The Crystal Mirror (6 page)

Laney followed her dad downstairs.

Mr Stingwood turned to look at her appraisingly with deep gold-ringed eyes. Laney couldn’t believe how broad he was. He seemed to fill the room.

“Hello, Robert,” he said. “And this must be your daughter. How fast they grow up these days!” His bushy eyebrows drew downwards.

“What do you need, Peter?” said Mr Rivers.

“Ah, it’s just a simple pipe repair, I’m sure.” Mr Stingwood glanced at Kim.

“Come out to the garage and I’ll look out some tools.” Mr Rivers held open the door, his face drawn tight.

“Very kind of you.” Mr Stingwood manoeuvred his huge bulk through the doorway using his dark-mahogany stick.

As he turned, Laney noticed the same silvery marks on the backs of his hands that she’d seen on Gwen’s. She went to follow them, and as she passed the sink, the bowl full of washing-up water started to bubble. Luckily no one saw except Toby, sitting in his high chair.

“Bubbly water, Laney,” he said.

Laney put a finger to her lips.

When they reached the garage, the manner of both men changed completely. Mr Stingwood leaned his walking stick against the wall and towered over Laney’s dad.

“What is it, Peter?” said Mr Rivers. “You know I want nothing to do with tribe business.”

“You don’t, but what about her?” said Mr Stingwood coldly. “She’s Awake now, so she needs to be taken to see a Mist Elder.”

“Who’s that?” asked Laney.

“Leave this to me, Laney,” said her dad. “We’re not having anything to do with the rest of you. So you can go back and tell that to the Elders.”

Stingwood’s eyes hardened. “
You
may not want anything to do with faerie business, but
she
became our business when she Awoke on the night of the Wolf Moon. You know what that means.”

Mr Rivers paled. “That’s not what the prophecy says. It doesn’t say
Awaken at the red moon
.”

“It’s close enough,” replied Stingwood.

“You’re making up reasons to interfere—” began Mr Rivers.

“She turned the river red. Did she tell you that?” Stingwood glared at Mr Rivers. “Is that a normal thing for a Mist faerie to do?”

Mr Rivers was silent.

“What do you want me to do?” said Laney.

“You must meet with the Elders and we will need to see a demonstration of your Mist power.” Stingwood watched her with narrow eyes. “And after the test we will decide if it’s safe that you remain here in Skellmore.”

“No!” said her dad. “You want to perform the Seeing Thread on her. That’s a dangerous and painful thing to do. I’ll never let her go to be tested by all of you. Just because you and that Mist Elder, Arthur Puddlewick—”

“Arthur Puddlewick is dead. He died yesterday,” said Stingwood sharply.

“But that doesn’t mean… You can’t assume that has anything to do with Laney; she didn’t even know him. Anyway, he was quite an old man,” said Laney’s dad.

Stingwood waved away the objection with a dismissive hand. “In the circumstances, everything is suspicious – Awakenings, deaths, everything. And she
must
come to be tested.”

“Never!” Mr Rivers squared his shoulders, even though Laney had never seen him so pale. “I shall never let a child of mine go through the Seeing Thread. And if you come here again I shall throw you out.”

“You would be wise not to get in our way,” said Stingwood. “We will return.” He picked up his stick and left.

“What’s the Seeing Thread?” whispered Laney.

Her dad shook his head. “It’s horrible. It’s a way to judge someone, to find out how strong their power is or whether they’ve committed a spell crime. It was done a lot in the old days. Some faeries never
fully recovered.” He hurried out of the garage and back towards the house, nearly tripping over Toby who was coming out to play.

Laney followed more slowly.

“Girl,” called Stingwood quietly. He had stopped just beyond the wall of the next-door garden, where he couldn’t be seen from their house.

Laney walked down the front path towards him.

“Your father is foolish,” said Stingwood. “It is true that the Seeing Thread is dangerous, but it needs to be done. He cannot stand in our way and if he does, we will test all his children instead of just you. Is that what you want?”

Laney’s eyes flew to where Toby was playing, wheeling his ride-on car up and down the front path. This was her fault, not Toby’s. She couldn’t let him suffer this horrible Thread thing. “Where do you want me to go?”

He pointed his walking stick and the tree next to them leaned away, as if it was afraid. “Come to Hobbin Forest at eleven thirty tonight. The Elders will meet you there.”

“Will Gwen be there – I mean, Mrs Whitefern?”

“All the Elders will be there. Tell no one about this.” Stingwood turned, and as he tapped his way back down the lane he added one more thing over his shoulder. “Be on time, otherwise we’ll come back here for your brother too.”

Laney felt as if she’d swallowed a lump of ice. But she couldn’t let them have Toby; this was nothing to do with him.

“Oh! Has Peter gone?” Kim came out of the house. “I was just going to ask him if he wanted a cup of tea.”

Laney turned away so that Kim couldn’t see her fear. “Yes, he’s gone,” she managed to say.

Tonight she was going to be tested. The thought of it weighed on her chest so much that she could hardly breathe.

Laney spent the rest of the day desperately trying to make her Mist powers work. If the faerie Elders were going to do some sort of test on her, she thought she should practise as much as she could. So she took a bowl of water to her bedroom and stared at it for a long, long time. She managed to get a few drops to rise up from the bowl and float in the air.

At last, exhausted, she collapsed on her bed. Considering the amount of damage she’d caused to the school water fountain, and the rain shower she’d made that morning, it was surprisingly hard to get the water to do anything. It was much easier to do it all by accident. She glanced at her
gold-ringed
eyes in the mirror. She just hoped she could make her powers work tonight.

It felt like a long wait until the sun went down.

Her dad turned to her at teatime while Kim was taking some dishes out to the kitchen. “Don’t worry about Stingwood. Just leave those people to me.”

“What’s the prophecy he was talking about?” said Laney. “Is it something to do with the red moon?”

Her dad hesitated. “Yes, it’s all to do with that, but it’s just nonsense and you don’t have to worry about it. I don’t want them dragging you into it.”

Laney knew he wanted to protect her but she had to meet the Elders. It was her they wanted and if she could prove to them that there was nothing wrong with her, then maybe they would leave her family alone after that.

At eleven o’clock she opened her window wide. She knew she wouldn’t get out of the front door without her dad noticing, but if she could use her wings then she might be able to get out by flying.

She climbed on to the window ledge, closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. It took several minutes until she felt what she was hoping for. There was a swish of air behind her and smooth pale wings curved open from her back. She touched them, amazed all over again. Then she looked down at the lane below.

There was one slight problem with her plan…she
didn’t really know how to fly.

Maybe if she made sure her wings were spread wide she could at least glide down to the ground without hurting herself.

She pressed her lips together tightly. This was it.

Launching herself upwards, she spread out her arms and her wings opened too. She sailed over the plum tree by the front gate, lifted for a moment by the wind. But the ground zoomed upwards and she put her hands out to protect herself before hurtling straight into the churchyard wall on the other side of the lane.

She picked herself up and examined her scratches and scrapes. Vowing not to try that again until she knew how to do it properly, she ran down the lane. She didn’t stop till she’d passed the last house on the edge of the village.

It was weird walking along with wings. Even though they were light, they bumped against her back a little, and now and then a gust of wind caught them and lifted her off her feet. She closed her eyes to tell them to go. Even though she was outside Skellmore, it would be better to get rid of them. If she was seen like this she’d have a hard time explaining it.

But with her eyes closed, her mind filled up with terror. She told herself it was just because she’d shut her eyes in the middle of the countryside.
She opened them again. The footpath in front of her ran down to a narrow stream that joined the larger river half a mile further along. Even though nothing moved in the darkness, her skin prickled.

Giving in to instinct, she ran down the footpath and through the fields, not slowing down until her panic subsided. As she reached the edge of Hobbin Forest, a bright full moon rose above the trees. Seeing its round white face made Laney wonder again why it had looked so red the night before.

She shivered, noticing that her wings had suddenly disappeared and she was back in human form again. She wished she could make the change happen when she wanted it to.

The church clock struck the half hour. She was meant to be meeting the faerie Elders right now. She took a deep breath and plunged under the canopy of the dark trees.

Laney had no idea where in the forest she was supposed to be meeting the Elders. She struggled on through the trees and their low branches scraped her arms.

“Stop,” said an icy voice. A bright light blinded her.

She shielded her face. She was in a clearing, with Mr Stingwood and a lady with cold-looking eyes. Mr Stingwood didn’t have his walking stick with him this time and the way he strode forwards made Laney wonder if he’d ever really needed it.

The bright light came from a white orb that he was holding. He let it float upwards to hang in the air above them. “Let us begin,” he said, and with a sweep of his hand he made the trees and bushes around the edge of the clearing grow together into a tightly knitted thicket set with savage thorns.

Laney gasped. She was stuck inside a prison of branches. There would be no getting in or out. When she turned back, Stingwood and the lady had changed to faerie form. The air glowed white around them and the silvery marks on Stingwood’s hands were bright. Their wings were folded behind them.

“But where’s Mrs Whitefern?” said Laney.

Stingwood ignored her. “This is Miss Reed.” He pointed to the lady with the icicle eyes. “She will be conducting your test. She’s standing in for Mr
Puddlewick, who used to be the Elder of your tribe.”

“Are you ready to begin?” Miss Reed’s eyes drilled into Laney.

Laney’s heart thumped. She felt less ready than ever before.

“Wait!” The voice that spoke sounded far away. Then the woven thicket rustled.

“Peter, you must let us through!”

Laney’s heart lifted. That sounded like Gwen’s voice. Surely Gwen would help her.

Stingwood frowned but waved a hand to let a tunnel open in the tightly woven branches. Two faeries came through. The tangle of thorns shut instantly behind them. Gwen looked graceful in her faerie form despite her plump frame and lined face. She wore a gauzy scarf around her head and short wings glistened behind her.

Laney noticed with a jolt that the other figure was Claudia’s mum. Mrs Lionhart was small, but her dark wings and fierce eyes gave her an air of power. She stared at Laney with open curiosity.

The air in the clearing buzzed with magic. Standing among these four powerful faeries made Laney wish she could find a way through the thicket and sneak back home.

“You should not have shut me out like that, Peter,” said Gwen sharply. “I am a Thorn Elder too.”

Stingwood bowed. “My
deepest
apologies,” he
said silkily.

“This must be done with the utmost care,” Gwen went on. “Testing someone who’s only just Awakened – we’ve never done anything like this before.”

“We haven’t performed the Seeing Thread on a grown faerie for several years,” said Mrs Lionhart.

“There hasn’t been a red moon before,” replied Stingwood. “Not in the last twelve years. The girl has Awoken at a time of bad omens. We must put maudlin feelings aside and do our duty.”

Laney didn’t like being called “the girl” very much. “Why is everyone so worried about the moon being red last night?” she said.

“This is not the time or place to explain faerie lore to you.” Mr Stingwood’s bushy eyebrows lowered. “Do not speak unless you are asked to.”

“If it’s something to do with me, I’d like to know.” Laney was amazed at how brave she sounded. She folded her arms tight to stop him seeing how much she was shaking.

“See these markings?” Mr Stingwood showed her the silvery marks on his hands. “These are the signs of a faerie Elder. If you cross me, you will regret it.”

“Peter! She’s only just Awakened.” Gwen turned to Laney. “There’s a legend among faeries about a child who will be born at the time of a red moon. That kind of moon – called a Wolf Moon – has
always brought bad luck. No one knows for sure what the prophecy means, but—”

“Greytails don’t believe in it anyway,” said Mrs Lionhart fiercely. “It’s a lot of silly superstition.”

Stingwood drew himself up to his full height and pointed at Laney. “How can you stand there calling it superstition when we have a girl here who Awakened on the night of the Wolf Moon? If she shows signs of unnatural power we must send her to the Faerie Council immediately.”

Laney’s heart began to race. Her dad had told her not to worry about the red moon prophecy, but that was the main reason she was being tested. Becoming a faerie on the night of the red moon had made people suspicious of her.

“But the prophecy says the child will be
born
under that moon, not Awaken,” said Gwen. “When is your birthday, Laney?”

“July the fifteenth,” Laney said automatically. “Yesterday.”

“You see?” Stingwood’s face darkened. “She had her birthday yesterday on the night of the Wolf Moon.”

“Yes, but she can’t have been
born
under a red moon because there’s never been one in the month of July before,” said Gwen.

Stingwood glared, but didn’t argue.

“May I suggest we start the test?” Miss Reed cut
in. “Come here, child.”

“Will it hurt?” Laney walked reluctantly to the edge of the forest pool where Miss Reed stood.

“For the first part I simply require you to show me what you can do.” She clicked her fingers and the white orb floated closer to them, shining down on the pool and turning it into a dark mirror. The wind blew and the leaves on the edge of the clearing rustled. Laney thought she saw something move on the other side of the thicket, but then it was gone.

“We’ll start with something simple,” said Miss Reed. “Raise a single drop of water from the pool up to at least waist height.”

Laney focused on the pool and tried to concentrate. One drop, just one drop, she begged silently. The water stirred a little, but no drop appeared. Her cheeks grew hot. She tried again, putting every tiny bit of her willpower into making the water move, but it made no difference.

“Oh dear! Finding it difficult, are we?” Miss Reed’s eyebrows rose. “Let’s try something else. Turn part of the pool into ice. You may touch the water if you need to.”

Laney crouched down by the pool and put both hands in the water. She shut her eyes this time and tried to imagine the pond turning hard and white as a layer of ice stretched across it. She heard a faint hiss and opened her eyes. The water hadn’t changed
at all. The faerie Elders were looking at her with various degrees of surprise, pity and disdain.

“Are you sure she isn’t cheating?” Stingwood asked Miss Reed, who shrugged. “Well, there’s one way to find out.” From his pocket he drew a silver thread almost too thin to see. His dark-green wings flared out, as if he was pleased by what was to come.

“The Seeing Thread allows us to see the truth of things,” Gwen explained to Laney. “We can use it to see exactly how much Mist power you really have. In the old days it was made of hemp, but it can be made of anything as long as it’s been dipped into a faerie ring.”

“This one is spider silk, by the look of it. We must prime it with the power we’re searching for.” Miss Reed took the fragile-looking silver thread and plunged it into the pool. It came out decorated with water drops that gleamed white in the light from the orb.

“Hurry up, for goodness’ sake,” said Mrs Lionhart. “I don’t want to be out here all night.”

“Hold the girl still,” said Stingwood, taking back the thread.

Miss Reed took Laney’s arms and held them behind her back.

“You must remain absolutely still, Laney,” said Gwen. “The whole procedure becomes dangerous if you start moving.”

Laney felt sick. She glanced at the tightly closed walls of the thicket all around her. She had to remember that she was doing this for Toby, to keep him safe.

Stingwood stood close to her, widening the loop and holding it over her head. As he brought the string down around her, a searing pain began at the top of her forehead and worked down over her face, matching the pace of the string. Longing to move but knowing that she mustn’t, she clenched her fists.

The Elders were speaking to each other but their voices were muffled by the pain in her head. Stingwood carried on lowering the thread, past her neck and over her shoulders to her middle. Suddenly the loop was broken. Miss Reed let go of Laney’s hands and she fell to the ground, the agony inside her fading.

“Laney!” Gwen bent over her. “You were so brave, my dear. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She picked some pale feathery leaves from a plant growing near the trunk of a tree. “Smell this feverfew. It will help a little.”

She crushed the leaves between the palms of her hands and gave them to Laney, who breathed them in and instantly felt a lot better.

“Tell me the results,” Stingwood commanded. “How much Mist power does she have?”

“She failed to raise even a single drop of water from the pool. She has a tiny amount of Mist power and the Seeing Thread confirms that,” said Miss Reed. “I do
not
think we need to fear this child as the next evil faerie of our time. It’s most likely that she didn’t Awaken until the age of twelve because she’s barely a faerie at all.”

“But what about how she turned the river water red?” said Mrs Lionhart sharply. “That seems real enough.”

“It was probably a one-off that happened because the child had just Awoken. A sudden burst of energy around the time of Awakening has been known before, but that doesn’t mean she’ll carry on being powerful,” said Miss Reed smoothly. “We all know that the father ignores faerie ways and has married a human. This is a family where the power is dying out and that is fine by me. She should not join the Mist tribe. There is no room in our clan for weaklings.”

Laney met her cold eyes. “But aren’t I already in the Mist tribe? I mean, my power is over…water…” She trailed off. She hadn’t exactly shown them she had control over water.

“You are a Mist, I suppose,” said Miss Reed. “But no one is taught how to use their full power without an invitation from their tribe and I shall not be recommending you for training.”

Laney felt hollow inside. She’d failed the test. She hadn’t been able to show them anything.

“I find it impossible to believe that she is so weak.” Stingwood pointed his finger in Laney’s face. “We must be absolutely sure. Hold her arms whilst I use the Seeing Thread again.” His eyes gleamed as he reassembled the loop in the spider silk.

“No, that is enough. No more.” Gwen spread her wings and the air around her blazed with light. Stingwood’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t oppose me on this, Peter. Your Thorn spells are strong, but you have never tried them against mine.”

“The test is done,” said Mrs Lionhart fiercely. “Leave the child alone.”

Stingwood puffed out his chest angrily, but before he could speak the branches at the bottom of the thicket snapped and a hole appeared. A scuffling came from behind the bushes, followed by a low stuttering snarl.

“Hobgobbits!” said Gwen. “Your wall of thorns won’t stop them, Peter!”

“We shall
not
be interrupted by those low creatures!” snapped Stingwood. “We will get rid of them and carry on.”

A dozen more holes appeared in the thicket and a squat shape that was little more than waist high rushed straight at them. Laney tried to dodge, but the growling thing caught her by the ankles and
knocked her over. She had a close-up view of its matted fur and sharp teeth.

“Ow!” she yelled, as it drew blood from her arm with its claws. She kicked out, managing to free herself and scramble up.

More of the creatures entered the clearing in a strange lurching kind of run. Miss Reed was firing ice bolts at them while Stingwood grabbed two by their arms and hurled them at the thicket wall.

“Quick, Laney! Go now while the other Elders are busy,” Gwen said into her ear. “Run!”

“What are those things?” gasped Laney.

“Hobgobbits. They’re nasty little things and they hate faeries. We’ll get rid of them. Now, go.”

“There’s no way out!”

Gwen touched her shoulders and Laney felt the rush of power as her wings unfolded behind her back. “Fly!” said Gwen.