Jade and the Surprise Party (5 page)

“With a wham, a shazzam and a flash, take me to the square!

Bettina will snap the people, and make them stop and stare! Ha ha ha!

Then the carriage disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Jade clambered down from the White Cat’s shoulders. “Oh, White Cat, did you hear that? The Wicked Fairy is going to pretend to be Bettina again, and trick everyone just like she tricked us!” Jade’s voice was trembling. “She’s going to turn them all into statues! We’ve got to stop her!”

The White Cat had been shaking his head in despair when suddenly he sprung up, full of life. Jumping into the air, he criss-crossed
his ankles six times before landing lightly and breaking into a grin. “I’ve got it!”

“What?”

“The answer! There’s a special dance that can be performed to summon the swans. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”

“You mean you can do this dance and the swans’ll fly here to rescue us?” Jade could feel her excitement mounting. At last, a ray of hope.

“Well… almost,” said the White Cat. “But the trouble is, cats can’t do bird dances in Enchantia. The magic won’t work. But I can teach
you
how to do the
dance! And
you
can summon the swans!”

Jade felt her hope dissolving a little. What if she couldn’t manage the dance? But then she jutted out her jaw. She had to at least give it a try. “OK, Cat!” she said firmly. “Show me how it goes!”

The White Cat raised his arms slowly through first position to fifth then opened out to second. Jade copied him, so far so good. But then his feet began a series of complicated steps and Jade gulped.

“Can you show me that bit again, please?” she said.

The White Cat repeated the sequence and went on a little further. “OK? Got
that?” He carried on moving through the steps as he talked, and in the end Jade was in a complete muddle.

“Sorry, White Cat,” she said in a small voice. “I can’t keep up when you go so quickly.”

“No, no, my fault entirely! I must learn to slow down!”

But the next time he showed Jade the steps, he went just as fast. “There! Got it now?”

Jade shook her head miserably.

“No, no! My fault again. Absolutely! Right, one step at a time.”

A few minutes later, after a great deal of concentration, Jade thought she had finally learned the steps. She took a deep breath then stood right in the centre of the tower. Waiting until she could hear the music inside her head, she began to dance.

In no time at all, the music grew louder and Jade was dancing with all her heart. As she sank into the final position, with her arms softly crossed at the wrists, she
heard a noise from outside the window. A flapping of wings.

“You’ve done it! They’re here!” cried the White Cat.

Jade looked up and gasped. A white swan had alighted on the stone window ledge. And against the blue sky she could see the beating wings of another swan just behind.

“Sabrina! Sahara!” the White Cat called. “We’re in here!”

The ride on the back of the swans was magical. Jade was on Sahara’s back, and the White Cat was on Sabrina’s. The Land of Enchantia lay beneath them like a patchwork quilt as the two swans glided smoothly through the bright sky.

The church clock was just striking five as they were set down outside Red Riding Hood’s cottage. Jade and the White Cat thanked the swans and waved them off as they flew back to their distant lake.

The White Cat was staring around. “It’s very quiet,” he said, his brow furrowed.

Jade’s heart fluttered with worry when she thought about what the Wicked Fairy
could have done. What if Red Riding Hood and all the guests were statues? She looked at the White Cat’s grave face and guessed he was thinking the same thing.

Without a word they made for the front door. But they’d hardly taken a step when a loud noise pierced the silence.

They turned round to see a black carriage, pulled by two rats, hurtling round the bend.

“Quick!” cried the White Cat. “Don’t let her see you!”

He pulled Jade down behind the fence around Red Riding Hood’s cottage and seconds later the carriage thundered past.
Jade couldn’t help peeping over the top and caught a glimpse of the Wicked Fairy’s scrawny neck and pointed chin. Her face was screwed up in a look of triumph. “Ha! My work here is done! Take me home, Rats. I can’t wait to tell my prisoners!”

Jade felt a shiver run down her spine as she and the White Cat slowly straightened up and looked at each other despairingly.

“What do you think she meant about her work being done?” Jade asked in a small voice, although she knew the answer already. “She’s turned everyone into a statue, hasn’t she?”

The White Cat nodded glumly, but then suddenly sprang into action. “We have to find the Lilac Fairy. It’s our last hope. She’s the only one with enough magical powers to bring the statues back to life.”

“Right,” said Jade, catching some of her friend’s energy.

Together they hurried to Lila’s cottage.

But there was no sign of her.

Of course! thought Jade, She’ll be in the Land of Sweets, getting ready for the party. But how I can tell the White Cat that without giving the game away?

“Er… actually,” she began hesitantly, “I think I remember Lila saying something about visiting the Land of Sweets this afternoon.”

A spark of hope came into the White Cat’s eyes. “In that case,” he replied, “get ready to jump into the magic ring!”

He swished his tail in a glittering circle and it lifted them both up in a billow of sparkles.

A moment later they were standing in the Land of Sweets.

Now where is the Marshmallow Palace?
Jade thought. She needed the White Cat’s help. She didn’t want to give anything away, but this was more important.

“Er, Lila mentioned a palace or a grand mansion or something. I’m afraid I can’t remember the name of it, though.”

“Oh, right,” said the White Cat, knitting his eyebrows. “Let me see, was it the Grand Palace?”

Jade shook her head.

“The Chocolate Palace?”

“No…”

“The Marzipan Mansion?”

“I don’t think so…”

“The
Marshmallow Palace?”

Jade detected a glint in the White Cat’s eye. “Yes, that was it! The Marshmallow Palace!” she said.

“My favourite,” he said, whipping his tail around smartly. “Let’s be on our way!”

They were set down only seconds later right outside the Marshmallow Palace. And now Jade had another problem. If the White Cat went inside he would see the party preparations. And he was already marching on ahead.

“Er… White Cat, I think one of us should stay here and watch out for the Wicked Fairy!” she gabbled. “It would be awful if she came back. I’ll go and look for Lila.”

The White Cat looked a bit confused, but Jade rushed past him and into the palace before he could protest.

The grand reception hall had already been decorated with hundreds of white and gold balloons. Over the door to the ballroom, in giant gold letters it said
Happy Birthday, dear White Cat
.

Jade wished she had time to appreciate it, but she had to find Lila as quickly as possible. Pushing back the door to the
ballroom, she could hardly believe her eyes. The ceiling sparkled, the walls glittered, the floor gleamed and the pillars glistened. There were buttercup garlands and streamers of daisy chains everywhere. But that wasn’t all. Amongst the splendour was something that sent a shiver down her spine…