Maia, Lottie and Sita crossed the main road carefully and pushed their bikes on to a narrow stony lane with woods on both sides. Overhead, seagulls were circling in the grey sky. At the top of the lane was a row of little houses with neat front gardens. Further down was Granny Anne’s thatched cottage and beyond that, the track led on down to the clifftop and the beach.
Maia glanced at the row of stone houses at the top of the lane. Ionie lived in the end one with her mum and dad. Maia thought about cycling straight past but then she felt a pang of guilt. “Should we see if Ionie’s in? She might not have got my text.”
Maia noticed there was no car in the driveway. Pulling out her phone, she checked it and saw that a message had just come through from Ionie:
Out at my grandma’s. Will come and meet you as soon as I get back. Ix
Maia hurried back to the others, feeling secretly relieved it would just be the three of them and their Star Animals for a while. “She’s sent me a text – she’s not in but she says she’ll meet us later.”
They cycled on down the lane, bumping over the potholes and trying not to skid on fallen leaves.
Leaving their bikes in Granny Anne’s garden, they pushed their way along the overgrown footpath that led to the clearing in the woods. Hearing the sound of the stream splashing up ahead, Maia’s heart quickened in excitement. She sped up and burst into the clearing with Sita and Lottie at her heels. Instantly Bracken the fox, Juniper the squirrel and Willow the deer appeared.
Bracken spun in circles, yapping, Willow cantered straight over to Sita, pricking her ears in delight, while Juniper scampered up a nearby tree trunk and leaped from branch to branch.
“Race me, Lottie!” Juniper chattered.
In a flash, Lottie was scrambling up the tree after him. She was brilliant at gymnastics anyway but when she drew on the current of Star Magic she could run and jump and throw with amazing speed and skill. She whooped as she swung after Juniper, as agile as a squirrel herself.
Willow nuzzled Sita’s hands while Bracken raced round Maia and stopped in a play bow, his bottom in the air and his tail waving. “I love being here!” he said.
Maia laughed. She knew she had to tell the others about what she’d seen in the mirror but for a moment she just wanted to enjoy herself. “Me, too.”
Lottie grabbed a hazelnut from a bush and threw it gently at Maia. Her accuracy was spot on and it hit Maia’s head. “Just getting some target practice in!” she said, grinning cheekily.
She somersaulted effortlessly down to the ground but too late she realized that she had landed in a pile of nettles. “Ow!” she yelped.
“Don’t worry,” Sita called. “I’ll help.”
Lottie hobbled over and Sita laid her hands on the nettle stings. Within a few seconds the pain had cleared from Lottie’s face.
“You’ve made it better,” Lottie said, examining her leg. The rash had vanished.
Sita grinned. She was still amazed by the way her healing abilities worked. “It’s just like magic!”
Lottie chuckled and then ran towards Maia. “Tag!” she said, tapping Maia’s shoulder and darting away.
Maia raced after her. She couldn’t begin to match Lottie’s speed but she could use her magic to see where Lottie was heading. It was a strange feeling. When the magic was flowing through her, she just had to relax until she saw a shining outline appear around Lottie. The outline moved a split second before Lottie did, which meant Maia could sprint to the right place. “Got you!” she cried in triumph as her outstretched fingers touched Lottie’s shoulder.
Lottie tagged her back in an instant and climbed a tree trunk.
“No going up trees!” called Sita who was watching with her arm round Willow’s neck. “That’s not fair on Maia.”
Lottie leaped down and raced to the river, leaping sure-footedly from one slippery rock to another. “Can’t catch me, Maia!”
“Someone’s coming!” called Sita in alarm.
In an instant the three Star Animals vanished. Lottie and Maia swung round, just as a girl with red hair came pushing through the cow parsley into the clearing. Ionie, Maia realized with relief. A wildcat with a sleek tabby coat and slanting indigo eyes materialized at Ionie’s side. Bracken, Juniper and Willow instantly reappeared, too.
“Sorry we’re late,” Ionie said.
“Don’t worry,” said Sita, smiling. “We haven’t done anything yet really.”
Sorrel, the wildcat, stalked forwards. “I can see that. I would have thought you would have been practising your magic properly.”
“Just because the girls were having fun, doesn’t mean they weren’t learning more about their magic,” Bracken protested. “They’re … um…”
“Practising teamwork,” Juniper put in helpfully.
“That’s it, practising teamwork!” said Bracken.
“Hmm,” Sorrel said disbelievingly. Sitting down, she flicked her tail round her paws. “Well, now Ionie and I are here, why doesn’t Ionie show you all how well she can shadow-travel. Ionie’s magical abilities are coming on in leaps and bounds,” she said smugly.
“Should I show you what I can do now?” Ionie said eagerly, walking to a patch of shadows under an oak tree and looking at the others. “I’ve learned to use shadows to travel wherever I want. I just imagine where I want to go and then I come out in the nearest patch of shadows to that place. Watch!” She stepped into the shadows and disappeared, appearing a few seconds later in another patch of shadows on the far side of the clearing. “Ta-da!” she said, grinning and holding up her hands. “Isn’t that awesome?”
“That’s great!” said Sita, clapping.
“Exceptional girl,” purred Sorrel. “So talented.”
Lottie rolled her eyes at Maia.
“What?” Ionie said in surprise, catching the look. “Don’t you two think it’s good?”
“Yeah,” said Maia, shrugging. “It’s great, I guess.” It was a cool thing to do but did Ionie really have to show off quite so much?
“I’ll do it again,” Ionie said quickly, as if afraid she wasn’t impressing them enough. “I’ll go further this time.”
Bracken nudged Maia’s hand. “Maia, you need to tell the others what you saw in the mirror earlier.”
“Oh yes,” Maia remembered. “Wait, Ionie! There’s something I really have to talk to everyone about. I saw some things when I was using my magic at home earlier – worrying things.”
“Yes, let’s listen to Maia,” said Lottie, giving Ionie a pointed look. “After all, that’s why we came here. Not to watch you do magic.”
Ionie frowned. “I only wanted to show you because I think it’s really important that we know each other’s abilities – especially if we have to fight a Shade again one day.”
“Ionie’s right,” said Sita. “It is important, so we can work as a team. But right now, why don’t we hear what Maia has to say? Let’s sit down and she can tell us what’s going on.”
As she listened to Sita’s words, Maia felt her irritation melt away and she found herself nodding in agreement. Sita’s magic meant she was able to calm and soothe people and animals as well as healing them, and she was getting better at it all the time.
The tension vanished and they all sat down on rocks and tree stumps. Maia quickly told them about the images she’d seen in the mirror. “The third image was of a girl with something coming towards her,” she finished. She decided not to mention that it was Lottie, in case it worried her friend. “She looked really scared.”
“I wonder why you saw those things?” said Sita.
“Maia asked the magic to show her what she needed to see,” Bracken explained. “It must have shown her those images because they’re important in some way in the future.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Sorrel said with a shrug. “Everyone knows that looking into the future is a particularly difficult type of magic. Maia might just have got it wrong.”
“I bet she didn’t!” Lottie protested.
“I think we should investigate,” he said. “I’m worried that Maia saw those images because a Shade will make those things happen.”
“Do we have to look out for creepy talking mirrors again?” said Sita with a shiver.
Willow shook her head. “The Shade could be trapped in any object.”
“The deer is right,” said Sorrel. “There are all different kinds of Shades – Nightmare Shades, Ink Shades, Wish Shades. Some live in mirrors and talk to people and make them do bad things, like that Mirror Shade. Others can bring bad luck or trap people in different ways.”
“Are Shades controlled by the person who conjured them?” Ionie asked.
“No,” said Sorrel. “A Shade can be trapped but not controlled. Someone using dark magic can choose which type of Shade best suits their evil purposes. Then they trap them in an object and put it in someone’s possession. If a Shade is not trapped, they will be free to affect whoever they like.”
“But who would trap a Shade – and why?” said Sita.
“Someone who wanted to cause trouble,” said Sorrel darkly.
“What should we do?” said Lottie.
“Well, if you all really think we need to take these visions seriously, we should try and find out if any dark magic has been used,” said Sorrel. “As you all know, I am excellent at smelling out Shades.”
“Willow can smell out Shades, too,” Lottie pointed out.
“Not as well as Sorrel,” admitted Willow.
Just as humans had different abilities with magic, Star Animals also had different abilities and some of them were more sensitive to dark magic than others.
“I know, Sorrel! Why don’t you and I shadow-travel around to see if you can detect a Shade anywhere in the village?” Ionie suggested.
Maia nodded in agreement. “Good plan.”
Ionie jumped to her feet.
“Wait!” said Lottie quickly. “That’s too dangerous. What if you do find a Shade and get into a fight with it?”
“There won’t be a fight,” said Ionie. “I’m a Spirit Speaker, remember. If I meet a Shade I can just command it to go back to the shadows.”
Sorrel rubbed her head against Ionie’s hand. “Your bravery is admirable, Ionie. But it may not be that simple. Remember what I have told you – you need a Shade to look you in the eyes before you can command it, and you need to be in full control of your magic.”
“Don’t go off on your own, Ionie,” said Sita. “The Mirror Shade was horrible.”
“Sita’s right,” said Lottie. “I think we should wait and see what happens. If there is a Shade nearby then strange things will start to happen. When they do, we can come up with a plan.”
“No! I think we should try and stop bad things before they happen. We should do something right now.” Ionie turned impatiently to Maia. “Maia, you agree with me, don’t you?”
Maia remembered the image she had seen of Lottie looking terrified. She desperately wanted to stop that from happening but she didn’t think Ionie should really go rushing off on her own, and she also didn’t want to hurt Lottie and Sita’s feelings by siding with Ionie. Perhaps Sorrel was right and the images she had seen weren’t going to come true. “Umm…” She glanced round. “Well, maybe we don’t need to do anything just yet.”
Ionie frowned. “You don’t really think that.”
“Yes, she does,” said Lottie, linking arms with Maia. “And Sita agrees with us, too. Don’t you, Sita?”
Sita gave a nod.
Sorrel glared at Bracken. “Come on, fox. You know we need to act. Persuade your human to change her mind.”
Bracken pressed against Maia’s legs. “Whatever Maia wants, I’m happy with.”
“It’s decided then,” said Lottie quickly. “If a Shade is doing things, it will become obvious and we can make a plan then. In the meantime, we just wait.”
Ionie’s mouth tightened as she looked at the three of them standing together. “Fine. I’m going home.”
“Ionie – don’t,” said Sita, holding out her hand.
But Ionie ignored her. She walked towards a shadow at the edge of the clearing and Sorrel leaped after her. As soon as Ionie’s feet touched the shadow, she vanished. Sorrel hissed at the others and then vanished, too.
“Oh, why does Ionie have to be a Star Friend?” Lottie cried in frustration.
“We shouldn’t have upset her,” said Sita.
“All we did was vote against her plan,” said Lottie. “There was no need for her to go off in a big huff.”
Maia felt torn. She couldn’t stop thinking about the image of Lottie and wondering if she should have sided with Ionie. What if the things she had seen were accurate and something horrible happened to her friend? What if it turned out she could have done something to stop it? An icy finger ran down her spine.
Juniper leaped from Lottie’s shoulders, ran to a nearby tree and raced up the trunk. “Let’s not just stand around. We should make the most of the time that’s left.”
“Juniper’s right,” said Lottie. “Let’s practise our magic. If we do end up fighting a Shade again, we’ll need our magic to be as strong as possible. The more we practise the better we’ll get.”
She charged after Juniper and climbed the tree. She swung on to a high branch and dropped down, so she was dangling from her hands, then she swung along the branch like a monkey.
Sita went to the base of the tree and repaired the stems of a clump of ferns that had been squashed in the earlier game of tag.
Bracken nudged Maia’s hand with his nose. “Are you going to practise your magic, too?”
She sighed. “I don’t really feel like it.” Kneeling down, she wrapped her arms round him and hugged him tight. He licked her cheek comfortingly.
Oh, please let Lottie be OK, Maia thought as she watched Lottie drop down from the branch and cartwheel effortlessly across the grass. Please let the vision I saw be wrong.
When the sun started to set, the girls went to fetch their bikes from Granny Anne’s garden. A slim, grey-haired lady was pruning the rose bush beside the front door.
“Auntie Mabel!” Maia said, waving.
The old lady looked round. “Hello, Maia. I thought I’d pop down here and tidy up the garden for your mum and dad.”
“That’s really kind of you,” Maia said. Auntie Mabel had been one of Granny Anne’s closest friends.
Lottie and Sita picked up their bikes. “You two go on,” Maia told them. “I’ll stay with Auntie Mabel for a while.”
“OK. See you tomorrow,” Sita said, and she and Lottie cycled away up the lane.
“So, how are you?” Auntie Mabel asked Maia.
“Good, thanks. How about you, Auntie Mabel?”
“Oh, I’ve been keeping myself busy,” Auntie Mabel replied. “I’m helping with the Bonfire Night event in the playing field next week. I’ve also been tidying up the village green and doing some knitting for the Christmas Fayre.”
“Granny Anne used to do all those things,” Maia said, feeling a flicker of sadness.
“I know,” Auntie Mabel said. “I’ve never really got involved before but now she’s no longer with us, I thought I should step in and help. I have to say, I’m quite enjoying it.” Clipping her pruning shears shut, she sat down on a bench at the front of the cottage. She patted it and Maia sat down beside her. “When I saw you a few weeks ago, you told me about a young fox with indigo eyes that you’d seen in the woods. Have you seen him again?”
Maia hesitated. The Star Animals were a secret but surely it was OK to say she’d seen him again. “Actually, I have. Quite a few times.”
“And…” the old lady prompted.
“And what?” said Maia, puzzled.
Auntie Mabel dropped her voice. “Have you discovered his secret?”
Maia stared. Secret? Auntie Mabel couldn’t know about Star Animals, could she? Bracken had said there weren’t any
other Star Animals in the area, so she knew Auntie Mabel couldn’t be a Star Friend.
Auntie Mabel leaned even closer. “Have you discovered that he’s a Star Animal, Maia?”
Maia’s mouth fell open in surprise.
Auntie Mabel chuckled as she saw the shock on her face. “It’s all right, my dear. I know all about Star Animals – your granny was a Star Friend. Did you know that?”
“No … but … but I thought she might have been,” stammered Maia. “Are you a Star Friend, too?”
Auntie Mabel shook her head. “I always wanted to be but I was never lucky enough to meet a Star Animal. Once when we were about the same age as you, I turned up at your granny’s house unexpectedly and saw her with her Star Animal – she was a silver wolf.”
Mia caught her breath. A silver wolf! Granny Anne had always loved wolves – her cottage had been full of wolf pictures and ornaments. That explained why!
“Your granny explained to me about Star Animals and swore me to secrecy,” Auntie Mabel went on. “She would tell me about her magic adventures and, when I got a bit older, I learned that you didn’t need to be a Star Friend to do magic. I found out how to use crystals to channel magic to heal and help people.” She patted Maia’s hand. “Your granny and I worked together over the years. Now you’re a Star Friend, I’d like to do the same with you, too.”
Maia was lost for words. Part of her was really excited at the thought of talking to Auntie Mabel about magic. But she had promised Bracken she wouldn’t mention the Star World to anyone who wasn’t a Star Friend. She hesitated. If Auntie Mabel knew about it already and if Granny Anne had trusted her, then surely it would be fine if she did, too?
“Would you like my help?” Auntie Mabel’s eyes twinkled.
Maia smiled. “Yes, please!”
“So the fox is your Star Animal?” said Auntie Mabel.
Wish Trap Page 2