Over The Rainbow (7 page)

Elly and Saphie sneaked out of the dormitory and headed towards the Rainbow Laboratory. The corridors of the Academy were bathed in the soft, silvery light of the full moon.

It was so quiet that it made Elly jumpy. She was glad when they finally arrived at the gates. She kept expecting someone to leap out of the shadows and catch them!

But when Elly looked properly at the gates, she frowned. ‘Uh, Saph?' she said. ‘Any ideas on how we get past these?'

Saphie gave her a grin. ‘Yes, actually. I found another interesting book in the library a while back,' she said. Then she glanced at her watch, and whispered, ‘In exactly one minute, the full moon will have completely risen. Then, if the book was right, something pretty freaky will happen.'

‘What?' asked Elly, bursting with curiosity.

But Saphie shook her head. ‘Wait and see. You won't believe me if I tell you.'

Suddenly, the corridor was aglow with bright beams of moonlight.

Saphie grabbed Elly's hand. ‘Come on!' she whispered urgently. ‘We have to walk through the gates now, while the moon is at its brightest!'

Saphie started walking towards the gates, but Elly hesitated. ‘Saph, the gates are locked, remember?' she said, confused.

‘You have to trust me,' said Saphie softly. ‘I'll explain later.'

So Elly walked quickly towards the gate. She scrunched her eyes closed, waiting to crash into the metal bars. But no crash came.

‘It worked!' chuckled Saphie.

Elly opened her eyes and discovered, to her amazement, that they were now standing on the other side of the gate, at the top of the stairs. ‘Hang on,' she said. ‘What just happened?'

‘The gate is made from
moon metal
,' explained Saphie.

‘What's that?' asked Elly.

‘It's a fairy metal made from moonbeams,' explained Saphie. ‘Usually it's super strong. But on very bright full-moon nights, it turns back into beams of light – even though it still looks totally solid!'

Elly wasn't sure that she believed Saphie. She reached out for the gate, but again her hand went straight through it!

‘That's amazing!' she marvelled. ‘It's so lucky you read that book, Saph.'

‘I read everything. Even boring old books about gates,' laughed Saphie. ‘Come on. We'd better hurry!'

Elly and Saphie hurried down the narrow stairs into the darkness, towards the door of the Rainbow Lab. They didn't dare use a torch, in case someone walking past noticed the light. The further down the stairs they went, the darker things got. Elly was really glad that Saphie was there with her.

Gradually, Elly noticed a strange flickering light reflected on the walls. One moment it was red, then it was purple and then, almost as quickly, it changed to blue.

‘I think that's the rainbow we can see!' whispered Saphie excitedly. ‘It must be shining under the door of the Rainbow Lab.'

The lights became brighter and brighter as Elly and Saphie went further down the stairs, until the narrow stairwell glowed with colour.

‘I think we're near the entrance of the Rainbow Lab,' said Saphie, her eyes wide.

Elly felt shivery with excitement. ‘I can't believe we're about to see where the rainbow actually comes from!' she said.

‘Me neither!' said Saphie. Then suddenly, she stopped. ‘There's just one small problem.'

‘What?' asked Elly.

Saphie pointed. Up ahead was a very solid-looking door. ‘That,' she said.

Chapter Ten

E
lly put out her hand and grasped the small, golden handle on the door.
Please don't be locked!
she pleaded silently.

Then she turned the handle and, to her delight, the door swung open with a creak.

‘I don't believe it!' laughed Saphie.

‘Maybe I'm better at magic than you realise,' grinned Elly.

‘Maybe you're just lucky!' laughed Saphie.

Then they both crept into the Rainbow Laboratory. The Lab was very small. Its curved walls and ceiling were painted a deep blue, with shining stars sprinkled across it.

‘It's so weird to think that we're actually under the ground,' said Saphie.

‘I know!' agreed Elly. ‘All these stars make me feel like I'm floating in the sky.'

Near the door was what looked like a very high-tech golden telescope, poking out through the roof of the Laboratory.

‘That must be the Sky Scanner,' said Saphie. Then she grabbed Elly's arm and pointed. ‘Look!'

Elly looked where Saphie was pointing. In the middle of the room was a very simple, old-fashioned spinning wheel. Threaded across it was a length of material so fine and silky that it was almost transparent.

The fabric stretched up to the roof of the Laboratory and disappeared into a golden pipe in the centre of the ceiling. A fine mist of tiny multi-coloured raindrops hovered around the spinning wheel, sparkling and twinkling like a scattering of jewels.

‘The rainbow,' breathed Elly.

‘I can't believe we're actually looking at it
being made!
' said Saphie.

Elly longed to touch the beautiful fabric spinning around the wheel. It contained every colour Elly had ever seen, and some extra ones, too.

She had felt the rainbow, of course, when she slid over it into Rainbowville. But this new material looked different somehow. Elly's hand crept towards the spinning wheel, almost as if it had a mind of its own.

‘Elinora Knottleweed-Eversprightly!' said Saphie suddenly. ‘Stay away from that! The rainbow is very delicate when it's freshly spun. It's not until it reaches the outside air that it becomes hard enough to touch.'

Elly laughed guiltily. ‘You sounded like my grandmother then,' she said.

‘Sometimes I know just how she feels, having to keep an eye on you all the time!' grinned Saphie.

Saphie flipped open a panel on the Sky Scanner. Inside was a criss-crossing tumble of silver wires and flashing, beeping buttons. Saphie's face fell. ‘Uh-oh,' she said. ‘This is going to be more complicated than I thought. I'll probably need to re-do all this wiring. It's going to take a while to figure it out.'

‘Can I help?' asked Elly.

Saphie smiled. ‘Thanks, Elly,' she said. ‘But it'd probably be better if I try to sort it out myself.'

Elly knew what Saphie meant. It wasn't that Elly tried to cause disasters. They just seemed to find her, wherever she went!

Elly wandered over to the middle of the room and watched the rainbow spinner again.
I really want to touch that rainbow fabric,
thought Elly longingly. She glanced at Saphie. She was busily working on the Sky Scanner.

I'm sure it'd be OK, if I'm very careful,
decided Elly. Then she reached out her hand and gently touched the newly spun rainbow.

The rainbow was very sticky. So sticky, in fact, that it instantly stuck to Elly's fingers! Elly quickly pulled her hand away, trying not to rip the delicate fabric. With a thumping heart, she examined the multi-coloured fabric before it disappeared up through the pipe in the roof. Part of the red threads had become stuck to the orange threads.

I didn't make a hole in it, at least,
thought Elly, relieved. She shot a glance at Saphie, who was hunched over the Sky Scanner. Elly couldn't help feeling very glad her friend didn't know what she'd done!

I'd better move away from the rainbow so I don't touch it again,
decided Elly.

She hurried back over to where Saphie was still puzzling over the Sky Scanner controls. ‘How's it going?' she asked.

Saphie sat up and wiped some grease from her nose. ‘Not so well,' she admitted. ‘I can't work out which wires I need to swap. I wish I hadn't fallen asleep while reading that book.'

Elly looked over Saphie's shoulder, feeling worried. If Saphie couldn't work this out, the whole mission would have to be called off. Then suddenly, she noticed a big red button. On it was written,
Maintenance Mode
.

‘What does that button do?' Elly asked, pointing at it.

Saphie looked up. Then she burst out laughing. ‘I didn't notice that!' she said. ‘I've been wasting all this time worrying about wires when we can just push the button.'

‘You would've noticed it in the end,' said Elly kindly.

Saphie put her arm around Elly's shoulder. ‘You know, you really are an excellent fairy,' she said. ‘OK, so you have the occasional accident. But you always figure things out in the end. And you often do it in a much better way than anyone else.'

Elly went red. She was so used to being told how hopeless she was that it was kind of embarrassing to be told the opposite.

Saphie mightn't think I was such a great fairy if she'd seen what almost happened to the rainbow,
thought Elly guiltily.

Saphie pressed the button. Straight away, the Sky Scanner made a strange squealing sound, like a car screeching to a stop.

‘We've done it!' said Saphie excitedly. ‘It's in Maintenance Mode. But we've only got an hour to visit Jess and get back again, before the Sky Scanner turns back on automatically. We should be OK once we get over the rainbow, because of the time difference. But if we're not back here in time, our names will be written across the sky in red.'

Elly raced for the Laboratory door. ‘Well, come on then,' she called over her shoulder. ‘Let's get going!'

Elly and Saphie padded back up the dark stairwell as fast as they could, and pushed back through the moon-metal gate just as the bright moonlight began to fade. Then they glided back through the empty corridors towards the library.

As they zoomed past the sick bay, Elly's heart skipped a beat. She could've sworn she saw a small, dark shape scurry behind the door. But when she looked again, the shape wasn't there.

Stop imagining things!
she told herself severely.
Everyone is fast asleep!

Still, Elly was very glad when they finally reached the library door and sneaked inside.

Straight away, Saphie rushed to the broken window and started clearing the books from the window sill. Usually Saphie was very careful with books. But Elly could see that tonight she was hurrying.

A big, heavy book fell to the ground with a clatter. Elly and Saphie both froze. Had anyone heard?

‘Get ready to hide!' muttered Saphie. But no-one appeared. Elly sighed with relief, then hurried over to the broken window.

‘Quick! Put on your turbo boosters!' whispered Saphie.

‘Umm, are you sure that's a good idea?' Elly muttered back. ‘I didn't have a lot of success with them last time. Remember that whole zooming around upside-down episode?'

Saphie smiled. ‘This time will be different,' she said reassuringly, climbing up onto the window ledge and preparing for flight. ‘I'll be right beside you!'

Chapter Eleven

I
f you'd been walking through a certain park in a certain town on a certain night quite recently, you would've seen something
very
unusual. Firstly, a rainbow appeared from nowhere, reaching down from the sky until it touched the path beside the fountain.