Witch Tricks Page 7

  Tiga did, as sprinkles of Pearl Peak snow tickled her face. She closed her eyes and sighed. Her friends would be saved!

  ‘Thank you, Ida–’

  She felt Idabelle’s hand shove her and before she could grab on to anything, her whole body lurched forward. She spun, free-falling fast through the air.

  ‘Don’t worry!’ Idabelle called down to her. ‘The Scarf Witch won’t let you hit the bottom – she’ll magic your little face on to her scarf before you do!’

  She cackled.

  ‘Enjoy living in Pearl Peak for ever!’

  Tiga let out a scream, but she was falling so fast the wind gobbled it up. She could feel her cheeks sticky with tears. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing for it to be over. She’d failed everyone!

  She stopped.

  She could feel hands on her ankles, holding her tightly, and slowly she opened her eyes. The Scarf Witch had claimed her prize.

  But it wasn’t the Scarf Witch.

  ‘I told you not to go to the Points gathering,’ Felicity Bat whispered.

  Mavis and the Mean Lock

  Mavis stood before the black iron gates at the base of Pearl Peak Mountain, begging.

  ‘Oh, please let me in. I have heard you’re a Mean Lock, so I’d just like to say, I am very mean.’

  The gates groaned, but they didn’t open.

  Mavis leaned in closer and whispered. ‘Do you like … jam? I could provide you with some special free jam. Oh no, of course you don’t care about that! You’re a gate!’

  RITZY CITY POST

  FAIRY FIGHTZ INTERVIEW WITH CRISPY!

  Reporter: Crispy, you are the behind-the-scenes fairy, the one who makes it all happen. How are you enjoying Fairy Fightz so far?

  Crispy: Aside from constantly losing Peanut, I quite enjoy it. It’s nice to see fairies in fun and different roles, rather than being all sweet and glittery. I’ve always been a big champion of letting fairies be fairies, and wear and do what they want. Sometimes witches look at me funnily because I’m not shooting glittery dust or smiling.

  Reporter: You’ve got quite an angry face, too. More troll-like.

  Crispy: I take that as a compliment. I really like my face.

  Reporter: And I really like YOU, Crispy.

  Crispy: Great.

  Peanut Returns

  Patricia the producer strutted around the ring dressed as Gigantico, baring her teeth at the crowds.

  ‘She’s got way too into this,’ Julie Jumbo Wings said. ‘I’m never going to be able to take her seriously again.’

  ‘Are we doing another episode without Peanut?’ Donna asked. ‘It was more fun with Peanut. Gigantico could actually kill me.’

  Crispy clapped her hands. ‘Less talking about Peanut, more whipping up the crowds, please! We go live in one minute – take your places!’

  Donna lay down and fell asleep, while Julie Jumbo Wings hid behind one of the fake rainbows.

  ‘Three! Two! One! And action!’ Crispy shouted before putting on her deep announcer voice. ‘IN THE FAIRY REALMS, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GIGANTICO HAS PROVED UNSTOPPABLE! THE FAIRIES COWER, THEY HIDE, THEY –’

  Julie Jumbo Wings burst from behind a rainbow.

  ‘IT’S FLAPPY!’ Crispy cried, just as Gigantico waved a hand and sent Flappy somersaulting off into the distance, hitting a couple of witches in the crowd as she went.

  Everyone fell silent.

  Donna opened one eye. ‘Gigantico wasn’t meant to do that.’

  ‘I thought she was approaching from my left, my left,’ Gigantico whispered to Crispy.

  ‘Just carry on,’ Crispy hissed. ‘I’ll improvise.’

  She cleared her throat.

  ‘GIGANTICO HAS WON! THERE IS NO FAIRY THAT CAN DEFEAT HER! FAIRY FIGHTZ IS HER DOMAIN! HER WORLD! HER –’

  ‘IS THAT A PANDA?!’ someone from the crowd screamed, as Fran came cantering into the ring.

  The panda reared, with Fran strapped to its back.

  ‘PEANUT RETURNS!’ Fran cried, as the panda lunged at Gigantico and flattened her.

  Crispy winced. Peanut bowed. Gigantico muttered something angry from underneath the panda.

  THE CROWD WENT WILD!

  ‘PEA-NUT! PEA-NUT! PEA-NUT!’

  Peanut lifted up one of the Panda’s paws to reveal Gigantico looking furious.

  ‘Patricia the producer, can I just say, you have done a wonderful job filling in for me. I’m sorry about the panda. But it was entirely necessary.’

  ‘Where did you get a panda?’ Patricia the producer hissed. ‘It looks expensive.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry! It was free!’ Fran said, stroking Patricia the producer’s face and making her turn a furious shade of purple. ‘I found it in a boot.’

  The Top of Pearl Peak

  The house that balanced on the very tip of Pearl Peak was small and solid and had seven crooked windows – one on the ground floor and six on the second floor. In the six windows Tiga could just make out the faces of the Ritzy Six.

  Felicity Bat set Tiga down on the mountain and the pair of them crouched beneath the ledge of the peak.

  ‘They each have a special power. More powerful than any witch before them. Idabelle has wanted one for years.’

  ‘Air, fire, water, earth, jam and hair,’ Tiga listed efficiently.

  She could see Idabelle dancing at the door of the house.

  ‘Can you let us in?’ Idabelle oozed. ‘Have you collected everything you need to wreak havoc? Can you teach me your tricks now?’

  Felicity Bat groaned. ‘She’s gone off the rails.’

  Francesca Fignettle, Bertha Bram and Catriona Catcat were back, which gave Tiga a smidgen of relief – at least the Scarf Witch was honest. Now she just had to make sure she got to the Peak.

  The door to the house burst open and One, Two and Three emerged, followed by Four, Five and Six.

  ‘They’ve had a costume change,’ Tiga whispered.

  ‘What?’ Felicity Bat hissed.

  ‘Costume change,’ Tiga said again. ‘When your sister brought them back they were wearing twig and leaf dresses. Now, well –’

  ‘Sparkly jumpsuits,’ Felicity Bat said. ‘What’s your point? That’s what they always wore in the olden days. They must’ve had spares locked in their house.’

  They watched as the Ritzy Six began talking in whispers to Idabelle.

  ‘What are they saying?’ Felicity Bat said. ‘Can you hear them?’

  ‘I need to climb up just a smidge further,’ Tiga said, gripping the snow. ‘I need to save Fluffanora and Peggy from the scarf before we do anything else.’

  ‘Wait,’ Felicity Bat said.

  But Tiga had already launched herself on to the peak.

  ‘Why wait?’ she whispered back down to Felicity Bat, just as the heel of her left boot hit the snow.

  BANG!

  ‘That’s why,’ Felicity Bat groaned, as the Points and the Ritzy Six snapped around to see where the bang had come from.

  The smoke cleared and the Scarf Witch coughed loudly. ‘Well done,’ she said flatly, taking the stone game from Tiga’s pocket and handing her the scarf.

  There was another BANG and a slight TWANG and Fluffanora and Peggy were back.

  ‘YOU DID IT!’ Fluffanora cried. ‘Oh, when Francesca Fignettle, Bertha Bram and Catriona Catcat were freed, we thought something terrible had happened to you.’

  ‘Now what?’ Peggy said as someone coughed loudly behind them.

  They turned slowly to see the Ritzy Six and the Points lined up and looking angry.

  Six cackled and blinked. Peggy’s hair pinged into a spiky Mohawk.

  ‘Wow,’ Felicity Bat said sarcastically.

  Six cackled and blinked again.

  Felicity Bat’s hat went flying off, along with her hair. A single curl pinged about at the front of her head, poking her in the eye.

  ‘Better,’ Felicity Bat said, flicking her finger. Her hat landed back on her head. ‘Is that the best you can do? We witch
es are a lot more advanced these days.’

  ‘Stop taunting them,’ Tiga pleaded.

  One raised her hands in the air and the winds picked up, sending the three of them stumbling backwards.

  ‘She controls the wind, and she’s too powerful!’ Peggy cried.

  Felicity Bat leapt up and waved her hand. The wind slowed, but not enough.

  Idabelle cackled. ‘Oh, look, my little sister. Felicity, when will you realise, I don’t want to hang out with you.’

  ‘Oh, go away, Idabelle,’ Felicity Bat snapped back.

  ‘Gladly,’ Idabelle said as Four stomped hard on the ground. The mountain began to rumble. The Ritzy Six and the Points disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  ‘WHERE HAVE THEY GONE?!’ Tiga cried.

  She watched as Felicity Bat levitated higher.

  The spindly tip of Pearl Peak was wobbling in the wind.

  ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ she called up to her.

  Felicity Bat levitated back down to them and landed with a thud. ‘The tip of the mountain is going to break off. Hold on to my legs.’

  ‘You can’t carry all three of us on your legs,’ Fluffanora scoffed.

  Felicity Bat fixed her with a determined stare. ‘Fluffanora, I have been carrying a panda around in my boot all week. Trust me, I can HANDLE IT.’

  Tiga grabbed Felicity Bat’s leg and was hoisted in the air. Fluffanora jumped and grabbed on to Tiga and with a wobbly leap, Peggy jumped as high as she could.

  Then, from out of nowhere, jam exploded everywhere, splatting Peggy back on to the mountain and covering her from head to toe.

  Tiga could just make out two eyes blinking in the huge pile of old jam.

  ‘The ancient jam stores are exploding!’ Felicity Bat shouted. ‘COME ON, PEGGY!’

  Peggy ripped her way out of the jam pile like a hero and took a deep breath.

  ‘JUMP!’ Felicity Bat roared, as Tiga squeezed her eyes shut. ‘QUICKLY!’

  The tip of the mountain broke away!

  Peggy tumbled out of sight!

  Felicity Bat closed her eyes and let out an impatient sigh. ‘If everyone just did what I said.’

  ‘Well, catch her then!’ Fluffanora demanded.

  Peggy was still somersaulting through the air as Felicity Bat levitated down to reach her.

  ‘Sorry!’ Peggy said, her nose stuffed with jam. She sneezed, sending a splatter of it over Felicity Bat.

  Fluffanora held her leg out and Peggy grabbed on.

  ‘You’re covered in jam!’ Tiga laughed.

  ‘I’ll eat it off and I bet I can finish before we reach the bottom!’ Peggy joked.

  ‘You’re such a glass-half-full witch, aren’t you?’ Felicity Bat said, just as the bunch of cats leapt on to Peggy and began madly licking the jam.

  ‘Now, let’s go back to Ritzy City and catch some witches!’ Peggy cheered.

  ‘But how? There are so many of them compared to us,’ Tiga said, sounding worried. ‘And they have special powers!’

  Felicity Bat cackled. ‘Did you see the sparkly jumpsuits they were wearing? They’ll stick out like jam thumbs and every witch in town will help us stop them.’

  More Giganticos!

  When they arrived back in Ritzy City, hundreds of witches were wearing sparkly jumpsuits.

  ‘I’M GIGANTICO!’ a witch said proudly.

  Six ran past her.

  ‘OH, I LIKE YOUR OUTFIT, WHICH ONE OF THE FAIRY FIGHTZ CAST ARE YOU?’ a witch called over.

  ‘Six,’ Six grunted before disappearing into the crowds again.

  ‘I haven’t heard of Six … I MUST’VE MISSED AN EPISODE!’ the witch wailed. She charged off, sending Fairy Fightz fans flying as she went.

  ‘Who is Gigantico?’ Tiga asked as Crispy came buzzing over.

  ‘Patricia the producer is Gigantico,’ Crispy said.

  ‘Patricia the producer plays a character in Fairy Fightz?’ Tiga said, looking down the street.

  Crispy nodded. ‘She’s broken the set four times with her witch-sized feet.’

  ‘And the witches are dressed as her because …’

  ‘She’s a HUGE hit!’ Crispy said. ‘But not as huge as –’

  ‘PAAAAANDAAAAAAA!’ a witch cried as she cantered past dressed as one.

  Felicity Bat’s eyes widened. ‘FRAAAAAAAN!’ she roared, making the lamp posts shake.

  ‘So witches all over Sinkville are dressed in sparkly jumpsuits,’ Tiga said in disbelief.

  ‘Almost everyone,’ Crispy said proudly.

  Felicity Bat put her head in her hands and let out a muffled scream.

  Crispy flew off.

  ‘I knew she’d look in the boot,’ Felicity Bat seethed.

  Fran trotted past slowly on the panda.

  When she spotted Felicity Bat she stood up tall on its back. ‘I was just –’ she began, but Felicity Bat flicked her finger before she could finish and off the panda soared, back towards Linden House and the boot.

  Tiga’s mouth fell open.

  Fran hit the ground with a bang.

  ‘YES, FINE, ALL RIGHT, I ADMIT IT!’ Felicity Bat roared. ‘I HAD A PANDA IN MY BOOOOOOOOT!’

  ‘Ah,’ Peggy said. ‘That’s why it was heavy.’ She leaned over and closed Tiga’s mouth.

  ‘Pandora!’ they heard Aggie Hoof cry from the crowds. ‘You’re FLYING!’

  Fran shot off in a huff.

  ‘What now?’ Felicity Bat snapped. ‘The Ritzy Six don’t stand out in their weird outfits, they blend right in. We’ll never stop them. And Fran showed people my PANDA!’

  Mavis came racing up, her eyes growing wide when she saw what all the witches were wearing. ‘YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!’

  Down the street, Two used her special fire power to set light to Brew’s, while Three flicked her finger and burst some of the pipes above Linden House.

  ‘Wow!’

  ‘Whoa!’

  ‘Toads!’ witches cried with delight.

  ‘It must be new characters from Fairy Fightz!’

  ‘This is giving me flashbacks of the time One lifted me on to the top of the Ritzytwig Theatre and everyone thought it was a show,’ Mavis said. ‘I won four awards.’

  A huge ball of jam flew through the air and splatted on Tiga. Five waved at her from the crowd and then skipped off.

  Tiga clenched her fists. ‘Let’s get those witches back in the jam jar, Mavis.’

  ‘Who has the jam jar?’ Mavis whispered. ‘Or should I get a new one? I suppose it doesn’t need to be the same jam jar.’

  Tiga closed her eyes and said faintly, ‘Any jam jar is fine, Mavis. Thank you.’

  It turned out it was really difficult to round up six witches with special powers.

  Tiga and the others grouped together in the middle of Ritzy Avenue. Peggy was snuffing out the fire on her skirt. Fluffanora was covered in mud and Felicity Bat and Mavis were wearing head-to-toe jam.

  Tiga stood in the middle of them, completely soaked. Idabelle raced past cackling, ‘The Points win!’

  Six tapped Tiga on the shoulder and grinned. ‘There you are!’ she cried, but Six flicked her finger and sent Tiga flying backwards.

  ‘Oh dear,’ Mavis said, pointing at Tiga’s hair.

  Tiga felt the top of her head.

  ‘Ah,’ she said. ‘I seem to have hair horns.’

  Then she saw that Fluffanora’s hair was entirely made of feathers, Peggy’s was so long that she tripped and rolled over it, Mavis was a classic bald and Felicity Bat had little baby pigtails with huge bows.

  Another huge splodge of jam fell from the air and covered them.

  Idabelle danced past again. ‘Had enough yet? You’ve lost, Felicity! You’ve lost, Tiga!’ She ran for Linden House and dived through one of the windows. ‘And now we take control!’

  The Ritzy Six and the remaining Points followed her, apart from Bertha Bram, who was lying in a puddle of jam, lapping it up with her tongue like a cat.

  Felicity Bat stepped over her and st
ared at Linden House, her tiny pigtails wafting in the wind.

  ‘This is where it ends,’ she said firmly.

  ‘HELP!’ came Fran’s voice from one of the windows in Linden House. Six pasted the tiny fairy up against the window and wiped her across it, like a really ineffective window cleaner.

  ‘IT’S PEANUT!’ the crowd cried. ‘THIS MUST BE A SPECIAL SHOW! THE NEW CHARACTERS HAVE PEANUT!’

  ‘IT’S REAL!’ Tiga cried, but no one was listening. She turned to Felicity Bat. ‘Why would they capture Fran?’

  Felicity Bat bit her lip. ‘The thing is,’ she said, talking fast. ‘Back in the day, the Ritzy Six were convinced that all they had to do to be immortal was to eat a fairy. But then they got stuffed in a jam jar, so …’

  ‘WHAT?’ Tiga cried, racing towards her fairy. ‘We’ve got to save her!’

  The crowd mushroomed around Linden House, standing on each other’s shoulders and doing quick spells to make themselves taller to get the best view. There were pops and bangs and flashes of magic.

  ‘We’ll go in the back,’ Felicity Bat said as they sidestepped around the crowds.

  The Ultimate Fairy Snack

  Tiga could see Six standing with Fran in the middle of the Linden House sitting room. The others were lazing on the sofas, along with Idabelle and the Points. Catriona Catcat was skipping on the spot, chanting, ‘PO-WER! PO-WER!’

  The crowd outside started chanting the same.

  Tiga rolled her eyes. ‘I can’t believe they think it’s a show!’

  ‘I’M NOT ACTING!’ Fran cried. ‘CAN’T YOU TELL? NO, OF COURSE YOU CAN’T, BECAUSE I AM THAT GOOD AN ACTOR! BUT I’M NOT ACTING THIS TIME – I NEED HELP!’

  ‘YOU CAN DO IT, PEANUT!’ a witch from the crowd shouted.

  ‘I CAN’T!’ Fran called back. ‘I AM IN A VICE-LIKE GRIP.’

  ‘PEA-NUT! PEA-NUT! PEA-NUT!’ the crowd roared.

  Tiga and the others took their chance and scuttled across the room, ducking behind one of the sofas.

  Melodie McDamp sniffed the air and blew a large bubble.

  ‘She can smell us,’ Tiga whispered as the bubble popped, making Mavis scream.