Читать книгу Lottie Luna and the Bloom Garden - Vivian French - Страница 7

CHAPTER ONE

KING Lupo jumped and looked up at the ceiling. Water was oozing through a zigzag crack and splashing on his head.

‘I did warn you, dear,’ said Queen Mila. ‘If you will insist on sitting at the head of the table, you’ll get dripped on.’ She passed the king a napkin and he wiped his ears.

‘A king should always be kingly,’ he announced. ‘I may not have been king for long, but I do know how to behave. A king is head of his people, so he should sit at the head of the table – drips or no drips! And talking about behaving, ‘WHERE is Lottie? She’s late for breakfast!’

‘I think she’s getting ready,’ Queen Mila told him. ‘Do remember, dear – it’s her first day at her new school, so she’s bound to be a little nervous.’

‘Nervous? Why would she be nervous?’ King Lupo dodged another drip and took a bite of his toast. Finding it was soggy, he made a face and put it back on his plate.

Queen Mila sighed. ‘You know how happy she was at her last school, dear. She had lots of friends and was popular with the teachers too. She doesn’t know anyone at Shadow Academy. She’s starting all over again.’

‘But she’s the daughter of a king now!’ Lupo raised his whiskery eyebrows. ‘She’ll find that she’s treated with the greatest respect!’

‘I don’t think—’ Queen Mila had been about to say that she didn’t think that would make any difference, but she was interrupted by the door being flung open with a crash, and Lottie appeared. She was clutching her school bag in one hand and a bunch of pencils in the other, which she waved wildly at her mother.

‘Ma! I can’t find my pencil sharpener anywhere. It’s hopeless! Ever since we moved, everything’s been upside down. Nothing’s where it should be – and there are ZILLIONS of spiders in the bathroom! Do we have to live here?’

Boris, Lottie’s older brother, stopped admiring himself in the cracked old mirror by the fireplace and joined in. ‘But we’re royalty now, Lottie! Pa’s a king, and kings live in castles – even if they are a bit crumbly and falling down.’

‘Well said, Boris my lad!’ King Lupo beamed at his son. ‘Dracon Castle is our home. I’m sure once we’ve done a few repairs we’ll be extremely comfortable here. Now, Lottie, sit down and eat your breakfast.’

‘Hmmmph…’ Lottie sighed thoughtfully as she remembered her old home. Although it had been small and cramped, it had been warm and very cosy. The castle they had inherited had so many rooms she couldn’t count them all, and every single one was freezing cold.

‘I’m not hungry,’ she said. ‘Honestly, Pa, I couldn’t eat a thing.’ She looked at her mother. ‘Ma – do you think it’ll be okay at Shadow Academy? It’s awful being new in the middle of a term.’

Her mother hugged her. ‘I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends in no time at all.’

‘Huh!’ Boris looked down his nose. ‘Who’d want to be friends with her? Not me!’

Lottie made a face at him, then stuffed her blunt pencils into her bag. ‘I’ll be off now,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be late, not on my first day. See you later, darling Ma. Remember I won’t be back until after moonrise! Bye, Pa!’ And she whisked out of the dining hall, banging the door behind her. Jaws, her pet bat, was waiting for her on the other side, and together they hurried along the cold, dark corridor. With a heave and a tug, Lottie managed to open the creaking front door… and then they were out in the morning sunshine.

As Lottie ran down the long, winding path that led from Dracon Castle to the village below, she was already worrying about the day ahead. ‘It’s all very well Ma saying I’ll make friends, Jaws, but what if I don’t? They’ll probably hate me because Pa’s the new king, and they’ll think I’m all posh and stuck-up when I’m not. But…’ An idea popped into her head, and she stopped to think about it. ‘What if I don’t tell anyone I live in a castle? Or that Pa’s a king? I’ll say I’m plain Lottie Luna and that I’m really rather ordinary, just like everyone else.’

Liking the idea, she walked slowly on. ‘But what about my superpowers? Can I hide them too?’ She touched the little moonstone necklace that she always wore and then, with a decisive nod, tucked it under her jumper. ‘There! It’s gone.’ And with a skip and a jump she was on her way.

If anyone had watched Lottie running along, they would have easily guessed that she wasn’t the ordinary little werewolf she so badly wanted to be. Born on the night of a lunar eclipse, when the moon was full, she had been gifted with special powers. She could run like the wind, her eyesight was as sharp as an eagle’s, and she was far stronger than her older brother… She had other, less obvious, powers too.

The little moonstone necklace she had been given on the day she was born reflected her moods. Now, as she ran, it was glowing pure white beneath her jumper. Jaws, flying above her head, was aware of it, and that made him happy too. He looped a loop, then swooped down to ride on Lottie’s shoulder.

Twenty minutes later, Lottie and Jaws reached the gates of Shadow Academy.

‘Oh, dear…’ Lottie was wide-eyed as she looked at the huge grey stone building in front of her. ‘I do hope it’s going to be all right. What do you think, Jaws?’

Jaws fluttered round her head. ‘Eeeek,’ he squeaked. ‘Eeeek!’

‘You’re right.’ Lottie took a firmer hold of her school bag. ‘I’m Lottie Luna and I’m not scared of anything!’ And with her head held high, she marched up the steps and in through the wide-open front door.