Flying High (11 page)

Authors: Annie Dalton

BOOK: Flying High

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I took a tentative sip of juice. I could feel our headmaster working up to something but I had no clue what it might be.

“That’s the marvellous thing about Eternity,” Michael said. “There’s never any need to rush. Forests turn into diamonds. Evil changes into good. Sometimes whole centuries go by before you even begin to see the big picture.”

I had a feeling we’d moved on from evolution. In fact I thought Michael might actually be answering my questions about Brice.

I started playing nervously with my hair. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked, swallowing. “Did I break another cosmic law, you know, by co-operating with a fallen…” My voice trailed off pathetically.

“No, Melanie,” Michael said firmly. “You played your part to perfection.”

I stared at him. “
Seriously
?”

I thought I might cry with relief.

He laughed. “Seriously. So do you think you could help me out with these pastries now? There seem to be rather a lot.”

Michael sounded so plaintive, that I truly wanted to hug him. Imagine an archangel worrying about his: waistline!

“I’d love to,” I said truthfully. “It’s just - this is a
really
busy day for me.”

He nodded. “Of course, Lola’s party.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but after last time, I want everything to be totally perfect,” I explained shyly. I pushed back my chair and stood up.

“Just one more thing,” Michael said.

He sounded so deadly serious that I swallowed hard.

“Next time you see a worm hole, please don’t feel you have to jump through it. Perhaps you might like to pass that message on to the others?”

Just in time, I saw that his eyes were twinkling.

Mo caught me up at the door. “Who knows, maybe she’ll get to open it this time!” He gave me back my parcel.

I slapped his palm. “Later, Mo, yeah?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he beamed.

But as I hurried out into the early morning streets, I’m not sure I was completely awake. Because for the first time ever, I had this moment of pure clairvoyance, a vision almost, like I was being shown a movie preview of Lola’s party.

Everything was going brilliantly. The DJ was cool. The music was hot. Fairy lights twinkled in the trees and I was dancing with my mates under a big fat moon. Any time now, Orlando would step out of the shadows, and tell me what a great job I’d done in the twenty-third century.

But at this moment my soul-mate was boogeying up to me, proudly wearing my present to her.

“Do you really like it, Lollie?” I asked anxiously. “I can take it back, you know.”

“Are you
kidding
!” she shrieked. “This isn’t a T-shirt, babe. It’s our cosmic mission statement!”

And she leaped into the air, giving a cheeky cheerleader twirl as she came down, and for an instant I saw the message glittering on the T-shirt that was my birthday present to her. Two words which for me and Lola, totally sum up what being an angel is all about.
Flying High
.

About the Author

Annie Dalton has been shortlisted for the Carnegie medal and won the Nottingham Children’s Book Award and the Portsmouth Children’s Book Award.The twelve Angel Academy books (previously known as Agent Angel), became an international best selling series. Annie lives overlooking a Norfolk meadow with a ruined castle, in a row of cottages that were rescued from bulldozers and lovingly rebuilt by a band of hippies.

www.anniedaltonwriter.co.uk

Also by Annie Dalton

Urban Fantasy Books

Night Maze

The Alpha Box

Naming the Dark

The Rules of Magic

Angel Academy Series

Winging it

Losing the Plot

Flying High

Calling the Shots