The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star Read Free

their mentor, not a meanie like you, and H.B. knows what you’re like after you pinched Mildred’s project last term.’
    ‘That was just a silly misunderstanding,’ snapped Ethel. ‘She didn’t need to make such a stupid fuss about it – it was only a joke that got out of hand.’
    ‘No it wasn’t!’ exclaimed Mildred indignantly. ‘H.B. caught you fair and square, so you’ll have to watch what you’re doing from now on – just like the rest of us.’
     

     
    ‘Oh, keep your hair on,’ snapped Ethel. ‘You always get in such a
state
about everything.’
    They had reached the passageway where the list of tasks was pinned up on a long noticeboard. There was already a large crowd of girls pushing and jostling and standing on tiptoe, trying to see if their names were on the list.
    ‘I
really
hope I haven’t been chosen for anything,’ said Mildred, keeping her fingers tightly crossed.
    ‘Don’t worry, Mil,’ said Maud, giving her friend’s hand a squeeze. ‘You’ll probably get Blackboard Monitor. Even a first-year could rub out the last lesson, ready for the next.’
     

     
    Meanwhile, Miss Cackle was sitting in the staffroom having a cup of tea and a macaroon with Miss Hardbroom.
    ‘I do hope we’ve done the right thing, choosing Mildred for the East Wing Lantern Monitor,’ said Miss Cackle, dipping the macaroon into the tea, holding it there until it was just about to dissolve, then hastily popping it into her mouth. ‘It’s quite a big responsibility for such a scatterbrain and she’s always been a bit scared of the dark.’
    ‘Nonsense, Miss Cackle,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘It’s not as if she’s been given the entire school. She’ll just have three corridors of bedrooms, the spiral stairs, passages to the cloakrooms, the hallway inside the main door and the two large lanterns on the school gates. As long as she sets off at twilight and lights her way out to the gates, everything will be shining brightly to light her back in again.’
    ‘You make it sound so simple, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Miss Cackle, who had misjudged the macaroon-dipping and dropped a glutinous lump down her front. ‘Oh dear, what a mess I’ve made.’ She removed it with a handkerchief, inadvertently crushing it into her dress, and put what remained of it into her saucer. ‘I suppose you’re right, Miss Hardbroom. Which girls are doing the West Wing and all the upper floors?’
    ‘Ethel Hallow and Drusilla Paddock,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘So at least two-thirds of the school will be efficiently lit. Anyway, I’ve made sure they each have a bag full of safety equipment to take with them, so please don’t worry yourself, headmistress. All will be well.’
    ‘I sincerely hope so, Miss Hardbroom,’ sighed Miss Cackle. ‘Perhaps Mildred will be
glad
of the responsibility, now that she’s a senior pupil.’
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     

 
    ildred was most definitely
not
glad to be given the responsibility of Lantern Monitor. The girls had been allowed to spend the rest of the day unpacking and arranging their rooms, and Maud and Enid had bundled in with Mildred to discuss their tasks.
    ‘It’s not fair,’ said Mildred, sitting huddled on her bed with Tabby and her two friends. ‘I bet H.B. did it on purpose.’
    ‘It’s not actually
that
bad,’ said Enid reassuringly. ‘You’ve only got the East Wing and the playground. If you set off just before it gets dark and light your way out, it’ll be nice and bright when you come back in again.’
    ‘Anyway,’ grumbled Mildred, ‘I’ll have to get up at dawn to go round and douse all the candles, so while you’re all slumbering in your warm beds, I’ll be freezing to death going round all those creepy corridors by myself – you’re so lucky, Maud, getting First-Year Mentor.’
     

     
    ‘Well, at least I’ve saved the little dears from Ethel’s clutches,’ laughed Maud. ‘She and Drusilla are Lantern Monitors for the rest of the