Wishing for Trouble (5 page)

First came a charge of knights in armour. They galloped into the gatehouse and promptly fell down into the dungeons below with a great clatter, like someone throwing saucepans down a staircase.

Emmy winced. ‘I'm glad we put the mattresses down there,' she said. ‘I hope none of the horses got hurt.'

‘Me too,' Tim said.

Then hundreds of men came running, yelling and brandishing their weapons. They poured over the lip of the floor like a flood of water.

‘Maybe we should have wished all their weapons away,' Emmy said. ‘I wouldn't want someone holding a sword like that to fall on top of me.'

‘Me neither,' everyone said, except the countess, who put her nose in the air and said, ‘They deserve nothing less, the treacherous curs.'

Eventually, though, the soldiers realised they were falling into a trap and the charge faltered. A man dressed in black armour came striding through the broken gate and looked down into the dungeon, which was filled with people trying to climb out.

‘Lord Dastardly,' the countess said, and shrank back.

‘Quick, what can we wish for?' Nick cried. ‘Wish he falls down too, Lach!' Lord Dastardly must have heard him because he suddenly looked directly at them, and the next instant arrows were flying across the pit and thudding into the door to the courtyard. Lach only managed to slam it shut just in time.

They were all a little shaken.

‘He'll have a bridge across that pit in a matter of moments,' the knight said bleakly.

‘What shall we do?' the priest blithered.

‘We're all doomed!' the governess bleated.

‘We'll just have to think of something else,' Ben said.

‘Let's wish for the balloon,' Emmy said.

‘Then at least the countess can escape.'

‘I cannot escape and leave all my people in peril,' the countess said. ‘I must know that Lord Dastardly is safely under lock and key before I can go.'

‘We have a few wishes left,' Ben said. ‘Lach, call up the balloon and we'll just leave it tethered to the battlements until the countess needs it. Then I'll have the ring. I'll be able to think up a good wish for dealing with Lord Dastardly!'

‘Let's word the wish very carefully,' Nick said, ‘so we don't make any mistakes.'

So Lach said, in a very deep, gruff voice, ‘I wish that we had a hot-air balloon, and the wind was in the right direction to safely carry the Countess of Lyonessa all the way to her uncle's castle, and that the balloon was safely tied down until she is ready to go, and doesn't get hit by an arrow or anything.'

At once a beautiful big balloon, with a red and white striped hot-air bag billowing above a big, square, wicker basket, materialised on top of the highest tower. It swayed gently in the breeze, which had sprung up from nowhere. Everyone stared up at it, utterly astounded.

Lach took a deep breath then pulled off the ring, which was glowing red-hot, and dropped it into Ben's hand.

‘Yippee,' Ben said. ‘My turn at last! I won't waste any of my wishes!'

A loud bang from behind made them all jump.

Everyone spun round and saw an axe protruding from the wooden door behind them. It was wrenched free, and then there was another bang, and they saw the axe had been driven even deeper, opening up a big crack right down the door.

The knight whistled. ‘They'll be through soon!'

‘What should we do?' the priest whined.

The governess wept and wrung her hands.

‘Come on, let's run,' Ben said. ‘Let's get back to the castle and get its front door locked, and then we'll think what to do.'

So they all ran as fast as they could across the courtyard, Jessie bounding along behind them, dragging her rabbit in her mouth. Just as Ben raced inside the castle's big front door, Jessie tripped over the rabbit and fell. Ben turned back to scoop her and the rabbit up in his arms.

That was when he realised that, firstly, the door of the gatehouse was in smithereens and Lord Dastardly and his men were clambering through and, secondly, that both Emmy and the countess were floundering along, only halfway across the courtyard, hampered by their huge skirts.

Ben turned and dropped Jessie safely inside the castle door and then said, very quietly, because he was so afraid that his voice hardly worked at all, ‘I wish I had a magic bow, with arrows of fire.'

A beautiful bow was suddenly in his hands, with a quiver of arrows hanging over his shoulder. Shakily, Ben put one of the arrows to the string, lifted the bow and shot it. Trailing a perfect curve of grey smoke, the flaming arrow soared up into the sky, over the heads of the two girls, and landed right at the black armoured feet of Lord Dastardly. At once a wall of roaring orange flame leapt up and Lord Dastardly stumbled back, raising one black gauntleted hand to shield his face.

Emmy and the countess scrambled up the steps and in through the door, their hands filled with their skirts. Ben slammed the door shut and locked it behind them.

‘What a stupid dress!' Emmy cried. ‘I wish I'd never wished for it!'

Ben looked down at the bow in his hands, hardly able to believe his wish had worked.

‘That was so cool, Ben!' Tim said.

‘Yeah,' Nick said. ‘Good shooting, Ben.'

Jessie barked, wagged her tail and jumped up to put her paws on Ben's knees.

‘It won't hold them back for long,' the knight frowned.

‘What shall we do, what shall we do?' the priest moaned.

‘We're doomed!' the governess groaned.

‘Oh, I wish you'd all be quiet!' Ben cried. ‘I'm trying to think!'

It took him a moment to realise how eerily silent everything was. Then he looked around and his mouth fell open in dismay.

Jessie was still jumping up and down and barking, but no sound came out of her mouth. The countess was red in the face with yelling, but could make no noise. The knight was waffling silently, the priest was wringing his hands and noiselessly whining, the governess was weeping inaudibly, Nick and Emmy were waving their hands and pointing at their mouths, Tim was experimenting, opening his mouth and trying to speak, then shutting it and trying again. None of them could make a single sound. Nor could any of the other hundreds of people crowded into the lower hall, their mouths gaping like goldfish.

‘Oh no,' Ben said. ‘What have I done!'

‘I only have one wish left,' Ben said. ‘And we need it to get home.'

He saw the horror on his cousins' faces. Tim's mouth stopped opening and shutting and hung gaping as he realised what that meant.

Then the door to the castle began to shake and shudder under the blows of many axes.

Everyone in the lower hall began to weep and pray and panic, all without a single sound. It was like watching mime artists, except this was all too horribly real.

Suddenly the countess grabbed Ben's arm and shook it. She was trying to tell him something.

‘I,' Ben repeated, reading her lips as the countess pointed at herself, ‘will … wish …' He suddenly stopped speaking, realising he was about to say her wish aloud. Instead he nodded his head fervently as she waved her hand at him and the other four children, and then waved it in the air, mouthing the word ‘home' silently.

Ben nodded his head. ‘Yes, yes,' he said. ‘Good idea. Promise?'

The countess nodded, then crossed her heart.

‘OK,' Ben whispered. ‘Let's all get out of here before they break the door down. We'll have to try to trick them without using up any more wishes. The person they really want is the countess, so we'll get them to chase after her. Maybe we can lure them into the great hall and then lock them in. It should be big enough to hold most or them.

The countess shrugged, and waggled her hand from side to side.

‘We'll split them,' Ben said, thinking aloud. ‘Emmy, you'll have to pretend you're the countess, you look a bit like her in that dress. Then we can get some to chase after Emmy, and some to chase after the real countess. Is there somewhere we can lock up the ones that chase after Emmy?'

The countess nodded, and pointed down a side hall.

‘OK, Emmy, you go and hide behind that door. When they chase you, get on your scooter and go as fast as you can. That way they won't be able to catch you. Sir Knight, you go and hide down the corridor and make it all ready for her. Hey, Nick, maybe we could do something with your heelies too?'

As everyone nodded in silent agreement, Ben thought to himself that he quite enjoyed being the only one with a voice. It wasn't often he got to give orders and have everyone do as he told them to.

‘OK, let's go,' Ben whispered, and everyone began to hurry up the stairs to the higher level. Once they were well away from the door, and hopefully out of Lord Dastardly's hearing, Ben said, with a real pang at the loss of his last wish, ‘OK, I wish you could all talk again. But, please, try not to?'