Level Two

The lift opened on to an icy platform that led to an icy path that weaved up and up inside the mountain and disappeared into mist.

Tiga held Fluffanora’s hand and the two of them carefully walked forward. The cats were piled on the sled, sleeping. It was the only logical place Tiga could think to put them. Leaving them behind meant they might end up stuck in the mountain, and Peggy seemed quite attached to them.

‘This was where we saw Idabelle and the others, when we were right back at the start!’ Tiga said, getting down on her knees and smooshing her face against the icy floor. ‘Right here!’

Fluffanora yawned. ‘Maybe we should stop here for the night. I’m tired and Idabelle is all the way back in the Under Peak. I bet they’ll have to do a different challenge this time around, and who knows, they might not even make it here. I’d say we have time for a nap at least.’

Tiga took off her shoe and placed it on the floor.

‘Old laces and heels in a heap

Make me a better place to sleep.’

The shoe rose up in the air and –

CRACK!

A giant shoe-shaped house landed with a bang in front of them. Fluffanora stepped inside and began coughing.

‘Sorry,’ Tiga said as she rearranged the dusty cushions on the sofa. ‘I haven’t used my boot as a house since Witch Wars, and I haven’t cleaned my boots recently either.’

Fluffanora herded the cats upstairs while Tiga peered out of the window.

‘Any guesses what’s in that mist up ahead?’ Tiga called up to Fluffanora.

Fluffanora yawned and flopped on to the dusty bed, flicking her finger and making an eye mask appear on her face. ‘I’m not even going to think about that until the morning.’

Tiga woke up with a cat licking her eyelashes.

Fluffanora was already awake and making them a breakfast of toasted jam, with the remaining jar of Mavis’s jam.

Tiga pulled on her one boot and went downstairs. ‘Is the mist still there?’

Fluffanora nodded and handed her a splodge of jam.

Tiga gulped it down. ‘Well, I suppose we’d better go and see what’s waiting for us.’

‘Hello?’ Tiga whispered as they disappeared into the mist. It was difficult to see the path, so they stuck as close to the wall as they possibly could.

Fluffanora didn’t say anything, she just squeezed Tiga’s hand tightly.

‘It can’t just be a treacherous path,’ Tiga whispered. ‘That would be too easy.’

It got darker and the mist grew thicker.

Tiga’s stomach flip-flopped with every step she took, and Fluffanora’s grip on her hand grew painfully tight.

Then came the buzz.

A ghostly witch appeared in front of them. She floated a little to the left, and made another buzzing sound.

‘Did she just buzz?’ Tiga whispered. ‘Like a bee?’

‘I did,’ the ghost witch said, sounding bored. ‘I went above the pipes and encountered a bee.’

‘What’s a bee?’ Fluffanora said, her eyes wide.

‘Nice small things,’ Tiga explained quickly. ‘They make honey. They sometimes sting if they think you’re going to hurt them. Maybe she was allergic to it.’

‘So you died because a bee stung you?’ Fluffanora asked.

The ghost witch raised a nearly invisible eyebrow. ‘No. I tried to run away from it, tripped and fell down a pipe and died that way. The last noise you hear before you die becomes your haunting noise. So I buzz.’

Tiga slyly glanced down at the game in her hand. Their pieces were far up the mountain now, but she could see something new. A musical note.

The ghost buzzed about in front of them, eyeing them suspiciously. ‘I can’t understand how you two even got past the Mean Lock.’

‘Do we have to sing a song?’ Tiga asked.

The ghost rolled her almost-invisible eyes. ‘Yes, I was just getting to that, if you’d give me a second. I want you to make up a song about bees. And it must end in buzz. It’s entirely up to me whether the song passes the test.’

‘This is silly,’ Fluffanora said. ‘Plus it’s unfair. Of course you’re going to say the song isn’t good enough, and why does it have to end in buzz?’

There was a bang and the Scarf Witch appeared next to them. ‘Oh dear,’ she said, raising a finger. ‘I’m afraid the ghost witch didn’t like your song.’

And with a quick flick, Fluffanora was gone. Her face appeared on the scarf, with nice feathers for hair.

‘Fluffanora!’ Tiga cried.

Her stitched eyes rearranged themselves to look up. ‘The feathers are too much! Plus, I didn’t even sing a song, I asked a question.’

‘You spoke after I had set out the rules, and ended with a buzz,’ the ghost witch said. ‘I could only assume you were playing the game.’

Tiga stood in silence, trying to process what had just happened. She was on her own. No Peggy, no Fluffanora, just her. And she needed to carry on, she needed to get to the top now more than ever – not only to stop the Ritzy Six, but to save her friends!

‘You can do it!’ Peggy’s sewn little face cheered.

‘She can’t,’ Francesca Fignettle’s sequin one sneered.

‘If you don’t get past this level,’ the Scarf Witch said, ‘then you all lose.’ She tapped an empty patch on the scarf. ‘I have a nice little spot for you here.’

Tiga’s mind was racing. Why hadn’t they asked more witches to come with them? The Points were losing, but there were more of them – they were more likely to reach the top because they had a bigger team.

Tiga began hitting her palm against her forehead.

‘You’d better think of a good song,’ the ghost witch whispered.

Tiga wanted to tell her she was doing her best, but she was afraid to speak in case she ended up on the scarf.

‘You know, this scarf is surprisingly comfy,’ Fluffanora said.

‘Oh yes,’ came the voices from the scarf.

‘I HAVE ONE!’ Tiga cried. ‘It’s good.’

They all stared at her. A tiny stitched thumbs up appeared beside Peggy’s face.

‘If I were a beeeee,

I’d fly straight to Pearl Peak,

And while on my way,

There’s one thing I’d saaaaay …

Buzz.’

Tiga squeezed her eyes shut.

‘BRILLIANT!’ the ghost witch said with a buzz, and before Tiga knew it she was flying through the air.

‘WELL DONE, TIGA!’ she heard Fluffanora shout.

‘YOU CAN DO IT! YOU’RE ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL!’ Peggy cried.

Tiga could feel the cats clinging to her legs.

It was up to her now.