The Crystal Mirror (10 page)

“Well, I—” began Laney.

“Speak up and tell the whole Faerie Meet,” interrupted Mr Stingwood, waving his walking stick towards the throng of people.

Laney looked at them all and almost lost her nerve. Gwen gave her an encouraging smile. “Well, I was walking through the churchyard last night, and suddenly everything felt scary. That’s when I saw a dark sort of
thing
near one of the gravestones.” She shifted from one foot to the other.

Mrs Lionhart frowned. “And did you go any closer?”

“No, I didn’t want it to see me.”

Gwen cleared her throat. “Laney came to tell me what she’d seen and when she told me how a bunch of flowers on a grave wilted as this figure passed by, I remembered that this was a true sign of a Shadow faerie. A Shadow is the only thing I know of that can destroy living things so swiftly.”

“What did this dark thing do?” Mr Thornbeam asked Laney, his serious grey eyes reminding her of Fletcher.

“It moved around, like it was looking for something. It was searching at the edge of the pond,” said Laney. She could hear voices growing louder at the back of the crowd.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about it?” said Mrs Lionhart. “Any more details of what it
looked like?”

“It was sort of hard to see. It was a black figure and I thought it had a hood…” She trailed off. How could she make them understand? The feeling of terror had been so strong; she couldn’t have looked any closer.

A ripple of laughter broke out on one side of the hilltop.

“Does she expect us to believe this was a Shadow faerie, just because it had a hood?” said a grey-haired man with a thin moustache like cat whiskers. “And how
can
it be a Shadow? No one’s seen one for years. Are we supposed to believe that something as bad as that – something that can turn you to dust in seconds – is suddenly here in Skellmore?” He glared at Laney. “Or is this just a girl’s wild imagination?”

Laney flushed. She hadn’t even told them that she’d dreamed about the dark figure before seeing it in the churchyard, although Gwen knew. If they found that out they would really think she was crazy.

“Why should we trust a girl who hasn’t Awoken till the age of twelve?” added Miss Reed. “And whose father refuses to behave like one of us?”

Laney’s hands balled into fists. They’d better leave her dad out of this.

“We can’t ignore the possibility that it
was
a
Shadow,” said Gwen sharply. “I know we can’t be certain yet, but if we do nothing then we’ll be ignoring the danger.”

Tom Lionhart stepped forwards. “How do we know that you Thorns aren’t trying to distract us from something else? Like something that’s happening in the deep parts of Hobbin Forest. The cats say there’s a part of the woods where they can’t go, some kind of secret area where no one knows what’s going on. What is it you’re doing in there?”

“Silence!” Stingwood shook with pent-up rage. “
You
are under age and you’re not even supposed to be here. How dare you try to spy on us using dumb animals?”

Tom opened his mouth to reply but his mum pushed him aside easily, despite her small size. “Believe me when I say that we Greytails will not be taking any insults from the Thorns!” she growled. “What
is
your tribe doing in the forest that’s so secret?”

Gwen looked surprised. “I don’t know of any Thorn project in the forest. Do you, Peter?”

“It’s none of the Greytails’ business what we do in our forest.” Stingwood held Mrs Lionhart’s stare. Gwen frowned and the crowd’s muttering grew louder.

“Listen!” Gwen held up one hand and spoke to
the mass of faeries. They fell silent immediately. “We won’t get anywhere by arguing with each other. Fighting among ourselves will play right into the Shadow’s hands. This is a dangerous time.”

“We already know that,” replied a thin woman with waist-length hair. “We saw the Wolf Moon three nights ago, just after we found out that our Mist Elder, Arthur Puddlewick, had died. It was so sudden – he was very well a few days before.”

A rumble broke from the crowd at the mention of Puddlewick’s death.

“The Wolf Moon is at the centre of all of this,” said Stingwood. “And that is why this girl, who Awoke on that exact night, is not to be trusted. She turned the river that monstrous colour. Who knows what else she’s done?”

Mrs Lionhart drew herself up to her full height, which was still half the size of Stingwood. “
We
do not indulge in ridiculous superstitions.” Her eyes flicked to Laney. “And maybe there
is
something… unusual about this girl. But maybe the red moon is a sign that a whole tribe is dangerous – and I bet that tribe is the Thorns!”

“You’re a fool!” someone yelled from the back.

“You should stop spending time getting cosy with the humans and learn proper faerie ways!” snarled Stingwood. “
She’s
the one that Awoke under the red moon. I say that if the signs show something bad is
coming, then that bad thing is her.” He jabbed his finger at Laney.

Laney’s face flamed and she made herself speak. “I haven’t done anything. You made me do that test and you didn’t find anything wrong.”

“But, Peter,” said Miss Reed, ignoring Laney’s outburst, “you saw me do the test on her. There was virtually no Mist power there at all. I don’t think we can even let her into our tribe with so little ability.”

“I’ve heard more about what she’s done since then. Her friends have told me how close she came to exposing us with her antics at school. The child that told me is a Mist faerie too.” Stingwood glowered at her. “So pipe down and remember that
you
are not an Elder!”

Miss Reed flinched. She began to protest but her voice was drowned out by the shouts of other faeries. In the distance, the dark clouds thickened and thunder rumbled.

Laney’s mind worked furiously. Who had told on her? Nobody who was a real friend. A Mist faerie, he’d said, so it had to be Jessie. She’d probably lied and said they were friends.

“Faeries, this is a warning.” Gwen spoke over the noise of the crowd as she pointed at the thunder clouds. “Shadow faeries used the cover of storms to work their dark magic in the old days.”

But Laney noticed that the faeries had stopped
listening. They were shifting on the hilltop, gathering into groups and one by one they changed into their faerie forms. A breeze lifted with the movement of dozens of wings.

A scuffle broke out in one corner. A Mist faerie blasted ice across the hilltop. One Greytail summoned a group of crows that swooped over to attack.

Gwen changed to faerie form in a blaze of light and flew over the hilltop, stopping the ice arrows from hitting their target.

Stingwood raised his walking stick and a myriad of prickly vines sprouted from gaps in the rock and snaked across the hill.

“Greytails, defend yourselves!” shouted the man with the moustache, before a vine curled round his ankles and pulled him over.

Laney looked on in horror, jumping when someone grabbed her shoulder. “Laney, move!” said Fletcher. “You have to get out of here.”

Loose stones slid under Laney’s feet as she fled, nearly tripping over the giant rock footprints for a second time. She ran after Fletcher into the band of fog that surrounded the hilltop. Then she blinked, trying to see where he’d gone. Icy droplets from the fog condensed on her hair.

Fletcher seized her hand and pulled her sideways. Branches moved and Claudia climbed out of her
hiding place, twigs catching at her jeans. Then they half slipped and half ran down the hillside together.

The yelling went on above them. Laney heard Stingwood shouting but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. A blast of heavy rain hit them, nearly knocking them over.

“Watch out!” yelled Fletcher, and Laney turned to see a volley of spiky cacti shooting down the hillside.

“Was that meant to hit us?” gasped Laney.

“I’m not staying to find out!” Claudia accelerated, bounding easily over the rough ground.

They raced to the bottom and scrambled over a stone wall, taking shelter on the other side.

Laney pressed her back against the stones and tried to stop her legs shaking. “Do they always fight like that?”

“They’ve completely lost it!” said Claudia. “Those Thorns…”

“It’s the Greytails – always making fun of what we believe in!” snapped Fletcher.

“We don’t believe the Wolf Moon is such a big deal, that’s all,” said Claudia.

“The Mists, Blazes and Kestrels believe in it too.” Fletcher glared at her. “You’re too busy pretending you’re human to see what’s important.”

“OK, truce, guys,” said Laney. “I’ve really had
enough of this right now.” She could hear her own pulse thumping. She rested her head on her knees for a second.

A group of figures flew overhead, their wings moving like a whisper. Sections of fog began to curl away into the sky.

“It sounds as if the Elders have stopped the fighting,” said Fletcher. “I guess they won’t be calling another Meet for a while after this disaster. Here.” He pulled a bottle of water from his pocket and offered it to Laney.

“Thanks.” She took it, but as her hand closed round the plastic, the liquid inside began to bubble. Claudia’s eyebrows rose. Laney handed the water bottle back unopened.

“They didn’t believe me about the Shadow faerie,” she said miserably. “Most of them thought I was lying.”

“They were pretty harsh,” said Claudia. “It was like they’d already made up their minds.”

“I believe you,” said Fletcher abruptly.

“Really?” Laney studied his face, but he looked serious.

“Yeah, I mean, if that’s what you saw in the churchyard then that’s what was there,” he said. “Gwen says it sounds like a Shadow faerie and I trust her too.” He got up and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Laney looked at him gratefully. “I wish I’d been able to describe it better, but I didn’t want to get any closer to it last night.” She shivered. “I didn’t know a Shadow faerie could turn you to dust in seconds, like that man said.”

“That’s what they do in the stories,” said Claudia. “This red energy comes out of their fingertips and…
kabam!
You’re lying dead on the floor. I seriously thought they were only stories though.”

“Red energy?” said Laney.

“Like lightning,” said Fletcher.

“Did you see the big footprints set into the stone at the top?” said Claudia. “The story goes that they were made by a Shadow faerie in the middle of some huge battle.”

“Yeah, I saw them.” Laney didn’t add that she’d nearly fallen over them.

“You can’t really miss them,” said Fletcher.

Laney didn’t answer. She couldn’t stop thinking about her dream from last night. It had seemed so real. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that she’d been seeing the same dark figure in her dreams ever since she’d Awakened. If Claudia and Fletcher heard that, they’d think she was making up the whole thing.

She scrambled up and headed for the footpath that led back to the main road. “If the grown-ups won’t look for the Shadow faerie then I’m going to.
Then they’ll have to believe me.”

“Are you mad?” Claudia ran to catch up with her. “You should avoid Shadow faeries, not go looking for them. What are you going to do if you find it?”

“It’s not often I agree with a Greytail, but she’s dead right,” said Fletcher. “You’ve no idea how dangerous it would be.” He clicked his fingers and a low-hanging tree branch moved aside to let them past.

“But I think it’s hunting for something.” Laney scraped back the wisps of hair falling over her face. “And we don’t even know what that is. And the tribes don’t want to believe any of it.”

The thunder clouds marched across from the west, covering the sun.

“But seriously, Laney,” said Claudia as they turned on to the main road that led back to Skellmore. “How are you going to find it anyway? I mean, nobody else has even got a glimpse of it except you. What makes you think it’s going to keep appearing for you, as if you’re something special?” She broke off, staring at Laney.

“Just leave it now, Claudia,” said Fletcher.

“Hold on! Maybe that’s it.” Claudia’s eyes widened and the gold rings inside them became huge. “Maybe it’s only appearing to Laney for a reason. Maybe it’s something about
her
.”

“What do you mean – because of that red moon
on the night I Awakened?” said Laney.

“You’re a Greytail. You don’t believe in that,” Fletcher told Claudia.

“I know…” Claudia carried on staring. “It’s weird though, isn’t it?”

Laney swallowed. “Look – I’ll see you later, OK?” And she ran off down the road. She was used to Jessie being mean to her, but she’d just begun to think that she and Claudia were friends. Now it seemed that Claudia thought she was a freak too.

A car sped past as Laney reached the first houses on Beacon Way. Then a tractor chugged up the road, pulling out to avoid the parked cars. Its engine was so loud that she didn’t hear Craig Mottle cycling up behind her.

“Hey, Lane the Pain!” he taunted. “Are you looking for some more losers to hang out with?”

Laney slowed down, wishing she had some kind of useful faerie power that could make annoying boys explode. “Shut up, Craig. You’re just embarrassing yourself.”

“Oh yeah? You’re the embarrassing one, you—”

“Craig! She said shut up!” Claudia stood behind him, arms folded.

Craig eyed her. He was clearly wondering where she’d appeared from so suddenly, but the thought was taking a while to reach his mouth. “Where did you—”

Laney rolled her eyes and walked off leaving him in mid-sentence.

“Lane the Pain!” he yelled behind them.

“It’s sad that he thinks that’s a good insult just because it rhymes,” sighed Claudia.

Laney stared down at the path. Claudia’s comment about her was still going round in her head.
Maybe it’s something about her… It’s weird though, isn’t it?

“Once, when Craig
really
annoyed me,” said
Claudia, “I got the cats to sing outside his window all night. They did ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. It’s one of their favourites but they don’t really sing it in tune.”

Laney couldn’t help grinning.

“What I said before – I didn’t mean it like that,” said Claudia. “I didn’t mean that
you
were weird.”

“What did you mean then?”

“I meant last week you were just another human and now you’re in the middle of this huge thing that’s causing trouble between the tribes. I’ve never seen them as jumpy as this before.”

Footsteps made Laney look round, but this time it wasn’t Craig. “I think you’re right, Laney,” said Fletcher. “I’ve been thinking about it. If there’s a Shadow faerie around we have to track it down, even if it’s dangerous. Once we’ve got some evidence, we can make the other Elders believe in what you saw.”

“Did you finally catch up with me then?” Claudia brushed a leaf off her jeans. “Thorns aren’t really built for speed, are they?”

“I had to hide. The Elders were trying to catch all the kids that shouldn’t have been up there. Look, I want to help you,” he told Laney. “I don’t think you should search for this thing by yourself.”

Laney’s cheeks reddened. “You don’t have to. I don’t want to get you into trouble. But I know I have to find out what this Shadow faerie is doing because…” She hesitated, but the secret was pressing
down on her and she hated the heavy feeling inside that it gave her. “Listen, I’ll tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone else.”

Claudia’s eyebrows shot upwards. “I promise. What is it?”

Laney looked at Fletcher. “I won’t tell,” he said.

“I saw the Shadow faerie before I even went through the churchyard,” she said. “I saw it in a dream last night. That’s why I’m sure it’s looking for something. In the dream it picked up a round thing, but I couldn’t tell what it was. It seemed pretty happy about finding it, in a horrible sort of way.” She stopped, afraid to look at their expressions.

“You dreamed about the Shadow faerie?” said Claudia. “Are you sure it was the same faerie?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Gwen said maybe something had connected me to it.” Laney faltered, noticing how grim Fletcher’s face looked.

“That’s not good,” he began.

“No, it’s great!” said Claudia. “We can do a dreamwalk. That’s when you go back into your dream and see what’s really happening. It’s something no other tribe can do except the Greytails.”

“Bad idea,” said Fletcher. “Dreamwalks are dangerous.”

“What do
you
know?” snapped Claudia. She turned to Laney. “I can take you back into the dream and you can sort of relive it. It should be
easy as you only dreamed it last night – the dream should be fresh in your mind.”

Laney tried to smile. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back inside that dream. It had been pretty scary the first time. “Will that really help?”

“Of course,” said Claudia impatiently. “You’ll be able to see the dream again and I’ll be there too. Between us we can work out what the Shadow faerie’s looking for and what it’s planning to do.”

Fletcher folded his broad arms. “Don’t expect me to join in with it. You’re mucking around with serious magic.”

“Fine by me, twig boy,” said Claudia. “We don’t need you anyway.”

“That’s good then!” Fletcher walked off, hands in pockets.

“Fletcher?” Laney called after him, but he was already halfway down the road.

“Forget him,” said Claudia. “Thorns are always a bit like that. Stuck in their ways – they hate doing anything unless they’re in charge of it. They’re a strange kind of tribe really.”

“OK, tell me what we have to do,” said Laney, wondering if Greytails were just as strange in their own way. Claudia seemed a bit too excited about the whole dreamwalk thing.

Laney left the house by the front door that night as
her dad and Kim had gone to bed early. Flying out of the window was exciting, but it was probably safer this way. She glanced back at the dappled watery light playing across their cottage, and then she crept along to The Cattery with her pillow tucked under her arm. Claudia had told her to bring an object that had been close by when she dreamed of the Shadow faerie. Hopefully the pillow would be all right – she’d been pretty close to it after all.

The houses of The Cattery growled sleepily. Claudia appeared through a gap in the hedge at the bottom of her garden. A small black cat skulked at her heels. “Did you get away without anyone seeing you?”

“Yeah, it was easy.” Laney held the pillow firmly.

“There’s one more thing we need before we start,” said Claudia, hurrying off down the road.

Laney raised her eyebrows. “What’s that?”

“Fletcher.”

“But he said he wouldn’t be a part of it, remember? And you told him we didn’t need him!”

“I know, but I forgot that we’d need someone to stay outside the dream – just in case. And I don’t want to ask another Greytail to do it.”

“Have you ever done a dreamwalk before?”

“Yes.” Claudia paused, before adding, “But it was on a cat. They have dreams too, you know, mostly about chasing things.”

Laney didn’t find that very comforting. Being out here in the dark when the Shadow faerie might be around was already giving her the shivers. “Maybe we should find another way to work out what the Shadow’s doing. I don’t want it to go wrong.”

“But this is the best way. Your dream could have an important clue. It’s just a shame it’s not a full moon any more, because our powers are at their strongest then.” Claudia glanced up at the moon, which looked as if a creature had taken a small bite from it.

They found Fletcher crouched up a tree in a field behind Gnarlwood Lane. He spread his grey wings and leaped to the ground. “How did you know I was here?”

“I’m a Greytail. I can track things,” said Claudia impatiently.

“You were out looking for the Shadow faerie, weren’t you?” said Laney.

Fletcher folded his wings behind him. “Yes I was. My mum and dad say there isn’t one, but sometimes I think they don’t want to admit what’s really going on. I thought I’d wait here and listen. There have been strange whisperings from the trees lately.”

Laney couldn’t help gawping at him. How did trees whisper? Thorn magic was a bit strange. Claudia nudged her.

Laney sighed. She knew what she was supposed
to do. “We need someone to be with us while we do the dreamwalk. We were hoping you’d do it?”

“
She
didn’t want my help before,” said Fletcher, turning his gaze on Claudia.

“It would be safer with someone else there,” said Laney. “Please?”

Fletcher paused before straightening his shoulders. “All right then. I doubt it will work anyway.”

Claudia sniffed, but didn’t say anything.

“Thanks.” Laney was just glad to avoid another argument.

“Why don’t we go to Hobbin Forest? No one will interrupt us in there,” said Fletcher.

“What if those hobgobbit things come along?” said Laney. “And Tom said there was something dodgy going on in the forest – something that some of the Thorns are doing.”

“Oh, the Thorns are always up to something,” said Claudia. Then she saw Fletcher’s face. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way! Maybe those trees over there would be all right. They’d give us enough cover.” She jerked her head towards a small group of trees on the other side of the field.

“Fine, let’s just start,” said Laney, beginning to feel nervous.

They crossed the field, climbed the fence and entered a small copse where the dark tree branches
closed over their heads. Claudia stopped by a fallen tree trunk.

“There’s no one around,” said Fletcher. “Except…” He frowned and put his ear up against a tree trunk.

Laney looked at Claudia. “What’s he doing?”

“It’s a weird thing that Thorns do,” said Claudia. “Don’t ask me – I’ve got no idea!”

“It’s not weird,” said Fletcher. “We can find things out from the trees…like messages.”

“Like you’re using a tree phone!” said Claudia. “Actually, can you find out the football results for me?”

Laney managed not to giggle.

“Yeah, yeah, very funny.” Fletcher thrust his hands in his pockets. “Anyway, listening to trees is a lot more sensible than doing a dreamwalk.”

“It’ll work. You’ll see.” Claudia changed into faerie form, flexing her wings. “OK, are you ready? You need to be in faerie form.”

Laney handed her pillow to Fletcher, who put it down on the fallen tree trunk and sat on it. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, managing to change into faerie form almost straight away. She stretched her wings.

“Hold up your hands like this.” Claudia held her hands up, palms forwards, and Laney placed her hands against them. “Now close your eyes and try and remember the start of the dream.”

Laney shut her eyes. She’d been in her room. It was night-time and she’d been looking through the window. Was that how the dream had started or what had really happened? Somehow it all seemed the same.

Her stomach dropped. She felt like she was falling and falling and she would never stop.