One Wish Read Online Free PDF

waited, watching the exit closely. She didn’t think the fairy knew that it had been followed, but she held back all the same, just in case this was a cunning trick to draw her into the arcade and then lose her.
    Oberon gave a little whine and looked up at Tanya, as if to ask why the chase was over.
    ‘It isn’t,’ she told him, stroking his nose. ‘But you have to wait outside now – dogs aren’t allowed in.’ She tied his leash to a nearby drainpipe and stepped inside. It was dark and hot from so many people crowding round the machines or queuing at the kiosk to change notes into coins. It smelled stale: of money and old chip fat. The carpet was sticky beneath her feet. Music jangled, voices chattered and coins clattered. She edged her way around, trying to concentrate on her search for the fairy thief, but there was no sign of it.
    Working her way backwards to the rear of the arcade, Tanya was beginning to think that perhaps she had been fooled after all, and that maybe the fairy had cleverly led her inside and then dodged her. She sighed, noticing a rolled up five-pound note on the floor. It must have been dropped by a tall, thin youth who was playing alone on the shooting range. She knelt to pick it up for him, then snatched her fingers back just in time as a battered black boot came out of nowhere, trapping the note in place. A brown hand flashed before her eyes, scooping it up.
    Tanya leaped up, finding herself face to face with the black-haired boy who had been climbing the Wishing Tree. He stared at her for a moment, as if trying to place her, then recognition crossed his face.
    ‘Oh, not you again!’ he said, wrinkling his nose.
    ‘Yes, me again,’ Tanya retorted. ‘And don’t you screw up your nose at me. Where are your manners?’
    ‘Forgotten them.’ The boy turned his back on her, but found his path barred by the youth who had dropped the money.
    ‘What’s the matter?’ the black-haired boy asked, unrolling the note from its tight curl. ‘Lost something?’
    The older boy stared at the money, confusion spreading across his thin face. ‘I thought . . . I thought I dropped something . . .’
    The black-haired boy gave a cheeky grin and, still clutching the five-pound note, pretended to search the dirty carpet by his feet. ‘Can’t see anything here. You must be mistaken.’
    The older boy nodded and scratched his head, then turned back to the machine he’d been playing. The black-haired boy slipped the money into his pocket and sauntered off, whistling.
    Tanya marched after him and tapped him on the shoulder, hard. ‘That’s stealing!’ she said.
    The boy turned round and crossed his arms. ‘Says who?’
    ‘Says me,’ Tanya answered, defiant.
    ‘Really? How do you know whose money it was? Did you see him drop it?’
    Tanya hesitated. ‘Well, no . . . but—’
    ‘Exactly. I was the one who dropped it. It’s mine. Now go and find someone else to annoy.’ He started to move away again.
    Tanya’s cheeks began to burn, partly from anger and partly from embarrassment. Had she made a mistake and accused a stranger of stealing without any solid proof? A stranger who was the only other person she knew who could see fairies, and to whom she desperately wanted to speak? She swallowed. ‘Wait. Please. I’m sorry.’ She slipped her rucksack off her shoulders and reached into it. ‘I came here to look for you.’
    The boy paused. ‘Why?’
    ‘To give you this.’ Tanya pulled the wish bottle out of her bag. She held on to it tightly, half expecting him to grab it and run.
    ‘You came all this way to return it?’ the boy asked. ‘You shouldn’t have bothered. I can leave another wish, if I want to.’
    Tanya watched him curiously. Despite his casual manner, the way the boy’s eyes kept creeping over the bottle told her that he wanted it back. Very much indeed.
    ‘I didn’t read it, in case you were wondering,’ she said.
    The boy shrugged. ‘Don’t care if you did.’ He held