Henrietta Jenkins had red curly hair and freckles. It was a curse – the other kids said. They called her mean names like “Ginger Ninja” and “Carrot Top” and teased her in the playground at lunch time.

“Red hair is so GROSS !” Bridget Simpson said. She had straight brown hair, which she wore in two long plaits, tied with blue ribbons. “I feel so sorry for you,” Alice McDonald said. Her hair was blonde and short and very soft.

Henrietta ate her cheese sandwich and didn’t say a word. She wasn’t even listening. She was thinking about a secret she hadn’t told anyone. She was wondering if anyone at school – Bridget Simpson or Alice McDonald or Miss Davies even – if they knew her secret. If they suspected that Henrietta could do things… things that other people only dreamed of or read about in stories…