Chapter 4

Chapter FOUR When I got to school Miss Spindlewick was already in the playground and witches were already beginning to line up. I landed on the black tarmac with a skid and hurried to my class line, nudging in behind Carlotta. 'Did you make the bracelets?' she whispered.

'Yes!' I said. 'I'll show them to you later. There isn't time to try and sell them now. We'll have to wait until morning break!' All through the first lesson, I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor beneath my desk. I couldn't concentrate on anything! Miss Spindlewick kept glaring at me. 'If I had wanted such an annoying soundtrack to our lesson this morning,' she said, 'I would have brought a woodpecker into class.' Everyone tittered. Finally, finally, it was break time. I was first out of the classroom, running

down the echoey hallways and out onto the playground. 'Carlotta!' I said breathlessly. 'We need to set up a stall! Quick! Go and get a table from inside!' 'I can't just go and get a table!' said Carlotta. Why don't you just lay all the bracelets out on the bench? It will be like a stall.' 'OK,' I said and opened my backpack, taking out handfuls of bracelets and starting to lay them out on the bench. 'What do you think?' I asked. 'They look... good, said Carlotta. But she sounded slightly unsure. 'I mean, some of them are a tiny bit messy. But I'm

sure no one will notice.' 'I think we need a sign,' I said. 'Carlotta, make a sign!' 'Um, OK,' replied Carlotta, scrabbling in her bag for pen and paper. Witches were beginning to crowd around us now, interested in what was going on.

'It's a shop!' I told everyone proudly. 'You can buy my bracelets. They have enchanted charms on them!' 'Ooh!' said Tabitha, picking up a particularly sparkly bracelet. One of the charms immediately dropped off.

'That one's faulty,' I said quickly, snatching the bracelet from her and thrusting a different one into her hands instead. Tabitha looked at the new bracelet I had given her. 'What are the charms meant to be?' she asked. 'Can't you tell?' I replied, starting to feel frustrated. 'That one is a black cat! That one is a cauldron, and that one is a tiny purple dragon. Do you want to buy it?' Tabitha put the bracelet back down on the bench. 'I'll think about it,' she said and then walked away. I turned to Carlotta, and