vision of a peaceful harmonious future gave a last sad little flicker and blew out.
Mr Lamb reappeared. “Sorry about this kids,” he said in his TV presenter voice. “But until we sort out this little mix-up, we’ll have to keep you here, I’m afraid.” He wagged his finger at Dom and Lily. “And you two have a class to go to!”
Dom looked desperately strained. “Bye, you guys,” he said feebly.
The Mr Nice Guy act was just for Dom and Lily’s benefit, though, because the minute the kids disappeared, the teacher hustled us upstairs and shoved us into an empty classroom. “I don’t know who you are,” he snapped. “But I’m going to find out!”
The door slammed and I heard an ominous clunk as he locked us in.
I looked miserably around the room. With its pastel pink walls and teeny tiny furniture it reminded me of Miss Dove’s angel nursery class, which somehow made our situation even more depressing.
“Still think it’s Heaven on Earth?” I said sourly to Reuben.
“Sorry,” he said humbly. “I got a bit starry-eyed, didn’t I?”
He looked so forlorn that I felt really ashamed of myself.
“It’s OK, Reubs,” I said quickly. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up, Sweetpea,” said Lola. “I lived on this gorgeous planet for thirteen years and I have NO idea what’s going on at this school.”
“Me neither,” I admitted. “It looks perfect. But something’s off.”
“Way, way off,” Reuben agreed. “But what? None of this makes sense.”
Lola sighed. “The three cosmic musketeers are seriously out of their depth this time.”
“We’d better call up the Agency,” suggested Reuben. “Get them to beam us home.”
We fished out our angel tags, centred ourselves and tried to connect with the Link. We waited patiently. Nothing happened. No cosmic tingles. No answering heavenly vibe. Nothing .
“I don’t want to depress anyone,” said Reuben, “but I think that device demagnetised our tags.”
My stomach gave a lurch. “You’re kidding!”
“But we can still get out of here?” said Lola. “We can still dematerialise?”
“Sure we can,” I said bravely. “We’re angels, right?”
A quarter of an hour later, we were still 100% visible.
I slumped on to a tiny chair. It didn’t help knowing that I was personally responsible for this nightmare. At the Academy, our teachers are constantly telling us we shouldn’t try to be heroes and go it alone. But had I listened? I had not! I’d just gone ahead and done my own sweet thing as usual without once thinking of the consequences.
I could tell that Lola was trying to stay calm. She wandered around the classroom, inspecting the work on the walls. “Hey, these babies are doing some cool stuff.”
Reuben had started doing martial-art stretching exercises. “What did that guy call this school again?” he called over his shoulder.
I wasn’t in the mood for giving Earth lessons to be honest. “A Phoenix School,” I said wearily. “A phoenix is a mythical bird. When it’s old and ready to die, it sets fire to its nest, and a little baby phoenix chick is reborn from the —”
Reuben immediately straightened up. “That’s so beautiful!’ he breathed. “It’s like these genius schools are the new hope born from the destruction of the past.”
“Pity about their teacher training,” Lola said sarcastically.
“We only met one teacher,” Reuben pointed out “The others might be saints.”
“So why are we getting these weird vibes—” I began.
We heard something scrape against the window. A ladder appeared. Its top rungs waved about wildly then finally came to rest against the glass.
Voices drifted up from below.
“They came out of nowhere!” Dom was explaining excitedly, and Lily grumbled something I couldn’t catch.
“I told you, I’ll sort it,” said a male voice.
I stiffened. I’d heard that voice before.
The ladder grated against the glass as someone
Mr Lamb reappeared. “Sorry about this kids,” he said in his TV presenter voice. “But until we sort out this little mix-up, we’ll have to keep you here, I’m afraid.” He wagged his finger at Dom and Lily. “And you two have a class to go to!”
Dom looked desperately strained. “Bye, you guys,” he said feebly.
The Mr Nice Guy act was just for Dom and Lily’s benefit, though, because the minute the kids disappeared, the teacher hustled us upstairs and shoved us into an empty classroom. “I don’t know who you are,” he snapped. “But I’m going to find out!”
The door slammed and I heard an ominous clunk as he locked us in.
I looked miserably around the room. With its pastel pink walls and teeny tiny furniture it reminded me of Miss Dove’s angel nursery class, which somehow made our situation even more depressing.
“Still think it’s Heaven on Earth?” I said sourly to Reuben.
“Sorry,” he said humbly. “I got a bit starry-eyed, didn’t I?”
He looked so forlorn that I felt really ashamed of myself.
“It’s OK, Reubs,” I said quickly. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up, Sweetpea,” said Lola. “I lived on this gorgeous planet for thirteen years and I have NO idea what’s going on at this school.”
“Me neither,” I admitted. “It looks perfect. But something’s off.”
“Way, way off,” Reuben agreed. “But what? None of this makes sense.”
Lola sighed. “The three cosmic musketeers are seriously out of their depth this time.”
“We’d better call up the Agency,” suggested Reuben. “Get them to beam us home.”
We fished out our angel tags, centred ourselves and tried to connect with the Link. We waited patiently. Nothing happened. No cosmic tingles. No answering heavenly vibe. Nothing .
“I don’t want to depress anyone,” said Reuben, “but I think that device demagnetised our tags.”
My stomach gave a lurch. “You’re kidding!”
“But we can still get out of here?” said Lola. “We can still dematerialise?”
“Sure we can,” I said bravely. “We’re angels, right?”
A quarter of an hour later, we were still 100% visible.
I slumped on to a tiny chair. It didn’t help knowing that I was personally responsible for this nightmare. At the Academy, our teachers are constantly telling us we shouldn’t try to be heroes and go it alone. But had I listened? I had not! I’d just gone ahead and done my own sweet thing as usual without once thinking of the consequences.
I could tell that Lola was trying to stay calm. She wandered around the classroom, inspecting the work on the walls. “Hey, these babies are doing some cool stuff.”
Reuben had started doing martial-art stretching exercises. “What did that guy call this school again?” he called over his shoulder.
I wasn’t in the mood for giving Earth lessons to be honest. “A Phoenix School,” I said wearily. “A phoenix is a mythical bird. When it’s old and ready to die, it sets fire to its nest, and a little baby phoenix chick is reborn from the —”
Reuben immediately straightened up. “That’s so beautiful!’ he breathed. “It’s like these genius schools are the new hope born from the destruction of the past.”
“Pity about their teacher training,” Lola said sarcastically.
“We only met one teacher,” Reuben pointed out “The others might be saints.”
“So why are we getting these weird vibes—” I began.
We heard something scrape against the window. A ladder appeared. Its top rungs waved about wildly then finally came to rest against the glass.
Voices drifted up from below.
“They came out of nowhere!” Dom was explaining excitedly, and Lily grumbled something I couldn’t catch.
“I told you, I’ll sort it,” said a male voice.
I stiffened. I’d heard that voice before.
The ladder grated against the glass as someone
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