Billy Wizard (5 page)

As Joe walked out into the playground Rick came over.

“Still on for Saturday?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” said Joe. “Definitely.”

Billy walked past and Rick pointed
his
thumb at him. “Not bringing that weirdo with you, I hope,” he said.

“Nah,” said Joe. “Course not.”

“Good,” said Rick. “See you later.”

Joe had not realized but Neil had been standing nearby and wandered over, scowling at him.

“What’s the matter with you?” asked Joe.

“I thought Billy was your friend,” he said.

“Yeah … no … not really,” stammered Joe.

“You always seem to be talking to him,” said Neil. “I thought he went round your house last night.”

“Well, yeah – he did. So what?”

Neil muttered something under his breath.

“What?” said Joe.

“Look, what do you want to hang
around
with someone like that for anyway?” asked Neil.

“You mean Billy?” said Joe.

“No,” said Neil. “I mean Rick.”

“It’s only a game of football. That’s all. What’s it got to do with you anyway?”

“Nothing,” said Neil.

“Nothing,” said Joe. “That’s right. Exactly. Nothing. OK.”

Neil wandered off and Joe scowled after him.

“What’s up with you?” asked Billy, who had suddenly appeared at his side.

“Nothing,” said Joe. “That Neil is a bit of a whinger, isn’t he?”

“Neil? Don’t know. He seems all right. Not like some of the creeps in this place.”

“Hah,” said a voice behind them.
“If
anyone’s a creep in this school it’s you, weirdo.” It was Rick. He barged Billy out of the way and stood in front of Joe. “Got any money?”

“Money?” asked Joe.

“I’ll pay you back on Saturday,” Rick said, holding out his hand.

“No, sorry,” said Joe. “I haven’t got any.”

Rick frowned.

Over Rick’s shoulder Joe could see Billy raising his hands like he had before and flicking out his fingers towards Rick’s back. Rick could tell by Joe’s expression that something was happening behind him and turned round to find Billy there, frowning at him, arms outstretched.

“What are doing?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Joe. “What are you doing, Billy?”

Billy frowned even more but said nothing. Rick laughed and Joe laughed with him.

“Weirdo!” said Rick, and he grabbed Billy by the collar and almost pulled him off his feet. Then he shoved him as hard as he could and it was all Billy could do to stop himself falling over. Rick’s friends started a chant of “Weirdo! Weirdo!”

Joe stopped laughing.

“Trying to make me look stupid, are you, weirdo?” said Rick, giving Billy another push. This time Billy
did
fall over.

“Hey,” said Joe, shoving Rick in the back. “Leave him alone!”

Rick stopped and turned round. “What?” he said. The whole playground seemed to go silent.

“Leave him alone,” said Joe, a little more quietly.

Rick started to walk back towards Joe with his fists clenched, when someone stepped between them.

“And what is going on here?” It was Miss Parker.

“Nothing, miss,” said Rick.

“Nothing, miss,” said Joe.

“Nothing, miss,” said Billy.

“Good,” she said. “Billy and Joe,
you
can help me set things up for art, and Rick, you can … you can go somewhere else.”

“Yes, miss,” he said and slowly walked away across the playground.

“Do you want to get thumped?” hissed Joe at Billy as they followed Miss Parker towards the classroom. “I mean, if you do, that’s fine. You’re doing great.”

“No, I don’t want to get thumped,” said Billy.

“Do you want
me
to get thumped?” asked Joe.

“No,” said Billy.

“You’ve spoiled everything!” said Joe. “I was going to play football on Saturday, and now look what you’ve done with your stupid wizard rubbish! Why do you have to be so … so …
different
?”

“What’s wrong with being different?”

“Well, you might not want to have any friends but I do!”

“Course I want to have friends!” said Billy. “But not ones like Rick Bellows!” He scowled and turned back towards the playground. He raised his arms and flicked out his fingers towards Rick, who still had his back to them as he returned to his little gang.

“Will you stop doing that!” hissed Joe, as Billy caught up with him at the classroom door.

Suddenly there was a huge bang and Joe’s heart felt like it had just tried to jump out of his chest. He looked back towards the playground, and there was a wisp of bluish smoke drifting across it where Rick had
been
standing only a few seconds before. Rick … Rick had
completely disappeared
.

Then Joe noticed a tiny white mouse running across the playground and heading for the caretaker’s shed. He stood staring, his eyes wide open and his mouth not far behind. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

“What’s up with you?” said a voice beside him. It was Neil.

“What? Me?” said Joe. “What’s up? Er … nothing … Nothing’s up.”

Neil gave him a funny look.

“Joe!” called Miss Parker. “Come on, come on. We haven’t got all day!”

As he walked in, Molly Mason came out, her eyes red from crying.

“What’s up?” asked Joe.

“It’s Little Danny,” she said, beginning to sob again. “He’s vanished.”

Chapter 5

Zapped!

JOE COULDN’T REALLY
concentrate on his work for the rest of the morning. He kept looking over at Billy, who was drawing away with his tongue sticking out, as if nothing had happened; as if he were just some ordinary boy.

“What did you do to Rick?” whispered Joe when he found Billy in his usual place in the quiet area at lunch break.

Billy held up his hand and frowned, flicking out his fingers. “I zapped him,” he said with a grin. “That’ll teach him.” He repeated the move with his hands and chuckled.

Joe looked horrified. “But you can’t just go round zapping people.”

“Can’t I?” said Billy. “Why’s that then?”

“I … I … I don’t know. You just can’t.”

“Anyway,” Billy explained, “I don’t just zap anybody. I only zapped Rick because he’s horrible
and
if anyone needed zapping, he did.”

“But what happens when you zap someone?” asked Joe.

“Lots of things,” said Billy. “Anything.”

“Like what?”

“I might make them disappear,” he said matter-of-factly. “I might turn them into a frog or a pig or a—”

Joe’s eyes widened as he remembered what had happened at play time. “Or a mouse!” he shouted.

“Yeah,” said Billy, looking a little strangely at Joe. “Or a mouse.”

“But … but …” stammered Joe. “You can’t go round turning people into mice just because you don’t like them.”

“Why not?” said Billy in a bored voice.

“Why not?” repeated Joe. “Why not?”

“Yeah,” said Billy. “Why not?”

“Because you can’t. That’s why not! And what about Molly Mason’s baby brother? What had little Danny done to annoy you?”

“What are you on about?” asked Billy. “I’ve never even seen her stupid brother.”

“Oh yeah? And I suppose he just vanished on his own!”

“Are you all right?” said Billy. “You seem a bit odd.”

“
Me
a bit odd?” said Joe. “That’s a good one! If there’s anyone a bit odd round here, it’s you!”

“Well, what are you doing talking to me then?” asked Billy. “Why don’t you go somewhere else?”

“I think I will!” said Joe. “Weirdo!”