ON Wednesday morning, Lottie woke up early again. She skipped down to the kitchen, and found she was the first; even her mother wasn’t up yet. She put the kettle on and, as it boiled, her brother Boris appeared, yawning.
‘Good,’ he said. ‘You can make me my breakfast.’
‘Make it yourself,’ Lottie told him. ‘I’ve got to get to school!’
Boris looked at her curiously. ‘You really like that place, don’t you?’
Lottie’s eyes shone. ‘I do! It’s wonderful! They’re all lovely… Well, not Aggie and Bruno, but everyone else is.’
‘What’s wrong with Aggie and Bruno?’ Boris raised a hairy eyebrow.
‘They’re just a bit mean, that’s all.’ Lottie didn’t want to explain.
Boris frowned. ‘You’re a princess, Lottie. Nobody should be mean to a princess.’
Lottie shrugged. ‘I don’t see why not,’ she said. She didn’t want to tell him that nobody at school knew she was a princess. ‘I’m exactly the same as I was before we came here and we became royalty. Look, do you want some toast, or not?’
Her brother growled, but all the same he helped himself to the toast that Lottie had made.
‘Oi, you didn’t say thank you,’ she reminded him, but he just growled again. Lottie sighed and ate her toast at record speed.
Five minutes later, she was racing Jaws down the hill. As she reached Shadow Academy, she saw Wilf standing outside and she waved to him. ‘Hi!’ she called. ‘You’re early too! Do you think we could go and look at the garden? Mr Gnawbone said I shouldn’t go there on my own, but I really want to see—’ Lottie stopped as she realised Wilf was looking unusually serious. ‘What is it? Are you okay?’
‘It’s the garden,’ Wilf said. ‘Someone tried to wreck it last night. Come and have a look.’ And he took Lottie’s hand and led her round the back of the school.
‘OH!’ Lottie could hardly believe her eyes. ‘Oh, no!’ All her white pebbles had been picked up and thrown into a pile, and one of the beautiful cherry trees had been attacked: broken branches lay on the ground, the white blossom like fresh snow. The newly dug area was now covered in litter, and bits of broken glass gleamed in the sunshine. ‘This is terrible!’ Lottie said, and there were tears in her eyes. ‘We haven’t planted a single flower yet and it’s already been destroyed. Who could have done it?’
Wilf shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but we mustn’t let them beat us! We’ll clear it again, Lottie. We’ve got to have our Bloom Garden!’
‘Well said, Wilf.’ Madam Grubeloff had seen them from her office window and was coming out to join them. ‘We’ve never had anything like this happen before. I’m shocked! But you’re right. We won’t let them beat us.’ She turned to Lottie. ‘You’re looking very thoughtful, Lottie Luna. What’s on your mind?’
Lottie blinked. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said, but she wasn’t being entirely truthful. She was remembering how Aggie had said she hated the old cherry trees, and how she’d chop them down if it was her garden. Could Aggie have had anything to do with it? Maybe she would talk to Wilf and Marjory about it later, but she didn’t want to mention it now.
‘Oh my goodness gracious me!’ Mrs Wilkolak had come hurrying out. ‘And after all your hard work too! What a shame… Who on earth would want to spoil a garden made by children?’
‘Someone who doesn’t want it to be a garden,’ Wilf said. ‘You can count on us, though, Lottie Luna. We won’t let them beat us. The Bloom Garden’s going to happen!’
The garden was cleared once again. By the time school ended, Lottie felt much happier. She had spent the rest of the morning wondering if she should tell Wilf and Marjory her suspicions about Aggie being behind the destruction of the garden. But what if she was wrong and Aggie hadn’t done anything at all? Wouldn’t Wilf and Marjory think she was being mean for even thinking such a thing?
When Mrs Wilkolak announced that the flowers were due to arrive the next afternoon, excitement made Lottie put her suspicions to one side. Even better, Mrs Wilkolak promised Lottie, Wilf and Marjory that they could help with the planting. ‘Just as long as you work really hard in the morning,’ she said, but there was a twinkle in her eye and Lottie was sure there wouldn’t be a problem.
At once, Aggie put up her hand. ‘That’s not fair,’ she protested, and several other children nodded. ‘Why will they get togo out and do planting, and we won’t?’
‘We could get it planted much quicker if everybody helps.’ Lottie looked hopefully at their teacher, and as she spoke she remembered her suspicions again. If everyone helped plant the flowers, she’d be able to keep an eye on Aggie without anyone else noticing. ‘Don’t you think it would be so much nicer if we all worked on the garden together, Mrs Wilkolak? That would really make it Class W’s Bloom Garden!’
Mrs Wilkolak pretended to sigh. ‘My goodness, Lottie Luna! What a demanding girl you are! But you’re right. Yes, you can all help tomorrow… IF you work hard in the morning!’
That evening, Lottie skipped home, while Jaws flew happy circles above her. ‘Tomorrow’s going to be a wonderful day,’ she told him. ‘Once the flowers are planted, everyone will be able to see what a lovely garden it’s going to be. I’m sure it won’t take too long, Jaws, not now everyone’s going to help.’ Then a thought came to her, and her eyes shone. ‘Maybe we could even have a special moonlit celebration once it’s finished. It’ll look even prettier then… Oh! I can’t wait!’
