Magicalamity by Kate Saunders

is what the people of Hopping Hill are called. And in any case, the law says Dolores can’t have it unless Jonas is dead.”
    “Wouldn’t I inherit it? I’m his son!”
    “Demisprites don’t count.”
    “The Falconers don’t care about a bit of gold!” protested Lorna. “They’re ROLLING in the stuff!”
    “Actually, they’re not.” Pindar’s round cheeks reddened again as they all looked at him. But he spoke very confidently. “My parents are totally broke—that’s the other thing I wasn’t supposed to hear.”
    Tom saw that this information had a big effect on his three godmothers.
    “Well, well, well!” Dahlia said with a wicked smile. “The Falconers are fortuneless! Is that just your parents, darling—or the whole boiling lot of them?”
    “All of them,” said Pindar. “Their debts are huge, and they’re penniless—my mother’s sold half the castles, and my father keeps putting up the taxes. My father’s two brothers that he never managed to kill have bothgone bankrupt. They can’t keep it secret for long. Shopkeepers have started asking for their money. Or else they break in and steal back their stuff.”
    Iris’s little eyes glittered with excitement. “At last, something we can use against them! This boy might be the best informer we ever had!” She looked at Pindar. “If your father knew what you’d told us, he wouldn’t rest until he’d had you killed.”
    “I know,” Pindar said sadly. “I can’t ever go back.”
    “This proves you’re on our side,” Iris said. “I vote Pindar stays.”
    “Me too!” Tom grinned at his cousin—it was something to win over sniffy old Iris.
    “And me!” cried Lorna. “Pindar’s one of us now!”
    Dahlia gave him another radiant smile. “Stay here as long as you like, darling!” She took the truth-globe from his neck. “We don’t need this anymore.”
    “Thanks.” Pindar ducked his face away shyly, and Tom suddenly knew that he wasn’t used to being praised, or having nice things said to him.
    Dahlia yawned. “It’s ridiculously late—you boys had better go to bed. Pindar will have to sleep on the floor tonight, I’m afraid. I’m simply too partied out to summon any husbands.”
    The two boys said good night to the godmothers and went back upstairs to Justinian’s bedroom.
    “I’m glad you’re staying,” Tom said. He wanted to sayhe felt happier now that his cousin was with him, but that would sound silly.
    “This is the best place I’ve been in since the circus.”
    “Did you like the circus?”
    “It was OK.” Pindar took off his dusty sneakers. “The elephants were really nice to me.”
    “Oh, I forgot, you fairies can talk to animals—I’d so like to do that. Do you think a demisprite would be able to learn?”
    “Dunno,” Pindar said, with a gusty yawn. “But it’s not that hard. There are spells for it.”
    There was only one bed, but plenty of pillows and blankets, and they made Pindar a comfortable place on the floor.
    He took off his jeans (revealing underwear with a picture of Jay Trebonkers on the back) and lay down at once. “Thanks, Tom; this feels fantastic.”
    “Are you sure it’s soft enough? You can have the bed if you like.”
    “No, really—I’m fine here.” Pindar pulled the blanket up to his shoulders with a contented sigh. “After that last window box, it feels like the Ritz. And it’s so nice to belong somewhere.”
    Tom got into bed and switched off the bedside lamp. He should have been tired, but he was wakeful and curious, and he knew Pindar felt the same. They looked at each other through the net of shadows.
    “Do you miss your parents?” asked Tom.
    “No. I never felt I belonged with them. They didn’t like me.”
    Tom tried to imagine having parents who didn’t like him, and couldn’t. However annoying your parents were, you always assumed they were basically on your side. “Are they strict?”
    “Yes,” Pindar said. “But I wouldn’t mind that if I