The Wildwood Arrow

by Paula Harrison

  She saw Joe Fenworth coming over and realised she should be doing the water-moving exercise. Hurriedly she stared down at the lake, desperately hoping this wouldn’t go wrong.

  “Laney! First time, is it?” Joe gave her a kindly smile.

  “Yes.” Laney flushed again and tried changing the subject. “Why’s this group called the Sevensies?”

  “It’s the lowest of the three levels of faerie skill. It’s actually called the Moon Learners. When you know a bit more you’ll move into the Moon Flyers. The very top level is the Mystics but you have to be able to do pretty awesome things to reach that stage.” He nodded towards the Mist Elder. “Mr Frogley is a Mystic.”

  “But why did he call this group Sevensies if it’s actually the Moon Learners?”

  Joe Fenworth coughed. “Um … it’s a nickname that began because most of the kids in the group are about seven years old.”

  “Oh.” Laney’s shoulders sank.

  “So, anyway! Let’s make a start. Show me what you can do.”

  Laney stared at the lake, willing a water drop to rise out of it. The water rippled but nothing else happened. She rubbed the burn mark on the end of her middle finger.

  “Just relax, Laney!” urged Joe. “Let your mind connect with the water.”

  The other Sevensies had gathered round them now, watching Laney with curiosity. Laney stared at the water, but it didn’t move. She wished the heavy feeling inside her would go away.

  There was a shout from the Flyers group further along the shore. A shining column of water spurted high into the air and looped down in a perfect arc. Then another column rose and another. Laney bit her lip. Obviously the Flyers could manage something a bit more complicated than floating a few drops in the air.

  “Concentrate, Laney! You won’t be able to do it unless you clear your mind of distractions,” said Joe.

  “Sorry!” Laney turned back to the water. This time she managed to slip past the heavy feeling and her mind drifted to the lake. She sensed the sway of the water – how it flowed and moved with each tiny droplet acting as one. She sought out a water drop and lifted it, willing it into the air.

  It wouldn’t go. It slipped from her grasp and trickled away.

  Patiently she took another drop … but this one slipped away too.

  A giggle broke through the shell of Laney’s concentration.

  “Shh, Sam!” said Joe. “Keep quiet.”

  The heavy feeling pushed at Laney and her hands grew hot. She wasn’t going to be laughed at. She was going to make this water move right now. Move! she told it silently, and pointed at the lake. The water boiled at her feet like a cauldron, rolling and seething, until it exploded upwards and sent a fist of hot liquid straight down on their heads.

  The Sevensies shrieked, water dripping from their clothes.

  Laney watched the water drain back into the lake, surprised at the sudden drenching. Strangely, the heaviness inside her was gone and her mind felt clear. It was such a relief to be rid of the horrible, pent-up feeling – as if she’d climbed her way out of a small, dark cage.

  Mr Frogley left his group. “What happened here? Who did this?” He looked at Laney.

  “I was just trying to move one drop,” she said.

  “But look what you did!” Frogley’s eyes glinted in his bony face. “This is monstrous … outrageous … to turn water into that!” Laney followed the jerk of his head. A patch of lake water had darkened and black lumps floated on the surface.

  “If you were struggling to move a few water drops, then how did you manage to orchestrate this kind of catastrophe?” said the Mist Elder. “Making water boil is a high-level skill and cannot be learned without a great deal of practice.”

  “I really didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry.” Laney clasped her hands together. They were cooler now but the patch on her middle finger prickled. The lumps floating on the lake’s surface looked like strange black rocks. Had she really made that happen?

  Frogley stepped closer to Laney, his pale face furious. “You need to start explaining yourself, young lady. You were tested with the Seeing Thread when you Awoke – Miss Reed told me about it – and it showed that you had very little power.”

  Laney winced. The test had been painful. She didn’t want to remember it.

  “Perhaps Miss Reed reported it wrong,” suggested Joe. “It’s a pity we can’t ask her about it but I think she planned to be away up north for a while.”

  “Visiting the north! She’s sulking because she didn’t get made tribe leader.” Frogley rounded on Laney; his breath smelled sour.

  “Well? Tell me the truth, girl. You’ve been Awake for several weeks so you must have some idea of your own capabilities. Was the test not done properly? Is it not true that it revealed you have very little power?”

  Laney folded her arms. For weeks she’d barely been able to move a water drop but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. “I think I have as much power as anyone,” she said.

  “Sit there and don’t move.” Frogley pointed to a flat boulder before he lumbered back to the older group. Joe followed him and the two men began talking in low voices.

  Laney sat down on the rock and stared at the Sevensies, who had gone back to raising neat little rows of water drops from the lake. Further away along the shore, the older kids were producing small rain showers with a click of their fingers. Laney caught a tiny piece of Mr Frogley’s conversation. “… it hardly seems possible … perhaps her powers are erratic …”

  She knew what erratic meant. Her powers weren’t to be trusted. One minute they were working and the next she couldn’t do a single thing. She’d told Frogley that she thought she had just as much power as anyone. But what good was that if she couldn’t control it?

  Her throat tightened. The blue vapour barrier was thinning and she could see the edge of Hobbin Forest over her shoulder. She stared at the trees. She couldn’t shake off a feeling that something was watching her.

  Training ended and the kids trudged away in small groups towards their villages. Jessie cast Laney a mocking look as she left, and Cathy and Leah didn’t look at her at all. She hung back, wishing she had the guts to speak to them and try and explain.

  A breeze lifted her hair and she suddenly realised that everyone else was a long way ahead. The darkness thickened. She wanted to be brave but the thought of walking all the way back along the edge of the forest by herself made her shiver. What if the tree root fastened round her ankle again? It was so dark that she wouldn’t even see it coming.

  She stood still for a moment, undecided. Mr Frogley had told them not to use their wings. On the other hand, she’d already messed up her first Mist training so did it really matter what he thought? Defiantly, she willed herself into her faerie form. Her human body dissolved in an instant, leaving behind her faerie shape, gleaming with power.

  She flexed the wings that unfolded from her back and rose into the air, nearly bumping her head on a branch. She smiled, thinking for a moment of all those humans who believed in tiny-sized fairies. What would they say if they could see her now – as tall as ever but with glowing skin and pale-blue wings?

  Soaring into the sky, she veered away from the forest and flew over the fields. A half-moon lit the countryside below and she sped up, unable to resist swooping through the night air. To her left, she could see figures walking along the footpath. It had to be people on their way back from training. She grinned. Keen not to be spotted, she decided to take the long way round.

  She landed in a field on the edge of Skellmore, closed her wings and changed back to human form. Then she trudged down the footpath into the yard behind the minimart, her head filled with the image of the boiling lake water. After weeks of dull Myrical hunting, something had finally happened. It just wasn’t anything good.

  “So how did it go, Water Girl?”

  Two figures sat on the fence on the far side of the yard, slightly hidden by the overhanging branches of a tree. The nearest figure was
Claudia, who sprang down from the fence in a smooth cat-like movement.

  “I didn’t see you!” said Laney.

  “We decided to hide until you came along. The grown-ups are getting really edgy about kids from different tribes hanging out together. My mum told Tom off for chatting to a Mist this morning – as if my dear brother would ever change his Greytail ways!” Claudia grinned. “So we hid and he did some weird Thorn camouflage spell.” She jerked her head at Fletcher, who ducked out from under the branch.

  “Well, it worked, didn’t it? So don’t complain,” he said.

  “I’d rather skip it next time though.” Claudia shuddered. “It was all slithery leaves and smelly herbs. I feel like I’m covered in prickles and scratches.”

  “Can Thorn faeries get tree roots to move?” asked Laney suddenly. “I saw this long root creeping around on the edge of the forest in a freaky way. I don’t know what it was doing out of the earth.”

  “That’s weird,” said Fletcher. “Some Thorns can use root spells, but usually only if they’re at Mystic level.”

  “Oh.” Laney paused. “Find any Myricals after I left?”

  Fletcher thrust his hands in his pockets. “Nope. We checked one more field but there was nothing hidden there.”

  “We think we should see if Gwen has another adder stone,” said Claudia.

  “You mean you think we should,” Fletcher replied.

  “That way we can split up and search faster,” said Claudia.

  Fletcher folded his arms. “That’s if there even is another one.”

  Laney pushed her hair away from her face. Going to Gwen’s house might give her a chance to ask her about what had happened at Mist training. She checked her watch. “It’s not that late. Let’s go and ask her now.”

  They checked that the High Street was empty before leaving the yard. The minimart, hairdresser’s and pet shop were closed up and street lamps cast pools of orange light on to the road. In the park opposite, the dark shape of the huge oak tree swayed for a moment and a golden glow swept up its trunk.

  Laney never got tired of seeing how the oak sucked power through its roots from the faerie ring nearby. The golden light rose up the tree, filling the trunk first and then every branch and leaf, until the whole tree shone. A moment later the glow was gone.

  Faerie rings were common in the area, making it a place rich in power. Laney always kept her distance from them though. The singing voices inside the ring were enticing, but if you got too close to one you could be sucked into the Otherworld for ever.

  As they crossed the road, a group of cats clustered by the park railings surrounded Claudia, weaving in and out of her legs and purring. Dizzy jumped up on to the railings and Claudia listened to her mews carefully. Fletcher edged away from a large black-and-white cat that was trying to rub against his ankle. “The longer we stand here, the more likely we are to be spotted – let’s go.”

  “Just a sec.” Claudia put her head to one side as she listened to Dizzy. “Hmm, that’s all a bit worrying. Keep an eye on it, guys,” she told the cats. “But don’t get too close to anything dodgy.”

  The cats slipped away, disappearing into the gloom in seconds.

  “What did she say?” Laney asked.

  “They’ve seen traces of weird spells in the forest,” said Claudia. “It’s probably nothing. Dizzy gets a bit spooked sometimes. I think she likes the thrill of it, actually.”

  At the end of the street Laney, Claudia and Fletcher turned into Gnarlwood Lane, where the Thorns lived. They passed the Willowby house on the corner with its rough walls like a tree trunk. Next to it was Gwen’s house, all covered in ivy with five huge trumpet-shaped white flowers forming the roof. Laney ran up to the front door and knocked.

  Gwen Whitefern opened the door, her short frame wrapped in a cloak and her thin white hair escaping from the edges of a soft green hat. A sense of peace settled over them, as if even the air was stilled by her gaze. “Good evening. What brings a Mist, a Thorn and a Greytail to my door at this hour?” She scanned their faces. “There’s no news yet, I see.”

  “No, we haven’t, you know, found anything,” said Laney. “We just wanted to talk to you. I hope it’s not too late at night.” She always had the urge to bow to Gwen, but she stopped herself.

  “No, it’s not too late.” Gwen’s deep eyes scanned Laney’s face again and she opened the door wider. “Come in.”

  Her sitting room, with its flowery sofa and smell of cookies, gave away nothing of Gwen’s power. But the corridor that led to the plant house was lined with criss-crossing vines that climbed the walls and clung to the ceiling. Lit with an emerald glow, the plant house with its glass walls and roof was brimming with trees and flowers. Laney wondered where the light was coming from and saw a plant with luminous, sword-shaped leaves in the centre of the little jungle.

  Gwen made her way slowly to a garden bench and as she sat down a rose bush leaned closer and burst into flower. Gwen was a Thorn Elder, and by now Laney was used to the way plants behaved around her, drawn out by the strength of her magic.

  “I’m afraid I can’t talk for long,” Gwen told them. “I’m going out to gather herbs tonight and I must leave soon. What is it you wish to speak about?”

  “We’ve been using the adder stone like you told us,” said Fletcher. “But it’s taking such a long time. Maybe if we had a second stone, or even one each, we’d be able to search quicker.” He took the stone from his pocket.

  Gwen reached for it – deep lines etched across her face. Still holding the adder stone, she rose and tottered up and down the plant house. The flowers’ heads turned, following her movements. “At least the Crystal Mirror is safe,” she muttered. “That one is safe for now.”

  Laney wasn’t sure whether to interrupt. “So we wondered if you had another adder stone we can borrow?”

  Gwen handed Fletcher the stone and turned back along the passageway. “Come! I must check my remedy before I go out.”

  Laney, Claudia and Fletcher exchanged looks. “Do you think something’s up?” said Claudia.

  “I’m not sure,” Laney whispered, and followed the Thorn Elder down the passageway.

  Gwen stopped in the kitchen, where a large copper saucepan stood on the stove with purple liquid bubbling inside it, giving off a sharp smell like pine leaves. Gwen stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon. “You want another adder stone,” she said.

  “Yes, to help us find the Myricals faster,” said Laney.

  Gwen fixed her tawny eyes on them and the silver marks of an Elder shone on the backs of her wrinkled hands. “Do not be in such a hurry. It’s better for you to search slowly and search together, and if you discover something, come and find me. And if you see any signs of the Shadow, keep well away from him. As yet we do not know what his next move will be.”

  Laney stared at the bubbling purple liquid in the copper saucepan, a picture of the Shadow rising in her mind – the vast wings, the stench of decay… Every time she remembered, it felt as if a hand was squeezing her heart. She tried to push the image out of her head.

  Claudia picked up a tall jar standing on the side and gave it a shake. The metal padlock on its lid rattled.

  “Claudia! Put that down, please!” Gwen commanded. “I did not give you permission to pick anything up.”

  “Sorry!” Claudia stared curiously into the jar as she put it back. “What’s in there? It just looks like dried ferns.”

  “It’s moonwort – usually a harmless kind of plant – but this specimen is different and its effect could be extremely perilous. In fact, it’s the strongest herb I have.” She eyed Claudia sternly before turning back to the copper pan and murmuring, “This needs much more attention. Time for a little help, I think.”

  She picked a shiny privet leaf from a potted plant on the worktop. Cupping it inside her hands, she whispered to it and let it fall to the floor.

  Reaching the ground, the leaf began to multiply, building upwards one leaf after another.
It formed a tall human-like figure, made completely from small leaves, with two arms and legs but no features. The leaf figure didn’t move but Laney thought there was something unnerving about its eyeless face and Claudia sprang back, eyes widening.

  “Whoa! I’ve never seen that before,” said Fletcher.

  “Keep stirring.” Gwen passed the spoon to the leaf figure, which took it in its green hand and stiffly began to move it round and round. “I’d like you three to keep an eye on him for five minutes before you leave,” she said to Laney, Fletcher and Claudia. “These leaf spells are usually quite reliable, but occasionally I make one who stirs too hard or not hard enough. Just watch him for a little while, please, and then he can continue on his own.”

  “Sure! We’ll watch him,” said Fletcher.

  “Er … yeah!” Claudia looked doubtfully at the leaf man. “As long as there’s just one of them. They can’t multiply into an army, can they?”

  Gwen didn’t answer. Instead she walked into the front room where she picked up a large wicker basket. “Help yourselves to a glass of elixir from the fridge and let yourselves out when you’re ready. I won’t be back till morning.” She straightened the hat on top of her white hair and closed the front door behind her.

  Laney’s shoulders sagged. She’d been too chicken to mention the disaster at Mist training. She’d hoped to get a quiet moment without Claudia and Fletcher listening, but Gwen had left so quickly.

  “She seems strange today,” said Claudia. “Do you reckon something’s up or is it just a weird Thorn thing?”

  Fletcher ignored that. “Maybe there’s something on her mind, something that the Elders don’t want us to know about.” He opened the fridge and poured sparkling green elixir into three glasses. Laney took a sip and instantly felt more energetic. Gwen’s elixir tasted like mint and berries, all mixed together with Thorn magic. It was a powerful combination.

  “I bet the Elders keep lots of secrets from the rest of us.” Claudia edged away from the leaf-man, eyeing him suspiciously. “Does that thing have ears? Do you think we can talk safely in front of it?”