You are invited to put your heads together and conjure up a wizard story that will capture the imagination of all age groups. Please note that due to copyright restrictions you must not refer to any character as Harry Potter.

Each plot submission should flow naturally from the preceding one, so you will need to keep your eye on the plot progress before you submit your work. Each submission should constitute a section of a chapter (maximum 1000 words). You should incorporate as many of the following buzz words as you can (being as subtle as possible) in each of your submissions.  Simply listing the buzzwords or using them out of context will not be allowed and inappropriate submissions will be removed.

Whistling wand, worn-out wizard, wonderful witch(es), bumptious beasties, The found princess, Silver Stone Road.

Members may submit as many pieces of work to this plot as they wish.

The competition prize winner will be the person who has managed to incorporate the most buzz words when the plot closes on 31 January 07. The winner will fly away with a cool 500 pounds (G.B. sterling).

Readers please review as many threads as you can and provide feedback. Please give more stars if you feel buzz words have been used effectively.
Enjoy!

Emily and Josh woke up to find themselves in the middle of nowhere – or that’s how it seemed to them anyway. Dressed in their pyjamas, dressing gowns and slippers, it was almost time for bed. They had been sent upstairs but before settling down to sleep Emily had been playing magic fairies, merrily casting spells on Josh. She hadn’t got a magic wand but earlier that day she had been playing her recorder in music class at school and it didn’t take too much imagination for her to rename her recorder a whistling wand. She blew on her whistling wand and chanted spell after spell.

Josh joined in the fun and danced to her tune. They were singing and jumping, pretending to be birds and frogs and whatever else Emily’s spells should have turned them into. Getting more and more adventurous (as nine and ten year olds do) Emily’s last chant of “We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Buzz!” made them both giggle as they flapped their arms and pretended to fly round their room. How could they possibly have known that Emily’s recorder would actually turn into a real whistling wand and that their request would be granted?

As soon as they sang ‘Buzz’ , in harmony, a wonderful witch, called Sybil, appeared. They knew she was called Sybil because she was wearing a name badge, like shop assistants do, only her badge read “Sybil - Wonderful Witch”. Emily and Josh both gasped loudly as Sybil proceeded to explain that she was there to oversee their safe transfer to Buzz. There was no time for any questions nor for them to collect any belongings or put on their coats, the next thing they knew they were here, that is there, that is nowhere!

“Wherever are we?” asked Josh. “I’ve no idea,” answered Emily, “but I’m really frightened.”

At that point Sybil, the wonderful witch, reappeared. “No need to fret pets,” she said “It’s not too bad here. You just need to watch out for the bumptious beasties that’s all.”

“Bumptious beasties?” cried Emily, “what are bumptious beasties!?”

“What makes a beastie bumptious more like?” Josh asked.

Sybil said she hadn’t time to go into detail. Mondays were a particularly busy night for wonderful witches and she needed to fly.

“Well at least, could you tell us where we are please?” pleaded Emily.

Sybil frowned. “That’s a silly question she answered. You are where you asked to be! You’re on the Silver Stone Road which leads to the worn-out Wizard of Buzz’s house.”

Emily and Josh looked up the Silver Stone Road. Josh hoped to see a race track in the distance but saw only vast acres of fields, trees and wide yellow skies.

Emily turned to question Sybil further but
‘Look, Josh, she’s gone….we’re all alone!’
‘Where did she go?’

He tried not to sound afraid. He was younger than Emily but he was the boy. He had to be tough and take care of her although if Sybil’s bumptious beasties arrived he didn’t think he would look tough at all, in fact he thought he would look very small and scared.

‘She just disappeared, Josh what are we going to do?’
‘I don’t know, I don’t know what to do.’
Forget it. Emily was the eldest let her deal with this, it was her recorder that got them into this mess.

‘Wait! I have an idea. Em, where’s your recorder.’
It was a silly question. The recorder turned Whistling Wand was still in her hand.
‘You got us here by playing the recorder, play again, it might send us back!’
‘I think it’s more than a recorder, it….’
‘Just play!’
‘Okay, here goes.’

Emily played the wand.
Nothing happened.

‘Is that what you played earlier?’
‘I can’t remember. I just played and then we came here.’
‘We’ll never get back, what are we going to do?’

Emily and Josh felt very desolate. The road ahead stretched into the distance to who knows where?

Sybil knew where but she was gone.

‘Did you notice,’ Josh asked, ‘She looked like Aunt Cybil?’
‘A little,’ Emily replied, ‘Except I never saw Aunt Cybil wear white, and I never saw her smile or sound kind. Apart from leaving us here Sybil was nice, I never saw Aunt Cybil being nice.’
‘You’re right, and Sybil was a wonderful witch, I think Aunt Cybil is just a witch.’

Aunt Cybil may have been a witch but Emily and Josh would gladly spend an entire afternoon with her now. They would sit and watch her knit without moaning once, they would even eat her homemade rock cakes which tasted like real rocks and were just as hard. Neither would admit it, but compared to this place Aunt Cybil didn’t seem so bad.

‘Well we can’t stand here all day Josh,’ Emily said, trying to take charge, ‘I think we should follow the Silver Stone Road and see where it leads.’
‘But we’re in our pyjamas!’
‘What else can we do? Sybil said there was a wizard’s house, he might be able to help us.’
‘She said he was a worn out wizard. What good is a worn out wizard?’
‘It’s better than no wizard at all. Don’t be so grumpy, we have to do something.’

Emily was right. Josh would never admit it.

‘Fine,’ he said, ‘but when he’s too worn out to help us it’ll be your fault.’
‘Fine, lets go.’

The pair walked barefooted a long time. Josh had only taken a bath yesterday and already his feet were filthy. If they did get home, he wouldn’t take another bath, not so soon after the last one, it wasn’t fair.

Emily wished she had pockets in her pyjamas to put the whistling wand in.

Maybe Josh had a point before, although Emily would never admit it. Perhaps if she could play the right thing they would be home, tucked up in bed listening to the wind in the trees.

The trees here were still and lifeless. Some had blue leaves and some purple and all were tall with large leaves.

Emily began to play as they walked. It was better than carrying the wand and it made her forget about her sore feet. Josh’s feet hurt also.
If Sybil was such a wonderful witch she would have given us slippers or at least socks. Would Aunt Cybil make us walk barefooted? Actually…

As Emily played one of the trees beside the road began to shake. It was the only one with green leaves and some of them fell to the ground as the branches shook.

The children stood still, frightened. There was no wind blowing, in fact Emily and Josh were quite warm in just their pyjamas. Whatever made the tree move was big. Neither wanted to resurrect the idea of bumptious beasties, but such things played on Josh and Emily’s minds.

‘What’s that?’ Emily whispered.
‘AT LAST’
‘What?’ Emily asked Josh.
‘Wasn’t me.’ Whispered her brother, petrified.
‘FINALLY THE CARRIER OF THE WHISTLING WAND COMES TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS.’
‘Josh I’m scared’
‘Me too.’
‘SCARED? HOW CAN THE CARRIER BE SCARED? DID THE WONDERFUL WITCH NOT BRING YOU FORTH?’
‘You know the witch?’ Emily asked, relieved at mention of Sybil, who had, remember, been very nice
(apart from leaving them here alone and without footwear)
and seemed kind.

‘OF COURSE, WE KNOW MANY WONDERFUL WITCHES. THEY OFTEN MEET UNDER OUR SHADE TO DISCUSS NEW SPELLS AND CAKE RECIPES.’
‘Rock cakes?’ Josh asked
‘SOMETIMES.’
‘Forget the cakes Josh, erm, excuse me, could you come from behind the tree please, so that we can see you?’
‘FROM BEHIND? WHY, I AM THE TREE.’
Frightened again.
‘NOW TELL ME WAND CARRIER. WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO ABOUT THE PRINCESS?’
‘Princess?’
‘YES, THE FOUND PRINCESS.’
‘We don’t know her, we’re looking for a wizard.’
‘AHH, THE WIZARD CANNOT HELP WITH THE PRINCESS, HE’S ALL WORN OUT.’
‘I’m sorry but I don’t know the found princes.’
‘THEN HOW CAN YOU HELP?’
‘Help?’
‘THE PRINCESS, SHE’S LOST.’
‘The Found Princess is lost?’
‘OF COURSE, THAT IS WHY YOU ARE HERE IS IT NOT?’
‘I think you have us mixed up with somebody else.’
‘YOU CARRY THE WHISTLE, YOU ARE THE ONE. SMALL, GRANTED, BUT THE ONE NONETHELESS. YOU MUST FIND THE FOUND PRINCESS AND RESCUE HER FROM THE BUMPTIOUS BEASTIES.’

Emily and Josh trembled and without realising held each others hand. It was something they’d never admit to, but right now they were all alone, except for the talking tree.

‘Excuse me, Mr?’
‘JUST CALL ME ALDER’
‘Ok Mr. Alder…’
‘JUST ALDER WILL DO FINE.’

Emily was very conscious she was talking to a tree. She was also very aware of its size and she thought best not to annoy it.

‘Ok Alder. Why must we save The Found Princess?’
‘BECAUSE YOU CARRY THE WAND.’
‘Wand?’
‘THE WHISTLING WAND, YOU CARRY THE WAND. THE CARRIER IS THE ONLY ABLE ONE TO FIND THE FOUND PRINCESS.’
‘Emily?’ Josh squeaked, ‘Why is she called The Found Princess if she’s lost? Shouldn’t she be called the Lost Princess?’

It was a good point, but not one Emily wanted to raise with the talking tree Alder. His booming voice reminded her too much of Miss Harrington, Emily and Josh’s headmistress.
Nobody asked Miss Harrington too many questions. She had a tendency to take them as attacks on herself or as a sign of stupidity. Both of these were things she reacted badly to.

Alder called the Found Princess for his own reasons and that was good enough for Emily right now. It wasn’t good enough for Josh, who, impatient for an answer enquired of Alder.
‘Alder? Why is she called the Found Princess if she’s lost? Why isn’t she called the Lost Princess?’

Emily glared down at her foolish little brother.

‘WHO ARE YOU? WHAT BRINGS YOU TO THIS PLACE?’
‘He’s my brother, Josh, please don’t hurt him Alder, he meant no harm.’
‘BROTHER? I DIDN’T SEE HIM STANDING NEXT TO YOU CARRIER, HE IS SMALLER THAN YOU WHO IS SMALL ENOUGH ALREADY. WHY DO YOU BRING HIM ON THE QUEST? SURELY ONE SMALLER THAN YOURSELF CAN BE OF NO HELP RESCUING THE PRINCESS FROM THE BUMPTIOUS BEASTIES?’

Emily and Josh’s hands tightened their hold on each other. Sybil’s fabled bumptious beasties filled them with terror and their longing to be home in bed surged through them.

‘Pardon me Alder?’ Emily said. ‘What are the bumptious beasties and why do they have the princess?’
‘DO NOT TALK TO ME OF THOSE BEASTS! STOLEN THE PRINCESS THEY HAVE AND NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME. THEY ARE WITHOUT HONOUR OR SCRUPLES! UNDERSTAND I AM A PEACEFUL TREE, BUT THOSE GHASTLY CREATURES DO NOT DESERVE OUR RESPECT. THEY ARE WITHOUT REDEMPTION AS MANY A WAND CARRIER BEFORE YOU HAS DISCOVERED.’

The children cowered in their pyjamas. Alder’s voice grew deeper and seemed to surround them. It wasn’t exactly clear from where his voice came for he had no visible mouth.

‘MANY TIMES HAVE THEY TAKEN HER AND MANY TIMES HAS SHE BEEN FOUND BUT THEY ARE RELENTLESS. NO SOONER DOES A WAND CARRIER RETURN HER HAVE THE BEASTS SOUGHT HER AGAIN. IT IS MORE WORRY THAN THIS OLD TREE CAN COPE WITH.’
‘I’m sorry Alder,’ and Emily genuinely was. Despite the boom of his words she could also hear his pain.

She didn’t know anything about this place called buzz. She knew nothing of the Princess or in fact of Alder who was now before her, but Emily could tell from his words that he suffered greatly. For all she knew he was even scared like her and Josh although she was sure that booming voice would never admit to such a thing.

‘Why do they take her?’ Josh asked, sounding more curious than afraid.
‘THEY TAKE HER BECAUSE THEY ARE UGLY AND SHE IS BEAUTIFUL. SHE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE IN ALL OF BUZZ, EVEN MORE SO THAN THE WONDERFUL WITCH SYBIL WHO GAVE ME GREEN LEAVES AND A VOICE.’
‘Do you know where Sybil is?’
‘THIS I DO NOT KNOW. HER WAYS ARE A MYSTERY TO ME BUT THEY PLEASE ME NONETHELESS.
‘We need her to get home Alder, if you know where we can find her, please tell us.’
‘HOME? WHY YOU CAN’T LEAVE BUZZ, YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SEARCH FOR THE FOUND PRINCESS AND FIND HER YOU MUST. WITHOUT HER PRESENCE MY LEAVES WILT AND FALL OFF. EVEN NOW THEY REST ON THE GROUND AROUND ME. IF YOU DO NOT FIND HER HERE FOREVER I WILL BE, NAKED TO ALL WHO PASS ON THE SILVER STONE ROAD. WITHOUT YOU I SHALL BE DOOMED TO A LONG, COLOURLESS LIFE.’
‘But Alder, we’re just children. We’re here by accident. We can’t fight bumptious beasties or rescue the princess, we just want to go home. You said there were other carriers, can’t they help?’
‘ACCIDENT? THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS. CARRIERS OF THE WHISTLING WAND ARE CHOSEN SPECIALLY AND THE WONDERFUL WHICH ONLY BRINGS FORTH ONE CARRIER AT A TIME, THERE IS NO OTHER BUT YOU.'

Emily’s head dropped. She wanted to go home. She wanted to lie in her bed and pull the duvet right up to her chin, grasping a clump of it in her fist. She wanted to be comfortable and safe and sound, knowing her parents were just downstairs should bad dreams chase her through the night. She would never admit it, but she wanted Josh to be safe too, curled up in the room next door with his duvet thrown down to his feet.

His duvet always ended up at his feet with his arms and legs sprawled across the mattress. Sometimes Emily looked into his room when she woke to go to the bathroom. She could never get back to sleep until she’d crept into his room and covered him once more. It was pointless she knew. He was stubborn even in his sleep and before morning the duvet would be settled at the far end of his bed. Cold or not, Josh would not stay under the duvet.

She tightened her hold on Josh’s hand now and looked up at Alder. He had no discernable face to address. Instead Emily spoke towards his large, deep green boughs and asked without bravery or courage but instead resignation,

‘What must we do Alder?’

Emily and Josh had been walking along The Silver Stone Road for what seemed like hours. Alder had instructed them to reach the worn out Wizard’s house by nightfall and ask for Robinson, the wizard’s assistant.

‘HE WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A MAP TO THE BEASTIE’S TERRITORY. BE SURE TO GET THERE BY DARK. IF YOU GET LOST ON THE ROAD BEFORE YOU GET THE MAP YOU’LL NEVER FIND THE PRINCESS.

Josh hoped they would arrive in time for dinner. His stomach felt emptier with every step and imaginings of the wizard’s table full of food made him feel even worse. He couldn’t help it.

Every time his mind wandered it found its way to the table full of savoury meats, plates of creamy mash with peas scattered throughout, deserts covered in cream and custard and ice-cream and berries and chocolate sauce and…..
His mouth was watering, his feet hurt, he felt terrible.

He hadn’t said anything, but when Emily had asked “What must we do Alder?” Josh had wanted to shout at her, tell her they couldn’t help, they had to get home to bed and to sleep. He hadn’t said anything because he knew it was no use.
The tone of Emily’s voice and the look in her eyes said it all.

She didn’t like it any more than Josh, but this was something they had to do. As they walked along the road they saw other trees with the same affliction as Alder, leaves becoming shrivelled and falling off, bark beginning to crack and branches drooping.

Cybil had brought them to buzz to save the found princess and that’s what they had to do, or try to do at least. The thought of bumptious beasties petrified them and whistling wand or not, Emily and Josh had no idea how to go about rescuing the princess.

‘Don’t worry Josh, let’s just find Robinson first, we can worry about the rest later.’

Her brave face worked a little and Josh had been reassured for a while. Now they had been walking for a long time, Josh wasn’t sure they would find Robinson and Emily was all out of assurances. The pair walked in silence as the yellow sky grew dark and purple all around them.

‘I can’t see any lights Em,’
‘Me either, all I can see is road and it stretches forever, I can’t see a wizard’s house anywhere.’
‘I wish we could go home, can’t we just go home Emily?’
‘We can’t, we don’t know how to get there and besides, we can’t let Alder’s leaves fall off. You heard what he said about needing the princess. He needs our help.’
‘But we need help too. We’re totally lost, it’s getting dark, my feet hurt, I’m hungry and I don’t want to be eaten by bumptious beasties!’

He was close to tears. He wouldn’t admit such a thing to Emily but she could tell. Whenever Josh wanted to cry his voice took on a higher pitch and he spoke in long, drawn out sentences.

‘Cybil made a mistake bringing us here she made a mistake. We can’t save the princess or Alder or find the wizards house and we can’t get home. I don’t think she’s such a wonderful witch after all I think she’s a terrible witch otherwise she wouldn’t have left us in the middle of nowhere without shoes or clothes or…’
His breath ran out.

Emily listened attentively. She knew interceding would likely bring him to tears faster. Just letting him ramble might stave them off, for a while at least.
If they didn’t find the wizard soon she knew tears would be inevitable and she was afraid once Josh began to cry she would too.

Alder seemed certain Emily was the carrier but she wasn’t so sure. Would the carrier be lost in the dark and close to tears? Would the carrier feel totally unable to keep her brother’s spirits high? No. Surely the carrier, the saviour of the princess would laugh at such things and stride bravely through the night, right into the beasties territory with wand held high.

Right now Emily wasn’t sure she could even hold her head up high, let alone a magical wand.

She felt terrible and wanted to sit down in the road until everything went away. She wanted to feel safe instead of exposed on this wide road in the middle of a strange and foreign land. It hadn’t escaped her that earlier today she had conversed with a tree. What else might be around here? Even without bumptious beasties there could be all manner of things just waiting for a couple of snacks to come strolling along. She wondered what good it was being the wand carrier when she was so scared.

‘Come on Josh, we have to keep going, don’t worry, we’ll get there.’

Emily didn’t convince herself or Josh but he’d gotten the rant out of his system and the tears had retreated. They continued to walk into the darkness with still no signs of life or light anywhere. As bad as she felt, Emily thought for a moment of the Found Princess. What must she be going through? At least Emily and Josh had each other.

Both were glad of the others presence though neither would admit to such a thing. Instead they held each others hands and walked in silence towards the worn out Wizard and his helper, Robinson.

“Let the Magic Begin!”

When you’re feeling very low

And you don’t know which way to go
Then the magic can begin…

Even though Em and Josh were scared and

Walked along, hand in hand

Em knew that they would win.

Josh was sure that this was a road to nowhere and they would walk it forever and find nothing and never see Mum or Dad ever again. He sniffed a little sniff because his eyes were filling with tears and he kept his head bowed down so Emily would not see. He thought she knew, though, because she squeezed his hand more tightly.

Suddenly Em shrieked. “Look, look, there’s a pink light in the sky!” “Hmm,” thought Josh, “a pink light indeed. Very girly.” You could tell he was getting tired.

The pink light got pinker, brighter, deeper, hotter. And bigger. And closer. Even Josh could not ignore it. Yes, there was a huge pink glow in the sky, with a dark shadow to one side. Pink over Silver Stone Road? How odd.

Then Emily’s whistling wand turned a lovely shade of purple and that reminded them both of the exciting holiday they had in Cornwall with their cousin Megan. There were all those nice hedges, and the little flowers in the hedges reminded Emily of pretty princesses.

Suddenly, the huge hot pink glow hovered a few feet off the ground right in front of them. And there, on a broomstick was a beautiful young lady.

“Hi!” she said. “Are you the Found Princess?” asked Josh, because she looked just like she could be. “No,” she laughed, and her rosy pink glow shimmered like sequins. “No, the Found Princess is truly pretty. But I am here to help you find the worn out wizard and the princess.”

“Who are you?” asked Em. “Why, I’m Morgan and I’m the chief of the wonderful witches. And this is my friend Merlin – say hello to Merlin, children.” Josh and Emily turned to face the biggest, blackest, sleekest panther they’d ever seen, sitting on the back of the broomstick. His eyes glowed neon orange. They stroked Merlin. “Cool,” purred Merlin in a deep throaty voice.

“Well, do jump aboard, children,” Morgan whispered. “We’ve no time to waste. The bumptious beasties are on my tail, and we don’t want them finding us or the worn out wizard, do we.” Not that Morgan expected an answer, no she expected action. So, at that point she arranged for a set of pink steps to appear so Emily and Josh could board the broomstick more easily.

Later on, Josh was to tell his friends it was like being in a pink Cadillac because the broomstick even had soft leather seats and special little pockets stuffed full of Love Hearts. And no matter how many you ate, they remained full. “Miss You” was the first one Josh read. “Hi, Gorgeous” said Em’s.

Suddenly Morgan metaphorically and physically put her foot down. The broomstick shot forward. Or maybe the stars shot backwards? Either way, they were no longer where they were and now they were somewhere else.

“Hold tight and watch out for the turbulence!” yelled Morgan. But it was a bit late because, as the broomstick did an unexpected wobble, Josh fell from his comfortable leather seat. Down, down, down. Thud.

He was a bit shocked at first. After all, if he’d known, he’d have grabbed a handful of Love Hearts for sustenance. Still, at least he’d had a soft landing…and that’s when he realised he was sitting on top of a girl not much older than he. A very pretty girl. A girl with a rather sulky mouth.

“Who are you?” they both asked at the same time, and then giggled. Then she said “I’m the princess, of course.” “What, the Found Princess?” asked Josh in great awe. “Yes,” she replied, sulkily. “They’re always sending people to find me. It’s not fair. I want to stay with my friends, the bumptious beasties. They’re fun! They play games and take me to nice places. And feed me on jelly and ice cream. I don’t want to go home and grow up and be important.”

“Oh,” said Josh. But inside he thought that this was going to be tricky…

‘Look Josh, “Kiss me”, you can have this one, I don’t want….Josh?’
Emily looked around filled with panic.
‘Josh?!’
She was alone on the broomstick with Morgan and Merlin. Her sense of alarm was contrasted with their total calm.

Morgan was focused on the sky ahead and Merlin was grooming himself, repetitively licking his paws and cleaning his soft black coat.
‘Morgan! Morgan! Where’s Josh, I can’t find him!’
‘What dear?’ She barely looked over her shoulder.
‘Josh has gone! We have to find him!’
‘Gone dear? Are you sure? Have you looked properly?’
Emily hated that question. Just this morning (or was it yesterday morning by now?) her mother had asked that very question for the millionth time in Emily’s ten years.

‘Mum, my shoes aren’t in the hall, I’m going to be late!’
‘Are you sure? Have you looked properly?’
Emily gritted her teeth, ‘Yes I’ve looked, they’re not there!’
‘Well they should be, look again.’

Emily didn’t have time to look again for Josh. She didn’t have time for silly questions, even if they were coming from the Chief of the wonderful witches.

‘He’s not here Morgan we have to stop!’
‘We can’t stop dear, we have to get to the wizard’s house before Robinson puts him to bed.’
‘But Josh is all alone…’
‘He’ll be fine dear, don’t worry, we’ll pick him up on our way back. Just relax. Have some love hearts.’
Emily didn’t want to relax and she certainly didn’t want love hearts. She looked around the broomstick with a heavy heart.

Somehow things had gotten even worse now. She wished she and Josh were together, even if it meant being alone in the dark on the lonely Silver Stone Road. It seemed wonderful witches had a habit of leaving people alone in strange places and even though Morgan and Merlin were here, Emily had never felt so alone in her whole life.

***

‘Then why have we been brought here?’ Josh demanded, ‘we didn’t ask to come and find you and now we’re stuck here.’
‘It’s not my fault, they won’t let me do what I want, I don’t ask to be found just like you didn’t ask to find!’

The pair regarded each other with crossed arms and frowns. Josh didn’t care if the found princess was pretty, she was spoiled and wanted her own way. Because of her, he and Emily had been stuck in this place with talking trees and bumptious beasties…
Bumptious Beasties!

‘Where are the beasties?’ He enquired, trying to mask his fear,
‘Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.’ He’d obviously failed,
‘But Cybil said…’
‘Oh Cybil said Cybil said Cybil said! Cybil says a lot of things and most of the time it’s rubbish! Oh why won’t she leave me alone!’
‘But she’s trying to help you,’
‘Help me? By making me sit in my tower wearing frilly dresses all day, not allowed to do anything that isn’t regal? You call that help? Listen, you tell Cybil I’m fine, when I want to come home Horace will bring me.’
‘Horace?’
‘Horace is my friend, in fact he’s my best friend in all of Buzz. He’s funny and smart and if he were a prince I’d marry him someday.’
‘But what about Alder? He’s losing all of his leaves, they said you were the only one that could save him and the other trees.’
‘I told them before I was through singing for them! I’ve done it for years, they’ll have to find somebody else!’
‘Singing?’
‘My voice is the softest and sweetest in all the land.’

She said this not as a boast but as plain fact, an undisputed truth. ‘They make me sing to the trees and it makes them grow, but I don’t want to anymore! The worn out wizard made the trees, he should look after them!’
‘Couldn’t you sing for the trees and then play with Horace afterwards?’
‘Cybil doesn’t let me! She doesn’t like Horace, “He’s not regal enough. It wouldn’t do to have a princess mixing with such company!”’

She had spent a lot of time mimicking Cybil, in fact it was of her and Horace’s favourite games.

Josh didn’t know what to do. He wished Emily was here and then it struck him, his sister was gone and he was alone in this strange land.
The Found Princess looked all around.

‘We need to find Horace, he’s afraid of the dark you see and if he’s alone at night he howls and howls, it’s quite a racket.’
‘What about my sister you highness?’
‘Highness? Oh be quiet, call me Daisy, that’s my name and I’d prefer you use it.’
‘Ok Daisy. I was with my sister Emily, only now she’s gone.’
‘Where did you come from by the way?’
‘I was with Morgan and her cat on her broomstick, I fell off and landed here.’
‘Well your sister should be ok, come on, let’s find Horace.’

Despite what Daisy had told him, Josh was still wary of the bumptious beasties. Cybil’s first impression had taken root in his mind

The road was darker now than it had been before and there was no sign of the worn out wizard’s house. He was afraid of the beasties, but more afraid of being left alone. He had no choice but to follow.
They began walking and very quickly left the Silver Stone Road. Daisy informed Josh that she and Horace had been playing hide and seek. She hadn’t been able to find him and it had gotten dark.

‘But how will you find him if it’s dark?’
‘Because I always find him, I’m the best at this game and if Horace tells you differently he’s pulling your leg, come on, keep up.’

They walked through the darkness and Josh wished he had Emily’s hand to hold. Emily wanted the same thing as she rushed through the sky with Morgan and Merlin on the pink broomstick towards the home of the worn out wizard.

The hot pink broomstick and three quarters of it’s occupants arrived safely. Where? How should I know? I’m only the narrator. But suffice it to say that I think it must have been somewhere pretty close to where they were going.

Emily was a bit tearful. What would happen if she ended back at home and Josh wasn’t there? Would she get into trouble? It wasn’t her fault, really it wasn’t!

Morgan offered her some sweet liquid “to make her feel a little bit better”. It was in a silver goblet and steam came out of the top, so she sipped it carefully. Actually, it wasn’t hot at all. But it was delicious. It contained a mixture of pink fruits. Mmm, nice. Soon she felt less troubled. She knew the magic would work, that it was already doing so.

And then, a huge surprise! Merlin wasn’t a cat! No, Merlin was the worn out wizard in disguise!

“Sorry, Emily,” he apologised “but I have to be careful when the bumptious beasties are about”.

Merlin explained that the bumptious beasties had long tentacles that, like tree roots, grew outwards. They seeped into your brain and portrayed images of all the things you liked, just to keep you happy and under control. If you weren’t found quickly enough, the tentacles would take up all the room meant for your brain. That was a terrible thing to happen, completely irreversible, because your brain had to “hop it” and find another home.

That’s why it was so important to find the Found Princess. Each time she was taken, she was in greater danger. And the worst thing was she didn’t even know it.

Emily was shocked, despite the pink liquid. “What about Josh?” she asked. “Yes” said Merlin. “He is in some danger. But we’ll get him back very, very soon.”

“I wish I could see him!” cried Em. She started to sob. “Here, look here!” said Morgan, handing her a mirror. Well, she thought it was a mirror. But then she saw a scene instead of her face. The woods, darkness and a little girl and boy playing hide’n’seek. All of a sudden, the mirror started to grow. It grew so large it enveloped her. One minute she was with Morgan and Merlin and the next she was in the darkness amongst the trees, with only her whistling wand for comfort.

She noticed the whistling wand had changed colours; it was now every colour of the rainbow. And it played “Brahm’s Lullaby”, just like her granny used to sing to her when she was very small.

Whatever would happen next?

The tune was lulling Emily to sleep, when suddenly she was hit by a jolt of reality. She had never played Brahm's Lullaby on her whistling wand, and the whistling wand had never heard it, so how the Dickens could the wand know how to play it?

She grabbed the silent wand, put her hands over her ears and ran away from the sound. She caught glimpses of the bumptious beasties in her peripheral vision, as she ran. She knew she was somewhere near the Silver Stone Road, but apart from that she was totally lost.

When she could run no longer, and she knew she wasn't anywhere near the bumptious beasties, she collapsed onto the soft ground, and started sobbing. She heard the whistling wand play a soft, comforting tune in her pocket, but this time she was sure that it actually was the wand. Then she heard different tunes coming from different directions, and stood up, alert and scared. She backed up against a tree, and looked around in the darkness. She could feel her heart racing.

She knew that it would be the bumptious beasties, and she was too scared even to move, but she looked up when they drew nearer. She found it hard to imagine that the bumptious beasties had whistling wands as well as her, particularly ones that played such pretty tunes. She could hear that the tune her own whistling wand was playing was getting more and more excited, and she let herself fall into a false sense of security.

As the bumptious beasties encircled her, she was not as scared as she had been a few minutes ago, even though they were getting nearer and nearer. When they stopped, she called out to them, asking them not to harm her.

'Why would we harm you?' asked a sweet, kind voice that reminded Emily of toffee apples. She felt her stomach rumble at the thought, and suddenly realised that she was very hungry.

'You're the bumptious beasties, and you want to hurt me! Please, please don't!' Emily pleaded, unsure of what to think.

The sugary voice spoke again. 'We are not the bumptious beasties!' it almost shouted at Emily, and she felt her knees shake. 'We,' it continued, 'are the wonderful witches, and we have come here to help you find your brother!'

'No!' Emily began, but the voice interrupted her.

'Find the Silver Stone road, and follow it until you see us again! Tell Morgan and Merlin to turn around, and get going! We shall see each other when there is much peril ahead, and that will be in the VERY near future! Goodbye for now, Emily!'

As the mirror had encircled her before, it now did much the opposite, and in a matter of seconds Emily found herself back on the bright pink broomstik with Morgan and the Worn - Out Wizard. She told Morgan, babbling in her haste, to turn around and follow the silver stone road until they met the Wonderful Witches, and that there they would find the lost Found Princess and Josh.

Merlin was very confused. 'Emily, what ever has happened?'

Emily tried to explain again to Merlin who was feeling a very Worn Out Wizard just then. “No dear,” said Morgan. “Don’t trouble Merlin just now. He needs a little power nap to clear his mind. He had a nasty run-in with the Bumptious Beasties the other day and he’s got to take it a little easier.” And at that point Merlin changed form again. This time he was just like a little mouse.

Emily thought it was all so strange. However, Morgan promised they were on the way to the Silver Stone Road, anyhow, as she wanted to meet up with her colleagues, the Wonderful Witches.

“Whatever you do, Emily, remember nothing”, she commanded, as she changed into a rabbit. And when Em next looked at her own reflection, she realized that she, too, was in disguise. Well, she must have been because she didn’t know who she was looking at. Her Whistling Wand was still in her pocket, still playing Brahms Lullaby. She took it out for a moment and gazed at it in wonder. “I wonder what it’s for,” she thought, as she started to sleep.

Morgan listened carefully to Merlin, who was directing operations. He was twittering away in Mouseish; fortunately, despite being in the form of a rabbit, she still understood. That was because she was the Chief of the Wonderful Witches.

As she slept, Emily had strange dreams. She dreamt that the broomstick had become a spaceship, shaped like a cup and saucer and fuelled by hot tea. Oh she would love a cup of tea, and cream scones with raspberry jam and Battenburg slices…

“We can give you what you want, Miss, if you give us what we want.” It seemed some Wonderful Witches were talking to her. “I want afternoon tea, and make it now”, she demanded, “and I want lemon jelly and lots of custard, too.” “OK, pretty Miss,” said the Voices. “But what will you give us in return?” “You can have this old stick I found in my pocket,” she said. The stick, the Whistling Wand stick, turned white and stopped singing. She handed it over.

“Goody goody goody,” said the Voices, as they rushed off with the stick. They were the Bumptious Beasties in disguise and they knew the true value of the Whistling Wand. “Where’s my tea?” demanded Em. All of a sudden it was there – right there on the Silver Stone Road. It reminded her of that story, you know, the one about the girl, and the Duchess and the Mad Hatter.

And, strangely enough, there was a girl at the afternoon tea. A very pretty girl. And she was eating all the scones and jelly. Em would have to stop that. She grabbed the girl’s long blonde hair and pulled and pulled it. She yanked it so hard, big pieces came out in her hands. The pretty girl screamed and screamed.

All of a sudden there was a beautiful white light. It was shining brightly over the tea table. And out jumped a mouse.

The pretty girl screamed again. The Bumptious Beasties screamed, too. Emily would have wondered what would happen next but she was too busy. Yes, she was polishing off the afternoon tea.

The little mouse ran around the table. The little mouse also ran up the Bumptious Beasties’ tentacles. The Bumptious Beasties ran around the table and asked Emily to save them. But she was not at all concerned because she had forgotten everything.

Emily sat there dumbly, staring at the mouse and the Bumptious Beasties. She repeatedly ignored their cries for help, and wondered who on earth they were, and how it was they knew who she was. She wished they would tell her. When Morgan had told her to remember nothing, she had forgotten everything.

Well, everything except the tea and jelly. She knew that she wanted them. She also knew that the pretty blonde girl was eating them all again, and that her hair had started growing back already. She tore into the pretty girl, pulling her hair and both of them screaming some more. Em thought that, as the pretty girl's hair grew back very quickly, then so would hers.

What Em didn't know was that the pretty girl resembled the Found Princess, and the tea and scones represented Josh, who Em and the Princess were both fighting over. She wouldn't have known that anyway, even if she could remember who either Josh or the Found Princess were.

While Emily was fighting in her dream, Morgan sat staring helplessly at her restless sleep. Em was tossing and turning, while Morgan was popping from one form to the next, from a mouse all the way up to an elephant, until realising that, being an elephant, balancing on the broomstick was extremely difficult, and contented with being a zebra instead.

Merlin was inside Emily's dream, fighting off the Bumptious Beasties for her, and not doing so well. He was one very Worn - Out - Wizard, in the shape of a mouse, which wasn't his best ever idea, and they were a babble of burly, boastful, bald Bumptious Beasties. He just hoped he was protecting Em, and the Whistling Wand. He then found himself cornered, so he made a dash for it, and escaped just long enough from the Bumptious Beasties to pop out of the dream and back to reality.

Just when Merlin had gotten back they both realised - they could no longer hear the lullaby. They searched Emily's clothes and pockets, but they could not find the invaluable Whistling Wand. Panicking, they ignored the turbulance they were experiencing, and crashed straight into the middle of the Silver Stone Road, and straight into the middle of a group of ravenous Bumptious Beasties.

Josh was worried. It had been twenty minutes, and he hadn't found any sign of the Found Princess yet. He hated playing hide - and - seek. He called out that the game was over - to no avail. He had been standing sheepishly, feeling hundreds of eyes in the forest watching him, when something caught his eye. He saw movement, and a shimmer of silver. it looked like a road. A stone road... The Silver Stone Road! He could see it! He was half - way to finding himself! Wait a minute - he could find himself! He was standing right there. He looked at the ground and saw Josh's feet. He cheered, and leapt into the air! The feet leapt with him. He ran over, and saw the road had been cleaned to a mirror - hue. And in it he saw Josh ... He blinked his left eye. The reflection blinked it's right. He blinked his right eye. Now the reflection blinked it's left.

He heard voices. They were indecipherable, speaking a language that he didn't understand. He still knew what they meant though. They said he had Emily's memories, not his own, and she had no memories! So he was Josh, but he was Emily. Except he wasn't Emily, he was still Josh with Emily's character. No, wait, he was Emily's memories, with Josh's feet. But what about the rest?!

In English, which he could understand, they said they were the Wonderful Witches, and Emily was being held prisoner with the Worn - Out - Wizard and leader of themselves - the Wonderful Witches - by the Bumptious Beasties, who had the Whistling Wand, and to follow the Silver Stone Road until he found them. Josh understood exactly three of those words, and most of them were 'and'. He had forgotten to have Emily's memories.

When Emily came to, she was in a dark dungeon with Morgan and the Worn - Out - Wizard.
'Who are you? Where are you? Where am I? Who am I?' were just four of her scattered questions.
'Good Lord, you look terrible - what happened to you?' asked a voice. Emily felt her half - bald head, and decided, in the very near future, to buy a hat. 'A dream beat me up!' she said sincerely.

Morgan and Merlin burst out laughing.

Josh started off walking down the Silverstone Road. He was walking quite quickly and appeared confident. That was not how he felt inside. Sure, the Found princess was pretty but he’d seen enough of the Bumptious Beasties and their slimy, squirmy tentacles to put him off the seaside forever. The worst bit was watching someone’s brain legging it. That must be what happened to the Found Princess, he thought. That would explain why she never wanted to go home. She wasn’t normal. No.

Josh was a bit sad. He missed Emily even though he had her memories stored away. And her memories missed their mum and dad so Josh, naturally, missed them as well. Through the haze of his misery he thought he saw something familiar in the distance on the Silverstone Road. Hmmm. Probably those Wonderful Witches, or even that Worn Out Wizard Merlin, playing tricks again. But he definitely did see a man dressed as Santa pulling a sleigh laden with presents.

As Josh approached him, he could see that Santa was looking perplexed. “What’s the matter, Santa?” Josh shouted.

Santa looked ever so pleased to see him. “Well, it’s like this, Little Josh”, Santa said. “I’ve not been able to find the Found Princess, and I’ve got all these presents for her. Rudolph was helping me and then a mouse appeared and frightened him away. I’ve got to deliver the presents. It’s targets, you know. We’ve all got them these days and if I fail I’ll be thrown out of the North Pole as a laughing stock. And, anyway, Rudolph is my friend. We’ve been together for decades. I can’t just leave him.” And at that point a tear trickled down Santa’s chin.

Now Josh was even sadder. How could anyone treat Santa so dreadfully, when he was so kind to children everywhere? And then Josh became assertive and told Santa to pull himself together because he, Josh, was going to help him find the Found Princess – why, she’d been here playing hide-and-seek with him only a short while ago – and Rudolph, too.

They took it in turns to pull the sleigh when Josh suddenly had a brain-wave, or an Emily memory, or something. “Let’s sit down, Santa, and have a make-believe tea party. The Found Princess likes tea parties nearly as much as hide-and-seek.”

So they did just that, right on the shimmering Silver Stone Road. No sooner had they started eating noisily than the Found Princess came sidling up to them. And when she learned that all – yes, all – the presents in the sleigh were for her, well she was ecstatic.

Santa persuaded her to sit in the sleigh and open the presents. Every time she opened one, two more appeared in its place. The Found Princess – Clarabelle – liked this immensely. As she was immersed in unwrapping paper something strange happened. A silver broomstick appeared, hitched itself to the sleigh, told Santa and Josh to sit with Clarabelle the Found Princess, and then started to climb high into the sky. Clarabelle shrieked with joy – fun, fun, fun. She, the Found Princess, loved fun.

Then there was a giant meringue in the sky and sitting on top of the meringue was Em. Em waved merrily. Oh how happy Josh was! Until he saw a tentacle aiming for his skull…and a Bumptious Beastie at the other end of it. And in another tentacle the Bumptious Beastie was waving Em's Whistling Wand. And the Whistling Wand was screeching for help!

Well, what would you do if a nasty Bumptious Beastie was squeezing the life out of a Whistling Wand right there on the Silverstone Road? Josh did what he thought was best. He ferreted around in his pockets and found the forbidden fruit. No, silly, not an apple. A penknife! His nice auntie had given it to him, making him promise he wouldn’t tell anyone, and that he would only use it for good. Most of the time, he forgot he had it, although he liked to stroke its varnished wooden handle. His auntie had bought it in Italy. They knew how to make nice designs in Italy.

So, surreptitiously, Josh took the penknife out of his pocket and flicked it open. Then he stabbed the Bumptious Beastie in the tentacle – the one that had a grip on the Whistling Wand. Wow was it scary. Now it was the Bumptious Beastie that screeched and wriggled and…let go of the Whistling Wand. Phew!

Suddenly, before Josh’s very eyes, the Whistling Wand changed into a brain and hopped it back to Clarabelle, the Found Princess. She immediately burst into tears, despite all the presents. She wanted her mummy and she wanted her NOW! Then Santa became Merlin, the Worn Out Wizard. He patted Josh on the back – “Well done, lad!” he said “That’s half the battle won!”

At that point the silver broomstick became – well, of course – Morgan, that most wonderful of the Wonderful Witches. “Quick, no time to lose” she said, and she grabbed Josh and vaulted into the sleigh with Clarabelle. Merlin joined them immediately, if a little more gracefully. He was not a Worn Out Wizard for nothing!

The sleigh went into hyper-drive, shooting forward down the Silverstone Road at what seemed the pace of light but was probably only the speed of sound. Sound! What a terrible wail. Where was it coming from? Josh. He was crying inconsolably. You could just about make it out over the sound of celebrations. After all, the Found Princess was found, complete with her brain.

As they headed back to the palace, Merlin said to Josh “I told you, lad. That’s half the battle won. We’ve got to get the Found Princess back to the palace before the Bumptious Beasties attack. Don’t worry; I haven’t forgotten about Emily. The plan is brewing already!”

What on Earth (or wherever they were) could Merlin mean?

The battle may have been half won, like Merlin (the panther that is, not the other Merlin, that pretend worn out wizard, who was really Santa in disguise) had just said, but Josh didn’t feel reassured. That’s the trouble with wonderful witch’s friends; they can be just as bad as worn-out wizards, who can sometimes just be such overly worn-out wizards that they utter worn-out wizard words which are, well, worn-out.
”How do you know the battle is half won Merlin?” Josh asked. “We might not get to the Found Princess before the Bumptious Beasties attack. The Bumptious Beasties could be attacking her now that she has her brain back. She liked the Bumptious Beasties before she got it back but now that she’s got it back she may realize that they are particularly Bumptious Beasties and that could easily make the Bumptious Beasties attack the Found Princess. If people know that you don’t like them, then they don’t like you. Well that’s what Aunty Cybil used to tell us. I think she knew we didn’t like her. It was the same with Sybil the witch, she must have thought that we didn’t like her for bringing us to Buzz, so she didn’t like us and that’s why she left us here all on our own. And no-one, except for the Found Princess, before she got her brain back, likes the Bumptious Beasties so they don’t like anyone and if the Bumptious Beasties don’t like someone then they will attack. What if the Bumptious Beastie’s have attacked Em? They could attack her to try and get back at me for trying to get the Whistling Wand back”. … sob… sob.. sob…

Merlin put on the brakes. I am a panther, he thought. I just don’t need this. “Look Josh,” he purred, “there’s no point in us getting to Silver Stone Road while you are in this state. You may be right that the Bumptious Beasties attacking people they don’t like so we will have to pretend that we do like them and that won’t work if you’re sobbing and wailing will it? You’ll give the game away even before we get to Silver Stone Road and put Emily and the Found Princess in danger. The thing to do is to pretend that you were just playing a game of Young Boy and Bumptious Beasties with that Bumptious Beastie when you made it drop the Whistling Wand and that you didn’t mean any harm.”

Josh stopped wailing to give himself a chance to think about this. Then, the penny dropped, “tactics”, he exclaimed, bouncily, “like Beckham uses!”
“Beckham?” asked Merlin.
“Yes, Beckham! ” retorted Josh “He’s this footballer, well he used to be a footballer when we left home, and he’s good at game tactics and he has a good hairstyle too.”
“Give me a break,” growled Merlin and luckily Morgan the most wonderful chief of the wonderful witches arrived on cue to do just that.
“I’m fed up of little-boy-sitting,” Merlin whispered to Morgan.

Josh however, had recovered from his fed-up-ness.
“We have A Beat The Bumptious Beastie Game Plan, Morgan,” he shouted excitedly. “We’re going to score. We’re going home, we’re going home,” he sang.

“Well that’s just lovely,” Morgan cooed,” and look what I have that might help you do just that, she said, holding what looked like the Whistling Wand in her hand. It seems that whistling wands and wonderful witches can conjure up a special kind of magic. So me and your whistling wand have been working on this, she explained and we have a plan too.”

“Football’s coming home, it’s coming home, we’re going home,” shouted Josh throwing himself around. “Bend it like Beckham” he chanted, “GOAL, GOAL, GOAL!”

You could tell that Morgan’s patience was being tried. Even the most wonderful of wonderful witches could find a little boy’s obsession with football annoying.

Then, suddenly, Josh’s eyes glazed over and he started to sob again. “Yes but, no but, yes but, no but …. I thought the Whistling Wand had turned into a brain and that’s why the Found Princess knows she doesn’t like the Bumptious Beasties, so that we can pretend that we do like the Bumptious Beasties, so that they won’t realize and we can rescue her… " he screeched, " and you…" he looked at Morgan accusingly… "well you’re nothing more than a silver broomstick!”

”A silver broomstick indeed!” exclaimed Morgan. “Clearly you don’t begin to understand half of what it means to be a wonderful witch and what tricks and illusions we can carry out. This really is a no-brainer!”

Morgan appeared to have temporarily lost her wonderful witch composure.”Don’t lose the plot!”, she commanded, icily.

Josh was ever so taken back by this. Morgan and Merlin were supposed to be the good guys and if the good guys were getting cross where would that leave him with the Bumptious Beastie bad guys. Suddenly, all his game-plan euphoria had evaporated and he just wanted to sulk around again.

”Don’t worry Josh,” said Morgan, recovering her wonderful witch wonderfulness, “Merlin was quite right about playing at being Bumptious Beastie friends and when I play this Whistling Wand they will really believe that YOU are their best friend and they will do whatever they can to please you. We must now make our way back onto the Silver Stone Road and go in search of the Found Princess, the elusive, worn-out wizard, and Emily. We won’t have to look very far. Me and old whistling wand here will play a tune and the bumptious beasties, intrigued, will come to investigate. Don’t forget to make friends with them, very quickly, as it is they and only they who know the whereabouts of the Found Princess, the worn-out wizard and Emily.”

“But, that must mean that the Found Princess is lost again?” asked Josh, scratching his head.

Merlin whimpered and Morgan sighed. “Why DO we bother?” they both asked, in unison.

Emily, while on the giant meringue in the sky, saw a person she felt like she knew from a playschool or something from about that long ago, and had forgotten. She waved at him. Then she saw he was being surrounded by a lot of ugly, horrible looking, and very bumptious beasties. She supposed they were his friends, but, boy were they ugly. Still, who was she to judge? Then she saw them back away from him, and treacle was oozing out of a hole on one of the bumptious beasties' many arms. Mm, Em liked treacle. She went to get some, because she was very humgry. Half - way there, though, she felt two people grab her arm and pull her into the jungle of trees. Em let out one shriek, and immediately the bumptious beasties (except the one who had treacle coming out of his... arm? tentacle? upper limb) were on their heels. Santa - who was apparently a worn - out wizard was puffing as he ran as he was very out - of shape, as Santa traditionally is, but in the blink of an eye, the worn - out wizard had become a very energetic mustang horse, and ran ahead and to the side trying to draw them away. It didn't work. They split up totally, the worn - out wizard going one way and Emily and the Found Princess going the other way, not that Em knew either one of the people she was running with. Em wished she hadn't eaten so much at that tea party. The tea - party where she... had... met... a girl called the... the found... PRINCESS! Em remembered! she almost stopped in shock at having her life saved by a girl who clearly hated her, but it was not saved yet, so she kept running. But she should have run faster.

They landed at the hollow of a HUGE tree.
'The Bumptious Beasties are inside - the whole thing is even bigger on the inside!'
'Like the Tardis in Doctor Who,' commented Josh.
'The what in what? asked Morgan the chief of the wonderful witches.
'Never mind, let's just get the plan sorted,' Josh said quickly.
The wonderful witch shook her head to brush the feeling aside, and carried on explaining the plan to Josh, who agreed, but was not entirely happy with the idea. He thought of himself as a giant maggot, on the end of a huge fishing line and the Bumptious Beasties were giant squid ready to gobble him up whole. To tell the truth, he was terrified. But he did not tell anyone that - Morgan was the chief of the Wonderful witches, and not even one wonderful witch could go in there because they were too important, let alone the chief. Besides, she being so wonderful and all, she would probably just persuede him to go in anyway. Or she could cast some sort of spell on him to make him fearless. That sounded like a good idea. He should ask her.

As he walked up to the tree, the wonderful witches close in his wake, his knees shook like jelly in a strong wind. He was not happy. The oh - so wonderful witches had refused to cast the spell on him saying that it did not exist, and that anyway the bumptious beasties had noses on the end of all of their tentacles, and so could smell out magic. Josh didn't believe her, but he wouldn't do the spell and Josh couldn't persuede her. He was annoyed. All he had wanted to do was to go home, but now things were so much more complicated. He just wanted to sleep... He nearly started crying, but stopped as sheer determination set in. He looked through the door and saw... Emily! With the Found Princess! And Merlin! It was like a reunion! Em and the Found Princess were standing back - to back, glaring at each other, but that didn't matter! They were safe! Or so he thought...

It took him a minute to see the rope that tied them together, and that tied the worn - out wizard to the ceiling (how on earth could he have missed that!?!?) and to realise that the bumptious beasties were swaying gently. The one that was holding the rope that was stopping the worn - out wizard from falling's grip on the rope was dangerously loose. Josh thought he could use some help with what he had to do, so he took the rope and lowered it slowly and untied the worn - out wizard. He then used the knife to cut the rope binding his sister and the recently found Found Princess, who both hugged him simultaneously, and looked horrified when they realised what they had done. It was the worn - out wizard who first noticed it. Maybe his hearing wasn't so worn - out wizardish after all. The whistling wand had stopped whistling. Then thay all heard the cave door close. They were trapped. And the bumptious beasties were faking.

Josh, a very worn - out wizard, a girl with no memories except that she hated a princess standing right next to her, and the Found princess standing right next to her, were being advanced upon by all sides. Josh remembered an old film his dad had made him watch when he was little, and gulped. He decided to use an order from that film - 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'.

'Um, form a square?' he whispered nervously.

To his utter amazement, they all did, and a second later they were all in combat with these horrible bumptious beasties, with weapons that had been miraculously comjured out of mid - air. Josh doubted that a worn - out wizard such as Merlin could have done that, so he silently thanked the wonderful witches, and felt somehow that they could hear him.

The Found Princess was the first to fall. No one notices except fo Emily, who felt a sudden surge of compassion and jumped in front of her, and fought fearlessly until she was back on her feet. (Maybe a Wonderful witch had found the spell!) Em had cuts all over her arms and fmall ones on her face, and she was losing a lot of blood. Maybe this wasn't going to work...

She was able to sneak looks at how her litle brother was doing, and was so proud of him, and saw now that the worn - out wizard wasn't so worn - out as he sometimes made out.
Em then saw something that she could not believe. The door exploded, and in rushed the wonderful, wonderful witches, who grabbed the children and the not - so - worn - out wizard right out from under the bumptious beasties' noses (on the end of their tentacles). But it was not over - the bumptious beasties had caught the Found Princess, and the worn - out wizard, and nearly the wonderful witches with the whistling wand at last, and were not about to let them reach the Silver Stone Road where they could escape.

They were being followed!

The wonderful witches managed to hurry everyone up a bit. The Bumptious Beasties caught up with them. The wonderful witches hurried them up, so the distance between them was further. The Bumptious Beasties closed the gap. On and on it went, because the spell that had held the Wonderful Witches for a few minutes outside the cave had lost their sense of direction, and the wizard was being worn - out again.

They were running round and round the forest, when suddenly there came, from in front of them, some Bumptious Beasties.

'I recognise him!' shouted Emily, 'Or her, or it, or something. It was chasing us before!'

'How on Earth can you tell?' asked Merlin, worridely. He and Morgan both looked at each other in alarm.

'Because it's a slightly different shade than the rest of them, and it has two short and one long tentacle coming out of it's head rather than one long one! It nearly grabbed me before!'

They then realised that the Bumptious Beasties were advancing on them, and ran again. It was harder this time, through denser forest. Everyone knew that the Silver Stone Road was no where near this wild part of the wood.

Then a wonderful Witch had an idea. She put something flammable on the end of the whistling wand, with the guarantee 'Don't worry, whistling wands can't burn like other things do!' and lit it. She then chanted a long spell (while still running) and threw the whistling wand into the air. It was leading them to the Silver Stone Road!

Emily loved the Wonderful Witches at this point. They were geniuses!

I have notices that the story is never told from anyone's points of view except Emily and Josh, so I decided to break that chain, and do so.

Morgan looked at Merlin in alarm. How could she tell the difference between two Bumptious Beasties? They were like starfish - not identical, but nearly so. Anyone who could tell the difference was a danger to the Wonderful Witches, and the Worn - Out Wizard. They were not only bad luck - which they were - they could also do what no ordinary human could do - they could make a worn - out wizard so energetic that the rest of the world seems in slow - motion (like if someone has drunk too much coffee), and could turn wonderful witches on each other with the click of a finger. It was not that precise, though, it had to be the third finger and thumb on the left hand.
Morgan looked over at the witch to her left. Her name was Tabitha, and Morgan grew suspicious of her. She was the one who was navigating the party, and it seemed like she had been leading them in the wrong direction for too long now. Any other wonderful witch would have found their way by now. Morgan looked at Merlin. He looked much less like a worn - out wizard, and much more like a wizard fresh out of the academy. The circles under his eyes disappeared, and his many wrinkles looked less in number and depth. She was worried. And rightly so.

As they continued down the road, the Found Princess saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was shiny. She loved shiny things. The Bumptious Beasties wouldn't hurt her, she said to herself, they loved her. They played hide - and - seek with her and gave her tea - parties. Without them she would never have known just how annoying it was to be a Found princess, and wish to be a lost Found Princess (it doesn't make much sense to me, either, but it's what she felt). She stopped, and picked up the fifty - pence piece that had fallen out of Josh's pocket. She looked at it fascinatedly, then saw Josh coming towards her. He swept her off her feet - literally. She kicked and screamed and protested, then contented herself to examining the coin while she was at right angles to the ground, being held by Josh. He was stronger than he looked. Good job, too, because the running hadn't quite burnt off all those cakes. Then she put the coin under her tiara (how did it manage to stay on?), and carried on running, because Josh was getting slower.

Merlin had a brilliant idea. He may have been a worn - out wizard, but he felt much less like one right now. Josh was slower because he had been carrying the Found Princess, and she was too preoccupied looking at some random shiny thing that happened to have caught her eye to pay attention to what she was doing, so he thought he could become another shape - and so could everyone else. He grabbed the Found Princess, and threw her onto his back at the exact point that he became a horse, Tabitha (The wonderful witch that was navigating) became an eagle and soared up into the air so she could see where she was clearer, and the rest of the Wonderful Witches became various high - speed animals and ran even faster.

They ran through the forest, following the light of several glow - worms Tabitha had held in her talons. She could see the Silver Stone Road - it wasn't too far away...
She had spent too long trying to find it. The Bumptious Beasties had beaten them there. The whistling wand was quivering ominously and playing a scary tune, which a random Wonderful Witch had a go at it for, so it started playing Monty Python.
'I don't know about you, but I find that even scarier,' Tabitha said to the Wonderful Witches that were disguised as glow worms in her feet, who all agreed, 'Like a giant foot is goind to come out of the sky and tread on me. I hope it doesn't - I hate feet.' she remembered the Wonderful Witches in her feet. 'Oh, right. Er... Sorry!'
She realised that there was a huge battle going on below, and swooped down to help, dropping the other wonderful witches in her talons.

Merlin was galloping, much to the delight of the Found Princess, but stumbled when he saw the Bumptious Beasties come out from their hiding places. He jumped clean over them, almost losing the Found Princess in the process. Apparently she wasn't as good a rider as she made herself out to be. He whinnied for the Wonderful Witches to come back, but they didn't hear him. So he grabbed the sword coming from the hilt on his newly - made body, and went to fight.

The found Princess was having the best day of her life. She found something shiny - the likes of which she had never seen before, and now she was galloping at 40mph on a huge, huge horse. She was so happy. Then he jumped, without warning, and she almost fell off. Oops. She managed to stay on by holding his mane, but that hurt him a little bit, so she stopped, and jumped off as he became a man again. Then she saw the ferocious battle that was going on beside her, and jumped out the way as a bumptious beastie ran past, then back again into the battle. Then she saw some trees swaying, and had a brilliant idea.
'You are very special, Clarabelle. Your voice can bring the trees to life...' she heard her father saying, before he died. Then she remembered how he died - she was looking through the key hole. She was mad. She started to sing her favourite song to the trees. When they had woken up, she pointed them in the direction of the battle between Morgan and Merlin, Josh, Emily and soon to be her against the Bumptious Beasties. With the trees on her side, there was only one thing that could stop them...

*Note: Now I'm going to write from the Bumptious Beasties' point of view, because no - one has done that so far.

We were chasing the wonderful witches, the found princess and the worn - out wizard to the silver stone road so we could get the whistling wand. We had been stuck like this for so long by the found princess' father's curse. He was punising us for something that we didn't do - but he thought we did. We were trying to reason with him, when he turned on us. We had to defend ourselves, but his daughter was eavesdropping, and didn't see him attack us. Only that we had killed him. He turned us into Bumptious Beasties just before he died, and we have been like this ever since. That's why we wanted the Found Princess. We were bored of being nice. We wanted her for revenge.
When we got to the Silver Stone Road, we had lost them. But, some of the other Bumptious Beasties we had left behind had got to the road in time. They stopped the wonderful witches, fought the Worn - out wizard, and lost the Found Princess, and no - one had any idea who had the Whistling Wand, even the person who had it. We were fighting and fighting, and no - one was getting anything out of it - it was pointless. But it was still going on, and no - one was showing any sign of relenting. But we, the Bumptious Beasties, had something that could stop them all. I'm holding it right now. I'll wait to see if we really need it. But the found princess - I see her! She's looking at the trees and singing! And the trees are swaying in time to the song...

We forgot. We shouldn't have. The Found Princess has the softest and sweetest voice in all the land. How could we forget? She never stopped saying it! She was singing, and the trees came to life. Needless to say, whatever she told them to do they would, and she told them to attack us. Her secret weapon had been deployed. They were in the middle of a forest, and every tree in that forest had one thing in it's mind:

'Protect the Found Princess. Protect Josh. Protect Emily. Protect the Wonderful Witches and the Worn - Out Wizard. Find the Whistling Wand. Eliminate the Bumptious Beasties.'

As I say this to you, I say one thing. Be very grateful, at this moment in time, that you are not a Bumptious Beastie. If you are, why weren't you helping us? if you were, I hope you are all healed and better and happy now. If you are, good.