The Crystal Mirror (9 page)

The dark shape leaned right over her, its long hood hiding its face. It reached out a gloved hand…

“Laney, wake up!”

Laney yelled and scrambled into the corner of the bed to get away from that hand, that hood, that burning hate…

“Calm down, it’s only daylight!” joked Kim, pulling back the curtains. “I know it’s the summer holidays but I don’t want you lying in bed all day. It’s ten o’clock already.”

Laney stared round. There was no black shape. It had just been Kim. She must have been dreaming about that thing again – the thing Gwen had told her was a Shadow faerie.

“Are you all right?” Kim came over and sat down on the bed next to her.

Laney forced her face into a smile. “I’m fine. You just made me jump. I must have been dreaming.”

Kim laughed. “I thought maybe you were. You were muttering on about your shadow and how you had to find something. It must have been an exciting dream.” She leaned forwards suddenly. “Are you feeling OK? Your eyes are – they look a little red.”

“Too much sleep, maybe.” Laney blinked and looked away. Kim shouldn’t be able to see any change in her eyes, and they were golden, not red.

Kim got up. “I’m taking Toby into town. He needs
some new shoes. Your dad and Simon have gone out. Tea’s at seven o’clock. Don’t miss it.”

“I won’t.”

Laney got dressed and decided to go to The Cattery, where Claudia lived. She wanted to tell her about last night. Maybe Claudia would know a bit more about Shadow faeries – Gwen hadn’t really gone into a lot of detail.

Gusts of wind beat against her as she turned the corner into Beacon Way. She glanced over at the church. Today its walls were as dark and grey as the clouds overhead. Last night she’d been up on the roof, hiding from that horrible dark figure.

She almost wished she hadn’t found out what it was. The thought of someone using a faerie’s dust – the body they’d left behind after they’d died – to give themselves power, made her stomach lurch. She walked on, imagining that a dark figure might leap out from behind every lamppost.

The Cattery was quiet. A ginger cat sat at the entrance to the street as if it was guarding the way. As Laney skirted past, it turned to watch her with big green eyes. Three faerie houses stood among the human ones. One was a small bungalow covered with sharp brown spines, which growled as she went past. Next door was a grey stone tower, with eyes that blinked from its dark slit windows.

The last one, Claudia’s house, was made from
leopard print. The words above the door read:
Do
not provoke the beast within
. As Laney approached, the house let out a terrifying roar that made her stagger backwards. She sidled up again, trying to get close enough to stroke the furry wall, when a long leopard-like tail swished down from the roof and knocked her over.

The door opened and Tom Lionhart loped down the path. “Hey!” He slapped her on the back. “Here’s the Late Awakening Water Wonder! Burst any pipes lately?”

“Not really.” Laney flushed – she could do without Tom’s jokes right now.

“Leave her alone, Tom,” said Claudia from behind him.

“Sure! I don’t want to start a rain shower.” Tom peered at the sky in mock fear. Then he climbed into his tiger-like car and roared away.

“Let’s go somewhere more private,” said Claudia. “I want to talk to you.”

“Me too,” said Laney. “Something happened last night…”

Claudia shot her a warning look. “Tell me in a minute.”

A small black cat ran along behind them as they made their way down the main road. The wind grew stronger and the branches of the oak tree in the park thrashed wildly. Laney caught sight of
a bunch of little sprites huddled in the crook of one of the branches. Then she heard a snatch of high, wordless singing. She’d forgotten that Claudia had told her there was a faerie ring in the park. She could see it now, a ring of darker grass in the middle.

A football rolled right through the circle and a little boy ran to fetch it. Laney dashed forwards to stop him but Claudia pulled her back. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. The rings don’t affect humans.”

The boy ran through the circle of dark grass and out the other side.

Laney and Claudia carried on past the swings. Nearby, three little girls were practising their handstands. As she watched them, Laney realised that they were all faerie children. Did the faerie kids in the village always stick together and play separately from the human kids? Maybe it had always been like this and she’d never known before because she hadn’t Awakened.

Sara Thornbeam stopped her handstands and stared at Laney.

Laney stared back, remembering how Sara’s brother, Fletcher, had stopped her straying stupidly close to a faerie ring yesterday.

“Who’d want to be a Mist faerie? Water is so boring!” said Sara.

“Shh!” her friend said. “We shouldn’t talk about it
out here, remember? And if Jessie hears you, you’ll get a soaking!”

“Let’s go somewhere where flappy ears can’t listen in.” Claudia glared at Sara.

They crossed the High Street. The road was busy and everyone seemed to be walking twice as fast as normal. The gigantic green eyes on the wall stared at Laney as she followed Claudia into the Lionhart Pet Shop. Trying not to look at them, she stepped inside and caught her breath. She hadn’t come in here since Awakening and now she could feel the strong faerie enchantment in the air. She stopped by a small hutch with five white mice inside.

“Going on the wheel…the whee-l,” one mouse sang as he spun round.

“Look! New faerie girl!” said another.

“Claudia! I can hear them!” whispered Laney.

“It’s because there’s so much Greytail magic floating round in here. It means that all faeries can hear the animals, even if they’re not a Greytail themselves,” said Claudia. “It only works while you’re inside the shop though.”

Claudia’s dad looked up from behind the counter and his gaze lingered on Laney. “Hello, girls. Don’t eat all the biscuits,” was all he said.

“No, Dad, we won’t!” Claudia went to a small kitchen at the back of the shop with a sink and kettle. She took a tin of biscuits from the cupboard,
opened it and offered them to Laney.

“So what did you want to talk about? And why do we have to be private?” said Laney, taking a chocolate biscuit.

Claudia shut the door to the kitchen. “I want to know what happened to you last night. Gwen came to our house early this morning and told my mum and dad that you’d seen a Shadow faerie. They were all really freaked out.”

Laney’s stomach felt hollow. “Gwen told them herself?” “Yeah, she’s organising a big meeting about it. So what did you really see?”

“There was a dark shape crawling around in the churchyard.” Laney flushed, aware of how weird it sounded. “And I had to get away before it saw me. Then I went to Gwen’s and told her about it. She said it might be a Shadow faerie.”

Claudia raised her eyebrows as she bit into a ginger biscuit. “I used to be terrified by tales of Shadow faeries when I was little. Then I realised that they were in lots of stories, but I’d never seen one. So I figured they were completely made up.”

“Gwen said she saw one, years ago,” said Laney quietly.

“Really?” Claudia’s eyebrows flew up a second time. “I guess she knows what she’s talking about then. Anyway, there hasn’t been a Faerie Meet for
ages. Shame it’s only adults allowed. Maybe we should sneak up there and listen to what they say.”

The sound of voices came from outside the kitchen and the door swung open.

“There you are, Laney.” Gwen stood in the doorway in a raincoat and a waterproof hat. Claudia’s dad looked over her shoulder. “I need you to come to Skellmore Edge. It’s very important.”

“You mean, right now?” Laney thought of the Edge, which towered over the village, with its flat stony top. It would be the most windswept place they could go on a day like this.

“Yes. Please come straight away. I need you to tell everyone at the Faerie Meet about what you saw last night.”

“I’m not being tested again, am I?” asked Laney.

“It isn’t a test, my dear,” said Gwen. “All you have to do is tell them what you saw. Now I must go. I need to talk to the other Elders.” She went down the rabbit food aisle and Mr Lionhart opened the door for her.

Laney and Claudia followed them outside. The day had turned darker. Black clouds had swollen into a great rolling mass on the western horizon. Lightning flashed as they stepped out on to the High Street and its jagged shape stayed imprinted on Laney’s mind long after it had vanished.

“I’ll meet you on top of the Edge,” called Gwen as she hurried away. “Don’t be too long; the others won’t want to be kept waiting.”

A drum roll of thunder followed her words and the gigantic cat eyes on the wall blinked rapidly.

“Are you OK, Laney?” Claudia’s eyes were wide. “I’m seriously glad it’s not me having to face all those adults. Everyone from all the villages will be there – Thorns, Greytails and Mist faeries. There’ll be loads of them.”

Laney swallowed. “I feel a bit sick.”

“Here, try a custard cream. That always works for me.” Claudia thrust one into her hand.

Jessie crossed the street and stopped in front of them. “If there’s a way to turn back into a human, you’d better do it right now, Laney, because you’re
going to be so busted!” She swept back her curly hair and walked off.

“Really great to see you too, Jessie!” Claudia called after her.

“She’s right. They’re going to ask me loads of questions and I don’t know anything,” said Laney.

“Don’t stress out. Just tell them what you saw,” said Claudia. “I’ll come with you and wait just below the top. I want to hear what they say.”

A black cat slipped out of the pet shop to join them. “Are you coming with us, Dizzy?” said Claudia.

The cat swished its tail before streaking across the road and out of sight.

“They don’t like it when all the tribes get worked up like this,” said Claudia. “They’re very sensitive to faerie magic.”

Laney’s stomach lurched. The custard cream hadn’t helped at all. “I’d better go.”

They walked together up Beacon Way until they reached the end of the village where the rows of houses became hedgerows and grass. Climbing over a stile, they followed the footpath across the fields. The rocky face of Skellmore Edge loomed over them.

“It would be quicker to fly up.” Laney looked behind her to check if there was anyone else nearby. “No one’s looking.”

“We can’t. They’ll use the Mist tribe to bring down the fog and hide the whole Meet from human eyes. It’s really thick stuff. We’ll never manage to fly through it.”

Within a few minutes Laney began to understand what she meant. A white haze rolled over the top of the Edge. At first she thought it was no different from any other fog, but it thickened fast. The ridge of the hill disappeared from view almost at once and a few minutes later she could barely see her own feet. “I can’t see where I’m going. How are we supposed to find our way through this?”

“I guess we just keep on climbing,” said Claudia.

“The Edge is a huge place though. We could end up in completely the wrong part.” Laney tripped over a hawthorn bush and fell over. “Ow! This is stupid!”

A dark shape appeared close to them, making them jump. “I can take you up to the top,” said Fletcher. “I know the way really well.”

“I thought only adults were allowed at the Faerie Meet,” said Laney.

“They won’t know I’m there. I’ll stay out of sight,” said Fletcher.

“What if your dad spots you?” said Claudia.

“He won’t. I’m a Thorn – good at camouflage, remember? Anyway, I want to know what’s going on. The adults never tell us anything.” He glanced
sideways at Laney.

She knew he was wondering about what she’d seen and what she was going to tell the adults, but she didn’t feel like explaining it right now.

As they scrambled through the bushes and brambles just below the peak, Laney could see that Fletcher wasn’t the only one who’d decided to listen in. There were several faces she recognised from the school bus, hiding behind rocks or shrubs. They were mostly kids in the years above her at school who lived in Pyton or Gillforth.

Soon the earth footpath turned to stone. “You’re nearly there now. Just keep going,” said Fletcher in a low voice.

“Good luck,” Claudia whispered to her.

Laney climbed the last few metres alone on to the uneven rock of Skellmore Edge. As she reached the top she broke through the white haze into open air. The fog formed a ring around the edge of the flat hilltop, leaving the middle completely clear. There was a patch of blue sky overhead, but the storm clouds still hung in the west.

A grey-haired man stood on the cliff, blowing hard into his cupped hands. As he opened his fingers and spread them wide, clouds of vapour went billowing away to add to the fog around the slope. Further along, more faeries were doing the same, building up the fog bank to hide the meeting
from human eyes. Laney knew they must be from the Mist tribe and she wondered if she’d be able to do the same thing one day.

A crowd of people parted to let her through and whispers followed her as she walked across the hilltop. Her foot caught on a rough piece of rock and she staggered, but recovered her balance. She glanced back, realising she’d fallen over a gouge in the rock shaped like a pair of giant footprints. Shuddering, she wondered whether those really were boot marks set into the stone.

“Laney!” Gwen called her over. She was standing at the centre of a small group of people and Laney noticed silver markings on the backs of their hands. These must be the Elders. Fletcher’s dad and Claudia’s mum were there. The cold-eyed Miss Reed stood with them too. Her lips curled mockingly when she saw Laney.

Everyone was in their human form, but an unmistakable shimmer in the air gave away the presence of magic.

“Is this the girl?” shouted someone from the back.

“Yes, this is the girl.” Mr Stingwood loomed up behind Laney, his face like stone. “Mrs Whitefern has spoken about what you told her. Now we want to hear it in your own words. What is this thing you think you saw and why is it so important that we all
have to meet up – at great risk of being discovered by the humans.” He cast a stern look at Gwen.

“Just tell them what you described to me last night,” said Gwen. “Take your time and remember as much as you can.”

A great hush fell over the hilltop and dozens of pairs of gold-ringed eyes fixed on Laney.