Seedling Exams (6 page)

She grabbed the fox's long tail and tugged hard. The fox growled, whirling about and snapping at her. Twink hastily let go, and found herself tumbling through the air like a leaf in a storm.

‘Eek!' she shrieked, struggling to right herself.

When the world was right-side up again, Twink shook her head in a daze. On the other side of the clearing, the starling was trying to hide under a fallen log. The fox grinned, ready to jump.

‘Stop!' cried Twink, close to tears. She was too far away now to do any good, but she aimed herself at the fox anyway, gritting her teeth as she flew as fast as she could.

All at once a large black bird came screaming down from the sky. The crow hovered in front of the fox, cawing and flapping its wings. The fox yelped in alarm – and then turned and ran, padding away into the forest.

‘Oh, thank you!' gasped Twink. ‘Thank you!' But the crow was already gone, flying silently through the trees.

Twink jetted to the fallen log and peered under it. The starling sat huddled in the shadows, breathing hard.

.

.

‘It's OK,' said Twink gently. ‘The fox is gone.'

The bird ruffled up his feathers without looking at her. He seemed utterly miserable.

Twink stared at him in a conflict of emotions. She didn't like him, she realised suddenly. She had never liked him, not from the start. But it was impossible not to feel sorry for him, crouched there with his grimy feathers sticking out.

Twink swallowed hard as something else occurred to her. Why had she expected to win him over, when she didn't care about him? She had only ever cared about passing her practical! No wonder the starling had never warmed to her – he had seen right through her.

Twink reached out her hand to him. ‘Come on,' she said softly. ‘I – I know we're not friends, but you can't stay here. I'll take you back to the infirmary.'

The starling seemed subdued as Twink helped him back into his nest. She gave him some seeds and water, and when he had finished he sighed tiredly, closing his eyes. Soon his snores were filling the room.

Twink put the buckets away, and mended the back door as best she could – though somehow, she didn't think the bird would try to escape again. The long journey through the wood and over the field had obviously exhausted him.

For a moment, Twink stood watching the starling as he slept. She smiled sadly. Maybe, if they had had just a bit more time together, they could have become friends after all. But with the practical tomorrow, there didn't seem much hope now.

A sudden thought struck Twink like lightning.
Her exam!
Glancing out of the window at the sun, her wings froze with horror.

Her Creature Kindness exam had begun five minutes ago.

.

Chapter Eight

Red-faced and panting, Twink jetted into the Creature Kindness branch. Everyone was already hard at work, with their heads bowed over their exam petals. The only sound was the scratching of snail-trail pens.

Mr Woodleaf looked up in surprise. ‘Twink!' he whispered. ‘You're late.'

‘I'm sorry,' mumbled Twink, her ears burning.

She flitted to the only empty mushroom left, at the back of the branch. Remembering her pact with Bimi, she glanced quickly up, hoping to catch her friend's eye – but from where she sat, she could only see the back of Bimi's dark blue head.

Tears pricked at Twink's eyes. Oh, it was all going wrong! How could she ever forgive herself for letting Bimi down?

Mr Woodleaf placed an exam petal on her desk, and she fumbled in her bag for her snail-trail pen. She quickly wrote her name at the top, trying to calm down.

Sitting beside her, Mariella was frowning, flipping through her exam petal by petal. ‘But this is the wrong one!' she cried suddenly.

Mr Woodleaf gave her a considering look. ‘Were you expecting a different exam, Mariella?' he asked pointedly.

Her cheeks flushed. ‘No, sir,' she muttered.

Glancing at her, Twink thought that Mariella looked quite ill, but she had no time to dwell on it.
Never mind
,
she thought fervently. Bimi knows I'm wishing her well, and I know she's doing the same for me!

Twink took a deep breath, her fingers tightening around her pen – and began.

.

.

*

‘At first it was awful,' admitted Bimi as they sat chatting on her bed later that afternoon. ‘When I saw you still weren't back, I started to panic! But then I looked at the questions, and I thought,
I know that one
.
So I wrote down the answer, and then I saw that I knew the next one, too –'

‘Oh, Bimi, that's wonderful!' cried Twink, clutching her friend's arm. ‘I
knew
you could do it!'

‘Don't get too excited yet,' said Bimi with a sigh. ‘There was a lot I wasn't sure about. Anyway, how do you think
you
did?'

‘I don't know,' said Twink, her jubilation fading. ‘I was so flustered when I first flew in, I could hardly think.' Her wings went clammy as she thought of it. Names and remedies had swirled about in her head like a snowstorm – and whether they had landed in the right places or not, she had no idea.

‘Well, there's still the practical,' said Bimi after a pause.

Twink tried to smile. ‘I don't think I'll do very well in it, though. I – I suppose I'll just have to see what happens.'

Their Flower Power exam the next morning seemed simple in comparison. Twink wrote her answers quickly, losing herself in the world of trees and plants. She completed her last question just as the magpie's call sounded through the school, and sighed with relief as she put her pen down.

‘Just a moment before you leave, class,' said Miss Petal. ‘I know this may seem strange, but – did anyone here contact the spirit of the wood yesterday morning?'

Twink sat up in alarm. Her friends shook their heads, glancing blankly at each other.

‘But that's quite an advanced spell, isn't it, Miss Petal?' said Pix with a frown.

Their Flower Power teacher nodded, shuffling the exam petals together. ‘Yes, that's why I'm curious. A few of the dryads were talking about it yesterday, when the Marigold Branch fairies were doing their practicals. I suppose it must have been one of the upper-year fairies.'

‘
I'm
not so sure of that,' said Sooze, raising a lavender eyebrow. ‘Do you want to confess anything, Opposite?'

Twink's pointed ears burned. Naturally, the whole branch knew by now how skilled she was at talking to dryads! ‘Um . . . well, I tried, but I didn't manage to do it,' she mumbled.

Miss Petal's eyes widened. ‘Really? Stay behind, Twink. I want to talk to you for a moment.'

When the others had left, Miss Petal sat perched on her mushroom desk, folding her wings behind her back. ‘Now, then – tell me everything!' she said with a smile.

Twink took a deep breath. The story came spilling out: how she had become friends with Sheena and the other dryads, how she had roused the ancient hazel dryad . . . and finally, how she had tried and failed to reach the spirit of the wood.

‘I know it was stupid of me even to try,' she finished, her cheeks hot with embarrassment. ‘Sheena
told
me I was too young, but I didn't listen.'

Miss Petal shook her head. ‘No, Twink, I think you
did
reach the spirit of the wood. She often works through other creatures, you know. I'm sure that's why the crow suddenly came to help you.'

‘Oh!' gasped Twink. Her hands flew to her mouth as the puzzle pieces fell into place. ‘I never thought of that!'

Miss Petal smiled at her expression. ‘You seem to have quite a talent for working with trees, Twink. Have you considered taking the advanced Flower Power classes next year?'

Advanced
Flower Power
?

‘No,' said Twink, too startled to be polite. ‘I want to take advanced Creature Kindness, so I can be a Fairy Medic like my parents.'

‘Well, you'll obviously pass your Flower Power practical with full marks,' said Miss Petal. ‘And I was watching you during the exam this morning; I'd be surprised if you had any trouble with it.'

‘No, I – I think I probably did pretty well,' Twink admitted. ‘But –' She fell silent, confused by her whirlwind of thoughts. She had
always
wanted to be a Fairy Medic, from the time she was a tiny little fairy. How could she change her dream now?

But . . . talking with dryads was so glimmery . . . and she had actually reached the spirit of the wood!

Miss Petal slid off her desk. ‘Just think about it, Twink,' she said gently. ‘It would be a shame to waste such a talent. You could always take both of them – as you've already seen, you can combine Flower Power with Creature Kindness to great effect.'

With a final smile, Miss Petal flitted out of the branch, leaving Twink on her own. ‘Flower Power,' she murmured. Unexpectedly, a rustle of excitement darted across her wings.

Then her face fell. Glumly, she picked up her petal bag. It was all very well to talk about taking both of them – but she'd be lucky now if she got to take advanced Creature Kindness at all.

Later that morning the Peony Branch fairies stood waiting in the animal infirmary for Mr Woodleaf to arrive. Looking around, Twink saw that her friends had all made a special effort for the practical: Bimi had combed her dormouse's fur until it shone, and tied a jaunty blue ribbon around his tail. Sooze's cricket wore a red bow tie. Even Mariella had made a last-minute attempt, tying a drooping pink ribbon around her rat's middle.

Twink sighed as she glanced at the starling. His speckled feathers were as grimy as ever, and he had a cross look on his face. It was obvious that the two of them didn't get on, thought Twink sadly – but there wasn't anything she could do about it now.

Mr Woodleaf flitted in, clover-leaf pad in hand. ‘Good, you're all here!' he said cheerfully. ‘Who'd like to go first?'

Twink raised her hand. ‘I will,' she said. She might as well get it over with.

As Mr Woodleaf watched, she fed and watered the starling, standing well back so that he couldn't swipe her with his wing. But to her surprise, he didn't even try. He nibbled his seeds docilely, and blinked at her once he'd finished.

Confused, Twink carefully changed his bandage, wrapping the leafy strips around his injured wing. The bird ruffled his feathers – but for the first time, it seemed an ordinary gesture rather than an angry one.
What
was going on?

Twink turned to Mr Woodleaf. ‘That's, um . . . all,' she said. ‘He won't let me groom him.'

‘Excellent,' said Mr Woodleaf, writing something on his clover pad. ‘You've done a very good job.'

Twink's mouth dropped open. ‘I have?'

Mr Woodleaf's green eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘Yes, of course. Even better than I thought you would, in fact.'

.

.

Twink's head spun. ‘But – but I don't understand,' she stammered. ‘You said we had to work well with our animal, and I
haven't –
we don't like each other, we never have! And – and he ran away
yesterday, and I had to go and find him –'

Mr Woodleaf shook his head. ‘Working well with an animal doesn't always mean you become friends with it, Twink. Starlings are difficult birds – you've done well just by being patient with him.' He smiled suddenly. ‘Besides, I'm not sure you're right that he doesn't like you. He looks friendlier now than I've ever seen him!'

Twink stared at the starling. He gazed complacently back at her.

Mr Woodleaf was right, she thought in a daze. What on earth had happened? Was it because she'd saved him from the fox? Or simply that, for the first time, she'd been honest with him about her feelings?

Whatever it was . . . the two of them had somehow found a way to get on.

Mr Woodleaf patted her on the shoulder and flitted across to the next student. Not taking her eyes off the starling, Twink moved forward until she stood just beside him. Suddenly there was so much she wanted to say that words seemed useless.

‘Thank you for letting me take care of you,' she said softly. ‘I'll come back and see you again soon, before the end of term.'

Very, very slowly, she reached out and stroked his good wing, feeling the sleek smoothness of his brown feathers. With a sigh, the starling closed his eyes and seemed to smile.

The rest of the exams passed in a blur of test questions and practicals. Twink produced a passable flower dress, and performed the pleasant dreams dance almost perfectly. And in Weather Magic, her snowflakes flurried just as they were supposed to – though the written exam turned out to be much more difficult than she had expected!

And then all at once, the exams were over.

The night before the last day of term, Twink and her friends packed their oak-leaf bags in silence. Their results would be displayed outside the Great Branch first thing the next morning, and then their parents would be arriving to take them home after breakfast.

On the whole, Twink thought she had done well . . . except for her awful Creature Kindness exam, when she had been too panicked to think. A sick feeling clutched her stomach whenever she thought of it.

Twink tucked a spare pair of pixie boots into her bag. Still, she was glad that she had gone to find the starling that morning – even if it meant she had messed up her chance of being a Fairy Medic for ever.

Finally Twink closed her bag and fastened its bark catch. ‘Well . . . goodbye, Peony Branch,' she said, looking around her. She thought the bright pink peonies that hung over each bed looked sad, as if they knew the fairies were leaving.