Hidden Charm

by Linda Chapman

  “I guess that’s true,” Lottie conceded.

  “If only we could find her!” said Maia. She went to put the remains of her cone in a nearby bin. As she did so, she saw a poster stuck to a noticeboard:

  Maia gasped. The 15th April was the following day! That must have been what the waitress meant when she said they should come back tomorrow if they wanted a fortune-teller.

  “Look!” She pointed to the notice.

  “We’ve got to go!” said Ionie. “If it’s a psychic fair with fortune-telling, Mystic Maureen will probably be there.”

  “But it’s really expensive and it says you have to be fourteen,” said Sita.

  Maia thought for a moment. She certainly didn’t have ten pounds and none of them looked fourteen so even if Ionie shadow-travelled them inside they’d probably be asked to leave.

  Ionie chuckled suddenly. “Hang on, I think I might just have an idea!” she said, her green eyes shining. “How about—”

  “Ionie!” squeaked Lottie in alarm, pointing behind her. “It’s your dad!”

  Ionie’s dad was heading down the street towards them. He was skirting round a group of parents with toddlers and hadn’t noticed them yet. “Quick! We’re not supposed to be at the marina. Hide!” Maia gasped.

  The girls dived into a nearby souvenir shop and watched from inside as Ionie’s dad walked down the street.

  “We’d better go home in case he sees us,” said Maia. “Come on – quick! While he’s heading the other way!”

  They hurried to the alley and stepped into the shadows beside the bins.

  “I’ll take us back to the clearing,” said Ionie. “We can call the animals and I’ll tell you my idea for tomorrow. Hold hands!”

  They grabbed hands. The alley vanished into shadows and they were swept away.

  As their feet touched solid ground, Maia breathed in the earthy smell of trees and leaves. Birds twittered in the branches and a wild grey squirrel was looking down at them curiously from a tree.

  They called their animals’ names. Within the blink of an eye, the four Star Animals appeared. Bracken and Juniper bounded into Maia and Lottie’s arms. Willow cantered playfully round the clearing and Sorrel wove round Ionie’s legs, purring loudly. After they had all said hello, the girls sat down by the waterfall and told the animals everything that had happened.

  “So, we might not have found Mystic Maureen today, but Ionie’s got an idea for how we can get into the fortune-telling fair tomorrow,” finished Maia.

  “It isn’t how we can get in, but how I can get in,” said Ionie. “Watch.”

  The air shimmered around her and suddenly she changed into an old lady with grey hair in a bun and deep wrinkles around her mouth and eyes. She was wearing a long red skirt and had a black shawl round her shoulders. She rubbed her hands together. “Who’d like Psychic Susan to do a reading for them at the fair tomorrow? Would you, my dear?” She shuffled over to Maia. “Show me your palm and I’ll tell you your future!”

  Maia squealed in delight. “Ionie! That’s brilliant!”

  Sorrel purred like she was going to explode. “Oh, you excellent girl!” she said. “What a genius use of your magic!”

  “You’re really planning on going to the fair and pretending to be a fortune-teller?” said Sita, wide-eyed.

  Ionie/Psychic Susan nodded. “I’ve been practising disguising myself using a glamour and now I can put it to good use,” she said in her normal voice.

  “But what if the disguise fails and that Mr Hannigan is there at the hotel and sees you?” said Lottie.

  “It won’t fail,” Ionie said confidently. She transformed back into herself. “So, what do you think?”

  “I think it’s perfect!” said Maia, high-fiving her. Lottie and Sita were looking slightly worried, but Maia just felt envious. “I wish I could come with you.”

  “You can watch me using your own magic and tell the others what’s happening,” said Ionie. She beamed. “Let’s meet here in the morning and I’ll shadow-travel there then. Agreed?”

  “Agreed!” they all said.

  However, later that day, there was a change of plan. Maia and Alfie were playing with his trains on the kitchen floor when her phone pinged. It was a message from Ionie to them all.

  Hi. Dad was at the marina today cos he wanted 2 have a look around and see what it was like. He says he’ll take us all 2moro if we want to go. I think we can still do what we were planning! Ixxx

  Maia smiled. The girls tried to be very careful what they put in messages in case any of their parents ever looked at their phones.

  “Mum, can I go to the new marina with Ionie and the others tomorrow?” she asked, looking up. “Ionie’s dad is going to take us.”

  “Sure,” her mum said.

  Maia texted Ionie back.

  I can come! What time? xx

  Dad says he’ll pick u up at 9.30! Bring cossies and towels cos we’re going 2 go 2 the water park. Fun and you-know-what! Ix

  You-know-what was their code for magic. Maia sent Ionie smiley and winky faces back.

  Just then the door opened and her dad and Clio came in. “Look what we picked up at the Copper Kettle!” he said. “Chocolate cake!” He opened the cake box to reveal a cake covered with chocolate fudge icing.

  “Mmm,” said Maia, her mouth watering. It looked delicious.

  “I thought we could have it for pudding tonight,” her dad said.

  “I can’t. I’m trying to be more healthy,” said Clio.

  “Just a little piece,” Dad said, waving the cake temptingly under her nose.

  Clio groaned. “Don’t be mean, Dad!”

  “Cake!” Alfie said, looking up. “Want cake!”

  Maia’s mum smiled. “All right, you can have a bit of cake, then it’s teeth and bed.”

  She cut a little slice. Alfie ate it greedily. “More!” His eyes widened. “Pleeeeease!”

  “Just a tiny bit.” Maia’s mum handed him a second piece and licked her fingers. “It is rather good.”

  “It’s a new recipe,” said Maia, using her finger to pick up a few crumbs of sponge and icing from the box. It really was delicious.

  “Want more cake! More!” Alfie cried.

  Mr Greene laughed. “No more now, Alfie. It’s bedtime.”

  Alfie started to kick and scream as his dad picked him up. “Oh dear,” said Maia’s mum, rolling her eyes at the girls as Alfie was carried out of the kitchen. “I think someone’s rather overtired tonight. Now let’s set the table for supper.”

  As Maia got out the cutlery, she thought about the next day. Hopefully they would get to meet Mystic Maureen. She felt a flutter of excitement. Maybe tomorrow they were finally going to get some real answers!

  The next morning, Ionie’s dad drove them all to the marina. “Who’s ready to go in the swimming pool?” he said as they parked and got out.

  “Actually, Dad, could we shop a bit first?” asked Ionie.

  “Sure,” her dad said. “If you want to have a mooch around, I’ll go to the café. See you in a bit!” And he left them to it.

  “OK, this is my chance,” hissed Ionie when he was gone. “I’ll go into the changing room in one of the shops, disguise myself and then shadow-travel into the fair at the hotel.”

  “Meanwhile we’ll watch you with my magic!” Maia said.

  “Don’t do anything dangerous!” said Lottie.

  Ionie grinned. “Me? Never!” She winked at them and headed into a nearby clothes shop.

  The others found a bench in a quiet spot by the harbour wall, away from all the crowds and from Ionie’s dad. Maia cradled the mirror in her hands. “Show me Ionie,” she said.

  As she connected with the magic, the surface of the mirror glimmered and an image of a lady with grey hair, a long red skirt and a black shawl round her shoulders appeared. Only her green eyes were recognizably Ionie’s. “I can see her! She looks amazing,” Maia told the others.

  “Where is she?” asked Lottie.


  “In a big room inside the hotel,” Maia answered, her eyes scanning the picture. “It’s a got a high ceiling and quite a lot of people inside. There are people sitting behind tables, selling things.” Maia read a few of the signs propped up on the tables: aura reading, mystical books, moon-blessed herbs…

  A shiver ran down her spine as she read that sign. She knew it was possible for people to learn how to harness the power in plants and herbs to do magic. Some people used that kind of magic to do good, but she and the others had once had to stop someone evil who was using plant magic to upset people.

  “What’s Ionie doing?” asked Sita anxiously.

  “She’s just walking around.” Maia could tell Ionie was enjoying being in disguise. She was smiling at people, nodding and stopping to chat to some of the stallholders.

  A girl of about eighteen with pink hair came up to her and asked her something. Maia focused on the picture in the mirror until she could hear what was being said.

  “So you’re really a fortune-teller?” the girl was saying to Ionie.

  “Yes, my dear,” Ionie replied. “I can pull back the veil of the future and see beyond it to what will come.”

  Maia grinned.

  The girl’s eyes widened. “Will you look into my future?”

  Ionie took the girl’s hand and stared at it for a long moment. “Elephants!” she announced suddenly. “I see elephants in your future!”

  Maia started to giggle. What was Ionie doing?

  “Elephants?” echoed the girl. “Wow! That’s so weird. I love elephants. How did you know?”

  “Magic,” said Ionie, but Maia saw her eyes flick to the silver elephant necklace and earrings the girl was wearing. “You must travel far to see them and you will do a lot of good!”

  “That’s awesome! I’ve been trying to decide where to go on my gap year before uni. Now I know!” said the girl. “I’ll go to Sri Lanka and help at an elephant orphanage. Thank you so much!” She hurried off, smiling. Ionie hid a grin.

  “What’s happening?” said Sita as Maia chuckled.

  “Ionie’s having fun.” Maia told them about the girl, while still keeping an eye on Ionie, who was now talking to one of the fortune-tellers sitting behind a table. “She’s heading for the door now,” she said, watching as Ionie left. “She’s going down a corridor. I think she’s looking for somewhere she can go to travel back.” She saw Ionie look around and check she was alone before stepping into a patch of shadows and vanishing. “Yes, she’s coming back!”

  “Let’s go and meet her,” said Sita.

  They reached the shop just as Ionie came out. “That was so much fun!” She grabbed Maia’s hands in excitement.

  “Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?” They all swung round at the sound of Ionie’s dad’s voice. He walked over, frowning. “Please leave these girls alone.”

  Ionie had been in such a rush she’d forgotten to change back into herself! To Maia’s horror, Ionie didn’t hurry off. She just ducked her head so her dad couldn’t see her eyes and grabbed his hand. “I could read your fortune, kind sir. Psychic Sue is never wrong.”

  “Um… Er…” Mr Cooper looked like he didn’t know what to do.

  “Aha, I see you have a very clever daughter with red hair,” said Ionie in her croaky old-lady voice. “Yes, I can see her here in your palm. She is very clever indeed and she deserves more pocket money.”

  Mr Cooper blinked. “What?”

  “I really think you should go now, Psychic Sue,” said Maia hastily as Lottie tried to hold back her laughter and snorted loudly.

  “I will be back,” declared Ionie. “Mark my words! And remember, Psychic Sue is never wrong!” With that, she hurried away, disappearing into the crowd of people on the streets.

  Mr Cooper shook his head. “What an eccentric woman!” He looked round. “Where’s Ionie, girls?”

  “Um, quite near,” said Lottie truthfully.

  “I think she went into one of the shops to try something on,” said Sita.

  Just then Ionie came jogging over, looking like her usual eleven-year-old self. “Here she is!” Maia said.

  Ionie skipped over to them. “Thanks for waiting for me! Hi, Dad.”

  “Ionie, I don’t want you going off on your own,” said her dad. “There are some very strange people about.”

  “Really?” said Ionie innocently. “OK, we’ll stick together from now on.”

  “Let’s get your swimming things and go to the water park,” said her dad.

  They followed him back to the car. “What did you find out at the fair?” Maia asked quietly.

  “I’ll tell you when we’re on our own,” Ionie whispered back.

  They had to wait until they were in the girls’ changing rooms before they were alone. They huddled together in a single cubicle. “I can’t believe you tried to tell your dad’s fortune!” Sita whispered to Ionie.

  “I know! Did you see his face?” Ionie grinned.

  “It was very funny!” Maia said.

  “Did you find out anything about Mystic Maureen?” Lottie demanded.

  “Well, she wasn’t there and none of the other fortune-tellers had ever heard of her,” said Ionie. “The last lady I spoke to said she knew everyone in the area who worked as a fortune-teller and she’d never heard of a Mystic Maureen.”

  “How weird!” said Maia.

  Lottie looked thoughtful. “Unless Mystic Maureen isn’t a real fortune-teller. Maybe she was just pretending for the PTA night?”

  They considered that but then Ionie shook her head. “No, if that was the case, why would she have business cards at the Copper Kettle?”

  “True,” Lottie admitted.

  “So what do we do now?” said Maia. “My dreams and magic visions are all telling me that Mystic Maureen put the Shades in Ana’s dolls and hinting that something else bad is going to happen, but how do we find her?”

  None of them knew.

  “This is making my head hurt,” groaned Sita. “I vote we go swimming and forget about it for a while.”

  The water park was lots of fun with twisting slides, a wave machine and warm tropical pools. Afterwards they had a picnic lunch and then played rounders on the beach. It was almost a relief just to be normal and to forget about the mystery of Mystic Maureen but when Maia was in her bedroom that night she talked about it with Bracken.

  “I just don’t get it,” she said as they lay on her bed. “Why has no one heard of Mystic Maureen? It’s like she’s just vanished into thin air.”

  “It is very strange.” He put his head on her tummy.

  “Don’t!” she said with a groan. “I ate too much for tea.”

  Her mum had been back to the Copper Kettle and come home with a lemon drizzle cake. The lemon drizzle had been just as delicious as the chocolate cake – soft sponge oozing with sweet lemon icing. Maia had had three big slices and now she was feeling quite sick!

  Bracken rolled over on to his back. Maia tickled his belly. “I don’t know what else we can do to find her.”

  Her phone buzzed and she picked it up. There was a group message from Lottie.

  “Listen to this,” Maia breathed. She read the message to Bracken. “I’ve just had one of my weird feelings again! I was falling asleep when I suddenly felt scared, like something horrible was going to happen. This is just like last time when the Shades appeared. Something dangerous is coming. I know it.”

  “That’s not good,” Bracken said anxiously. “Do you think more Shades are going to appear in Westcombe?”

  Maia thought about the dream she’d had about the furious people trying to break a door down. Shades made people angry and behave in strange ways. “Maybe.” She texted Lottie and the others back.

  We need 2 be careful. Let’s meet 2moro and decide what 2 do then. Mxx

  OK. About 10? Sxx

  I can’t. I’m out in the morning with Mum. Ix I’ve got a tennis lesson in the morning, too. How about we meet at 2 p.m. in the clearing?
Lxx

  Maia typed back.

  OK. But u and I cd meet earlier, Sita? We cd meet at mine and go 2 the clearing?

  Sita sent a smiley face and a thumbs up back.

  Don’t do ANYTHING without us!!!!! Ixxx

  We won’t. Night! Mxx

  She put her phone down. “We’re all going to meet tomorrow afternoon,” she told Bracken.

  “Good,” said Bracken. “Then we can come up with a plan about what to do next.”

  Maia nodded and yawned. “I really hope I don’t have bad dreams tonight,” she said, flopping back against the pillow.

  He snuggled closer. “I’ll be here if you do.”

  She kissed his nose and fell asleep with him curled up in her arms.

  To Maia’s relief, all she dreamed about was cake. She was sitting in the Copper Kettle, eating one cake after another. It was much better than dreaming about Shades! She woke up, her tummy rumbling.

  “After last night, I thought I wouldn’t want to eat again for a whole day,” she said to Bracken as she got up. “But I’m really hungry now! I’m going to get some breakfast.”

  However, once she was downstairs, she couldn’t find anything that appealed to her. Not cereal, not porridge, not toast. She shut the cupboard door with a bang.

  “Are you OK?” her dad asked.

  “I don’t know what I want to eat,” she said.

  “I’m feeling like that, too,” he admitted. “How about I make bacon and eggs?”

  Maia loved cooked breakfasts so she nodded.

  Her dad made the fry-up but when Maia started eating it she quickly lost her appetite. She ate half the plateful and then put her knife and fork down. “Sorry, I guess I’m not that hungry, Dad.”

  “Don’t worry.” Her dad was pushing his food unenthusiastically round his plate. “I thought I wanted this but now I’m not so sure. Maybe we’re both coming down with something.”