmother to Elly's parents. ‘We haven't heard her answer yet.'

‘Yeah, Elly,' sneered Gabi. ‘What are you going to do? Are you going to give up your wand and live like a human?'

‘Or are you going to keep being a terrible fairy?' sniggered Nadia.

‘I think it's about time that you two went back to the sick bay,' snapped Madame Fernyfrond. ‘And don't think that just because you alerted me to Elly and Saphie's escape, you can avoid punishment. You broke the school rules today by performing a serious spell without supervision. You are on pest control for the rest of the year.'

‘I suspect they'll be keeping those scaly skins for some time,' said Grandmother, eyeing the two lizardy-fairies. ‘That should make them think twice about breaking important Academy rules again.'

Gabi and Nadia looked very cross, but they turned and stalked out of the library.

Then Elly's mum looked at her very seriously. ‘Maybe it
would
be best if you gave up your wings, darling,' she said.

‘You could go back to South Street School and be just like all the human children,' added her dad.

Elly looked around. It felt like everyone had already decided that she should give up being a fairy. It was weird. She
had
thought that she'd be much better suited to living like a human. But now that she was being offered the chance to change, she suddenly wasn't so sure she wanted it.

It's true that I'm not the best at doing spells,
thought Elly,
but I've still managed to grant wishes for Jess.
Granting wishes felt good. It felt like something she was
meant
to do. Would she still be able to grant wishes if she gave up being a fairy?

I always thought that skateboarding was way more fun than flying
, Elly frowned to herself.
But flying along with Saphie tonight was pretty cool. It'd be a shame to give up flying just as I'm getting the hang of it.

Then she looked at Saphie.
I probably couldn't stay friends with Saph if I stop being a fairy, either.

‘Well, Elinora?' said Grandmother. ‘Have you made your decision?'

Elly nodded. ‘Yes,' she said. ‘I've decided that I want to keep being a fairy.'

For a moment, everyone seemed too surprised to say anything.

Then Saphie threw her arms around her. ‘I'm so glad to hear that!' she said.

‘Are you sure?' asked Elly's mum. ‘I thought you hated being a fairy!'

Elly shrugged. ‘I thought I did, too. But you know, I actually
want
to be a fairy now.'

‘Well that is just splendid news!' said Grandmother, beaming. Elly had never seen her look so happy.

‘But,' added Elly quickly, ‘I'll probably always do things a little differently to all the other fairies. And I'll probably keep making mistakes. It's just the way I am.'

Grandmother frowned, but before she could speak, Saphie jumped in. ‘It's good that you do things differently, Elly,' she said. ‘Who knows – maybe you can teach the rest of us some things!'

‘What about school?' asked Elly's dad. ‘You should really go to a fairy school if you want to keep training as a fairy.'

‘Well, actually,' said Elly, ‘if it's OK with Madame Fernyfrond, I'd like to stay here at the Rainbow Academy. I get the feeling that I could learn lots of useful things here. Besides,' she laughed, ‘I can't wait to see what food we get on pink day!'

‘I don't know,' said Elly's mother, looking worried. ‘We really missed you while we were away, and the house would be so empty if you stayed here as a boarder.'

Kara clung on tightly to Elly's neck, and did an extra-specially big dribble to show that she agreed.

‘Elly could come to the Rainbow Academy as a day student!' suggested Saphie. ‘Couldn't she catch the Fairy Flock into Rainbowville everyday?'

Then Saphie turned to Madame and added, a little shyly, ‘Grandma, I miss my parents, too. Maybe Elly and I could be day students together?'

Elly's heart leapt. The Fairy Flock was the way most unlicensed fairies got to school, travelling in one big group disguised as a cloud. Usually, Elly hated it.
But I could get used to the Fairy Flock,
she grinned to herself,
if it meant I could see Saphie
and
Jess everyday!

Now everyone's attention turned to Madame Fernyfrond.

‘What do you think, Emmy?' asked Grandmother, raising an eyebrow. ‘Are you prepared to keep my grand-daughter on at your school as a day student?'

‘Of course!' replied Madame Fernyfrond promptly. ‘I never had any doubts about that.'

Elly grinned. ‘Thanks so much, Madame Fernyfrond,' she said earnestly. ‘I promise I won't let you down.'

‘And Sapphire, you and I will need to talk to your parents,' Madame said. Then she suddenly looked very serious. ‘But, there is one condition, Elinora. An important one.'

‘What is that, Madame?' asked Elly nervously. ‘I'll do anything I can.'

‘You and Sapphire must untangle the rainbow,' said Madame. ‘There are approx-imately 2642 threads in the rainbow and you will need to straighten up every single one.'

That would be like unravelling the biggest woollen jumper in the whole world, and then putting it back together! Elly stared at Saphie and gulped. ‘2642 threads?' she repeated. ‘That will take forever!'

‘Not forever. But definitely every spare moment for the rest of the week,' smiled Madame Fernyfrond. ‘It will be a fiddly job, and very, very boring. Are you prepared to do it?'