Read Class Six and the Nits of Doom for Free Online Page A

in the face and they thought they might be going to explode. Even Slacker pounded away until the classroom windows were rattling in their frames.
    ‘Marvellous!’ said Miss Broom at last. ‘All right, everybody, you can sit down again now.’
    Class Six sank gratefully into their seats, so red in the face they looked like uniformed tomatoes. Though actually, Slacker looked more like a uniformed aubergine.
    Miss Broom looked round at them all. Her eyes were sharp as holly prickles. ‘Well, you’re all obviously quite fit,’ she said. ‘That’s good. For a moment I was
afraid you might be allergic to my special…er…
teaching methods
, and that would have spoiled everything.’
    Class Six did try to summon up a little weak coughing, but it only managed to sound pathetic and desperate.
    Miss Broom waited for the noise to die down, and then she smiled, showing her sharp little pearly teeth.
    ‘So now,’ she said. ‘I think it’s time to do some spelling.’
    And she took a black wand out of her desk drawer.
     
    Class Six sat up and blinked. There was a bell sounding. But…
    ‘Is that the fire alarm?’ asked Slacker Punchkin groggily.
    ‘No, no,’ said Miss Broom. ‘That’s the bell for playtime. Off you go, all of you!’
    Class Six, very puzzled, stumbled into the playground. They squinted round. The sky was grey, but it still seemed very bright.
    ‘I think I must have been asleep,’ mumbled Jack.
    ‘Me too,’ agreed Slacker, yawning like a hippopotamus. ‘Hey, hang on a minute! I was so fast asleep I’ve gone and left my breaktime snack in my backpack. There were three
Fatso Bars and two cheese pasties in there! What am I going to do now?’
    Winsome was still blinking.
    ‘But we can’t
all
have fallen asleep,’ she said. ‘Not unless…’
    ‘She’s gone and enchanted us, hasn’t she?’ said Serise, outraged.
    ‘She must have done,’ agreed Anil. ‘There’s no way we’d all have fallen asleep otherwise. So the question is, what’s she done to us?’
    Winsome frowned.
    ‘Does anyone remember anything?’ she said. ‘Because I seem to remember all the books in the reading corner diving off the shelves and then flapping round the
classroom.’
    ‘Yes, I remember that,’ said Emily. ‘And all the letters and pictures fell off the pages as they went, until they were as white as seagulls.’
    Slacker grunted.
    ‘Those letters,’ he said. ‘They tasted of vinegar toffee.’
    Jack gasped. ‘You mean you
ate
them?’
    ‘Course I did,’ said Slacker. ‘It was better than letting them all dive up my nose, wasn’t it? At least I got to taste them. They were quite rubbery, though.’
    ‘I could taste them even though they went up my nose,’ admitted Anil. ‘But to me they tasted of peppermint.’
    Winsome clutched at her hair. ‘But this is impossible,’ she said. ‘It just
must
be a dream.’
    ‘Yeah, and we all dreamed the same thing,’ said Serise, rolling her eyes. ‘That was no dream, Winsome. That was wa-wa-wa-
wigglecraft
.’
    ‘I remember, now!’ exclaimed Anil. ‘She got a wand out of her drawer and then she said something about spells.’
    ‘No, not spells,’ said Jack. ‘
Spelling!
’
    And then Class Six were chattering as fast as they could, remembering the taste of the spiky letters and the sound of the books flapping round the room.
    Suddenly Emily gasped.
    ‘I can spell
necessary
,’ she announced in amazement.
    Everyone stopped chattering and thought about it.
    Jack blinked. ‘Hey, when I think about how to spell
necessary
two little lizards sort of pop up in front of my eyes holding a banner with the word NECESSARY written on
it.’
    ‘Red lizards, wearing green ties?’ asked Slacker.
    ‘That’s right. On pogo sticks.’
    Class Six all stood and thought, and then Serise let out a small shriek.
    ‘I can spell anything!’ she said. ‘Even
queue
!’
    ‘And
meringue
,’ said Slacker Punchkin, licking his lips.
    Jack began jumping up and