0:04

Katie and the Invisible Umbrella

0:08

Hello, this is Natasha and

0:10

I'm here with a story about Katie,

0:12

who is an ordinary girl. But

0:15

there's just one thing that's

0:17

a bit different about her.

0:19

She's a witch and

0:21

she can do magic tricks.

0:26

Katie's grandmother had all sorts

0:29

of beautiful but rather old-fashioned

0:33

magical things.

0:35

Many of them weren't so useful these

0:37

days because science has caught

0:40

up with magic in

0:41

so many ways. For

0:44

instance, before electric kettles

0:46

were invented, witches had

0:48

magic cauldrons that boiled

0:50

the water without any need to put them on the

0:52

fire.

0:53

Well, Katie's

0:57

grandmother still used one of those to

0:59

make her tea and coffee. And

1:02

before phones were invented, witches

1:05

used to call one another using crystal

1:07

balls. And Katie's grandmother

1:09

absolutely refused to get a mobile

1:12

phone or a computer. So

1:14

if you wanted to send her a text message, you

1:17

had to use a crystal ball. And

1:19

of course she still kept a witch's broomstick.

1:22

Though of course these days most witches prefer

1:25

to drive a car or take the bus

1:28

because broomsticks are not very

1:30

comfortable.

1:31

But one of grandma's most beautiful possessions

1:34

was her umbrella. It

1:37

had a golden handle that was shaped

1:39

like the head of a griffin. The

1:42

fabric was decorated with old-fashioned

1:45

magic symbols, which Katie

1:47

could not understand

1:49

because these days most witches

1:51

learnt to do spells in modern languages

1:54

like English or French.

1:56

But

1:56

they were very beautiful and

1:58

Katie loved them. at them.

2:02

Grandma was always a little scatty,

2:05

even in her young days, but as

2:07

she got older she became more

2:09

and more forgetful. One

2:12

day she left her umbrella in the

2:14

patisserie shop. She

2:17

only realised that she no longer had it

2:19

when it rained the following Wednesday.

2:21

She remembered that

2:23

this had been raining when she

2:24

visited the patisserie. But

2:26

as the shop was

2:27

near to where Katie lived,

2:29

Katie went to fetch it.

2:32

As Katie left the shop,

2:35

it began to rain,

2:37

and so naturally she opened

2:39

the umbrella.

2:42

Other people on the street were turning up their

2:44

collars or dodging into doorways to avoid

2:46

the damper. Katie ambled

2:48

along enjoying the dryness of her umbrella,

2:51

but as she was passing the mobile phone store,

2:54

a man barged into

2:55

her. Oh, you could

2:57

say sorry or excuse me,

3:00

explained Katie.

3:02

The man turned around and stared

3:05

at her blankly like she wasn't there. Katie

3:09

continued home, but

3:11

it wasn't long before she collided with

3:13

a traffic warden and then was nearly run

3:15

over by a woman with a pram. How

3:18

people lose these days, thought

3:21

Katie. It's just a little bit

3:23

of rain. They're all in such a hurry.

3:26

You would think they were all running away from a rampaging

3:28

elephant or something.

3:32

As she stepped through the door of the house,

3:34

she half closed the umbrella, meaning

3:37

to leave it in the hallway to dry off.

3:41

And that was when she noticed something

3:43

very peculiar about it.

3:47

Because

3:48

until the umbrella snapped shut,

3:52

she couldn't see it.

3:56

And then when it went click,

3:58

it appeared again.

4:00

Ah,

4:01

thought Katie, there's more

4:03

to Grandmother's umbrella than meets the eye. In

4:06

fact, you could say that nothing of it at all

4:08

meets the eye." And

4:11

she tried standing in front of the mirror with it above

4:13

her head.

4:15

And do you know what?

4:17

She was looking straight through

4:19

herself. But

4:21

if you could have seen Katie's

4:23

face, there would have

4:25

been a mischievous grin on

4:27

it. She thought, I'm

4:30

going to have fun with this. The

4:34

next morning promised a bright and sunny

4:36

day. But all the same,

4:39

Katie took her umbrella with her to school.

4:43

At

4:45

break time,

4:46

Katie's friends, Jenny and Isis, were

4:48

talking about their favourite TV programme.

4:51

It was one of those talent contests, which

4:54

are so popular these days, and

4:56

they were discussing who was going to win.

4:59

Suddenly, they could hear Katie saying,

5:03

I think it will be Annabelle McSabbath,

5:06

because although she's not beautiful like most stars,

5:09

she's got an amazing

5:10

singing voice. Oh,

5:13

Katie, you shouldn't sneak up on

5:15

people like that. It's creepy,

5:18

exclaimed Isis.

5:20

But when she looked round, Katie

5:22

wasn't there. And

5:26

that was really creepy.

5:31

Outside, some boys were playing

5:33

football. Katie didn't

5:35

like that because they hugged a big part

5:38

of the playground and careered all

5:40

over the place, getting in people's way. When

5:43

the ball rolled past Katie's feet, she

5:45

pulled it up under her umbrella so

5:47

that it became invisible like her. She

5:51

laughed as she heard Steve

5:53

Smart saying,

5:56

Where did it go?

5:58

And all the boys were looking round. Then she carried

6:01

the ball over to near

6:03

the goal posts, which were actually two bags on the

6:05

ground, and kicked it through them. That

6:12

really got the boys exclaiming, what the? And where did that

6:15

come from?

6:17

Next,

6:20

Katie did something she had always

6:22

wanted to do. She went into the teacher's

6:24

restroom.

6:27

She saw Miss Ral, Mr.

6:30

Philpott, sitting very cozily together.

6:32

And she heard Mrs. Jefferson saying,

6:35

That boy Darcy Thomas has so many airs and

6:37

graces that you would think he was royalty. And

6:41

Miss Thomas was nodding and

6:42

saying,

6:43

Well, you should see the parents.

6:46

They're so

6:48

stuck up that on parents' day I felt I ought to

6:51

curtsy to them. Katie

6:53

snickered

6:54

because Darcy really did

6:57

fancy himself rather too much.

7:00

And then she remembered she had

7:02

to keep quiet. The bell

7:05

rang for lessons and Mr.

7:08

Hutchinson said, Oh no,

7:10

I don't think I can face the hooligans

7:12

as class 4C. Katie

7:16

hurried back to her classroom. She

7:18

sat down next to Isis and

7:21

held the umbrella over both

7:23

of them so that they were invisible together.

7:27

Miss Bile came in. And

7:30

the babble of children's voices died down.

7:34

The teacher cast her steely gaze

7:37

over the room and denoted the

7:39

empty seats where Katie and Isis

7:41

normally sat.

7:44

When she turned her back,

7:46

Katie let down the umbrella.

7:50

There were gasps from those who saw the two

7:52

friends appear. Miss

7:55

Bile spanned round and stared

7:57

at them. Katie

7:59

put on her mirror. And

8:01

Isis didn't have

8:03

to put on a face because she really was

8:06

innocent." Miss Vile said.

8:09

"'Katie, there's no

8:11

need to bring that umbrella into the classroom. It's

8:14

got a sharp point on the end and it's against health

8:16

and safety.' "'But Miss

8:18

Vile, it's valuable. And

8:21

I don't want to leave it in the cloakroom.'

8:24

"'Well, give it to me and I'll look after

8:26

it.' And Katie had no choice

8:29

but to give it to the teacher." And

8:33

at the end of the lesson, when Katie asked for

8:35

her umbrella back, Miss Vile

8:37

said, "'It's confiscated, Katie. You

8:40

can ask me for it back at the end of term.' It

8:43

was supposed to be a secret that Katie

8:45

was a witch. But of course Miss

8:48

Vile had seen more than a few odd

8:50

things happen during her time teaching her,

8:53

and she had her suspicions. Her

8:56

instinct told her that there was something

8:58

pretty unusual about the

9:00

umbrella.

9:02

And of course she was right.

9:06

Suddenly it seemed

9:08

like Miss Vile was everywhere all

9:10

at once. Some

9:12

boys who were kicking bags around the cloakroom didn't

9:14

notice that Miss Vile was watching them. In

9:18

Class IV C, when Mr Hutchinson's

9:20

back was turned, the hooligans

9:24

started chatting to each other. Somehow

9:27

they didn't notice that Miss Vile was in the room

9:29

and noting down their names. When

9:33

Isis and Katie were trying out lipstick

9:35

in the girls' lus, they

9:37

didn't realise that Miss Vile

9:40

was standing behind them. Makeup

9:43

was banned in school, and they were both

9:45

in trouble.

9:47

In fact,

9:48

it seemed like nobody could get away

9:50

with anything any more.

9:52

No illegal snacks, no talking out

9:54

of turn, no play fights, no

9:57

sneaking into out-of-bam

9:58

places like the bite shops.

10:00

and no mucking around of any kind

10:03

at all between lessons.

10:05

On Friday evening the detention class

10:07

after school was the biggest that anyone

10:10

had ever known. It

10:12

had thirty people in it, and

10:15

twenty-seven of them had been put there

10:17

by Miss Foyle, and there

10:19

are no prizes for guessing which teacher

10:21

was wearing

10:22

a very smug and satisfied

10:25

smile on her face.

10:28

Of course, Katie understood that Miss

10:30

Foyle was using the umbrella to make herself invisible,

10:33

but there was nothing she could

10:35

do about it. It was a good

10:37

thing that nobody else knew, or they

10:39

would all have blamed Katie for the new reign of

10:41

terror that was gripping the school. That

10:44

weekend Grandmother came to visit, and

10:47

Katie had to admit what had happened

10:50

to her umbrella. I'm really,

10:52

really

10:53

sorry, Grand,

10:56

said Katie.

10:57

It's terrible, and

11:00

I don't know what to do about it.

11:02

At first Grand was a little bit grumpy

11:05

about her missing umbrella.

11:07

All Sunday she kept on making

11:09

remarks like, I only asked

11:11

for you to stitch it from a patisserie, not

11:13

take it to school.

11:16

And it's an antique, not a toy.

11:19

And you can't get another one like that these days

11:21

for love or money. And Mum chipped in

11:24

too, telling Katie that it had been

11:26

extremely silly of her to take such

11:28

a valuable thing to school, and she only

11:30

had herself to blame for what had happened.

11:33

But by evening

11:34

Grand had softened her tone a little bit,

11:37

and as she was getting ready to fly home she said,

11:39

you know, Katie, I'm

11:41

probably a fool to do this,

11:44

but I'm going to lend you my spare

11:46

spectacles, and this time

11:48

you do have my permission to take them to school.

11:51

Only you must promise to

11:53

be very careful with them. And

11:56

she rummelled in her bag,

11:58

which was always so full of money.

11:59

many more things than could possibly be kept

12:02

in there, except by magic.

12:06

And finally she firmed a case

12:08

with her spare spectacles in them.

12:12

Katy put the glasses on and looked

12:15

at herself in the mirror, though

12:17

a very ornate pair made of gold

12:20

and decorated with precious stones.

12:24

Hmmm,

12:26

they don't really sit your face,

12:28

do they?

12:29

said Grandma. And she

12:32

said a magic spell which made

12:34

them look trendy, or rather

12:36

Grandma's idea of trendy, which

12:39

meant the frames were large and square

12:41

and bright blue.

12:44

Thanks, Grandma,

12:45

said Katy.

12:46

But why are you lending them to me?

12:49

You'll see,

12:50

said Grandma. Or

12:53

rather they will help

12:54

you to see.

12:55

On Monday morning Katy wore

12:58

Grandma's glasses to school.

13:00

Jenny said, hello, four eyes.

13:03

And Michelle thought they made her look cute, but

13:05

Isis said that they were a total fashion

13:08

disaster.

13:09

Michael said, I didn't know you were

13:11

short sighted,

13:11

Katy. And Katy replied,

13:14

neither did I till yesterday. It

13:17

wasn't until the break at lunchtime that

13:19

Katy understood what

13:21

the glasses were for.

13:24

Isabel was walking down the corridor,

13:27

and she sneakily took a piece of chewing

13:30

gum out of her bucket and put

13:32

it into her mouth. Katy

13:34

was walking towards her, and

13:36

was trying to signal frantically

13:39

that Miss Vile was standing in a doorway

13:42

and had seen the whole crime. But

13:45

it was too late.

13:49

Isabel was signed up for detention.

13:53

But of course, what Katy had

13:55

also seen

13:56

was that Miss Vile was holding

13:58

up her umbrella over.

13:59

her head.

14:01

Now she understood that the glasses

14:04

enabled her to see everything,

14:07

even things and people

14:09

that were invisible. She

14:13

decided to follow Miss Vile and

14:15

see what she did next. She

14:18

saw her go into the playground and catch a boy who

14:20

climbed over the fence into the caretaker's yard

14:22

to retrieve a lost football. Then

14:24

she saw Miss Vile go into the staff room.

14:27

And you know what? She

14:30

didn't take down her umbrella.

14:34

That's a naughty Miss Vile, thought

14:37

Katie.

14:38

She's spying on the other teachers.

14:43

After school, Katie saw

14:45

Miss Vile standing by the school gate and

14:47

watching them all. She

14:49

was holding up her umbrella and

14:52

nobody could see her except Katie.

14:55

She came up to

14:57

her and said, Hello

14:59

Miss Vile, would you like a piece

15:02

of chewing gum? And

15:04

Miss Vile said, Katie,

15:08

you know perfectly well that chewing gum is a

15:10

heekey.

15:12

But nobody will see you, will they Miss?

15:15

And Miss Vile smiled. No,

15:18

they wouldn't would they? But

15:20

as it happens, teachers can't break the school rules.

15:24

I would

15:24

be setting a bad example and I would have

15:26

to

15:26

put myself in detention.

15:30

Katie laughed and

15:31

said, That's good,

15:33

because I don't actually have any gum. But

15:36

Miss,

15:38

I've got a question. Do

15:41

you think it's okay for teachers to use magic?

15:45

And a rather uneasy smile passed over

15:47

Miss Vile's

15:48

face. Because she knew just as well

15:50

as Katie that magic

15:52

was against the school rules.

15:55

And not just a little

15:57

bit against them.

16:01

"'I mean,' said Katie, "'if

16:04

Miss Headworth was to find out that your recent

16:06

success at crime detection was all down

16:08

to my

16:08

Grandma's magic umbrella,

16:11

do you think she would be pleased?'"

16:13

And as Miss Headworth was the head teacher,

16:16

Miss Vile realised that

16:19

that was something she would not like

16:21

to happen at all—not

16:23

one little bit.

16:26

"'Well, Katie,' she said,

16:29

"'I heard on the radio this

16:31

morning that the weather forecast is for rain.

16:35

I don't think it would be right for me to hang

16:37

on to your Grandmother's umbrella any more.'

16:41

Perhaps you could take it home for me."

16:45

And of course, Katie

16:48

was happy about that.

16:59

I wasn't that a super story about Katie

17:01

and her

17:01

magic umbrella. "'I

17:04

bet you wish you had one.' "'Prom

17:07

me, Natasha. Goodbye.'