‘It was my fault —’ said Tick.
‘I don’t want to hear it!’ roared King Clang.
Cora couldn’t help herself. She stepped forward. ‘Please, Your Majesty,’ she said, ‘they were just trying to help me.’ King Clang’s angry stare settled on her. Cora had a sudden urge to step back but instead, she stood tall, meeting the king’s gaze.
‘She was able to summon a Jinx,’ said Tick.
‘That means she’s something powerful, right?’ added Tock.
‘Powerful?’ Cora spluttered. ‘Me?’ What were they talking about?
King Clang paused, looking at her. ‘Are you a witch?’
‘No,’ said Cora. ‘At least, I don’t think I am.’
‘Then how did you summon a Jinx?’ asked the king.
‘I . . . just read what was inside the box,’ Cora said innocently.
The king’s eyes squinted at her from beneath his big brows. He lifted a hand and stroked one of them in thought.
‘How long?’ King Clang asked Tick and Tock.
‘Two days,’ said Tick.
‘Maybe three,’ added Tock.
The king paused, thinking. ‘I’ll give you one,’ he said. ‘Then I want her gone.’
Tick and Tock nodded.
‘Starting now,’ said the king.
Tick and Tock hastily bowed.
‘Now?’ Cora asked.
Then Tick and Tock flew in front of her, ushering her towards the entrance. She took one last look at King Clang as she walked away from him. He looked back at her, his brows creased in worry, until she was out of the hut.
Outside, Tick and Tock veered to the left of the king’s hut and flew through the village.
‘Where are we going?’ Cora asked as she followed. They turned down a small path between two huts that headed towards the lake. They were in a hurry. Cora had to jog to keep up.
‘We’re going to see if the godmothers can help you,’ said Tock.
‘The godmothers?’ she asked.
‘The fairy godmothers.’
Chapter Seventeen
Tick and Tock knocked on the door of a round hut. It wasn’t as big as the king’s but it was bigger than most of the other huts that sat around it. They waited. The lights were on inside.
‘The godmothers are the oldest fairies in the kingdom,’ said Tock.
‘If anyone can help you, they can,’ said Tick.
‘Or maybe a witch,’ added Tock.
Cora wasn’t so sure about the fairies’ plan. If they only had a few days until the Jinx found them, then shouldn’t they be running? Shouldn’t she be running? Shouldn’t she be somewhere far, far away by now?
The door to the hut creaked open and a fairy with white hair and small glasses on her nose poked her head out.
‘It’s late,’ she said.
‘It’s urgent,’ said Tock.
The old fairy looked at Cora and where her eye used to be. The fairy tilted her head at her, intrigued. Then she opened the door wider for all three of them to enter.
Stepping inside the hut, Cora was greeted with a wall of warmth and the smell of something delicious. In the living room in front of her, there were chairs and furniture. A cabinet full of teapots sat to the side. Knitted blankets were draped over the chairs. Perhaps the fairies wouldn’t mind if she took just a small nap.
Cora was about to ask when another fairy flew into the room. She wore a small nightcap atop her curly, white hair.
‘Fairy godmothers,’ said Tock. ‘This is Cora.’
‘She is —’ began Tick.
‘Cursed,’ said the old fairy with the glasses.
‘How did —’ started Cora, surprised.
‘We have seen many cursed in our time, dear,’ said the old fairy with glasses. ‘You all have that same look about you.’
‘Look?’ Cora resisted the urge to touch her face.
‘Fear,’ said the old fairy with the nightcap.
Cora swallowed. Yep.
‘It will be alright,’ said the fairy with the glasses. She took off Cora’s pack and set it down. Then the fairy with the nightcap held out a hand for Cora’s coat. She gave it to her.
‘What kind of curse do you have, dear?’ asked the fairy with glasses.
‘A Jinx?’ Cora replied hesitantly.
The fairy godmothers shared a look. Cora was afraid of that.
‘Well, let’s see what we can do,’ said the fairy with the nightcap. ‘Stand over there. Arms out.’ She pointed to the middle of the room.
Cora walked over and held out her arms.
The fairy godmothers flew around her. They inspected her hair, her clothes, her shoes.
‘Remember all the cursed ones, Squeak?’ asked the fairy with the nightcap.
‘There was Tabitha Ant,’ said Squeak, the old fairy with the glasses. ‘She was cursed by her sister.’
‘And Millard Fort,’ said the old fairy with the nightcap. ‘He got on the wrong side of a warlock.’
‘Oh, and Belton Trout,’ said Squeak. ‘He was a nice boy, wasn’t he, Squash?’
‘What happened to them all?’ Cora asked. ‘Did you break their curses?’
‘Oh, no, dear. They’re all dead,’ said Squash.
Cora groaned. So far the fairy godmothers weren’t helping at all.
Then Squeak stopped. She looked at Cora curiously through her spectacles. ‘What are you, dear?’ she asked.
‘Who am I? I’m Cora,’ she said, confused.
‘No, what are you?’ repeated the fairy. ‘Not who.’
Cora didn’t know how to respond.
‘Can you talk to animals?’ asked Squeak, resuming her circling.
Cora shook her head.
‘Can you read minds?’ asked Squash, lifting up her hair to look in her ear.
Cora shook her head.
‘Can you raise the dead?’ asked Tick.
Cora shook her head firmly.
‘Can you play the flute really, really well?’ asked Tock.
‘What?’ Cora asked.
Tock shrugged. ‘Some say it’s a gift.’
Cora definitely could not do any of the things the fairies mentioned. But what did all of it have to do with the Jinx? Dot’s words echoed in her mind. You’re not like others, Cora. She shook them away.
Then the fairies stopped flying around her. They fluttered in the air near her right arm, their eyes on the bracelet on her wrist.
‘This bracelet,’ began Squeak, tapping the white chain on her wrist, ‘where did you get it?’
‘I’ve had it ever since I can remember,’ Cora said with a shrug.
The fairy godmothers looked at one another.
‘What?’ Cora asked.
‘Someone’s protecting you,’ said Squash.
Protecting me? Instinctively, she pulled her arm away, covering the white chain. Dot had asked her once about the bracelet. Cora had thought she had given it to her. But Dot said it was with her the day she found her. Cora had never taken it off.
‘Well, they’re doing a terrible job,’ said Cora, thinking of the Jinx.
‘Now, stand still,’ said Squeak.
Cora stood as still as she could.
The fairy godmothers flew in front of her. Then one of them pointed a finger at her. There was a POP! and Cora waited. Nothing happened. Suddenly, she felt a little funny in her tummy. Then she hiccupped. And hiccupped. And hiccupped again.
‘Do you feel less cursed?’ asked Tock.
Cora shook her head. She felt the same but with hiccups.
‘Drink this,’ said one of the fairies, handing her a cup of tea. Cora sniffed it. It smelt terrible. She blocked her nose and sipped it. Bleugh! It tasted like dirt and leaves.
‘What is this?’ Cora spluttered, shrinking away from it.
‘Dirt and leaves,’ said the old fairy.
Instantly, Cora’s hiccups were gone.
‘Sometimes magic has side effects,’ said Squeak. Then she pointed a finger at her and there was another POP!
>
Cora suddenly felt her arm start to itch. And then she felt itchy all over. She scratched every part of her.
There was a POP! and the itching stopped but this time Cora felt something tickling her ears. She turned to a mirror near her and watched as a steady stream of bubbles floated out of her ears.
Tick and Tock smiled widely at her.
There was a POP! and the bubbles were gone.
‘Oh, but that could have been useful,’ said Tick, disappointed.
‘The Jinx might be scared of bubbles,’ said Tock.
Then from outside, somewhere in the distance, there was a loud crash followed by an earth-shaking shudder.
Tick’s and Tock’s smiles disappeared.
The fairy godmothers stopped their magic.
Then the whole room shuddered. Everything shook around them. The teacups in the cabinet bounced on their shelves. The floor and the roof trembled. Then the teacups smashed. And furniture fell.
The fairy godmothers looked towards the window but Cora knew what it was. She looked at Tick and Tock. They knew what it was too.
They had run out of time.
The Jinx had found her.
Chapter Eighteen
Cora felt like she couldn’t breathe. It was here. The Jinx was back. What were they going to do? What was she going to do?
‘I thought you said we had a few days,’ Cora said to Tick and Tock in a panic.
‘That was an estimate,’ said Tock.
‘A very rough estimate,’ added Tick.
‘More like a guess, really,’ said Tock.
‘Never mind,’ interrupted Squeak.
‘You need to get out of here,’ said Squash. She grabbed Cora’s pack and coat and handed them both to her.
Then the old fairies quickly ushered her out of the hut with Tick and Tock following. When they opened the door and stepped outside, they stopped in horror at what they saw.
Huts were smashed apart; their intricate branches lay broken and splintered in pieces. The lights that lit up the village in a beautiful glow were shattered on the ground. Smoke and debris covered the valley. The fairy village was completely destroyed.
‘We need to find the king,’ said Tock and with a POP!, he and Tick were gone.
‘Listen,’ said Squeak. ‘Follow the path back into the forest.’ She straightened her glasses determinedly on her nose.
‘There’s a gateway there,’ said Squash. She adjusted her nightcap on her head resolutely. ‘We’ll hold it off.’
‘But, you can’t —’ Cora tried, but with two more POP!s, the fairy godmothers were gone.
Cora stood there by herself. She looked out at the destruction ahead of her. Then from amongst the wreckage, Cora saw the creature emerge. It lumbered through the valley like a moving wall of shadow. She ignored the tingling of her bracelet as she watched fairies fly around the Jinx. Some fairies flew at the creature and were easily swatted out of its path. She heard POP!s of magic as some fairies tried to stop the creature. The valley echoed with shouts and cries.
A sharp pain entered Cora’s chest. This is because of me. She had done this. She had brought the Jinx to the fairy kingdom. She needed to do something to help. But what? She remembered what happened to her in Urt, when she had locked eyes with the shadowy creature and couldn’t move. It wouldn’t be long until the Jinx saw her and then she would be powerless to stop it.
As she stared up at the creature, she saw it sniff the air. It was looking for her. Cora tried to think. The fairy godmothers had said there was a gateway nearby. She looked at the path that led away from the hut and up the hill into the forest. But if she left, the Jinx would just follow her to the next place she went to. And the next. And the next place after that. How many people would get hurt because of her? And how many homes would get destroyed?
The pain in Cora’s chest turned into anger. She thought about Dot and Scratch. She thought about their home. She wasn’t going to let anybody else get hurt because of her. The Jinx was here. And if it wanted her, it could have her.
Cora took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs. She waved her hands high in the air. And then without waiting to check if the Jinx had seen her, Cora turned and ran. She ran away from the village and away from the path that led to the gateway. Instead, she ran towards the lake.
Gripping her pack, she raced down the sloping path. On the other side of the valley there weren’t any lights to guide her way. Cora stumbled and fell but she got up quickly and kept going.
Was it following her?
Then she heard the familiar thundering steps behind her. She felt the ground shake beneath her feet as she ran.
It was.
Without looking over her shoulder, Cora heard the Jinx lumber through the village in her direction. She pushed through the tall grass and jumped over logs. She tried to focus on what was ahead of her: the lake.
When she got to the shore, Cora stopped. She hadn’t thought this through. What now? Heart beating fast, she looked around for something to get her across. Then she spotted a small boat on the bank ahead. She raced towards it. With a grunt and a groan, she pushed the boat out into the lake. The water was cold and she bit back a cry as the icy wetness touched her legs. Holding the boat steady, she jumped inside it. Then with her back to the village, she grabbed the paddle at the bottom of the boat and paddled as fast as she could out into the lake.
The boat dipped as she heard the thundering shake of the Jinx’s steps get closer. The water in the lake rippled and the boat rocked in waves. She paddled through them. She wasn’t sure how far out into the lake she was. It was dark all around her, the water barely glistening in the moonlight.
It won’t be long now, Cora thought. The Jinx was surely close.
Cora stopped paddling. She was about to place her paddle down when, suddenly, the rippling and shaking in the lake slowed. Cora glanced around.
Huh?
Cora knew that if she turned around, she might not be able to move again. She waited to hear the Jinx’s steps. She waited some more. But they never came.
Have the fairies stopped it?
She closed her eye and took a deep breath. Then she used her paddle to turn the boat around. When she thought she was facing the village, she opened her eye.
In front of her, the Jinx stood on the edge of the lake, unmoving.
It stared out at her with its burning, yellow eyes.
Cora didn’t understand. Why wasn’t it moving? Why wasn’t it coming for her?
The Jinx continued to stand still on the shore.
Is it asleep? she wondered.
Then Cora remembered what Tock had said earlier about Jinxes and bubbles. Her heart leapt.
The water!
Jinxes hate water! That had to be it. She had found a weakness! Cora couldn’t believe it.
Then the Jinx placed one foot into the lake. And then the other.
Crud.
Chapter Nineteen
Cora could only watch as the Jinx walked through the lake towards her. She couldn’t have moved even if she had wanted to. She was frozen in place as she stared into the burning, yellow eyes of the Jinx. Slow step after slow step, the creature lumbered closer. Soon it was almost halfway across the lake.
This is it, Cora thought.
She thought about the fairies. She thought about Tick and Tock, and how much they had tried to help her. She hoped they were okay. She hoped that all the fairies in the kingdom were okay. Even King Clang.
The Jinx pushed its way through the water, sinking lower as it walked along the deepening lake floor. The water sloshed upwards, coming to a stop at its waist.
Cora felt the boat rock beneath her as the Jinx approached, her eye still locked on its burning, yellow eyes. And then she smelt it. The thick smell of ash and burning wood filled her nostrils. For a minute, she thought it was coming from the fairy kingdom. That something was on fire. But then she realised that the smell was actually coming from the Jinx. The shadowy creature smel
t of ash and smoke.
Cora wondered how it was going to happen. Would the Jinx swallow her whole? Would it take bites? Would they be big bites or small bites? Would she be seasoned?
Then the Jinx came to a stop in the lake in front of her.
Cora’s boat was tossed in the waves. She stared up at the creature. From up close, Cora could make out two rows of sharp teeth jutting out from its mouth, and a bulbous nose sitting in the middle of the shadowy darkness of its face. She swallowed. She hoped she at least tasted good.
The Jinx paused as it looked down at her. Then, as if in slow motion, one of its large hands reached down towards the boat.
Cora watched as the hand descended upon her. She thought about her family. About Dot and Scratch. She saw their faces one last time.
The Jinx’s fingers wrapped around her, grabbing her tightly in its fist. It felt like she was being hugged by a cold mist at first and then the Jinx’s grip tightened. Very tight. Cora’s bracelet tingled on her skin. Then the Jinx’s shadow fingers continued to tighten themselves around her. She wasn’t able to breathe. She tried to break free. She felt her feet leave the boat as the Jinx lifted her up into the air. She pushed against the creature’s hand with all her might. It felt like she was pushing against a wall.
Then, suddenly, Cora felt a shock go through her entire body. It sparked and sizzled like a bolt of lightning ricocheting from her toes to her nose. Cora closed her eye. She tingled all over. It felt like an energy from somewhere was filling her up.
Wait. How was she able to close her eye? The Jinx had her. She shouldn’t have been able to move. Then she felt strength in her arms and her legs. She squirmed in the Jinx’s grasp. She could move again! Not only that, she felt . . . something else.
She opened her eye and saw that she was still in the air. But the Jinx’s hand didn’t feel like a wall anymore. She pushed hard against the creature’s hold. The Jinx’s fingers began to move and then suddenly Cora broke free from the creature’s grasp.
She fell through the air out of the Jinx’s hand and then with a clunk, she landed back down in the boat. It pitched about in the water with the force of her fall.
‘Ow,’ Cora rubbed her back where she’d landed. Then sitting up, she looked around her, eye wide. How had she done that?
Jinxed!: The Curious Curse of Cora Bell Page 6