Treasure Hunt (7 page)

‘Wait!' gasped Twink. ‘Pix, don't you remember from Flower Power? Root systems
grow –
they change all the time! The ring probably
is
here – but a piece of root may have grown over it.'

Holding up the lantern again, Twink checked the wall instead of the ground, inspecting it carefully. Sure enough, there was a bit of new growth curving over one section. In between the new growth and the old a long, narrow hole had been formed.

And from deep within it came a flash of silver.

‘It's there!' yelled Twink, almost dropping the lantern. ‘It's really there!'

‘Chirpy, can you get it out?' urged Pix. ‘It's too far back for us to reach!'

With an answering chirp, the cricket squirmed into the hole. A moment later he was out again . . . with a silver ring held triumphantly in his mouth.

‘Oh,' whispered Twink. She gently took the ring from him. It was made up of three strands of silver plaited together in a delicate band, with a single green stone that winked up at her.

‘Pix, we've found it!' she choked out. ‘We've really found it!'

‘Hurrah!' shouted Pix. The two fairies hugged, jumping up and down. Chirpy nudged at their legs, and Pix laughed and scooped him into the hug as well. ‘And it was all because of you, you clever cricket!'

‘Come on,' said Twink, putting the ring on her own finger for safe keeping. ‘We have to go and see Miss Shimmery straight away – I've got to get this ring to my gran!'

.

Chapter Eight

Twink and Pix hurried back up through the tunnels. Before they had gone far, a sparkling pink and gold ball whizzed down the passageway towards them. As before, it stopped just in front of their faces.

‘Twink,
there
you are!' cried a voice. A fairy with light green curly hair came racing up. Twink stared as she recognised Jade – and there were Ivy and Sooze, right behind her!

‘Jade! What are
you
doing here?' asked Pix, looking stunned.

Jade caught up the fairy dust ball, tucking it away in her pocket. ‘Bimi told us what's going on,' she said earnestly. ‘We want to help find your gran's ring.'

Ivy nodded. ‘She hopes you won't be angry with her for telling, Twink – but she was getting really worried because you've been down here for so long.'

‘Oh,
thank
you,' said Twink, overcome with gratitude. She had the most wonderful friends in the world! ‘But look – we've already found it!' Grinning widely, she held up her hand, with the ring sparkling on her finger.

‘Hurrah!' cried Sooze, flinging her arms around her. ‘Opposite, that's brilliant!'

The fairies started back towards the trunk, chattering eagerly. Behind her, Twink heard Pix and Jade talking. ‘What about the treasure hunt, then?' asked Pix. ‘Did you win?'

Jade laughed. ‘No, I left it the moment Bimi told me. I don't know who's going to win it now – it's almost time for dinner, and then it's the disco. But Pix,
how
did you and Twink find the ring?'

‘It was mostly Pix,' put in Twink, hanging back for a moment to join them. ‘Oh, Jade, she was brilliant!' The fairies continued upwards, listening in admiration as Twink told the tale.

‘I would
never
have thought of that,' declared Jade, fluttering her green and white wings. ‘Pix, that was so
clever of you!'

Pix looked sheepish. ‘Well . . . I thought it was pretty glimmery the way you solved the fifth clue of the treasure hunt so quickly, too,' she admitted. ‘It took me ages to work out that the
tree
was actually that drawing of Queen Mab's family tree on the wall of the Great Branch!'

‘Oh, but what about the way you worked out Clue Seven?' countered Jade. ‘I couldn't believe it! It took you
no
time at all, and –'

They had reached the entrance again. Twink hugged her friends tightly. ‘I've got to go and see Miss Shimmery now,' she said. ‘Thank you for your help, all of you!'

As Twink sped away up the tree she could still hear Jade and Pix talking, and she smiled to herself. Maybe Pix hadn't won the treasure hunt . . . but it seemed as if she might have found something even better.

‘I can't believe it,' said Miss Shimmery softly, turning the gleaming silver band over in her hands. ‘Silvia's ring, after all these years . . .'

Sitting in Miss Shimmery's office, Twink shifted on her seat in confusion. The HeadFairy had looked more and more taken aback as Twink had told her about Gran's illness, and finding the journal . . . and now, examining the ring, she looked as if she were seeing a ghost.

Miss Shimmery caught Twink's expression and smiled faintly. Returning the ring to Twink, she folded her gleaming rainbow wings behind her back. ‘My dear child,
I
am Aurora,' she said. ‘Your grandmother and I were very close friends when we were both students at school here.'

‘
You're
Aurora?' exclaimed Twink. Her thoughts spun wildly. ‘But – but what about all the pranks that you and Gran played, and – and the trouble you got into in your lessons, and –
going down into the roots
!'

Miss Shimmery chuckled at her amazement. ‘Neither of us was perfect, it's true. We were both high-spirited girls – though I might venture to say that it was normally your grandmother who thought up all the trouble we got into!'

‘Oh,' murmured Twink in a daze. It seemed unbelievable that serene, white-haired Miss Shimmery had once been a young girl at Glitterwings, getting into mischief. And that she had then grown up to be the HeadFairy!

Miss Shimmery's expression turned serious again. ‘You were wrong to go down into the roots without telling a teacher, Twink – but I understand why you did it. You won't be punished.'

She rose from her mushroom desk. ‘And now I'll summon a hawk for us. We must hurry, and get this ring to Silvia straight away.'

‘Gran?' whispered Twink. Her grandmother sat in a chair by the window, gazing listlessly out at the summer evening. She gave no sign that she had heard.

Twink knelt beside her. ‘Gran, it's me – Twink!' She touched her grandmother's hand.

The hawk had flown them to her grandmother's house in record speed. Barely an hour had passed since Twink had sat in Miss Shimmery's office explaining matters.

But now her gran didn't even seem to hear her.

In the doorway, Twink's parents stood with Miss Shimmery and the doctor. Twink's dad had his arm around her mum as they all watched anxiously.

Twink swallowed hard and tried again. ‘Look, Gran – I've brought you something,' she said. Slipping the ring from her finger, she placed it on her grandmother's lap.

At first Gran didn't seem to notice. Then, with a weary sigh, she looked downwards. Her expression didn't change.

‘Don't – don't you recognise it?' faltered Twink. ‘It's your old ring, that you lost when you were a student at Glitterwings! You were so upset at the time . . . Oh, Gran, don't you remember?' she pleaded.

‘My . . . ring,' murmured Gran, gazing down at it.

‘Yes, your ring!' said Twink's father, fluttering over next to her. ‘Mum, you've told me about it before, remember? And now Twink's found it for you!' His hand squeezed Twink's shoulder.

‘My
ring
,' Gran repeated more strongly. A faint light appeared in her purple eyes. Slowly – so slowly that Twink thought she was only imagining it at first – Gran began to smile.

Holding the ring up to the light, she turned it this way and that. ‘I never thought I'd see it again,' she said. ‘My old ring!'

Twink held her breath as her grandmother's smile grew and grew, until all at once joy was bursting across her face like a sunrise. She laughed in delight, slipping the ring on to her finger and holding it up to admire it.

‘Gran?' said Twink softly.

Gran looked up. Her eyes widened, and she stared around her as if she had only just seen everyone. ‘My darlings, what are you all doing here?' she cried. ‘Alix, Jasmine – and
Twink
!
Why on earth aren't you at school, young lady?'

‘Mum, you're back!' burst out Twink's father. He hugged his mother tightly.

Gran shook her head as she patted his shoulder. ‘
Back?
And where am I supposed to have been, pray tell?'

‘Hello, Silvia,' said Miss Shimmery warmly, coming forward. ‘It's wonderful to see you again!'

As Gran exclaimed in surprised delight, Twink's mum flew to her side. ‘Well done, darling,' she whispered in a voice choked with emotion. ‘We tried everything, and nothing seemed to reach her. None of us knew what to do – but you did!'

‘Yes, I can see that there's no more reason for me to stay,' put in the doctor, a short fairy with bright blue wings. ‘And I must say I'm glad of it – she had me very worried!'

‘Is Gran really all right now?' Twink asked anxiously. She rubbed her hands against her violet petal skirt. ‘She won't slip into the Doldrums again, will she?'

‘No, she'll be fine,' smiled the doctor. ‘She's finally had that shock of happiness that we've all been trying to give her – I guess we just weren't shocking enough!'

Later, when they had explained to Gran all that had happened, Gran called Twink over and put an arm around her. Smoothing back her granddaughter's bright pink hair, she said, ‘My dear, I don't remember – did my journal explain why this ring was so precious to me?'

Twink shook her head, relieved that Gran didn't seem to mind that she'd read it. ‘You just said that it was your favourite.'

‘Yes, because my own grandmother gave it to me when I was very young,' said Gran. She traced the ring's smooth silver lines with her finger. ‘I loved her dearly, and it was all I had of her when she died. Losing it felt like losing her all over again.'

Impulsively, Twink kissed her gran's cheek. ‘I'm so glad that I found it for you, Gran,' she said.

Gran took the ring off her finger and pressed it firmly into Twink's hand. ‘I'm giving it to you, my dear. It's a ring that should be passed down from grandmother to granddaughter.'

‘But . . .' Twink struggled to speak. The ring gleamed in her palm. ‘Gran, I
can't
–'

‘Of course you can,' smiled Gran. ‘You'll give it to your own granddaughter some day. And meanwhile . . . thank you, my dear. With all my heart.'

Slowly, Twink put the ring on her finger. It felt as if it belonged there. ‘Thank you, Gran,' she said. ‘I'll wear it always.'

Her parents and Miss Shimmery had stood silently through this, and now Miss Shimmery cleared her throat. ‘Twink, we should be getting back to school,' she said gently. ‘You'll still be able to attend most of the third-year disco, if we hurry.'

‘Yes, all right,' said Twink happily. Now that she knew her gran was well again, the disco sounded brilliant!

Her parents beamed at her. ‘Dance the night away, Twinkster,' said her father, ruffling her hair. ‘You deserve it.'

As Twink and Miss Shimmery prepared to leave, Gran hugged Miss Shimmery with a laugh. ‘And by the way, Aurora – I really might have known that that dreadful cricket of yours would turn out to be the culprit!'

The star-gazing platform had been transformed into a glittering wonderland of flashing crystals and different-coloured lights. A cricket band played loudly in one corner, and everywhere Twink looked, fairies were dancing.