Philippa Fisher and the Fairy's Promise Read Free Page A

would be the one way to guarantee an instant image link to ATC. I didn’t even want to think about the kind of punishment that would have meant. Interfering with another fairy’s assignment is one of the worst things you can do — especially when it’s not even your department!
    “I’m waiting,” FGRaincloud74921 said.
    “I needed some air,” I said feebly. “It’s the office; it makes me a little claustrophobic at times.”
    Silence at the other end of my MagiCell. Did she believe me? Had I gotten away with it?
    “How dare you treat me like a fool!” FGRaincloud74921 burst out so angrily, her words turned to sharp drops of rain, splattering down at me like arrows.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I haven’t really done anything I shouldn’t have.” In a way it was true. I’d tried, but I hadn’t gotten anywhere. Well, how was I to know that if I became a mouse, I’d go and chew up the note I was trying to pass to Philippa? Or that she’d shrug off the old woman as a weirdo? I’d thought that somehow she’d always know it was me, no matter how I transformed. I’d even kept my own eyes both times, in case that would help.
    “You are to return to ATC immediately,” FGRaincloud74921 said, ignoring my plea of innocence. “We will deal with you there.”
    “Right,” I said. “I’m on my way.”
    “You are close to Portal BZ 589245. Go there now. We will send someone to meet you. Do not talk to anyone, look at anyone, interact in any way with anyone or anything until you are back at ATC. Understood?”
    “Totally,” I said. With shaking hands, I turned off my MagiCell, let out a heavy breath, and headed for the portal.

    “You’re sure it was her?” Robyn asked for about the seventh time.
    “I’m positive! I’d know Daisy’s voice anywhere!” Once Robyn had clicked the star and removed the crackle, the voices had come through as clearly as if they’d been in the room with us. “But I’ve got no idea what they were talking about.”
    “Me neither,” Robyn agreed. We’d only heard a small slice of a conversation. Probably about ten seconds — and none of it had made sense.
    “Is there any way of playing it again?” I asked.
    We searched the screen. Robyn held the cursor over the bottom of the box, and a new line of controls came into view. “There!” I said. A button in the middle had an arrow on it, like the play button on a remote control. “Try that.”
    Robyn clicked the button — and the snatch of conversation that we’d already heard played over again. If I’d had any doubts before, I certainly didn’t now. “It’s definitely her,” I said. “But what are they talking about?” The other voice was telling Daisy to go back to ATC, then reeling off a bunch of numbers and talking about something called a portal.
    “I don’t know,” Robyn said. “But those numbers must mean something.”
    “It sounded like they related to the portal. But what’s a portal?”
    Robyn shook her head. “I don’t know. There’s something about the style of those numbers, though. It reminds me of something. Like a map reference, perhaps.”
    “Of course!” I jumped to my feet. “Have you got a pen and paper?”
    Robyn pulled a drawer open. “In here.”
    I grabbed a pen and opened up a spiral notebook. “OK, play it again,” I said.
    Robyn hit the play button and the conversation started over again. When it got to the numbers, I scribbled down exactly what I heard.
    “Come on,” I said, tearing the page off the pad.
    “Where are we going?” Robyn asked, getting up from her seat.
    “Downstairs to the shop. The map section! There must be something there that’ll help us figure out what this is.”
    She paused. “I don’t know. I mean, do you think we should? We don’t know what we’re messing with. I mean — this was Annie’s computer. She must have been linked up to Daisy’s MagiCell from her last assignment, but I bet this is all top-secret fairy