Fairy in Danger (9 page)

Sooze was hovering next to her, looking thoughtful. ‘Where do tooth fairies live, anyway?' she asked.

Miss Shimmery adjusted her sparkle specs. ‘I must confess to not knowing a great deal about tooth fairies before today, when I did some research,' she said. ‘They're quite a strange branch of the fairy family, but very fascinating! To answer your question, Sooze, they normally live in garden sheds.'

‘Garden sheds?' repeated Bimi in surprise.

The HeadFairy nodded. ‘Yes – they like to be near humans so that they don't have far to go to collect their teeth. Shall we return to school now, girls? It's very late.'

The fairies took off into the warm summer night, skimming over the trees at the bottom of the garden. The stars stretched above them in a sea of lights.

‘Bimi, you and Sooze fly on ahead a bit,' said Miss Shimmery. ‘I want to have a private word with Twink.'

Twink gulped as her friends flew slowly away, looking worriedly over their shoulders. In all the excitement, she'd forgotten that she was likely to be in a great deal of trouble for sneaking out!

Still, she thought glumly, she probably deserved it. She was a fourth-year student now, and really ought to have known better. ‘I'm sorry, Miss Shimmery,' she said. ‘It was a daft thing to do. I – I know that I'll deserve any punishment you give me.'

Miss Shimmery's snowy white eyebrows rose. ‘Is it daft to want to help someone, then?' she asked mildly. ‘Shadow told me what she'd said to you.'

Twink squirmed. ‘No, but . . . well, helping Shadow wasn't the only reason I went,' she admitted. ‘I wanted a bit of excitement, too.'

Miss Shimmery smiled. ‘Ah, now we're getting somewhere! Thank you for being so honest, Twink. Yes, it
is
exciting to leave school at night – but as you've seen, it can also be very dangerous.'

That
was certainly true, thought Twink. She couldn't hold back a shudder as she remembered the Terrible Timmy's leering face.

‘Now, I do understand what it's like to be a young fairy at school,' continued Miss Shimmery, ‘and so I try to turn a blind eye to things like midnight jaunts to the Dingly Dell – within reason, of course! However, this was something very different, as I think you'll agree. The outcome might have been disastrous.'

Twink's wings felt heavy with guilt. ‘I know,' she whispered. ‘I – I'm sorry.'

Miss Shimmery's sparkle specs caught the moonlight as she gazed at her. ‘If you were me, Twink, what sort of punishment would you give to a student who did what you did?' she asked.

Startled, Twink tried to think. ‘Well – I'd want it to be serious enough so that she wouldn't do it again,' she said slowly. ‘But I'd want her to really have to think about what she'd done as well, so that she'd see why it was wrong.'

Miss Shimmery nodded approvingly. ‘Yes, that's what I think, too. Would you agree, Twink, that restricting your free time for a month, plus asking you to write a report on the dangers of sneaking out at night, might accomplish both of those things?'

The punishment was far milder than she'd been expecting. Twink nodded in relief. ‘Yes, Miss Shimmery.'

The HeadFairy smiled. ‘That's what we'll do, then. And, Twink . . . I was talking to some of the tooth fairies before, and I'm very impressed at how you helped them to escape. Well done, my dear – you acted with both courage and resourcefulness.'

Twink's pointed ears grew warm at the praise. ‘Thank you,' she said. Embarrassed, she quickly changed the subject. ‘Miss Shimmery, there's one thing I still don't understand. What was that little branch at the top of the tree first used for?'

The HeadFairy laughed. ‘Apparently, a long, long time ago, there was a tooth fairy who taught at Glitterwings. I've read about how cosy she found it up there – so you see, Shadow had good reason to feel drawn to it!'

Twink thought of how prickly Shadow had seemed when they'd first met. She had a feeling that Shadow would be much happier now that she was back home again, teaching the other tooth fairies how to make carvings like she did!

Miss Shimmery squeezed her shoulder. ‘Come along,' she said. ‘Let's go and join your friends.'

Twink felt like singing as the cool evening breeze tickled her wings. Catching up with Bimi and Sooze, she smiled at them. ‘Is everything all right?' whispered Bimi.

‘Better than all right,' Twink whispered back.

Just ahead, she could see Glitterwings Academy, rising up from its hill in the moonlight. Her heart swelled. Oh, she was the luckiest fairy in the world! Not only did she go to the best school ever, but she had the most wonderful friends that anyone could have wished for.

‘Look, Opposite,' said Sooze, nudging her with her wing. ‘There's the branch that started it all.'

Twink smiled as she gazed at the tiny branch at the top of the tree. How funny to think that the only reason she'd gone up there in the first place was for her term project! She grinned at her friends, linking her arms tightly through theirs as they flew.

‘Well, I definitely learned something new about Glitterwings, didn't I?' she laughed. ‘I'm going to have the most glimmery report ever!'

.

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

36 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QY

Text copyright © Lee Weatherly 2010

Illustrations copyright © Smiljana Coh 2010

The moral right of the author has been asserted

This electronic edition published in September 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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ISBN 978 1 4088 1182 5

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