The stars became brighter and she heard foxes barking in the forest. Claudia’s face loomed over her, making her jump. “What are you doing?”
Laney tried to sit up. “I had a…row with Jessie. Then she hit me with these hailstones.”
Claudia raised her eyebrows. “So much for people in the same tribe sticking together. She’s never really liked you, has she?”
“I guess not.” Laney got up and brushed the half-melted ice off her dress. “I need to learn how to do that hailstone thing. Then if she tries it again I’ll get her back.”
“That’s the spirit,” said Claudia.
Laney looked at her, noticing for the first time that she was in human form. “How did you know I was here?”
“I didn’t. I was just wandering around a bit and talking to the cats. They’re still freaked out by the red moon last night, same as the grown-ups are. But at least the river’s back to its normal colour.”
“It’s not red any more?” Laney felt relieved. At least everyone would stop being upset about what she’d done.
“Yeah, don’t do that again. It looked gross.” Claudia paused. “Why are you out here anyway?”
“I had to meet the Elders in Hobbin Forest. They wanted to test my Mist powers because of the red moon.” Laney clenched her hands for a moment, remembering how much it had hurt.
“Weird,” said Claudia. “They’re really stressed out about this red moon thing. But us Greytails don’t believe in that kind of stuff. Did you say my mum was there?”
Laney nodded. “I didn’t know she was an Elder.”
They began walking across the field together. “She’s the only Greytail Elder in the village, worse luck, and she never lets me forget it. So what kind of test was it?”
“They used this thread. They made it into a loop and put it around me—”
“The Seeing Thread?” Claudia’s eyes nearly popped. “No way! That’s serious stuff. They use it for judging spell crimes and things like that, but I’ve never heard of it being used on someone young before. Does it hurt as much as it’s supposed to?”
“It was horrible but it was over quickly, I guess.” Laney didn’t add that she’d gone to save Toby from having to go through it. She was sure Gwen wouldn’t have wanted Toby tested, but Stingwood was definitely nasty enough to do it.
“Did they find anything?” said Claudia.
“Not really. I’m not supposed to be the greatest Mist faerie of the century or anything.” Claudia shot Laney a sideways look, her eyes thoughtful.
They came to the footpath that ran behind the village. From there, they turned up Oldwing Rise and stopped outside Laney’s house.
“I’ll never get back up there.” Laney looked in despair at her open window. “I don’t want to wake my dad up.”
“I can help you get back in. Just give me a minute.” Claudia fiddled with the front door for a moment and it opened noiselessly. “It’s an old Greytail trick,” she said. “They don’t have cat burglars for nothing. Isn’t that right, Dizzy?”
Miaow! A small black cat ran over and circled round Claudia’s ankles.
“Do all Greytails like cats as much as you?” said Laney.
“Course they do! Cats are one of the few animals that can see faerie magic. That makes them special. Go, and I’ll lock it again behind you.”
Laney crept upstairs and into her bedroom. Her back still felt sore from where she had hit the ground, but more than anything she felt angry – with Jessie and with the icy Miss Reed. She looked in the mirror and a pair of gold-ringed eyes glared back. So what if twelve years old was freakishly late to Awaken? She would show them all. She would become just as good at faerie magic as anyone in Skellmore.
Laney dreamed that she was falling. Darkness rushed past her. She stretched out her wings and tried to fly, but they barely slowed the speed of her fall. Then a black shape flew overhead, blotting out the stars.
At last her wings began to work and she swooped down over Oldwing Rise, looking for somewhere to hide. Behind her she heard the sweep of massive wings. She landed in the churchyard and crouched down behind a gravestone, fear creeping up her spine. She couldn’t see the black shape any more but she could feel that it was close. Even the trees next to the church wall seemed to shiver.
The stars overhead were clear and bright, but something moved in the corner of Laney’s eye. She turned her head, slowly, towards the far corner. There was a small pond, fenced off from the rest of the churchyard to keep children safe. A black shape bent down over the surface of the pond and spread out its wings.
It was the same dark shape she’d seen by the river on the night of the red moon. She was sure of it. She hadn’t seen any wings then, but it used the same horrible sliding movement. She knew she had to get away but a cold feeling crept through her, making it hard to move. The coldness grew stronger and she clasped her numb hands together.
The black shape was moving round the edge of the pond. It bent over as if it was searching for something. It circled the pond for a long time, then with a sudden sweep of its wings it turned, knocking over part of the fence that surrounded the water. There was a loud crack as the wood splintered. Laney gasped, shocked at the proof that the figure was solid and real.
The figure scanned the churchyard, its wings spread out like a venomous bat’s. Laney crouched as low as she could as it took flight and rose into the sky.
She woke up with her heart pounding.
Grateful that it was only a dream, she opened her curtains and looked at the churchyard opposite. Nothing was moving and the stars were covered by cloud. She closed the curtains tightly and lay back down in bed, wishing that she could wipe the picture of the dark figure from her mind.
When she woke up, the room was full of daylight. She got dressed and went downstairs to find her dad waiting for her. She tried to smile, but she still couldn’t get used to his gold-ringed eyes.
“Morning, love,” he said. “Simon and I are doing a job in town this morning and then we’re driving back at lunchtime. Would you like a lift in with us? You’ve probably got friends there that you want to see.”
Laney’s heart leaped. A lift into Pennington! Except that Steph would be on holiday by now so they wouldn’t be able to meet up. “I don’t know. I might just hang out here.” She put some bread into the toaster and got a plate from the cupboard.
“You’re not tired, are you?” Her dad paused. “Did you go out last night? I told you to leave the Elders to me. You are not to get involved with them. They’re awful people.”
“Gwen doesn’t seem awful,” Laney said, avoiding the question.
Her dad stiffened. “The Thorns are not to be trusted. You don’t know what the faerie tribes have done in the past.”
A shadow fell across the window. A black cat walked along the window ledge, glancing in at them. Her dad banged on the glass, making the cat jump down and run away across the garden. “Wretched Greytails,” he muttered.
“Dad? What have the Thorns done in the past?”
Mr Rivers hesitated before he said, “You’re too young to hear it.”
Laney scowled. He was still treating her like a child and after everything she’d put herself through.
“You haven’t answered me,” said her dad. “Did you go out last night?”
“I—” Laney broke off as the front door opened and Kim came in.
“Vandals!” said Kim. “Wretched vandals!” Simon Morden, Mr Rivers’ work mate, followed her in. “Morning, everyone,” he said, nearly tripping over Kim’s shopping bag with his long legs.
“Morning, Simon.” Mr Rivers turned to Kim. “What’s wrong, love?”
Laney wasn’t surprised when she saw that Simon had gold-ringed eyes. He’d worked with her dad for years, so he was likely to be a faerie too. He winked at her when Kim wasn’t looking. Laney smiled back and picked her toast out of the toaster.
“It makes me so cross,” said Kim, putting a loaf of bread down on the table. “I
was on my way back from the minimart and some vandals must have broken a fence last night. It’s completely smashed.”
Laney froze in the middle of buttering her toast. A fence had been smashed, just like in her dream. “Was it in the churchyard by the pond?”
“Yes it was.” Kim swung round on Laney. “What do you know about it? I hope you haven’t been mucking around. I heard that you’ve been in trouble at school. Craig told his mum that you broke a water fountain and caused a flood in the corridors. I told them that you weren’t the type to get in trouble.” She gave Laney a serious look.
Laney flushed.
“That wasn’t her fault,” Mr Rivers said quickly. “It was just an accident, so there’s no need to worry about it.”
Kim took another loaf out of the carrier bag. “Well, I didn’t know about any of that. You two are great ones for secrets!”
“It’s such a shame about the fence,” said Mr Rivers, quickly changing the subject. “It was put there to keep little children away from the water. That pond could be really dangerous.”
“You expect Skellmore to be safe from that kind of vandalism,” said Simon. “I hope they find the person who did it.”
Laney stared down at her toast. In her head she could hear the moment when the fence splintered and she could see the terrifying black shape with its wings spread. Feeling shaky, she finished eating and decided to go out.
Simon followed her to the front door. “Hey! Well done on…you know.” He grinned. “Joining the secret club, I guess. How are you finding it all so far?”
“Fine, thanks.” Laney forced a smile, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk about her life with one of her dad’s friends. “Er…I have to…”
“See you soon,” said Simon with a final wink.
Laney hurried down the front path, relieved to get away. Checking there was no one around, she let herself into the churchyard and walked over to the pond in the corner.
Dreamlike, she touched the broken wooden bars of the fence that circled the pond. Whatever did this was massively strong. So was it just chance that she’d dreamed of the broken fence on the same night, or had the dark shape really been here?
Laney wandered down to the High Street, trying to decide whether she should find Claudia and tell her about the dream. What could she say? Hey! Guess what I dreamed about last night? There was something spooky in the graveyard and now I think the whole thing was real!
If she tried to tell Claudia she would just end up looking stupid.
She watched the oak tree in the park for a few minutes, but it didn’t turn gold this time and there was only one group of petal-like sprites flying over the rooftops. The faerie houses still looked as strange as ever. One house on the corner of The Cattery, which was covered with dark spines, uttered a deep rumbling growl as she passed. But what Laney found hardest to get used to were the giant green cat eyes on the wall of the Lionhart Pet Shop. They followed her wherever she went, watching her every move as if she were a mouse to be pounced on.
She passed Mrs Mottle, who was chatting to her neighbour, Mrs Hughes, outside the minimart. Her dog was sitting beside her on its lead. “And would you believe, there were hailstones falling against my window last night,” she said, “and a shape flew over that was much too big to be a normal owl.”
Her neighbour laughed. “Perhaps it was the Eagle Man of Skellmore!”
Laney glanced at them guiltily. The thing Mrs Mottle had seen in the sky was probably her or Jessie. She would have to be more careful. She jumped as a tiger-like car zoomed past, all glowing eyes and sharp teeth. Claudia’s teenage brother Tom waved from inside it. The car growled, then pounced on a chocolate wrapper and chewed it up before roaring away again.
“Is he old enough to drive now?” Laney heard Mrs Mottle say behind her. “It’s a bit of an old banger, isn’t it?”
Laney hid a grin. Obviously only faeries could see the tiger features. But her smile faded as Craig came out of the shop clutching some packets of sweets. “Hey, Laney!” he called. “Bust any water fountains lately? Ow!” He dropped his sweets as a large drop of water from a drainpipe on the wall hit him right between the eyes.
Laney hurried on. She’d managed to do that on purpose, so at least her Mist skills weren’t totally useless.
Still wondering about her dream, she took the footpath down to the river. If she was going to practise using her Mist power it seemed like a good place to go. She stopped on the bridge and looked down at the bubbling water. It wasn’t just Mist skills she needed to improve. She didn’t know anything about flying and she couldn’t even change into faerie form when she wanted to. Last night’s transformation in front of Jessie had been easy because she was angry. Now she just had to do it without getting mad.
She closed her eyes and pictured herself with wings. But when she opened them again nothing had changed. She was still in jeans and a blue T-shirt with a tomato ketchup stain on the front.
Jessie and all the other faerie kids must think she was so stupid, not Awakening till she was twelve years old…
She shut her eyes and tried to put Jessie’s mocking face out of her mind. The sound of the rushing river filled her thoughts, drawing her in. A bubbling feeling rose inside her. Something brushed against her back and a pair of translucent wings unfolded from her shoulders. She opened her eyes. Her dress was the same pale blue as before and her skin shone.
Now she just had to find a way to fly.
She crossed the bridge to reach the field on the other side. A cloud of sprites swooped over her and flew away again. The dark mass of Hobbin Forest could be seen a couple of miles away and the unmistakable glimmer of magic hung in the air above it.
Laney struggled to spread her wings. Getting them to move was like using a new muscle, like running when she’d never used her legs before. But at the same time it felt weirdly normal.
She rose on to her tiptoes and sprang into the air. Her wings took her upwards for a few seconds before she bumped back down again. She tried again and this time managed to fly a few metres along the riverbank.
She paused, listening. There was a rustling, panting sound coming from the other side of the river. She heard a voice. “Slow down, Daisy! My legs aren’t as young as yours.”
Laney put out her arms, trying to hide her wings from view. Mrs Mottle must be just around the bend in the footpath. She was moments from being discovered like this and there was nowhere to hide. She should never have done this in daylight.
Pushing that thought away, she shut her eyes and wished she was back in human form, but the change didn’t happen.
A little long-haired dog scampered round the corner.
Laney did the only thing she could think of and dived into the river. The water closed round her like a sheet of silk and her wings moved, helping her to glide. This was easier than flying. She felt no need to breathe. This must be a Mist faerie skill – flying through the river with water wings.
Not wanting to be spotted coming back to the surface, she flew on. As her confidence grew, she turned head over heels and darted past a shoal of fish. She must have gone far enough now. Flying upwards, she peeked through the river’s surface. There were fields of sheep on both sides and no one else in sight. She shot into the air and hovered there, looking at the countryside around her.
A little way off there was a hilltop crowned by a massive circular stone with a hole in the middle. As soon as she saw it she knew where she was. This was Mencladden Hill. The standing stone was from the Bronze Age and sometimes holidaymakers came to visit it in the summer. She must have flown underwater for miles to get this far from Skellmore.
She landed on the riverbank and shook the water drops off her wings. Close by she saw a dark-green circle in the grass.
A faerie ring.
She walked towards it, her stomach flipping over. Yes, it was supposed to be dangerous. But what was it? Her dad had called it a gateway to the Otherworld. Wouldn’t it be great to see what was really
in there?
The ring wasn’t perfect. It had uneven edges, but the dark-green grass was unbroken all the way around. Inside, the grass looked completely normal, dotted with daisies and weeds. Once she was closer she could hear the faint sound of high voices singing. It made her skin tingle and she longed to hear them more clearly.
She took another step forwards.
“Laney!” A hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her backwards.
“No!” She struggled to shake the hand off. She was close to the edge of the ring and she was sure the voices were singing just for her.
The hand kept pulling her backwards and she realised that Fletcher Thornbeam was shaking her. “Laney, stop it! You can’t go in there.”
Laney pushed him away furiously. “Get off, Fletcher!”
“Listen to me, will you?” Fletcher glared at her. “You’ve got no idea what you’re doing. You’ve only been a faerie for five minutes. These rings are dangerous.”
Laney blinked and looked away. He thought she was stupid just like Jessie did. The little girl who didn’t even find out she was a faerie till she was twelve years old. Fletcher was in the year above at school. He probably thought she was a baby and this just made it official.
Suddenly she realised that they were hovering in mid-air. Fletcher was wearing a dark top and jeans, and a pair of smooth grey wings flared out behind him.
“I heard that you’d Awoken,” said Fletcher. “You look…different.”
Laney rolled her eyes. “Yeah? Well, I’m flying right now, so that would be different. You don’t need to explain about the rings. I already knew about them and I was only looking anyway.” She flew down to the ground and drew in her wings.
Fletcher pushed his dark fringe away from his face. “You just scared me standing there, right on the edge of it. My dad says he saw someone vanish i side one long ago. They’re deadly.”
Laney gazed at the ring feeling slightly sick. Suddenly it reminded her of a picture she’d seen of a black hole in space, dark and irresistible, sucking in everything around it.
The Crystal Mirror Page 7