Whizardy Witch and The Secret Lake Whizardy Witch is always whizzing around. She is the fastest witch in the Land of Magic. “Zoomedy zoom, let’s go broom,” she squeals, making her broomstick go faster. Whiz, and off she whizzes. One day, Whizardy Witch was hurry- ing to eat her breakfast because she wanted to be off exploring. “What are you going to do today, Whiz?” mum asked. “I’m going to follow the magic river until I find where it begins,” said Whiz- ardy Witch. “Make sure you are back before lunch,” warned mum. Whizardy Witch finished her break- fast. She collected her satchel full of spells, put on her magic cape and her magic hat. She called to her broomstick and climbed on-board. “Zoomedy zoom, let’s go broom,” she shouted. Whiz, and off she whizzes. “Not too fast,” called mum. Too late, Whizardy Witch was already whizzing off towards the snowy mountain. “Now let’s find the end of the magic river,” squealed Whizardy Witch, heading upstream. She could see the path of the river snaking across the land of magic. Faster and faster, she flew far into the distance. Forests came and went, mountains rose and fell, fields and meadows zoomed below. No matter how far she flew, she could not find the end of the magic river. Whizardy Witch saw a little old cot- tage nestled on the riverbank and a little old man sitting on the porch in his rocking chair. He was reading a great big book of spells. Whizardy Witch flew down and stopped in front of the old man and said, “Hello, I’m looking for the end of the Magic River.” “Are you now!” the old man said. “And what might your name be, young witch?” “My name is Whizardy Witch, you can call me Whiz if you like. I’m the fastest witch in the land of magic.” “Well, that’s quite a claim. Who says you are the fastest in the land of magic? Have you ever met the Quickery? He is really fast,” said the old man. “I’ve never heard of a Quickery. What is it, and where does it live?” Whizardy asked. “The Quickery is the fastest monster in all the land of magic. Some say it lives at the end of the magic river, in the secret lake,” explained the old man. “Have you ever seen it?” Whizardy Witch asked. “Only once. I just barely managed to escape. It was so fast it sped right up to me faster than my eyes could see,” whispered the old man. He looked all around as if the Quickery would come zooming down river at that very moment. “I had been searching for the end of the magic river, just like you are, and then suddenly I spotted this silver mist in the distance. In a flash, the mist was chasing me and the Quickery poked its head out and tried to eat me.” “How did you escape?” Whizardy Witch asked, nervously. “Only by using a very powerful magic spell,” said the old man. “What did it look like?” Whizardy Witch enquired. “The Quickery is a bit like a rocket powered dragon. He has huge sharp teeth, and even bigger mouth and the loudest roar I have ever heard. Its eyes were like slits of silver fire. It was scary,” the old man said nervously. “Why is it like a rocket powered dragon?” Whizardy Witch asked, confused. “Well, you know a dragon breathes out fire!” the old man explained. Whizardy Witch nodded. “This creature does the exact oppos- ite. It does huge bottom blow offs, shooting out fire like a rocket en- gine! That’s why it is so fast.” “It does sound fast,” said Whizardy Witch giggling. “But I am the fastest witch in all the land of magic, so it won’t catch me.” The old man tried to encourage Whizardy Witch to give up her search for the end of the magic river, but, she would not. He explained you could not find the secret lake without using a powerful magic spell. “Do you know one that would work?” Whizardy asked. “You could try this one,” said the old man as he wrote one on a piece of paper. “Just be careful.” Whizardy Witch said goodbye to the old man and thanked him for the spell and for explaining about the Quickery. She opened her satchel and took out a magic blue leaf. As she held it in her hand she said, “As fast as lightning, your eyes to blind, the start of this river, I wish to find.” Broomstick shuddered and shook al- most throwing Whizardy Witch into the river below. She had to hold on very tight as the powerful magic spell whizzed them along blindingly fast. Suddenly, a small lake, hidden deep in a long valley, appeared below her. Broomstick stopped, quiv- ering excitedly after the fast trip. “Wow!” Whizardy Witch said. “So, this is where the magic river begins?” In the distance, a strange silvery mist came racing across the surface of the lake. Waves swelled up behind the mist parting the waters. In mo- ments, a large ferocious head pushed out of the cloud as the Quickery chased up to Whizardy Witch. “What are you doing on my lake?” the Quickery sneered. “Hello, I’m Whizardy Witch, the fast- est witch in all the land of magic. I have come to see you Quickery,” said Whiz with a big friendly smile. “No-one comes to my lake. Why would you come to see me?” the Quickery asked. “Anyway, I am the fastest creature in all the land of magic. You could never outrun me.” “I wanted to see where the magic river started, but when I heard about you, I wanted to give you a race,” said Whizardy Witch cheekily. “A race is it! If you can beat me to the other side of the lake, I will not eat you,” the Quickery sniggered. “I’ll even give you a head start.” Whizardy Witch zoomed off. When she was halfway across the lake, the Quickery blasted out a massive blow off flame sending him powering over the water just like a rocket. In mo- ments, the Quickery approached the back of Whizardy Witch’s Broomstick. “That’s cheating,” complained Whiz- ardy Witch. “You use that fire like an engine.” “Cheating or not, I’m getting ready for another blast and you will be my breakfast when I catch you,” threatened the grinning monster. Whizardy Witch was not about to let this cheat beat her. She chose a bright green leaf from her satchel and formed a special spell in her mind. “Fires Burn and Rockets Blast, make this monster come in last,” she mumbled quietly. Broomstick shuddered in approval. Out from behind her, Whizardy sent a plume of sticky green smoke cov- ering the Quickery with a thick coating of slimy gunge. When he powered up his blast engine it just spluttered in a long drawn out blow off. No flames could be seen. Whizardy gave her broom a friendly nudge and they powered off across the lake to the other side leaving the angry Quickery far behind. “Yippee!” she squealed. “I am the fastest witch in all the land of magic.” The Quickery came flying over at his normal speed with a face looking like thunder. “You used magic you cheat!” he ac- cused her. “I should eat you just for that.” “I’m sorry Quickery, but you use your blow offs like an engine and that’s cheating too,” explained Whiz- ardy Witch. “I think you must be the fastest creature in all the Land of Magic if you use your blaster. But I am the fastest without it. That makes us both winners I think.” The Quickery reluctantly agreed. He was also quite impressed with little Whizardy Witch as she was very clever for her age and impressively good at magic. “Okay Whiz, today you win your race and I will not eat you. But don’t come back again, because the next time you will be my supper!” The Quickery turned and flew out to- wards the centre of lake and dived in out of sight. *** And that is the story of Whizardy Witch and the Secret Lake