Polly pokes her head out from the leaves, her heart a skittish monkey in her chest.

‘Wait here,’ she instructs Buster, and swings down through the branches. She runs into the house to look for Flora and Mortimer, but they are not in the kitchen. Pausing in the hallway, she hears low voices from the bedroom at the end of the corridor and tiptoes closer to listen. Flora’s voice is too soft to hear through the door, but it is easy to catch snippets of what Mortimer is saying. He is angry and his voice is loud.

‘I know it’s dangerous for them out there, but they can’t stay here!’ he growls. ‘Look how close we came to being discovered. Imagine what those witches would do to you, or me, or even Iris if they found out about us. Do you really think the Committee mothers at the school would be happy to hear their children are being taught by the stepdaughter of a monster?

‘No!’ he continues. ‘I won’t calm down. That job means too much to Iris, and you mean too much to me, for us to risk everything by having these two in our house with that evil witch out looking for them. We haven’t hidden out here for five years with no contact with any of our friends or families only to have these two youngsters bring trouble to our door …’

Polly feels her eyes spring with tears. How she wishes she could take back all the trouble she has caused. If only she knew a spell to reverse time and put everything back to how it was before that terrible day at the gallery. Ever since then, it seems she brings trouble with her wherever she goes. And now she has even made trouble for kind, sweet Flora and Mortimer!

She runs back down the corridor towards the lounge room. There is Miss Spinnaker’s blue velvet bag hanging on the chair, waiting for her to return. Polly snatches it up and, as she is about to leave the room, she hesitates for a moment before grabbing Miss Spinnaker’s old school spell book and stuffing it into the bag.

Running past the kitchen, she ducks in to grab a handful of ripe pricklefruits and the spickleseed bread wrapped in cloth. She has no idea where she and Buster will go or how long they will be gone, but she figures it can’t hurt to have as many supplies as she can find.

Last of all, she plucks a small jar of healing potion from the first-aid shelf by the door and tucks it into the bag.

There is a notepad and pencil on the table where she can see Flora has begun a shopping list. Polly rips off a page and scrawls a hasty note:

Then she tucks the notepad and pencil into the bag, too, before heading out the front door to where she knows Buster will be waiting.

Their true adventure starts now.