Over The Rainbow (2 page)

But from up on the rainbow,
Rainbowville.
actually looked very modern. All the fairies seemed to be wearing very trendy clothes. There wasn't a tutu in sight!

Some of them weren't even flying, but riding on skateboards – in mid-air!

I wish I had my skateboard,
thought Elly wistfully. Her skateboard was her favourite way to get around, but now it was back on the other side of the rainbow.

And I wish Jess were here.
Jess was Elly's human friend. She lived next door to Elly's family in Raspberry Drive, and was always interested in Elly's fairy gadgets. Elly knew Jess would be fascinated by Rainbowville.

Saphie would like it here too, I bet!
thought Elly. Saphie was Elly's best fairy friend at Mossy Blossom. Unfortunately, just like Jess, Saphie was now far away on the other side of the rainbow.

Suddenly, Elly really missed her friends. Coming to Rainbowville would have been a great adventure if her friends were with her, too. But being here with Grandmother wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

‘Get ready to land, Elinora!' called Grandmother suddenly.

The ground seemed to be heading towards them at an alarming rate.
We're going to crash!
Elly thought.

But just as they reached the end of the rainbow, they slowed down and plopped gently into a large, golden pot full of comfy cushions. A rainbow-coloured mist swirled around them.

‘Is this the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that humans are always talking about?' asked Elly.

‘Indeed,' replied Grandmother, tucking the rainbow umbrella under her arm and flying neatly out of the pot. ‘But as usual, the humans got it completely wrong. As you can see, it's really a pot
made
of gold, rather than a pot
full of
gold.'

Elly caught sight of a small pipe sticking up through the base of the pot. The rainbow-coloured mist seemed to be coming out of it.

‘Grandmother, where does that pipe lead to?' Elly asked curiously.

Grandmother frowned. ‘You ask too many questions, Elinora,' she said. ‘But if you
must
know, it leads to the Rainbow Laboratory. That's where the rainbow is made.'

R
A
I
N
BO
W F
A
CTS

    The rainbow is a bridge between
    the human and fairy realms.

    At the end is a pot made of gold,
    rather than a pot full of gold.

The rainbow-coloured mist is made
    at the Rainbow Laboratory.

‘Really!' said Elly. ‘Can we have a look?'

‘Certainly not!' said Grandmother briskly. ‘The Rainbow Laboratory is top secret. Unlicensed fairies are not allowed in. Now come along and stop dawdling.'

Elly untucked her wings and flew out of the pot, landing beside her grandmother.
I wish I could explore Rainbowville by myself,
thought Elly longingly.

Then she heard a strange, whirring noise above her. Looking up, she saw what seemed to be a large pen, scribbling in the sky. Large cloud-like letters were forming as it wrote.

Elly's mouth fell open when she saw what the letters spelt. ‘Grandmother!' she gasped. ‘That giant pen wrote our names in the sky!'

‘It's not a giant pen, Elinora,' Grandmother corrected. ‘It's a Cloud Writer. It writes the name of anyone who enters or leaves Rainbowville. It's to make sure no humans wander through accidentally. And it's also a way of stopping young fairies from sneaking out. Unlicensed fairies like yourself aren't allowed out of Rainbowville unsupervised.'

Elly gulped. That meant she was trapped here! ‘How does it know who I am?' she asked.

‘Because of the Sky Scanner, of course,' said Grandmother crossly, as if Elly should know all about it. ‘It watches to see whoever is entering or exiting Rainbowville. Then it scans them to discover their identity. The visitor's name is sent straight to the Cloud Writer.'

Elly watched as a breeze blew and the cloud writing disappeared. Then she gave an enormous yawn. ‘Excuse me, Grandmother,' she said hurriedly, because Grandmother thought yawning was very rude. ‘Suddenly I feel incredibly tired.'

‘Well, of course you do!' Grandmother replied. ‘Human time and fairy time is different. One fairy day equals a whole week in human time.' Then she grasped Elly firmly by the wrist. ‘Come along. The sooner we get you settled into your new school the better.'

‘Is it far?' asked Elly, feeling nervous.

‘Not far at all,' said Grandmother. ‘Turn around.'

Elly turned. Behind them was a vast building, glowing and twinkling like a jewel. It changed colours, too. One moment it was pink, then it was turquoise, then silvery-blue.

‘It's so beautiful!' said Elly, surprised. She hadn't thought the school would look like
this
.

‘Of course!' said Grandmother. ‘It's the Rainbow Academy for Fairies, after all – the finest and most prestigious school in all of Rainbowville. I went there and so did your mother. And now you are going there. I hope you will add further glory to the
Knottleweed
-Eversprightly
name.'

‘Er, well … I'll do my best,' said Elly uncertainly. She didn't exactly have a great record of doing well at fairy schools.

‘I certainly hope you will,' replied Grandmother crisply, turning towards the school's arched front gates.

Elly looked up. The sky was getting dark. All around her, fairies were hurrying home for the night. ‘Excuse me, Grandmother, but isn't it a bit late to be going to school today? Everyone will have gone by now.'

‘I doubt that very much,' Grandmother retorted. ‘The Rainbow Academy is a boarding school, after all.'

Elly stared at her grandmother in horror. ‘A
boarding
school!' she exclaimed. ‘You didn't tell me that!'

Grandmother turned to Elly and raised an eyebrow. ‘You don't have to go there if you don't want to, Elinora,' she said.

‘Really?' asked Elly suspiciously.

‘Of course not,' said Grandmother. ‘You can always be tutored privately by me. Classes would run from 7am to 7pm everyday, with a 15-minute break for lunch. Every month or so you could have a half-day off.'

Elly gulped and began flying towards the Rainbow Academy. ‘Come on, Grandmother,' she said quickly. ‘We'd better get there as soon as we can!'

I'm sure mum and dad will come and get me before too long,
Elly told herself.
I just hope that it's sooner rather than later …

Chapter Three

S
oon Elly and Grandmother were flying through the rainbow-shaped gates of the Academy and up to the front door. Up close, the whole building was slightly see-through, as if it were made entirely of crystals. Elly could see figures moving about inside.

Grandmother rang the doorbell and a moment later it was opened by an elegant fairy with grey wings and a tower of white hair piled high on her head.

At first the fairy looked stern, but her face broke into smiles when she saw Grandmother. ‘Fifibella   
Knottleweed-Eversprightly!'   she
exclaimed. ‘How lovely to see you!'

‘Emerelda Fernyfrond, my dear,' replied Grandmother warmly. ‘You look wonderful!'

Elly was surprised. Grandmother hardly ever smiled.

‘Madame Fernyfrond and I were students together at the Academy, Elly,' explained Grandmother. ‘Now she's the Head Fairy here.'

Grandmother turned back to Madame Fernyfrond. ‘This is my grand-daughter, Elinora. I'm hoping you have room for her, Emmy.'

Madame Fernyfrond studied Elly, and Elly suddenly felt very self-conscious. She remembered the smudge of ink on her nose, and her messy hair. If Madame Fernyfrond was anything like Grandmother, these were things she would disapprove of highly.

But Madame Fernyfrond smiled. ‘There's always room for a
Knottleweed-Eversprightly
at Rainbow Academy,' she said.
‘You have
a big reputation to live up to here, Elinora,' she added, patting Elly's shoulder. ‘Your mother finished top of her class. And your grand-mother is one of our most famous graduates.'

‘Elinora has picked up some very bad habits from humans,' said Grandmother disapprovingly. ‘I'm hoping you can help turn her into a proper fairy.'

‘I understand completely,' nodded Madame Fernyfrond. ‘My own grand-daughter has just started here as well. I suspect she's also spent far too long around humans, and has started to go quite wild! She's quite badly behaved and dreadfully rude. Those human children are such a bad influence.'

‘Exactly,' agreed Grandmother. ‘Which is why I knew Rainbow Academy would be the perfect place to put Elinora on the right path.'

‘I will certainly do my best,' said Madame Fernyfrond. ‘Elinora can share a dormitory with my grand-daughter. That way I can keep a special eye on the two of them.'

Elly's heart sank. She didn't want to share with Madame Fernyfrond's rude, badly behaved grand-daughter. And she hated the idea of having a ‘special eye' kept on her.

But Elly knew that if she complained, she would end up being privately tutored by Grandmother!

‘Come inside,' said Madame Fernyfrond. ‘I'll show you to your dormitory. My grand-daughter can give you a tour of the school. Are you coming, Fifi?'

‘Thank you Emmy, but I must fly,' said Grandmother. Then she looked sternly at Elly. ‘Elinora, I hope you will make the most of this wonderful opportunity. Make sure you do everything Madame Fernyfrond tells you.'

‘Yes, Grandmother,' replied Elly politely.

It wasn't until after Grandmother had flown away that Elly noticed something lying on the ground. It was the rainbow umbrella!

Grandmother must have dropped it,
thought Elly, picking it up.

She put the umbrella in her backpack.
I'll give it back to Grandmother next time I see her,
she decided.

‘Here, Elinora. Take this,' said Madame Fernyfrond, handing her what looked like an ordinary ruler.

‘It's the Rainbow Academy Rule-Ruler. New pupils must carry it around until they learn all the school rules. You should start listening straight away, Elinora, as there are quite a few.'

‘Rule number one,' said the Rule-Ruler in a prim little voice. ‘You must learn all the rules off by heart.'

Madame Fernyfrond turned and headed down the corridor. ‘Come along!' she called.

Elly had to fly to catch up with her.

‘Rule number seven,' said the Ruler. ‘No flying indoors.'

Hastily, Elly dropped to the ground. But the floor was so slippery that she fell over.

‘Rule number 53,' said the Ruler instantly.

‘No falling over.'

Elly stood up, sighing.

‘Rule number 849,' said the Ruler. ‘No sighing.'

Elly glared at the Ruler. ‘You're just making these rules up as we go along!' she muttered. ‘I wonder if I could just accidentally-on-purpose lose you somewhere?'