RubyWishfingersHideandSeek

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ruby Wishfingers rolled over in bed and hit the OFF button on her alarm clock.

Morning sun streamed through the gap in her pink lace curtains. Crickets chirped, a magpie warbled and somewhere nearby a lawnmower started up.

Another hot day! Ruby thought, kicking the sheets off and yawning. She sat up in bed and wriggled her fingers carefully.

Not a buzz. Not a hum. Not a tickle or a wriggle. Not even the teeniest, tiniest itch!

Ruby slumped back against the pillows and sighed.

‘No new wishes yet!’

She looked at the pinkie finger on her right hand, which was still faintly tingling with last year’s final wish. Ruby smiled.

‘But at least I still have this one!’

Ruby Wishfingers was an ordinary girl—mostly. She lived with her ordinary family on an ordinary street in an ordinary suburb of an ordinary town. But her name—Wishfingers—was far from ordinary.

One spring morning, when Ruby was nine, she had woken up with a strange feeling in the tips of her fingers.

They had buzzed and hummed. They had tickled and wriggled. They had niggled like an itch begging to be scratched. But no matter how hard Ruby scratched them—against her quilt, against each other, against her teeth—the feeling still hadn’t gone away.

‘Your great-grandfather was a Wishfingers. And his father before him, and his father before him,’ explained Granny, who lived in a caravan at the bottom of the garden. ‘But your great, great, great, great-grandfather Wishfingers, well, he was a magician.’

Ruby discovered that as the great, great, great, great-granddaughter of a famous and powerful magician, she had inherited not only his unusual name but some of his magic too. The extraordinary feeling in the tips of her fingers was the sign of a marvellous gift:

The power to wish for whatever she wanted!

Chapter 2

Ruby had found out a lot about magic from Granny, who had wishing fingers too.

But she had also learnt some important lessons on her own.

Wishes were wondrous, powerful things that didn’t always turn out quite as you expected. Ruby now knew to be very, very careful what she wished for.

She had also learnt that you should never ever use magic to harm or punish anyone or anything—even if your cousin was a little toad who needed to learn a lesson or two. Breaking the Golden Rule of Magic had caused problems that were quite tricky to fix, not to mention dangerous. Thankfully though, she had earned her wishes back and Cousin Todd was no longer a toad but a rather nice boy.

After last year’s adventures, Ruby had decided not to use up all of her wishes at once. Instead, she thought it might be wise to keep a pinkie up her sleeve, just in case she needed it.

Humming a little tune, Ruby made her bed, got dressed into her school uniform and brushed her hair into a neat ponytail.

Outside, the lawnmower stopped suddenly.

Ruby picked up her favourite cuddly toy unicorn, which had fallen onto the floor. She hugged him tightly to her chest.

Ruby had gotten Skydancer when she was three years old. Although his hooves didn’t glitter quite as brightly as they used to, Ruby loved him more than ever. After all, Skydancer had helped Ruby discover her ability to wish; turning him into a real unicorn had been the very first wish Ruby had ever made.

Ruby wriggled her little finger and thought about her last pinkie wish. It seemed a waste not to use it. After all, she hadn’t needed it for anything important.

‘My new wishes will come along soon enough, Skydancer. In the meantime, I still have this one left over from last year. I could have a bit of fun with it, couldn’t I? What should I wish for?’ Ruby wondered aloud.

The unicorn stared back hopefully.

‘No way!’ Ruby laughed. ‘I won’t be turning you into a real unicorn again.’

Bringing a cuddly toy unicorn to life had caused more problems than Ruby could have imagined. She kissed Skydancer on the nose and tucked him back into his spot between the pillows.

‘What do you think I should wish for, Norman?’ Ruby asked, turning towards the goldfish on her dresser.

‘Norman?’ Ruby gasped.

There was nothing on Ruby’s dresser except a small scattering of fish flakes where Norman’s tank had once been.

Chapter 3

‘OW!’ Ruby cried, rubbing her stubbed toe. ‘Who left that there?!’

There was a lawnmower in the hallway outside her room! Its wheels were caked with grass and mud.

Poor Dad, thought Ruby.

Almost three years ago, Ruby had accidentally wished that Granny’s rather bad-tempered cat, Jupiter, had the power to talk. Unfortunately, Jupiter wasn’t very good at keeping his mouth shut and Dad had overheard him speak on more than one occasion. Being an ordinary sort of man, who didn’t believe in extraordinary things like magic, Mr Wishfingers had slowly but surely begun to lose his mind.

By the time Ruby had been able to wish away Jupiter’s ability to talk, it was too late. The damage had been done. Mr Wishfingers was now as nutty as a fruitcake and more than a little absent-minded.

Dad had probably been confused, and put the mower away in the hallway instead of the shed. Mum didn’t like anything being left on the floor: toys, books and certainly not a lawnmower! She would have kittens when she saw the stains on her good carpet! But Ruby didn’t have time to worry about that right now—she had to find Norman!

‘Mum!’ Ruby called, hobbling down the stairs and clambering over the baby gate. ‘Have you seen my gold—oh.’

Ruby’s fish tank sat neatly on the table, right in front of her little brother Jellybean’s highchair. There was Norman, happily swimming about in his tank as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

‘Found fishy!’ Jellybean squealed. At one and a half years old, he was certainly no longer the size of a jellybean inside Mum’s tummy, but his nickname had stuck. Everyone called him Jellybean—except of course when he was being naughty. Then they called him by his real name—Nathaniel.

Ruby was puzzled.

‘Mum! Why did you move my fish tank?’

‘I didn’t.’ Mum’s muffled voice came from inside one of the cupboards. ‘Dad and I thought you must have.’

‘It wasn’t me,’ said Ruby, frowning.

Mum’s face popped up from behind the cupboard door. She looked flustered.

‘Then it must have been Granny!’

‘Hide-and-seek?’ Jellybean pleaded.

Ruby groaned. As a baby, Jellybean had loved to play peek-a-boo. But now that he was a toddler and able to run around, Jellybean’s favourite game in the whole wide world was hide-and-seek.

He wanted to play it in the morning. He wanted to play it in the afternoon. Sometimes he wanted to play it in the middle of the night. Everyone in Ruby’s family was sick and tired of playing hide-and-seek. Everyone except Jellybean, that is.

‘Not now, Jellybean!’ Ruby turned back to Mum.

‘It can’t have been Granny. She would never move Norman without asking me first.’

Jellybean tossed his teething ring to the floor and started nibbling on his fingers. It was something he had been doing rather a lot lately. Ruby’s neighbour Mrs Cottesloe suggested he might have new teeth coming through. Aunt May thought it was probably an allergy to grass. Ruby wasn’t so sure. He didn’t have a temperature. He wasn’t drooling. And no other part of his body seemed to be itchy or uncomfortable.

‘Well a fish tank can’t very well move itself now, can it?’ Mum was rifling through the kitchen drawers now. ‘Honestly, Ruby, you need to learn to look after your things!’

Mum stood with her hands on her hips and scanned the kitchen carefully. ‘Now, where on earth are those tickets?’

Jellybean grinned and threw something else on the floor. Ruby leaned down to pick up two small pieces of paper, which were now sticky with strawberry jam.

‘Aha!’ Mum cried, plucking them from Ruby’s fingers.

‘Our ticket for the big raffle—and Aunt May’s! I have to stop by the supermarket on my way to work and put them in the barrel before they draw the winner this afternoon. The prize is a family holiday. A nice relaxing holiday is exactly what we need—particularly your father.’

Ruby was too busy puzzling over the fish tank to think about a family holiday right now.

Had she sleepwalked, like Dad sometimes did, and moved Norman’s fish tank?

Ruby didn’t think so. After all, she had never sleepwalked before.

Chapter 4

‘Oh I do hope we win,’ Mum sighed wistfully, clutching the tickets to her chest. ‘A family holiday would be such a treat!’

Suddenly the dreamy look vanished.

‘That reminds me.’ Mum’s voice had become decidedly cranky. ‘I know you love your little brother, Ruby but spoiling him with treats is NOT good for him. I guess it was you who put Dad’s treat jar into Jellybean’s cot last night. He ate everything. I mean everything! I’m surprised he wasn’t sick!’

Jellybean pulled his fingers out of his mouth and giggled. Ruby noticed a blob of liquorice stuck between his two front teeth.

‘But I didn’t give him Dad’s treat jar!’ cried Ruby. ‘I swear!’

Mum raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. ‘Well, it certainly wasn’t Dad or me. And I’ve already spoken to Granny. How in the world could a toddler get out of his cot, down the stairs, over the baby gate, into the dining room and climb to the top of Dad’s bookcase to swipe treats?’

‘Hide-and-seek!’ shouted Jellybean.

Before Ruby could say a word, the door was flung open and Dad burst into the kitchen.

‘George!’ Mum cried, pointing at Dad’s muddy, grass-covered boots.

Wait till you see the upstairs hallway, thought Ruby.

‘Has anyone s-s-s-seen my l-l-lawnmower?’ Dad stammered.

‘What on earth do you mean, George?’ snapped Mum, frantically sweeping around his feet with a broom.

Dad hung his head. ‘I can’t find it.’

‘Well, lawnmowers don’t just disappear into thin air!’ Mum was getting crankier by the minute. ‘Where did you leave it last?’

‘Lawnmower hiding, Dadda!’ Jellybean giggled from his highchair.

‘Oh, honestly,’ Mum scoffed. ‘It is like a giant game of hide-and-seek in this house, with things going missing left, right and centre. It’s enough to drive anyone around the twist!’

She popped a vitamin tablet into a glass of water and stirred it vigorously. Ruby watched the tablet bubble and fizz, then eventually disappear. As Mum stomped upstairs with her vitamin drink to get ready for work, Dad sat down shakily at the table.

‘I was m-m-mowing,’ he whispered, frowning to himself. ‘But the petrol ran out. I went to the shed to get more and when I came back … it was gone!’

‘How extraordinary!’ Ruby marvelled.

Suddenly they heard Mum shriek.

Forgetting all about his muddy, grass-covered boots, Dad pushed back his chair and galloped upstairs to see what the matter was.

‘Hide-and-seek?’ Jellybean whined, thumping his fist on the highchair tray.

‘Not now, Jellybean!’ Ruby wiped strawberry jam from her little brother’s face, hair and hands before lifting him down from the high chair.

‘I have to eat my breakfast!’

She picked up a toy Tyrannosaurus rex that Aunt May, Uncle Max and Todd had given Jellybean for his first birthday. Ruby pushed the red button on its belly. Its eyes glowed red and flashed. It stomped and roared its way across the kitchen tiles, gnashing its plastic teeth.

While Jellybean played with his favourite toy, Ruby slurped her porridge thoughtfully.

Dad’s lawnmower. Norman’s fish tank. The jar of treats.

Things were going missing and then appearing again in odd places. It was all very mysterious … and most extraordinary.

Ruby wriggled her fingers. Her new wishes definitely hadn’t come through yet. Her fingers were still as cool and calm as cucumbers, except of course for last year’s remaining pinkie wish.

If something magical IS going on, Ruby realised, it has nothing to do with me.

Suddenly Jellybean dropped his Tyrannosaurus and began chewing frantically at his fingers.

Ruby watched him carefully. There was something oddly familiar about the way he rubbed them against each other and scratched them against his teeth—almost as if there was an itch he couldn’t get rid of.

‘Something smells fishy,’ Ruby muttered. ‘And I have a strong suspicion it isn’t Norman.’

Chapter 5

Dad bounced a grizzling Jellybean in one arm. In the other hand he held the phone and the number for the carpet cleaning company.

Since Doctor Burt had told them the stress of work might have caused Dad to hear voices, like those of talking cats, Ruby’s parents had switched places. Mum had left for work in a flurry only moments before. Dad’s job was now to stay at home and look after Jellybean—with Granny’s help—as well as tend to the garden. But he was still learning the ropes.

‘Homework?’

‘Yes, Dad!’

‘Honey sandwiches?’

‘Strawberry jam,’ Ruby reminded him, patting her schoolbag.

‘Very good …’ Dad shifted Jellybean to the other arm and put the phone to his ear. ‘Now hurry or you’ll be late for work!’

‘You mean school!’ Ruby grinned. She clipped on her helmet, swung her bag onto her shoulders and grabbed her scooter, which had been leaning against the side of the house, next to a pile of Dad’s wooden gardening stakes.

‘Bye, Dad! Bye, Jellybean—have a nice nap!’ Ruby called, scootering down the driveway.

‘No!’ Jellybean pulled his thumb out of his mouth and tried to squirm out of Dad’s arms. ‘Hide-and-seek, Ooby!’

‘Not now, Jellybean! I have to get to school!’

As she rolled along the footpath, Ruby heard Jellybean wail. By the time she reached the end of the street, his wails had turned to screams.

The terrible twos had kicked in early. Ruby’s brother was no longer as sweet as a jellybean. In fact, he was turning into a sour little worm. If he didn’t get his way, he would clench his fists and squeeze his eyes shut tightly. He would stamp his feet and hammer his fists. He would shout and scream. Sometimes he even threw things. Thankfully, he was still little and couldn’t do any serious damage—except to everyone’s ears.

It wasn’t so much his tantrums that had Ruby worried. This morning’s extraordinary events were playing on her mind, especially Jellybean’s constant finger nibbling. Lately it seemed as though his chubby little fingers spent more time in his mouth than out of it.

Ruby paused at the crossing to push the button.

Could it be that Jellybean was going to inherit some of Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers’s magic too? But Jellybean was far too young for magic just yet. Ruby hadn’t inherited her wishes until she was nine!

Ruby decided to talk to Granny as soon as she got home. But right now she needed to think about ordinary things—like getting to school on time!

Chapter 6

‘Because it is so hot,’ began Mr Wilson, ‘we will not be working outside on our art projects today. Instead, I have put together a maths quiz …’

Everyone groaned. A fan whirled lazily above their heads, barely shifting the hot, sticky air.

Reluctantly, the children pulled out their maths books. A bead of sweat rolled down the bridge of Ruby’s nose and landed with a soft splash on the page.

It is far too hot for maths, thought Ruby. It is far too hot for anything, except a swim. And an ice cream … maybe vanilla … or perhaps chocolate … or perhaps—

Mr Wilson cleared his throat. ‘Well, Ruby?’

‘A strawberry ice cream?’ Ruby whispered dreamily.

Everyone laughed, except for Mr Wilson.

‘No, Ruby Wishfingers! Strawberry ice cream is NOT the answer!’ he barked.

Jeepers! thought Ruby. Mr Wilson was usually so cheerful and funny. He was in a terrible mood this morning—probably because of the heat.

Ruby looked around the classroom. The children were slumped over their desks like half-melted ice creams.

Suddenly she sat up. Perhaps ice cream was the answer! A delicious sweet ice cream and a long cool swim were exactly what the whole class—including Mr Wilson—needed on such a melting-hot day!

The tip of Ruby’s pinkie finger buzzed and tickled wildly. There didn’t seem much point in holding on to last year’s final wish any longer. She hadn’t needed it for anything after all, and now seemed like the perfect opportunity to put it to good use. Especially since she would soon have new wishes.

Ruby closed her eyes and whispered softly so that no one else could hear.

‘I wish we could swim and eat ice creams all day!’

Then she blew on the tip of her pinkie finger with all her might.

At precisely the moment Ruby’s pinkie stopped tingling, Mr Wilson flew out of his chair as though he had been stung by a bee.

‘Right!’ he declared suddenly, beaming around the classroom. ‘Maths books away, everyone! Look under your desks!’

He strode towards the windows where the blinds had been drawn to keep the hot sun out of the classroom.

One by one, the bewildered children looked under their desks and squealed in surprise. The room soon filled with excited chatter as towels, goggles and swimsuits were pulled out from under each desk.

‘Your parents have sent your swimming costumes in advance of a very special event! The grand opening of our very own …’ Mr Wilson pulled a cord. The blinds zipped up to the ceiling.

‘… school swimming pool!’

Chapter 7

The class gasped.

There, across the oval, was the most magnificent swimming pool Ruby had ever seen!

It was a giant rectangle, with wide steps and a large ramp that fanned out into the crystal blue water. There was an island in the middle with a water fountain shooting high into the sky. Best of all, a giant five-lane waterslide rippled like a rainbow down into the water.

Floating on the surface of the water were dozens of inflatable toys—beach balls, whales, dolphins and even a giant crocodile—just waiting to be played with!

Ruby grinned.

‘The whole school is invited for a very first swim,’ shouted Mr Wilson, who was struggling to be heard over the chatter of excited children.

‘And because we’ve all worked so hard this term, there will be plenty of free ice creams for everyone, of every flavour—’ he paused to wink at Ruby ‘—including strawberry!’

A long line of ice cream vans snaked its way across the oval. The principal, Mrs Blythe, busily directed them with a fluorescent orange baton.

Within minutes, children everywhere poured out of their classrooms. They bounded towards the new swimming pool, their towels and goggles flapping wildly as they shrieked and whooped for joy.

‘Last one in’s a slimy toad!’ shouted a familiar voice.

It was Ruby’s cousin, Todd.

‘Then you’d better hop to it!’ Ruby laughed, running after him.

A few months ago, Ruby had turned her naughty younger cousin Todd into a toad. In doing so, she had broken the Golden Rule of Magic: that it should never be used to harm or punish anyone or anything.

Ruby had risked her own life to save Todd and earn back her wishes so that she could turn him back into a boy again—and a much nicer one, at that. Since then, they had become great friends. Todd’s family had moved closer so that the children could go to the same school. Even though they were not in the same grade, it was great to be able to see each other every day.

Soon the pool churned with shrieking, excited children. Towels fluttered along the pool fence like flags. Mr Wilson taught a group of children how to dive. Mrs Holland, the sports teacher, showed off her handstands. Games of tag, beach ball and Marco Polo popped up everywhere. But because it was such an enormous pool, there was plenty of room for everyone.

Ruby dived into the cool, clear water.

What a wonderful way to use my final wish, she thought.

Mrs Blythe used the loudhailer. ‘Ice cream! Get your ice cream!’

Ruby floated on her back, trying to decide what sort of ice cream she might get. A waffle cone or an ordinary cone? Strawberry, chocolate or vanilla? Sauce or sprinkles? There were so many to choose from!

‘THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!’ Todd yelled, as he sailed down the slide. The water around Ruby bubbled and her cousin’s freckled face popped up beside her.

Todd grinned. ‘I don’t suppose you had anything to do with this!’

But before Ruby could answer, she was overcome with an extraordinary feeling.

Her head and then her whole body felt as though it was … fizzing … and bubbling … just like Mum’s vitamin tablet had before it dissolved in the glass of water that morning!

Todd’s blue eyes grew wide. His mouth opened and shut like a goldfish.

‘Stop it, Todd!’ Ruby laughed. ‘You look like Norman!’

‘R-R-Ruby!’ Todd spluttered at last. ‘You’re … you’re … disappearing!’

Chapter 8

‘J-j-jeepers! How did I get here?’

Ruby stood in the middle of Jellybean’s bedroom. Water from her swimsuit dripped down her legs and onto the carpet.

‘Found Ooby!’

Jellybean waved at her from his cot in the corner of the room. He still held the toy Tyrannosaurus he had been playing with earlier that morning.

‘B-b-but … how on earth …?’ Ruby stammered, her head still fizzing.

‘Tweets!’ Jellybean demanded, banging the dinosaur against the cot rail.

Ruby shook the last of the fizziness out of her head.

‘No, Jellybean. Too many treats aren’t good for you—Mum said so!’

Jellybean screwed his eyes shut tight and clenched his little fists.

Uh-oh, thought Ruby, who was beginning to recognise the beginnings of a tantrum. But Jellybean didn’t shout or scream. All Ruby heard was the gentle clink of Dad’s treat jar as it suddenly appeared inside Jellybean’s cot.

Jellybean opened his eyes and smiled. ‘Found tweets!’

Ruby’s stomach did a somersault.

Norman’s fish tank. Dad’s lawnmower. The jar of treats. Jellybean’s constant finger nibbling. Suddenly it all made perfect sense.

Jellybean had inherited some of Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers’s magic too! But instead of making wishes on his fingers like Ruby could, he seemed to be able to make things—and people—appear and disappear wherever and whenever he liked. What’s more, Jellybean had been using his magic to play his favourite game in the whole wide world: hide-and-seek!

But as Jellybean munched his way happily through a handful of chocolate biscuits, Ruby began to worry.

If Ruby’s wishes were wondrous, powerful things not to be taken lightly, then surely so too was Jellybean’s power to make things appear and disappear. Ruby knew all too well what trouble magic could cause in the wrong hands—or paws.

How much could a one-and-a-half-year-old possibly understand about magic—or more importantly, how to use it?

‘Hide-and-seek?’ Jellybean mumbled through a mouthful of biscuits.

Ruby nibbled her fingernails. ‘Not now, Jellybean. We really need to find Granny.’

‘Granny hide?’ asked Jellybean, clutching the biscuits and the Tyrannosaurus tightly as Ruby lifted him out of the cot.

‘I hope not,’ said Ruby, peering down the hall.

As Ruby crept down the stairs with Jellybean on her hip, she could hear Dad’s snores coming from the lounge room. Ruby held her breath and scurried past the double doors, through the kitchen and out into the backyard.

Phew! She would have had some serious explaining to do if Dad had woken up. She was supposed to be at school, after all!

Ruby carried Jellybean down the back steps and along the pebbled path. When they reached the bottom of the garden Ruby stopped.

‘Where’s Granny’s caravan?’

‘Granny hide!’ Jellybean giggled.

‘Jellybean!’ Ruby warned. ‘Find Granny right now or I won’t play hide-and-seek with you ever again!’

Jellybean scowled. But in a blink, the small yellow caravan was back where it belonged, under the eucalypt tree.

The caravan door flew open and Granny’s head popped out.

‘By golly!’ she cried. ‘Did you feel that? I think it was an earthquake!’

‘It wasn’t an earthquake,’ said Ruby grimly. ‘It’s much worse than that.’

Granny and Ruby sat down on the steps of the caravan while Jellybean toddled off to play with his Tyrannosaurus in the shade.

‘Jellybean’s not allergic to grass, Granny. And he isn’t teething, either.’

‘Oh?’ Granny’s eyes twinkled behind her glasses.

‘No.’ Ruby took a deep breath. ‘Jellybean has magic powers, just like us.’

Chapter 9

‘Well!’ exclaimed Granny, after Ruby had described the extraordinary events of the morning. ‘That explains why you’re in your swimmers—and why you aren’t at school! And it’s probably why I can’t seem to find Jupiter anywhere!’

Granny’s cat Jupiter was a Maine Coon—one of the largest, hairiest cat breeds in the world. Unfortunately, the hot Australian climate also made him one of the grumpiest. He preferred the air-conditioned comfort of Granny’s caravan and he certainly never strayed too far from his ice cream bowl. It was most unusual for him to be missing.

‘Don’t worry, Granny,’ Ruby reassured her. ‘Lots of things have been going missing around here lately.’ Ruby thought about Norman’s fish tank, Dad’s lawnmower and the jar of treats. ‘Jupiter’s bound to turn up sooner or later.’

‘I hope so.’ Granny sighed. ‘After all these years, I’ve grown rather fond of the old brute.’

They sat for a while watching Jellybean trying to push gumnuts into the Tyrannosaurus’s open mouth.

‘Granny,’ Ruby said suddenly, ‘if Jellybean is a Wishfingers, then why can he make things appear and disappear? Shouldn’t he be making wishes on his fingers, like we do?’

‘That’s a very good question, Ruby.’ Granny looked thoughtful. ‘Do you remember how Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers got his name?’

‘Of course!’ Ruby would never forget the wonderful story Granny had told her all those years ago, when she had first discovered her ability to wish.

Ruby’s great, great, great, great-grandfather had been a gifted magician. His most famous trick had been to wriggle his fingers and point to the prettiest lady in the audience. For her, and only her, he would grant a single wish. This was how he had acquired the name Wishfingers. It was this power of wishing on his fingers that Ruby had inherited.

‘Well,’ Granny continued, ‘The Wishfingers Trick was not the only trick he was famous for.’

‘It wasn’t?’ Ruby’s eyes shone.

‘Heavens, no! His second most famous trick was to make things disappear and then appear again somewhere else. If a member of the audience wanted their watch or their handbag back, they had to search high and low for it. And of course, it was always in the very last place they thought to look—like someone else’s pocket.’

‘What was the trick called?’ asked Ruby.

‘Hide-and-seek.’

Jellybean spun around and looked at Granny and Ruby hopefully.

‘But that’s Jellybean’s favourite game!’ Ruby cried.

Granny smiled. ‘I think Jellybean has been given a wonderful gift—and a rather fitting one too.’

‘Ruby hide?’ Jellybean suggested.

Ignoring him, Ruby turned back to Granny.

‘But isn’t Jellybean too little for magic? I was nine before my wishes came through.’

‘He certainly is very young,’ Granny agreed. ‘But a gift is a gift, no matter about the timing. And magic attracts magic.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ruby asked.

‘Well,’ explained Granny, ‘it’s quite likely that the presence of your magic has sped up the arrival of Jellybean’s.’

Ruby wondered if it might work the other way too. ‘Does that mean my wishes could come early this year?’

Granny shrugged. ‘With magic, anything can happen.’

Jellybean, who had been babbling to himself, suddenly threw his Tyrannosaurus to the ground. He stamped his foot, demanding their attention.
‘HIDE-AND-SEEK!’

‘Jellybean!’ Ruby gasped. ‘Don’t be rough with your toys! And stop interrupting—Granny’s talking!’

‘No talking!’ Jellybean shouted.

He gave one of the caravan tyres an angry kick.

‘That’s quite enough of that!’ Granny scolded.

‘HIDE-AND-SEEK!’ Jellybean bellowed. ‘GRANNY HIDE!’

Suddenly he clenched his little fists. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Uh-oh, thought Ruby.

In a blink, Granny was gone.

Chapter 10

‘Nathaniel Wishfingers!’ Ruby cried. ‘Bring Granny back at once!’

‘No!’ Jellybean glared.

‘Please! I really need to talk to her!’ Suddenly her fingertips began to buzz and hum. They tickled and wriggled. They niggled like an itch begging to be scratched.

‘My wishes!’ Ruby could hardly believe her luck! The early arrival of her wishes would solve everything.

First, she would wish Granny back from wherever Jellybean had hidden her. Then she would wish away Jellybean’s powers so he couldn’t cause any more trouble. After that, she would still have nine wishes left—more than enough to have some fun with.

There wasn’t a moment to waste!

Ruby wriggled her fingers, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. But before she could let it out, her fingers were suddenly as cool and calm as cucumbers again.

Ruby opened her eyes in alarm.

Jellybean had a very cheeky grin on his face.

Suddenly, Ruby knew exactly where her wishes had gone.

‘Naughty boy!’ she cried. ‘Where have you hidden my wishes?’

Jellybean giggled. ‘Hide-and-seek?’

Now it was Ruby’s turn to glare at Jellybean. Her naughty little brother had hidden all of her wishes—not to mention poor Granny! Now she had no choice but to play her least favourite game in the whole wide world.

Suddenly, Ruby had a thought. She only needed to find one wish—to wish ALL of her other wishes back. Then she could use them to wish Jellybean’s powers away and find Granny—easy!

‘Fine!’ said Ruby. ‘Let’s play. Coming, ready or not!’

Jellybean clapped his hands with excitement.

Ruby scanned the garden carefully.

She knew how a wish felt. But what exactly did a wish look like? Hide-and-seek could be tricky if you weren’t sure what you were looking for.

‘Drat,’ Ruby muttered to herself. ‘This might be harder than I thought.’

‘Todd help!’ Jellybean clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut.

In a blink, Todd was by Ruby’s side, dripping wet and holding a half-eaten chocolate ice cream. He looked annoyed.

‘I was having the best day of my life!’ he cried. ‘Why did you wish me here, Ruby?’

‘I didn’t!’ Ruby pointed at her little brother. ‘It was Jellybean! He can make things appear and disappear. He’s got magic powers too.’

Todd groaned.

‘But since you’re here, you can help me. We’re playing hide-and-seek. Jellybean has hidden all of my wishes—and Granny!’

‘But I hate hide-and-seek!’ Todd whined.

‘Todd!’ Ruby cried. ‘We have to help poor Granny! And if I don’t get my wishes back, Jellybean could make us all play hide-and-seek for the rest of our lives!’

Todd shuddered.

‘Listen,’ Ruby whispered. ‘All we have to do is find one wish and I can put a stop to all of this. Then I promise I’ll wish you straight back to school.’

‘Well …’ Todd hesitated.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. ‘Or would you rather I turn you into a toad again?’

‘Okay, okay,’ Todd grumbled. ‘I’ll help you. But what do wishes look like, exactly?’

‘That’s the problem,’ Ruby admitted. ‘I have absolutely no idea.’

Chapter 11

‘Look!’ cried Todd. ‘I found one!’

Ruby rushed over to the compost heap and crouched down beside Todd.

‘Ewww! That’s not a wish! That’s a mouldy strawberry!’

‘Oh.’ Todd pointed at Jellybean’s dinosaur, which was still lying on the grass. ‘What about that?’

Ruby stared at her cousin in disbelief. ‘Todd! That’s a Tyrannosaurus toy!’

‘Well!’ Todd huffed. ‘How am I supposed to know?’

‘I don’t know!’ Ruby put her head in her hands and tried to think. ‘A wish should be … light … and warm … and definitely not mouldy! It should be kind of soft and fluffy and … well … wishy-looking.’

‘Alright,’ said Todd. ‘Let’s keep looking then.’

Ruby and Todd searched the garden. They got down on their bellies and peered underneath the caravan. They checked inside the sandpit and in between the rows of vegetables. They searched all around the washing line but all they found was a pair of Granny’s knickers, waving gently in the breeze.

They found Dad’s lost gardening gloves, two dead cockroaches and half a dozen painted pet rocks that Ruby had left to dry in the sun—but they couldn’t find anything even the slightest bit wishy-looking.

‘This is impossible!’ Todd flopped down on the grass beside Ruby.

A few feet away, a magpie was trying to tug a worm out of the ground.

‘Poor worm,’ Ruby sighed. ‘I bet he wishes he was faster and stronger than that magpie.’

Suddenly Todd sat up. ‘Look!’ he whispered, pointing at the magpie’s beak.

Ruby rolled her eyes. ‘That’s a worm, Todd!’

‘Not that!’ Todd hissed. ‘Behind it!’

Ruby craned her neck. Sure enough, a centimetre or two away from the worm was a small circle of soft yellow light.

‘A wish!’ cried Ruby, scrambling to her feet. But before she could grab it, a slight breeze picked it up. The wish slipped out of her reach and disappeared into the wormhole.

‘Rats!’ Todd groaned. ‘What are we going to do now?’

Ruby didn’t hear him. She was too busy watching the oddly behaving magpie.

It had let go of the worm and hopped back in fright, crashing into an upturned bucket. Then it turned and flapped away faster than Ruby had ever seen a magpie fly.

Ruby and Todd looked at each other.

A split second later, the worm shot out of its hole like a rocket and zipped across the sky after the magpie.

‘A turbo-charged worm!’ Todd grinned. ‘Cool!’

Suddenly all around them, great clouds of birds rose into the sky, shrieking in panic. Worms shot out of the ground like spears, chasing the birds like arrows shot from a bow.

Ruby nibbled her fingernail.

She had really needed that wish to find her other wishes—and Granny—and to put a stop to Jellybean’s mischief! Wishes were proving harder to find than pocket-sized unicorns—and now the one wish they had found was gone. Wasted!

They would have to find another one quickly.

‘Well, at least we know what wishes look like now,’ Todd reminded her.

‘Yes,’ Ruby agreed, ‘but the problem is going to be catching one.’

A warm wind tugged at a dandelion clock, lifting the seeds up, up and away, until they were out of sight.

Wishes are lighter than dandelion seeds, thought Ruby.

She turned to Todd.

‘We’re going to need a net—and fast.’

Chapter 12

‘How about that pool scoop?’ Todd pointed to a long pole sticking up over the fence next door.

Ruby beamed at her cousin.

As they hauled the pool scoop up over the fence, something caught Ruby’s eye. She saw another small circle of soft yellow light. It skimmed across the grass and lifted upwards on a puff of wind. It hovered at the top of a bush, quivering in the breeze.

‘Quick!’ cried Ruby.

Together they eased the net up towards the top of the bush.

‘Careful … to the left … up a bit … Gotcha!’

‘Yoo hoo!’ a voice drifted over the fence.

Ruby’s heart stopped. She spun around. Her fingers lost their grip on the pole for a split second and—DRAT! The wish slipped out of the net and drifted off towards the house.

Todd galloped after it.

‘Hi, Mrs Cottesloe,’ Ruby called back, struggling with the pool scoop.

‘Oh hello, Ruby dear!’ Mrs Cottesloe chuckled. ‘I thought you were Granny! I’ve lost my glasses again.’

Thank goodness, thought Ruby. Without her glasses, Mrs Cottesloe was as blind as a bat.

‘Catching butterflies, are we?’

‘Uh … yes, Mrs Cottesloe!’ Ruby stammered.

‘I just adore butterflies!’ Mrs Cottesloe squinted over the fence. ‘My, what a fine net you have there!’

Ruby stole a glance at Todd, who was pouncing on the grass like a kitten, trying to catch the wish.

‘I just wanted to show Granny this beautiful flower I found floating in the swimming pool.’ Mrs Cottesloe smiled. ‘Isn’t it magical?’

A wish quivered in the palm of Mrs Cottesloe’s hand.

Todd returned empty-handed. His mouth flew open but Ruby elbowed him in the ribs before he could say a word.

‘I haven’t the faintest idea what sort it is,’ Mrs Cottesloe went on. ‘I must ask Henry to look it up on the butterfly net.’

Henry was Mrs Cottesloe’s gardener.

‘I think you mean the Internet,’ Ruby held out her hand. ‘Can I take a closer look?’

‘Yes, that’s it!’ Mrs Cottesloe chuckled. ‘You children are so clever with computers. In my day, we did somersaults and cartwheels to keep ourselves entertained. I was the only girl at my school who could do a triple somersault and land perfectly on my feet! How I wish I were nimble enough to do that again!’ Her eyes sparkled magically.

Ruby’s heart sank like a stone. Now another wish had been used!

‘Well, Mrs Cottesloe, maybe you still can.’

‘My dear girl,’ Mrs Cottesloe chortled. ‘I’ve had both knees and hips replaced! Though I must say, I am feeling rather limber all of a sudden.’

Ruby and Todd looked at each other and grinned.

In a blink, Mrs Cottesloe hitched up her skirts and tucked them into her stockings. She took off across the garden and somersaulted once, twice … three times before landing perfectly on her feet!

Ruby and Todd cheered.

‘Goodness me!’ Mrs Cottesloe giggled. ‘I feel like a young girl again.’

She pulled out a handkerchief to dab her brow, then took off again across the garden.

Todd and Ruby enjoyed Mrs Cottesloe’s acrobatics. They almost forgot what they were supposed to be looking for.

‘Come on, Todd,’ Ruby reminded him. ‘We had better find Granny and the rest of my wishes.’

Todd looked around the garden.

‘Ruby, where’s Jellybean gone?’

Chapter 13

Todd ran across the lawn and leapt over the garden hose.

‘Stop, Jellybean!’ Ruby cried. ‘You’ll fall!’

Jellybean was trying to climb up onto Dad’s bike, which had been leaning against the side of the shed. When he heard Ruby and Todd, he looked up and scowled.

‘NOT little! Jellybean BIG!’

‘Let’s find your little bike, Jellybean,’ Ruby said brightly, gently prising his fingers off the seat and lifting him onto her hip.

‘NO!’ Jellybean squirmed, reaching out for the bike.

‘Don’t be silly!’ Todd scolded him, taking hold of the handlebars. ‘You’re not big enough to ride it. You’ll hurt yourself!’

Jellybean clenched his fists and glared at Todd.

‘Jellybean big!’

Todd put the bike in the shed and closed the door firmly after him.

Jellybean wriggled free of Ruby. He ran to the shed door and reached for the handle. Realising he wasn’t tall enough to reach it, Jellybean sat down on the grass and cried.

‘JELLYBEAN BIG!’ he wailed.

Uh-oh, thought Ruby.

Jellybean’s wails quickly turned into screams.

His screams got louder and louder and louder.

Jeepers, thought Ruby, blocking her ears. My eardrums are about to pop!

‘BIG! BIG! BIG!’ Jellybean threw himself onto his belly. He kicked his legs and hammered his fists. Then, he began tearing out fistfuls of Dad’s carefully manicured lawn.

Ruby and Todd pushed their fingers deeper into their ears. They squeezed their eyes shut, hoping Jellybean would soon grow tired and the tantrum would come to an end.

They didn’t see the wish drift across the grass and catch on a lock of Jellybean’s hair.

‘JELLYBEAN BIG!’ he roared.

The ground beneath Ruby’s feet shuddered. Her eyes snapped open in fright. Before she had a chance to collect her thoughts, the ground lurched so violently that she fell to her knees beside Todd and looked up.

Trembling, Ruby followed her cousin’s terrified gaze upwards.

Her little brother had wished to be big. But big didn’t even begin to describe him.

He was gigantic!

‘JELLYBEAN BIG!’ he bellowed, pummelling his giant fists into the ground.

Suddenly, he ripped a huge clump of lawn out of the ground and hurled it at Ruby and Todd.

The children scrambled backwards in panic.

It landed in front of them with a heavy thud, sending dirt flying out in all directions.

Ruby’s jaw dropped as Jellybean rose to his full monstrous height. Stomping towards them, he plucked the washing line out of the ground as easily as if it were a daisy. Then he lifted it high above his head and brought it crashing down on the roof of the shed.

Ruby and Todd looked at each other in terror.

Each knew exactly what the other one was thinking: ‘RUN!’

Chapter 14

‘Duck!’

The only thing worse than a tantrum-throwing toddler, thought Ruby as she ran down the driveway after Todd, is a GIANT tantrum-throwing toddler!

As Jellybean’s plastic sandpit bounced along the driveway, sand whipped around Ruby like a desert storm.

It was difficult to look out for wishes while a giant tantrum-throwing toddler was hurling things at you—especially when you had sand in your eyes.

‘This way!’ Todd grabbed Ruby’s arm and pulled her down.

They scrambled under the house and collapsed in the darkness, panting.

‘Double phew!’ Ruby gasped.

‘We need a wish,’ puffed Todd. ‘And fast!’

It was certainly not safe to have wishes floating about in the yard. There was no telling where—or what—they might end up being!

‘I only hope we can find one before they’re all gone!’ Ruby wriggled through the dust and dirt on her belly, trying hard not to bump her head.

She couldn’t see any wishes anywhere.

Ruby paused to peer through a gap in the weatherboards.

Jellybean’s giant-sized tantrum showed no signs of slowing down. He had ripped all of the vegetables out of poor Dad’s garden and now he was kicking the shed around the yard—as if it were a ball!

‘Holy donuts!’ whispered Todd, who had wriggled up beside her.

Suddenly, the back door opened and Dad stepped out.

Uh-oh, thought Ruby, all that noise must have woken him up!

Dad yawned and scratched his head. Then his face turned the colour of vanilla ice cream. He staggered backwards and clung to the railing, his eyes as wide as swimming pools.

‘Dadda!’ Jellybean hollered, stomping towards him with his giant arms outstretched.

Mr Wishfingers stared up in terror. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back in his head. He slumped to the ground, as limp as a ragdoll.

Todd gasped. ‘He’s fainted!’

Jellybean plucked Dad from the back steps and lifted him high into the air. Then he rubbed Dad against his enormous, tear-stained cheeks.

Ruby and Todd watched helplessly as Jellybean clambered onto the roof of the house, with Mr Wishfingers clutched tightly in his fist.

Above them, the house creaked and groaned.

Todd looked up in panic.

‘Let’s get out of here—before we’re squashed like bugs!’

But Ruby didn’t move. She didn’t speak, either.

She was staring at the gap between the weatherboards.

‘Ruby?’

Slowly, Todd followed her gaze.

A giant eye was staring straight back at them.

Chapter 15

Todd gulped.

The giant eye flashed red.

‘W-w-w-what’s that?!’ he stammered.

Ruby had seen that same eye flashing at her from Jellybean’s hands many times. She hoped she was wrong!

Then there was a low roar. Uh-oh!

‘It’s Jellybean’s Tyrannosaurus,’ Ruby whispered. ‘One of my wishes must have landed on it!’

Todd trembled like a dandelion in the wind.

‘B-b-but toys don’t make wishes!’

‘Neither do worms!’ Ruby reminded him.

The Tyrannosaurus snorted. Its eye narrowed. Through the gap they could see its nostrils flaring.

Ruby wished her aunt and uncle had chosen a train set or a book as Jellybean’s birthday present, instead of a Tyrannosaurus rex! Now, thanks to one stray wish, they were face to face with the most fearsome carnivore ever to walk the earth!

The Tyrannosaurus curled back its lip, revealing rows of sharp, plastic teeth.

Ruby shivered. It looked hungry. After all, it had only ever eaten gumnuts.

‘Would a toy Tyrannosaurus eat … meat?’ Todd whimpered.

‘I don’t know,’ Ruby whispered, creeping slowly backwards. ‘But I’m not hanging around to find out!’

Suddenly, the eye disappeared.

Ruby and Todd stared at each other.

Wham!

The whole house shook.

Wallop!

It rocked on its foundations.

Crack!

A monstrous head with flashing red eyes burst through the weatherboards, splintering them into matchsticks.

Screaming, Ruby and Todd wriggled backwards through the dirt like a pair of turbo-charged worms. There was no question in either of their minds what this Tyrannosaurus wanted to eat!

When they reached the other side of the house Ruby and Todd scrambled through a gap and back out onto the driveway.

Triple phew!

The gardening stakes Ruby had seen that morning were still leaning against the house. They each grabbed one and held it like a sword, their eyes darting back and forth in panic.

But after a few moments, they lowered their weapons and looked at each other.

Ruby frowned. ‘Why isn’t it coming after us?’

Holding her breath, she crept along the side of the house.

Not wanting to be left alone for a second, Todd scuttled quickly after her. Slowly, they peered around the corner.

They could see the dinosaur’s monstrous body, two giant back legs and a wildly thrashing tail. But its head was still firmly wedged underneath the house, bellowing with frustration.

Todd turned to Ruby, grinning from ear to ear. ‘It’s stuck!’

Jeepers, thought Ruby. This plastic T rex wasn’t very smart.

Todd strode boldly up to the Tyrannosaurus. He stuck out his tongue and blew a giant raspberry.

The Tyrannosaurus thrashed its tail and growled.

‘Todd,’ Ruby warned. ‘Don’t tease the Tyrannosaurus!’

‘Why not?’ Todd gave the dinosaur a little poke with the gardening stake. ‘He’s not going anywhere, are you Rexy?’

The Tyrannosaurus jerked its head furiously, making the house shudder again.

‘Look!’ Todd grinned, pointing to the giant red button on the Tyrannosaurus’s belly. ‘It’s not a REAL dinosaur. See this button? All I have to do is push it—’

But before Todd could finish his sentence, the Tyrannosaurus gave another vigorous jerk.

There was a terrible grinding noise and, this time, its head popped free.

Before he could blink, Todd was pinned by his board shorts beneath a giant claw.

Chapter 16

The Tyrannosaurus let out a monstrous roar.

It lunged at Todd, like a magpie would at a worm, snapping its enormous jaws.

‘Help!’ shrieked Todd, madly wriggling side to side.

Ruby looked around in panic. If only she still had that pinkie wish up her sleeve! Or at the very least something to throw!

Suddenly, she had an idea.

Carefully dodging the dinosaur’s thrashing tail, Ruby swiped Granny’s knickers from the washing line. Then she hurried over to the pile of painted rocks that had been left to dry in the sun. She loaded a pet rock into the elastic waistband and stretched it back as far as she could. Squinting, she aimed it at the Tyrannosaurus and let go.

‘Bullseye!’

The first rock hit the dinosaur’s shoulder and bounced straight back off.

Trembling, Ruby loaded another pet rock, and another.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

It’s no use, thought Ruby. Pet rocks probably felt like gumnuts to a Tyrannosaurus rex. Especially one made of plastic.

Then Ruby noticed Jellybean’s giant foot hanging off the edge of the roof.

‘Nathaniel Wishfingers!’ Ruby bellowed, doing her best impression of Mum’s cranky voice.

‘Don’t leave toys lying around! Come down here and pick up this dinosaur at once!’

Marvelling at her own cleverness, Ruby ducked behind a bush out of sight, and waited.

Sure enough, Jellybean’s enormous face peered cautiously over the side of the house and looked around. Then it disappeared, replaced by two giant feet and an enormous bottom as he slid off the roof.

He was still clutching Dad, who by now was a concrete shade of grey. Dad took one look at the Tyrannosaurus rex and passed out cold again.

Jellybean reached out with his free hand and grabbed the Tyrannosaurus by the tail. As the dinosaur was lifted skyward, it let go of Todd’s board shorts.

Ruby raced to her cousin’s side.

‘Holy donuts,’ Todd gasped. ‘That was close!’

‘Push the button!’ Ruby shouted up to Jellybean, forgetting all about Mum’s cranky voice.

Jellybean spun around. Realising he had been tricked, he glared at Ruby and tossed the dinosaur over his shoulder.

The Tyrannosaurus sailed across the yard and bounced off the fence, sending the compost bin flying. It landed on its feet beside the upturned shed.

There was a brief silence, followed by a humming noise. Then the dinosaur’s eyes flashed red. Its legs jerked and suddenly it moved again.

‘It’s coming back!’ Ruby cried.

There was nowhere to hide.

The terrified children clung to each other as the Tyrannosaurus charged towards them.

‘Goodbye, Ruby!’ Todd sobbed. ‘It was nice knowing you!’

Chapter 17

There was a sudden, loud whirring noise.

‘Yee ha!’ shouted a familiar voice.

Granny stood on top of the compost bin, the garden hose spinning above her head like a giant lasso. She let go and the loop sailed over the washing line, landing neatly around the Tyrannosaurus’s neck.

The dinosaur jerked backwards. It wobbled to the left. It wobbled to the right.

‘Timber!’ cried Granny, as it toppled to the ground with an almighty crash.

The Tyrannosaurus’s eyes flashed red. Its legs pedalled furiously in the air. It snarled and snapped its mighty jaws, but it was no use. Lying on its back, the world’s most fearsome carnivore was as helpless as a cockroach.

‘Granny!’ Ruby and Todd scrambled to their feet and ran into Granny’s arms.

Keeping well out of reach of the dinosaur’s snapping jaws, Ruby, Todd and Granny pushed the red button on the dinosaur’s belly with all of their might.

At once, its red eyes faded to black. Its legs stopped moving. Jellybean’s Tyrannosaurus was back to being a harmless toy, albeit a giant one.

‘Holy donuts!’ puffed Todd.

‘Quadruple phew!’ Ruby panted. She gazed admiringly at Granny, who still held one end of the garden-hose lasso in her hand.

‘I didn’t know you could do that!’

‘I was National Lasso Champion in my youth,’ Granny told them proudly. ‘Four times over, in fact! I’ve got medals to—achoo!’

Something popped out of Granny’s nose and landed in the dirt.

‘Eww!’ Ruby pulled a face. ‘A mouldy strawberry!’

‘Well, that’s what happens when your youngest grandchild decides to hide you in the compost bin!’ Granny picked a potato peel out of her hair. ‘A heavy one at that! If our prehistoric friend here hadn’t knocked it over, I’d have been in there all week!’

Ruby and Todd looked sheepish. Neither of them had thought to look inside the compost bin.

‘On the upside, I did meet a rather interesting worm!’ Granny winked. ‘But enough chitchat. We had better get a wriggle on. Your mother will be home from work soon and it seems you have some cleaning up to do!’

Ruby and Todd looked miserably at the garden. It was in a terrible state. Dad’s vegetable patch was completely destroyed. The lawn was in tatters and so was the shed. Jellybean was still gigantic and there was a gaping hole in the side of the house where the Tyrannosaurus’s head had been. Ruby very much doubted her mother would be pleased if a dinosaur toy of this size was left lying around the house.

‘But, Granny—’ Ruby’s voice wobbled like a lassoed Tyrannosaurus ‘—I can’t fix any of it!’

Chapter 18

Ruby told Granny how her wishes had come early, and how Jellybean had hidden them all over the garden.

‘They’ve been impossible to find!’ added Todd.

Granny chuckled. ‘Perhaps you two need more practice!’ She opened her palm where three small circles of yellow light quivered softly.

‘Luckily, I wasn’t the only thing Jellybean decided to hide in the compost bin.’

Granny pressed the wishes into Ruby’s hand. Immediately, Ruby’s fingers began to buzz and hum and tickle and wriggle. Her heart swelled as she remembered the very first time her fingertips had tingled with magic.

Ruby closed her eyes and pressed her fingers tightly together.

‘I wish this Tyrannosaurus was just a small toy again!’

Jellybean’s toy dinosaur lay at her feet.

Todd bent down to pick it up. He prised open the battery compartment and pulled out the batteries.

‘Just in case!’ He grinned, slipping them into his pocket.

Ruby laughed. She pressed her fingers together again.

‘I wish Jellybean was back to his normal size!’

When Ruby opened her eyes Jellybean was toddling towards them, pulling Dad by the hand.

Dad smiled weakly, then noticing the state of his vegetable garden, slumped into a heap at Ruby’s feet.

‘I wish the whole house and garden were back to normal!’ Ruby blew on the tips of her fingers with all of her might.

In a blink, Dad’s vegetable garden was lush and healthy again. The sandpit was filled to the brim with toys and sand. The lawn was perfectly manicured. The shed was back where it had always been. On the washing line, a pair of Granny’s knickers fluttered in the breeze. There was no trace of the giant hole the Tyrannosaurus had made in the side of the house.

‘There, there!’ Granny patted Dad gently on the cheek. ‘Sleepwalking again, George?’

Dad opened one eye. He sat up and looked around with a puzzled expression that quickly turned to relief. As the colour crept back into his face, he jabbered about giant toddlers and terrifying Tyrannosauruses.

‘Goodness gracious!’ Granny winked at Ruby. ‘I can see where young Ruby gets her wild imagination from!’

‘B-b-but it was r-r-r-eal!’ Dad babbled.

‘What a frightful dream,’ tutted Granny. ‘Come along, George dear. How about a nice cup of tea and a biscuit!’

As Granny led Dad towards the house, Jellybean rubbed his eyes and yawned.

Ruby scooped him up and held him close. She was glad her little brother was back to his normal self—warm, soft and smelling ever so slightly of strawberry jam and chocolate biscuits.

As Jellybean rested his head of soft caramel curls on her shoulder, Ruby realised he wasn’t sucking his thumb. In fact, he hadn’t had his fingers in his mouth all afternoon.

It seemed that Jellybean’s powers had finally worn off—for now. But Ruby knew that, like hers, his magic would return. You never quite knew when, but it always did.

Jellybean is growing up to be quite an extraordinary boy, thought Ruby.

But that was hardly surprising. He was a Wishfingers, after all.

Chapter 19

Ruby and Todd sat under the apple tree, drinking ice-cold lemonade.

Jellybean was busy pushing gumnuts into his Tyrannosaurus’s mouth.

‘The worm used one wish,’ Ruby began, counting on her fingers. ‘Mrs Cottesloe used another, then Jellybean wished to be big and the Tyrannosaurus wished to be real …’

‘And you used the three wishes Granny found,’ Todd reminded her, chewing on his straw.

‘That’s seven!’ Ruby leapt to her feet. ‘Todd! There are still four wishes missing!’

‘They’ve probably blown away by now,’ Todd said, grimly.

‘But what if they haven’t?’

Todd glanced nervously at the sandpit, where the tail of a plastic shark stuck up out of the sand.

‘Then we had better find them! Before someone or something else does!’

Just then, Mum’s car pulled into the driveway.

Jellybean toddled across the lawn. Granny and Dad, refreshed by tea and biscuits, also strolled down to greet her.

Mum got slowly out of the car. Her shoulders were slumped.

‘We didn’t win.’ She sighed, bending down to pick up Jellybean.

‘Win what?’ asked Ruby, Todd, Granny and Dad all at once.

‘The holiday!’

‘Ish! Ish!’ Jellybean pointed.

A wish had landed in Mum’s hair.

‘Oh I do wish we had won! The whole family could have done with a nice holiday!’ Mum sighed again. ‘But no good comes from wishing, does it?’

Ruby and Todd looked at each other and grinned.

As Mum headed inside with Jellybean, her mobile phone rang.

A moment later, her stunned face reappeared in the doorway.

‘We won!’ Mum whispered faintly.

‘Won what?’ asked Dad.

Ruby and Todd tried not to giggle.

‘The holiday, of course!’ Mum passed Jellybean to Granny and steadied herself against the doorway.

Dad looked bewildered. ‘I thought you just said we didn’t win?’

‘The winning ticket wasn’t valid!’ Mum squealed. ‘They had a redraw and two tickets were stuck together! One ticket was ours and the other one was—’

Before Mum could finish, a car came tearing down the street and into the Wishfingers’s driveway. A door flew open and Aunt May leapt out.

‘We won! We won!’ she shrieked, grabbing Mum by the hands and dancing about in circles.

‘Would you believe it, our tickets were stuck together!’ Uncle Max shook his head in disbelief.

A slow smile spread across Ruby’s face.

‘Sticky fingers!’ she cried, suddenly. ‘Jellybean had strawberry jam for breakfast this morning! That’s why the tickets were stuck together!’

‘Well, it’s three cheers for strawberry jam!’ Dad laughed.

‘Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!’ everyone shouted.

‘A holiday for all of us!’ Mum dabbed the corners of her eyes. ‘How simply extraordinary!’

‘It’s a wish come true!’ Granny agreed.

‘It’s … it’s … it’s …’ Dad stuttered.

‘What is it, George?’ Mum beamed. ‘Spit it out!’

‘It’s … m-m-m-magic!’ cried Dad. Then he swept Mum off her feet and waltzed her around the garden.

Ruby could hardly believe it.

Neither of her parents had ever believed in anything extraordinary before.

But now, her mother had just made a wish—and her father believed in magic!

Ruby looked up at Granny and smiled. ‘Perhaps there’s a little bit of magic in all of us.’

Granny kissed her granddaughter on the cheek and squeezed her tight, ‘Ruby May Wishfingers, I think you could be right!’

Post Script

‘Coming, ready or not!’

Ruby and Todd uncovered their eyes and looked around the garden.

A tuft of grey hair stuck out from behind the eucalypt tree.

‘Found you, Granny!’ Ruby yelled.

Todd grinned. ‘We’re getting better at this!’

As they set off to search for Jellybean, Ruby kept an eye out for any small circles of soft yellow light. There were still two wishes missing, after all.

A few days ago, she had found a stray wish underneath an upturned flowerpot and wished those worms back to normal. She felt a bit sorry for them, but at least now that the skies were no longer filled with hundreds of terrified magpies, the airport had been able to open again.

‘Come on, everyone!’ Dad called, struggling down the steps with an enormous suitcase. ‘We’ve got a plane to catch!’

Ruby looked desperately at Granny.

‘We can’t go on holidays without Jellybean!’

Ruby, Todd and Granny looked here, there and everywhere—but there was no sign of Jellybean at all.

Then, Ruby spotted one of her little brother’s shoes wriggling underneath Granny’s caravan.

‘Found you, Jellybean!’ She laughed, crouching down beside him.

‘Kitty,’ Jellybean whispered, pointing.

Ruby squinted underneath the caravan and gasped.

A pair of yellow-green eyes narrowed at her, while a pair of blue-grey eyes blinked. Then Ruby noticed five more pairs of eyes. They looked just like Jupiter’s—only smaller.

‘Granny!’ Ruby shouted excitedly. ‘Jupiter’s back! He’s got a girlfriend! And kittens!’

‘Well I never!’ breathed Granny.

‘Oh, mind your own business!’ Jupiter growled.

It seemed that love wasn’t the only thing Jupiter had found.

His voice had well and truly returned, which meant that another of Ruby’s wishes was gone.

It also meant that there was now just one wish still missing.

As the Wishfingers’s car pulled out of the driveway, Mrs Cottesloe and Henry waved them off, promising to take good care of the cats and their kittens until the family returned from their holiday.

Even though Ruby’s fingers were now as cool and calm as cucumbers, her whole body tingled with excitement.

Her very first plane ride, a family holiday overseas and a whole litter of kittens to look forward to when she got back!

What could be more magical than that?

But as she waved goodbye to her ordinary street, and headed towards the edges of her ordinary town, Ruby couldn’t help but wonder just what would become of her eleventh missing wish.

Cast of Characters

Ruby Wishfingers – A curious eleven-year-old with the power to wish for whatever she wants.

Norman – Ruby’s pet goldfish.

Skydancer – Ruby’s cuddly toy unicorn.

Mrs Wishfingers – Ruby’s mother.

Mr Wishfingers (George) – Ruby’s father.

Granny Wishfingers – Ruby’s beloved confidante.

Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers – A distant relative and magician.

Jupiter – Granny’s ‘Maine Coon’ cat.

Mrs Cottesloe – Ruby’s next-door neighbour.

Henry – Mrs Cottesloe’s gardener and friend.

Jellybean Wishfingers – Ruby’s one-and-a-half-year-old brother.

Aunt May – Ruby’s aunt (Todd’s mother).

Uncle Max – Ruby’s uncle (Todd’s father).

Cousin Todd – Ruby’s cousin.

Mr Wilson – Ruby’s teacher.