2

Gran Tells Ben The Secret

The next day was very windy, and after breakfast Dad said he was going to do some gardening. Mum was going to the shops and, once she’d gone, Ben and his gran sat down on the settee.

‘Now then,’ Gran said, ‘what’s this important thing you want to talk about?’

Ben wriggled in his seat. ‘Do you remember the story that I told you last year about the spider gate and the magpies?’ Gran nodded. ‘Well, it wasn’t a story. It really happened. I don’t know how I became small. I just fell asleep in the garden and when I woke up I was little! You do believe me, don’t you?’

Gran patted his hand. ‘Of course I do. I knew all along.’

Ben’s mouth fell open. ‘How did you know? Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘Slow down,’ Gran laughed out loud. ‘I have a lot to tell you, but you must promise to keep it a secret. I don’t think many people would understand, or even believe you if you told them, but when I was eight – a little bit older than you – my father took me out into the garden one day and said that he had something important to tell me. He said it was a secret that had been in the family for a very long time, but that only one person at a time could use it.’

‘What do you mean by use it?’ Ben interrupted.

‘I’m coming to that,’ Gran said. ‘My father told me that his father had passed the secret to him, but it didn’t mean that it always had to be done like that. You know, from parent to child. It could be anyone – family or friend – but, once it had been passed on, you couldn’t have it back. The secret was the way to become small, and also how to return to normal size again.’

Ben bounced up and down on the settee. ‘Where did the secret come from in the first place?’

‘Don’t rush me,’ Gran said, ‘or I might forget something important. Well, my father didn’t know where the secret came from. He’d been told that many years ago there was a wise woman who lived in a cave in the mountain, on the far side of the valley. Someone in my family helped her and their reward was a rhyme that could be used to shrink the person who used it, and another to bring them back again.’

‘Do you know the rhyme? Is that what the secret is? Can you tell me?’ Ben’s cheeks were getting redder and redder.

‘Yes, Ben, I do know the rhyme and I will tell you soon, but there are some other things you need to know first. It’s important that you listen carefully. You must tell me if you don’t understand what I’m saying. You will, won’t you?’ Gran looked at Ben and he nodded quickly. ‘Well, each person who is given the secret can only use it seven times in their life. It doesn’t matter when it’s used – it could be all in one year, or spread out over many years. The thing to remember is that once each rhyme has been used seven times it has to be passed on to someone else.’

Ben frowned. ‘If you have the secret right now, then how did I become small last year? Why have you kept it for so long? Didn’t you want to give it to Mum?’

Gran smiled at him. ‘Full of questions, aren’t you, lad? I didn’t give it to your mum because it just didn’t feel right. She wasn’t really interested in the birds and the insects and the trees – all the things that I loved. That’s mostly how I used the rhyme, so that I could find out more about them. Sometimes I was able to help them, like you did with Lox, but I’ll tell you about all that another time. I used the rhymes five times in the first two years, but I decided to keep the last two for a while longer. After I went to the Grammar School I was so busy with homework and new friends that I never really thought much about the secret. When I was older I married your grandfather, and a few years later your mum was born, so I had even less time to think about it. I used it once more just after you were born.’

‘But what about me?’ Ben asked. ‘How did it happen to me?’

Gran paused for a moment. ‘There’s another thing you need to know. Whoever has the rhyme can make someone else small too, but if they tell anyone else what the rhyme is, they lose the power. It also counts as one of the seven times. Last year you seemed as though you were a little bit lonely. I know it’s not easy living so far away from most of your friends, so I thought I’d give you an adventure.’

‘But why had you kept the last chance for so long?’ Ben moved to the edge of his seat. ‘Does that mean that you can’t use the rhyme anymore? Doesn’t that make you sad?’

Gran smiled. ‘I kept it because I thought I might like to have one more adventure, but when I saw you asleep on the grass I just knew it was right to give it to you instead. Besides, I think I’m getting too old for such things. The rhyme makes you small but it doesn’t make you young!’

‘So how old are you, Gran?’ Ben asked.

‘As old as my tongue and older than my teeth, young man,’ she laughed. ‘Now, stop interrupting. There’s a lot more to tell you but you might want to fetch your notebook and pencil.’

Ben rushed up the stairs to his room. He found his notebook and pencil, and he ran back down again.

‘Ready. What’s next?’ he said.