Free One Wish by Michelle Harrison Page A

free.
    Immediately, she tried to unpick the other sleeve with her fingernails, but there was no obvious knot where the stitches had been tied off. She was forced again to chew her way through it, while trying not to imagine where the wool might have come from. Finally, both hands were free.
    She bit back a shriek at a sudden knock at the door.
    ‘Tanya?’ her mother called. ‘Are you up yet?’
    ‘I’m awake,’ she spluttered, praying her mother wouldn’t come in. Thankfully, the door stayed closed, but the delicious smell of frying bacon had started to waft under it.
    ‘Breakfast in five minutes,’ Mrs Fairchild said.
    ‘Coming!’ Tanya called desperately. She waited until her mother’s footsteps moved away from the door, then started to wriggle, caterpillar-like, up and out of the bedclothes. It was harder than she had imagined it would be, for the covers were sewn so tightly there was barely room to move at all. It’s a wonder I didn’t suffocate , she thought. Her anger lent her strength. A minute passed, then another. She was almost waist-high out of the sheets. From the kitchen, her mother called her again.
    She wriggled harder, sweat making the sheets and her pyjamas stick to her skin. At last, her hips were free, and she was able to pull herself up and slide her legs out.
    A sneaky laugh from somewhere in the room made her breath catch in her throat. She glanced about fearfully. Where had it come from?
    Only then did she see what else had been left for her.
    A series of large, brown woolly letters had been stitched across the beautiful lemon bedding, ruining it. Dazed, Tanya slid off the bed and crept sideways to see it better. Though the spelling was terrible, the message was unmistakable:
    LEEVE THIS HOWSE
    Leave this house.
    Of course. This wasn’t the work of the four fairies who had visited in the night after all. They had kept true to their word. No, Tanya realised. This – and the horrible doll – was the work of whatever it was that lurked under the floorboards and was in the room with her now, chuckling slyly from some unseen nook or cranny.
    ‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked in a furious whisper.
    The chuckling stopped and a low muttering began. ‘Leave this house,’ it chanted. ‘Leave this house, leave this house . . .’
    ‘Tanya!’ Her mother rapped on the door, startling her. ‘I’m not calling you again – you can eat it cold!’
    And then the doorknob turned and the door began to open.

7
    A Jar of Odds and Ends
    T ANYA DID THE ONLY THING SHE COULD think of. She grabbed the pillow from behind her and threw it over the ugly brown lettering on the bed to hide it. It worked, with not a moment to spare. Her mother stood at the door, tapping her foot with impatience.
    ‘You should be up and dressed by now, young lady.’
    ‘Sorry,’ Tanya muttered. She was well aware that the ankles of her pyjamas were still sewn together and that the top was still attached to the bottoms. She held her mother’s gaze, hoping she wouldn’t notice. ‘I’m coming right now.’
    Luckily, her mother was too busy looking at the doll. ‘Where did that ghastly thing come from?’
    ‘Oh . . . I found it. In a cupboard. I thought it was . . . sweet.’
    Mrs Fairchild shuddered. ‘It’s creepy, if you ask me. Anyway, hurry up.’
    Tanya nodded, watching as her mother retreated. Once she was out of sight, Tanya hobbled to the bathroom and locked the door behind her, rummaging through her mother’s toiletry bag. Finally, she found what she was searching for: a small pair of nail scissors. She set to work, snipping at the wool. To her dismay, it was so thick that it left noticeable holes in her pyjamas, but there was nothing she could do about that except hope that her mother wouldn’t notice.
    Fat chance , she thought miserably, replacing the scissors and dumping the wool in the bin. She hurried back to the bedroom and threw the wardrobe open, ready to grab the first thing she found – but