Havoc!: The Untold Magic of Cora Bell

by Rebecca McRitchie

  The fairy flew over to them.

  ‘Tick,’ said Fizz.

  ‘Fizz,’ said Tick.

  ‘Tock,’ said Fizz.

  ‘Fizz,’ said Tock.

  ‘Cora,’ said Fizz.

  ‘Fizz,’ said Cora. ‘Is everything alright? How did you find us?’

  ‘I have an urgent message from King Clang,’ said Fizz. ‘The council know where you are. They are on their way. You must leave. Now. Before they arrive.’

  The fairies nodded.

  ‘Is Father okay?’ Tick asked.

  Fizz nodded. ‘They are watching him. Closely.’

  The fairies whirled around to Cora.

  ‘Time to go,’ said Tock.

  ‘Wait,’ said Cora.

  ‘If the council are on their way, then they will be here in seconds,’ said Tick.

  ‘Let them come,’ said Cora.

  ‘What?’ asked Tick, Tock, Fizz, Ogg and the Troll Queen all at the same time. Five pairs of surprised eyes landed on her.

  ‘I don’t want to run anymore,’ she said. It was true. She didn’t want to keep running. Ever since she had left Urt, it felt like that was all she had done.

  ‘Cora,’ said Tick, pausing. ‘That’s quite possibly the worst idea you’ve ever had.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Fizz.

  ‘Tick! Fizz!’ said Tock. Then turning to Cora, ‘Perhaps don’t think of it as running,’ continued the fairy. ‘Think of it more like we are simply leaving quickly in another direction?’

  ‘This is the council we are talking about,’ said Tick. ‘We are lucky to have escaped them at all.’

  There was a silence. A sea of thoughts swirled in Cora’s mind. She thought of her syphon family. She still wanted to find them. But what if Dann was right? What if the syphons didn’t want to be found? What if they had been hiding this whole time? Then that meant she would lead the council right to them. The only option was to stay and fight the council. She had fought syphon hunters and won, after all. Could she not do it again?

  ‘Listen to the fairies, dear,’ said the Troll Queen. ‘For once, they might be right.’

  Tick and Tock opened their mouths to say something but then decided against it.

  The Troll Queen stepped forward towards her, pressing down on her cane.

  ‘I saw what you did here,’ she said. ‘I saw you protect my son.’

  Then Cora finally understood the look in the queen’s eyes. The old troll’s pair of bright blue eyes shone with gratitude.

  ‘You can’t hide what you are,’ the Troll Queen said. ‘And I have been in this world long enough to know that some things are worth fighting for.’

  Cora nodded.

  ‘But only,’ said the queen, ‘at the right time.’

  Cora paused. She let the Troll Queen’s words sink in. Perhaps now, in the middle of the ramshackled Troll Town square, just after narrowly escaping a group of syphon hunters, wasn’t the right time to take on the rulers of the magical world.

  The Troll Queen placed a hand on Cora’s. ‘You can’t do it alone.’

  As Cora stared into the Troll Queen’s eyes, she realised that she was right. She remembered what had happened when the council had captured them before. If the council were coming for her, she needed a plan. She needed to be prepared. And she needed help. They needed to leave Troll Town and find her syphon family. Even if she was leading the council straight to them, she needed to know the truth. Why hadn’t they taken her with them?

  Slowly, Cora nodded to the Troll Queen.

  Tick and Tock broke into smiles.

  ‘Good luck,’ said Fizz, nodding to the fairies. And with a POP! of magic, the fairy guard disappeared.

  ‘Thank you for your horoscope,’ said Tick to the Troll Queen.

  ‘Hospitality,’ corrected Tock. ‘It has been a delight.’

  Ogg turned to them. He pulled his notebook from his pocket. He tore out a page from the back of it and handed it to Cora. It was a map of the northern towns. ‘We won’t say anything,’ he said, standing tall. ‘When the council come.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Cora said. She paused before enveloping Ogg in a hug.

  Tick and Tock did the same.

  ‘You know, Troll Town’s not so bad,’ said Tick, letting go of him.

  Ogg laughed. ‘Maybe sometime I can visit The Hollow?’

  Tick and Tock stopped. ‘We wouldn’t go that far.’

  The fairies flew next to Cora.

  ‘Where to?’ Tock asked.

  Cora didn’t need to think for much longer than a second. ‘Tynth,’ she said, remembering the place Ogg had said. Then with a final wave to Ogg and the Troll Queen, Tick, Tock and Cora disappeared with a POP! of magic.

  Chapter Forty-One

  In that POP! of magic, Cora and the fairies landed in front of a row of tall, narrow houses.

  ‘Is this Tynth?’ Cora asked. She took out the map that Ogg had given her.

  ‘I can’t see any mud pits and,’ said Tick as he breathed in with a snort. ‘I can breathe perfectly.’

  ‘Without a memory, fairy travel can be tricky,’ said Tock. ‘But we should be close.’

  On the map, in very tiny writing, she saw the word Tynth squished between Yop and Brug. They were no longer on the outer towns. Instead, they were right near the middle. Right where Gromp the changeling had told them not to go.

  ‘We should be in Yop,’ said Tock, peering over her shoulder at the map.

  The three of them walked towards the houses and shops. They stretched up, four slanting storeys high, and sat in neat rows side by side. On the other side of the buildings was a small circle made of grass. It was soft and springy beneath Cora’s feet.

  Yop wasn’t as colourful or busy like Brolg. Each building in the town was coloured in brown and black. Even the magical beings that walked past them wore brown and black clothes, blending into the town.

  Cora and the fairies walked past a shop that sold tap-dancing ties. The brown and black ties clicked and clacked on a table by the shop door. Cora thought that Wilfred, the man who sold hugs in Urt and was a guardian of the gateway, would have loved a tap-dancing tie. Next to the table of ties was a store that sold black and brown flying wigs. The locks of hair flapped in the store window like wings.

  In the middle of the town circle, a magical being sat reading a book. A few others stood around him, listening.

  As they stepped into the town circle, Cora felt many pairs of eyes watching her. Glancing around, Cora noticed the creatures that were in the town were all staring at her and the fairies.

  Cora saw a group of winged magical beings quickly glance away. She saw three women in black robes, hunched over and whispering to one another, their eyes flicking over to her. And as they walked past the magical being in the middle of the circle, he stopped reading his book and closed it. And a man with hairy, green legs actually stopped abruptly on seeing them. Then he turned and walked in the opposite direction.

  ‘Um, Cora,’ came Tick’s voice.

  Cora turned and saw what Tick and Tock were staring at. She stopped walking. Bolted to large rocks scattered throughout the town circle, were gold sheets. In every window, on every wall in front of them, were shimmering gold posters. Cora and the fairies walked over to the nearest glinting one.

  Moving across the gold sheets were images of Cora, Tick and Tock. In the image, Cora stood glaring with her red hair and missing eye. She looked mean. And in Tick’s and Tock’s images, the fairies snarled, their wings sharply beating behind them. Words in a language she couldn’t read were written across the top. And a round, red seal was burnt into the gold sheet.

  ‘An Order of Removal,’ whispered Tock, his eyes wide.

  ‘Removal?’ echoed Cora.

  ‘From the magical world,’ said Tick, a waver in his voice.

  Cora swallowed. ‘That doesn’t sound good.’

  ‘It’s not,’ said Tick. ‘It’s bad.’

  ‘Very bad,’ said Tock.

  ‘
What does it mean?’ Cora asked, trying not to think about all the ways in which they could be removed.

  ‘It means that there is a reward for our capture,’ said Tock.

  ‘And we would have to live in the human world,’ said Tick, swallowing. ‘With . . . humans.’

  ‘Father would never allow it,’ said Tock, shaking his head.

  ‘He must have been outvoted,’ said Tick.

  ‘But . . .’ said Tock, unbelieving.

  The fairies were silent as they stared at the gold sheets in front of them. Cora could see pools of fear and sadness colour the fairies’ eyes. Once again they were to be banished, and this time not only from their home, but their entire world. And once again, it was her fault. She could only guess at what the posters said. Dangerous girl. One eye. Out of control magic. And it was true. Her powers had been dangerous and her magic had been out of control. But Tick and Tock didn’t deserve to be removed from their world.

  Cora grabbed Tock’s hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘I won’t let them remove you,’ she said. And she meant it.

  Tock gave Cora a small smile. Then as if shaken by her words, the fairies straightened.

  ‘Does it say that I am a syphon?’ Cora asked.

  The fairies shook their heads.

  ‘I think the Orders of Removal are supposed to scare us,’ Tock said.

  Tick nodded. ‘They must want everyone to know who we are.’

  ‘So that we can’t hide,’ said Cora, realising. She thought about her family. If they had been hiding successfully for years, then maybe they could stay with them? Hidden away from the council? The Orders of Removal explained why everyone in Yop was looking at them like they knew them. They did know them. How long had the posters glinted around the town? And how many other towns were they in?

  ‘We need to find the other syphons,’ said Cora. ‘Quickly. Before we’re recognised.’

  ‘That’s it,’ said Tick suddenly.

  There was a POP! of magic and something warm and itchy fell on her head.

  ‘Ta-da! Disguises!’ said Tick.

  Cora turned to find the hairy fairy had become even more hairy. Sitting on top of Tick’s head was one of the very fashionable flying wigs they had seen in the Yop store window.

  The fairy twirled, showing off his new long black hair.

  Tock was wearing a wig too. He flew to the ground, and flicked his new short brown hair over his shoulders.

  Tick looked at Tock and burst into a fit of giggles. Then Tock did the same as he stared at Tick. Cora smiled at the sight of both fairies in fashionable wigs. Cora didn’t need to guess that she must be wearing a flying wig too. It was surprisingly heavy on her head and smelt vaguely of dust. She wasn’t sure they were going to be enough to disguise them from the magical beings in Yop, but they were better than nothing.

  Looking down at the map in her hands, Cora tried to figure out which way would lead them to Tynth the quickest. The less time they spent in Yop, the better. According to Ogg’s roughly drawn map, if they continued straight through Yop, they should be in Tynth in a matter of minutes.

  Their wigs firmly in place, the three of them kept their heads down as they walked through the remainder of the town circle. Ducking into a few streets, Cora, Tick and Tock wove their way through the small town of Yop. When they reached the end of the town, Cora was relieved to no longer feel the eyes of strangers on her.

  They stepped out of the town and noticed that where the town of Yop stopped, so did the lush, green meadow that ran through it. Out in front of them, the ground was dry and cracked. They walked along a short crumbling road and almost immediately came to a sign that stuck out of the rocky ground. Written on the sign were the words: Welcome to Brug.

  ‘Brug?!’ exclaimed Tock.

  Cora stared at the sign, confused. They couldn’t have arrived in Brug already. They had only just left Yop. She glanced down at the map. Tynth sat between Yop and Brug. How had they already arrived in Brug?

  ‘That’s strange,’ Cora said. She glanced behind her. Across the dry road, the brown, narrow buildings and houses of Yop stared back.

  ‘Maybe you’re reading it upside down?’ suggested Tick.

  ‘Do you have your glasses on?’ added Tock.

  ‘I don’t wear glasses,’ said Cora distractedly.

  There was nothing sitting between Yop and Brug. But there should have been a town. They should be standing in Tynth. Maybe Ogg’s map wasn’t correct?

  ‘Are you lost?’ someone asked.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Cora, Tick and Tock whirled around to find three creatures standing in front of them, near the Welcome to Brug sign.

  The being in the middle was a tall and slightly hunched-over man. He reminded Cora of a drooping sunflower. He wore suspenders holding up his trousers, was bald and carried a wooden walking stick though it didn’t seem like he needed it. His eyes shifted fervently from Cora to the fairies. Next to him stood two small magical beings. At first Cora thought they were children because they were the same size as Tick and Tock. But by the scowling looks on their wrinkling faces, Cora realised that the pair weren’t children at all. They were old men. Very small and very angry, old men. One of the old men had green hair and the other one had blue.

  Syphon hunters? Cora wondered. She couldn’t tell.

  The three magical beings stepped away from the sign and walked towards them along the rocky road.

  Cora steadied herself as they approached.

  ‘You three are famous, you know,’ said the man with the hunched back.

  Cora wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.

  ‘We don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Tick. ‘We are just nobodies who are passing through.’ He flicked his wig casually over his shoulders.

  ‘Oh,’ said the man. ‘Is that so?’

  Tock nodded, tossing his hair too. ‘We are just on our way to Tynth.’

  The man’s thin eyebrows rose.

  Cora wasn’t sure that Tock should have mentioned Tynth. But it was too late.

  ‘Tynth?’ echoed the man.

  The two old men laughed either side of him.

  ‘Are you sure you want to go to Tynth?’ asked the man.

  ‘Stay here. It’s much better than Tynth,’ said the old man with green hair. ‘We have grass. And sky. We have that shrub over there.’

  Cora looked at the shrub that sat near the Welcome to Brug sign. It looked like a regular shrub.

  ‘Tynth probably doesn’t have a shrub like that,’ said the old man with blue hair.

  ‘Or a nice rock like that one,’ said the green-haired magical being pointing to a small rock by Cora’s feet.

  ‘Do you know what lies in Tynth?’ asked the hunched magical being. ‘You wouldn’t last a second.’

  ‘The gas will get you,’ said the old man with green hair.

  ‘Or you will get trapped in a mud pit,’ said the other old man.

  ‘We’ll take our chances,’ said Cora.

  The man in the middle paused. ‘You don’t know where it is, do you?’

  Cora glanced at Tick and Tock.

  The man laughed again. ‘They don’t know where it is,’ he said to the colourful old people.

  There was something about the magical beings that was unsettling. Why were they asking them all of these questions? Why did they care if they went to Tynth? Why were they here?

  ‘What do you want?’ Cora asked.

  ‘Oh, where are my manners?’ replied the tall man, stepping forward. ‘My name is Tuff. And this is Rash and Dash.’ He pointed to the old men next to him. They waved wrinkled fingers at them.

  Cora wasn’t sure what kind of magical beings they were but she noticed that both Rash’s and Dash’s eyes were an unusual red colour. And that it didn’t seem like either of them were particularly fond of blinking.

  ‘And you are?’ asked Tuff, motioning to Cora.

  Cora, Tick and Tock paused. They hadn’t thought of anything past the wi
g disguises.

  Tuff let out another loud laugh that stretched up from his belly. The two old men next to him smirked.

  ‘Those wigs are not going to fool anyone,’ said Tuff, pretending to wipe a tear away from his eye. Then the man set his eyes on Cora. ‘You’re the girl with the missing eye,’ he said, pointing a finger with a sharp, bruised nail on it in her direction. ‘The council is offering a lot of gold for you.’

  And there it was. They weren’t syphon hunters at all. They were just greedy.

  ‘Along with fairy one and fairy two,’ said Tuff pointing at the fairies.

  ‘It’s Tick,’ said Tock, folding his arms.

  ‘And Tock,’ said Tick, also folding his arms.

  Tuff smiled.

  Cora stepped to the side, hoping to walk around the group. But Rash stepped to the side too, blocking her path.

  ‘Let us pass,’ said Cora.

  But the three strangers stood still.

  ‘You’re not going to Tynth,’ said the man. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’

  ‘Other than with us, of course,’ said the two old men together.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Cora squared her shoulders at the magical beings in front of them. She glanced at Tick and Tock. Then, determinedly, Cora straightened the wig on her head. Tick and Tock did the same with theirs.

  But before Cora could even think to use her magic, the man called Tuff gave a sharp whistle. And Rash and Dash leapt forward, lunging at Tick and Tock. The fairies jumped back, flying up into the air but the pair of old men were surprisingly quick and grabbed onto the fairies’ feet before they could get very far.

  ‘Let them go,’ Cora said. She flung her warlock magic to her fingers.

  ‘Ooh, dark magic,’ said Tuff, an impressed tone in his voice. ‘No wonder the council is after you.’

  Tick and Tock struggled against the hold of Rash and Dash. They threw sparks of magic at the pair but they twisted and turned out of harm’s way. Then Rash and Dash shimmered in the air. And their coloured hair morphed into black and brown flying wigs. Their wrinkled old faces softened. They sprouted fairy wings and big bellies. They had become Tick and Tock. Their clothes, their eyes, their cheeky expressions. They were exactly the same.