Frances was cooing. “Oh my dear, you’ve done enough for all of us by being the Guardian of the Portal and providing us with this safe house for Phyllis to lie low in. You concentrate on your lovely wee job and leave the No-Laws to us. The Pendle Trials were so long ago, it should all have been buried. Foggy knows what he’s doing. We will find Phyllis. Don’t you be worrying.”
“Yes, yes, don’t worry, Rae, Foggy will be back soon. We have everything in hand. Hecate is on board now, so before you know it order will be restored. Come along, Frances, let’s leave Rae to get on with things.”
I dashed into the kitchen to help Lois lay the table before they all came out of the lounge.
Who were the No-Laws and what were the Pendle Trials from long ago? Who was Hecate, I wondered? This certainly confirmed to me that Phyllis really was missing. Who had taken her and who was she hiding from? Was it the No-Laws that Uncle Vic was referring to? Was the person in black that tried to ambush the bus one of these No-Laws?
I couldn’t picture Phyllis being sad or scared. She wasn’t quite as bonkers as Frances, but she was quirky in her own way. She was my friend. She always listened very carefully to anything you had to say and was full of helpful advice. Sometimes, however, she took things too literally. Mum told me and Lois to be very careful what we said in front of Phyllis, for example do not say: “I’m starving” (you will get force fed A LOT of food and then be up all night throwing up) or “I wish it would snow” (she once caused a pile up on the M62 with sudden, freak snow showers).
The thought of Phyllis being lost, misunderstood, or in trouble was quite scary. I couldn’t help thinking that her disappearance and Dad’s cloud reappearing were somehow linked, which made it even more important that Adi and I worked out how to get through the wall to find out what was REALLY happening. If finding Phyllis meant Dad would get better too, then we HAD to do this.
The weekend seemed to go soooooo slowly. Mum was incredibly jumpy and seemed to find it difficult to eat anything. I think she was just nervous about her job starting. Dad was brilliant on Saturday and took us swimming, which took my mind off the fact that Phyllis was missing.
Sunday was a different matter. Dad spent most of the day at his computer. He moaned that Mum had left bits of green paper on the floor and he didn’t say much other than “yes, please” and “no, thanks”. It was a strange day. I asked Mum if there was a full moon, as apparently full moons can make people moody, but she said no and not to worry. Dad was just tired. So I stopped thinking about it and concentrated on what Adi and I were going to do.
Just before bedtime on Sunday, I noticed a little note that had come through the front door in an envelope that just said Rosemary on the front. It was from Adi, and in his scrawling, crazy handwriting it said:
Telegram:
Good news stop Magic at the ready stop
Hold on to your hat stop Adi stop
I didn’t have a hat, but who cares! We were on!
9
Magical Maths
I woke early and could hear movement downstairs already, even though the time on my clock said 6:30am. Of course! It was Mum’s first day in her new job. As I hauled myself out of bed, I realised excitedly that I had almost forgotten about Adi’s note last night.
I crept into the kitchen and, as I thought, Mum was pottering downstairs in her dressing gown, her face already made up, complete with “eight-hour cream” on the lips, which smelt awful. She only wore it now when she was in a mood with Dad, as he always refused to kiss her when she was wearing it cos he said it smelt “like sick”.
“Who’s picking us up from school today, Mum?” I was dreading the answer really.
“Frances, my love, today and tomorrow, and then Uncle Vic is doing the rest of the week, I think.”
I finished my croissant with a tickly butterfly feeling in my tummy. I was nervous about the day ahead. Anxious for what Adi and I were going to attempt to do later and anxious for my mum whose colours were bright, pulsating, and making little zippy noises, like mini rockets going off.
I began to try to work out a plan for how and when Adi and I would be able to try getting through the portal. It would be tricky after school with Frances here fussing about. Also, Lois would want to play with us and there was NO WAY I was taking my little sister through with me.
I could hear movement from upstairs. Lois was trundling down the stairs followed by Dad, who had dark shadows under his eyes and looked exhausted. Lois on the other hand was full of energy, still frantically sucking her dummy, which Dad was trying to prise off her.
“Come on, take that plug out your mouth, madam. You know it’s supposed to be left upstairs.”
Mum appeared at the kitchen doorway looking like she’d really made an effort.
Even Dad said, “You look nice, love.” I could tell he meant it because white air came out of his mouth as he exhaled.
He even patted her on the arm as he went upstairs to get ready. “Good luck today, love, you’ll be fine I’m sure.”
He leaned in for a little kiss, which I knew Mum would appreciate. “Urghhh, you’ve got that horrible stuff on your lips again.” And he leaned out again before she got her kiss.
Mum just rolled her eyes in an exasperated fashion and told us to hurry up and get ready for school.
“Good luck today, Mum,” I said as I hugged her and kissed her cheek. “You’ll be great.”
She gave me a tight smile. “I’ll be glad when this first day is over. The first day is always the worst, isn’t it, darling…?”
After she dropped us off at school, I watched Mum thread her way through the scores of parents, her big black bag full of notepad, script, sandwiches, and coffee flask flung over her shoulder, obliviously hitting unsuspecting latecomers as they rushed past her.
I barely saw Adi all day apart from to warn him we were being collected by the dreaded Frances, so to keep an eye out. I would give him the thumbs up if it was okay to come to ours straight after school and the thumbs down if it was clear we weren’t going to be able to distract her.
Once the bell had gone, I could see Adi out the corner of my eye loitering. He had special permission to walk home, as he only lived across the road from the school, so he was lucky he didn’t have to wait for anyone to collect him. His parents worked long hours, so he had his own key. Mum said I can only have my own key once I’m in high school, so seeing as I’m only in Year 5 I’ve got a while to wait yet.
Adi kept his front-door key on a piece of blue nylon string attached to his loops on his trousers. Murray and his friend Dan, who we called Daredevil Dan cos nothing was too big a dare for him, were always trying to find a way to pinch Adi’s key off of his trousers during PE. They would pretend to be really slow at getting changed and then Mr Ross, the PE teacher, would find them in the boys’ toilets trying to flush it down the loo. All they did was constantly block up the toilet and poor Adi had to take wringing wet trousers home so he could get in his front door. Adi just ignored their antics. He was dead brave. I think I would have burst into tears.
So, there I was waiting for Frances, thinking to myself that she would be longer than usual as she would be collecting Lois first. Then I saw my little sister dawdling toward me with her friend Daisy and her mum.