Hide and Seek Read online

  Ruby looked around the classroom. The children were slumped over their desks like half-melted ice creams.

  Suddenly she sat up. Perhaps ice cream was the answer! A delicious sweet ice cream and a long cool swim were exactly what the whole class—including Mr Wilson—needed on such a melting-hot day!

  The tip of Ruby’s pinkie finger buzzed and tickled wildly. There didn’t seem much point in holding on to last year’s final wish any longer. She hadn’t needed it for anything after all, and now seemed like the perfect opportunity to put it to good use. Especially since she would soon have new wishes.

  Ruby closed her eyes and whispered softly so that no one else could hear.

  ‘I wish we could swim and eat ice creams all day!’

  Then she blew on the tip of her pinkie finger with all her might.

  At precisely the moment Ruby’s pinkie stopped tingling, Mr Wilson flew out of his chair as though he had been stung by a bee.

  ‘Right!’ he declared suddenly, beaming around the classroom. ‘Maths books away, everyone! Look under your desks!’

  He strode towards the windows where the blinds had been drawn to keep the hot sun out of the classroom.

  One by one, the bewildered children looked under their desks and squealed in surprise. The room soon filled with excited chatter as towels, goggles and swimsuits were pulled out from under each desk.

  ‘Your parents have sent your swimming costumes in advance of a very special event! The grand opening of our very own …’ Mr Wilson pulled a cord. The blinds zipped up to the ceiling.

  ‘… school swimming pool!’

  Chapter 7

  The class gasped.

  There, across the oval, was the most magnificent swimming pool Ruby had ever seen!

  It was a giant rectangle, with wide steps and a large ramp that fanned out into the crystal blue water. There was an island in the middle with a water fountain shooting high into the sky. Best of all, a giant five-lane waterslide rippled like a rainbow down into the water.

  Floating on the surface of the water were dozens of inflatable toys—beach balls, whales, dolphins and even a giant crocodile—just waiting to be played with!

  Ruby grinned.

  ‘The whole school is invited for a very first swim,’ shouted Mr Wilson, who was struggling to be heard over the chatter of excited children.

  ‘And because we’ve all worked so hard this term, there will be plenty of free ice creams for everyone, of every flavour—’ he paused to wink at Ruby ‘—including strawberry!’

  A long line of ice cream vans snaked its way across the oval. The principal, Mrs Blythe, busily directed them with a fluorescent orange baton.

  Within minutes, children everywhere poured out of their classrooms. They bounded towards the new swimming pool, their towels and goggles flapping wildly as they shrieked and whooped for joy.

  ‘Last one in’s a slimy toad!’ shouted a familiar voice.

  It was Ruby’s cousin, Todd.

  ‘Then you’d better hop to it!’ Ruby laughed, running after him.

  A few months ago, Ruby had turned her naughty younger cousin Todd into a toad. In doing so, she had broken the Golden Rule of Magic: that it should never be used to harm or punish anyone or anything.

  Ruby had risked her own life to save Todd and earn back her wishes so that she could turn him back into a boy again—and a much nicer one, at that. Since then, they had become great friends. Todd’s family had moved closer so that the children could go to the same school. Even though they were not in the same grade, it was great to be able to see each other every day.

  Soon the pool churned with shrieking, excited children. Towels fluttered along the pool fence like flags. Mr Wilson taught a group of children how to dive. Mrs Holland, the sports teacher, showed off her handstands. Games of tag, beach ball and Marco Polo popped up everywhere. But because it was such an enormous pool, there was plenty of room for everyone.

  Ruby dived into the cool, clear water.

  What a wonderful way to use my final wish, she thought.

  Mrs Blythe used the loudhailer. ‘Ice cream! Get your ice cream!’

  Ruby floated on her back, trying to decide what sort of ice cream she might get. A waffle cone or an ordinary cone? Strawberry, chocolate or vanilla? Sauce or sprinkles? There were so many to choose from!

  ‘THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!’ Todd yelled, as he sailed down the slide. The water around Ruby bubbled and her cousin’s freckled face popped up beside her.

  Todd grinned. ‘I don’t suppose you had anything to do with this!’

  But before Ruby could answer, she was overcome with an extraordinary feeling.

  Her head and then her whole body felt as though it was … fizzing … and bubbling … just like Mum’s vitamin tablet had before it dissolved in the glass of water that morning!

  Todd’s blue eyes grew wide. His mouth opened and shut like a goldfish.

  ‘Stop it, Todd!’ Ruby laughed. ‘You look like Norman!’

  ‘R-R-Ruby!’ Todd spluttered at last. ‘You’re … you’re … disappearing!’

  Chapter 8

  ‘J-j-jeepers! How did I get here?’

  Ruby stood in the middle of Jellybean’s bedroom. Water from her swimsuit dripped down her legs and onto the carpet.

  ‘Found Ooby!’

  Jellybean waved at her from his cot in the corner of the room. He still held the toy Tyrannosaurus he had been playing with earlier that morning.

  ‘B-b-but … how on earth …?’ Ruby stammered, her head still fizzing.

  ‘Tweets!’ Jellybean demanded, banging the dinosaur against the cot rail.

  Ruby shook the last of the fizziness out of her head.

  ‘No, Jellybean. Too many treats aren’t good for you—Mum said so!’

  Jellybean screwed his eyes shut tight and clenched his little fists.

  Uh-oh, thought Ruby, who was beginning to recognise the beginnings of a tantrum. But Jellybean didn’t shout or scream. All Ruby heard was the gentle clink of Dad’s treat jar as it suddenly appeared inside Jellybean’s cot.

  Jellybean opened his eyes and smiled. ‘Found tweets!’

  Ruby’s stomach did a somersault.

  Norman’s fish tank. Dad’s lawnmower. The jar of treats. Jellybean’s constant finger nibbling. Suddenly it all made perfect sense.

  Jellybean had inherited some of Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers’s magic too! But instead of making wishes on his fingers like Ruby could, he seemed to be able to make things—and people—appear and disappear wherever and whenever he liked. What’s more, Jellybean had been using his magic to play his favourite game in the whole wide world: hide-and-seek!

  But as Jellybean munched his way happily through a handful of chocolate biscuits, Ruby began to worry.

  If Ruby’s wishes were wondrous, powerful things not to be taken lightly, then surely so too was Jellybean’s power to make things appear and disappear. Ruby knew all too well what trouble magic could cause in the wrong hands—or paws.

  How much could a one-and-a-half-year-old possibly understand about magic—or more importantly, how to use it?

  ‘Hide-and-seek?’ Jellybean mumbled through a mouthful of biscuits.

  Ruby nibbled her fingernails. ‘Not now, Jellybean. We really need to find Granny.’

  ‘Granny hide?’ asked Jellybean, clutching the biscuits and the Tyrannosaurus tightly as Ruby lifted him out of the cot.

  ‘I hope not,’ said Ruby, peering down the hall.

  As Ruby crept down the stairs with Jellybean on her hip, she could hear Dad’s snores coming from the lounge room. Ruby held her breath and scurried past the double doors, through the kitchen and out into the backyard.

  Phew! She would have had some serious explaining to do if Dad had woken up. She was supposed to be at sc
hool, after all!

  Ruby carried Jellybean down the back steps and along the pebbled path. When they reached the bottom of the garden Ruby stopped.

  ‘Where’s Granny’s caravan?’

  ‘Granny hide!’ Jellybean giggled.

  ‘Jellybean!’ Ruby warned. ‘Find Granny right now or I won’t play hide-and-seek with you ever again!’

  Jellybean scowled. But in a blink, the small yellow caravan was back where it belonged, under the eucalypt tree.

  The caravan door flew open and Granny’s head popped out.

  ‘By golly!’ she cried. ‘Did you feel that? I think it was an earthquake!’

  ‘It wasn’t an earthquake,’ said Ruby grimly. ‘It’s much worse than that.’

  Granny and Ruby sat down on the steps of the caravan while Jellybean toddled off to play with his Tyrannosaurus in the shade.

  ‘Jellybean’s not allergic to grass, Granny. And he isn’t teething, either.’

  ‘Oh?’ Granny’s eyes twinkled behind her glasses.

  ‘No.’ Ruby took a deep breath. ‘Jellybean has magic powers, just like us.’

  Chapter 9

  ‘Well!’ exclaimed Granny, after Ruby had described the extraordinary events of the morning. ‘That explains why you’re in your swimmers—and why you aren’t at school! And it’s probably why I can’t seem to find Jupiter anywhere!’

  Granny’s cat Jupiter was a Maine Coon—one of the largest, hairiest cat breeds in the world. Unfortunately, the hot Australian climate also made him one of the grumpiest. He preferred the air-conditioned comfort of Granny’s caravan and he certainly never strayed too far from his ice cream bowl. It was most unusual for him to be missing.

  ‘Don’t worry, Granny,’ Ruby reassured her. ‘Lots of things have been going missing around here lately.’ Ruby thought about Norman’s fish tank, Dad’s lawnmower and the jar of treats. ‘Jupiter’s bound to turn up sooner or later.’

  ‘I hope so.’ Granny sighed. ‘After all these years, I’ve grown rather fond of the old brute.’

  They sat for a while watching Jellybean trying to push gumnuts into the Tyrannosaurus’s open mouth.

  ‘Granny,’ Ruby said suddenly, ‘if Jellybean is a Wishfingers, then why can he make things appear and disappear? Shouldn’t he be making wishes on his fingers, like we do?’

  ‘That’s a very good question, Ruby.’ Granny looked thoughtful. ‘Do you remember how Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers got his name?’

  ‘Of course!’ Ruby would never forget the wonderful story Granny had told her all those years ago, when she had first discovered her ability to wish.

  Ruby’s great, great, great, great-grandfather had been a gifted magician. His most famous trick had been to wriggle his fingers and point to the prettiest lady in the audience. For her, and only her, he would grant a single wish. This was how he had acquired the name Wishfingers. It was this power of wishing on his fingers that Ruby had inherited.

  ‘Well,’ Granny continued, ‘The Wishfingers Trick was not the only trick he was famous for.’

  ‘It wasn’t?’ Ruby’s eyes shone.

  ‘Heavens, no! His second most famous trick was to make things disappear and then appear again somewhere else. If a member of the audience wanted their watch or their handbag back, they had to search high and low for it. And of course, it was always in the very last place they thought to look—like someone else’s pocket.’

  ‘What was the trick called?’ asked Ruby.

  ‘Hide-and-seek.’

  Jellybean spun around and looked at Granny and Ruby hopefully.

  ‘But that’s Jellybean’s favourite game!’ Ruby cried.

  Granny smiled. ‘I think Jellybean has been given a wonderful gift—and a rather fitting one too.’

  ‘Ruby hide?’ Jellybean suggested.

  Ignoring him, Ruby turned back to Granny.

  ‘But isn’t Jellybean too little for magic? I was nine before my wishes came through.’

  ‘He certainly is very young,’ Granny agreed. ‘But a gift is a gift, no matter about the timing. And magic attracts magic.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘Well,’ explained Granny, ‘it’s quite likely that the presence of your magic has sped up the arrival of Jellybean’s.’

  Ruby wondered if it might work the other way too. ‘Does that mean my wishes could come early this year?’

  Granny shrugged. ‘With magic, anything can happen.’

  Jellybean, who had been babbling to himself, suddenly threw his Tyrannosaurus to the ground. He stamped his foot, demanding their attention.

  ‘HIDE-AND-SEEK!’

  ‘Jellybean!’ Ruby gasped. ‘Don’t be rough with your toys! And stop interrupting—Granny’s talking!’

  ‘No talking!’ Jellybean shouted.

  He gave one of the caravan tyres an angry kick.

  ‘That’s quite enough of that!’ Granny scolded.

  ‘HIDE-AND-SEEK!’ Jellybean bellowed. ‘GRANNY HIDE!’

  Suddenly he clenched his little fists. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

  Uh-oh, thought Ruby.

  In a blink, Granny was gone.

  Chapter 10

  ‘Nathaniel Wishfingers!’ Ruby cried. ‘Bring Granny back at once!’

  ‘No!’ Jellybean glared.

  ‘Please! I really need to talk to her!’ Suddenly her fingertips began to buzz and hum. They tickled and wriggled. They niggled like an itch begging to be scratched.

  ‘My wishes!’ Ruby could hardly believe her luck! The early arrival of her wishes would solve everything.

  First, she would wish Granny back from wherever Jellybean had hidden her. Then she would wish away Jellybean’s powers so he couldn’t cause any more trouble. After that, she would still have nine wishes left—more than enough to have some fun with.

  There wasn’t a moment to waste!

  Ruby wriggled her fingers, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. But before she could let it out, her fingers were suddenly as cool and calm as cucumbers again.

  Ruby opened her eyes in alarm.

  Jellybean had a very cheeky grin on his face.

  Suddenly, Ruby knew exactly where her wishes had gone.

  ‘Naughty boy!’ she cried. ‘Where have you hidden my wishes?’

  Jellybean giggled. ‘Hide-and-seek?’

  Now it was Ruby’s turn to glare at Jellybean. Her naughty little brother had hidden all of her wishes—not to mention poor Granny! Now she had no choice but to play her least favourite game in the whole wide world.

  Suddenly, Ruby had a thought. She only needed to find one wish—to wish ALL of her other wishes back. Then she could use them to wish Jellybean’s powers away and find Granny—easy!

  ‘Fine!’ said Ruby. ‘Let’s play. Coming, ready or not!’

  Jellybean clapped his hands with excitement.

  Ruby scanned the garden carefully.

  She knew how a wish felt. But what exactly did a wish look like? Hide-and-seek could be tricky if you weren’t sure what you were looking for.

  ‘Drat,’ Ruby muttered to herself. ‘This might be harder than I thought.’

  ‘Todd help!’ Jellybean clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut.

  In a blink, Todd was by Ruby’s side, dripping wet and holding a half-eaten chocolate ice cream. He looked annoyed.

  ‘I was having the best day of my life!’ he cried. ‘Why did you wish me here, Ruby?’

  ‘I didn’t!’ Ruby pointed at her little brother. ‘It was Jellybean! He can make things appear and disappear. He’s got magic powers too.’

  Todd groaned.

  ‘But since you’re here, you can help me. We’re playing hide-and-seek. Jellybean has hidden all of my wishes—and Granny!’

  ‘But I hate hid
e-and-seek!’ Todd whined.

  ‘Todd!’ Ruby cried. ‘We have to help poor Granny! And if I don’t get my wishes back, Jellybean could make us all play hide-and-seek for the rest of our lives!’

  Todd shuddered.

  ‘Listen,’ Ruby whispered. ‘All we have to do is find one wish and I can put a stop to all of this. Then I promise I’ll wish you straight back to school.’

  ‘Well …’ Todd hesitated.

  Ruby narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. ‘Or would you rather I turn you into a toad again?’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Todd grumbled. ‘I’ll help you. But what do wishes look like, exactly?’

  ‘That’s the problem,’ Ruby admitted. ‘I have absolutely no idea.’

  Chapter 11

  ‘Look!’ cried Todd. ‘I found one!’

  Ruby rushed over to the compost heap and crouched down beside Todd.

  ‘Ewww! That’s not a wish! That’s a mouldy strawberry!’

  ‘Oh.’ Todd pointed at Jellybean’s dinosaur, which was still lying on the grass. ‘What about that?’

  Ruby stared at her cousin in disbelief. ‘Todd! That’s a Tyrannosaurus toy!’

  ‘Well!’ Todd huffed. ‘How am I supposed to know?’

  ‘I don’t know!’ Ruby put her head in her hands and tried to think. ‘A wish should be … light … and warm … and definitely not mouldy! It should be kind of soft and fluffy and … well … wishy-looking.’

  ‘Alright,’ said Todd. ‘Let’s keep looking then.’

  Ruby and Todd searched the garden. They got down on their bellies and peered underneath the caravan. They checked inside the sandpit and in between the rows of vegetables. They searched all around the washing line but all they found was a pair of Granny’s knickers, waving gently in the breeze.

  They found Dad’s lost gardening gloves, two dead cockroaches and half a dozen painted pet rocks that Ruby had left to dry in the sun—but they couldn’t find anything even the slightest bit wishy-looking.