The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star (3 page)

et’s go and check out the tasks,’ said Maud as they clattered down the stairs.

‘I think we get more difficult stuff, now that we’re in Form Four,’ said Enid gloomily.

‘Well
I
hope I haven’t got anything at
all
,’ said Mildred.

‘Hello, you three,’ said someone coming up behind them, draping an arm round Mildred and Maud’s shoulders.

‘Oh hello, Ethel,’ said Mildred, turning to see that it was indeed Ethel, her least favourite person. ‘We were just wondering what our tasks might be.’

‘I hope I’ve got First-Year Mentor,’ said Ethel. ‘They’re all so gullible and it would be brilliant scaring the wits out of them and sending them off on the wrong errands.’

‘That’s not very nice, Ethel,’ said Enid. ‘Anyway, they’ll want someone kind and helpful as their mentor, not a meanie like you, and H.B. knows what you’re like after you pinched Mildred’s project last term.’

‘That was just a silly misunderstanding,’ snapped Ethel. ‘She didn’t need to make such a stupid fuss about it – it was only a joke that got out of hand.’

‘No it wasn’t!’ exclaimed Mildred indignantly. ‘H.B. caught you fair and square, so you’ll have to watch what you’re doing from now on – just like the rest of us.’

‘Oh, keep your hair on,’ snapped Ethel. ‘You always get in such a
state
about everything.’

They had reached the passageway where the list of tasks was pinned up on a long noticeboard. There was already a large crowd of girls pushing and jostling and standing on tiptoe, trying to see if their names were on the list.

‘I
really
hope I haven’t been chosen for anything,’ said Mildred, keeping her fingers tightly crossed.

‘Don’t worry, Mil,’ said Maud, giving her friend’s hand a squeeze. ‘You’ll probably get Blackboard Monitor. Even a first-year could rub out the last lesson, ready for the next.’

Meanwhile, Miss Cackle was sitting in the staffroom having a cup of tea and a macaroon with Miss Hardbroom.

‘I do hope we’ve done the right thing, choosing Mildred for the East Wing Lantern Monitor,’ said Miss Cackle, dipping the macaroon into the tea, holding it there until it was just about to dissolve, then hastily popping it into her mouth. ‘It’s quite a big responsibility for such a scatterbrain and she’s always been a bit scared of the dark.’

‘Nonsense, Miss Cackle,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘It’s not as if she’s been given the entire school. She’ll just have three corridors of bedrooms, the spiral stairs, passages to the cloakrooms, the hallway inside the main door and the two large lanterns on the school gates. As long as she sets off at twilight and lights her way out to the gates, everything will be shining brightly to light her back in again.’

‘You make it sound so simple, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Miss Cackle, who had misjudged the macaroon-dipping and dropped a glutinous lump down her front. ‘Oh dear, what a mess I’ve made.’ She removed it with a handkerchief, inadvertently crushing it into her dress, and put what remained of it into her saucer. ‘I suppose you’re right, Miss Hardbroom. Which girls are doing the West Wing and all the upper floors?’

‘Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘So at least two-thirds of the school will be efficiently lit. Anyway, I’ve made sure they each have a bag full of safety equipment to take with them, so please don’t worry yourself, headmistress. All will be well.’

‘I sincerely hope so, Miss Hardbroom,’ sighed Miss Cackle. ‘Perhaps Mildred will be
glad
of the responsibility, now that she’s a senior pupil.’

ildred was most definitely
not
glad to be given the responsibility of Lantern Monitor. The girls had been allowed to spend the rest of the day unpacking and arranging their rooms, and Maud and Enid had bundled in with Mildred to discuss their tasks.

‘It’s not fair,’ said Mildred, sitting huddled on her bed with Tabby and her two friends. ‘I bet H.B. did it on purpose.’

‘It’s not actually
that
bad,’ said Enid reassuringly. ‘You’ve only got the East Wing and the playground. If you set off just before it gets dark and light your way out, it’ll be nice and bright when you come back in again.’

‘Anyway,’ grumbled Mildred, ‘I’ll have to get up at dawn to go round and douse all the candles, so while you’re all slumbering in your warm beds, I’ll be freezing to death going round all those creepy corridors by myself – you’re so lucky, Maud, getting First-Year Mentor.’

‘Well, at least I’ve saved the little dears from Ethel’s clutches,’ laughed Maud. ‘She and Drusilla are Lantern Monitors for the rest of the school.’

‘What exactly
is
First-Year Mentor?’ asked Enid.

‘Just keeping an eye on the first-years,’ said Maud. ‘Making sure no one’s
too
homesick etc. They all look such babies, don’t they? Do you remember how
we
felt when we first arrived?’

‘Everything went wrong every five seconds,’ said Mildred.

‘Tell Enid about the dustbin incident, Mil,’ said Maud. ‘She wasn’t here when it happened – she didn’t come until the Summer Term.’

‘I think I’d rather not,’ said Mildred gloomily.

‘Oh, go on, Millie,’ encouraged Enid. ‘Please tell!’

‘Well,’ said Mildred, ‘we were having our very first flying lesson on the second day and I got a bit over-confident and crashed into the dustbins and broke my broom. It’s been the same ever since really, one disaster after another.’

‘Not
all
the time,’ said Maud in her usual cheery way. ‘You’ve done loads of
good
things, Millie – I’m not quite sure
how
exactly, but things often go wonderfully right in the end for you, even if it’s usually the long way round.’

‘Well, I’d like the
short
way round this time,’ said Mildred. ‘Did you get a task, Enid?’

‘Flower Monitor,’ said Enid. ‘You know, beautifying the classroom. It says that I have to use my initiative and find sprays of berried leaves and pine cones if there aren’t any actual flowers at this time of year.’

Just at that moment, the bats, who had been hanging upside down along the picture rail, snuffling and quivering in their sleep, began waking up and stretching their wings in the darkening room. Fortunately, Mildred’s task didn’t start until the following night, making this her last free evening until the next school holidays. There were now eight bats in Mildred’s room, forming a good-sized colony, and the girls watched fascinated as they headed for the newly glazed window, neatly nudging the bat flap open with their grey furry heads one by one, and disappearing into the twilight.

‘How amazing!’ said Mildred. ‘I really thought they wouldn’t like using the bat flap – you know how well they avoid bashing into things with their radar.’

‘It’s finally stopped raining,’ said Maud, peering out of the window. ‘The sky’s completely cleared and you can see the stars beginning to twinkle.’

‘Oh look, Maud!’ exclaimed Mildred. ‘There’s a shooting star – over there behind the gates – it sort of tumbled down the sky.’

‘Quick, Mildred!’ said Enid. ‘Make a wish – and don’t tell us what it is or it won’t come true.’

‘And be careful what you wish for!’ warned Maud.

Mildred closed her eyes and wished.