The Wishing Star Read online

  “I loved this book and got really angry every time my mum asked me to put it down.”

  — Lottie, age 8

  “It was an amazing adventure and I especially like the cat, Thunder.”

  — Rida, age 6

  “I loved the meaning of the book – we should all do more to save our world. I can’t wait for the next one!”

  — Florence, age 7

  “I liked Thunder because he is fluffy and he’s got one eye and he talks.”

  — Molly, age 5

  Katy

  Chatty, sociable and kind. She’s the glue that holds the Playdate Adventure Club together. Likes animals (especially cats) and has big dreams of saving the world one day.

  Cassie

  Shy but brave when she needs to be. She relies on her friends to give her confidence. Loves dancing, especially street dance, but only in the privacy of her bedroom.

  Zia

  Loud, confident and intrepid. She’s a born leader but can sometimes get carried away. Likes schoolwork and wants to be a scientist when she’s older, just like her mum.

  Thunder

  Big, white and fluffy with grey ears, paws and tail. He’s blind in one eye, but that’s what makes him extra special. Likes chasing mice, climbing trees and going on adventures. Is also a cat.

  Join Katy, Cassie and Zia

  on more Playdate Adventures

  The North Pole Picnic

  The Magic Ocean Slide

  The Giant Conker

  To Archie and Isla,

  for opening my eyes x

  To everyone else it was an ordinary morning on an ordinary Tuesday. Throughout the town, children were waking up, eating breakfast and getting ready for school without giving much thought to the day ahead. But for Katy, today was anything but ordinary. As she charged from her bedroom – long hair a mess, uniform on crooked, school bag spilling out books and pens – Katy couldn’t decide if she was nervous or excited. She was nervous-cited – that’s what she was! Her very new best friends were coming for their first ever playdate, to her house after school, and now it was almost here she felt just about ready to pop!

  “Dad, do you think Cassandra and Zia will like coming to our house?” she asked from the kitchen table, as she hurried down spoonfuls of honey-coated cereal.

  “Of course! Who wouldn’t?!” He smiled.

  Katy grinned. She didn’t have any brothers and sisters and only lived with her dad, who always had a knack of knowing what to say.

  While her dad tugged her dark blonde hair into a high ponytail, Katy brushed her teeth as quickly as she could get away with. Then she rushed into the hall to put on her school shoes, tripping over an enormous cat lying in the doorway.

  “Thunder! Why do you always have to lie in my way?!” she giggled, heaving him into her arms and nuzzling his soft fur. “My friends are going to love you,” she continued, as she plopped him down on the floor behind her and blew him a kiss goodbye.

  Thunder was Katy’s one-eyed rescue cat. He was huge, incredibly fluffy, with a white tummy, a grey face, paws and tail. Apart from Cassandra and Zia, he was Katy’s absolute best friend in the world.

  “Come on, Dad, let’s go!” she shouted, as she opened the front door and the cold morning air filled the narrow hallway. Katy shivered.

  “Coming, coming,” Dad laughed as he whipped his coat from the hook and followed his daughter out of the front door.

  It’s today!, Katy said to herself, feeling butterflies fluttering inside her tummy as she walked to school. Katy was new to her class at Bishop’s Park Primary and, as she’d discovered at the start of term, this was not an easy thing to be. All the other girls had groups of friends already, so when Cassandra and Zia had asked her to play with them, she’d wanted to hold on to their friendship as tightly as she could. Now, even though it felt as if she’d known the girls for ever – which is why she felt cartwheels-inthe-air excited about today – she was also just a teensy bit nervous. More than anything, she wanted desperately for them all to remain the very best of friends.

  Over the past few weeks, Katy, Cassandra and Zia had formed their own special club, called the Playdate Adventure Club. They’d been learning about Earth at school and their teacher, Ms Coco, had talked to the class about all the amazing places in the world. She’d told them about the rainforests in Brazil and the frozen Arctic, a mountain called Everest and the Sahara Desert. Every playtime they pretended to go on a new adventure and after school they planned to have their biggest adventure yet.

  “We could go on safari in Africa, with loads of wild animals!” exclaimed Zia.

  “How wild?” asked Cassandra, fiddling nervously with her Afro. Cassandra’s curls were legendary in class for the giant array of bows and clips and hairbands she wore each day, often all at the same time.

  “Really wild!” Zia laughed, but Cassandra didn’t look so sure.

  “Don’t worry, Cassie,” said Katy, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “We’ll only go on adventures we all want to go on.”

  Cassandra looked happy with that as the bell rang and they lined up outside Junipers’ classroom, ready for afternoon lessons.

  Throughout the rest of the school day, Katy tried her hardest to concentrate, but she couldn’t stop thinking about all the cool things she could play with her friends that afternoon.

  “Katy, are you with us?” asked Ms Coco.

  Katy realised the whole class was looking her way.

  “Er, sorry, Ms. Can you repeat the question?” She could feel her cheeks turning pink as she spoke.

  “I asked if you could remember which planet comes after Earth in the solar system?”

  “It’s Mars, Ms. The red planet!”

  Ms Coco nodded and carried on talking, but once again Katy’s thoughts started to wander. Of course she knew which planet came after Earth. She also knew which planet came before, and the one that came after the one after. In fact, Katy knew the order of all the planets in the solar system, because she’d made a model with her dad last weekend and brought it in for show-and-tell. Perhaps they could have a space-themed playdate today? Yes, her friends would love that. She tried to get Zia and Cassandra’s attention, but Zia was concentrating on the lesson as usual while Cassandra was doodling in her workbook. And anyway, Katy didn’t want to get into any more trouble with the teacher. It would have to wait. Oh, if only the lesson would end!

  Finally, at 3:15p.m., the bell went and the girls erupted out of the classroom in a flurry of coats and book bags. Zia’s plait – which Ms Coco said reminded her of a giant black python – knocked their space pictures off the windowsill in her rush to get to the door first.

  “Oops! Sorry, Ms Coco!” Zia giggled.

  “No problemo!” Their teacher waved theatrically.

  Then Katy saw her dad waiting outside, and they all ran towards him in a mass of laughter and hugs.

  “PLAYDATE, PLAYDATE, LET’S GO ON A PLAYDATE!” they chanted.

  But what Katy, Cassandra and Zia didn’t realise as they wove their way out of the school gates, falling over scooters and prams in their eagerness to leave the playground, was that something incredible was about to happen at Katy’s house.

  Because Katy had been right that morning.

  This really was no ordinary Tuesday.

  Katy’s home was only a short walk from school and the three girls held hands all the way to the front door. She lived on the upstairs floor of a small but pretty, thin sort of house, painted buttercup yellow and nestled in between two taller houses each side.

  As soon as her dad opened the door, Katy charged straight up the stairs and through to the lounge, calling to her friends to follow as they left a trail of coats, shoes and bags strewn across the ha
llway.

  “Zia, Cassie, meet Thunder,” she said, as the grey and white fluffy cat jumped off the sofa and began to slink along the carpet, rubbing itself against Cassandra’s legs and depositing a dusting of fur on her school trousers.

  “He’s cute,” said Zia.

  “So cute. But what’s wrong with his eye?” asked Cassandra, stroking him with one hand while picking white hair off her legs with another.

  “Before my dad rescued him, he got into a fight with another cat. He’s now blind in one eye.” Katy gazed at her pet proudly. “But the other eye works fine. My dad says it makes him extra special, and makes looking after him extra-specially important.”

  “He’s very friendly,” Cassandra said, as Thunder started purring like a tractor. “And very loud!”

  The girls burst out laughing while Zia and Cassandra began to look around the room, eyeing up the unfamiliar toys. Katy had boxes of toys and games stacked neatly along the back wall, under the window.

  “Right, what shall we do first?” asked Zia, taking control as usual.

  “We could play with your Lego?” suggested Cassandra, noticing a large container of bricks in the corner.

  “We could play Lego,” Katy said thoughtfully. “But I had an idea in class today. You’ll have to come to my room to see what I mean though. Come on.”

  Katy raced out of the lounge and across the small landing into her bedroom, jostling her friends inside and shutting the door.

  “Welcome to my room!” She flicked on the light switch – it was already getting dark outside.

  Zia and Cassandra’s eyes soon settled on the constellation of stars on Katy’s bedroom ceiling.

  “Wow! That’s so cool! Did you stick them up there yourself?” Zia asked.

  “Yes, but my dad helped me. Just wait until you see how they glow in the dark. Watch!”

  Katy pulled her curtains closed and flicked the light switch off again, then gazed in delight at the ceiling. Above them, the sky was aglow with yellow and purple and pink and blue fluorescent starlight, starry patterns zigzagging their brilliant way across the room.

  “Amazing!” said Cassandra, gazing upwards in awe. “My big brother has some on his ceiling too, but they’re no way near as cool as yours.”

  “Thanks, Cassie.” Katy smiled. “I love them so much, especially that massive yellow one at the end. Dad calls that one the Wishing Star. He says that if you really want something hard enough, you need to visit the Wishing Star and make a wish. But it’s really difficult to get there. And that’s why not many wishes actually come true.”

  “Do you think your dad’s right?” asked Cassandra. “I’d love my wishes to come true.”

  “I’m not sure,” answered Katy. “But that’s what I was wondering about at school today when Ms Coco was talking about space. Do you think today’s adventure could be to the Wishing Star?”

  Everyone thought for a second.

  “Yes!” Zia enthused. “I’ve always wanted to see what Earth looks like from space. And we could all think of a wish before we get there!”

  The two girls looked at Cassandra, who was still staring up at the ceiling, until finally her freckly nose unwrinkled itself. “I think we should do it!” she agreed, and Katy and Zia started jumping up and down.

  “An adventure to the Wishing Star. That’s brilliant!” beamed Zia.

  Cassandra spun around and punched the air in a new move she’d been practising in her street dance class – she was always trying out her new moves.

  “Nice move, Cassie!” laughed Katy. “Just one thing though before we get going – we need to figure out a way to get there. Any ideas?”

  Just then, they heard a soft scratching at the door, and when Katy opened it, Thunder sauntered into the room with a foil cup in his mouth and dropped it by Katy’s feet.

  “Thunder, not now,” she laughed, grinning apologetically at her friends. “Thunder’s more like a dog-cat than a cat-cat. He likes to bring you things to play with.”

  She picked up the foil cup and threw it across the room. Thunder pounced on it as though it was a living animal and started pushing it along the floor with his grey paws.

  “Dad’s going to be mad again. Thunder’s always dragging things out of the recycling box.”

  “Hey, perhaps that’s it!” said Zia. “We could make a space rocket out of old junk. To get to the Wishing Star, I mean.”

  “Thunder, you’re a genius!” Katy crouched and rubbed Thunder along his back while he wound his way around her ankles, purring loudly. “Wait here,” she said firmly, turning back to her friends. “I need to get something important.” Then she darted out of the room.

  Katy ran into the kitchen, where her dad was stirring a saucepan of something delicious-smelling on the stove.

  “Dinner in about thirty minutes?” he asked, as Katy heaved a box of recycling into her arms.

  “Er, yes, sounds good,” she replied as she struggled out of the kitchen and back through her bedroom door. She then opened a cupboard to take out scissors, sticky tape and glue, followed by another big box saying Katy’s Craft Box in bold letters across the top. “OK, I think we have everything we need.”

  Cassandra stared approvingly at all the boxes, cartons, bottles, newspapers, foil trays, plastic containers and yoghurt pots laid out on the floor. “You’ve got so much stuff!”

  Zia started rummaging through all the materials, arranging everything into place on the carpet. “How about we use the biggest box for the command module and cockpit? Then a couple of bottles and some tinfoil for the fuel tanks and boosters. Then we can use scissors to cut holes for the windows… Something like this,” she said, drawing frantically on the back of an old envelope.

  “Woah, Zia! You seem to know a lot about space rockets!” exclaimed Katy with wide, green eyes. Then she crouched down to pick up a reel of tape so she could help stick the bottles to the back of the cardboard box.

  “I just know a lot about making things!”

  She started digging through more bits of card. “My mum’s a scientist and we’re always making things at home. Hmm, I’m sure I saw something that would be great for the landing module.”

  “Is this what you’re looking for?” Cassandra picked up a foil tray and passed it to Zia.

  “No, but that would make a great TV screen!” Zia laughed.

  The girls carried on working on the space rocket while Thunder lay curled in the corner, meowing every now and again in anticipation. Zia took charge – she always took charge – but Katy didn’t mind, as she knew what a brilliant leader Zia was. It’s what Katy loved about her new friends – how different they were, and what a great team they made. Zia was confident and liked being leader and Cassandra was shy but always sensible. Katy was the kind and chatty one, apparently, which pleased her a lot.

  After about twenty minutes of the kind of teamwork that would make Ms Coco proud, they put the finishing touches to their spaceship, then all stood back and smiled.

  “Wow, that looks amazing!” Cassandra beamed, her freckles dancing around on her face.

  “It does, doesn’t it?” squealed Katy.

  The hatch at the front of the rocket was just about big enough for the three girls to squeeze through. They’d covered the outside in silver glitter, and inside they’d used old bottle tops and sweet wrappers for the control centre. The plastic bottles stuck to the bottom, also covered in glitter, looked like real boosters and they’d even managed to find some clear plastic to stick behind the cut-out window. Katy wasn’t sure if it was enough to really get them to the Wishing Star, but they’d tried their best. And it looked fantastic!

  “OK, who’s ready to go to the stars?” But then she thought a bit more, one finger pressed to her lips. “Actually, I think we need to come up with some kind of code – to mark our first real adventure.”

  “You mean like a password to a secret club?” asked Cassandra excitedly.

  “Our Playdate Adventure Club,” corrected Zia.
<
br />   Katy nodded. “Yes, sort of. Like something we say whenever we want to make the game we’re playing turn into something real.”

  “I like that idea,” said Cassandra. “Perhaps we should all hold hands first?”

  “And close our eyes?” suggested Zia.

  Katy nodded. “And then we need to imagine ourselves getting into our rocket and flying into space. Visualise a huge black space filled with glittering stars, with one enormous star ruling the sky! Ready?”

  “READY!”

  All three girls got into position, grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed their eyes as tightly shut as was humanly possible.

  “Everyone say together: I wish to go on an adventure,” said Katy.

  “I wish to go on an adventure,” the girls sang out.

  To begin with, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the girls experienced a feeling they’d never, ever experienced before. It was a kind of warm but shivery, fizzy sort of a feeling, like the bubbles in a glass of lemonade were shooting all over the inside of their bodies. They couldn’t believe what was happening.

  After about ten seconds they started to feel normal again.

  “Zia, Cassie, I think you’d better open your eyes!”

  “Oh…” gasped Cassandra.

  “My…” cried Zia.

  “Goodness!” shouted Katy.

  They were no longer standing in Katy’s bedroom, but on the launch pad of a real space station. And when Katy looked at her friends, they weren’t wearing their school uniform but were now dressed in white-padded spacesuits with PLAYDATE ADVENTURE CLUB: STAR MISSION printed on an orange badge on their left shoulders. They were holding space helmets under their arms, and on their feet were heavy white boots. And, perhaps best of all, in front of them wasn’t the junk-model space rocket they’d just spent ages building, but a shiny, new, girl-sized spaceship!