The Magic Book series, book 1 by Elsa Bridger Page B

downstairs.

    After a tearful
kiss and a last hug goodbye at the classroom door, the girls went
in. It wasn’t that they disliked school exactly, so much as there
were so many other things they would prefer to do. There was roller
skating that they loved, or riding their pony, Little Redster,
baking with their mother or playing games with any number of their
many toys.
    Having hung up
their coats and stowed their book bags in their allotted drawers,
they wove their way through the chairs and tables to the carpet on
which they all sat for the register. Well, the morning passed
quickly enough and lunchtime soon came round.
    That was when
Sophie realised that she didn’t have her beloved toy puppy with
her. An overwhelming sense of panic washed over her like a wave,
and she fought back tears while she desperately felt in all her
pockets for her puppy, but she wasn’t there! She’d had her for as
long as she could remember and couldn’t bear the possibility of not
having the comfort of her ever again. Sophie fretfully addressed
her sister.
    “Felicity, I
can’t find my puppy!”
    “I’ll help you
look. I am ‘Felicity Finder’ you know!” she replied with gusto.
Felicity seemed to have an uncanny knack of finding anything lost.
She was frequently asked by her mother to track down her lost house
keys, which she invariably did within minutes, much to everyone’s
astonishment.
    “Miss, can we
have a look in our classroom for Sophie’s puppy, please?” Felicity
asked the dinner lady.
    “Well, go on
then, but don’t make a mess and if you find her, put her straight
into your book bag so you don’t lose her again.”
    “OK, we will,
thank you,” replied a grateful Sophie.
    After hunting
seemingly everywhere to no avail, they at last conceded defeat and
slumped down on the carpet.
    “It’s no use -
I’ll never ever see her again, Felicity,” sobbed Sophie.

    “Oh Sophie,
don’t cry, she must be here somewhere!” Felicity had an idea and
got up and walked over to her school drawer. “You can have my Pink
and Purple Pup to hug until we find yours. Oh, hang on a minute,
she’s got pushed right to the back,” Felicity said as she stretched
her arm in as far as she could to reach her toy. Her fingers
brushed the soft material as with one last effort she’d made to
grab it, but as she did so it slipped further away and her pup fell
out down the back of the drawer. “Bother! Now I’ve lost my pup
too,” she complained loudly.
    Sophie, who had
regained some composure by now, walked over to her. “Perhaps she’s
fallen down into the drawer below,” she suggested, pulling open the
one underneath. But in doing so, she was just in time to see Pink
and Purple Pup falling further down behind that drawer. This kept
happening with each drawer they pulled out until all the drawers
had been removed. Then, there she was at last!
    “Sophie! You'll
never guess what? Here’s your pup too!” shrieked Felicity.
    “Oh thank you
Felicity, thank you, thank you!” Sophie exclaimed jumping up and
down wildly whilst hugging and kissing her pup, too delighted at
being reunited with her to wonder how on earth she’d got there.
    “Oops, so much
for not making a mess though,” Felicity reflected, surveying the
drawers now strewn haphazardly on the floor around them.

    “We’d better
get this lot put back before a teacher sees it,” warned Sophie. As
they picked up the first drawer to restore it to its rightful
place, Sophie noticed a book at the back of the unit and reached in
for it. “Look Felicity, I didn’t notice this when we got the pups
out, did you?”
    “No, I’m sure
it was empty. It must have fallen from one of the drawers while I
was looking for my pup. Whose is it do you think?” Felicity
wondered.
    “I don’t know,”
puzzled Sophie. “It’s been here a while by the look of it. It’s
covered with dust!” She gently wiped it as she spoke. The grime
came away on her hand, revealing a plain mid-brown