Free One Wish by Michelle Harrison Page B

there was another shock in store.
    All of her clothes had been ripped from the hangers and were strewn at the bottom of the wardrobe. She knelt down and picked up a crumpled dress, gasping sharply. The arms, neck and even the hem had all been sewn together in the same horrid brown wool. Her hand shaking, she dropped the dress and picked up her favourite jeans. Once again, the waist and ankles were tightly stitched. There was no way into them except to unpick the wool. She turned over garment after garment. Every one was the same.
    Angry tears stung her eyes. She gulped them back and went to the chest of drawers, pulling it open. Once again, everything inside had been rummaged through, sewn up and savagely thrown back in. There was not a single piece of clothing untouched, not even a sock. The vicious little beast must have been sewing practically all night.
    Tanya closed the door quietly and wiped her eyes. She wouldn’t let it see her cry. The only thing she had to wear was what she stood in now: her pyjamas. Her mother wouldn’t like that, but it was better than delaying any longer. She pulled a comb through her hair quickly and hurried to the breakfast table, ready for another scolding. Her mother gave a disapproving sniff, but said nothing as she buttered her toast.
    They ate in silence, Tanya avoiding her mother’s eyes. The food was lukewarm now, but it did at least take the unpleasant taste of the damp wool from Tanya’s mouth. Even so, she was unable to enjoy a single mouthful. All she could think of was the work set out for her when she returned to her room. It was going to be a long morning and hers would be spent unpicking stitches.
    By midday Tanya had cheered up a little. After helping to wash up and clear the breakfast things, which had softened her mother’s mood, she’d hidden the horrible china doll under the bed, then managed to snip at the stitches in the bedding and most of her sewn-up clothes and return them to normal. Well, almost. Like her pyjamas, some of her things now had permanent holes in from the thickness of the wool. She had wondered how the fairy had even managed to pull the wool through some of the items, but, upon closer inspection, it looked as though the holes had been bitten. It really had gone to a lot of trouble. She’d still had a drawer of things left to do when her mother called her from the room, suggesting they use the rest of the morning to explore the castle together.
    Now, as they stood at the top of the castle looking out over the ramparts, Tanya fervently hoped that when they returned to the cottage the fairy wouldn’t have repeated its handiwork. She pushed the thought from her mind, determined not to let it spoil things. The sun beat down heavily on top of her head and, though a deceptive breeze whipped her dark hair around her face, the heat was stifling.
    The climb to the uppermost tower had been a weary one. Most people, her mother included, were now fanning themselves and admiring the view, while listening to the tour guide’s history of the castle. Tanya tried to pay attention as tales of past owners, treacherous plots and deadly battles were recounted, but her mind kept drifting as she stared into the distance. Below her, visitors flooded in and out of the castle. Beyond them, far off, she saw the Wishing Tree, its bottles sparkling in the sun.
    ‘And like many buildings of its age,’ the guide continued, ‘the castle has several secret passages that have been discovered over the years.’
    Tanya’s ears pricked up immediately. The guide had her full attention now, for she had read about secret passages in books and always longed to discover one. There were even stories about secret passages that ran underneath her grandmother’s fairy-infested manor though, after spending many hours scouring the place for them, it was looking increasingly likely that they were just that – stories.
    ‘Three tunnels have so far been discovered,’ the guide went on.