BOOM

Tiga squinted as she stepped into the flames to tell her story. She was the last one. The Points had been impressed and terrified by Fluffanora’s tale of the killer cat that could slide through keyholes. Even Idabelle had shivered.

‘Um, I don’t know many spooky stories,’ Tiga began. ‘But there is one. In a dark forest, just like this one, but above the pipes, there was a ghost. They say she roamed the forest in perfect circles looking for living people who she would guide to a deep, dark well. She kept them there for ever, and with every one she collected, she came a little bit more back to life.’

‘TIGA!’ Fran cheered, waving from a leaf on a nearby tree.

‘Wait,’ Idabelle said, glancing around. ‘How did you get in?’

‘Oh, you thought you did a secret meeting spell, did you?’ Fran said, rolling her eyes. She flew up to them and landed on a little rock next to Fluffanora, leaning back like she was lazing on a sun lounger. ‘Those spells don’t work on fairies. Our eyeballs can see right through them.’

‘I knew Crispy saw me earlier,’ Tiga said. ‘She looked straight at me.’

‘You know,’ Fran continued, ‘that’s why I’m trying to convince Peggy to let us fairies be the police force in Ritzy City. We could be called THE FABULOUS FORCE! And we could use the outfits we wear for Fairy Fightz.’ She pulled at her jumpsuit, making it stretch and ping back into place. ‘They are stretchy and good for crime fighting.’

Idabelle groaned.

‘So what are we doing?’ Fran asked.

‘This is a Points meeting,’ Catriona Catcat said, pointedly. ‘You can’t be here.’

‘We’re telling spooky stories,’ Tiga said.

‘Oh,’ Fran said with a smirk, rubbing her tiny hands together. ‘I have a spooky story.’

‘SHE’S NOT ALLOWED!’ Francesca Fignettle shouted. ‘WE DIDN’T INVITE HER. AND HER WINGS ARE HITTING MY SPIRIT MOUSE RIGHT IN THE NOSE!’

Idabelle pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘She can tell her little story.’

‘It’s quite big, actually,’ Fran said, puffing out her chest. ‘It’s about a terrifying group of flying monsters. One has a melted-looking face and the other has jumbo wings.’

‘Those are your friends,’ Melodie McDamp said. ‘Crispy and Julie Jumbo Wings.’

‘Crispy and Julie Jumbo Wings are not my friends,’ Fran scoffed. ‘I just spend all my time with them because …’ She trailed off and pretended to spot something interesting in the trees.

‘There is nothing spooky about your little fairy friends,’ Bertha Bram said, holding the remaining jam stars as far away from Fran as possible. ‘These snacks are for invited witches only. You weren’t invited, and you’re not a witch.’

‘She’ll have to leave before the next bit,’ Melodie McDamp whispered to Idabelle. Tiga heard every word clearly and watched as Fran’s beehive tilted to the side, which was what it did when she was listening.

‘Well I’ll be off,’ Fran said, shooting Tiga a knowing look. Then much to Tiga’s surprise, she shot through a bush, out towards the fairy caravan park.

‘That’s not like Fran,’ Tiga said quietly.

Fluffanora looked at her watch. It had two witches on it – one tall, one short – as the hands, and the numbers were twelve different types of shoe. ‘Just look at the time! It’s a short witch past the slippers, Tiga, so we should be off.’

‘Wait,’ Idabelle said. ‘For the finale of all our meetings, we try an ancient dead spell.’

‘Why?’ Fluffanora said with a shiver. ‘Ancient spells are out of date and dangerous. They’ve expired. They’re dead.’

Idabelle cackled and grabbed a jam star, squishing it in her fist before lobbing it on to the fire.

‘That’s what they tell you, but no spell really expires. It just becomes old and twisted. But twisted spells can be fun!’

‘I think we should go, Tiga,’ Fluffanora said, with a hint of panic in her voice that Tiga had never heard before. They both stood up, but Idabelle flicked her finger and shoved them back down on their seats.

‘Do you know who started the Points?’ Idabelle asked Tiga.

Tiga shook her head helplessly. She glanced at Fluffanora, who was trying to lift herself off the stone. She was struggling, like her body and the stone were one and the same thing.

‘The Ritzy Six,’ Idabelle rasped. ‘A mysterious group of witches who lived a long time ago. Each of the six had a special power, and they caused glorious havoc in Ritzy City. Then one day, the Ritzy Six were caught and trapped somewhere, but only a few good witches knew where. However, before they were captured, they hid their magic at the very top of Pearl Peak, in a sealed house that no one but them could enter, ready for their return. And so the question remains: where are the Ritzy Six? It’s Sinkville’s biggest secret.’

Tiga breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness they were trapped somewhere. She’d been half expecting Idabelle to reveal they were hiding in the trees around them!

Idabelle whipped out a jam jar. ‘This is where the Ritzy Six are hidden!’

Tiga let out a surprised scream, causing Bertha Bram to drop the plate of jam stars.

‘It took ages to figure it out,’ Idabelle said proudly. ‘But I found an old Ritzy City Post interview with Mavis who owns the jam stall. She was the one who suggested a jam jar to trap the Ritzy Six, and she volunteered to look after it. Once I knew that, I got Melodie to distract the old fool by pretending to be interested in her jam jars shaped like cats. I sneaked behind her jam stall and I GOT IT.’

‘That makes Mavis Sinkville’s biggest hero,’ Tiga said. ‘Well, until she let the jam jar fall into your hands.’

‘This has all got really weird,’ Fluffanora said, sweating slightly as she tried in vain to pull herself off her stone stool. She stopped and tapped her watch. ‘And now it’s five tall ladies past the slipper. It’s practically one short lady on the boot, so really we’d better be going.’

Idabelle smirked and began to slowly twist the jam jar lid.

‘For years, the Points have tried to track down the Ritzy Six. Our heroes! The very reason we sit here around this fire today. They can teach us to be more powerful than any other witches in the world! They can get to the magic at the top of the mountain! And now all I have to do to bring them back is use an old, expired spell.’

‘Which one?’ Fluffanora demanded.

‘The Green Blood – you say the spell with the names of the witches you want to bring back, while in the presence of green blood. It only expired because no witch could work out the green blood bit. But I realised, Tiga is green – green because she’s a new witch in Sinkville, plus her real surname is Green, so we’ve got all bases covered. No one is more of a green blood witch than Tiga!’

Tiga’s stomach flip-flopped.

‘Why am I here then?’ Fluffanora spat furiously.

‘Well, Tiga can never do things on her own, according to my sister, so we had to invite one of her friends. But which witch to choose!’

The Points cackled madly.

‘We couldn’t have Peggy Pigwiggle,’ Idabelle said with a snigger. ‘She’s the Top Witch and the Top Witch could never come to something like this. Lizzy Beast would only break something – or us!’

They cackled some more.

‘Felicity would have figured out something was up. Aggie Hoof is the most irritating witch alive. You never seem to see the twins Milly and Molly any more, and to be honest, I completely forgot about the other one,’ she said, clicking her fingers while searching for the name.

‘Patty Pigeon,’ Tiga said quietly.

‘PATTY PIGEON, OF COURSE!’ Idabelle said, making the others dissolve into cackles once more. ‘That just left you, Fluffanora. Brave, stubborn, curious. You were perfect. Tiga would never have come here without you saying it was a good idea.’

Fluffanora scowled as Idabelle threw the jam jar lid on the fire. Melodie blew a bored bubble as the others clasped their hands excitedly.

‘If we can bring back the Ritzy Six, the Points will be unstoppable! We’ll be able to do anything we want,’ Idabelle roared.

‘Can I buy more spirit animals?’ Francesca Fignettle oozed, but Idabelle was in a giddy trance.

Melodie McDamp blew another bubble and popped it with her finger. ‘I’m going to keep my job at the Mermaid Museum. I like the work, and the uniform.’

Idabelle’s eyes were wide and fixed on the jam jar as she held it up. With a swift flick of the finger she sent Tiga somersaulting upwards and held her suspended above the flames.

‘PUT ME DOWN!’ Tiga cried.

‘Six original Points, one jam jar,’ Idabelle Bat hissed.

‘NO!’ Tiga and Fluffanora shouted in unison.

Idabelle smirked and launched the jam jar into the air.

‘Burn you back to who you are.’

It tumbled past Tiga’s nose and towards the fire. Tiga tried to grab it, but it was no good. Everything seemed like it was moving in slow motion. The Points were rising to their feet. Fluffanora’s mouth was sagging into a gloomy frown. Francesca Fignettle was ranting something about a spirit butterfly, but it came in long drowned-out groans and Tiga filtered it out.

Then came the buzz. The shot of glitter! The –

‘Fran!’ Tiga cried, as Fran crashed into the jam jar. She balanced on the edge of the rim as it spun around and around, trying to get a grip, but she flipped backwards, her sparkly jumpsuit ripping as she went. Fran slipped into the jam. It landed with a hiss in the fire.

‘Fran!’ Tiga cried, racing over to fish the fairy out.

There was an explosion of black smoke, followed by a strange squealing sound, as six pointy hats leapt from the flames with an assortment of witches attached to them. They were wearing twigs and leaves, fashioned into dresses.

The cackling was unbearable.

‘We did it!’ Idabelle squealed, waving her hands madly and completely losing her composure for a second. She coughed and straightened herself up. Her eyes filled with delighted tears. ‘THEY’RE BACK.’

‘Well, you’ve made a real mess,’ Fluffanora said, shaking her head. ‘And if they think they’re going to get clothes from Brew’s to replace the twig-and-leaf dresses then YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN.’

Idabelle stalked over and stretched out a hand. ‘I’m Idabelle, head of the Points.’

Six, the tallest of the Ritzy Six, stepped forward and grinned. ‘Thank you, Points witch, but we are the leaders now.’ She turned towards Pearl Peak. ‘We must go home and get our magic.’

‘No!’ Idabelle demanded. ‘First you teach us your special powers and then we wreak havoc!’

‘Patience, little witch,’ said Five. ‘All the things we need are at the top of Pearl Peak.’

And off they ran.

‘WAIT FOR MEEEEEE!’ Idabelle cried, as the younger Points raced after the Ritzy Six. The fire went out with a pop, leaving Tiga, Fluffanora and Fran alone in the darkness.

‘Fran,’ Tiga whispered, fishing the jam jar out of the ashes and scooping Fran out from inside it. The tiny fairy coughed up an even tinier puff of smoke.

‘I remember the Ritzy Six,’ she said. ‘Bad, bad, ba–’

She fainted in Tiga’s palm.

Tiga placed Fran gently on the forest floor and leaned down to check she was breathing.

Fluffanora flicked her finger and mumbled. ‘Back you go, one, two, three, in time you’ll still remember me.’

Tiga looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

‘Rewind spell. She won’t remember the last three hours or so. Oh, stop looking at me like that, Tiga! You know we’ll have to fix this, and Fran would only try to stop us, or at the very least, get in the way. Or she’d do a newspaper interview and tell them about the Ritzy Six, and then the whole town would panic. No, we have to sort this. Before anyone finds out.’

Fluffanora was right. Tiga reluctantly flicked her finger and Fran’s limp body went flying off through the forest.

‘I did a finger flick to put her back in her caravan,’ Tiga said. ‘She’ll be tucked up in bed when she wakes.’

Fluffanora raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you sure …? You’re not … great at that spell.’

‘Positive,’ Tiga said with a nod.

‘Right.’ Fluffanora looked unconvinced. ‘Well, we need to tell Felicity. She’ll be able to help. Oh, I hate it when she’s right.’ She grabbed Tiga’s arm and dragged her back out of the forest.