Round and Round and Out

The trio reached the top of the stairs and dashed into the nearest classroom overlooking the front of the school. For a moment, they were stunned by the scene outside. Where there had once been their town, admittedly sleepy, was now a frozen mass of white. Arrayed out from the glistening tree in the middle of the schoolyard were row upon row of fixed white figures. Everywhere was still and of a uniform colour, the snow having turned everything to a brilliant white. Even the weak rays of the early morning sun caused the whole town to light up with a mesmerising purity, and made the ice crystals that topped everything glitter. There was no denying that Whitechapel would probably never look more beautiful.

Yet even as they appreciated the wonder of the ranks of shining snowmen, they could still pick out the closest faces of those trapped within. They were frozen; open mouthed, eyes staring out - a picture of lifelessness. Whitechapel might not be as pretty, but it was certainly better with life and movement.

The three of them scanned the outside world for Rory's snowman. It was just at the very edge of the enchanted lines, by the far wall of the school. It was gigantic, with even the heavy snowfall of the previous day and night barely changing its appearance.

Ethan turned to Benny. "Do you know how to do the spell?" Benny nodded.

"I've never tried to animate anything so large and complicated, though, but, I guess there's only one way to practise." He grinned confidently at the other two, who smiled back nervously.

"Well, it's the best shot we've got," said Sarah. "No pressure, then, Benny."

Ethan peered out of the window. "OK, well, the big snowdrift that got Erica is right below us, and I'm guessing that as soon as we open the window it'll come for us. So, Benny, you've got to be ready with that spell. Have you got it prepared?"

Benny nodded, and began to mutter into his hand. After a few moments, he glanced up at Ethan and nodded, without pausing in his recitation. Ethan flung open the window just as Benny said the last words of the spell. At the same time, a bolt of snow rocketed towards them, engulfing Ethan's arm as he held the window open. The purple billow flew from Benny's hands, and across to the giant snowman, where it vanished. Sarah slammed the window shut quickly, breaking off a large chunk of snow inside the room, but freeing Ethan's arm from its grip.

Ethan smiled in thanks, and rubbed his arm, which had turned blue with the cold just from that briefest of exposures. Now that it was detached from the main body of the snow, the broken lump of snow lay inanimate on the floor, although it showed no signs of melting.

The three of them returned to staring out of the window. "Did it work?" asked Sarah.

"I don't know," said Benny. "Nothing seems to be happen–"

As he said it, the snow figure in the distance shifted noticeably. With a thud that shook the classroom, it turned and moved towards the tree. The frozen figures tried to form a wall, as it had done with Erica, but it just crashed over them. The moving snow slid away from the school and rushed across to try and defend the tree, but, since the statue was also snow, it had no impact. On reaching the middle, the vast figure seemed to collapse in on itself, and then pitched forwards over the tree. In an instant, the tree had disappeared from view.

They waited to see if their idea had worked. Nothing seemed to change. Then Ethan felt his feet and ankles becoming wet. He looked down and smiled. The others followed his gaze. The broken off lump of snow had completely melted, drenching Ethan's trainers. The three of them laughed with relief. The spell was broken. Peering outside, they saw the snow gradually recede, and, slowly, starting from the outermost ring, the snow statues come back to life.

"Come on," Benny, "let's see if everyone's OK!" The hurried downstairs and out of the now unblocked doors. Once out, they immediately ran into a furious, and soaked, Erica, no worse for wear for her fight with an avalanche. She was soon complaining to them about the ruin of her clothes, though, and held them all responsible. The three of them shared a grin. It was reassuring to have the old Erica back, and not having her show concern for others. She was, of course, only talking to Sarah now:

"Well, I'm going to get some clean, dry clothes now. See you, Sarah." With that, she brushed past them and squelched back into school. They pushed on through the crowd of confused, cold and wet students and teachers, before reaching the gigantic pile of snow that lay where the mulberry tree had stood. In front of it, still thawing, stood Rory. He was rooted to the spot, but now he was just staring sadly at his ruined monument to Erica.

"Hey, Rory!" said Ethan cheerfully. "Your statue of Erica saved everyone."

"It did?" asked Rory, a smile plastering itself across his stiff face. "That's a good use, then." He turned to face them, with some difficulty. "Was Erica really worried about me? Did she try and save me?" He looked so hopeful, that others were forced to nod.

"Yeah, Rory, of course she was," they said together. On reflection, given Erica's unusually eager attempts to defeat the plant, perhaps there was some truth in it. When they realised that, the three of them all shared rather a shocked expression, before, as one, dismissing the idea.

"I have to go and find her!" Rory exclaimed, zooming off.

"You know, he's going to be even worse now that he's had to stand still for an entire day," sighed Ethan. Benny nodded in agreement. "Come on; let's see if our families are OK."

As they walked, Sarah was struck by something. "We may have defeated the mulberry bush," she paused, glanced at Benny's expression, and then continued, "- tree -, but where did it come from?"

"Just a freak of nature, I guess," said Ethan, shrugging. "A mystery."

"Hmm…" Sarah frowned, but then shook the thought away. "You're probably right. Hey, it's your ice planet!"

The three of them stopped. "So it is!" said Benny. "It's a bit melted, though. In fact, it's pretty much destroyed."

"Aww, and you guys spent so much time on it!"

They both shrugged. "It's only snow. It always melts eventually," said Ethan. Benny nudged him.

"You know where it always is, though!" Ethan grinned.

"Yeah, on DVD at home. Fancy coming over and watching it?" Ethan glanced over at Sarah, who was hiding a smile. "You can come, too, if you like?" he said, hurriedly.

She shook her head. "No, once was enough for me." She walked with them to the gate, where a tall blonde figure was waiting for her. "Hi, Erica. You changed fast."

"Yeah, well, there are meals to catch up on!" she replied. Looking about to see if anyone was watching, Erica dumped a bag into Ethan's hands. "These are for you to wash, nerd."

Ethan looked at them, and then back at Erica. He smiled nervously. "Of course!"

"Good nerd." With that, Erica turned and flew away, closely followed by Sarah.

Ethan spotted his parents and Benny's grandma talking by the gate.

"Hi boys," said his mum, "Did you enjoy your snow day?"

They glanced at each other. "Yeah. It was great," said Ethan.

"Looks like it's going now, though," added Benny. "I'm going to Ethan's now grandma, so I'll see you later." She nodded, as usual, but seemed preoccupied with something. Once Benny, Ethan, and his family had turned away, she started to stare at where the tree had been, frowning deeply. Sniffing the air, she shivered, and then walked thoughtfully away.

As the five of them walked towards Ethan's house, his mum looked at the two boys and asked: "Would you like some toast and some of my new jam when you get in?"

"What flavour jam?" replied Ethan.

"Mulberry."

Benny and Ethan glanced at each other, and their lips twitched into a smile.

"No, thanks!" they chorused.