Hide and Seek Read online

  Ruby Wishfingers: Hide-and-Seek

  Published by Wombat Books 2016

  Text © Deborah Kelly

  Illustrations © Leigh Hedstrom

  www.wombatbooks.com.au

  PO Box 1519,

  Capalaba QLD 4157

  Australia

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Kelly, Deborah, author.

  Title: Hide-and-Seek / Deborah Kelly ;

  Leigh Hedstrom. (illustrator)

  ISBN: 9781925139952 (ebook: epub)

  Series:Kelly, Deborah. Ruby wishfingers ; 3

  Target Audience:For primary school age.

  Subjects:Hide-and-seek--Juvenile fiction.

  Adventure stories.

  Other Creators/Contributors:Hedstrom, Leigh, illustrator.

  Dewey Number: A823.4

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  Deborah Kelly

  Illustrated by Leigh Hedstrom

  Ruby

  Wishfingers

  Hide-and-Seek

  For Addison and Asher

  Wishing you magic!

  Chapter 1

  Beep! Beep! Beep!

  Ruby Wishfingers rolled over in bed and hit the OFF button on her alarm clock.

  Morning sun streamed through the gap in her pink lace curtains. Crickets chirped, a magpie warbled and somewhere nearby a lawnmower started up.

  Another hot day! Ruby thought, kicking the sheets off and yawning. She sat up in bed and wriggled her fingers carefully.

  Not a buzz. Not a hum. Not a tickle or a wriggle. Not even the teeniest, tiniest itch!

  Ruby slumped back against the pillows and sighed.

  ‘No new wishes yet!’

  She looked at the pinkie finger on her right hand, which was still faintly tingling with last year’s final wish. Ruby smiled.

  ‘But at least I still have this one!’

  Ruby Wishfingers was an ordinary girl—mostly. She lived with her ordinary family on an ordinary street in an ordinary suburb of an ordinary town. But her name—Wishfingers—was far from ordinary.

  One spring morning, when Ruby was nine, she had woken up with a strange feeling in the tips of her fingers.

  They had buzzed and hummed. They had tickled and wriggled. They had niggled like an itch begging to be scratched. But no matter how hard Ruby scratched them—against her quilt, against each other, against her teeth—the feeling still hadn’t gone away.

  ‘Your great-grandfather was a Wishfingers. And his father before him, and his father before him,’ explained Granny, who lived in a caravan at the bottom of the garden. ‘But your great, great, great, great-grandfather Wishfingers, well, he was a magician.’

  Ruby discovered that as the great, great, great, great-granddaughter of a famous and powerful magician, she had inherited not only his unusual name but some of his magic too. The extraordinary feeling in the tips of her fingers was the sign of a marvellous gift:

  The power to wish for whatever she wanted!

  Chapter 2

  Ruby had found out a lot about magic from Granny, who had wishing fingers too.

  But she had also learnt some important lessons on her own.

  Wishes were wondrous, powerful things that didn’t always turn out quite as you expected. Ruby now knew to be very, very careful what she wished for.

  She had also learnt that you should never ever use magic to harm or punish anyone or anything—even if your cousin was a little toad who needed to learn a lesson or two. Breaking the Golden Rule of Magic had caused problems that were quite tricky to fix, not to mention dangerous. Thankfully though, she had earned her wishes back and Cousin Todd was no longer a toad but a rather nice boy.

  After last year’s adventures, Ruby had decided not to use up all of her wishes at once. Instead, she thought it might be wise to keep a pinkie up her sleeve, just in case she needed it.

  Humming a little tune, Ruby made her bed, got dressed into her school uniform and brushed her hair into a neat ponytail.

  Outside, the lawnmower stopped suddenly.

  Ruby picked up her favourite cuddly toy unicorn, which had fallen onto the floor. She hugged him tightly to her chest.

  Ruby had gotten Skydancer when she was three years old. Although his hooves didn’t glitter quite as brightly as they used to, Ruby loved him more than ever. After all, Skydancer had helped Ruby discover her ability to wish; turning him into a real unicorn had been the very first wish Ruby had ever made.

  Ruby wriggled her little finger and thought about her last pinkie wish. It seemed a waste not to use it. After all, she hadn’t needed it for anything important.

  ‘My new wishes will come along soon enough, Skydancer. In the meantime, I still have this one left over from last year. I could have a bit of fun with it, couldn’t I? What should I wish for?’ Ruby wondered aloud.

  The unicorn stared back hopefully.

  ‘No way!’ Ruby laughed. ‘I won’t be turning you into a real unicorn again.’

  Bringing a cuddly toy unicorn to life had caused more problems than Ruby could have imagined. She kissed Skydancer on the nose and tucked him back into his spot between the pillows.

  ‘What do you think I should wish for, Norman?’ Ruby asked, turning towards the goldfish on her dresser.

  ‘Norman?’ Ruby gasped.

  There was nothing on Ruby’s dresser except a small scattering of fish flakes where Norman’s tank had once been.

  Chapter 3

  ‘OW!’ Ruby cried, rubbing her stubbed toe. ‘Who left that there?!’

  There was a lawnmower in the hallway outside her room! Its wheels were caked with grass and mud.

  Poor Dad, thought Ruby.

  Almost three years ago, Ruby had accidentally wished that Granny’s rather bad-tempered cat, Jupiter, had the power to talk. Unfortunately, Jupiter wasn’t very good at keeping his mouth shut and Dad had overheard him speak on more than one occasion. Being an ordinary sort of man, who didn’t believe in extraordinary things like magic, Mr Wishfingers had slowly but surely begun to lose his mind.

  By the time Ruby had been able to wish away Jupiter’s ability to talk, it was too late. The damage had been done. Mr Wishfingers was now as nutty as a fruitcake and more than a little absent-minded.

  Dad had probably been confused, and put the mower away in the hallway instead of the shed. Mum didn’t like anything being left on the floor: toys, books and certainly not a lawnmower! She would have kittens when she saw the stains on her good carpet! But Ruby didn’t have time to worry about that right now—she had to find Norman!

  ‘Mum!’ Ruby called, hobbling down the stairs and clambering over the baby gate. ‘Have you seen my gold—oh.’

  Ruby’s fish tank sat neatly on the table, right in front of her little brother Jellybean’s highchair. There was Norman, happily swimming about in his tank as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

  ‘Found fishy!’ Jellybean squealed. At one and a half years old, he was certainly no longer the size of a jellybean inside Mum’s tummy, but his nickname had stuck. Everyone called him Jellybean—except of course when he was being naughty. Then they called him by his real name—Nathaniel.

  Ruby was puzzled.

  ‘Mum! Why did you move my fish tank?’

  ‘I didn’t.’ Mum’s muffled voice came from inside one of the cupboards. ‘Dad and I thought you must have.’
/>   ‘It wasn’t me,’ said Ruby, frowning.

  Mum’s face popped up from behind the cupboard door. She looked flustered.

  ‘Then it must have been Granny!’

  ‘Hide-and-seek?’ Jellybean pleaded.

  Ruby groaned. As a baby, Jellybean had loved to play peek-a-boo. But now that he was a toddler and able to run around, Jellybean’s favourite game in the whole wide world was hide-and-seek.

  He wanted to play it in the morning. He wanted to play it in the afternoon. Sometimes he wanted to play it in the middle of the night. Everyone in Ruby’s family was sick and tired of playing hide-and-seek. Everyone except Jellybean, that is.

  ‘Not now, Jellybean!’ Ruby turned back to Mum.

  ‘It can’t have been Granny. She would never move Norman without asking me first.’

  Jellybean tossed his teething ring to the floor and started nibbling on his fingers. It was something he had been doing rather a lot lately. Ruby’s neighbour Mrs Cottesloe suggested he might have new teeth coming through. Aunt May thought it was probably an allergy to grass. Ruby wasn’t so sure. He didn’t have a temperature. He wasn’t drooling. And no other part of his body seemed to be itchy or uncomfortable.

  ‘Well a fish tank can’t very well move itself now, can it?’ Mum was rifling through the kitchen drawers now. ‘Honestly, Ruby, you need to learn to look after your things!’

  Mum stood with her hands on her hips and scanned the kitchen carefully. ‘Now, where on earth are those tickets?’

  Jellybean grinned and threw something else on the floor. Ruby leaned down to pick up two small pieces of paper, which were now sticky with strawberry jam.

  ‘Aha!’ Mum cried, plucking them from Ruby’s fingers.

  ‘Our ticket for the big raffle—and Aunt May’s! I have to stop by the supermarket on my way to work and put them in the barrel before they draw the winner this afternoon. The prize is a family holiday. A nice relaxing holiday is exactly what we need—particularly your father.’

  Ruby was too busy puzzling over the fish tank to think about a family holiday right now.

  Had she sleepwalked, like Dad sometimes did, and moved Norman’s fish tank?

  Ruby didn’t think so. After all, she had never sleepwalked before.

  Chapter 4

  ‘Oh I do hope we win,’ Mum sighed wistfully, clutching the tickets to her chest. ‘A family holiday would be such a treat!’

  Suddenly the dreamy look vanished.

  ‘That reminds me.’ Mum’s voice had become decidedly cranky. ‘I know you love your little brother, Ruby but spoiling him with treats is NOT good for him. I guess it was you who put Dad’s treat jar into Jellybean’s cot last night. He ate everything. I mean everything! I’m surprised he wasn’t sick!’

  Jellybean pulled his fingers out of his mouth and giggled. Ruby noticed a blob of liquorice stuck between his two front teeth.

  ‘But I didn’t give him Dad’s treat jar!’ cried Ruby. ‘I swear!’

  Mum raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. ‘Well, it certainly wasn’t Dad or me. And I’ve already spoken to Granny. How in the world could a toddler get out of his cot, down the stairs, over the baby gate, into the dining room and climb to the top of Dad’s bookcase to swipe treats?’

  ‘Hide-and-seek!’ shouted Jellybean.

  Before Ruby could say a word, the door was flung open and Dad burst into the kitchen.

  ‘George!’ Mum cried, pointing at Dad’s muddy, grass-covered boots.

  Wait till you see the upstairs hallway, thought Ruby.

  ‘Has anyone s-s-s-seen my l-l-lawnmower?’ Dad stammered.

  ‘What on earth do you mean, George?’ snapped Mum, frantically sweeping around his feet with a broom.

  Dad hung his head. ‘I can’t find it.’

  ‘Well, lawnmowers don’t just disappear into thin air!’ Mum was getting crankier by the minute. ‘Where did you leave it last?’

  ‘Lawnmower hiding, Dadda!’ Jellybean giggled from his highchair.

  ‘Oh, honestly,’ Mum scoffed. ‘It is like a giant game of hide-and-seek in this house, with things going missing left, right and centre. It’s enough to drive anyone around the twist!’

  She popped a vitamin tablet into a glass of water and stirred it vigorously. Ruby watched the tablet bubble and fizz, then eventually disappear. As Mum stomped upstairs with her vitamin drink to get ready for work, Dad sat down shakily at the table.

  ‘I was m-m-mowing,’ he whispered, frowning to himself. ‘But the petrol ran out. I went to the shed to get more and when I came back … it was gone!’

  ‘How extraordinary!’ Ruby marvelled.

  Suddenly they heard Mum shriek.

  Forgetting all about his muddy, grass-covered boots, Dad pushed back his chair and galloped upstairs to see what the matter was.

  ‘Hide-and-seek?’ Jellybean whined, thumping his fist on the highchair tray.

  ‘Not now, Jellybean!’ Ruby wiped strawberry jam from her little brother’s face, hair and hands before lifting him down from the high chair.

  ‘I have to eat my breakfast!’

  She picked up a toy Tyrannosaurus rex that Aunt May, Uncle Max and Todd had given Jellybean for his first birthday. Ruby pushed the red button on its belly. Its eyes glowed red and flashed. It stomped and roared its way across the kitchen tiles, gnashing its plastic teeth.

  While Jellybean played with his favourite toy, Ruby slurped her porridge thoughtfully.

  Dad’s lawnmower. Norman’s fish tank. The jar of treats.

  Things were going missing and then appearing again in odd places. It was all very mysterious … and most extraordinary.

  Ruby wriggled her fingers. Her new wishes definitely hadn’t come through yet. Her fingers were still as cool and calm as cucumbers, except of course for last year’s remaining pinkie wish.

  If something magical IS going on, Ruby realised, it has nothing to do with me.

  Suddenly Jellybean dropped his Tyrannosaurus and began chewing frantically at his fingers.

  Ruby watched him carefully. There was something oddly familiar about the way he rubbed them against each other and scratched them against his teeth—almost as if there was an itch he couldn’t get rid of.

  ‘Something smells fishy,’ Ruby muttered. ‘And I have a strong suspicion it isn’t Norman.’

  Chapter 5

  Dad bounced a grizzling Jellybean in one arm. In the other hand he held the phone and the number for the carpet cleaning company.

  Since Doctor Burt had told them the stress of work might have caused Dad to hear voices, like those of talking cats, Ruby’s parents had switched places. Mum had left for work in a flurry only moments before. Dad’s job was now to stay at home and look after Jellybean—with Granny’s help—as well as tend to the garden. But he was still learning the ropes.

  ‘Homework?’

  ‘Yes, Dad!’

  ‘Honey sandwiches?’

  ‘Strawberry jam,’ Ruby reminded him, patting her schoolbag.

  ‘Very good …’ Dad shifted Jellybean to the other arm and put the phone to his ear. ‘Now hurry or you’ll be late for work!’

  ‘You mean school!’ Ruby grinned. She clipped on her helmet, swung her bag onto her shoulders and grabbed her scooter, which had been leaning against the side of the house, next to a pile of Dad’s wooden gardening stakes.

  ‘Bye, Dad! Bye, Jellybean—have a nice nap!’ Ruby called, scootering down the driveway.

  ‘No!’ Jellybean pulled his thumb out of his mouth and tried to squirm out of Dad’s arms. ‘Hide-and-seek, Ooby!’

  ‘Not now, Jellybean! I have to get to school!’

  As she rolled along the footpath, Ruby heard Jellybean wail. By the time she reached the end of the street, his wails had turned to screams.

  The terrible twos had
kicked in early. Ruby’s brother was no longer as sweet as a jellybean. In fact, he was turning into a sour little worm. If he didn’t get his way, he would clench his fists and squeeze his eyes shut tightly. He would stamp his feet and hammer his fists. He would shout and scream. Sometimes he even threw things. Thankfully, he was still little and couldn’t do any serious damage—except to everyone’s ears.

  It wasn’t so much his tantrums that had Ruby worried. This morning’s extraordinary events were playing on her mind, especially Jellybean’s constant finger nibbling. Lately it seemed as though his chubby little fingers spent more time in his mouth than out of it.

  Ruby paused at the crossing to push the button.

  Could it be that Jellybean was going to inherit some of Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers’s magic too? But Jellybean was far too young for magic just yet. Ruby hadn’t inherited her wishes until she was nine!

  Ruby decided to talk to Granny as soon as she got home. But right now she needed to think about ordinary things—like getting to school on time!

  Chapter 6

  ‘Because it is so hot,’ began Mr Wilson, ‘we will not be working outside on our art projects today. Instead, I have put together a maths quiz …’

  Everyone groaned. A fan whirled lazily above their heads, barely shifting the hot, sticky air.

  Reluctantly, the children pulled out their maths books. A bead of sweat rolled down the bridge of Ruby’s nose and landed with a soft splash on the page.

  It is far too hot for maths, thought Ruby. It is far too hot for anything, except a swim. And an ice cream … maybe vanilla … or perhaps chocolate … or perhaps—

  Mr Wilson cleared his throat. ‘Well, Ruby?’

  ‘A strawberry ice cream?’ Ruby whispered dreamily.

  Everyone laughed, except for Mr Wilson.

  ‘No, Ruby Wishfingers! Strawberry ice cream is NOT the answer!’ he barked.

  Jeepers! thought Ruby. Mr Wilson was usually so cheerful and funny. He was in a terrible mood this morning—probably because of the heat.