Summer Homework

A children’s fantasy tale about a young, not-so-skilled witch called Athena.

‘Shoo!’ Athena cried at a scrawny grey kitten that had suddenly mewed from the yard. She’d only just begun her spell — and, of course, it had gone wrong.

She had been trying to call down rain — again. But although autumn had begun, the sun shone shamelessly in a clear blue sky, and not a single cloud even thought about gathering. First Athena got cross, then she felt miserable. Then she went into a sulk.

She was very proud of her name — mainly because there wasn’t much else to be proud of. She had recently turned twelve, which meant that next year she would have to go through the Initiation Ceremony at the Witches’ Academy. For that, she absolutely needed to master a few proper wonders — especially the ones set as summer homework. Very important for one’s magical portfolio, as Professor Wimple was fond of saying.

But the holidays were over, it was nearly time to go back to class — and yet…

She could already fly a broom — though, to be honest, every witch her age could manage that. Brewing a love potion was within her skills too, though no one was quite sure it actually worked. She could cure colds — but that hardly counted. And she’d even learnt to read minds, though not always accurately.

Athena flipped through her Spellwork Journal and her Report Notebook, which hadn’t got past the first two pages. What was next on the list? The rain spell — failure. Teleportation? Terrifying. She had a dreadful feeling she might end up teleporting in pieces. Lighting a fire with magic? Only tiny sparks. She was afraid of big flames, in case she damaged her cosy little house.

Tidying up with a spell? Never worked! The dirty plates stayed dirty. Banishing evil spirits and demons? Well, where was she supposed to find any? She couldn’t very well summon dark spirits just to send them away again!

She knew every single spell by heart — but not one of them worked properly.

Athena sighed sadly, put down her spell journal and looked at herself in the mirror. A perfectly ordinary witch, just as one ought to be: fiery red hair, green eyes, a dress and hat of soft violet velvet. So what was wrong? Why couldn’t she do anything properly?

The evening felt gloomy. Nothing could lift her mood. Perhaps a walk would help?

But when she reached the river, the rain finally began to fall — and, of course, she hadn’t brought her umbrella! So Athena ran all the way home, getting wetter with every step.

There was a surprise waiting on her porch — a tiny scrap of paper. Clearly a page from a book, and a very old one at that. She bent down to pick it up when suddenly, as if from nowhere, a black cat sprang out of the darkness and knocked the page from her hand with its paw. The wind caught it and carried it away — straight into the mud.

‘Shoo! I can’t stand cats!’ protested Athena. That was another of her problems. Every proper witch was supposed to have a pet — or even several — but she simply didn’t like them. You had to look after them, feed them, clean them, tidy up after them… ugh! She never seemed to have enough time — though, if anyone asked what she spent it on, Athena could never quite explain.

So she marched out from under the porch into the rain to fetch the page. The cat tried to attack again, hissing and swiping with its claws, but Athena shooed it off firmly and hurried back inside with her prize.

She lit the fire and sat down beside the warm flames. Carefully, she dabbed the page dry. The blurred picture showed — of course — a cat, and a black one at that. The writing explained how to turn into an animal for a short while. It even gave a recipe for the potion, and it was so simple that Athena grinned.

‘At last!’ she thought. ‘Something I can actually try — and add to my witch’s résumé!’

What was on the list? Dried wild-goat milk, sunset grass, crushed frog-leg crisps… all sorts of other things — though really, almost everything was already in any respectable witch’s supply box. The only thing she still needed was a little fur from the animal she wanted to become. But which one?

‘Why not a cat?’ she thought.

So Athena got to work. She carefully gathered every ingredient, following the instructions step by step. Before long, a bright blue potion was bubbling merrily on the fire. There was only one thing left to add.

‘Here, kitty-kitty!’ called Athena, opening the door and setting a saucer of chicken bits under the porch. ‘Here, puss-puss!’

But all the cats had sensibly hidden from the rain.

The night was unusually warm, and the rain was soft and quiet. Athena sat on the doormat by the open door and didn’t even notice when she dozed off.

She woke when something wet touched her hand. She was startled for a moment, but then saw that it was the little grey kitten. Having eaten well, he was now trying to curl up on the mat beside her, hoping for a warm spot to sleep.

At first Athena wanted to chase him away — then suddenly realised that this was exactly what she needed! She stroked the kitten between the ears and down his damp back. The little creature purred with delight. When she lifted her hand, she saw enough tiny hairs clinging to her palm. Athena smiled.

‘Off you go!’ she said, shooing the kitten gently out into the rain.

Then she carefully shook the hairs from her hand into the potion. She read through the instructions once more, counted just enough drops onto a spoon to stay a cat for only a few minutes, took a deep breath, tasted the potion — and spoke the spell.

But nothing happened! Athena read the instructions again, measured out a few more drops — then a few more after that. Still nothing.

At last she grew truly cross. She threw the page into the bin and went off to bed in a huff.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, the room looked enormous — as if it had been rebuilt overnight for a giant.

Athena looked around, completely puzzled. Then she swung her legs over the side of the bed — and gasped. Her legs were covered in ginger fur, with white tips and tiny claws. She could hardly believe her eyes.

Clinging to the blanket, Athena slid down from the bed and dashed to the mirror. Staring back at her was a charming little ginger cat with huge green eyes. It had worked!

She gave a jump — and it was so easy, so light! In a flash she was on the bed, then the table, then the wardrobe, then the curtain. Oops! The curtain came down — crash! — but Athena twisted neatly in the air and landed on all fours. Brilliant!

The window was slightly open, and Athena leapt outside with delight. It was wonderful! She chased birds, watched the fish in the stream, pounced at butterflies… until, quite suddenly, she noticed the sun was setting.

‘But I only meant to be a cat for a few minutes!’ she said — but all that came out was a single ‘meow’.

She ran home, but the window was shut tight.

‘Who’s closed my window? Who’s in my house?’ she cried — but again, all that came out was ‘meow-meow’.

Her tummy rumbled. She dashed into the garden and found a few apples and pears lying in the grass, but they tasted dreadful to a cat! She sat on the doorstep, complaining loudly — though, of course, to anyone watching, it just looked like… well, you can imagine.

At last the door creaked open, and out stepped a proper wicked witch — with a long crooked nose, plenty of warts, and a black gown sweeping the floor. She hurled an old boot straight at Athena, who barely managed to leap aside in time.

Athena dived into the bushes, scratching herself on the sharp thorns, then squeezed through a gap in the fence. Soon the rain began again, and everything turned wet, cold and miserable.

When the hunger became unbearable, she spotted bowls of food left out for dogs — but the dogs guarded them fiercely, and she had to run for her life more than once.

At last she crept under a bench and began to cry. There was nowhere at all to go.

Then, out of the rain, the little grey kitten appeared. He watched her for a while, then padded over and sat beside her, pressing his warm side against hers.

‘You know, it’s warmer this way,’ he purred. ‘Let’s sit together?’ Out loud, though, it only came out as a soft ‘meow’.

Athena sniffled, but felt a little warmth spread through her. And, strangely enough, she understood.

‘Come over here,’ called someone nearby. ‘It’s dry here.’

They looked round, and there was the black cat, peering out from a hole in the fence.

‘That cat!’ thought Athena.

‘Yep,’ he replied.

Athena hadn’t expected him to hear her thoughts and felt rather embarrassed, but she quickly recovered.

‘Why did you attack me?’ she demanded.

‘Because Witch Fenella planted that page for you,’ said the cat. ‘I was trying to warn you.’

‘Really?’ said Athena, blushing. ‘I didn’t realise.’

‘Well then, are you coming in, or are you just going to sit there getting soaked?’ asked the cat.

They crawled through the hole after him. On the other side, beneath the fence, was a heap of old planks — and tucked between them, a cosy little space, sheltered from the rain and wind, where all three of them curled up together to keep warm.

‘Sorry… I didn’t realise you were trying to save me,’ said Athena at last.

‘You ought to listen more carefully,’ replied the cat. ‘I’m Ludwig. What’s your name?’

‘Athena,’ she said, feeling a little shy about it for the first time. ‘Who is this Witch Fenella? Where did she come from?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Ludwig sadly. ‘I fell for one of her tricks myself.’

‘What?!’ gasped Athena.

‘The same as you. I lived in the next village. She lured me with a spell, and I turned into a cat. Looks like we might stay that way forever…’

‘And you?’ Athena asked the little grey kitten. ‘You too?’

‘What?’ he mumbled sleepily, snuggling closer before starting to purr. He was only a kitten.

‘What shall we do?’ asked Athena.

Ludwig just gave a sad little shrug.

The next day, Athena watched. Dreadful Fenella picked and ate every apple and pear in the garden, gobbled up all the jam and pickles stored for winter, broke the bench under the tree, tore down the curtains, and even burnt the little rugs that Athena had woven herself. She made an awful mess of the house — and she seemed to enjoy it.

At first, Athena was horrified. Then she cried. Then she began to puff with fury.

‘She won’t get away with this!’ she cried. But there was nothing she could do, for she was still only a small ginger cat.

Athena was still terribly hungry, but there was nothing to eat. Then she suddenly heard furious barking from the street and saw Ludwig racing between the fences with a huge piece of sausage clamped in his teeth, while the neighbour’s dog thundered after him. Ludwig managed to dive through a hole in the fence, and the dog could only snarl and bark furiously from the other side. Then Fenella appeared, hurled another old boot at the dog, and it ran off.

At last, Athena, Ludwig, and the little grey kitten had a proper meal.

All that day, Athena tried to think how to defeat the witch — or at least how to get back inside the house.

‘It’s no good,’ said Ludwig sadly. ‘There isn’t a single hole anywhere.’

Then Athena suddenly remembered.

‘What if we try teleportation?’

‘I can’t do that,’ said Ludwig.

‘I’ll tell you the spell,’ she replied. She was too embarrassed to admit that she’d never actually tried it herself. ‘But will a thought-spell even work if all we can say out loud is “meow”?’

‘My wizard teacher used to say,’ said Ludwig, ‘that a thought-spell is the most powerful kind of magic. But it never worked for me… I had trouble concentrating.’

‘Right then,’ whispered Athena. ‘We’ve got to try.’

It wasn’t really courage that beat her fear — it was her anger. She was so furious with that horrid witch who had barged into her lovely little house and smashed everything inside that she simply stopped being afraid.

‘Here’s the spell,’ said Athena. ‘I’ll say it in my mind — you can repeat it if you like.’

Athena began the incantation, carefully shaping each word inside her head. She closed her eyes and pictured the inside of her house — and when she opened them again, she was already there!

But her house had changed into a dreadful, filthy mess.

She almost groaned out loud in horror and dismay but stopped herself — she didn’t want to wake the witch, who was lying fast asleep on Athena’s bed. Fully dressed — and even with her boots still on! Muddy marks covered the once-clean patchwork quilt with the little ladybirds and flowers.

‘Just you wait!’ whispered Athena silently, and crept further into the house.

‘What are we looking for?’ Ludwig appeared beside her.

‘Something that belongs to the witch,’ Athena whispered back inside her head.

At last, they found what they needed. It was a huge, grimy carpet-bag, so heavy and stiff that it was difficult even to open. But when they finally managed it, they discovered the most important thing of all — the witch’s spell book.

It was far too big to lift, so they had to leaf through it where it lay, peeking at the pages inside the half-open bag.

How to cast a curse... How to seize a house... How to make friends quarrel... How to split up loving people...

There were so many horrible spells that Athena felt a strong urge to burn the whole book!

The witch kept turning in her sleep, snoring and grumbling, and each time she did, the cats froze in fright — then, very carefully, went on turning the pages again.

Then they suddenly found a page about how to turn someone into an animal. Working together, they grabbed the page by one corner and began to pull. The paper creaked and tore — and at that very moment, the witch’s eyes snapped open.

She gave a roar like a wild beast, snatched up her broom, and started chasing them round the house, smashing and breaking everything that was still in one piece.

Ludwig seized the torn page and leapt onto the top of a cupboard, while Athena darted and whirled in front of the witch, doing everything she could to distract her.

‘Go on — read it!’ she shouted to Ludwig in her mind, as she bounded from the window to the dresser, then to the mantelpiece.

They dashed about the house for what felt like ages — and then there was a bang!

Right in front of the witch stood a teenage boy! He snatched the broom straight out of her hands, and she screamed in fright. She tried to run for her carpet-bag, but Ludwig, armed with the broom, was now a serious obstacle.

At the same time, he was shouting the spell to Athena, and at last she repeated it — and boom!

Athena flipped through the air and landed squarely on the floor — but this time on two feet!

‘Hurrah!’ cried Athena.

But the witch wasn’t beaten yet. She threw up her hands and yelled,

‘Abra-kadab—’

But Fenella never managed to finish her spell, because Athena shouted one of her own — the one for driving out evil spirits.

It had never worked before and, judging by the result, it still wasn’t perfect now. The witch didn’t vanish — but she started hopping and yelping, as if she were being pricked by tiny needles.

Athena kept repeating her spell again and again, hoping the needles would work better each time. And, from the way the witch squealed and wriggled, they certainly did!

At last, the old crone reached her carpet-bag — and that’s when Athena remembered the fire spell. In the heat of battle, she shouted it out loud, no longer caring about her little house. Let everything burn if it had to — as long as the witch’s horrid book went up in flames too!

The filthy carpet-bag exploded with a whoosh of fire.

With a shriek, the witch shot out of the house and suddenly lifted into the air like a blazing fireball. She bounced and darted about wildly until — pop! — she burst! The last bits of her drifted down like grey flakes of ash, but even those were soon caught by the wind and carried far, far away.

Athena and Ludwig stood in the middle of the room, staring at the fierce fire blazing on the floor.

‘You were amazing!’ whispered Ludwig, gazing at Athena in awe. ‘You... you’re truly like the goddess of wisdom. Will you teach me?’

Athena blushed, feeling flustered — and, for the first time, noticed that Ludwig was actually quite handsome.

By that evening, Athena even managed to test the cleaning spell — because there was no way they could have tidied up the house by hand.

To her great surprise, the spell actually worked! Before long, her cosy little cottage looked just as charming as it had before — neat, bright, and perfectly in order.

That night, she also wrote a long report on all the spells she had learnt and tested.

As for the little grey kitten who decided to stay with them — they named her Betty, because, as it turned out, she was a girl.