Bagsy Beetlehorn and the Inferno Conscription (The Bagsy Chronicles 3)

A Giant, Square, Squid

'Tod, I'm going to need you to wipe the memories of anyone who sees what myself and Bagsy are about to do,' Mezrielda said swiftly.

Tod folded his arms and looked accusingly at Bagsy.

Bagsy said, 'This isn't in return for what I've done for you. If you do this, it's because you're my friend and you want to. The choice is yours.'

Looking at the small group of students he'd need to use his power on, Bagsy saw Tod weigh the situation in his mind. 'Alright,' he relented at last.

There was a threatening glint in Mezrielda's eyes. 'And if you ever use the information you're about to get against me, I will personally cut your tongue out. Understood?'

Eyes widening at the threat, Tod slowly nodded. 'Ideally, I'd like to keep my tongue in my mouth, thank you very much.'

Mezrielda scowled at him. 'Great. Bagsy, can you fly in your school robe?'

Pausing to look down at herself, Bagsy considered the question. Her school robe was filled with all sorts of bits and bobs hidden in its multitude of pockets, so it was quite heavy. 'I think so,' she said.

Mezrielda nodded firmly. 'Good. You need to convince Greenda to give you her broom.'

Not wasting a second to question Mezrielda on her plan, Bagsy stood up and hurried over to Greenda. She didn't know what Mezrielda was thinking, but she trusted it was their best hope of getting Winifred and Robin back. 'Hi,' she said awkwardly. 'Um, I was wondering If I could take a look at your broom?'

Greenda looked down at her and smiled. 'Sure thing!' Then, to Bagsy's dismay, Greenda held the broom out for her to inspect, but did not let go of it.

'Um.' Bagsy shifted on her feet. 'Could I hold it?'

Greenda arched an eyebrow. 'Why? You want to modify it right now? You don't look like you have any of your tools on you and, besides, now's not really the best time. You know...' She nodded towards the emergency gathering of students in the library.

'No, no,' Bagsy forced out. 'No, I just want to hold it, that's all.'

Greenda retracted her broom, placing a hand on her hip. 'Are you alright, Bagsy? You're acting a little weird. First you need to speak to Tod, and whisper conspiratorially to him in the corner, and now you want to hold my broom out of nowhere? I thought you didn't want to listen to my facts on the Rocketing Unicorns?'

'I was preoccupied,' Bagsy only half-lied. 'Please, I just want to hold it for a little bit.'

'Hmmm,' Greenda thought. 'Alright, though I'm a little confused as to why-'

As soon as the broom was in Bagsy's palms a shock of cold filled the air.

'You lost your broom,' Tod spoke clearly, a bead of sweat on his forehead. 'You believe it is somewhere in that direction.' He pointed away from the window. 'As far as you know, Mezrielda and Bagsy were never here.' With blank expressions Greenda, Emmeline, Kat and Ford turned away from them, mumbling about where Greenda's broom could have got to. With a sharp inhalation, Tod collapsed onto a chair, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. 'I hate working on multiple minds at once...' he grumbled.

'Thank you, Tod,' Bagsy breathed, giving him a quick hug. 'You're a good friend.'

'Yeah,' was all Tod could say he was so out of breath.

'Time to go,' Mezrielda announced, throwing open the windows, looking more uncertain than she had when she'd announced the plan. 'I'll be frank with you, Bagsy, I have a plan, but only up to a certain point.' Bagsy listened intently. She had no clue what was going on, or what it was Mezrielda had figured out, but she trusted her friend. 'We're going to fly to the airship that you can see and board it. I believe that's where Winifred and Robin have been taken. Once we've made it there, we're going to try and find Winifred and Robin, and break them out. But remember, I can't see the airship.'