MRS Wilkolak was not at all pleased when Wilf, Marjory and Lottie walked in late, even though Lottie apologised profusely and said it was all her fault. ‘I still don’t know my way round the school,’ she said, hoping that this was near enough to the truth to not actually be a fib.
Mrs Wilkolak made a harrumphing noise. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if you three are getting rather too pleased with yourselves,’ she said. ‘I do hope this bad behaviour isn’t going to continue.’
Lottie shook her head. ‘Oh, it won’t, Mrs Wilkolak. I promise!’
As Lottie sat down, Aggie gave her a superior smile. ‘I knew you weren’t a real hero. I’ve NEVER been late!’ Lottie didn’t answer.
Mrs Wilkolak, who was still looking cross, set the class a comprehension test. She wrote on the whiteboard in capital letters:
Then she frowned at the class over the top of her little gold spectacles. ‘I want at least twenty words explaining each of these skills,’ she snapped.
‘So we get punished because Lottie’s stupid enough to get lost,’ Bruno hissed.
‘I don’t mind,’ Aggie said smugly. ‘I always come top at comprehension.’
The rest of the day seemed to drag. Lottie’s idea was bubbling in her head… but would she be able to make it work? Would she be able to get the bricks moved and enough flowers planted in time to make a difference? She knew her special powers made her extra strong, but she’d still need Wilf and Marjory’s help to clear away the rubbish.
Even the Evening Howl didn’t seem as wonderful as usual that afternoon. Madam Grubeloff was still away, and Mr Gnawbone rushed through it, and didn’t even ask them to hold hands.
At long last the final bell rang, the school day was over and the other pupils gradually left the building. As silence fell, Wilf, Marjory and Lottie crept out from the woodshed where they’d been hiding since the end of school.
‘So tell us, Lottie,’ Wilf said as they hurried round to the garden. ‘How exactly are we going to get these bricks moved? What’s your secret?’
‘Well…’ Lottie took a deep breath. As she told them how she had been born when it was both a full moon and a lunar eclipse, and how it had given her special powers, including super-strength, Wilf and Marjory listened intently. As she finished Lottie added, ‘But I don’t want to be treated any differently. I’m exactly the same as everyone else! Truly!’
Marjory nodded. ‘We’re all the same but different. Like I’m good at geography, and Wilf’s good at swapping bits of paper!’
‘Exactly,’ Lottie said, and then she hesitated. ‘There’s one more thing, though… We moved here because some old uncle of ours died, and Pa found he was a king. And Ma’s a queen – although she’s very bad at remembering it.’
‘The king and queen?’ Marjory’s eyes opened very wide. ‘Wow!’
‘So that makes you a princess…’ Wilf whistled softly.
Lottie wriggled with embarrassment. ‘Sort of.’
Marjory smiled at her. ‘It won’t make any difference to us. I did wonder, just a bit, when you said you lived up on the hill. Dracon Castle’s the only house up there, except for Aggie’s.’
‘I’m so glad I told you.’ Lottie was feeling hugely relieved. ‘And now – shall we get started on the garden?’
‘Hey!’ Wilf pointed. ‘Over there – it’s an old wheelbarrow! That’ll help.’
Lottie ran to collect it and, when she came back, she was grinning. ‘We’ve found another clue,’ she said. ‘It’s not a school wheelbarrow – look!’
Marjory squinted at the faded letters. ‘I can see an A and a W… and – yes! – it has the same slogan as on the bill: “Roadworks are our speciality!”’
‘A… W…’ Wilf said slowly. ‘Maybe it once said “Claws”?’
Lottie stared at the letters. ‘Claws… that’s Aggie’s name, and Aggie’s dad’s a builder!’
‘So it has to be Aggie who’s spoiling everything,’ Marjory said. ‘I’d say this proves it.’
‘I think we should show it to Madam Grubeloff tomorrow.’ Wilf was looking serious.
‘Yes, we will,’ Lottie agreed, ‘but in the meantime—’ She stopped mid-sentence. ‘Shh, someone’s crying!’
Wilf and Marjory stared at her. ‘I can’t hear anything,’ Wilf said. ‘Are you sure?’
‘It’s coming from the school,’ Lottie told him. She put her head on one side and listened again. ‘Yes!’ And then she was running, running like the wind. Marjory and Wilf looked at each other, then hurried after her.
It was hard for Lottie to find where the crying was coming from, as it stopped as soon as she rattled the outer doors to the school. At first, she couldn’t find a way in, but an open window gave her the chance, and soon she was wriggling into a classroom. Once inside, she ran up and down the corridors, calling, ‘Hello? Where are you?’
‘In here!’ The voice was a squeak, and it was followed by a loud wail. ‘I want my mummy!’
Lottie looked to the left and right, but all she could see was the large cupboard where the caretaker kept his mops and buckets. She pulled it open, and there inside was Bernie, the little cub she’d rescued from the lake. He was curled up in a ball and tears were trickling down his nose.
‘Bernie!’ she said gently, and she picked him up. ‘Whatever are you doing in here?’
‘I was hiding,’ he said, ‘but nobody came to find me. I want my mummy!’
Lottie kissed the top of his little furry head. ‘It’s all right. We’ll take you home.’ She tried hard not to think of all the work they needed to do in the Bloom Garden. ‘Where do you live?’
‘Round the hill.’ Bernie wrapped his arms round Lottie’s neck. ‘It’s a long, long way. Will you carry me? I’m ever so, ever so tired.’
Wilf and Marjory were waiting anxiously outside as Lottie lifted the little cub out through the window, then scrambled after him.
‘Bernie got shut in a cupboard,’ she explained. ‘We’ll have to take him home.’
‘But what about the garden?’ Wilf asked, and Lottie heaved a massive sigh.
‘We’ll have to leave it. Bernie wants me to carry him… and I’m not sure I’ll be able to find my way back here without you two.’
‘But…’ Wilf and Marjory looked at each other, then at the little cub, then back at Lottie. She was right. They needed to get the little cub home.
‘We’ll come,’ Marjory said. Wilf nodded, and the little party set off.
In no time at all Bernie was asleep in Lottie’s arms. She sighed again as she looked down at him. There was a painful ache in her chest, and from time to time she had to blink back tears as she thought about the little garden left behind at school. Marjory and Wilf walked silently beside her, while Jaws circled anxiously above. He could see that Lottie’s moonstone necklace was a gloomy purple, but he couldn’t think of a way to cheer her up.
Bernie was right. It was a long way to his house, and even Lottie was feeling tired when she heard an anxious voice calling, ‘Bernie! Bernie, where are you? Bernie!’
Bernie woke up with a loud squeak of joy. He jumped out of Lottie’s arms, and ran towards the voice; Lottie, Wilf and Marjory ran after him.
‘Bernie?’ An enormous mother werewolf came hurrying towards them. ‘Oh, you naughty, naughty little cub! I came to collect you from school, but you weren’t there, so I thought you must have tried to come home on your own. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I’ve been so worried.’
‘I was hiding,’ Bernie told her, ‘but the door shut and it was dark and I cried and cried, but then Lottie found me and she bringed me home!’
Bernie’s mother beamed at Lottie. ‘That’s so kind! I can’t thank you enough.’ Then a thought must have come to her, as her smile grew even wider. ‘Oh! Are you Lottie Luna, the Lottie who saved Bernie from drowning? You’re already our hero!’
Bernie tugged at his mother’s arm. ‘Mummy, Mummy! Lottie and Wilf and Marjory are making a garden!’
‘Hush, Bernie, I know.’ His mother nodded. ‘Gurt and Loris told me.’ When Lottie looked surprised, she explained, ‘All my werewolves are gardeners – well, not Bernie, of course, but my older cubs – Gurt and Loris. They had an order to deliver a whole load of plants and flowers to the school today –’ she looked puzzled – ‘but then the order was cancelled, without any explanation… Do you know why?’
‘It was because the garden was spoiled,’ Lottie said sadly.
‘Someone threw bricks everywhere, and rubbish, and made a horrible mess,’ Marjory added.
‘What?’ Bernie’s mother was horrified. ‘Who would do such a mean thing?’
‘We don’t know.’ Lottie sighed. ‘We’ve already cleared it up once, but then they came and did it again.’
Bernie’s mother’s face lit up. ‘But that’s something we can do for you, Lottie Luna. We can thank you for saving Bernie by helping you make your garden! I’ll send the boys up next week.’
Lottie’s heart leaped, then sank again. ‘Thank you, but I’m afraid that’ll be too late. The Bloom Garden has to be ready for tomorrow, you see. That’s when the owner’s coming to look at it.’
‘Ready for tomorrow? Then that’s not a problem either. The plants and flowers that were ordered for the garden will still be on the cart.’ Bernie’s mother turned and bellowed up the path, ‘Boys! Come here! I want you – RIGHT NOW! There’ll be no supper until Miss Lottie Luna’s Bloom Garden is finished! Do you hear me? Right now, this minute!’