Free Magic at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant

“chirruping”.)
    We didn’t really feel like going up to bed because we were having such a good time, but as we left the common room Izzy said, “Let’s get ready really quickly, then we can carry on in the dorm.”
    As it happened, though, we didn’t have time, because with my bad hand as well as my leg, everything takes me so long to do. Cleaning my teeth is awkward and so is washing my face – well, washing any single bit of me actually.
    I was the last one back to the dorm from the bathroom and as I slowly pushed open the door I heard a loud, “Shh, Emily!” and noticed that everyone was suddenly silent and Nicole had gone a bit red.
    â€œWere you talking about me?” I asked, instantly feeling a bit upset.
    It was Sasha who answered. “Yes, but nothing…much.”
    â€œWhat, though?” I couldn’t help my curiosity when they all seemed to be acting rather mysteriously.
    â€œWe can’t tell you. It’s a secret,” blurted out Nicole.
    I felt my stomach do a backflip. I wasn’t used to my friends having secrets from me. It was obvious it must be something about me leaving, but I couldn’t work out what.
    â€œYou’ll see,” said Nicole, putting her arm round me a bit awkwardly as I propped my crutches against my chair.
    I nodded to show that I was fine with the secret, even though I still felt a bit shaky inside, and then I went over to the bed that I’d been given. It was going to feel very odd sleeping in an ordinary bed on the floor when I was used to our lovely cabin beds that all the Year Seven dorms have at Silver Spires, but it was true I’d find it too difficult to climb up the ladder to my usual bed.
    â€œYou look funny down there, Toni!” said Emily, looking at me from her own bed.
    â€œYou look funny up there!” I replied, which made everyone laugh for some reason. I pretended I found it funny too, but inside I felt that heavy weight of sadness pulling me down again.
    â€œRight, give me your phones,” said Izzy.
    In our dorm we’ve made a little rota for handing in our mobiles to Matron each night, and this week it was Izzy’s turn. As I pulled my duvet over my plastered leg and watched her go off with the six phones, I was taken back to that time in the hospital when my leg was throbbing and I couldn’t even talk to Nicole because she would have handed her mobile in.
    For a moment I felt as though I’d been standing in shallow seawater with a boiling hot sun beating down on me and now a lovely wave of relief was flooding over me that I was back here in the dorm with my friends. But a second later it was as though the sun had gone behind a dark cloud and I was standing there shivering and alone. How was I going to feel back home in Italy, night after night, without Nicole and the others and this life I’ve come to love so much? I’d have my family of course, but would there always be a part of me looking back sadly to my short happy time at a very special English boarding school?
    After tonight there were only four more nights to go. I looked across at Nicole. She was lying perfectly still staring up at the ceiling. I wondered if she was having the same thoughts as me. And that made me so sad, I doubted I’d ever get to sleep.
    By the end of morning lessons on Wednesday I was exhausted. It’s impossible to explain what it’s like going round on crutches from lesson to lesson. Stairs are the hardest thing to manage and I kept on wishing I could go faster, because I was holding Nicole and the others back. They were totally kind and understanding, carrying stuff for me all the time and holding open doors and everything, but still it wasn’t easy. And the other problem was my hand. I had to hold the crutch on my right-hand side really carefully to make sure I wasn’t putting too much pressure on my hand and hurting it. So I was always stopping to adjust my