Night Shade Read online

  “I’m entering this year. I love collecting things from the beach and making things,” said Alice. She winked at Maia. “And maybe the fairies at the bottom of my garden will give me a helping hand!”

  Maia smiled politely and escaped to join Ionie, who was looking at a display of friendship bracelets with silver charms on. “I like these – and look at those dreamcatchers.” Ionie pointed at the wall where some brightly coloured turquoise, purple and pink dreamcatchers were hanging. They were made with feathers and ribbon stitched on to a hoop. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Hang one at the end of your bed and they’ll catch any bad dreams as you sleep,” Alice called.

  “How much are they?” Ionie asked.

  “Eight pounds each,” said Alice. “But there are plenty of other cheaper things.” She pointed to the shelf beneath the dreamcatchers. “There are some sleep-easy herbs and oils, or you could get a crystal. Crystals like rose quartz can bring good dreams, too.”

  Maia felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the crystals on display. Auntie Mabel had used crystals to do dark magic.

  “I don’t think we’ll buy a crystal,” she said quickly. “Maybe a bracelet though.”

  She got out her purse and bought a bracelet. Ionie got one, too. Lottie bought a dragon egg and Sita bought a unicorn, although she couldn’t choose between them so in the end Lottie chose for her – Sita was hopeless at making decisions.

  “Right, come on, girls,” said Mrs Greene, checking her watch. “We really have to go.”

  “How was the movie?” Maia’s dad asked when Maia and her mum got home. He was in the kitchen making supper with Clio, Maia’s fifteen-year-old sister. Alfie, their little brother, was playing with his trains on the table.

  “It was good,” Maia said. It had been a funny film about animals on a rescue mission but she had found it hard to concentrate because she kept thinking about the clearing. She really wanted to talk to Bracken and she headed for the door.

  “Wait a mo. Before you go, I saw this today.” Mr Greene held up a flyer. “There’s a quiz at the village hall in a couple of weeks. I think we should enter as a family.”

  Clio groaned. “A quiz? Do we have to, Dad?”

  Her dad nodded. “It’ll be fun to do something together. We might lose horribly but who cares?”

  “I think it’s a great idea,” agreed Mrs Greene.

  “If we’re going to do something as a family can’t we just go to The Copper Kettle?” Maia said. It was the café in the village and she loved going there for a treat – the cakes were delicious!

  “I think we should do something where we use our brains,” her dad said. “It will be good for us!” He beamed.

  Just then Maia’s mum’s phone pinged. She checked it and sighed. “Ellie and Jo want to go for a run tonight. I suppose I’d better find my trainers, although I’d rather have a cup of tea.” She’d recently taken up running because she and her friends were entering a charity fun run but she really didn’t like it.

  Maia slipped away to her bedroom.

  “Bracken!” she whispered as she shut the door firmly behind her.

  Bracken appeared in a haze of silver light and put his paws on her knees, his dark eyes shining with happiness at seeing her. “Have you had a good time?”

  “It was OK,” Maia said, stroking him. “But I couldn’t concentrate. I kept thinking about the clearing and the woman who I saw doing dark magic there.”

  “I know,” he said. “I wish we could find out who she is.”

  “I thought I might use my magic to see what is going to happen,” said Maia. She’d been thinking about it at the cinema. Her magic could give her a glimpse of the future and might help them work out what was going on.

  “Try! Go on!” urged Bracken.

  Maia sat down at her desk and looked into the mirror there. “Show me what’s coming,” she whispered.

  The surface swirled and then pictures began to flash across it: a hooded figure crouching down in the clearing at dusk… A wicker basket filled with plants… A collection of small bottles filled with dark liquids… A shelf covered with crystals with a blur of bright colours behind them…

  The images faded.

  “What did you see?” Bracken asked.

  Maia frowned and described the pictures she’d seen.

  “You saw plants and crystals?” Bracken said, his ears pricking. “Maybe the person doing dark magic is using crystal magic as well as plant magic.”

  “Mmm.” There was something about the image of the shelf with crystals that was nagging at Maia. It had seemed very familiar. Crystals… Crystals…

  Suddenly she gasped. “The crystals. They had dreamcatchers hanging behind them. They’re in a shop called Fairytales in town!”

  “A shop?” Bracken echoed.

  “Yes, it’s only been open a week.”

  Bracken bounced around. “A week? Maia, that’s about when the clearing started to change. This could be a clue.”

  Maia stared at him. “The woman in there did seem odd. Maybe she’s the person doing dark magic. I’ve got to tell the others!”

  She pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Ionie, Sita and Lottie. She longed to tell them everything but she knew she couldn’t risk explaining in a text in case their parents checked their phones.

  Need to talk to u all. Meet b4 schl 2moro. I’ve seen something that might be VERY important! Don’t be late! Mxx

  She pressed ‘send’.

  “Done,” she said to Bracken. “I’ll talk to them tomorrow and then we can all meet after school and work out what to do.” She hugged him tightly. “I hope this helps us find out what’s going on!”

  “What’s up?” Lottie demanded the next morning. The four girls had run to a quiet corner of the playground where they could talk without being overheard. “I could hardly sleep last night. What’s so important, Maia?”

  “Yes, tell us!” Ionie demanded.

  Maia quickly explained about the shelf of crystals from Fairytales. “Maybe the person doing dark magic is using crystals as well as plant magic.”

  “And maybe it’s Alice!” breathed Ionie.

  “I thought she seemed quite nice,” said Sita, looking troubled.

  “We all thought Auntie Mabel was nice but she was doing dark magic and trying to hurt us,” Ionie reminded her.

  “Alice could be just as bad as Auntie Mabel,” said Maia, excitement swirling in her tummy. “We need to find out more about her.”

  “Should we all meet after school?” Ionie said.

  “Yes. At mine,” said Maia.

  “I’ll only be able to stay until five,” said Lottie. “I’ve got gymnastics but I’ll ask if I can come until then.” Lottie and her sister did lots of activities and she found it harder than the others to meet up after school.

  “Maia!” Maia heard her mum call. “I’m going now.”

  Maia ran over to say goodbye. As she did so, she saw a new girl coming into the playground. She was very pretty, her blond hair was in a high ponytail and she had lip gloss on. She was with a tall man with a bushy black beard.

  “Do you think that’s Essie?” Maia whispered to her mum.

  Her mum did a double take. “It has to be,” she said. “She’s the image of Esther when she was younger.”

  She went over to the man and girl. “Hi, I’m Nicky Greene and this is my daughter, Maia.”

  Essie beamed. “Oh, hi. Mum said to look out for you and Maia.” She glanced at her dad who hadn’t said a word. “Say hi, Dad.”

  He nodded. His eyes were a very bright green. “Hello,” he muttered into his beard. He seemed a bit odd.

  “You can go home if you want, Dad,” said Essie, giving him a little push. “I’ll be fine.” She looked at Maia. “You’ll show me what to do, won’t you, Maia?”

  “Yes, sure,” said Maia.

  Essie’s dad walked away. Maia stared after him. Weird! He hadn’t even said goodbye!

  “How
are you feeling about starting here, Essie?” Mrs Greene asked. “I imagine Westcombe Primary will be quite different from your school in London.”

  “It’s a lot smaller,” said Essie. She flicked her hair confidently over her shoulder as she looked around. “But I don’t mind starting a new school. I’m sure I’m going to have fun!”

  Maia introduced Essie to Ionie, Lottie and Sita. As Essie glanced over them, Maia saw her friends as they must appear to the new girl: Ionie neat and tidy as always, her uniform and shoes sensible rather than fashionable, her strawberry-blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Lottie loved clothes and was wearing a pretty red cardigan with her grey school skirt and shiny patent shoes. Her dark curls were clipped back with a red slide. Sita, on the other hand, wasn’t into fashion at all and happily wore her sister’s old school uniform. Maia wasn’t sure if she imagined it but she thought she saw a faint sneer on Essie’s face as she took in Sita’s faded sweatshirt and grey trousers with paint stains on.

  “Do you know which class you’re in?” Ionie asked her.

  “My teacher is Mr Neal,” said Essie.

  “That means you’ll be with me and Lottie,” said Sita. “We’ll look after you.”

  “Thanks,” Essie said. She turned to Lottie and gave her a bright smile. “I like your bag.”

  Lottie smiled back. “I like yours, too.” Essie had a black bag covered with red hearts. “And your shoes.”

  Essie put one foot next to Lottie’s. “They’re very like yours, aren’t they? Hey, do you want to swap phone numbers?” She pulled a shiny iPhone out of her pocket.

  “Nice phone,” said Lottie.

  “Mum always gets me the latest model,” said Essie airily.

  “Well, if you don’t want it confiscated, you’d better put it away,” Ionie said quite sharply. Maia glanced at her. Ionie had no time for people who were into fashion and phones and stuff like that.

  Essie looked surprised. “Really? Why?”

  “We’re not allowed phones at school. If the teachers see it they’ll take it off you,” Maia explained. “Did your old school let you have them?”

  “They did,” Essie said slowly, “but I can see it’s going to be different here.” She put her phone into her bag. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to the new rules.”

  Just then the bell rang.

  “Come on, Sita and I will show you where to line up,” Lottie said.

  “OK. See you later, Maia,” Essie said.

  “See you!” Maia called, noticing that Essie hadn’t said goodbye to Ionie. From the way Ionie’s expression had tightened it was clear she had noticed, too.

  At breaktime, Essie and Lottie came out of their classroom together with Sita following behind them.

  “How’s it going?” Maia asked Essie.

  “Great, thanks.” Essie linked her arm through Lottie’s. “Lottie’s been so helpful.”

  “Mr Neal’s asked me to be Essie’s buddy,” Lottie said.

  “We’re sitting next to each other,” Essie said. “And we’re doing a project on volcanoes together. We’ve got some brilliant ideas for it already. Lottie’s really clever,” she said to the others.

  Lottie looked pleased.

  Maia glanced at Sita. She was being very quiet. “Who are you doing a project with?” she asked her. Sita usually worked with Lottie.

  “Jack,” said Sita.

  Maia gave her a sympathetic look. Jack was loud and messed around.

  “I think Jack likes Essie,” Lottie said with a grin. “Tyler, too. They keep coming over and asking her if she needs anything.”

  Essie giggled. “They’re both quite cute.” She looked at Maia, Ionie and Sita. “Have you got boyfriends?”

  “No,” said Sita.

  Ionie rolled her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not one of those dumb girls who just want to talk about boys, are you?”

  Maia saw Essie’s eyes narrow and felt a distinct chill fall.

  “So what do you like doing, Essie?” she said quickly.

  “Shopping and hanging out with friends,” Essie said, turning her back on Ionie. “I like inventing dances and watching YouTube videos about make-up.”

  “That sounds cool,” Maia said, catching sight of Ionie rolling her eyes.

  Essie smiled at her. “You’ll have to come round to my house. You, too, Lottie. Oh, look,” she said suddenly. “Tara and Sadie are waving. I’m going to go and say hi. Catch you back in class, Lottie. Bye, Maia.” She went over to where Tara and Sadie were. They were two of the prettiest and most popular girls in Year Six.

  “I don’t like her,” Ionie said decisively.

  “You’ve only just met her,” Maia said, although she did kind of agree with Ionie. She didn’t like the way Essie had ignored Ionie and Sita as she walked off.

  “We should give her a chance,” said Sita. “She may turn out to be nice.”

  Maia saw Ionie open her mouth to argue. “Look, let’s not waste breaktime talking about Essie,” she said hastily. “We’ve got far more important things to discuss.”

  To her relief, the others nodded and they headed off for their favourite quiet place in the playground. There was a grassy bank and a low wall to sit on.

  “Have you thought about what I said this morning?” Maia whispered.

  “I can’t stop thinking about it,” said Ionie. “I think we should go to Fairytales after school and see if we can find out anything more.”

  “But how will we get into town?” Maia said.

  Ionie grinned and pushed back her strawberry-blond ponytail. “With magic, of course!”

  When school finished, the four girls hurried back to Maia’s house. As they arrived, they heard the sound of crying. Alfie was sitting on Clio’s knee in the kitchen. There were tears running down his face.

  “What’s happened?” Maia asked.

  Clio sighed. “Mum asked me to babysit while she went for a run, and Alfie decided to see if Mr Rabbit could fly. He threw him out of his bedroom window and now he’s stuck in the tree outside the window!”

  “Oh, Alfie!” Maia groaned. Mr Rabbit was Alfie’s favourite cuddly toy. He couldn’t sleep without him.

  “Want Mr Rabbit!” Alfie’s voice rose in a wail.

  “It’s OK, Alfie. Dad will get a ladder and get him down from the tree when he comes home,” said Clio, stroking her brother’s hair.

  “Want him now!” Alfie sobbed.

  Maia glanced at Lottie. Could she help?

  Lottie saw the look. “Let me see what I can do,” she said. “I’m good at climbing.”

  “There’s no way you can climb all the way up into the branches where he is,” said Clio.

  But Lottie was already heading out of the French doors that led into the back garden.

  Sita crouched down, taking Alfie’s hands. “Shh, Alfie, shh,” she soothed. “It’s going to be OK. You’re going to get Mr Rabbit back. Don’t cry any more.”

  Alfie’s sobs dried to hiccups. Maia knew that Sita was using her calming powers. Alfie stared at Sita, his blue eyes wide. “Mr Rabbit come back?” he said.

  “Yes,” she said.

  He smiled.

  “Here he is!” Lottie said rather breathlessly, appearing in the doorway a few minutes later with Alfie’s cuddly rabbit in her hand.

  Clio gaped. “How did you get him?”

  Lottie grinned. “I told you. I’m good at climbing.” She kicked off her shoes and brought Mr Rabbit over to Alfie. Alfie grabbed him and hugged him as if he was never going to let him go.

  Maia smiled. She loved it when they were able to use magic to help solve little everyday problems and make people happier. She grabbed a packet of chocolate biscuits. “Let’s go to my room.”

  They hurried upstairs.

  “Thanks for getting Alfie’s rabbit,” Maia said to Lottie as she shut her bedroom door.

  “No probs. It was fun!” said Lottie. “You can see all sorts of stuff if you climb up trees. I saw your neighbour maki
ng a giant swan out of driftwood. He didn’t see me though.”

  “It must be for that beachcomber sculpture competition,” said Maia. “He always wins.” She opened the biscuits and handed them out. “Now, let’s get on with some more magic!”

  They called the animals who appeared and bounded around them in delight.

  “Maia!” Bracken said, leaping into her arms and licking her neck. She hugged him tightly and buried her face in his soft fur. She missed him so much when she was at school. Next to her, her friends were greeting their animals with cuddles, too.

  They all settled down and the girls told the animals of the plan they had come up with. They had decided that Ionie and Maia would shadow-travel to Fairytales. They would take Sorrel with them and see if she could smell any Shades. Lottie and Sita were going to stay behind in Maia’s room – Lottie had to be there in case her mum arrived early to take her to gymnastics and Sita said she was happy to stay and make an excuse if Maia’s mum came looking for them.

  “I wish I could come with you,” Bracken said, sighing.

  “I know, but people might wonder what was going on if wild animals like you or Willow or Juniper turned up in a shop,” she said.

  “How will you take Sorrel inside?” said Willow. “People don’t normally walk into shops with cats, do they?”

  Maia grinned at Ionie. “No, but we have an idea for that, too!”

  Ten minutes later, Ionie was holding a plastic pet carrier that Maia had brought in from the garage. Sorrel was inside it, the tip of her tabby tail quivering furiously. “I cannot believe I am doing this!” she hissed. “Imprisoned in a cage like a common house cat!”

  “Sorrel, we’ve been through this,” Ionie soothed. “You just need to pretend to be a normal cat so we can get you into the shop in this crate.”

  “And you’re not really imprisoned,” Maia pointed out. “You could magic yourself out of there at any moment.”

  Bracken pressed his nose against the wire-mesh door. “Be a good little pussycat, Sorrel,” he teased.

  Sorrel swiped a paw at him, her claws clanging against the wire mesh. “Watch it, Fox!” she spat.