The Worst Witch by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141941479
Publisher: Penguin Group UK
Published: 2009-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

questions? No? Very well, then, we shall begin the first item immediately. What was the first item, Mildred?’

‘… er, nose-diving the yard, Miss Hardbroom.’

‘Wrong. Ethel, do you remember?’

‘We are to form a line, each pupil sinking and rising alternately,’ replied Ethel, word-perfect as always.

‘Correct,’ said Miss Hardbroom, with a frosty glare at Mildred. ‘We shall practise all this morning and every morning until the celebrations, and perhaps this afternoon, if I can persuade Miss Bat to allow you to miss your chanting lesson.’

They worked very hard for the next two weeks. Every spare minute was spent practising and, by the time Hallowe’en arrived, the display was quite a joy to watch. Maud’s hat was squashed like a concertina from the time when she had not pulled up from a nose-dive during practice, but apart from that there had been hardly any trouble at all, even from Mildred, who was making a special effort to be good and thoughtful.

The day before Hallowe’en, Miss Hardbroom lined up her class in the yard to give them a few final words of advice.

‘I am very pleased with you, girls,’ she said, almost pleasantly. ‘Now, you will be wearing your best robes tomorrow, so I hope they will be clean and pressed.’

As she said this she caught sight of Mildred’s broomstick.

‘Mildred, why is there a bundle of sticky-tape in the middle of your broomstick?’

‘I’m afraid I broke it in half during the first week of term,’ admitted Mildred.

Ethel giggled.

‘I see,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘Well, you certainly can’t use that one in the display. Ethel, I seem to remember you have a spare one. Perhaps you could lend it to Mildred?’

‘Oh, Miss Hardbroom!’ cried Ethel. ‘It was given to me as a birthday present. I shouldn’t want anything to happen to it.’

Miss Hardbroom fixed Ethel with one of her nastiest looks.

‘If that is how you feel, Ethel,’ she said in icy tones, ‘then –’

‘Oh, I didn’t mean I won’t lend it, Miss Hardbroom,’ Ethel said, meekly. ‘I’ll go and fetch it now.’ And she ran into the school.

Ethel had never forgotten the time Mildred had turned her into a pig, and as she made her way up the spiral staircase she suddenly thought of a marvellous way of taking her revenge. (Ethel really wasn’t a nice person at all.)

‘I’ll fix you, Mildred Hubble,’ she cackled to herself, as she took the broomstick out of her cupboard. ‘Now, listen to me, Broom, this is very important…’

The class had dismissed when Ethel returned carrying the broomstick. Mildred was practising nose-diving the yard.

‘Here’s the broom, Mildred,’ called Ethel. ‘I’ll leave it propped against the wall.’

‘Thanks very much,’ replied Mildred, delighted that Ethel was being so nice, for the two hadn’t spoken since the pig episode. ‘It’s very kind of you.’

‘Not at all,’ said Ethel, smiling wickedly to herself as she went back into the school.

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