Year 4 Reading Task Monday 19th October

They crept backwards slowly, careful not to alert the Brothers to their presence. It was some time before Willow’s hearbeat slowed down. She was wildly relieved, however, that the witch had decided not to fight around twenty witch-hating men. The close they got Radditch, the less Willow thought of the Brothers, and the more she wondered about the people they were going to meet. Broom-makers. She couldn’t believe that she was finally going to see brooms that actually flew! ‘All the best broom-makers are Mementons,’ said Moreg. ‘Which, as you know, means we need to remember one important thing…’ Willow swallowed, waiting for the warning. From within the carpetbag there was a faint ‘Oh no’ from Oswin. She’d heard the stories of Mementons – mostly from Granny Flossy. They were part-elf, somewhat spirrot, and sort of human, like a distant cousin no one liked to mention (but, if you squinted, you could see the resemblance, almost). They were over nine feet tall, very hairy and slim, and had an aversion to cutting their toenails beyond seven inches, believing that’s why others kept their distance. ‘We mustn’t stay for lunch.’ Willow frowned. ‘Oh? Why?’ Moreg shrugged. ‘Because they take hours at every meal – and we really need to keep moving.’ She saw the look of incredulity Willow shared with the tops of Oswin’s narrowed eyes, which were peeking out of the carpetbag, and scoffed, ‘Oh you’re thinking about that silly thing about them eating humans? I wouldn’t worry. That went out of fashion some time ago...’ Willow gulped. That was a rumour she could have done without knowing. By mid-morning they had entered the wood filled with trees that towered above their heads. Through the branches, she glimpsed the broom-makers at work and gasped. They were incredibly tall, like slim walking and moving trees themselves, and they were all hard at work. They had long curly nails, which matched the colour of their hair. Some were strange electric colours, like the brightest blue and green, which glinted in the dappled forest light. As Willow watched she saw that there were hundreds of workstations with different Mementons all involved in various stages of broom construction. News of their arrival spread quickly. Within seconds a rather short Mementon (at just below nine feet) came forward to greet them. Willow’s first impression was BLUE. Followed quickly by HAIR. He had very bright and very wild, bushy hair that trailed from his head, met at his triangular beard and seemed to end somewhere by his waist. ‘Moreg!’ greeted the Mementon, blinking rapidly. ‘Er, what brings you here?’ he asked a little nervously, darting a look at Moreg, who as far as Willow could see was trying her best to appear friendly. She wasn’t frowning at least.