Twinkle, who had been dozing in front of a blazing fire, awoke with a start. “What's that hissing?” he asked Charlie, who was sleeping on the back of his worn-out old chair. Charlie yawned and rubbed his eyes with his little paws. “I slept so well,” he groaned. “You always sleep well, Charlie,” Twinkle said. Whoosh. Whoosh. What a strange noise, Twinkle thought. Whoosh. Whoosh. "What is it?" he asked again. “It's Swifty the swallow,” croaked Alfie from the top of the bookcase. And sure enough, when Twinkle looked towards the window, she could see Swifty darting past the house. He was shouting something, but Twinkle couldn't hear what he was saying. He threw his comfortable quilt on the floor, struggled to his feet, stepped over Hugo, the poodle, who was snoring softly on the floor, and went to the door. Twinkle knew that Swifty couldn't just land on the windowsill like her other birds, and so, despite the cool evening air, she left her warm home and joined Swifty as he flew in wild arcs around the clearing. “I have terrible news,” Swifty shouted as she opened the door. It flew close and flew back into the sky. “Terrible news,” he shouted once more as he approached again. “We heard you the first time,” said Alfie, who had followed Twinkle. He didn't like Swifty. Not since Mrs. Schulze had confessed that she considered him very graceful and agile. “What is Swifty?” Twinkle asked. “Did anything happen to you on your trip north?” “I'm fine,” he said. “It's Storm. She's gone." Twinkle stared at him with her big brown eyes. She felt like a little girl who'd accidentally dropped her ice cream cone. "Are you sure?" Her voice trembled. "Yes," Swifty confirmed. She flew over. the old, abandoned sw...... middle of paper...... and began to recite: “Abraxas prixasas speedy speedy villasas.” He stood there, with both arms outstretched, and waited 'It went well,' said Alfie. 'I got the spell wrong,' said Twinkle. 'I'll try again. they grabbed her clothes and lifted her into the air. Before she could start to worry, she was left on the dusty road, just outside the village. “Are you out of your mind?” Alfie shouted. He had been thrown into a cornfield. Charlie crawled out of Twinkle's sleeve, giggling. “You have to admit we made progress,” he said. “For a change we didn't land in the river, which he had swallowed.” a lot of dust, coughing. It looked like his clothes had rolled in the street.