“That sucks! She shouldn’t have done that.”
“Yeah – well. That’s Jessie.” Laney scooped up some loose earth and put it in one of the plastic bags. “OK, here’s the first soil sample.”
“Made up then, have you?” came a voice from above them.
Laney jerked in surprise, hitting her head on a branch. Claudia was perched halfway up a beech tree, swinging her legs. “Claudia! Don’t sneak up on us like that! What have you done with your partner?”
“I got rid of her,” Claudia said casually. “She went off with her friends. I persuaded her to go with them actually. She was pretty easy to convince. Then I came to find you – there’s no way I’m going round this place with only humans for protection after what happened the last time we were here. We virtually got strangled by tree roots!” She inspected the ground below, as if expecting the roots to spring up at any moment.
“It wasn’t quite that bad,” said Fletcher. “And it was Craig who got trapped by them, not you.”
“Still, I’m not taking any chances,” said Claudia. “At least together we have a range of skills against the evil trees.” She dropped her voice to a whisper.
“If they’re so evil why are you sitting on one?” Fletcher asked.
“Mrs Martin will tell you off if she finds out you’ve ditched your partner,” said Laney.
Claudia jumped down, landing softly on the earth. “Oh, who cares? Old Martin’s always moaning about something. The worst she can do is give me detention. She doesn’t know what she’s done – bringing us here.”
“I wish she’d stuck to taking us to the river,” said Fletcher. “The forest doesn’t want us here, I can feel it.”
“I told you.” Claudia widened her eyes in a theatrical manner. “This is the forest of doom.”
“At least we can do some Myrical hunting. I’ve got the adder stone here.” Laney took the stone out of her pocket. “We can search a little bit in between doing the measurements.”
“Put that away!” said Fletcher. “Someone will see it.”
A group of kids came past, talking loudly. Craig had somehow managed to team up with Jack Turney, even though they weren’t supposed to be partners. Steph dragged along behind them, looking cross. She saw Laney and rolled her eyes, pointing at Craig.
“Flippin’ hell!” Craig shouted to Jack. “Steph got freaked out just now cos she thought a tree moved! Maybe that means this place is haunted.”
Laney turned cold. She remembered the strange man-like tree that had vanished on the day Frogley had expelled her from Mist training. “What if something’s starting?” she said to Fletcher and Claudia. “We rescued Craig that time but we can’t rescue a hundred people from this forest.”
“Maybe we can keep the humans out of the most dangerous part of the wood,” said Fletcher. “I know a barrier enchantment. It’s a beginner spell but it works for a little while on humans.”
“If this is Stingwood’s secret project, then we should definitely keep away from it,” said Claudia, pausing at the top of a steep wooded slope. “Why are we always walking into trouble? It’s not normal.”
“Over here – this is the direction they came from.” Fletcher hurried down the hill, followed by Claudia, who was still muttering.
Laney dropped her pen halfway down the slope and crouched down, trying to find it among the fallen leaves. Claudia and Fletcher got to the bottom and ran on. Laney felt the long plastic shape of the pen under the leaves and grabbed it. She put the school clipboard under one arm and shoved the pen in her pocket. She was still carrying the soil sample and the adder stone too. She wished she’d made Fletcher take some of this stuff. Stopping for a moment, she tried to wedge the plastic sample bag into her other pocket when something made her look up.
There was a stunted tree at the top of the hill. They must have passed it on the way down. Heavy branches stretched upwards, forming a terrible twisted shape, and the sparse leaves looked strange, as if they were growing where leaves were never meant to be. There was a series of bumps near the top of the trunk – a knotted shape that looked almost like a face. Laney recognised the contorted features. It was the tree-man she’d seen when she’d left Mist training – the one that had disappeared when she wasn’t looking.
She turned to tell the others but they were too far away. Somehow she didn’t want to shout for them, just in case something was listening…
The twisted branches jerked sideways and Laney threw herself on to the ground. There was no wind and the branches of the other trees were completely still, but she knew the stunted tree had moved. As she watched, the branches began to shake harder and harder until great convulsions ran through the whole tree. The craggy brown face on the tree trunk crumpled. Ruts in the tree bark grew deeper and a mouth formed from a hollow in the trunk – a tree-like mouth with wooden teeth. A knobble above the mouth moulded into a protruding nose. Then, at the top, two pale gashes grew wider and wider.
The tree opened its eyes and looked around.
Laney kept her head low, praying that the tree thing hadn’t seen her – praying that she was far enough down the slope to be hidden.
The tree-man moaned and shook his arms. Leaves fell. The whole trunk shuddered and gradually the tree warmed from green-brown to a human colour, as if a child was shading in its body with a felt-tip.
“Stifle with stems. Bind with roots. Deep in the earth,” rumbled the tree in a voice just like Stingwood’s. The bottom of the trunk became two long legs and one of the branches became a walking stick. The broad-framed man wrenched his feet from the ground, breaking free from tangled roots and showering the place with earth.
Laney stared. It was Stingwood. She could hardly believe it.
“No! There’s no time for this!” Stingwood growled, kicking the roots that were still trying to cling to his feet. “Release me! I have important things to do!” He lumbered away through the forest, still shedding leaves from his clothes and hair.
Laney raced through the trees, nearly colliding with Fletcher. “I’ve just seen Stingwood,” she gasped. “He changed from a tree to a man. He was actually a tree to start with.”
“No way! Was it an evil kind of tree?” said Claudia.
Fletcher made a face. “You don’t get evil trees. Trees are full of sacred energy – they’re the purest things on this planet.”
Claudia snorted.
“Do you get trees that turn into faeries?” asked Laney. “Because that’s what just happened.”
“It must have been a really good camouflage spell.” Fletcher began walking back up the slope.
“It wasn’t camouflage! He was actually a tree – I saw his branches and his face was like bark!” Laney realised she was shouting and dropped her voice. “I’ll find him and prove it.”
“Calm down. You’ll have Mrs Martin on our case,” Fletcher said maddeningly. “I’m sure you thought you saw Stingwood as a tree but it must have been a disguise. Transformation spells aren’t a normal part of Thorn magic.”
Laney’s hands grew hot and her palms itched. “I know what I saw.”
“I’ll help you find him, Water Girl,” said Claudia suddenly. “I can track him.”
“It’s a waste of time,” said Fletcher. “And it could be dangerous.”
But the girls ignored him, and Fletcher sighed as he followed after them. Claudia led the way, listening for Stingwood’s movements and following his scent through the wood. The sky darkened as heavy rain clouds closed in and the leaves on every tree began fluttering in unison, filling the air with their rushing noise.
“It sounds like a warning,” said Laney nervously.
“But is it warning us or warning him?” said Claudia.
They crossed a forest stream and waded through patches of brambles. All traces of the other kids faded behind them. Laney caught sight of Stingwood’s bulky frame up ahead. Claudia held up a hand and they stopped.
“He doesn’t look much like a tree to me,” muttered Fletch
er.
Laney ignored him. A tumbling feeling in her stomach told her that something was about to happen. Something big.
Stingwood paused at the top of a long avenue of silver birch trees set apart from the rest of the forest. He rested on his walking stick and his massive shoulders rose up and down, as if he were taking deep breaths. Then he strode forward between the two long lines of trees. Halfway down, he began to fade into a translucent ghost-like shape. Then he vanished completely.
“Is he invisible?” Claudia looked nervous. “I don’t like this. He could sneak up on us.”
“Thorns can’t turn invisible,” said Fletcher.
“Yeah, just like they can’t turn into trees,” said Claudia. “Maybe you don’t know as much as you think, Twig Boy.”
“Guys! This is it!” cried Laney. “Don’t you recognise that avenue of trees?”
“Course I do!” Fletcher said. “We saw this place in the Spirit Smoke. That enormous Thorn Elder walked through here carrying the Wildwood Arrow.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about this place before then?” said Claudia. “I thought you knew every bit of the forest.”
“This isn’t usually here. These lines of silver birches have been brought here magically.” He turned to Laney. “Quick – have you got the adder stone? Get it out! Check for the spell shimmer.”
“I still think we should be checking that there’s no invisible Stingwood lurking around,” grumbled Claudia.
Laney groped in her pocket for the stone. Holding it up to her eye, she saw an unmistakable trembling in the air. She’d never seen spell shimmer before but this had to be what they were looking for.
“Let’s see!” said Claudia, and Laney handed it over. “Whoa! That is … really shimmery.”
“Then we’ve found a Myrical – finally!” said Laney.
“Yeah, but which one?” Claudia folded her arms. “We can’t just assume it’ll be the Arrow.”
“It has to be because we saw the Thorn Elder here in the Spirit Smoke. It’s all the same!” Fletcher took his turn at looking through the adder stone, his face glowing. “I can’t believe it – the Arrow! The things we can do with it! It’s meant to possess the power to heal any plant – even bring dead ones back to life. We’ll be able to transform the countryside. Make things green again!”
“I assume when you say we, you mean you and the other Thorns,” said Claudia.
“Don’t forget what we really have to do.” Laney pushed her wispy hair away from her face. “We’ve got to find the Arrow and lock it away like we did with the Crystal Mirror. We can’t go off round the countryside healing stuff. I bet the Shadow would like to use the Arrow for a few things too.”
Fletcher’s face dropped. “I know we’re trying to keep the Myricals safe. But the Wildwood Arrow is full of good, pure Thorn power. It won’t hurt people.”
“Well, the Crystal Mirror wasn’t exactly nasty either.” Laney felt her hands grow hotter and hid them behind her back. “Let’s just find the Arrow, OK?”
Fletcher walked to the head of the silver birch avenue. “I should be able to feel where the Arrow is because of the pull of Thorn magic.”
“Then once you’ve found it you’ve just got to get it away from Stingwood,” said Claudia drily. “I’m sure he’ll be really pleased to share.”
“Shh! I have to concentrate.” Fletcher took a tentative step forwards.
“Stingwood must know it’s here,” muttered Laney. “Especially if he’s…” She and Claudia exchanged a look. If Stingwood is the Shadow…
Fletcher took another step.
“Oh, come on!” Claudia sprang past him down the avenue of trees. Halfway along, she bounced backwards and tumbled to the ground. She leapt up, glaring round furiously. “What on earth—”
“Wait! Just let me do it. You’ll ruin everything!” said Fletcher. “You don’t understand Thorn power.”
Laney ignored him and went right up to the place where Claudia had fallen over. The avenue of birches stretched on into the distance and everything looked perfectly normal. Not a leaf was out of place and it gave her the odd feeling that she was looking at a painting. She put the adder stone to her eye for a moment. She was really close to the spell shimmer. It was like standing next to a waterfall of light. She put out one hand and came up against an invisible barrier that felt soft and silky.
“There’s something here. It’s not letting me through.” She pressed harder and the wall pushed back. “It’s really strong … but soft too.”
Fletcher reached out till he felt the wall and then pushed against it. “Stingwood must have gone right through.” He stepped closer. “I can see something. A whole different wood with an outcrop of rock in the middle and it’s covered in birches like a tower of trees. It’s so bright … it’s a perfect forest.”
Claudia came over, squinting hard. “All I can see is the two lines of trees. Why can’t I see what you’re seeing?” She crowded closer to Fletcher, bumping his shoulder. “Oh! It’s there!” She stepped back, before taking hold of his arm.
“What are you doing?” He shook her off.
I can only see it when I’m touching you,” Claudia told him. “It’s like a blindfold comes off.”
Laney grasped Fletcher’s other arm and leaned forwards. The scene clouded over and then cleared to show exactly what Fletcher had described: a wood more alive than any she’d ever seen and a crown of trees on a rocky outcrop. Even she, a Mist faerie, could feel the dream-like pull of the place. “It’s full of Thorn magic.”
“It’s the most Thorn-tastic place I’ve ever seen,” Claudia agreed. “Amazing, in a mad sort of way.”
“The Wildwood Arrow has to be in there somewhere.” Laney pressed her face right up to the invisible wall and felt it push back.
“I bet it’s on that rock in the middle,” said Claudia. “I mean, look at it – the trees and everything. It just reeks of power.”
“That’s Spine Tree Ridge. My dad told me about it. It’s where Stingwood’s building his Avalon project.” Fletcher pushed hard against the barrier with his shoulder.
“You won’t break in.” Claudia tapped the wall with a fingernail. “This is completely solid.”
“I have to get in,” Fletcher said. “I have to find the Arrow.”
Laney put her hand on Fletcher’s shoulder to take another look at the hidden wood. The trees inside were flawless, coloured in glowing greens and yellows. The grey clouds stopped at the barrier and the sky inside was bright blue. Fletcher seemed hypnotised, his hands resting on the invisible wall.
“We should go back,” said Claudia suddenly. “We need to be back on that coach at three. I’d rather tell Gwen about this place than try to get in.”
“I’m not going.” Fletcher stared longingly at the wood.
“We have to,” Laney told him, then paused. Beyond the invisible wall, black tree roots rose from the ground like snakes. Earth showered in all directions. “Did you see that? The roots are moving on that side of the wall too.”
The black roots twisted across the ground and when they passed close to a tree, a wave of dark colour rushed up its trunk.
“Oi! What are you doing?”
Laney spun round. Two Greytails stood at the entrance to the birch avenue. One was Claudia’s brother, Tom; the other was his friend Charlie Springer.
“We’re here on a school trip,” said Claudia. “What are you doing?”
Tom frowned and Laney wondered what had happened to the cheeky Tom that always used to tease her. “We’re wasting time,” he told Charlie. “Leave them – we’ll start further along.” A tortoiseshell cat dashed out of the trees and stood by his legs.
“But your sister’s hanging out with a Thorn,” said Charlie.
“Yeah,” Tom said. “But she’s on a school trip so she can’t help it, can she?”
“What’s your problem?” Claudia said fiercely.
“My problem is that none of you should be here,” replied Charlie.
“No, you shouldn’t be here!” Fletcher bristled. “This is a Thorn place and Greytails should stay out.” He caught Claudia glaring at him. “I didn’t mean you!”
“Don’t lump us all together then!” said Claudia.
“I wasn’t, I—” Fletcher’s eyes swivelled to a clump of bushes that were rustling and shaking. “How many cats have you got in there?”
“A few,” Tom said. A crow landed on a silver birch and turned its beady eye on Fletcher. “Some birds too.”
“You’re nosing around,” snapped Fletcher. “You’re setting up spies to find out what’s going on.” The tortoiseshell cat turned its eyes on him, unblinking.
“We know about your Avalon project – we knew ages ago,” Tom said. “We told our Elders but everything went quiet and they decided the project wasn’t a threat any more. But we knew you Thorns would start it up again when you thought no one was looking. What you’re doing is dangerous – one of the cats only just escaped injury yesterday. And what happens after Saturn Rising?”
“What’s Saturn Rising?” Laney asked.
Fletcher ignored her. “You can’t come here,” he told the older boys. “You’re nosing into Thorn business.”
Laney was about to ask about the Saturn thing again when she felt the invisible wall tremble behind her and heard Tom’s friend give a shout. The two Greytails changed instantly to faerie form and rose into the air.
“Claudia! Laney! Get down!” Tom yelled.
Laney turned and a bolt of white lightning zapped past her ear. Stingwood loomed up, his tree-like features gone. He cast down his walking stick and aimed a barrage of lightning at them with his huge hands.
Claudia pulled Laney to the ground as streams of electricity rippled through the air. The Greytails swooped out of the way before shooting lightning back.
Laney’s head pulsed with the crackling of the bolts. She hadn’t known Tom could make lightning. Usually you didn’t learn that until you were an adult and she knew Tom was only seventeen.
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