Cloud Magic Page 2

  Aunt Alice squeezed Erin’s arm. ‘Would you like a biscuit and a drink?’

  Erin hesitated, but she could tell there was no point saying anything more about the sky horses to Aunt Alice and Jo. They would not believe her. It’s just me, she thought. Maybe I’m going mad. Unless… unless it’s magic!

  The word rang out in her head. Her mind whirled.

  Please let it be magic, she thought.

  Later that afternoon, Jo and Erin walked back to their house in the village. As they walked in through the front door, Jake, Erin’s twelve-year-old brother, came charging down the stairs with a ball under his arm.

  ‘Goal!’ he yelled, shooting the ball over the banisters so that it almost knocked Erin’s head off. It bounced on to the floor and crashed into a table.

  Ben and Sam, who were fourteen and fifteen, hurried through from the kitchen to the lounge where the telly was blaring out a football match. ‘It’s going to be two–one,’ Ben was saying.

  ‘Nah, I reckon it’s going to be three all and go to penalties,’ said Sam.

  ‘Hi, boys,’ Jo said wryly. ‘Nice to see you too.’

  Erin hurried up to her bedroom and closed the door, shutting out the sound of the TV and the voices. Her room was small, just big enough for a bed, a wardrobe and a desk. But it had a window at the end with a wide sill. There was an old dark wooden box on it filled with hagstones. It had once belonged to her mum. Not Jo, her stepmum, but her real mum, who had died when Erin was three. Erin had always liked to play with the stones.

  Sitting down on the windowsill, Erin pulled the box towards her. Putting the hagstone she had found at the beach down beside her, she nervously picked up another stone from the box. Would she still see the horses with a different stone?

  She held it to the skies. There they were! The clouds were grey and thick, jagged in places like mountain ranges. There were mares with young foals, older horses, a group of young stallions. She had never seen such beautiful horses. They had manes and tails that swept to the floor, large dark eyes, delicate legs and arched necks. They were just as she had always imagined unicorns would be, but without the horns.

  ‘Weather weaver!’ A commanding voice suddenly seemed to echo into her mind. Erin swung round. It sounded like someone was speaking just behind her, but there was nobody there.

  ‘W-what… w-who…?’ Erin stammered, looking around her bedroom wildly. ‘What…?’

  ‘Do not be scared. I am a sky stallion.’ The voice was strong but gentle at the same time. ‘The hagstone you are holding lets you hear me in your thoughts. Only weather weavers can do this.’

  Erin’s head spun. ‘A… a weather weaver! What’s that?’

  ‘You are a weather weaver, child. You have just never realized it before. What is your name?’

  ‘Erin. What… who are you?’

  ‘My name is Tor. I usually lead the herd you have seen in the skies. We control the weather through our movements. Sometimes we bring rain, sometimes wind, sometimes clear days. But now a dark one has come who seeks to take control of the weather so that all shall live in fear. The dark one has trapped me here on Earth using magic. Without me, my sky herd is restless. If I do not return soon, I fear that fighting will break out and that the weather will descend into chaos, bringing storms and devastation to this land.’

  Erin shivered as she remembered Aunt Alice’s story about the last great storm.

  ‘Erin,’ Tor’s voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘I need your help.’

  Erin blinked. ‘My help? But what can I do?’

  ‘You must use the power you have as a weather weaver to –’ Tor broke off. ‘The dark one comes!’ He whinnied fiercely and then suddenly there was silence.

  ‘H-hello?’ Erin said quickly. ‘Are you there? Tor?’

  There was no reply.

  Erin felt totally bewildered. The words that she had just heard echoed around her head: my sky herd is restless… the weather will descend into chaos… you must use the power you have…

  She held the stone tightly. Maybe the stallion would talk some more. She desperately wanted to know how she could help him.

  ‘Hello?’ she said. ‘Tor?’

  But nothing happened.

  ‘Erin! We’re all going down to the beach. Get your things,’ her dad called up the stairs.

  Erin stood up shakily and went to the door. She didn’t want to go in case Tor tried to talk to her again. She had to find out more. ‘Can’t I stay here, Dad?’ she asked, looking out and feeling very strange.

  Her dad shook his head. ‘Sorry, sweetheart. You’re not old enough to stay home on your own. You know that.’

  Erin knew there was no point arguing. She fetched a book and, putting the hagstone into her pocket, she went downstairs and got into the car with her brothers. Their village was only a short drive away from a busy sandy beach just along the coast. While her dad and her brothers played football on the sand, Erin found a quiet place near the edge of the sand dunes and opened her book, but she ended up not reading a word. Her thoughts were too full of what had happened.

  Magic really existed! She could hardly believe it, but it did. A sky stallion – a horse made up of actual clouds – had spoken to her and told her she was something called a weather weaver. Erin was tempted to look at the clouds again through the hagstone, but she knew if her brothers or dad noticed they would ask her what she was doing and think she was strange.

  The skies were grey. She rubbed the goosebumps on her bare arms, not knowing whether to feel excited or alarmed. She really wished she could share it with someone. But who? Not Fran and Katie, that was for sure. They would just laugh at her. And Dad, Jo and her brothers were out of the question. They already thought she had an overactive imagination. They’d never believe her! Oh, if only I had someone I could talk to, she thought longingly.

  She remembered what Tor had said about how a storm would come if he didn’t return to the skies soon. What if it was a really big storm like the one Aunt Alice remembered? What if it was so bad that people were killed again? Erin looked at her brothers and her dad. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to them – to anyone. She had to help stop it if she could. But she didn’t have the faintest idea what she could do

  Just then her dad left the others and came jogging up the beach towards her. ‘Hey, Erin!’ he called. ‘We’re going to go and get something to eat at the café. Do you want to come too?’

  ‘Yep.’ Erin got slowly to her feet.

  Her dad looked at her worried face. ‘Are you OK, sweetheart?’ he asked in concern. ‘You don’t look very happy.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Erin said quickly. ‘It’s just… just a sad bit in my book.’

  ‘You need cheering up then,’ her dad said. ‘How does a hot dog and chips followed by a banana split sound?’

  Erin forced a smile. ‘It sounds great, Dad. Thanks.’

  And, trying to push thoughts of the hagstone and the sky stallion into the back of her mind for now, she followed her dad towards the bright and bustling café.

  C H A P T E R

  Three

  Before Erin went to bed that night, she went over to the wooden box on her windowsill and ran her fingers through the smooth hagstones, searching for something buried deep inside them. Her fingers found the scrap of paper that her mum had always kept in the box with the stones.

  She took it out. It was old and the writing had faded. At some point in time someone had spilt some water or a drink on the bottom half of the page and the ink there had washed completely away leaving only a few faint marks. The bits she could read sounded almost like a poem. She knew it well.

  When the dark one returns, the door shall be reopened

  And danger will threaten all living below.

  If the binding is broken, they can be protected,

  But one coming willingly lets the dark’s power grow.

  Until…

  And that was it. The rest of the words had been washed away.

/>   She reread the first line again. The dark one. The words had been niggling at her. Just before Tor had stopped speaking to her she was sure he had said: ‘The dark one is here.’

  Erin shivered. Was it just coincidence? Oh, Tor, she thought longingly, speak to me again.

  She got into bed. Exhausted by everything that had happened that day, she soon fell asleep, her hand holding the hagstone. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but some time later she was aware of a voice in her head.

  ‘Weather weaver!’

  ‘Tor! Is that you?’ she said, not knowing if she was dreaming or awake.

  ‘Yes. Come and find me near World’s End,’ he said urgently. ‘Search for the black weathervane of a rearing horse. You will find me close by. I need your magic to return to the skies and stop the storms.’

  ‘But what magic?’ Erin asked, confused.

  ‘Your weather-weaving magic. You have many powers, Erin, that you do not know about yet, but to learn about them you must first discover your stardust form.’

  ‘W-what’s that?’ Erin stammered in confusion.

  Tor broke off with a squeal and there was silence.

  Erin suddenly found herself blinking her eyes open. She realized she was in her silent bedroom, lying in her bed in the dark. Clutching the stone, she sat up.

  She swallowed. She was sure the stallion speaking to her hadn’t been a dream. She thought about what Tor had said. She didn’t know anything of the ‘stardust’ he had mentioned, but World’s End – she knew that.

  Almost before realizing what she was doing, Erin jumped out of bed. She was filled with an irresistible urge to go to World’s End. Glancing at her clock, she saw it was well past midnight. The house was quiet. Everyone must be asleep. Pulling on her jeans and T-shirt, she left the room. She knew she shouldn’t go, but something was pushing her on. She tiptoed down the stairs and let herself out of the back door.

  Seconds later, Erin was running down the deserted street. Her heart pounded in her chest so hard she could hardly breathe. She knew that if Jo and her dad found out she was outside the house in the middle of the night, she would be in real trouble. She would never have gone out on her own normally, but all she could think about was going to World’s End and seeing if she could find Tor. Erin’s imagination overflowed with the magic and adventure of it all. She ran down the lane past Aunt Alice’s house. I have to go to World’s End. He’s near there. If I find him, he’ll be able to tell me more and tell me what I can do to help.

  The moon was full and lit her way across the cliff top. She scrambled and slipped down the path to the beach near World’s End where she had first seen the horses among the clouds. Reaching it, she paused and looked around at the waves moving in and out, pulling at the shingle. What should she do now? She didn’t know. She took a deep breath. Suddenly she felt very alone, out there in the starlit night.

  ‘Tag!’

  Erin jumped as a girl’s voice came out of the sky.

  ‘Got you!’

  ‘No, you didn’t!’

  ‘Yes, I did!’

  Erin looked around wildly. There was no one there.

  ‘No, you didn’t!’

  Erin gasped as suddenly two girls, both her age, appeared out of thin air, flying in the starry sky. ‘B-but – b-but…’ she stammered.

  At the sound of her voice the girls looked down. They both looked horrified.

  ‘Camouflagus!’ Erin heard them say, and they both vanished instantly.

  ‘Wait!’ Erin shouted. ‘Who are you? Come back!’ Hope surged through her. She didn’t know who they were, but they must be magic. Maybe they could help her? ‘Please! Do you know anything about sky horses? About weather weaving? Come back. I really need your help!’

  The air shimmered and one of the girls appeared. She had blonde corkscrew curls and was wearing a silver dress. Erin frowned. She looked oddly familiar.

  ‘Allegra!’ a voice exclaimed and then the other girl appeared. She had dark wavy hair and was wearing a golden dress.

  Erin suddenly recognized them. It was the two girls she had seen on the cliff path that day. ‘What… what’s happening?’ she whispered. ‘Who are you? Are… are you…’ she stared at them and said the only thing she could think of: ‘… fairies?’

  The blonde girl smiled. ‘Don’t be silly.’ She flew down and landed lightly on the shingle beside her. ‘We’re stardust spirits, of course!’

  C H A P T E R

  Four

  Erin stared at the blonde girl. ‘Stardust spirits?’

  ‘Yes, but you must be one too if you’ve heard about sky horses and weather weaving,’ said the blonde girl. ‘I’m Allegra, by the way. And this is Chloe,’ she added as the dark-haired girl landed next to her on the beach.

  ‘Hi,’ Chloe said easily. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘My name’s Erin.’ Erin shrugged helplessly.

  ‘What do you know about weather weaving?’ Allegra asked.

  ‘Nothing apart from the fact I think I might be a weather weaver.’ Erin saw their astonished looks. ‘It’s a long story.’

  ‘Tell us,’ urged Allegra.

  So Erin took a deep breath and told them about discovering she was a weather weaver and everything that had happened to her that day, including the sky stallion speaking to her and telling her he was trapped.

  ‘Wow!’ said Chloe as Erin finished. ‘That sounds so cool! I’ve never even heard of sky horses.’

  ‘I have though. It’s because Chloe’s only been a stardust spirit for two days,’ Allegra quickly explained. ‘But I’ve been a stardust spirit for ages. Xanthe, my mum, is one too. When we saw you at the beach today, she said she thought you looked like you might have stardust powers. She’s really good at recognizing people who have. She was right this time!’

  Allegra seemed to see the bewilderment on Erin’s face. ‘Do you want to sit down and I’ll tell you all about stardust?’

  Erin nodded and they sat down together on the large rocks at the bottom of the cliff. The stone felt reassuringly solid beneath Erin’s legs. She felt almost as if she was in a dream. She believed in magic, but this was all so weird!

  ‘Being a stardust spirit is brilliant!’ Chloe burst out before Allegra could begin. ‘You can fly and do magic!’

  Allegra grinned. ‘Every person in the world has stardust inside them – it’s what makes humans imaginative and creative. But some people have extra stardust and these people can turn into stardust spirits at night time.’

  ‘We have to help nature – using our magic to put right any wrongs done by people,’ Chloe added.

  ‘And you’re saying I am a stardust spirit,’ said Erin slowly.

  Allegra nodded. ‘Weather weavers are a special kind of stardust spirit. It’s very unusual to be a weather weaver though – they can talk to the sky horses like you can and do magic with hagstones. I don’t know much more about them because I’ve never met one before. I bet Xanthe would love to meet you. She’s not with us tonight because she had some other stardust spirits to see; everyone is really worried about the strange weather that’s been happening and it sounds like you’ve found out the reason for it all. Xanthe and I go home to Devon tomorrow – we’ve been staying at Chloe’s house for the last few days…’

  ‘Xanthe’s my godmother as well as being Allegra’s mum,’ Chloe put in. ‘She and Allegra told me about stardust two nights ago. They made it sound as if it was a story, but as soon as I heard about it I had to try and turn into a stardust spirit to see if it was real.’

  ‘So how do I become a stardust spirit?’ Erin asked anxiously. ‘I don’t know how to be like you – how to fly!’

  Allegra rose into the air, her green eyes twinkling as she looked down at Erin. ‘You need to stand in the starlight and say “I believe in stardust” three times,’ she instructed. ‘The first time you do it the stars have to be in the right place otherwise it won’t work, but they are at the moment.’

  ‘You’ve got to reall
y, really mean the words as you say them,’ warned Chloe.

  That part was easy for Erin. After all the magic that had happened and having seen Allegra and Chloe flying in the sky, Erin had no doubt that stardust was real. She took a deep breath. ‘I believe in stardust. I believe in stardust. I believe in stardust!’

  As Erin said the words for the third time, all the weight seemed to drain out of her body and she suddenly shot up into the air. She cried out, realizing that her jeans and T-shirt had changed into a sparkling pale-blue dress, the colour of a clear winter sky. ‘Oh wow!’ she exclaimed.

  Allegra and Chloe quickly flew up to join her and took her hands.

  ‘How does it feel?’ Chloe grinned at her.

  ‘Amazing!’ breathed Erin, looking around her.

  ‘Oh, this is so exciting!’ Chloe twirled round in the air. ‘I was dreading Allegra and Xanthe going home because Xanthe thought there weren’t any other stardust spirits who lived near here, but now there’s you! We can go flying together and meet up every night – if you want to, of course?’

  ‘Oh yes!’ Erin said eagerly. ‘I’d love to!’ Normally she was shy when she first met people, but she didn’t feel shy with Chloe and Allegra at all.

  ‘We’ll show you how to fly!’ said Allegra. She and Chloe guided Erin around the sky, showing her how to go up and down, turn round, spin in circles and camouflage herself so no one could see her and it appeared as if she had vanished into the sky. Allegra then left her with Chloe on the beach and darted around, showing how it was possible to do steep dives, somersaults and pirouettes.