Trick or Treat (3 page)

Merlin was gone.

I searched and searched everywhere, but my sweet little pet was nowhere to be found.

Of course, Molly the Monster denied everything. But when Mum questioned Silly Jilly, she couldn’t keep it up. The sneaky creep admitted she’d opened the cage just ‘to stroke Merlin’ (I’ll bet!) and that’s when he’d shot out.

Molly, you Monster, you were behind this, I fumed to myself.

Jilly would never have gone into the garage if you hadn’t told her to cos you’re too weedy to touch Merlin yourself. But you planned his escape to get back at me.

That did it.

Determined to pay Molly back, I got on my bike and took off. Fast as a wild witch on a broomstick, I flew down the road to Cuddington library. And I found just what I wanted…

A book on spells.

Back at Frankie’s, the rest of the gang was lazing about, watching telly and eating popcorn. They were enjoying the Sleepover Club’s usual Saturday treat of swooning over our fave boy bands. Mind you, I could tell Frankie was ready for a distraction.

“OK gang, gather round,” I said, spreading
The Good Witches’ Guide to Spooky Spells
open on Frankie’s bedroom floor. “We’ve got Hallowe’en to prepare…”

“Wh-what are you going to do?” asked Fliss nervously.

“Learn how to make spells.”

“Oh no…”

“Oh, YES!” I declared.

“We won’t hurt anybody, Fliss,” Lyndz promised.

“All we’re doing is reading about spells,” said Frankie, leafing through the book. “It’s not as if we’re going to turn anyone into a toad or anything.”

But Fliss wasn’t convinced. She went on and on about what her mum would say, and how we’d get into trouble (even though we all knew it was really because she was scared). Fliss can be such a wuss. Just the same, we weren’t going to force Fliss to join in. So while we read up about wands and witches’ broomsticks, Fliss got busy with an ordinary broomstick and cleaned up our sleepover mess from Frankie’s bedroom. (That kept old Fusspot happy!)

What we read was dead interesting. How witchcraft didn’t have to be evil, but could be
about good magic and making things better. There was even a Good Witches’ Code and we all pledged to follow it, to the letter. Learning the right way to do things was really important.

The Good Witches’ Code

1. Do not wish harm on others.

2. Keep matches, oils and candles out of reach from little ones.

3. Get permission to light candles. Never leave candles unattended. Keep lit candles away from curtains, paper etc – anything that may catch fire.

4. Take a friend when out collecting material for spells. Don’t go anywhere dangerous and let a responsible adult know where you plan to go.

5. Don’t do any spell that means getting into a bath when you’re tired. You might fall asleep!

6. Know your plants – which are poisonous,
and which are endangered species – before you pick them.

7. Do not apply essential oils directly to the skin, without proper dilution.

8. Never drink or eat any of the ingredients to any spell.

9. Do not wear floaty sleeves or trailing clothes for casting spells, in case of accident.

10. Whatever you attempt, GET PERMISSION FIRST!

We were so engrossed in spells and shells, potions, lotions and charms, that I almost forgot my troubles.

Almost.

Merlin and the danger the Sleepover Club was in bubbled away inside me like a witch’s cauldron. Bubble, bubble, bubble.

“Fliss, you’d like this one,” said Lyndz, pointing to Fairy Luck. “You make a magic wreath of ferns and ivy sprayed with rosewater and hang it on your front door.”

“If you want fairies to come,” scoffed Frankie.

“I think it’s sweet,” Fliss sighed in spite of herself. “Getting all the little fairies to dance around at the bottom of your garden.” Then she did a little ballet dance just to prove it.

Frankie gave a snort of laughter. She quoted from Peter Pan, “If you believe in fairies, just clap your hands!”

We all clapped like mad just for a laugh. Then Frankie did a wicked imitation of Peter Pan whooping and flying across the sky, I mean room. So me and Lyndz did a Native American war dance on the beds while Rosie pretended to be Captain Hook. (Guess who had to be Tinkerbell?)

We had an ace pillow fight between the Native Americans and the pirates, then we went back to our spellbook.

When we got to the section on spells for Harmony in the Home, Rosie got thoughtful. “I’d really like to cast one of these spells,” she said, all wistful and sad. “My house is such a tip.”

Rosie’s home was a bit of a mess. Her dad’s in
the building trade and when he split up with her mum, he left the house like a builders’ yard.

“I think these spells are about harmony in the family. Not DIY,” I pointed out gently.

“We could do with family harmony too,” sighed Rosie.

I reckon Rosie hoped her dad would come back home and the family would be happy together again (even though her mum’s got a new boyfriend). Personally, I think Rosie-Posie was dreaming.

“I’m going to do a spell for Pepsi to have pups,” said Frankie, who was desperate for more pets. “There’s one here for babies, so I don’t see why it can’t work for dogs.”

“Shame you won’t need a brother or sister any more,” I said. “You could’ve had my sister anytime.”

Frankie pulled a face. “No thanks!”

We all laughed. Frankie’s an only child, but not for much longer! She used to moan about being an only child, but now her mum’s expecting a baby, all Frankie’s dreams are coming true.

“What about you, Fliss?”

“We-ell, I would make a spell for this wonderful outfit I’ve seen in Designer Fashions but…” Fliss, who had turned her favourite colour of pink, trailed off.

“I’m going do a horse spell!” announced Lyndz. “For a horse of my own.”

Frankie’s reply rhymed: “A horse, of course!” She gave a loud neigh, “Neeeeeeigh…” and pawed the air.

We all fell about laughing, so Lyndz got up and did a noisy gallop round the room, jumping over our sprawled out bodies as if we were fences. Naturally Frankie had to raise the stakes by sticking her bottom in the air even higher.

“And it’s Lyndsey Collins on Merrylegs, coming up to the final fence,” Lyndz announced, pretending to rear at the sight of Frankie’s bottom stuck up in the air.

Suddenly ‘Merrylegs’ threw back her head, snorted and took a running gallop at Frankie.

“YES!!!” we cheered as she sailed through the air.

“Neeeeeeigh!” ‘Merrylegs’ whinnied as she bashed into Frankie’s bum.

“Watch out for the other riders!” I yelled.

“Aaargh!” We ended up in a heap in the middle of the room, rolling about and kicking like stallions.

It was well funny. But it couldn’t make me forget that Merlin was still missing. It couldn’t stop me worrying about him, and it couldn’t stop me thinking about what I had to do.

“I’m gonna put a spell on Molly the Monster,” I announced at last.

“Yay!” cheered Frankie.

“You can’t wish hurt on another,” Fusspot Fliss reminded me.

“Who said I would?” I mumbled rather feebly.

“Fliss, we have to stop Molly from ruining our sleepovers,” said Frankie. “What kind of a spell are you going to put on her, Kenny?”

“A Love Potion.”

“A Love Potion?!” My mates all gawped.

“Yeah,” I grinned. “For my dear sister Molly to fancy someone like mad.”

Fliss, the one who loves lurrve so much she even marries her toys, was dead excited. “Who? Who will Molly fancy?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” I teased her.

Fliss thwacked me. And she was so keen to know my secret, she even forgot to be afraid of spells.

“Emma Hughes’ cousin,” I said. “Robin Hughes, the nerd.”

Payback time! Just you wait, Molly McKenzie!

In order to make a spell for Molly, I had to gather as many bits of her as possible. Altogether I needed:

1. Nail clippings

2. Strand of hair

3. A shred of fluff

4. Red wax candle

5. Nail (the other kind of nail)

6. A teaspoon of rainwater

7. A fingerprint from subject’s ‘love object’

With a bit of know-how, it wouldn’t be too hard to get a nail clipping or a hair or two. Trouble was, how was I supposed to get a fingerprint from Molly’s ‘love object’?

There had to be a way.

I thought and thought about it the whole of Sunday. I thought about it as I searched and searched for Merlin (and didn’t find him). I thought about it as I scarfed down roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and a double helping of apple crumble. And I thought about it in bed. But, all I could think of was kidnapping Robin Hughes, and I didn’t fancy that. I mean, what would we do with him, when we got him?

Then, just as I was about to fall asleep, it came to me! An idea so coo-ell, so ace and top, I nearly jumped out of bed.

At school on Monday, I told Frankie about my brainwave.

“Brillo!” Frankie gave me a high five. “Kenny, you’re a star.”

“You said it,” I beamed. Frankie catches on quickly.

At break the two of us put the first part of the ‘Love Potion Plan’ into action. It relied on the M&Ms’ love of meddling, so no problem there! But it also meant following the horrible pair, known as the Goblin and the Queen, into the girls’ toilets at break. (The things we do for the Sleepover Club!)

We waited until the M&Ms were safely locked in the two end toilets. Then all we had to do was pretend to be having a private little chat, so that our enemies could accidentally-on-purpose overhear us.

“Frankie…” I began in an extra loud whisper.

“Yes, Kenny?” hissed Frankie.

“You know, Robin Hughes is gonna die if he hears my sister Molly fancies him!”

Frankie stifled a laugh. “Yeah. Robin mustn’t ever find out that Molly’s mad for him!”

“Exactly.” I gave Frankie a huge wink. “It would ruin things Big Time for the Sleepover Club, if those two got together.”

Stage One done. Cool as cucumbers, Frankie and I sauntered out of the girls’ toilets. It didn’t take long. We knew our trick had worked when the M&Ms went into one of their major heads-together whisperings in the corner of the playground. Those two love the chance to ruin things for the Sleepover Club.

And just to prove it, they did something only the M&Ms could do. It was in Arts & Crafts. Our class was doing Hallowe’en collages to decorate the classroom walls. We had orange and black paper, beads, fabric scraps, lots of autumn leaves, acorns and stuff and gallons of glue. Everyone was busily cutting and sticking, when suddenly Frankie burst out, “Wow! Just what I need for my spell for Pepsi’s pups!”

“What?”

“Pearls!” Frankie pounced on an old string of fake pearls, which were tangled up with the ribbons and yarn. “The Baby Spell calls for pearls…”

Baby Spell!

Emma Hughes’ eyes nearly popped out her head. Wow! Did she and her stupid partner go into a major heads-together thing this time! But it wasn’t until clean-up time that we found out what they’d been up to. We were in the middle of cleaning up when Mrs Weaver said sternly, “Francesca Thomas, come out here.”

The Goblin shot a look of triumph at the Queen. Frankie got up slowly and went over to Mrs Weaver’s desk. “Yes, Miss?”

“I hope you haven’t been stealing school property, Francesca,” Mrs Weaver said severely. “You know how wrong that is.”

Frankie flushed. “Yes, Miss…I mean, no Miss. I…”

“Have you taken something, Francesca?”

The class went dead silent. So silent you could probably hear my heart thumping in
the stillness! But Frankie didn’t answer.

Suddenly Mrs Weaver’s voice cut through the silence. “Francesca,” she ordered. “EMPTY YOUR POCKETS!”

Lyndz whimpered. Rosie clasped her hands. And Frankie turned all colours of the sun. My best friend hung down her head, then started to empty her pockets. One by one, she took out her secret private stuff:

One squirrel with a chipped tail (from miniature ornament collection)

One silver moon earring

One half-eaten packet of bubble gum

One used paper hankie

One dog biscuit with crumbs

A bit of pocket fluff

One 2p piece

A scrap of pink ribbon

Everyone craned their necks to inspect the evidence.

“I-I just took this ribbon from the bin, Miss…” Miserably, Frankie held up the crumpled scrap of pink ribbon. “Someone had thrown it away, so I thought it was OK…”

Mrs Weaver coughed. “Oh. Oh, I see.”

Another long silence.

“Miss, are these what you’re looking for, Miss?” I said finally, holding up the pearls that Frankie had put back in the collage box.

The M&Ms gasped.

Frankie threw me a grateful smile and Mrs Weaver turned the same colour as Frankie’s ribbon.

“Oh! Oh, yes. Thank you, Laura.” Then smiling ever-so sweetly at Frankie, Mrs Weaver said, “All right, Francesca, you can sit down now.”

Whew! Frankie was innocent. Nobody but the M&Ms could ever have thought different.

Even so, it didn’t stop Frankie from feeling just awful.

“It was as if I’d committed the major crime of the century,” she shuddered. “Standing
up there, in front of the whole class…”

“But you hadn’t done anything,” Lyndz comforted her. “And Mrs Weaver knew it.”

“Those M&Ms…” muttered Rosie, shaking her head. “When will their meddling stop?”

“Not yet, I hope!” I snorted.

“Why? What d’you mean, Kenny?” asked Rosie, puzzled.

“If I get my way, the M&Ms’ meddling is going to help save the Sleepover Club!”

“Huh?”

“Tell us, tell us!” begged Lyndz.

I looked at Frankie. She looked at me. “Tell them Kenny! Tell them!”

So we let the gang into our plan. How Frankie and I made sure the M&Ms overheard us. And how they were bound to set up Robin Hughes with Molly, just to foil us.

“Once Molly thinks someone likes her, it won’t matter whether she thinks he’s the biggest nerd in the world, the flattery will go to her head. She’s sure to choose Chess Club to be near
Robin Hughes,” I finished.

“I know Robin Hughes,” announced Fliss importantly. “He lives round the corner.”

“That could come in very useful,” I said thoughtfully.

“But how will Molly fancying Robin Hughes help the Sleepover Club?” persisted Rosie, who could be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.

“Well, if she’s not going to swimming on Saturdays any more she won’t need Silly Jilly to sleep over.”

“So…?”

“So that means she won’t need to get our sleepovers stopped.”

“She’ll be too busy with her new boyfriend to worry about ruining our club,” explained Frankie.

“Excellent!” cheered Lyndz and Fliss.

“Brillo!” Rosie had to agree.

I huffed on my fingertips and rubbed them on my school sweatshirt. “Thank you, gang. How clever of you to notice!”

Now all we had to do was wait. The M&Ms would take care of the next bit for us, for sure.

Thank you, M&Ms…Thank you for helping us save our Sleepover Club!