The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star by Jill Murphy Read Free Book Online

We haven’t had a proper conversation with you since the first day of term.’
    Mildred looked desperately at her two friends, longing to tell them but knowing that they would be horrified. She had been having such fun with Star and it had all been so easy, taking him out on lantern duty and hiding him under the bed. She thought of his sweet scruffy face gazing at her and his warmth during the long freezing nights and didn’t want to risk losing him.
    ‘Don’t be daft!’ said Mildred. ‘Of
course
I’m not avoiding either of you – I’ve just been busy, but I really
will
be quicker on my own and –’
    ‘Well, we’re coming with you, whether you like it or not,’ said Maud. ‘Enid’s got to get some foliage for her duty as Flower Monitor, haven’t you, Enid?’
    ‘That’s right,’ said Enid. ‘So let’s go.’
    Mildred trailed miserably down the corridors, expertly flipping open the lantern flaps and putting out the candles, followed along by her broomstick and her two friends, and soon they had reached the school gates.
    ‘You really
are
good at this, Millie,’ said Maud as Mildred hovered expertly up and over the gateposts, deftly extinguishing the last two lanterns on the way.
    They all hovered down and landed on the grass. Mildred led everyone out of sight along the outside of the wall and into the edge of the forest.
    ‘Gosh, Mildred,’ said Enid. ‘What on
earth
have you got in the bag?’
    Star, who was looking forward to his morning runabout and broomstick fun, was wagging his tail and bustling, making the bag and broomstick jerk about madly.
    Maud and Enid stared at the bag in amazement.
     

     
    ‘This is going to surprise you both,’ said Mildred. ‘But it really
isn’t
as bad as it looks.’
    She unzipped the holdall and Star leapt out like a Jack-in-the-box. He was delighted to meet Mildred’s friends, jumping up to lick their faces, then setting off in mad circles through the trees, overjoyed to be out after his long night in Mildred’s room. Maud and Enid stood with their mouths open, stunned.
     

     
    ‘So
this
is why you’ve been avoiding us!’ gasped Maud. ‘Oh, Mildred! Miss Hardbroom will go
insane
if she finds out – and you’ve been doing so well this term. What on earth possessed you? Where did you get him from?’
    ‘I didn’t get him from anywhere,’ said Mildred, resting on the back of her hovering broom. ‘He got
me
! Anyway, it’s your fault, Maudie,
you
told me to wish on that shooting star and I wished for a dog – and there he was the next day outside the gates. I couldn’t send back a wish-come-true, could I? It wouldn’t be right. And he’s so clever; he can do hundreds of tricks! Look, I’ll show you.’
    She called him over and patted the back of the broom.
    ‘Oh, come on, you two,’ said Mildred. ‘Stop being so grumpy! Just sit there on your brooms and I’ll show you all the things he can do. You’ll soon see why I had to keep him.’
     

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
     

 
    he three friends made their way back through the silent morning corridors with Star zipped neatly into his holdall and Enid carrying the jug, now full of pine-cone branches and jolly twigs with red berries to brighten up their grey-stone classroom.
    They hurried into Mildred’s room and closed the door behind them. Mildred opened the holdall and Star immediately leapt out and dived under the bed.
    ‘I don’t know what Einstein’s going to say when he wakes up in the spring!’ laughed Mildred. ‘Well then, what did you think of him?’
    ‘He’s incredible, Mildred,’ said Maud, ‘and
you’re
incredible
with
him. I’ve never seen you fly like that.’
    ‘He’s like part of you,’ said Enid. ‘Like another arm or leg. I can see why you’re crazy about him – not that it makes things any easier. H.B. will still go mad when she finds out.’
    ‘
If
she finds out,’ said Mildred, ‘and
we
aren’t telling anyone, are we?’
    ‘Of
course
not,’ said Maud.