“Okay. I’ll take a look.”
I followed her directions and found the carrots and the tea bags, but there was no sign of the custard creams—just an ominous gap where they should have been.
Back at the counter, I told Mrs Stock that there were no custard creams on the shelf.
“Oh dear.” She began to flick through her ledger. “Let me see. Custard creams? Here they are. According to this, we were down to our last packet on Monday. That should have triggered a new order, but Marjorie seems to have missed it.”
“Marjorie’s your sister, isn’t she?”
“That’s right. I’ll have a word with her later about this. It really isn’t good enough.”
“I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble.”
“How about a packet of Garibaldis? Or Jammie Dodgers? And there are always ginger nuts.”
“No, thanks. I had my heart set on custard creams.”
“I’ll order some straight away.”
“Thanks. When are you likely to receive them?”
“Next week, hopefully. The week after at the very latest.”
Somewhat disgruntled at the prospect of an evening sans custard creams, I made my way back to the old watermill. I expected Florence to meet me at the gate, but there was no sign of her. She didn’t even appear when I stepped into the house.
Jack was all alone in the kitchen.
“Where’s Florence?”
He gestured towards the window. “Out in the garden, playing ball with Buddy.”
“How long have they been out there?”
“Ever since she got back from school. That poor little dog will definitely sleep well tonight.”
What I saw through the window, sent a cold shiver down my spine. Jack must have seen the look of horror on my face because he jumped out of his chair and hurried over to join me.
“How is Florence floating in the air like that?” he said.
“She isn’t floating.”
“Yes, she is! I can see her. Look.”
“It looks like she’s floating, but technically speaking, she’s using the ‘levitation’ spell.”
“I didn’t think she knew how to do that.”
“She doesn’t. She didn’t. She—err—”
“Apparently, she does. What’s going on, Jill?”
“I have no idea, but I’m going to find out.” I hurried out into the garden. “Florence Maxwell!”
“Yes, Mummy?” she said, rather sheepishly.
“What are you doing up there?”
“Practising the left tator spell, Mummy.”
“Get back down here immediately.”
“Okay.” Her bottom lip began to quiver, as she lowered herself gently back to the ground. “Are you mad at me, Mummy?”
“No, I’m not mad at you, but I need you to tell me how you learned to do that.”
“But I promised I wouldn’t say anything.”
“When Mummy or Daddy ask you a question, you know that you have to give them an honest answer, don’t you?”
“Yes, Mummy.”
“Good. So, who was it who showed you how to do that?” As if I didn’t already know.
“Great Grandma.”
“And when did she show you?”
“Just now.”
“Great Grandma was here in the garden?”
“Yes. I showed her how Buddy could fetch the ball, and then she said that she was going to show me a new spell.”
“What did I tell you, Florence? I said you weren’t allowed to learn any new spells until you were older.”
“Great Grandma said it would be alright.”
“You mustn’t use the left tator—err—‘levitation’ spell again.”
“But why, Mummy? It’s fun. It’s like flying.”
“Do you see this high fence? There’s a river over the other side which is very dangerous. If you were to levitate over the fence, you might fall in the river and drown.”
“Great Grandma said I wouldn’t be able to go as high as the fence.”
“Never mind what Great Grandma said. You aren’t to use that spell again. Understood?”
“Yes, Mummy. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, darling. Come here and have a hug.” She threw herself into my arms and I could feel her sobbing. I felt terrible for having a go at her, but she’d scared me to death. Just wait until I got hold of Grandma—she and I were going to fall out big time.
Chapter 8
The next morning, I was still seething about what had happened the day before.
“I don’t understand how your grandmother did it,” Jack said. “I was in the kitchen all the time. I would have seen her.”
“You know what Grandma is like. She can be very crafty. She knew precisely what she was doing.”
“How many spells does Florence know now?”
“Until yesterday, she only knew three: ‘Take it back’, ‘magnet’ and ‘hide’. I asked her if Great Grandma had shown her any other spells, and she said that she hadn’t.”
“Do you believe her?”
“Yes, Florence wouldn’t lie to me.”
“What’s your plan regarding your grandmother?”
“I’m going over there this morning, to have it out with her. I’ll tell her straight that if she tries it on again, I’ll forbid her from seeing Florence.”
Jack shushed me. “I think Florence is coming downstairs.”
Moments later, she ran into the room. “Mummy, I have to take some ribbon to school.”
“What’s it for?”
“I don’t know. Miss Soap said we had to take some.”
“Miss Soap?”
“It’s Miss Hope,” Jack said.
“Florence, why didn’t you tell Mummy this yesterday?”
“I’m sorry. I forgot because I was playing with Buddy. Can you get me some ribbon, Mummy?”
“There isn’t any in the house.”
“Miss will be mad if I don’t take some.”
“Okay. Have your breakfast with Daddy, and I’ll try to sort something out.” I turned to Jack, and mouthed, “Aunt Lucy.”
Aunt Lucy was clearly surprised to see me.
“Morning, Jill. You’re bright and early. Is everything okay?”
“No—err—yes, everyone’s fine. Do you happen to have any ribbon in the house?”
“Lots of it. What colour would you like?”
“I’m not sure. Florence is supposed to take some into school this morning, but she didn’t tell me until a few
