Witch Watch Read online

  ‘Because,’ Celia Crayfish said in a mocking voice, ‘we’d stolen all the colour, hadn’t we? So if we sneaked back, all the colour would come back too.’

  Aggie Hoof scratched her head. ‘But you’re back now and all the colour is coming back …’

  Miss Heks took a step forward and interrupted. ‘Yes, but everyone thinks it’s because of me. Little old me returning to see Tiga because I –’ she swallowed and looked disgusted – ‘miss her. No one knows Celia is back too.’

  ‘The WARWOP witches think you’re back – they are on to you,’ Aggie Hoof pointed out.

  A bead of sweat dribbled down Felicity Bat’s spindly nose. She widened her eyes at Aggie Hoof to warn her to be quiet.

  Celia Crayfish just shrugged. ‘It’s probably the first time the WARWOP witches have panicked correctly. But the thing is, most witches think they’re insane, and so the more they rant about me being back, the less people are likely to believe it! Oh, they’ll get such a fright when they see all the other Big Exit witches have returned too.’

  Felicity Bat and Aggie Hoof both gasped and looked around.

  ‘They aren’t here,’ Celia Crayfish said. ‘Well, not yet. They are sneaking back – one by one. Miss Heks is hiding as many of them as she can fit in her house after they drop down from the pipes.’

  Miss Heks gave a satisfied grunt.

  ‘No one will go near her house – they can’t stand the stink of the cheese!’ Celia Crayfish finished with a cackle.

  ‘So, wait, you sent Tiga to win Witch Wars so Miss Heks could come and pretend to visit her and you could sneak every bad witch back before anyone could stop you?’ Felicity Bat rambled.

  ‘Yes, everyone thinking it’s just Miss Heks buys us some time. We needed to find a way to get everyone through the pipes before anyone figures out what we’re up to and tries to block them shut.’

  ‘But Tiga didn’t win Witch Wars,’ Felicity Bat said slowly.

  ‘That’s right,’ Celia Crayfish said, getting to her feet and pacing the room again, ‘but luckily that Piggy and the Brew girl wanted her to stay with them for ever and came to get her.’

  ‘That was a stroke of luck!’ Miss Heks said with a snort.

  ‘We knew she was the best contestant in Witch Wars, even without spells; we had no idea she would give in and let Piggy win,’ Celia Crayfish said.

  Felicity Bat’s face crumpled. ‘You didn’t think I would win?’

  ‘Please, Felicity,’ Celia Crayfish snapped. ‘Of course not.’ She tapped the watch. ‘Something is wrong with this.’

  The face of the watch was misty and glowed dimly.

  ‘It’s a live feed of Tiga’s view,’ Celia Crayfish said, as Felicity Bat and Aggie Hoof peered intently at it. ‘Whatever she sees, we see.’

  The image was hazy; they could barely make it out at all. It looked a lot like Peggy clutching on to a broom. The view swivelled to reveal Fluffanora, also clutching on to a broom, her hair everywhere.

  ‘They’re on a broom,’ Celia Crayfish said.

  ‘What?’ Miss Heks asked. ‘But they should be in bed, shouldn’t they?’

  The view shifted to Tiga’s hand reaching inside her pocket and patting the slug.

  ‘You said the slug was dead, Eggweena!’ Celia Crayfish screamed, grabbing Miss Heks by her collar.

  ‘Eggweena?’ Felicity Bat said with a smirk.

  ‘That’s … that’s what the brat told me!’ Miss Heks stammered.

  ‘Where could they be going?’ Celia Crayfish demanded.

  Miss Heks stared at her blankly. ‘I … I just don’t …know, Your Gloriousness …’

  ‘They’re probably sneaking off to Silver City,’ Felicity Bat said, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Silver City?!’ Celia Crayfish screeched, shaking the watch. ‘SHE MUST NOT GO TO SILVER CITY! Why are they going there?’

  ‘I think they might be trying to find Tiga’s mum,’ Felicity Bat explained. ‘They found out she’s Gretal Green.’ She tried to touch the watch but Celia Crayfish slapped her hand away.

  ‘SHE MUST NOT DO THAT! This is more serious than I thought, Eggweena. She must not figure out what happened to the other witches, especially that Gretal Green at NAPA. If they find her, she could stop us with her clever magic!’

  The image began to flicker. Celia Crayfish screamed.

  ‘Why is the image disappearing?’ Aggie Hoof asked. ‘Look at it! It’s almost gone!’

  The watch face exploded. Celia Crayfish screamed and frantically shook her wrist.

  ‘Oooh, look at that mess,’ Aggie Hoof said, pointing at the little watch bits littering the floor.

  ‘They’re nearing Silver City – that area is heavily protected from outside spy magic! Aaargh, those meddling witches at NAPA made sure of it! This watch took years to perfect. YEARS.’ Celia Crayfish gave Miss Heks a knowing look. ‘Someone needs to stop them snooping in Silver City – they could ruin everything.’

  ‘I’ll do it!’ Felicity Bat cried. ‘I can do it!’

  Celia Crayfish thought about that for a moment. She walked up to her granddaughter and lowered her voice. ‘In Gretal Green’s office in NAPA, you will find an important piece of paper containing slug instructions.’

  ‘Slug instructions,’ Felicity Bat repeated slowly.

  ‘S-l-u-g i-n-s-t-r-u-c-t-i-o-n-s. Bring it to me. Do not let Tiga see it. It is of the utmost importance that she does not see it. Get it and then GET THEM OUT OF THERE.’

  Felicity Bat nodded.

  ‘This is your one and only chance to prove yourself, Felicity,’ Celia Crayfish said quietly. ‘Don’t mess it up.’

  Felicity Bat nodded again as, just behind her, where no one was looking, a little beehive of perfectly groomed fairy hair slowly ducked down below the window.

  ‘Fabulous Fran has now seen that Celia Crayfish is definitely back,’ Fran whispered to herself, pretending she was narrating a film about her own life. ‘What will Fabulous Fran do next? Dun! Dun! Duuun!’

  10

  To Silver City

  The cool air gently whooshed past Tiga’s face, sending her hair flying all over the place.

  She dug her nails into the hard wood of the old broom. Peggy was in front of her leading the way, and Fluffanora was elegantly perched on the end, peering down as dawn was breaking over Sinkville.

  Ahead of them was a swirling darkness, with only the occasional lantern floating in the air to light their way.

  As they pressed on, they passed signs every so often. They were crumbly and old-fashioned-looking.

  ‘No one uses these routes any more,’ Peggy called back. ‘No need to now that all the other cities are deserted.’

  It was silent up there, just the occasional creak of an old sign, pointing the way to Silver City, Driptown and beyond.

  Tiga looked up into the pipes that hung above them. Inside swirled bright colours – green, purple, orange, yellow, red – like they were all ready to fall down and coat the place in colour.

  ‘Do you think the colour is like that because Miss Heks is back?’ Tiga said.

  Peggy shrugged. ‘I suppose so. She is a Big Exit witch. It would make sense that the colour is seeping back.’

  ‘But why so much of it?’ Fluffanora asked. ‘You’re telling me one Big Exit witch is causing all the colour to come back? I’m with the WARWOP witches. I think it’s Celia Crayfish.’

  ‘But the WARWOP witches are notorious panickers,’ Peggy said. ‘Remember that time they thought the cats were conspiring to eat us all?’

  ‘Oh, I liked that article a lot,’ Fluffanora said. ‘What was it called again?’

  ‘CATS CAN HOLD FORKS; DON’T BELIEVE THEIR LIES,’ Peggy said, rolling her eyes.

  ‘That’s the one,’ Fluffanora said.

  Tiga just stared at them.

  They passed a floating platform that had little lights dotted around the edge. A sign, as crumbly as the others, read TAKE A BROOM BREAK. RECHARGE YOUR FEATHER DUSTERS HERE.

 
; Peggy leaned to her right and the broom guided them towards the platform. As they got closer, Tiga could see a small building perched on it.

  ‘It looks a little like a garage where people above the pipes fill up their cars with petrol,’ Tiga said.

  Fluffanora cackled. ‘Sometimes you don’t make any sense at all.’

  Peggy giggled.

  The broom swooped down and landed on the platform, which wobbled a bit. They jumped off and it sailed away all by itself and slotted into a rack in the corner. It glowed.

  ‘You need to give them a rest or they fall out of the sky,’ Peggy explained as Tiga shot the broom a terrified glance.

  Fluffanora opened the door to the little building, which seemed to be made of a weird black plastic.

  Inside it was eerily empty. A staircase snaked around the edge, leading to various balconies that housed cafés and places to rest. On the ground floor, there was nothing but a pile of chairs stacked in the corner, alongside some old copies of the Ritzy City Post. Tiga picked one up and it almost disintegrated in her hand.

  WITCHES LEAVE SINKVILLE. WHY? (SERIOUSLY, READERS, WHY? WE DON’T KNOW)

  * * *

  Today witches across the land began to vanish, taking everything with them to the world above the pipes.

  ‘I just don’t know why the frogs they would do that!’ said Mrs Clutterbuck, whose two sisters, the other Mrs Clutterbucks, were among those who left. They had only recently moved to Driptown to open a new Clutterbucks café there.

  Many have taken their houses, shops and sheds with them, but others, such as the majority of those in Silver City, left everything behind. There have been reports of missing houses in Ritzy City, and many in the Docks have vanished. No one remains in Silver City or Driptown and beyond – just their hats.

  Fluffanora unstacked the chairs and started putting them back where they would’ve been. ‘Places like this used to be really buzzy, I bet. Lots of witches milling around, chatting and talking about their travels. Now look at it. Boring and empty.’

  ‘Who you calling boring?’ a voice said.

  The three of them jumped and looked up. There, on the very top balcony, was an extremely old witch. An old witch they recognised.

  ‘It’s the old cart witch!’ Tiga cried.

  The cart witch leapt off the balcony and landed with a thud next to them.

  ‘Oh, my old knees,’ she groaned.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Peggy asked.

  ‘This is where I store my hats. I used to always come here to collect ’em. It’s the closest point to the pipes, you see. Lots of hats would fall on the roof and I’d pick ’em up and put ’em in my cart.’

  She took a seat and flicked her finger. All the chairs Fluffanora had unstacked flew back into the corner.

  ‘No need for them chairs. No one comes here any more … apart from you lot.’

  ‘Who you knew would come here because you know everything …’ Tiga said.

  The old cart witch grinned.

  ‘And you were right about the prophecy! Almost …’ Peggy said. ‘You mentioned something about an apple!’

  ‘An elegant witch will rule this land,

  And that bossy one will lend a hand.

  Witch sisters, maybe, but not the same.

  One is dear.

  The other? A PAIN.

  And, much like the tales of times gone by,

  They will find a sweet apple and … My oh my, is that the time? I’d better go.’

  Tiga recited it. She knew it off by heart. ‘Is the apple important?’ she asked eagerly.

  ‘I’m not elegant, so does that mean someone takes over from me as the Top Witch?’ Peggy asked nervously.

  The old cart witch cackled. ‘You will see, very soon. Things are not so black and white these days, are they?’

  ‘You mean the colour that’s seeping back,’ Tiga said. ‘Why is that happening? Is it because Miss Heks is back? Because of the apple?’

  The old cart witch cackled. ‘I aint tellin’ you more than I already told you. And what I already told you is everything you need to know.’

  ‘But you didn’t even finish the apple bit, you just walked off!’ Fluffanora protested.

  ‘GENUINE WITCH HATS WOT GOT STUCK IN THE PIPES!’ the cart witch started to shout.

  ‘Oh, here she goes,’ Fluffanora said, rolling her eyes.

  ‘GENUINE WITCH HATS WOT GOT STUCK IN THE PIPES.’

  And then she disappeared with a bang.

  11

  Mop

  Felicity Bat levitated as her hapless sidekick tried to balance on the old mop Nasty Nancy had given her.

  Miss Heks’s shoulders bounced about as she sniggered. ‘You’re useless, Aggie Hoof.’

  ‘Leave the mop, I’ll carry you,’ Felicity Bat said defensively. She didn’t like anyone being mean to Aggie Hoof. That was her job.

  ‘I’VE GOT THIS UNDER CONTROL!’ Aggie Hoof shouted, doing a loop-the-loop and stopping nose to nose with Celia Crayfish.

  ‘YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT! BOTH OF YOU,’ the evil witch bellowed, her warty nose wobbling dangerously close to Aggie Hoof’s eye.

  She turned and marched across the room, tossing a bright green apple from one hand to the other.

  ‘Is that the apple Peggy had before?’ Aggie Hoof dared to ask. ‘I saw her with it through the window. Why did she have it?’

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ Celia Crayfish said casually. ‘I have it now.’

  ‘How did you get it?’ Felicity Bat asked as Aggie Hoof got control of the mop and rose slowly into the air.

  ‘Let’s just say,’ Celia Crayfish said with a grin, ‘I have a little helper …’

  12

  Feet

  Peggy snorted and snored. She was slumped over the front of the broom, snoozing. Tiga did the steering as Fluffanora napped against her back.

  It was getting brighter and the signs for Silver City were becoming more frequent now. They soared lower, past one that read REMEMBER, YOU NEED A BOAT TO ENTER SILVER CITY.

  In the distance, sticking through the clouds, were silver stilts as glittery as an excited Fran. The clouds parted and Tiga could see the swirl of silver liquid down below them. She tipped the broom forward slightly and they began their descent.

  The bright silver buildings of the city came into view, huddled in the middle of the swirling silver river. Most of them were round and of varying heights, supported by sparkling silver stilts. Walkways connected them all.

  It looked so familiar to Tiga.

  ‘SILVER CITY!’ she shouted, waking the other two, who both nearly fell off the broom.

  They passed another sign about Silver City and needing a boat.

  ‘FROGBITS!’ Peggy shouted. ‘I knew I forgot something.’

  ‘You forgot an entire boat?’ Fluffanora said, an eyebrow raised.

  ‘To be fair, you could’ve noticed that I had forgotten an entire boat,’ Peggy pointed out.

  Fluffanora shrugged.

  ‘We could try a spell?’ Tiga suggested.

  ‘PLEASE DON’T DO A SPELL, TIGA!’ Fluffanora cried.

  She’d witnessed many a spell go wrong for Tiga.

  There was the time Tiga had tried to brush Mrs Pumpkin, Fluffanora’s cat, but had instead just made her completely bald. Mrs Pumpkin was LIVID.

  Or the time Tiga had tried to summon an outfit from her wardrobe in Ritzy City to the Cauldron Islands but had instead summoned the entire wardrobe. It had hurtled through the sky and squashed her as she stood with her hands raised and eyes closed, waiting for a dress to neatly slip over her head.

  ‘I just need to think of a spell,’ Fluffanora muttered.

  ‘Why don’t we try to carve a boat out of the broom with our fingernails?’ Peggy said, completely panicking.

  Tiga threw her hands in the air. ‘Leave the magic to me!’

  Peggy pulled her hat down lower over her face.

  ‘OK …’ Fluffanora said, wincing.

  They soa
red lower and lower. As they got closer to the river, Tiga realised there was nowhere to land. There was a huge drop on either side of the river for miles and miles – there was no way to get close! They would have to do the boat spell in the air and then land on the river.

  She cracked her knuckles. Her hands were all sweaty. ‘OK … here we go …’

  They were only seconds away!

  ‘As quick as you can,’ Peggy said with an encouraging nudge.

  ‘Right, OK …’ Tiga said again.

  Her mind was blank!

  ‘We’re about to die,’ Fluffanora said, pointing at the swirling silver water that was only inches away from them now. ‘Shall I try a spell?’

  ‘Take this air thing and make it be A SPLASHING AND SWIMMING THING OF THE SEA!’ Tiga cried.

  There was a bang, and eight human feet appeared on each side of the broom. It plopped into the water.

  They wobbled on the broom as the feet flapped about. It was almost identical to a spell Tiga had heard Peggy do at the coves during the Witch Wars competition. A spell that ended, very shortly after Peggy had bewitched a bed to have flapping feet on either side of it, with them sinking.

  ‘At least this won’t sink,’ Peggy said cheerily. ‘This broom is much lighter, so it should float. Hopefully. Well done, Tiga.’

  Tiga grinned as they swirled around and around, faster and faster towards the glistening Silver City …

  WARWOP!

  * * *

  Colour has been seeping back into Ritzy City. Reports of colour elsewhere in Sinkville have also been getting back to us. We have heard of blue grass in the forest, emerald waves in the Cauldron Islands, and apparently Crispy’s caravan is fuchsia pink. And so are her eyebrows.

  THIS MUST HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOMETHING BAD AND WE MUST NOT PANIC EVEN THOUGH IT’S PROBABLY CELIA CRAYFISH!

  We sought the advice of failed scientist Pelly Peagreen to ask what she thinks is causing the colour changes.

  Pelly Peagreen: A painter is on the loose!

  WARWOP! interviewer: Thank you, Pelly Peagreen, for your science.