Pete wasn’t at all sure about wearing a necklace. We explained to him that the pendant was magic, and it made you invisible when you touched it, but even though he’d seen me and Lily vanish and then reappear a couple of times, he still wasn’t convinced. “Boys don’t wear things like that,” he explained. “Boys don’t wear sparkly things.”
Miss Scritch nodded. “I’m not very enthusiastic about sparkles myself,” she said, and pointed her finger at the twinkling necklace in Fairy Fifibelle’s hand. At once it changed into a plain silver chain, with the pendant on the end. “There,” she said, and Pete looked much happier.
“That’s like a sports medal,” he said. “That’s OK.” And he hung it round his neck.
Fairy Mary McBee looked pleased. “Excellent,” she said. “Now, Fairy Mary and I will give you girls five minutes to talk about what you’re going to do and then we’ll organize hot chocolate and biscuits.”
As Fairy Mary and Fairy Fifibelle hurried out of the workroom, and Miss Scritch began to clear the table, Jackson sat back and folded her arms.
“I’ve got it sorted. Melody and I are going to go to the council office where my mum works, and we’re going to put a Floating Spell on all the papers, and move them round so they’re in the wrong place. That’ll make everyone who works there panic! And then, when my mum comes along, she’ll know how to sort it out. She’s a genius at that kind of thing. That’ll make the boss realize how special she is, and he’ll stop bullying her.”
Melody nodded. “And they’ll never guess how it happened, because we’ll be invisible.” She gave Jackson a quick glance. “Won’t we, Jackson?”
“Of course,” Jackson said.
“What about us?” Madison asked. “What do you want us to do?”
“Nothing. It’s a Team-Twinstar special,” Jackson told her.
“Ahem.” Miss Scritch cleared her throat.
Jackson went on, “But I suppose you’ll all have to come too. Just make sure you don’t get in our way.”
Lily was looking puzzled. “But how will we get to your mum’s office?”
“Honestly, Lily.” Jackson sighed wearily, as if Lily had asked a really stupid question. “The Academy floats on a cloud, doesn’t it? We’ll ask Fairy Mary McBee to float us right beside the office block. With any luck, we won’t even need to go inside; we’ll be able to see everything through the windows. They’re huge – Mum says it’s like working in space.”
Ava started to ask a question, but I didn’t hear what she said. Fairy Fifibelle flew into the room waving her hand and a second later mugs of hot chocolate and plates of sandwiches and biscuits were floating down to the table. The next minute I was trying to stop Pete helping himself to all the biscuits at once.
Emma gave me a sympathetic wink. “I’ve got a little sister,” she said. “She’s cute, but she does get in the way when I want to be with my friends. My mum thinks I was invented to look after her.”
I couldn’t help winking back. “So does mine and it drives me mad sometimes.”
Miss Scritch sniffed. “Perhaps I might remind you, Sophie, that Stargirls should look after their families as well as going out to help others.”
“That’s EXACTLY why I’m going to help my mum,” Jackson said, and she gave me a superior smile. “When can we go, Fairy Mary? I’ve got it all planned. We need to go to the corner of Garden Street and Milestone Lane, and you can’t miss the building because it’s the only tower block in that part of Lowstone. My mum’s office is on the top floor, so it’ll be ever so easy to find.”
Fairy Fifibelle Lee came drifting over to our side of the table. “How wonderful, my precious. Fairy Mary, how will our poppets be travelling?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Ava said.
Fairy Mary McBee glanced out of the window. “The wind’s in the right direction. I think we’ll be able to float there. It won’t take us long, so you’d better get ready. Have you all got your necklaces on? Remember how important it is that nobody sees you – although you’ll be fine if you stay inside the Travelling Tower.”
We all had our necklaces, and Pete reported that he and his medal were ready as well.
“Time for you to make your way to the Tower,” Fairy Mary told us. “You won’t need to leave it, I hope, but you’ll get much the best view from there. When you come back, you’ll find us in the sitting room. Good luck!”
We looked at each other. “Aren’t you coming too, Fairy Mary?” Ava asked.
“I’d LOVE to keep our darling girls company,” Fairy Fifibelle said, but Fairy Mary put a restraining hand on her arm.
“It’s best if the Stargirls work on their own,” she said. “They’ll find out so much more that way. Miss Scritch, perhaps you could send the mugs to the kitchen?”
Fairy Fifibelle Lee looked disappointed, but she nodded. Miss Scritch pulled out her wand and pointed it at the tray of mugs – and they immediately grew wings and fluttered out of the workroom, twittering to each other as they flew.
Miss Scritch gave Fairy Fifibelle a furious glare. “I don’t know what you did with my wand,” she snapped, but it is NOT behaving the way it should!” And she marched after the flying mugs.
