Kirabo (6 page)

“Oh my poor, poor hotel,” the old lady said to herself, as a chandelier fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor. She took a deep breath. “On the count of three, reveal your witch,” she yelled. “One, two…”

Philomena cheated. She pulled the cloak off her sister early. Elisha Boil-Puss had turned herself green, with large boils covering her whole body. Every now and then one burst with a loud pop, allowing the pus to explode everywhere. One of her eyes had popped out and was resting on her cheek. Snot ran from her big nose and dripped onto her pointy, hairy chin. Worst of all, her hair was now a mass of slimy worms that slithered on her head. She looked horrid. Two ghosts even flew out of the hall through the nearest wall screaming, while some of the goblins fainted.

“three,” the old lady called out.

Brady had his eyes shut, so he wouldn’t be put off by the horrid sight. He pulled the cloak off Kirabo.

Kirabo stood, dressed as she had been. In front of her she held up the long mirror she’d taken from the hallway. Elisha Boil-Puss saw her reflection for the first time and screamed in horror before fainting with the shock. The spell was immediately broken and she returned to normal.

“You tricked us!” Philomena screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Kirabo.

“No, she did not,” the old lady said sternly. “The duel was to see who could scare the other witch the most. She won fairly. If anyone cheated then it was you.”

Philomena opened her mouth to speak but then shut it again, lost for words. There was a loud moan from the body of Elisha as she slowly came round.

“Okay, witch,” she said as she got to her feet, “you beat me. I admit I was terrified. Change me into a flea.”

“I will give you a choice,” Kirabo said in her best witch’s voice. “You can be a flea forever or you can repair all the damage you have caused to this hotel and then you and all of your friends can leave.”

“We’ll fix all of the damage,” Elisha said gloomily.

At once the crowd began clearing up their mess.

“Oh, thank you,” the old lady said, rushing over and grabbing Kirabo’s hand. “I never thought a witch could be so kind.”

Kirabo smiled, not daring to tell her the truth.

“Let me take you to the kitchen where I’ll make you a nice treat.”

Kirabo was about to agree but she saw Brady frowning.

“What’s wrong?” Kirabo asked.

“I can hear someone calling, just through there,” he said, pointing to the room they had just come from.

As Kirabo and Brady walked into the room they found themselves back in the attic with the large cardboard box behind them. Brady’s mum was standing in the doorway.

“I thought you’d never come out of there,” she said, smiling. “Do you still want to go trick or treating?”

Kirabo and Brady looked at one another.

“We’ve already been,” Kirabo said with a giggle.

It was the first day of the summer holidays and the local swimming pool was already full of laughing children splashing about. Brady wasted no time before jumping into the pool and letting himself sink all the way to the bottom, before pushing off from the floor and bursting out of the water with a big splash. Kirabo stood at the edge of the pool, her big brown eyes wide with fear.

“This is the shallow end,” Brady’s dad, Pete, explained as he got into the water. “With your arm bands on you’ll be very safe.” He reached up to help Kirabo into the pool.

Kirabo took a step back from the water’s edge.

“I don’t like it,” she said weakly.

“Didn’t your mum or dad ever take you swimming?”

Kirabo just shook her head. A large tear ran down her cheek.

“Please try,” Brady said, swimming over to the side of the pool. “You’ll love it, really.”

Kirabo looked at the bodies swimming under the water, while others jumped about and splashed one another. Even the noise of the fans and the strange echoing of the children’s laughter frightened her.

“I tell you what,” Brady’s dad said, climbing out of the water and kneeling next to Kirabo. “Shall we go and get dressed and watch Brady from up there,” he said pointing to a viewing gallery. “We can even get a cup of hot chocolate while we watch. What do you think?”

Kirabo’s face broke out into a huge smile and she flung her arms around Pete.

“But I don’t want to stay in here all by myself,” Brady complained miserably. “I’ll have no one to play with.”

Brady saw how frightened Kirabo was and felt bad for being selfish. “I’ll come too,” he sighed, climbing out of the water.

“It looks like its hot chocolates all round,” Pete said.

It was much later in the day when Kirabo opened the door to the attic. Brady was already there. He had put three boxes together and was sitting inside drawing buttons and circles on one of them.

“Hello,” Kirabo said.

“Oh hello,” Brady said looking out from the box.

“I’m sorry about spoiling your swim. I didn’t mean to.”

Brady sighed. “I know you didn’t. It’s just I’ve been looking forward to going swimming all week. Dad’s not going to be off work for another week now.”

Kirabo came and sat on the floor next to the boxes.

“What are you playing?”

“You wouldn’t like it. I’m pretending to be in a submarine at the bottom of the sea. Look, these are the portholes and these are all the controls.”

“Oh!” Kirabo said.

The two of them sat in silence for a long while. Eventually Kirabo spoke up.

“Can I get in?” she asked.

“But you know what will happen if you get in,” Brady said, sounding worried. “Won’t you be frightened?”

Kirabo thought about it for a little while. “If you stay near to me I’ll try not to be so afraid,” she said.

“Okay,” Brady said smiling. “Come aboard.”

Kirabo climbed inside the box and sat down. As she did, the brown cardboard box began to change. The drawn-on dials and switches, which Brady had only just finished, suddenly came to life, glowing and bleeping with information. The smooth brown box became strong hard metal painted bright yellow.

“Oh wow!” Brady said in wonder. “Look out of the window, Kirabo.”

The sea was the colour of the bluest sapphire and filled with life. Fish swam gracefully past their window, their reds, purples and yellows glinting in the beams of sunlight that travelled this far down. A large white Stingray seemed to glide through the water making both Kirabo and Brady gasp in wonder.

“They are beautiful,” Kirabo said in awe.

“Let’s explore,” Brady said excitedly. He took hold of the wheel and pushed it forward. Slowly the yellow submarine began to move into deeper water.

“Look at all the beautiful plants down there,” Kirabo said, looking down at the ocean floor. “I had no idea it would be so lovely.”

“You’re not frightened,” Brady said smiling.

Kirabo laughed. “No, I’m not. I had no idea it would be so beautiful. It’s like we’re visiting another world.”

“In a way we are,” Brady agreed.

They travelled along the bottom of the ocean enjoying watching all the different types of life.

“Oh look,” Brady said, pointing ahead of them.

The ocean floor fell away into gloomy darkness. Brady gave Kirabo a worried look. “Do you mind if we go even deeper?” he asked.

Kirabo looked frightened but she nodded and gave Brady a little smile. “Okay,” she agreed.

The submarine went over the edge and sank even deeper into the sea. The beautiful blue sea changed, becoming darker and darker.

“What’s that down there?” Brady asked.

Kirabo moved closer to the main window to try and get a better look. Down on the ocean floor was a large black shape. Brady flicked a switch and the outside lights snapped on. Brady moved the submarine towards the strange shape.

“It’s a ship,” he said at last.

“It must have sunk a long time ago,” Kirabo said. “Look at all of the plants growing over it.”

“Can you imagine if it had a chest full of treasure inside,” Brady said with a big grin.