Free The Power of Poppy Pendle by Natasha Lowe

scones in the oven, and when the sun rose Poppy and Marie Claire sat by the window nibbling on the fresh, warm pastries. It was a perfect moment. And so the day began.
    Poppy was careful not to appear in the front of the shop. She couldn’t risk having nosy old Maxine from next door see her and report back to her parents. It was most important she stay hidden in the kitchen, out of sight.

Chapter Ten
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    Surprise
    L ATE ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARIE CLAIRE APPEARED . in the kitchen, a puzzled look on her face. “There is a person out front wanting to see you, Poppy.”
    “Are you sure?” Poppy said, sinking down on a chair. Her mouth felt as if it were full of cotton wool. “Maybe they meant someone else? It can’t be me,” she added shakily.
    “She asked if someone called Poppy was here,” Marie Claire stated, watching Poppy closely. Then holding out her hand, she said in a gentle voice, “Come, chérie . There is nothing to fear. I will take you.” Getting unsteadily to her feet, Poppy clasped Marie Claire’s warm, flour-dusted hand and followed her out of the kitchen.
    It was such a relief to see Charlie’s smiling face that Poppy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She started to do both as Charlie skipped behind the counter and wrapped her friend up in an enormous hug. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” Marie Claire said softly. She gave Poppy a long, thoughtful look. “No reason why we shouldn’t close a few minutes early today.” And flipping over the OPEN sign, she left the girls in peace.

    “Where have you been? I waited outside Ruthersfield yesterday and today and you weren’t there. I thought you were sick until this funny man came by my house, asking all these weird questions about you. A private investigator,” Charlie said, lowering her voice.
    “How do you know he was a private investigator?” Poppy whispered, even though they were alone in the shop.
    “He showed me his card. It had ‘PI Jones’ on it or something like that.”
    “So what did he ask?” Poppy worried, chewing the end of her braid.
    “How long I’d known you. If I had any idea where you might have gone. That kind of thing.” Charlie paused and glanced at Poppy. “Then he told me to call him right away if I heard anything from you. He said your parents had hired him to find you because they don’t want anyone to know that you’ve run away and they don’t want the police getting involved just yet.”
    “Of course they don’t,” Poppy said sadly. “That would be far too revealing, wouldn’t it? Their own daughter running away because she doesn’t want to be a witch. What would Ruthersfield Academy think about that?”
    “You’ve really run away, then?”
    “Yes, and I’m not going back, Charlie. You must promise not to tell.” Poppy gripped her friend’s hands. “Honestly, I’ll die if I have to go home. I love it here. I’m so happy.”
    “Of course I won’t say anything,” Charlie promised. “I’m just so glad I’ve found you. It’s been miserable, Poppy. Finally I make my first real friend and then she goes and disappears on me.”
    “How did you know where I was?” Poppy asked. “I haven’t left the kitchen.”
    “Your chocolate cookies gave you away.” Charlie grinned, holding up a white paper bag. “One bite and I knew who had made them. So I asked that nice lady if you were the cook.”
    “Well, I’m so pleased you did,” Poppy said, realizing how much she had missed her friend, even though it had been only two days.
    A sudden flash of purple caught Poppy’s eye, and she saw a girl in a Ruthersfield uniform walking by the shop. Poppy gasped and immediately dropped to the floor. “Come on, it’s not safe here. Let’s go out back.” Crawling on her hands and knees, she pushed her way through the swinging door into the kitchen.
    “You can’t hide here forever,” Charlie