Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX,

"Wake up, everyone. We've overslept!" Lyra opened the curtains and sunlight flooded the room. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss breakfast!" Ivy groaned. Sienna off ered her a hand to help her up. "Come on, Ivy. You might get more homework if you're late for class." Ivy gave in and got out of bed. That was the last thing she wanted! They washed and dressed then ran down to the dining hall. Sam, Nawaz, Reuben and Archie had already finished eating and were stacking their plates and mugs with the dirty crockery. "So you finally got up," said Reuben, as the girls loaded their trays with porridge, croissants, peaches and orange juice. Sam looked at them curiously. "Were you doing something last night?" "Actually we were," said Sienna quickly. "We went to the barn and had a midnight feast with our unicorns." "You had a feast and didn't invite us?" said Reuben indignantly. "Your loss!" said Archie. "Granny sent me a huge box of chocolate biscuits that I could have shared." "I think we should have our own midnight feast tonight," said Nawaz. The boys left the dining hall, planning their midnight feast. Sam shot a look back at them. Lyra frowned. "I'm sure Sam suspects we're up to something." "I bet he's still spying on us for his aunt," said Sienna darkly. Lyra lowered her voice. "It's good he doesn't know what we found out last night. After lunch let's find a map of the grounds and work out where the Memory Tree is." "I can't," said Ivy. "I promised Flame I'd help him practise his magic." "Have lunch with us first, then afterwards we'll find out where the Memory Tree is while you help Flame," said Lyra. "Please, Ivy," chorused Evie and Sienna. Ivy barely hesitated; she loved eating with her friends and there would still be time to help Flame. "OK," she agreed readily.

The morning felt very long to Ivy and she almost dozed off in their Geography and Culture lesson. Evie rescued her, nudging her to warn her when Ms Rivers was coming over. At last they were free to go. In the dining hall they loaded their trays with sandwiches, cookies, apples and juice. But lunchtime was halfway through when Ivy reached the stables with an apple she'd saved for Flame. He greeted her with a cross look. "What took you so long?" "I had lunch. But there's still plenty of time to practise your magic and, look, I brought you an apple," said Ivy. "I'm not hungry," said Flame impatiently. "I want to get started." Ivy went to the storeroom for a broom and a rake, then she filled a bucket with some grooming brushes and as an afterthought she added several scoops of sky berries to another bucket to keep Flame's strength up. "OK, why don't you start by shrinking and regrowing these things?" she said, laying them out on the grass behind the stables.

Flame still seemed uptight, but he selected a brush and, fixing it with an intense stare, stamped his hoof. Ivy gave him a thumbs-up as a handful of pink and green sparks swirled over it and when they'd cleared, the brush was the size of a beetle. "Well done!" she said, settling down on the grass to watch. Flame gave a little bow then he eyed up a hoof pick. He shrank it with ease and moved on to the broom. "I'm getting really good at this, aren't I?" he said confidently. "Soon I'll be powerful enough to shrink the academy!" Ivy gave him an alarmed look. "You'd better not!" Flame snorted with laughter. "Only kidding. But watch how good I am!" He turned back to the line of objects and stamped his hoof repeatedly. "Pow! Pow! Pow!" he exclaimed as one after another the objects shrank. "Flame! Stop!" Ivy giggled. "You're supposed to be taking things slowly and learning how to regrow them too." "I need help with that," Flame admitted. "Can you help me imagine it like you did last night?" Ivy stretched. She was really comfy and didn't want to move. "Why don't you try on your own? I bet you can do it if you concentrate." Flame looked disappointed but when Ivy didn't budge he stared at the tiny bucket of sky berries. "OK. Here goes." He stamped his hoof. There was a loud bang and something shot into the air.

Ivy shrieked as everything went black. "Ivy! Ivy! Are you OK?" she heard Flame gasp. "What have I done?" Ivy pulled the bucket off her head. Something dark and sticky was dripping down her face and clothes. Cautiously she dipped a finger in it. "Sky-berry juice!" she exclaimed. "I'm OK. Don't freak out, but you'd better be more careful, Flame. You must have used too much magic when you were trying to regrow the bucket." "It wouldn't have happened if you'd helped me," said Flame defensively. Ivy pulled a hanky from her pocket and started to clean herself. "Yuck! Try again, but gently this time." Flame shook his head and backed away. "No, I don't want to." Ivy suddenly realised that underneath his defensiveness, he was shaken up and upset. She scrambled to her feet. "Please don't give up now," she said. "You're right, I should have been helping you more—" She broke off as Sienna, Lyra and Evie came running round the side of the stables. "There you both are!" exclaimed Lyra. "Guess what! We've discovered where the Memory Tree is and—"

"Ivy! Are you OK?" interrupted Evie, staring at her in alarm. "Yes, it's just sky-berry juice, I tripped over and dropped the bucket and the berries went all over me," Ivy lied. She didn't want Flame to feel any worse. Then, changing the subject, she added, "So you've found out where the Memory Tree is?" "Yes, it's in the woods," said Evie. "We're going to go there now," said Sienna. "Cool," said Ivy. "Flame and I had better tidy up here first, though." "We'll fetch Misty, Sparkle and Sunshine," said Lyra. "Meet us at the front of the stables in five minutes." When they had gone, Ivy looked at Flame. "Should we change these things back before we go?" "No, I don't feel like doing magic any more," he replied. "Not even if I help you?" she asked. Flame shook his head hard. Guilt swamped Ivy. If she'd helped him earlier, she was sure he'd have been able to regrow the bucket of sky berries with no problem at all, just like he'd regrown the map. She remembered Ms Nettles' words from the night before. The headteacher had warned her that her habit of putting things off could cause trouble for others. Her tummy squirmed. Ms Nettles had been right. She'd let Flame down and it wasn't a nice feeling at all. Just then she heard Lyra calling her name. Flame was hanging his head but there was nothing she could do about it now. The others were waiting. I'll talk to him later, she thought. Now it's time to search for the Memory Tree and find the final piece of the map!