The Shop-Witch's Quest, page 3
“OK,” said Aliya. “I can do that … I think. First, it says two teaspoons of frogsweat.”
Laurel nodded. “Great. Can you hand me a teaspoon, please?”
Aliya handed her a spoon from a small pile.
“That’s actually a tablespoon,” Laurel explained.
“Oh no!” said Aliya. “I didn’t know they were different – sorry.”
“That’s OK,” said Laurel as Aliya handed her another spoon. “Perfect!”
“What would happen if we had added two tablespoons instead of two teaspoons?” asked Aliya.
“Erm, we would have made a very strong sleeping potion. This one’s just supposed to keep you calm.”
After that, they added lavender, spider silk and morning dew, all of which had their own magic. While they worked, Bedlam slept curled up next to the fire. And after an hour or two of carefully watching the spoon, Laurel and Aliya were done.
“Let’s give it a test, shall we?” said Celeste with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “Now, if you put me to sleep by mistake, make sure the rest of my potions are OK.”
Aliya looked terrified again, and Laurel’s stomach fluttered with nerves. Sending Celeste to sleep was a horrible thought. What if they’d made a mistake when they were measuring the potion ingredients? Laurel was always rushing her spells and potions, but she’d been extra-careful today.
“That was a joke,” said Celeste. “A bad one. Sorry.” She took a sip of the potion and grinned. “Almost perfect! Just a little bit more morning dew to loosen up the mix …”
Once they were done, Celeste handed them a bag of stardust and waved goodbye. As they went back to find Phoenix, Aliya didn’t say much.
“Are you OK?” asked Laurel. “I know a bag of stardust isn’t as exciting as dragon treasure, but we did it! Now you can go on your quest.”
“It’s not that,” said Aliya, turning back to Laurel. “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done to help me, and this was exciting. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about yesterday. I was bossy and rude, and I didn’t understand how hard all of you witches have to work.”
“Oh,” said Laurel. She was surprised that Aliya was saying sorry, but she was glad that Aliya had got to see how things were for Laurel. “That’s OK. I could tell you were really stressed about your quest.”
“Thank you,” said Aliya. “Both of my parents and my brothers finished their first quests when they were the same age as me. And they expect me to do the same. I don’t want to let them down.”
Laurel understood what she was saying. Since Aliya had shared her worries with her, Laurel thought she’d do the same. She told Aliya about her parents’ shop and how she wanted to save it.
“Well, now I’m really sorry,” said Aliya. “I had no idea.”
Laurel shrugged. “Why would you? Heroes are always the ones people want to hear about. They forget that everyone else has their own story too.”
Aliya sighed. “All I really want to do is spend time with Phoenix, going on long horse rides where we get to explore. That’s the part I love.”
“You’ll be able to do that,” said Laurel, encouraging her. “And you’ll be great at the rest of it too, I’m sure. What other hero can say they flew in a magic boat and mixed a potion?”
Aliya laughed. “You’re right. And what other witch can say she rode a hero’s horse and went on her very own quest?”
It was sunset by the time they got back to the smith-witch’s workshop. She promised to make Aliya’s armour overnight, ready for her to set off on her quest in the morning.
Laurel went back to the shop to collect the rest of Aliya’s things, while Aliya put Phoenix to bed back at the Croaking Frog Inn.
“Where have you been?” Laurel’s mum asked as soon as she walked through the door.
“Everywhere!” said Laurel, and she told her parents about her day.
“You made a potion?!” said her father. “And it worked?”
Laurel nodded. “I did! And I saw the dragon crossing up close. And nothing bad happened – no accidents or anything.” She added the second bit to make sure her parents didn’t ask too many questions. Or else she’d have to tell them how she fell off the boat.
“Well, actually—” began Bedlam, but Laurel picked him up and gave him a great big cuddle so he couldn’t finish what he was saying and get her into trouble. Having a familiar was fun most of the time, but sometimes it was like having a tiny grown-up bossing you around.
“Well, I’m glad you had fun,” said Laurel’s mum. “But promise you’ll tell us where you are next time, please? We were worried about you. You don’t often go out for that long.”
“Or leave the house so early in the morning,” said her dad.
Laurel laughed. “I promise.”
“Tell them,” said Bedlam as he jumped up on the counter.
“Tell us what?” asked Laurel’s dad, frowning. He was mopping the floor, ready to close up the shop for the evening.
“The hero, Aliya, didn’t want to buy any of the items when Laurel couldn’t get her the armour. But Laurel heard what you said last night about the shop, so she wanted to find another way to get the armour and sell the hero all the things on her list. That’s why she’s been out all day.”
“Tell-tale,” said Laurel, and she made a face at Bedlam.
“Oh, Laurel,” said her mum softly. “It’s our job to look after the shop. Not yours.”
“It’s my shop too,” muttered Laurel. “I don’t want to lose it.”
“We won’t lose it,” her father promised.
Laurel wasn’t sure believed him, but she was glad her parents didn’t put pressure on her the way Aliya’s did. After everything that had happened today, she realised she quite liked being a shop-witch.
“OK,” she said. “I’m going to drop all of this off to Aliya now.”
“Why don’t you ask her over for dinner?” said her mum. “She must be lonely, away from her family.”
*
“Thank you again, Laurel,” said Aliya. “I’d love to come over, but I need to clean Phoenix’s stall. I won’t be done for another hour or more.”
Laurel peered into the stall. It was full of piles of dung and muddy grass. “I can clean this up easily with magic,” she said.
“Don’t!” said Bedlam. “You’ve done so well today – let’s not mess it up now.”
Laurel ignored him as she muttered the same spell she’d used the time she’d got rid of her father’s eyebrows by mistake. This time it worked perfectly! The dung vanished and the stall was clean and tidy. Aliya added some fresh hay and water for Phoenix to enjoy.
“See,” Laurel said to Bedlam. “I can do magic.”
Laurel, Bedlam and Aliya headed back to Laurel’s house soon after, where her parents had cooked up a feast. Afterwards, they played games together and drank as much hot chocolate as they wanted.
When it came to saying goodbye, Laurel knew she’d made a new friend.
“Promise you’ll come by and visit in between all of your quests?” she said to Aliya.
“I promise!” said Aliya. “And anyway, who else would I trust with my shopping lists?”
1 Week Later
Once Upon a Quest is thrilled to get this exclusive interview with an exciting new hero, Aliya, who has just returned from her very first quest with her noble steed, Phoenix.
Q: Aliya – you managed to get back the stolen dragon treasure all by yourself, and during a dragon crossing no less! Can you tell us how you did that?
A: Well, I actually didn’t do it on my own. Not really …
Q: You didn’t? Tell us more!
A: I wouldn’t have even got started without the help of my friend, a shop-witch called Laurel, and all of the other witches from her village. It all began when I walked into Witch Wares Emporium in Elfingham. I couldn’t get any of the things I needed for my quest. But like a real hero, Laurel stepped in to save the day …
Laurel grinned at the interview in the magazine while she stood behind the counter waiting for customers. She couldn’t believe Aliya had talked about her and the shop!
Just then, the bell rang and someone walked in. It was Agatha.
“Hi, Agatha,” Laurel said with a big smile.
“Hello, Laurel,” said Agatha. She didn’t seem happy to find Laurel in the shop again instead of her parents.
“We got some of that cauldron polish for you,” Laurel said.
“Oh,” said Agatha. “Well, you should have had it anyway – it’s a basic item, you know?”
Laurel sighed. She thought for a moment about putting a bad spell on Agatha like she had last time, but she decided to be nice instead. “How’s your week been?” she asked.
“Just fine, thank you. But guess what happened to me last Sunday?”
“What?” said Laurel as she put the tin of cauldron polish on the counter.
“I was sitting in my garden, enjoying a nice cup of tea after I’d just finished my dinner, when this enormous pile of horse dung plopped down in front of me – out of nowhere.”
“Oh …” said Laurel, her cheeks turning hot. She was pretty sure the dung Agatha was talking about was the same dung she’d magicked away from Phoenix’s stable. She must have sent it to Agatha’s garden! “Did you get any of it on yourself?”
“Yes, I did,” said Agatha, scrunching up her nose. “I had to throw out my favourite cloak. But I used the rest of it on my plants, and they’ve never looked so healthy!”
Laurel tried her best not to laugh as she rang up Agatha’s cauldron polish and waved goodbye.
She expected the shop to be empty for the rest of the morning, as it had been for weeks now. But the oddest thing happened – five minutes later the bell rang. Then it rang again and again and again. Thanks to Aliya’s interview in Once Upon a Quest, Witch Wares Emporium was busy all day long!
“So,” said Laurel, when she and Bedlam had just finished serving a rush of customers, “do you still want to be the inn-witch’s familiar instead?”
“No,” Bedlam said, licking his paws before he settled down for a long rest. “I like you, Laurel, even when you’re bad at spells.”
“I like you too,” said Laurel. “Even when you’re bossing me around.”
Laurel might not be able to go on exciting quests like heroes did, but she thought she’d much rather have the adventure of being a shop-witch after all.
Our books are tested
for children and young people by
children and young people.
Thanks to everyone who consulted on
a manuscript for their time and effort in
helping us to make our books better
for our readers.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
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HarperCollins Canada
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A75, Sector 57
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201 301, India
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Aisha Bushby, The Shop-Witch's Quest
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Laurel nodded. “Great. Can you hand me a teaspoon, please?”
Aliya handed her a spoon from a small pile.
“That’s actually a tablespoon,” Laurel explained.
“Oh no!” said Aliya. “I didn’t know they were different – sorry.”
“That’s OK,” said Laurel as Aliya handed her another spoon. “Perfect!”
“What would happen if we had added two tablespoons instead of two teaspoons?” asked Aliya.
“Erm, we would have made a very strong sleeping potion. This one’s just supposed to keep you calm.”
After that, they added lavender, spider silk and morning dew, all of which had their own magic. While they worked, Bedlam slept curled up next to the fire. And after an hour or two of carefully watching the spoon, Laurel and Aliya were done.
“Let’s give it a test, shall we?” said Celeste with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “Now, if you put me to sleep by mistake, make sure the rest of my potions are OK.”
Aliya looked terrified again, and Laurel’s stomach fluttered with nerves. Sending Celeste to sleep was a horrible thought. What if they’d made a mistake when they were measuring the potion ingredients? Laurel was always rushing her spells and potions, but she’d been extra-careful today.
“That was a joke,” said Celeste. “A bad one. Sorry.” She took a sip of the potion and grinned. “Almost perfect! Just a little bit more morning dew to loosen up the mix …”
Once they were done, Celeste handed them a bag of stardust and waved goodbye. As they went back to find Phoenix, Aliya didn’t say much.
“Are you OK?” asked Laurel. “I know a bag of stardust isn’t as exciting as dragon treasure, but we did it! Now you can go on your quest.”
“It’s not that,” said Aliya, turning back to Laurel. “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done to help me, and this was exciting. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about yesterday. I was bossy and rude, and I didn’t understand how hard all of you witches have to work.”
“Oh,” said Laurel. She was surprised that Aliya was saying sorry, but she was glad that Aliya had got to see how things were for Laurel. “That’s OK. I could tell you were really stressed about your quest.”
“Thank you,” said Aliya. “Both of my parents and my brothers finished their first quests when they were the same age as me. And they expect me to do the same. I don’t want to let them down.”
Laurel understood what she was saying. Since Aliya had shared her worries with her, Laurel thought she’d do the same. She told Aliya about her parents’ shop and how she wanted to save it.
“Well, now I’m really sorry,” said Aliya. “I had no idea.”
Laurel shrugged. “Why would you? Heroes are always the ones people want to hear about. They forget that everyone else has their own story too.”
Aliya sighed. “All I really want to do is spend time with Phoenix, going on long horse rides where we get to explore. That’s the part I love.”
“You’ll be able to do that,” said Laurel, encouraging her. “And you’ll be great at the rest of it too, I’m sure. What other hero can say they flew in a magic boat and mixed a potion?”
Aliya laughed. “You’re right. And what other witch can say she rode a hero’s horse and went on her very own quest?”
It was sunset by the time they got back to the smith-witch’s workshop. She promised to make Aliya’s armour overnight, ready for her to set off on her quest in the morning.
Laurel went back to the shop to collect the rest of Aliya’s things, while Aliya put Phoenix to bed back at the Croaking Frog Inn.
“Where have you been?” Laurel’s mum asked as soon as she walked through the door.
“Everywhere!” said Laurel, and she told her parents about her day.
“You made a potion?!” said her father. “And it worked?”
Laurel nodded. “I did! And I saw the dragon crossing up close. And nothing bad happened – no accidents or anything.” She added the second bit to make sure her parents didn’t ask too many questions. Or else she’d have to tell them how she fell off the boat.
“Well, actually—” began Bedlam, but Laurel picked him up and gave him a great big cuddle so he couldn’t finish what he was saying and get her into trouble. Having a familiar was fun most of the time, but sometimes it was like having a tiny grown-up bossing you around.
“Well, I’m glad you had fun,” said Laurel’s mum. “But promise you’ll tell us where you are next time, please? We were worried about you. You don’t often go out for that long.”
“Or leave the house so early in the morning,” said her dad.
Laurel laughed. “I promise.”
“Tell them,” said Bedlam as he jumped up on the counter.
“Tell us what?” asked Laurel’s dad, frowning. He was mopping the floor, ready to close up the shop for the evening.
“The hero, Aliya, didn’t want to buy any of the items when Laurel couldn’t get her the armour. But Laurel heard what you said last night about the shop, so she wanted to find another way to get the armour and sell the hero all the things on her list. That’s why she’s been out all day.”
“Tell-tale,” said Laurel, and she made a face at Bedlam.
“Oh, Laurel,” said her mum softly. “It’s our job to look after the shop. Not yours.”
“It’s my shop too,” muttered Laurel. “I don’t want to lose it.”
“We won’t lose it,” her father promised.
Laurel wasn’t sure believed him, but she was glad her parents didn’t put pressure on her the way Aliya’s did. After everything that had happened today, she realised she quite liked being a shop-witch.
“OK,” she said. “I’m going to drop all of this off to Aliya now.”
“Why don’t you ask her over for dinner?” said her mum. “She must be lonely, away from her family.”
*
“Thank you again, Laurel,” said Aliya. “I’d love to come over, but I need to clean Phoenix’s stall. I won’t be done for another hour or more.”
Laurel peered into the stall. It was full of piles of dung and muddy grass. “I can clean this up easily with magic,” she said.
“Don’t!” said Bedlam. “You’ve done so well today – let’s not mess it up now.”
Laurel ignored him as she muttered the same spell she’d used the time she’d got rid of her father’s eyebrows by mistake. This time it worked perfectly! The dung vanished and the stall was clean and tidy. Aliya added some fresh hay and water for Phoenix to enjoy.
“See,” Laurel said to Bedlam. “I can do magic.”
Laurel, Bedlam and Aliya headed back to Laurel’s house soon after, where her parents had cooked up a feast. Afterwards, they played games together and drank as much hot chocolate as they wanted.
When it came to saying goodbye, Laurel knew she’d made a new friend.
“Promise you’ll come by and visit in between all of your quests?” she said to Aliya.
“I promise!” said Aliya. “And anyway, who else would I trust with my shopping lists?”
1 Week Later
Once Upon a Quest is thrilled to get this exclusive interview with an exciting new hero, Aliya, who has just returned from her very first quest with her noble steed, Phoenix.
Q: Aliya – you managed to get back the stolen dragon treasure all by yourself, and during a dragon crossing no less! Can you tell us how you did that?
A: Well, I actually didn’t do it on my own. Not really …
Q: You didn’t? Tell us more!
A: I wouldn’t have even got started without the help of my friend, a shop-witch called Laurel, and all of the other witches from her village. It all began when I walked into Witch Wares Emporium in Elfingham. I couldn’t get any of the things I needed for my quest. But like a real hero, Laurel stepped in to save the day …
Laurel grinned at the interview in the magazine while she stood behind the counter waiting for customers. She couldn’t believe Aliya had talked about her and the shop!
Just then, the bell rang and someone walked in. It was Agatha.
“Hi, Agatha,” Laurel said with a big smile.
“Hello, Laurel,” said Agatha. She didn’t seem happy to find Laurel in the shop again instead of her parents.
“We got some of that cauldron polish for you,” Laurel said.
“Oh,” said Agatha. “Well, you should have had it anyway – it’s a basic item, you know?”
Laurel sighed. She thought for a moment about putting a bad spell on Agatha like she had last time, but she decided to be nice instead. “How’s your week been?” she asked.
“Just fine, thank you. But guess what happened to me last Sunday?”
“What?” said Laurel as she put the tin of cauldron polish on the counter.
“I was sitting in my garden, enjoying a nice cup of tea after I’d just finished my dinner, when this enormous pile of horse dung plopped down in front of me – out of nowhere.”
“Oh …” said Laurel, her cheeks turning hot. She was pretty sure the dung Agatha was talking about was the same dung she’d magicked away from Phoenix’s stable. She must have sent it to Agatha’s garden! “Did you get any of it on yourself?”
“Yes, I did,” said Agatha, scrunching up her nose. “I had to throw out my favourite cloak. But I used the rest of it on my plants, and they’ve never looked so healthy!”
Laurel tried her best not to laugh as she rang up Agatha’s cauldron polish and waved goodbye.
She expected the shop to be empty for the rest of the morning, as it had been for weeks now. But the oddest thing happened – five minutes later the bell rang. Then it rang again and again and again. Thanks to Aliya’s interview in Once Upon a Quest, Witch Wares Emporium was busy all day long!
“So,” said Laurel, when she and Bedlam had just finished serving a rush of customers, “do you still want to be the inn-witch’s familiar instead?”
“No,” Bedlam said, licking his paws before he settled down for a long rest. “I like you, Laurel, even when you’re bad at spells.”
“I like you too,” said Laurel. “Even when you’re bossing me around.”
Laurel might not be able to go on exciting quests like heroes did, but she thought she’d much rather have the adventure of being a shop-witch after all.
Our books are tested
for children and young people by
children and young people.
Thanks to everyone who consulted on
a manuscript for their time and effort in
helping us to make our books better
for our readers.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A75, Sector 57
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201 301, India
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Aisha Bushby, The Shop-Witch's Quest
