by Lari Don
Innes raised his face to the sky and howled.
Molly became a slim long-legged deer.
Before she crossed the water, she turned away from her friends and bounded across the heather just to enjoy the speed, the smells, the drumming of hooves on the ground. Then she leapt the burn, rolled over and jumped up as a girl.
Innes laughed.
Molly grinned. “It’s only the hare I can choose to become. It seems all the other animals have to be triggered by a noise outside me. But I haven’t experimented. It’s too dangerous on my own.”
“Molly, that’s horrible,” said Beth.
Innes said, “It’s not horrible. It’s amazing! You can shapeshift into lots more animals than I can. Most of which I’m going to thrash in a race. A horse against a mouse or a worm, that’s going to be so easy. I’m going to win everything this holiday!”
“No more races!” said Beth. “You can’t stay like this, Molly. You have to get rid of this curse. You surely don’t want to be a worm ever again?”
“I didn’t want to be a worm that time.”
Beth frowned. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d truly committed to doing whatever is necessary to lift your curse.”
“Whatever is necessary? Like becoming a witch? You know the only way I can force Mr Crottel to lift the curse is to beat him in magical combat, and the only way I can do that is to embrace my family’s ancient heritage and become a witch. But given the choice between being a part-time hare or a full-time witch, I think the cursed hare is a better option.”
“And that’s handy for you, because you like being a hare,” said Beth.
“Yes, I do. It’s inconvenient and dangerous, but if I hadn’t been cursed I wouldn’t have met all of you. Also, I get to beat Innes in races.”
“You don’t always beat me, sometimes we cross the finish line together.”
“That’s only happened once. You’ve never actually won. So, I’m good at being a hare and I enjoy it, most of the time. But I feel really vulnerable as a tiny rodent, and when I’m not a mammal I feel like I might forget about my real self and forget to cross a boundary. Which means I think Beth is probably right now: I need to find a way to get rid of the curse.”
Innes said, “When you helped us lift our curses, we promised to help you lift yours. So if you’re sure this is what you want…?”
Molly nodded at him.
“…then I will help you break your curse.”
“Me too,” said Beth.
“And me,” said Atacama.
TO BE CONTINUED
Copyright
Kelpies is an imprint of Floris Books
First published in 2017 by Floris Books
First published in the USA in 2017
© 2017 Lari Don
This eBook edition published in 2017
Lari Don asserts her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be recognised as the Author of this Work. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced without prior permission of Floris Books, Edinburgh
www.florisbooks.co.uk
The publisher acknowledges subsidy from Creative Scotland towards the publication of this volume
British Library CIP Data available
ISBN 978–178250–341–5