Читать книгу The Last Task - Maeve Friel, Nathan Reed - Страница 5
Оглавление“Have you ever heard,” Heckitty began, when they had all sat down with their cups of joobious juice, “of the Feet First Fund?”
Jessica shook her head.
“No? Well, it’s an organisation that finds and preserves shoes that have made history or that belonged to important people. It was set up by the Literary and Historical Association of the Witches World Wide guild. I am the Head Finder and Seeker.”
Jessica and Miss Strega exchanged a look. The look meant Heckitty Darling is off her rocker, but Heckitty didn’t notice. She carried on.
“You have heard of the old lady who lived in the shoe (she had so many children she didn’t know what to do)? Well, we have that shoe. It was our first acquisition. We have one of Cinderella’s glass slippers. We have Puss in Boots’ boots and Pinocchio’s clogs; we have the bootees that belonged to the Wicked Witch of the West …”
Miss Strega replaced her cup on her saucer very noisily. “Yes, yes, my dear Heckitty. We get the idea – but has this got anything to do with the burglary?”
Heckitty looked miffed. Like all actresses, she was a bit of a show-off and expected everyone to listen to her all the time. She sighed.
“Go on,” said Jessica. “I think the Feet First Fund sounds brilliant.”
Heckitty Darling smiled prettily and moved her stool closer to Jessica’s.
“The treasure, the absolute pearl of our collection, is a pair of shoes that had once belonged to that wonderful witch, the inventor of the Modern Witch’s Right-Way-Up broom, dear Dame Walpurga of the Blessed Warts.
I discovered them at the bottom of Walpurga’s well myself, you know, despite what Professor Cobbleroni says.”
“Who’s Professor Cobbleroni?” asked Jessica.
“Oh, she runs that ridiculous Fancy Footwear Foundation. Anyway, I had hardly put the Dame’s shoes on display when they disappeared! I turned my back and puff! – they were gone.”
“But who took them?” asked Jessica.
Heckitty Darling raised her shoulders and let them drop. “We’ve no idea. We had had a lot of witch school tours that day so at first I suspected a prank. I tried any number of anti-vanishing spells to make the shoes reappear, but nothing worked. Then we organised a witch hunt. Oodles of witches took part, but the Dame’s shoes were nowhere to be found.”
Heckitty Darling’s voice trembled again. “I’m afraid they may be gone for good.”
“Goodness gracious,” said Jessica.
“Fortunately,” said Heckitty, dabbing at her nose with a handkerchief, “I had the excellent idea of consulting an oracle.”
“I once had to consult an oracle myself,” said Jessica, proudly. “It was a talking sea anemone on one of the Charm Islands.”
Heckitty looked affronted. She obviously had not expected Jessica to know anything about oracles.
“A talking sea anemone? How preposterous! The oracle that I went to is a Greek witch. She’s easily the best fortune teller in the world – people flock to ask her questions. Unfortunately, she tends to answer in riddles; it can be simply impossible to understand a word she says.”
Behind her, Miss Strega’s cup rattled once again.
“So, the long and the short of it,” Heckitty continued, “is that last night when the curtain came down on the show in Coven Garden, (have you seen my reviews, darlings? Simply marvellous!) I flew to the oracle to ask where the shoes could be. This is what she said …”
Heckitty closed her eyes and began to speak in a very strange unearthly voice.
“To find the shoes, no witch is fitBut she who is not a witch as yetMust fly to where a giant stands.The answer lies beneath his hands.”
She opened her eyes and spoke in her normal voice.
“What do you make of that?”
“Weird,” said Jessica.
“Absolutely baffling,” agreed Miss Strega.
“Unless,” said Jessica, holding up a finger, “I have a hunch. Perhaps the oracle is saying that only a witch-in-training can find the shoes – she who is not a witch as yet.”
Heckitty clapped her hands together. “By the hooting of Minerva’s owl, Miss Strega, I think Jessica’s got it.”
“Bravo, my little lamb’s lettuce!” agreed Miss Strega.
Heckitty Darling opened her handbag and, with a flourish, thrust an envelope into Jessica’s hands.
“So, will you take on the Feet First Fund challenge? Will you track down Dame Walpurga’s missing shoes?”
Jessica’s jaw dropped.
“But, but,” she stammered. “Where should I … how do I … what’ll … when …”
“Jessica,” said Miss Strega sternly. “You’re gibbering. I think it’s a splendid idea. There’s nothing more exciting than a quest. Of course you must do it.”
