Wishing for Trouble by Kate Forsyth

Ben and Tim had always been told to ‘be careful what you wish for’, but they didn’t know what that meant until, one hot summer’s day, they got into a bit of trouble – or, rather, a lot of trouble – with a magic wishing ring.
    The summer before, the boys thought they had everything anyone could ever wish for, thanks to a talking cat, a lonely dragon and a pile of treasure. They had moved to a big house with a big garden by the sea, and Ben had got the dog he’d always wanted, a clumsy, wrinkly puppy with huge feet that he called Jessie. Best of all, and most unexpectedly, Ben and Tim had also got a new baby sister named Ella.
    It had been such a busy year, what with the new baby, the new dog, the new house, the new school and all their new friends, that their magical misadventure of the previous summer seemed an awfully long time ago. If it had not been for the swords hanging up in their parents’ study that Ben and Tim were hardly ever allowed to touch, and a few other bits of old dragon treasure lying around the house, the boys would have thought they had imagined it all.

    This particular Sunday afternoon, Ben and Tim had gone for a long bushwalk with their three cousins to a secret beach near their house. In the warm dusk, tired, damp, sandy and rather scratched from pushing through the bush, they all came back to Ben and Tim’s house for an early barbeque.
    â€˜Hey, Lach!’ Tim said. ‘Wanna play knights?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Lach said. ‘Bags the red cloak.’
    â€˜OK,’ Tim said. ‘I like the blue one anyway. You wanna play too, Ben?’
    â€˜Nah. I’ll ride my scooter,’ Ben said.
    Having their cousins living so close was one of the best things about Ben and Tim’s new house. Nick was the eldest, being two years older than Ben, but he didn’t try to boss them around too much. Emmy and Ben were only three weeks apart in age, while Lach was six months older than Tim.
    Their cousins were all brown-skinned and brown-eyed, with curly, honey-coloured hair, while Ben, Tim and Ella were blue-eyed with brown hair and skin that never, ever tanned, no matter how much time they spent in the sun.
    Down in the garage, Tim and Lach dragged out the castle and then rummaged around in the dress-up chest for their cloaks and swords. Ben and Emmy, meanwhile, were riding their scooters up and down the driveway with Jessie chasing after them, barking and wagging her tail furiously. Nick was lying on the old couch, reading.
    â€˜Hey, look what I found,’ Tim said, pulling out a big old ring from the very bottom of the chest. ‘Remember? We got it from the dragon.’
    The ring had a red square on top with a lion carved into it. It was one of the things Tim had grabbed from the dragon’s hoard. Tim had always loved lions. He wanted one as a pet, to sleep on the end of his bed and guard him from scary monsters and goblins. His plastic shield and sword both had lions on them, and so Tim put the ring on too. He had not worn it before, having been too busy swimming, bushwalking, tree-climbing and playing in the park that summer.
    If he had known it was a magic ring he would have worn it every day – and thought a bit more before making his first wish.
    But Tim had not known.

‘And then the goodies shot a ball of fire at the baddies!’ Tim shouted, letting go of the catapult’s elastic band so a silver-foil ball went whizzing straight at one of the knights. ‘Bang! Crash! Whoosh! They’re all on fire! Help!’
    Lach galloped another knight towards the castle. ‘But the baddies’ boss man won’t be beaten. “Give up!” he shouts. “It’s time to die!”’
    Just then Ben came racing down the driveway on his scooter, through the open door of the garage, over the top of Jessie’s giant pink rabbit and banged right into the castle, knocking over all the knights.
    â€˜Stop it,