Class Six and the Nits of Doom by Sally Prue Read Free Book Online Page A

at his nose!’ said Serise. ‘I bet he can sniff the crumbs off his own chin.’
    Rodney looked pleased, and tried it.
    ‘I can, as well,’ he said proudly. But the crumbs must have irritated the inside of his nose, because it began to wobble and twitch.
    ‘He’s going to sneeze!’ shouted Jack. ‘Watch out, he’s going to sneeze!’
    Everyone tried to get out of the way, but the dining room chairs were so squeezed together that there wasn’t room. Jack tried to duck and ended up dunking the end of his nose in his
custard, and Winsome tore off a button when she tried to get under the table.
    Slacker and Serise, both wedged in helplessly, each got bashed on the side of the head by one of Rodney’s elastic ears.
     
    Class Six stood in the playground, keeping plenty of distance between them, with their arms folded to stop themselves scratching their heads. The rest of the school were playing
happily in the sun, but Class Six didn’t feel like playing at all.
    ‘But what can we
do?
’ asked Emily, in despair.
    ‘If we told our mums they’d get us some nit cream,’ suggested Jack.
    Anil shook his head.
    ‘That’d kill ordinary nits,’ he said. ‘But these…these are different. I mean, they’ve turned Rodney’s toes green, so they must have got deep down into
his system. Nit cream won’t help with that.’
    Slacker Punchkin heaved a sigh.
    ‘How can you stop magic?’ he asked.
    ‘Horseshoes are supposed to work,’ said Emily.
    ‘Oh, that’s all right, then,’ said Anil. ‘In that case all we have to do is look out for a horse next time we’re at the shops and persuade it to let us borrow some
of its footwear.’
    Winsome frowned thoughtfully. ‘I think I’ve read somewhere that woo-woo-woo—magic people hate rowan twigs.’
    ‘Who?’ asked Slacker.
    ‘Not who
, what,
’ Winsome explained. ‘A rowan’s a sort of tree. It has bunches of red berries on in the autumn. And wik-wik—oh, bother—
wickets
are supposed to hate it.’
    Jack’s nose twitched. ‘I think my granddad’s got one in his garden,’ he said.
    ‘Really?’ asked Emily, quite hopeful. ‘Where does he live?’
    ‘Canada,’ said Jack.
    Everyone stopped looking hopeful.
    ‘But aren’t there any rowan trees near here?’ asked Serise.
    Anil rolled his eyes. ‘Of course not. We wouldn’t have a wer-wer-wer-
wiggle
in the school if there was, would we?’
    Emily looked as if she was going to start crying again.
    ‘No, it’s all right,’ said Winsome, hastily. She went over to the rubbish bin and pulled something out.
    ‘Errgh!’ said Serise. ‘That’s disgusting! Someone’s drunk out of that water bottle. Eergh!’
    ‘What’s it for?’ asked Slacker, scratching his head.
    ‘It’s to make into a wer-wer-wer-
widget
bottle,’ said
    Winsome, mysteriously.
    ‘A what?’
    ‘A wer-wer-wer, a wer-wer-wer, a—oh, blow it! A cauldron-owner’s bottle. To keep cauldron-owners away,’ said Winsome. ‘And if it keeps
them
away then
it’ll probably wipe out other sorts of magic, too.’
    ‘A plastic water bottle?’ said Anil, doubtfully.
    ‘Well, we have to fill it up, first,’ said Winsome.
    And she led the way to the long jump pit.
     
    A witch bottle had to be filled with sand, which was easy, and rosemary, which was easy too. It grew in the wildlife garden because it was good for the bees.
    ‘What else do we need?’ asked Jack.
    ‘Pins,’ said Winsome.
    ‘Hm,’ said everybody. But then Anil said
how about drawing pins?
and then it was just a matter of getting Slacker Punchkin to stand in front of the notice board on the way
back along the corridor to class so that Jack, who was skinny and little, could borrow a few without anyone noticing.
    ‘So what do we do now?’ asked Serise, when Anil had poked the drawing pins down into the sand-and-rosemary mixture inside the bottle and screwed the top back on. Miss Broom
hadn’t arrived in class yet.
    ‘Put it up the chimney,’ said Winsome.