CHAPTER FIVE

All the grown-ups were so upset about Sarah being missing that it was really hard for Ben to get away to the witch’s house. In the end, he sneaked out while the grown-ups were waiting for the police to come. He ran the whole way, clutching a can of tuna and a tube of condensed milk that he had found in the cupboard.

The cat was not pleased with his efforts. ‘Did I fail to make myself clear?’ it asked, lashing its tail. ‘Cream? Pilchards?’

‘It’s all I could find,’ Ben explained, panting. ‘Please, you’ve got to help me. I said the spell just like you told me, but instead of the gold, a dragon came and it took Sarah, James’s little sister, and we’ve got to get her back. Please!’

‘A dragon?’ the cat hissed, arching its back. ‘You must’ve said the spell wrong.’

‘No, no, I didn’t. I said it just the way you told me.’

‘Say it again.’

Ben slowly stumbled through the spell. ‘With these magic words, I begin my spell. Hear me, first star, hear me well. Send me dragon gold, from the –’

‘You forgot the apostrophe “s”,’ the cat hissed. ‘It was meant to be “dragon’s gold”, not “dragon gold”. No wonder you conjured up a dragon!’

‘But how do I fix it? What can I do?’ Ben begged, who was really feeling very sick and anxious about Sarah.

‘I wash my paws of the whole matter,’ the cat said, turning its back.

Ben gripped his wand. ‘Please?’

The only answer was a low growl and a lash of its tail.

‘But I have to get Sarah back,’ Ben said.

‘Good luck,’ the cat said over its shoulder. ‘You have your magic wand. Use it.’

Unhappily, Ben went home. James was having a sleep-over while his mum and dad, Ben’s mum and dad and the police kept on searching for Sarah. Usually when Ben and Tim had a babysitter they were allowed to sit up late and watch a video, but tonight they pretended to be really tired so they could go to bed early. As soon as the babysitter turned off the lights and went to watch TV, Ben slid down from his bunk-bed and went to sit beside James.

‘I reckon what we do is go find the dragon, fight it, kill it, and get Sarah back,’ he whispered.

‘Me too!’ Tim cried.

‘Sshh, Tim!’

‘The dragon will just burn us to a crisp,’ James said gloomily.

‘Well, then, we’ll go when it’s asleep. We’ll get Sarah without waking it up.’

‘I bet dragons have really good hearing,’ James said.

‘We’ll have to wait until it’s late.

Midnight. That’s a magical time.’ James perked up. ‘I’ve never been up at midnight before. I tried on New Year’s Eve but I fell asleep before the fireworks. Can we have a midnight feast, do you reckon?’

Ben nodded. ‘Sure. Dragon slayers wouldn’t go out hungry, would they?’

‘Might as well do something fun before we all get fried,’ James said.