A Summer Spell Read online

  ‘I am safe with you. Thank you, Lisa.’

  Rose dug a scoop into a sack of rabbit food. ‘Just time to feed this lot before supper.’

  ‘I’ll help.’ This wasn’t exactly Lisa’s idea of fun but she was determined to show that she meant to keep her promise and make certain that Flame could stay.

  For the next half-hour she refilled water bottles, chopped vegetables and replaced soiled straw.

  Flame settled down, tucked his paws beneath his body and dozed.

  ‘Thanks, love,’ Rose said later, as she and Lisa washed their hands. ‘I bet you’re ready to eat. I know I am.’

  Lisa scooped up the sleepy kitten and followed Rose back to the cottage. Rose gave her an old blanket and Lisa spread it on the sofa. Flame jumped straight up and began pedalling it into a soft nest with his front paws.

  A few minutes later, Rose brought heaped plates of food to the table.

  ‘Er … thanks.’ Lisa poked the food with her knife. It was shepherd’s pie with a lot of fresh green stuff next to it.

  ‘That’s called salad. We eat a lot in the country. It’s the law!’ Rose kept a straight face.

  ‘I get the message,’ Lisa said with a grin. The pie was delicious and she even ate some of the salad. Afterwards, Lisa went to sit near Flame on the sofa. ‘Thanks, Aunt Rose. I think I’ll curl up with Flame and watch TV now.’

  ‘Do you mind doing that later?’ Rose said. ‘House rules are – I cook, you wash up. OK?’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Lisa felt herself blush. She jumped up and collected the dishes. Wasn’t there even a dishwasher here?

  In the kitchen, Lisa filled the sink with hot water and squirted washing-up liquid over the pots and pans. As she began scrubbing them clean, suds foamed up past her elbows. ‘Oo-er,’ she said worriedly, as more suds waterfalled on to the kitchen floor and slopped round her feet. ‘I think I overdid it! What a mess. Aunt Rose is going to kill me!’

  ‘May I help?’ came a tiny voice from the kitchen floor.

  She turned to see that Flame stood behind her. His marmalade fur was fizzing with huge silver sparkles, his whiskers crackled and his eyes glowed like emerald coals. Lisa felt a hot prickling sensation down her spine.

  Something was about to happen!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Flame leapt up into the air like a silver fireball and landed on the draining board. Sparks crackled from the tips of his ears.

  He waved his front paws and plates, spoons, forks, knives and pans all dunked themselves in the suds. One by one, they jumped into the air and spun themselves dry.

  Lisa’s eyes widened. ‘Wow! This is so cool!’

  Cupboard doors flew open and clean plates stacked themselves on the shelves. Drawers opened, so that forks, knives and spoons could zoom inside.

  Lisa watched the suds drain away. The dishcloth did a little dance as it wiped the sink clean. Another cloth shimmied across the kitchen floor. ‘Look at them go!’ She clapped her hands with delight.

  ‘Lisa? Are you all right? There’s a lot of noise in there,’ Rose called from the sitting room.

  ‘Oh, no!’ Lisa’s hand flew to her mouth. She waved frantically at Flame. ‘Quick. Stop doing whatever you’re doing!’ she hissed. ‘I’m fine. Almost finished!’ she called to her aunt, in what she hoped was a normal voice.

  Crash! Cupboard doors closed. Bang! Drawers slammed shut. Rattle! Cutlery settled into place.

  Seconds later, Rose popped her head round the kitchen door. ‘What is going on out here?’

  Flame sat on the floor, looking just like a normal marmalade kitten. Phew! Lisa let out her breath and gave her aunt a rather shaky smile. That was a near thing!

  ‘I’m really impressed. The whole kitchen’s spotless. Well done,’ Rose said admiringly.

  ‘Oh, it was nothing,’ Lisa said, shining the back of her nails on her T-shirt.

  She winked at Flame, who gave a mischievous ‘miaow’.

  A big bubble of laughter lodged in Lisa’s chest. With Flame around, she reckoned this holiday might not be so bad after all.

  The following morning, Lisa woke early. She lay with her eyes closed, listening for the sound of traffic and taxi horns hooting in impatience. But only birdsong drifted in on the fresh breeze from the open window. Lisa opened her eyes as she remembered where she was.

  Aunt Rose’s cottage in Long Brackby. And yesterday she had found a magic kitten in the barn! He was curled up asleep in the crook of her arm.

  Flame purred softly in his sleep. As Lisa stroked him gently, Flame stretched and yawned, showing his little pink tongue and sharp white teeth. Silver sparks glittered in his fur.

  ‘I slept well, thank you,’ he purred happily.

  ‘Me too,’ Lisa said as Flame rubbed his head under her chin. ‘That tickles!’ she said with a grin. She pulled herself up out of bed and went in search of the bathroom as Flame made himself comfy on her pillow and waited.

  Rose was already in the kitchen when Lisa came down. Lisa fed Flame before she ate her breakfast and then helped Rose clear up, smiling as she remembered how the dishes had got cleaned yesterday!

  ‘Do you fancy cycling to the village store?’ Rose asked. ‘We need milk, bread and eggs, but I’ve got heaps of sewing to do,’ she explained. ‘You could use my bike. It would help me out and would give you a chance to explore.’

  ‘Sounds great,’ Lisa said. Having Flame along would make even boring old shopping fun!

  Rose fetched her bike. It had a deep basket on the front. Lisa lined it with Flame’s blanket and then lifted him in. ‘There. It’s just right for you!’

  Flame purred softly in agreement.

  Rose laughed. ‘You know, I think that kitten understands every word you say!’

  She came round to the front of the cottage to give Lisa directions to the village shops. ‘Go up Berry Road to the crossroads and turn right. You’ll see the White Hart Inn. The shops are just a bit farther on. You can’t miss them.’

  Rose’s red and black VW Beetle was parked by the gate. ‘Hi, Matilda!’ Lisa called as she cycled past. ‘See you later, Aunt Rose!’

  The honey scent of hawthorn filled the lane. Skylarks circled overhead, drifting on the warm air. Flame had his nose in the air, sniffing the delicious country smells.

  ‘Now – we turn here,’ Lisa reminded herself.

  Berry Road was narrow and lined with trees. Lisa began to slow down as she approached a sharp bend.

  Suddenly a brown and white pony came hurtling towards her. Lisa caught a glimpse of the rider pulling at the reins. The pony’s ears were flat against its head. It snorted loudly, flaring its nostrils.

  ‘Watch out!’ shouted the rider. ‘I can’t stop him!’

  Lisa squeezed the brakes hard so that pebbles sprayed the grass verge. Flame dug his claws into the basket to brace himself.

  But it was too late. They were going to crash!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Lisa’s bike screeched along the road into the pony. The brakes locked and she was launched into the air. Just as she prepared herself for a very painful landing there was a silver flash and she landed softly on to what felt like a very soft pillow.

  ‘Oh!’ she cried in surprise. She pushed herself shakily to her feet and looked down, but there was just the grass verge beneath her. That was a near thing. Flame must have used his magic to save her! But where was he?

  Lisa looked round in panic. In the road she saw the pony was snorting with pain and fear. His rider was trying to calm him down. Aunt Rose’s bike lay on its side in the road, the pedals still going round. Flame’s crumpled blanket was lying beside it.

  Lisa’s heart lurched. ‘Oh, no! Flame!’

  But Flame was sitting in the gutter, calmly washing his face. He gave a pleased little miaow as she bent down to stroke him.

  ‘Oh, thank goodness you’re OK!’ Lisa said.

  ‘Yeah? Well, Fly’s not. And it’s all your fault!’ shouted the boy who’d been riding the pony. ‘Why don�
�t you look where you’re going?’

  Stung, Lisa glared at him. The boy looked about twelve. He had dark-brown hair and bright-blue eyes. ‘You were on the wrong side of the road!’ she protested angrily, picking up her bike.

  But the boy ignored her. ‘Whoa, there. Calm down, Fly!’ he soothed. The pony rolled his eyes and kept lifting one back leg. ‘Oh, great. Now he’s lame! Dad’s going to kill me. We haven’t got any money for vets’ bills.’

  Lisa felt sorry for the pony, but she was still furious with its owner. ‘You should be more careful how you ride him then! Look at my aunt’s bike. The front wheel’s all buckled!’

  Flame finished washing himself. He padded over to Fly. Lisa started forward in alarm. Did Flame realize what danger he was in?

  ‘Get that kitten out of the way. Fly’s dead wary of other animals,’ the boy warned.

  Flame stopped right beneath Fly. He looked straight up at the pony, his emerald eyes sparkling. Fly shifted sideways and gave a nervous blow. Then he dipped his head. Flame purred loudly, closing his eyes with pleasure as Fly snuffled warm breath into his fur.

  The boy scratched his head. ‘Will you look at that? Fly’s really taken to that kitten.’ He ran a hand down his pony’s sore leg. ‘And his leg seems better now. How did that happen?’

  Lisa smiled inwardly as she bent down and picked Flame up. ‘Thanks for saving me. And making Fly’s leg better,’ she whispered.

  ‘I am glad to help.’ Flame licked her chin with his tiny pink tongue.

  Lisa straightened up. ‘Oh, well, he can’t have been that hurt in the first place,’ she said, trying not to laugh at the boy’s confusion.

  The boy scowled at her. ‘Whatever,’ he said. ‘Come on, Fly. Let’s get going.’

  ‘Hey! What about the bike? I can’t ride it like that,’ Lisa said with dismay.

  ‘Tough!’ The boy grinned cheekily.

  Lisa was fuming. She opened her mouth to reply just as a policeman came round the corner.

  The boy groaned. ‘Oh, great. It’s Mike Sanders. He chucked me off the green for playing football last week.’ He threw a pleading glance at Lisa. ‘OK, I was on the wrong side of the road. I couldn’t help it. Some flapping washing startled Fly and he bolted.’

  Lisa folded her arms. ‘So?’ she said.

  The boy hesitated. ‘I’ll make a deal with you. You keep quiet about me and Fly and I’ll fix your bent wheel.’

  Lisa grinned. ‘Done! I’m Lisa. Lisa Morgan.’ She held out her hand. ‘And this is Flame.’

  ‘John Wood,’ said the boy. He spat in his palm before he shook hands with Lisa, and gave Flame a pat on the head.

  The policeman had reached them by now. Mike Sanders had fair curly hair and a pleasant face. He took in the bike with its bent wheel and gave John a stern look. ‘Hmm. What have you been up to now?’

  John looked down at the road and shuffled his feet. ‘Nothing,’ he muttered.

  Lisa took a step forward. ‘It’s a good thing John came along,’ she said quickly. ‘That’s my Aunt Rose’s bike. The wheel buckled when I fell off. John’s offered to mend it for me.’

  ‘Has he?’ Mike Sanders looked surprised. ‘Good for you, John. That should keep you out of trouble for five minutes.’ After checking that Lisa wasn’t hurt, he went on his way.

  ‘Phew, that was close,’ said John. He took hold of Fly’s reins. ‘Let’s go. I live just over there.’

  ‘Don’t say “thanks” for covering for me, will you?’ Lisa said.

  John laughed. His blue eyes sparkled. ‘OK, I won’t!’

  Lisa couldn’t help laughing back. ‘Come on, Flame.’ She lifted him into the basket and wheeled the bike along in a wobbly line. John walked ahead, leading Fly.

  ‘Down here,’ John said, heading down a narrow track that branched off Berry Road.

  Brambles, clustered with pink-tinged blossom, rambled through the hedgerows. Peacock butterflies fluttered around clumps of nettles near a fence. Lisa paused for a moment as she looked at a large field filled with caravans beyond an open gate.

  John turned round. ‘Well, are you coming or what?’

  Flame gave a happy miaow. And Lisa pushed him and the wobbly bike through the gate.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The oldest lady Lisa had ever seen came out of an old-fashioned caravan with fancy carving and red and yellow wheels. She waved at John and beckoned for him to come over.

  ‘That’s my great-grandma,’ John told Lisa. ‘Come and meet her.’

  Lisa lifted Flame out of the basket and then laid the bike on its side in the grass. Flame scampered straight up the caravan’s sloping wooden steps and began rubbing himself against the old lady’s long skirts.

  ‘He’s called Flame,’ Lisa told her.

  John had tied up Fly before climbing the steps. He gave his gran a kiss on her cheek. ‘Hi, Gran! All right?’

  The old lady’s bright eyes crinkled in a smile. ‘Fine. Come on inside and bring your new friends. The kettle’s on,’ she said as she leaned down to stroke Flame. ‘I bet you’d like a saucer of milk, wouldn’t you?’

  Flame mewed eagerly.

  Once inside the tiny living space, Lisa glanced round. Shiny pots and pans hung on hooks above a tiny stove, which made the room baking hot. There was a wonderful smell of woodsmoke and lavender polish.

  Flame lapped at his milk. He seemed perfectly at home.

  John came and sat near his gran. ‘Gran, this is Lisa. She’s staying with her aunt in the village. Lisa, meet Violet Wood – she’s head of our family. Even my dad’s a bit afraid of her. But I reckon her bark’s a lot worse than her bite!’

  Violet gave a gap-toothed grin. ‘Here! Don’t give away all me secrets!’ Round her shoulders there was a black fringed shawl with pink roses on it. Big gold hoops glittered in her ears.

  ‘I like your caravan,’ Lisa said politely as Violet made tea.

  ‘It’s me wagon,’ Violet corrected. ‘A true Romany don’t call their home a caravan.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Lisa said.

  Violet fixed her with a gaze as bright and shiny as a robin’s. ‘What you got to be sorry about?’

  ‘Er … Nothing,’ Lisa murmured.

  ‘No cause to say you’re sorry then!’ Violet crowed.

  John chuckled. ‘Stop teasing, Gran. Lisa’s all right. She put a word in for me with Mike Sanders.’

  Violet poured strong tea into china cups. ‘Sanders ain’t a bad sort. It’s that Robert Higgins you got to watch out for. He’s been here again, accusing our men of taking deer. I told him I know everything that goes on round here and there’s been no poaching. But he wouldn’t have it. He as much as called me a liar to my face!’ She sniffed indignantly.

  ‘Who’s Robert Higgins?’ Lisa asked John.

  ‘Higgins runs the estate for his Lordship,’ John explained. ‘That bit of forest at the back of your aunt’s cottage is part of it.’

  ‘You stay out of his way, John, you hear? He’s a nasty piece of work,’ Violet warned him.

  ‘Yes, Gran.’ John was serious for a moment and then he turned to Lisa. ‘Gran used to travel all over the country in this wagon. She’s not keen on being here on the official travellers’ site.’

  ‘I miss the open road too much.’ Violet’s beady eyes brightened. ‘There was this one time when we was aitched up for the night by a river … ’

  ‘That means camped,’ John explained, smiling at Lisa.

  Violet told them about the old days, when a pony drew her wagon through the country lanes. ‘All the families would meet up with their relatives at horse fairs. There would be dozens of Woods, Smiths, Lees and a hundred other names. Oh, it was grand. In late summer, we’d all travel down to Kent for the hop-picking.’

  Lisa listened in fascination. A look of contentment settled on Violet’s face as she stroked Flame’s soft coat.

  Violet saw Lisa watching closely and said, ‘Flame’s a grand kitten, ain’t he?’ She closed one eye in a broad wink. ‘He’
s just magic.’

  Lisa’s eyes widened in shock. She knows! she thought. Violet knows about Flame!

  ‘Well, Gran. I’ve got to get my tools to mend Lisa’s bike,’ John said, apparently not noticing anything. ‘Thanks for the tea and stories.’

  ‘You can bring Lisa and Flame to see me again.’ Violet came down the wagon steps to wave goodbye. She stood with Lisa as John walked across to a modern, chrome-trimmed trailer.

  ‘Keep this special one safe,’ Violet said softly to Lisa as she stroked the top of Flame’s head. ‘He’ll not be with you long.’

  Lisa gathered Flame in her embrace. She felt a sharp pang at the thought of not having him around. ‘I don’t want him to leave, ever,’ she said, her voice quivering.

  Violet’s eyes sparkled kindly. She patted Lisa’s arm. ‘I know. But his destiny is far from here. When the call comes, he must go. Be thankful that he chose you for his special friend.’

  Lisa hugged Flame’s furry little body close. He purred and licked her chin. She had a lump in her throat. ‘I am. If I look after him really well, maybe he’ll decide to stay here.’

  A wise but sad look crossed Violet’s face. ‘Maybe,’ she murmured.

  ‘All finished,’ John said, moving the bike back and forth. ‘Good as new!’

  He lifted Flame into the basket as Lisa got on the bike. ‘Thanks. Aunt Rose won’t notice a thing. Well – bye for now,’ she said and cycled towards the site gate.

  ‘I’m going fishing tomorrow,’ John called after her. ‘Want to come?’

  Lisa had never been fishing, but she thought it might be better than doing nothing at her aunt’s cottage. ‘OK. Where shall we meet?’ she shouted.

  ‘Outside the White Hart Inn near the crossroads. Nine a.m.?’

  ‘See you there!’ Lisa waved as she turned into the lane.

  The sun was low and elder trees threw long shadows across the road. ‘That was quite an adventure, wasn’t it?’ she said to Flame.