CHAPTER THREE The girls set off to put their suitcases and cats into their rooms and to get themselves tidied up before assembly, which was held in the Great Hall. Mildred was delighted to find that she now had six bats roosting along her picture rail, instead of the usual three. She was mad about animals and, although the bats didn't do very much except sleep all day -- occasionally stretching a wing or shuffling along a bit -- it was nice to know they were there. In the early hours, when Mildred was often lying awake worrying about a looming potion test or some similar horror, it was always comforting to see her little flock come in from their night's hunting and jostle into position upside down. It only took a few minutes for Mildred to unpack her suitcase and put away her clothes, so she decided to nip along the corridor to Maud's room. "Have you got that styling brush, Maud?" she asked, letting herself in through the heavy oak door. "I'd like to have a little twirl with it and see if I can liven up my hair a bit." Maud was still cramming her clothes into her tiny wardrobe. All the pupils had a wardrobe, with space on one side for their robes and shirts and a narrow set of drawers on the other side, which was not big enough to take a term's supply of socks and underclothes and was, therefore, very difficult to keep tidy. "Of course you can, Mildred," said Maud cheerily. "It's on the bed there.Just push up the switch at the side and it makes a hissing sound, then gets warm in a few minutes." "Thanks, Maudy," said Mildred. She was about to close the door as she left the room when Enid came upbehind her. "I'm just going in to have a chat with Maud," said Enid. "Coming?" "Not yet," replied Mildred. "I'm going to have a go at beautifying myself with Maud's magic brush here," and she skipped off down the corridor back to her room. "What do you make of our new form mistress, then?" asked Enid, settling on the end of Maud's bed with her knees pulled up under her chin. Maud stuffed the last pair of grey-and-black-striped pyjamas into the bottom drawer and closed the wardrobe door. "She's a bit weird-looking, isn't she?" said Maud. "I'm surprised H.B. let her over the doorstep. She's so -- everything H.B. can't stand, isn't she? Nervous, twittering, doesn't look as if she could control a dead budgerigar -- and that funny little voice and all those frivolous curls!" Enid laughed. "Come on," she said, "let's go and help Mildred with herhair." "Yes, let's," said Maud, heading for the door. "I meant to warn her to becareful. It's really easy to get the brush tangled if your hair's long." CHAPTER FOUR Maud and Enid pushed open Mildred's door. "Be careful with the brush,Mildred," said Maud. "It's easy to -- " She stopped abruptly as she saw Mildred sitting on her bed with the styling brush and her hair rolled up in a great messy loop right against herscalp. She was desperately trying to unroll it, but the brush was held astightly as a fly parcelled up in a spider's web. "It's got stuck, Maud!" said Mildred, trying not to cry. "I mean really stuck! I've turned it off but it's still burning hot and the brush is black so you can't see where the hair ends and the brush begins." "Don't panic, Mildred," said Enid, trying to sound soothing, despite thehorrified tone in her own voice. "That's right," said Maud. "Just leave it and let Enid and me sort it out. Bend your head towards the window so we Excerpted from The Worst Witch Saves the Day by Jill Murphy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
