Stardust (5 page)

Joanna smiled. ‘Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll sit this one out!'

‘I'll be it,' Allegra announced. She started to count. ‘One, two, three…' The others scattered. Allegra finished counting very quickly and raced after them. Ella was the closest to her. She
tried to dive upwards, but Allegra shot out her hand. ‘Wind be with me!'

A breeze blew straight at Ella. She gasped as it threw her towards Allegra who instantly ticked her. ‘Got you!' Allegra grinned.

Ella and Allegra raced towards Lucy, Faye and Robyn. Faye darted through the trees. Ella pointed her hand. ‘Ivy grow!' Immediately a thick curtain of ivy curled from the branches.

Faye flew straight into it. She turned and tried to escape, but she was too late. Ella and Allegra dived at her. ‘Tick!' they shouted.

Faye giggled and joined them in the hunt for Lucy and Robyn. They dived at Robyn, but she swung round in a circle, lighting a fire as she went so it blazed up
around her. The three girls gasped and stopped, then dived at Lucy instead.

‘Shield be with me!' Lucy cried, throwing out her hand, but to her surprise nothing happened. For a second the air did shimmer, but then the magic seemed to block inside her and the shield didn't form.

Allegra, Ella and Faye all pulled up in surprise.

‘My magic's not working,' Lucy said. She swung round. There were a few older stardust spirits watching them play their game, but no dark spirits or anything suspicious.

‘What's happening?' Robyn let her fires die down and flew over.

‘My magic didn't work,' Lucy said. She saw Robyn glance quickly at Joanna.
Joanna smiled brightly. ‘Everything OK, girls?'

‘No,' Allegra said anxiously. ‘Lucy's magic isn't working.'

Joanna frowned. ‘Try something else.'

Lucy pointed at the ground. ‘Fire be with me!' A fireball hit the ground and exploded in a shower of sparks.

‘Seems all right now,' Joanna commented.

Lucy stared at the ground in astonishment. Her magic was fine again. But why hadn't it worked before?

‘That's weird,' Allegra said.

‘Yeah,' Ella said. ‘Maybe you just didn't do something right before, Lucy.' She turned to Robyn. ‘Your circle of fire was cool though.'

‘Really good,' Faye agreed.

‘Thanks,' Robyn said, but she didn't look very happy. She glanced at her mum.

Joanna smiled brightly. ‘I have some time free now, Lucy. Would you like to try travelling with an animal again?'

‘Yes, please,' Lucy said although she still felt disturbed by what had just happened. She never got things wrong. It had been the same feeling as the other night, as if something was blocking her.
Or someone
, she thought, glancing uneasily into the shadows of the trees.

‘Let's try an otter this time,' Joanna suggested. ‘They are wonderful to travel with.'

They flew to the riverbank. Watched over by Joanna, Lucy let her mind become one with the otter's. She
travelled with the otter across the bank and into the fast-flowing water. She felt its joy as it raced down the stream, felt the jolt as its strong jaws snapped shut around a fish. Her thoughts merged with the otter's – she could see the cosy dark of the holt, watch the two contented otter cubs curled in a nest, smell the comforting warm scent of the damp earth.

‘That was amazing!' she said when she left the otter's mind.

Joanna smiled at her. ‘You're a very quick learner, Lucy. It takes most people a long time to learn how to use their powers to travel with an animal. Well done.'

The pride Lucy felt at Joanna's words didn't completely cancel out the anxiety
she was feeling about what had happened before. OK, not being able to put up a shield while playing tick was nowhere near as big a thing as not being able to channel power when the others stardust spirits needed it, but it had still freaked her out.

When they got back to the clearing, she went to talk to Xanthe about it. ‘It can't have been a dark spirit,' Xanthe said. ‘Not while you were in the middle of our stardust clearing. Someone else would have noticed something.'

‘But if it's not a dark spirit doing it, why is it happening?' asked Lucy.

‘I don't know,' Xanthe replied. ‘The only thing that I can think of is that sometimes magic can be unpredictable. It doesn't always work as it should. Maybe that's all
that's happening. Let's not get too worried about it. Hopefully it won't happen again.'

But it did. Twice over the next three nights Lucy's magic stopped working. Lucy tried not to get too worried about it, but it was hard. On the fourth day, she was trying to burn a pile of old branches to tidy up the stardust clearing. There was no one suspicious anywhere nearby, just a couple of teenage spirits who nudged each other when they saw that her magic wasn't working, and Joanna, Robyn and Allegra.

As Lucy felt the familiar blocking sensation in her mind, she threw up her hands in despair. ‘It's happening again!'

‘Oh dear, Lucy,' said Joanna
sympathetically. ‘You poor thing.' She turned to Robyn. ‘Why don't you burn the branches instead, darling?'

Tears of frustration sprang into Lucy's eyes.

Robyn lit the fire and then glanced at her mum. ‘Can we go?' she said, her voice unusually serious. ‘I want to talk to you about something.'

Joanna smiled. ‘We can talk later, Robyn.'

‘No, Mum,' Robyn insisted. ‘I want to talk now.'

Joanna paused and then gave in. ‘All right. See you later, girls.' She and Robyn flew off.

Lucy rubbed her forehead. ‘I think I'll go home, Allegra.'

‘Now?' Allegra said. ‘But it's still quite early.'

‘I know,' Lucy said unhappily. ‘But I don't feel like doing any more magic tonight.'

‘OK, I'll come back with you,' Allegra said.

‘No, you stay.'

‘But you shouldn't go on your own,' protested Allegra.

‘I'll camouflage myself,' said Lucy. ‘I'll
be all right. I'll fly back as fast as I can.'

To her relief, Allegra seemed to understand she wanted to be on her own. ‘OK.'

‘Thanks.' Lucy forced a smile. ‘Camouflagus,' she whispered.

Her body instantly disappeared against the starry sky. All stardust spirits could camouflage themselves, vanishing into the background, becoming almost invisible.

She began to fly home, her thoughts racing in worried circles. Why wasn't her magic working? Was Xanthe right? Was it nothing to worry about or was there something more sinister happening? Her magic had never stopped working before now. If it was a dark spirit, what were they trying to do?

If it's to freak me out, it's working
, Lucy thought unhappily. She was beginning to dread doing magic in case nothing happened.

Her eyes caught a flash of gold in the trees beneath her. She flew lower. Joanna and Robyn were facing each other in the alder grove. Lucy was about to fly on, but then she caught sight of Robyn's face. Robyn was looking intently at Joanna. Lucy felt curious. What were they talking about? Their voices floated up to her.

‘Please, Mum,' she heard Robyn saying. ‘You've got to stop it!'

‘No,' Joanna said.

‘But, Mum…'

‘Don't interfere, Robyn,' Joanna said firmly. ‘I know what's best.'

‘But Lucy's…'

Lucy started as she heard her own name, but before Robyn could finish what she was going to say, Joanna cut across her. ‘Robyn! That's enough! You know I'm only doing this for you.'

‘But I don't want you to,' Robyn said miserably. ‘I like Lucy.'

‘I know, but don't you see…' Joanna suddenly broke off and looked up as if she had heard something.

Lucy's stomach somersaulted as Joanna seemed to look straight in her direction. She was very glad she had camouflaged herself and couldn't be seen.

She darted through the sky. Camouflage was at its most effective if you kept moving. Lucy twisted and turned. Beneath her she saw Joanna give a puzzled frown and then turn back to
Robyn. She said something and then Robyn nodded and the two of them flew away.

Lucy watched them fly into the distance. Her breath was short in her throat. They'd been talking about her! She tried to remember everything she'd heard. Robyn telling Joanna she had to stop it. Stop what? And Joanna saying she was only doing it for Robyn. But what was she doing?

Lucy's thoughts whirled round and round. She didn't have a clue what Robyn and Joanna had been talking about. But she didn't like it. Feeling very uneasy, she turned and flew home as fast as she could.

Please, Mum, you've got to stop it!

As Lucy lay in bed that night, Robyn's words seemed to echo around in her mind. What did Joanna have to stop? What was she doing? Her brain buzzed with a horrible thought. What if Joanna had something to do with her magic not working?

But why would she do that?
Lucy thought.

She's a dark spirit.

No!
Lucy sat up in bed and pushed her hair back.
Joanna can't be a dark spirit. She's too nice…

But even as she thought it, she realized that both Dan and Maggie, the two dark spirits she had met before, had seemed nice too. She'd been fooled before.

‘Joanna can't be a dark spirit,' she whispered to herself. ‘She's Xanthe's friend.'

But they haven't seen each other for years
, a voice answered in her head.
Maybe Joanna's become one. Maybe she's turned dark. And she's been there every time your magic hasn't worked.

Lucy lay in bed for a few moments and then got up. She couldn't bear it any longer. She had to talk to someone. She got out of bed and saw a light on in the
next-door kitchen. Xanthe and Allegra must be back.

Not bothering to turn herself into a stardust spirit again, Lucy put on her slippers, hurried out of the bedroom and ran down the stairs. She turned the key quietly in the lock of the back door and slipped outside.

She ran across the driveway to Xanthe and Allegra's house and knocked on the door. Xanthe opened it. ‘Lucy!' she said in surprise. ‘What is it?'

‘Can I talk to you?' Lucy said.

Xanthe held the door open and Lucy hurried through to the kitchen. Allegra was drinking a cup of hot chocolate. She looked very surprised to see Lucy. ‘Hi. What's up?'

Lucy looked anxiously at Xanthe. ‘It's
Joanna. I…I think she's a dark spirit!'

There was a stunned silence. ‘A dark spirit,' Xanthe echoed eventually.

Lucy nodded. ‘My magic's only not been working when she's been there…' The whole story spilled out: how she'd heard Joanna and Robyn talking and what they'd said.

‘That does sound a bit strange,' Xanthe admitted. ‘But I'm sure you've got it wrong. I know Joanna's not a dark spirit. We've been friends since we were nine.'

‘But you haven't seen her for ages,' Lucy said. ‘And maybe…'

‘No, Lucy,' Xanthe interrupted gently. ‘I'm
sure
she's not a dark spirit.'

‘So why does my magic keep going wrong?' Lucy asked.

‘I don't know.' Xanthe took her hands.

‘We'll try and find out, but I'm sure it's not Joanna. Trust me.'

Lucy looked into Xanthe's blue eyes. Confusion rushed through her. Xanthe looked so convinced, but what had Joanna and Robyn been talking about then, and why did her magic keep going wrong when Joanna was nearby? ‘But what did all those things she said mean?' she asked.

Xanthe hesitated. ‘I think I might know, but I need to talk to her. But, Lucy, I promise you she isn't a dark spirit.'

Lucy didn't know what to say. She wanted to believe Xanthe, but she couldn't quite. She knew what she'd heard. She could remember the pleading note in Robyn's voice:
Mum, you've got to stop it…

‘OK.'