The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop (25 page)

“Oh,” said Lily. “Where are you going?”

“That’s not important. I just want to say how delightful it has been to know you, Lily, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be your tutor. When you start your new school, don’t let anyone accuse you of not trying, and don’t accuse yourself of being stupid. Dyslexia is often a side effect of having magical gifts. Your brain is a very fine one.”

“Thanks.” Lily stared at him for a moment and then impulsively leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Good night.”

After she had gone, Isadore put a trembling hand up to his face. “She kissed me! I must already be redeemed.”

Oz made him a mug of tea.

“You’re exhausted, dear boy,” Isadore said. “Maybe we should say our goodbyes now.”

Oz sat down at the table. “I want to stay with you. Where are you going? You can tell me.”

“I’m very happy, Oz—happier than I’ve ever been.”

“Your immortality’s worn off, hasn’t it?”

“Yes.” Isadore shakily took a sip of tea. “It was the one thing I had to give.”

“What do you mean?”

“My life, dear boy.”

Oz was silent for several long minutes. “You mean you’re going to—die.”

“Everyone dies, Oz,” Isadore said firmly. “And I ought to have done it years ago. It’s all part of the deal I struck with my brothers.”

“Oh.” Oz hung his head to hide the tears in his eyes.

“How kind of you to cry for me; I really don’t deserve it.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“And I’ll miss you—if such a thing is possible where I’m going. My reformation is entirely due to you.”

“Thanks for the violin.”

Isadore smiled faintly. “I’m glad it’s going to such a good home.”

Oz had an idea. “Would you like me to play for you now?”

“I’d love it above all things.”

Oz dashed up to his room to fetch Isadore’s beautiful violin. He wasn’t out of the room for more than a few minutes, but when he got back his great-great-uncle’s mustache was white and his skin was like wrinkled tissue paper.

“Let’s have the Mozart you played that first evening in my hideout. It makes me think of the orchard.”

Oz played the Mozart while Isadore lay back in his
chair with a smile full of bliss. When it was finished, he played something else, and then something else. Tired as he was, Oz played and played, until the first signs of dawn began to streak the sky.

A shriek rang out above them. “OZ! OZ—where are you?” Lily was hurtling down the stairs. “Dad just called my phone—we’ve got a baby sister! She came very fast and she’s totally perfect and weighs seven and a half pounds—and she’s called DAISY!”

Isadore’s eyes were closed. Oz touched his shoulder. “Did you hear that? Our baby’s been born.”

“Yes,” whispered Isadore. “Daisy!” He tried to smile, but his eyelids fluttered and he lay still.

Lily—in her pajamas, with her hair standing out like mad—was in the doorway. “Dad’s coming back for a shower and then we can see her—oh.” She stopped and stared at Isadore.

“I think he’s dead,” Oz said, wiping his eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“So that’s what he meant.” Lily said. A deep silence settled as she gazed at Isadore, awed by his stillness and her brother’s tears. A bird in the garden began to sing. “Maybe we should call an ambulance.”

“That wouldn’t be much use now.”

“But we can’t let Dad come back to a dead body!”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Oz said. Something strange was happening to Isadore. As they watched, what was left of his flesh withered away until he was nothing but a bunch of bones in a white suit. Lily ran to Oz and clutched his hand. The white suit then disintegrated and the bones crumbled. All that was left of Isadore Spoffard was a heap of pale ashes.

A breeze blew through the kitchen. The heap of ashes stirred. Oz shook off Lily’s hand and ran to open the back door.

“What are you doing?” Lily asked.

The ashes lifted in a cloud and floated out into the garden. For a moment they hung there in the silvery summer dawn, and then a gust of wind blew them into nothing.

“I think I know where he’s gone,” Oz said. He hadn’t told Lily about the three boys in the orchard, but in his mind’s eye he had a glimpse of them under the trees, and he was sure the brothers were reunited at last.

The front door opened. “Oz! Lily!”

Dad was back from the hospital. He charged into the kitchen and hugged Oz and Lily so hard that their feet lifted off the ground. His face was pale and baggy and he hadn’t shaved, but he was so happy that a wave of happiness seemed to sweep through the whole house.

“I’m so glad to see you both! It was pretty hairy and it all happened rather fast—but Caydon’s gran was in charge and it went like magic! Your baby sister’s gorgeous and I’ve taken a million photos but I think you should meet her in the flesh first.” He released them. “Have you two been up all night? Where’s Dr. Sneed?”

“You just missed him,” Lily said. “When can we see Daisy?”

“I’ll have a shower and you can get dressed,” Dad
said. “And the cafe will be open by then—we’ll treat ourselves to the biggest, unhealthiest breakfast in Holloway—and after that we’ll go up to the hospital.”

He dashed away upstairs.

Lily and Oz looked at each other.

“It’s over, isn’t it?” Lily said. “I feel a great calm in the marrow of my bones.”

Upstairs, at the top of the house, a choir suddenly burst into song.

“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do;

I’m half crazy, all for the love of you!”

The voices were high and sweet and piercing.

“It’s those roses on your wallpaper,” Demerara’s voice said. “They’ve started a choir.”

Lily dropped to the floor to hug and kiss the immortal cat. “I was scared you and Spike wouldn’t be here anymore and I’d never see you again!”

“We’ll always be here,” Spike said, scuttling into the kitchen. “You can see us whenever you like.”

“And you won’t ever need to get a mortal cat now, because you’ve got me.” Demerara was beaming, highly pleased with herself. “I’ll be here whenever you or Oz or Daisy needs a sympathetic cat to talk to.”

“Is our government work finished now?” Oz asked.

“Oh, yes,” Spike said. “You and Caydon can make that Scalextric track; I like a bit of motor racing.”

Oz was ridiculously light-hearted; after everything
they had been through, it was like flying, and he knew Lily felt it too. The feeling carried them through an enormous, fantastic breakfast at the Skittle Street cafe (the lady who owned it gave them all free tea and toast when she heard about Daisy) and back to the Whittington Hospital.

In a sunny ward, in which several new babies were squalling, they found Mum sitting up in bed with her arms out and ran to hug her.

A cross bleat came from the plastic box beside her bed.

Mum laughed softly. “Daisy wants to introduce herself.”

“She likes to be the center of attention,” Dad said.

Oz and Lily bent over the box. Their new sister was tiny and pink, with a fuzz of black hair, and a dab of a nose on her squashed face. She wore a little pink suit and snuffled like a cross hedgehog. Somehow, she fit into a space that had been waiting for her.

“Bruce, you’d better hand her back to me,” Mum said, “before she starts bellowing.”

Dad gently picked up the tiny, wriggling baby and put her in Mum’s arms.

“You’re all here now,” Mum said. “I’ve never told you two this—but when I first got pregnant with you, I was expecting triplets, only I lost one.” She smiled down into Daisy’s face. “I was thrilled with my twins—but I
never lost the nagging sense that someone was missing. And now I have my Perfect Three!”

Lily reached out and put her finger into the palm of Daisy’s hand. “So Demerara was right after all—we were triplets! Now we can talk to her properly and she won’t just be a feeling in our heads and you won’t send us back to therapy.”

“Good old Nutella,” Dad laughed. “What are you going on about now?”

Oz understood. He put his finger into Daisy’s other hand, and a pulse of understanding shot through the three of them—the Perfect Three, like the three boys in the orchard.

“You two have been fantastic,” Mum said. “As soon as we’re out of here, I have to think about getting all the things you’ll need for your new school. I know you went to all those camps, but we haven’t been away anywhere—I’m afraid you’ve had rather a boring holiday.”

Oz and Lily looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Oz said. “It’s had its moments.” They laughed even harder—this had to be the understatement of the century.

“Oh, look,” Dad said, “it’s that young chap from the river police!”

Alan, very smart and red-faced in his uniform,
walked across the maternity ward carrying a huge bunch of pink roses.

“Hello, Alan,” Mum said. “What lovely flowers—thank you so much.”

“Congratulations,” said Alan. “I’ve actually come to pick up Oz and Lily.”

Oz was glad to see him—but what did the department want with them now?

Alan grinned. “It won’t take long; it’s just a small party for the end of the diving course.”

The party, to Lily’s delight, was at the unexplained kennels in Muswell Hill. The reception desk had been turned into a food table, laden with plates of sandwiches, cakes and cans of fancy cat food. Everyone they had met on their magical adventures was there—J, B62, the sergeant from the river police, the stewardess from Air Jamaica, Rosie from the bomb squad, Joyce from the London Transport police, Colonel Turnbull from the Tower—and of course Caydon and his gran.

“I just groaned when Alan came for me,” Caydon told them. “I said, we’ve risked our lives and saved London from the gang—what more do you want? But Gran said it wasn’t another job.”

“You’ve met that nice new sister of yours,” Elvira
said. “She’ll keep you busy!” She sniffed suddenly. “What on earth is that smell?”

“Just a dab of disco body glitter,” mewed Demerara. “Since my lovely curls were taken away. This is a very special occasion and I wanted to look my best in the photograph.”

“I still think I look stupid,” Spike said. His straggly fur was packed with glitter and he wore a pink bow around his neck.

“Nonsense, Spike—you merely look CIVILIZED,” Demerara said loftily. “If I had my way, you’d have a proper BATH.”

The glittering rat chuckled. “Hold on, old girl! I’ve given up smoking but rats don’t have baths—none of my mates would recognize me!”

“Ow! Did you pinch me? How dare you!”

“I think that was Edwin,” Lily said. “We’re right by his cage.” She put her hand through the bars and felt the soft, leathery touch of the invisible trunk. “Come and meet him properly, Oz—he’s so sweet!”

Oz and Caydon came over to the empty cage to stroke the ghostly elephant, and were laughing at his tricks when J called for silence.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to your hard work and bravery, this department has completed the most successful operation in its history. An evil genius has been defeated and a dangerous gang has been destroyed. The
prime minister has instructed me to give out a number of awards. First, Demerara and Spike.”

“Well I never,” said Spike.

“An AWARD?” mewed Demerara. “How kind!”

B62 removed the pink bow from Spike’s neck and replaced it with a tiny gold medal on a blue ribbon.

“Well done, Spike,” J said. “You’ve done brilliant work on this operation.”

“Wow—a medal! Me with a medal!” Spike’s glittery whiskers bristled with joy. “Well I never!”

“I hope mine’s a bit bigger,” Demerara said.

“Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten you,” J said, smiling down at the immortal cat. “You haven’t always been the easiest agent to work with—but we couldn’t have done it without you. Instead of a medal, we decided to give you this new solid gold cat bell.”

He held out a beautiful, gleaming bell. Demerara was so thunderstruck with happiness that for once she could hardly speak. “It’s—oh, Lily—it’s WONDERFUL—collar—put it on my—”

Lily knelt down to put the new bell on the cat’s purple collar, and Elvira kindly held up her pocket mirror so that the two proud animals could see themselves.

Everyone clapped.

“Oz, Lily and Caydon,” J said. “You three have been magnificent.”

“Hear, hear!” shouted Spike.

Lily felt her face turning hot; everyone was looking at her.

“You’ll be glad to hear,” J said, “that you won’t have any more duties with this department. When you’re older you may find yourselves working for the SMU in some capacity or other—but for now you should be concentrating on normal, everyday things.”

“Huh,” Caydon muttered. “I was hoping we could get off school!”

“In your dreams,” his gran snapped.

“But it’s been so fantastic—I can’t just go back to normal life!”

“I can’t wait,” Oz said. “I don’t care if I never see anything weird again.”

Lily squeezed his hand to show she felt the same; she loved the immortal animals, but that was as much magic as she wanted now.

“The prime minister wanted to give the three of you very special awards,” J said. “Oz, all your music lessons with the best teachers will be paid for—your parents will believe you’ve won a scholarship.”