Read Online Deep Amber by C.J. Busby - Free Book Online

out of the trampled undergrowth. Had the creature thrown Jem aside before her spell had turned it small? Had she somehow magicked both of them to another place entirely? Or had Jem managed to scarper into the nearby bushes?
    Dora moved tentatively towards the spot where Jem had stood. When she got there it soon became clear that, whatever her spell had done to the monster, it had certainly worked a treat on Jem. He was standing in the middle of the path with his hands on his hips, looking extremely cross, and he was approximately the height of a dandelion.
    â€œAre you all right?” said Dora, anxiously,kneeling next to him on the path.
    â€œApart from being extremely short, do you mean?” said Jem, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I’m fine. But if you could see your way to restoring me to my proper height, that would be marvellous. Or better still,” he added, brightening, “a hand’s width taller.”
    â€œWhat happened to the monster?” said Dora, looking around. There was no sign of any creature, small or large.
    â€œIt disappeared,” said Jem. “Just before you blasted me with your wretched spell. It just winked out. Maybe it wasn’t actually real in the first place.”
    Dora looked doubtfully round at the flattened bushes and the torn branches of nearby trees that were now sticking out in all directions.
    â€œIt must have been real. Look at the way it’s smashed the trees.”
    â€œWell – anytime you feel like turning me back to my proper height…” said Jem. “Sometime this year would be nice.”
    Dora gave Jem a hard stare. She was tempted just to leave him small. But she dutifully raised her arms and pointed at him, saying the words of the reversal spell.
    Nothing happened.
    She frowned, and tried again, but still nothing happened. She tried to look as if she’d meant this all along, and adjusted the magic a tweak to account for the rather frantic casting of the spell in the first place. But it was no good. Jem was completely unchanged.
    â€œWhat?” he said, as he saw her expression. “Is there a problem?”
    The crease between Dora’s eyebrows deepened.
    Jem looked at her sternly. “Are you saying you can’t do it?”
    Dora hesitated, then she said, “I’m sorry, Jem. I think it’s because I was a bit rushed. I must have put a strange twist in the magic, and I can’t seem to unravel it.”
    Jem looked at her in silence for a full minute. Dora felt as if she were the one who’d been shrunk.
    â€œWonderful,” he said eventually. “Stuck in the middle of the Great Forest with any number of dangerous creatures, and no bigger than a frog. Brilliant work, Dora. Remind me never to go on a trip with you ever again. You’re the worst witch since mad Maud Appleby turned all the castle cows into snails. At least she managed to turnthem back again. Now I’m going to have to travel in your pocket till we find a real magic user who can turn me back.”
    Dora stopped looking apologetic and went red in the face. If Jem hadn’t been so tiny she’d have punched him. All her frustration at being forced along a non-existent path thanks to Jem’s stupid decision, and having to follow him through a forest that seemed less and less like a real solid place with every step, just burst out in one big rush.
    â€œWell, I’m very sorry you’ve been shrunk, Mister High and Mighty Escort, but I never wanted you along in the first place, and it’s thanks to your stupid decision we’re here in the middle of nowhere with whatever it was charging us, and how was I to know it would just disappear of its own accord? You’re lucky to be small and not actually dead! And if you think you’re travelling in my pocket, you can think again!”
    They glared at each other, and then, to Dora’s surprise, Jem laughed, and looked a little shamefaced.
    â€œOK. Maybe