Secret Spell Read online

  “Shall we see if she’s in now?” Ionie asked.

  “It’s still quite early,” said Maia. “I’ll call by and see her later.”

  The girls cycled across the main road and headed on to the track that led down through the wooded valley to the shingle beach. Seagulls swooped overhead and they could hear the distant sound of the sea. The path to the clearing was halfway down the track, opposite Granny Anne’s cottage.

  The girls left their bikes in the front garden. The cottage was empty now – Maia’s parents had gradually been clearing out all her granny’s things. Brambles caught at their legs as they pushed their way along the overgrown path and the air smelled of fallen leaves and damp.

  Emerging into the clearing they called their animals’ names. The four Star Animals appeared instantly. Bracken jumped round Maia, yapping excitedly. Juniper scampered up a tree. Willow cantered about, making playful little leaps, and Sorrel rubbed against Ionie’s legs, purring loudly.

  Maia kneeled down and Bracken jumped on to her lap, licking her cheeks and snuffling at her ears. She hugged his warm body. “It’s magic time,” she told him.

  “I wonder if you’ll be able to do anything new,” he said.

  Maia grinned and pulled a small mirror out of her pocket. “Only one way to find out. I’m going to try looking into the past.” It was something she had tried to do before but had never managed.

  Ionie overheard. “Remember to relax!” she called.

  “I will, thanks,” Maia said gratefully. When she’d been struggling with her magic the week before, Ionie had given Maia some tips that had really worked.

  Maia remembered Ionie’s advice as she looked into the mirror. Breathe in for five seconds, hold her breath for five seconds, breathe out. Do that again and again. Count backwards from ten. She felt a sense of calm settle over her. Bracken snuggled against her legs and Maia stared at the mirror, letting everything else fade away…

  The surface of the mirror shimmered. What did she want to see?

  “Show me Granny Anne,” she breathed. “Show me her with her Star Animal.”

  To her excitement an image appeared in the mirror’s surface. It was a young teenager dressed in old-fashioned clothes – brown trousers tucked into socks and sturdy shoes, a brown V-neck jumper and blond hair held back by a headscarf. It was Granny Anne! Maia recognized her granny from old photos she had seen.

  Granny Anne was in the woods and a slim silver wolf with indigo eyes was at her side. One of her hands was resting on the wolf ’s back and in the other she held a small mirror. Maia caught her breath. It was the same mirror she was holding now – Granny Anne had given it to her a year ago.

  Her fingers tightened as she wondered if her granny had suspected that she was also going to be a Star Friend. She’d talked to her so often about magic. Warmth flooded through her as she imagined how pleased her granny would be if she knew that Maia was a Star Friend now.

  She let the image fade.

  “Did you see your granny?” Bracken asked eagerly.

  “Yes,” she said. “She was with her Star Animal.”

  Bracken jumped round her. “This is brilliant, Maia. Your magic really has got stronger!”

  Maia looked around, wondering what the others were doing. Sita was talking to Willow, Lottie seemed to have vanished and Ionie was standing in front of… Maia frowned. A table? What was a table doing in the clearing? It had a faint glowing outline.

  “Ionie!” she called.

  Ionie glanced over but before Maia could say anything, she felt a hand tug her hair. She jumped. Lottie was standing behind her.

  Maia blinked. “How did you get there?”

  “I can run so fast I’m invisible,” Lottie said with a grin.

  Maia gaped. “That’s awesome!”

  “I would hardly describe it as awesome,” Sorrel commented with a dismissive flick of her tail. “In my opinion, the ability to run fast has only limited uses.”

  “Oh, really,” said Lottie. She leaped forwards and disappeared. Two seconds later, Lottie was standing beside her again and Ionie was patting the side of her head in confusion. Lottie held out her hand to Maia. In her palm was Ionie’s hairslide. “I think being able to run fast has quite a lot of uses,” Lottie said.

  The table vanished. Sorrel hissed at Lottie. “You made Ionie lose her concentration.”

  “What was she trying to do?” Maia asked. “Why was there a table there?”

  “She was casting a glamour,” said Bracken, bounding over to where Ionie was standing.

  “Correct!” said Sorrel smugly. “Now that is definitely an awesome ability.”

  “What’s a glamour?” Maia asked.

  Sorrel sighed. “A glamour is when magic is used to create an illusion. Something appears but really there’s nothing there.”

  “A glamour can also disguise something,” added Juniper.

  Ionie’s eyes shone. “I hadn’t been able to do it when I’d tried before but now I can! Look!” She concentrated again and a chair appeared.

  “That looks so real,” breathed Sita. “That’s an amazing power, Ionie.”

  Ionie looked delighted.

  “It is, though the glowing light makes it just a little bit obvious that it’s an illusion,” Maia pointed out.

  “What glowing light?” said Sita, looking surprised.

  Bracken nudged Maia’s hand with his nose. “Maia, I think you can see the light because your magic abilities are to do with sight. To everyone else it looks like a normal chair.”

  “Oh,” said Maia.

  Lottie linked arms with her. “I think it’s just as cool to be able to see through illusions as to make them,” she said, with a pointed look at Ionie.

  “It will be a very useful ability,” Bracken agreed. “The key to shattering an illusion is to refuse to believe it’s real.”

  Maia looked at the chair. “You’re not real,” she said. The chair vanished. “Whoops, sorry, Ionie!”

  “It’s OK, I can make it come back again,” said Ionie. The chair reappeared.

  “I don’t believe in you,” Maia said. It vanished again.

  Ionie giggled. For a few moments, they kept making the chair appear and disappear then Ionie stopped. “I know, I want to try something else with my magic.” She went and stood near to a patch of shadows and beckoned for Maia to join her. “Come here, Maia. I need your help with this.”

  Maia went over curiously. What was Ionie planning?

  “Want to try and shadowtravel together?” Ionie asked.

  “You can take me with you?” Maia said in surprise. Maia had seen Ionie transport herself from one place to another using shadows but it hadn’t occurred to her that Ionie’s magic could extend to other people.

  “I’m not sure … but I’d like to have a go!” Ionie’s green eyes shone. “My magic feels much stronger today.” She took Maia’s hand. “Just relax.” She stepped into the shadows. Maia stepped with her and the world suddenly disappeared. The next second she was staggering slightly as everything came back into view. She blinked. They were on the other side of the clearing!

  “Oh, Ionie, you exceptional girl!” exclaimed Sorrel in delight.

  Ionie grinned. “Did you see?” she called to Sita and Lottie.

  “Yes,” said Lottie shortly.

  “That’s brilliant, Ionie,” said Sita enthusiastically. She frowned slightly. “Everyone seems to have got new powers apart from me.”

  “Healing is a wonderful power on its own,” Willow told her. “I’m sure your magic will be stronger and you’ll be able to heal bigger wounds.”

  “Willow’s right,” Ionie said, going over to Sita. “And you’re really good at calming people down and making them relax, too.”

  Sita smiled at her. “Thanks. I wouldn’t want to be the one with the mega-power anyway.”

  “I wonder which of us it will be,” said Ionie thoughtfully.

  “Well,” Sorrel began, “as I’ve already said, I think—
” She was interrupted by a rustle in the trees.

  “Someone’s coming!” said Bracken.

  The animals all vanished and the girls watched warily. Who was coming into the clearing?

  An old woman hurried through the trees. Her grey hair was cut very short and she was wearing a scruffy beige raincoat and green walking shoes. She had a wicker basket covered with an old towel on one arm.

  She froze as she saw the girls. “What are you doing here?”

  The girls looked at each other, taken aback by her sharp tone.

  “Um … we just came here for a walk,” said Maia.

  “Leaving litter, no doubt!” snapped the woman. She spotted an empty Coke can on the floor and scooped it up. “See! I knew it!”

  “That’s not ours,” said Maia. She’d noticed it earlier and had planned to put it into a bin on the way home.

  “A likely story!” snorted the woman. “You kids should clear off! Stay out of these woods.”

  “OK … um … we’ll go then,” said Maia, glancing at the others.

  They backed away and hurried down the footpath.

  “What a weird old woman!” hissed Lottie as soon as they were out of earshot.

  “I didn’t like her,” said Sita with a shiver.

  “I’ve never seen her before. Maybe she’s just visiting Westcombe,” said Maia.

  Westcombe was a large village but she knew most of the older people who lived there by sight.

  “I think she’s moved here,” said Ionie. “I’ve seen her coming out of the cottage next door to your auntie Mabel’s a few times. The one that was for sale in the summer.”

  Maia’s heart sank. “Well, if she has moved in, I hope we don’t see much of her.”

  Just then Maia’s phone buzzed. It was a text from her mum.

  Dad says ur all out for a bike ride. If u want a hot choc then come to the Copper Kettle at 10.15. We’ll be there with Alfie and Clio. Mum xxx

  It was just past 10.15am. “Mum and Dad are at the Copper Kettle. If we meet them there they’ll buy us a hot chocolate. Shall we go?”

  The Copper Kettle was a cosy tea shop on the main road. The friends left their bikes in the bike rack and headed inside. The bell tinkled and they were hit with the smell of freshly bakes cakes and warm coffee. Maia breathed in deeply. “Mmm.”

  Her mum and dad were sitting with Alfie and Clio, Maia’s fifteen-year-old sister, at a window table. Alfie was colouring in and Clio was flicking through a celebrity magazine while Mr and Mrs Greene were drinking their coffees.

  “Mai-Mai!” cried Alfie.

  Clio glanced up briefly from her magazine before carrying on reading.

  “Pull up some chairs, girls,” said Mr Greene.

  Maia and her friends squeezed in round the table. Mary, the Copper Kettle’s cheerful owner, bustled over to meet them. She was short and plump with curly brown hair and a beaming smile.

  “What can I get you, girls?”

  “Four hot chocolates I think, please, Mary,” said Mrs Greene, looking at the girls who all nodded.

  “What about cakes?” Mr Greene said.

  Maia and Ionie asked for a slice of chocolate fudge cake each, Lottie chose a white chocolate brownie and Sita asked for lemon drizzle cake. Soon they were sipping mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and tiny pink and white marshmallows, and nibbling their cakes.

  “I told your mum we’d be here,” Mrs Greene said to Lottie. “She’s going to call in to pick up you and Sita. I’ve got your sleeping bags and things in the car.”

  Alfie had finished colouring and started trying to grab handfuls of the leaflets that Mary displayed on the windowsill.

  “Put them down, Alfie,” said Mr Greene. “Have this instead.” He handed Alfie a toy train, which he took happily, throwing the leaflets on the floor.

  Maia picked up the leaflets. As she did so, she noticed one she hadn’t seen before. “Look, this is for a new wildlife sanctuary,” she said, showing it to her mum.

  “We could go one weekend,” Mrs Greene suggested.

  Mary overheard them. “You really should visit the sanctuary,” she said. “My sister Jenny moved into the village a month or so ago and now she works there. She said they have hedgehogs, squirrels, foxes and badgers. They take in animals that have been injured and nurse them back to health.”

  “We’ll definitely go,” said Maia to the others, who nodded.

  “I’d like to run a wildlife sanctuary when I’m older,” said Sita.

  “Me, too,” said Maia.

  “I want to work with endangered animals all over the world,” said Ionie.

  “And I want to be a vet,” said Lottie.

  They talked about all the things they would do when they were older until Lottie’s mum arrived.

  “See you at the bonfire tonight,” Maia said, as Lottie and Sita put their bikes into the boot of her car.

  “Six fifteen,” Lottie reminded everyone.

  Maia turned to her mum and dad. “I might call in and see Auntie Mabel on the way home. Is that OK?”

  “That’s nice of you,” her mum said. “Tell Auntie Mabel I’ll pop over to visit her soon.”

  Maia was relieved her mum didn’t want to come along – she had been hoping she would have the chance to talk to Auntie Mabel alone. She and Ionie got their bikes and rode down the road, then Ionie went on to her house and Maia turned into Auntie Mabel’s street.

  Getting off her bike, Maia leaned it against the wall outside Auntie Mabel’s house.

  A delivery man was knocking at the door of the cottage next to Auntie Mabel’s. He was carrying a large cardboard box. The front door opened and a white dog ran out.

  “Jack! Come here!” shouted a voice.

  The dog only had one ear and half its tail was missing but Maia didn’t care. She loved all animals. She went to the top of the drive to stop the dog running out on to the road and held out her hand but the dog backed away, growling. Maia was surprised. Animals usually liked her.

  “It’s all right,” she murmured to the dog. “I’m not scary.”

  The dog directed a volley of barks in her direction.

  The delivery man gave the dog a nervous look. “He doesn’t seem too friendly, does he?”

  Just then Maia noticed a woman with short grey hair at the door. It was the lady from the woods!

  “Stay away from my dog!” the lady snapped at Maia. “Clear off with you!”

  Maia backed away as the old lady called the dog into the house and snatched the parcel from the delivery man, slamming the door behind her. To Maia’s relief, Auntie Mabel answered the front door on her first knock.

  “Maia, how lovely to see you! I was just making some treacle toffee to take to bonfire night. Are you all right?” she asked, looking at Maia’s flustered face.

  “Yes.” Maia swallowed. She didn’t like being shouted at.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Auntie Mabel, ushering her in.

  When Maia told her what had just happened, Auntie Mabel patted her hand. “Oh, my dear, how horrible. I didn’t like Mrs Crooks the moment she moved in. She’s done some very strange things. She had a large shed built in the garden and then put up a really high fence. She hardly says a word if I see her, even though I’ve asked her a few times if she wants to come to church or to coffee mornings. She’s always going off into the woods at very bizarre times, too.” She shook her head. “She’s most peculiar.”

  Maia felt relieved it wasn’t only the Star Friends thinking the old lady was odd.

  Auntie Mabel led Maia through to the lounge. The surfaces were decorated with large shining crystals and a stone bowl that had some glittering polished stones inside. “I’m afraid I haven’t managed to find out anything more about this Shade that’s causing all the trouble.”

  “Oh, you needn’t worry about that any more,” said Maia, remembering she had good news. “It’s been sent back to the shadows.”

  They sat down and Maia told Auntie Mabel eve
rything that had happened the night before.

  “Goodness me,” said Auntie Mabel, putting her hand to her chest. “You all did very well. However did you manage?”

  “It was Ionie,” said Maia. “She’s a Spirit Speaker.”

  “I see,” said Auntie Mabel thoughtfully. “Well, that’s lucky for you. What about the others? You’ve never told me what they can do.”

  “Lottie has powers to do with agility and Sita is good at healing.” As Maia spoke, she felt a bit uncomfortable. She knew Bracken didn’t like her telling Auntie Mabel things about the magic – he had been told that no one apart from Star Friends should know anything.

  Glancing round the room, she decided to change the subject. “Auntie Mabel,” she said. “How do you do magic with crystals?”

  “Well, crystals and stones contain their own special energy. I hold them in my hands and by concentrating hard I can use it – a bit like you drawing on the magic current. Different crystals and stones can do different things – some can heal, others see into the future, some will help calm an angry soul and others bring good luck. I’ve spent my life working out how to use their power.”

  “Is there any other type of magic – apart from Crystal Magic and Star Magic?” Maia asked curiously.

  “There’s dark magic, of course, when people draw power from the shadows,” Auntie Mabel shuddered. “I don’t like even thinking about that. And some people can draw magic from plants – they gather herbs and plants and make potions.” She smiled. “If you hadn’t met a Star Animal, then maybe you would have discovered how to use magic in another way. In fact, I’m sure you could master Crystal Magic. Here.” She went to the stone bowl and pulled out a glittering round pink stone from the bottom. It seemed to glow with a faint golden light. “This is a Seeing Stone – let’s see if I’m right.” She held it out.

  As Maia took the pretty crystal sphere, her fingers prickled and she caught her breath.

  Auntie Mabel’s eyebrows rose. “I can see you’re feeling the magic. Seeing Stones can be used to look into the past. You told me you’ve been trying to do that with your own magic. Well, try with this. Just hold it, concentrate on it and tell it what you want to see.”

  It was on the tip of Maia’s tongue to tell Auntie Mabel that she had finally managed to see into the past, but then there was a knock on the door.