Havoc!: The Untold Magic of Cora Bell

by Rebecca McRitchie

  Cora stared wide-eyed at the four fairies that tussled with each other in the air. She was so distracted, she didn’t see Tuff lunge at her until it was too late. She spun around and a large black sack was almost over her head. Holding the witch’s magic, she snapped her fingers and appeared behind Tuff.

  The man whirled around. But Cora already had the warlock magic in her hands. She held her hand out and snatched the sack from Tuff then threw it over the hunched magical being. He tripped over, falling to the ground in the sack.

  Cora looked up at the fairies. Two Ticks and two Tocks fluttered in the air sending sparks of magic at one another. Cora realised that she didn’t know which was the real Tick and which was the real Tock.

  ‘Cora, it’s us,’ said one Tock.

  ‘No, it’s us,’ said another Tock.

  Cora stopped, her magic in her hand. The four fairies flew in front of her, twisting and turning and diving in the air. She couldn’t tell them apart. She didn’t know where to throw her magic.

  ‘Cora, look out!’ said Tick.

  ‘Cora, look out!’ said the other Tick.

  The sack that covered Tuff on the ground suddenly ignited in flames. The sack fell apart, pieces of it burning to ash. And Cora watched as the magical being stood up, brushing burning fragments from his clothes.

  This was going to be harder than she’d thought.

  ‘Tell me where Tynth is,’ said Cora, holding an arm out.

  The man laughed.

  Cora thought that would be his response.

  ‘Even if I told you,’ said the man. ‘You need a key to get there. Which I am pretty sure you don’t have.’

  Cora saw a small brass key hanging from the man’s waist. She clicked her fingers, appeared next to him, snatched the key, and then clicked her fingers again before the man even knew what had happened.

  Cora held the key in her hand and stared back defiantly at Tuff. He searched his waist and Cora thought he was going to growl angrily at her as his hands brushed against nothing. Instead, the man smiled when he realised what she had taken and then let out another loud, belly-shaking laugh.

  ‘Not that kind of key,’ he said.

  Crud.

  Cora searched the rocky road around them for anything that looked remotely like it could be used as a key. But what kind of key? A key could be anything. She looked at the shrub. She looked at the rocks.

  ‘That key is for my house,’ said Tuff, pointing at the key in her hand. ‘I’m going to need it back.’

  Then Cora felt like she was being pushed along the rocky road by an invisible hand. Tuff was pulling her towards himself. She dug her heels into the ground.

  Tuff laughed and Cora was well and truly tired of the sound.

  Then calling up the wind she held it up in front of her. The wind blew, hitting the magical being forcefully. He stumbled and his hold fell from her.

  ‘His stuff,’ called one of the Ticks amongst the jostling Ticks and Tocks.

  ‘Staff,’ corrected Tock.

  Cora looked at Tuff. The wooden cane he held in his hand glinted slightly in the light. It wasn’t a walking stick like she had thought.

  Not only that, Cora knew straight away which of the fairies were the real Tick and Tock and which weren’t. Warlock magic at her fingers, she grabbed onto the staff with her magic. Tuff’s eyes went wide as he felt her hold. He pushed hard against her with the invisible hand. And Cora flew backwards.

  But her hold stayed on the staff. From the ground Cora made a fist with her hands and watched as the staff in Tuff’s hands splintered in two.

  Tuff growled in anger, his round dark eyes filled with hatred.

  Standing up, Cora used her warlock magic to grab onto the Tick and Tock impostors and threw them as hard as she could, right into Tuff.

  The fake fairies shot backwards in the air, colliding into Tuff with a bang.

  The three magical beings fell to the ground in a heap. Cora walked over and watched as the two fairies shimmered back into old men with coloured hair. The three of them slumped together, knocked out.

  Cora dropped the key she held to the ground, next to the magical beings.

  Tick and Tock flew down to her.

  ‘Phew,’ said Tick. ‘Good thing you know us so well.’

  Tock kicked the foot of one of the old men. They didn’t stir.

  ‘What are they?’ Cora asked.

  ‘Shapeshifters,’ said Tock.

  ‘And a demon,’ said Tick.

  A demon? Cora looked down at Tuff and the key that sat on the ground. Was he telling the truth about Tynth and needing a key?

  The soft sound of a person clapping filled the air around them.

  Spinning around, the fairies wasted no time in bowing in response to the clapping. ‘Thank you,’ said Tick. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘We couldn’t have done it without you,’ said Tock, graciously.

  Then the fairies looked up from their bows to see who it was that was clapping for them.

  ‘Cora,’ said Tock.

  The clapping stopped.

  ‘What’s in Tynth?’ asked a voice behind her.

  Cora was about to whirl around with her magic in her hands. But the familiarity of the voice made her stop in her tracks. She waited, unsure if she was hearing things. Her magic was fixed. She shouldn’t be hearing voices. And this voice was a voice she hadn’t known she would ever hear again. A voice that had been with her ever since she could remember.

  ‘Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already,’ said the voice again.

  And Cora knew exactly who it belonged to. Her heart leapt inside her chest and she spun around to face the owner.

  Cora almost collapsed where she stood.

  There, standing with a pack on her back, a cat in her arms, and a smile on her warm face was . . . Dot.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Tears sprung to Cora’s eyes. Her feet flew as she raced across the rocky ground. She couldn’t help the tightness of the hug she flung onto the old woman. Or the smile that lit up her face.

  Dot hugged her back just as fiercely. Cora held on, not wanting to let go.

  From Dot’s arms, Scratch placed a rough lick across Cora’s face. She laughed. The cat’s tongue felt like sand on her skin, just like she remembered.

  Cora stared up at Dot. How did she find me?

  ‘How . . .’ she tried.

  ‘I escaped with Scratch,’ said Dot. ‘I only had enough time to play the lullaby, hoping if you went back to the house before I could find you that you would run.’

  ‘I had to go,’ said Cora trying to explain why she left Urt. ‘The Jinx, it was . . .’

  Dot nodded. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘Wilfred told me.’

  Cora was relieved. A happiness filled her just having Dot near.

  Cora felt Tick and Tock, fluttering politely a short distance behind her.

  Cora let go of Dot. ‘And these are my friends,’ she said. ‘Tick and Tock.’

  The fairies flew over to them.

  ‘You’re Cora’s Dot,’ said Tick.

  Dot laughed, nodding.

  ‘Tick,’ said Tick with a short bow.

  ‘Tock,’ said Tock with a short bow.

  ‘They saved me from the Jinx in Urt,’ said Cora.

  Dot smiled at the fairies. ‘It seems I have a lot to thank you for,’ she said.

  Tick and Tock smiled shyly at the old woman.

  Dot glanced at the magical beings behind the fairies. ‘And them?’

  Cora wasn’t quite sure where to begin.

  ‘Ah, a lot has happened since Urt,’ said Cora, unsure of where to begin.

  ‘Cora’s a syphon,’ Tick blurted out. ‘She can absorb magic!’

  ‘Tick!’ said Tock, elbowing the fairy.

  Cora winced.

  Then peeking through her eye, she looked up at Dot.

  And to her surprise, the old woman smiled down at her.

  ‘And you’ve changed your hair,’ said Dot, touching h
er wig.

  Cora smiled and adjusted her wig. ‘How did you find us?’ she asked. Had Dot been looking for her this entire time?

  ‘Wilfred said that if I was to have any luck in finding you, that I should try the fairy kingdom,’ explained Dot.

  Cora couldn’t help but be surprised. Dot knew about the fairy kingdom? And the magical world?

  ‘I went there and a nice fairy named Fazz or Fozz told me you had left for the northern towns,’ said Dot.

  ‘A fairy named Fizz?’ asked Tock.

  Dot nodded. ‘That’s him.’

  ‘I am going to call him Fozz from now on,’ said Tick with a giggle.

  ‘We came to the northern towns to look for my . . .’ Cora paused. Dot and Scratch looked down at her. It suddenly felt strange calling the syphons, whom she had never met, her family. Dot and Scratch were her family. ‘We are looking for other syphons in Tynth. But Tynth is —’

  ‘Uninhabitable,’ said Tock.

  ‘Filled with mud pits that suck you down into the ground where you can’t get out,’ said Tick.

  ‘And poisonous gas that clogs the air so that most creatures can’t breathe,’ said Tock.

  ‘Do you want to come with us?’ Cora asked. She didn’t want Dot to leave. Not yet. Not ever.

  Cora was sure the old woman would say no, or forbid Cora from going to such a dangerous place. But to her surprise, Dot set her mouth in a determined line.

  ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ Dot said.

  Cora smiled. For the first time in a long time, her heart was full.

  ‘We should hurry,’ said Tock.

  ‘Those three bingos might wake up soon,’ said Tick, pointing over his shoulder at the pile of magical beings.

  ‘Bozos,’ corrected Tock.

  Tick was right. They needed to hurry, before the shapeshifters and the demon woke up. But they still didn’t know where Tynth was. It was supposed to be right where they were standing. And they still didn’t have a key.

  ‘Which way?’ Dot asked.

  ‘We don’t exactly know,’ said Tock.

  ‘The map says it should be here,’ said Cora. She showed Dot Ogg’s map. The four of them looked around them along the rocky road.

  ‘And Tuff the demon said we needed a key,’ Cora said.

  ‘What kind of key?’ Dot asked. ‘A key could be anything.’

  Cora smiled at Dot. She had thought the exact same thing. Cora tried to think of what the key could be. Maybe if they had it, Tynth would reveal itself to them?

  ‘Maybe it’s a word,’ said Tock. The fairy then turned to the space in front of them. ‘Open up!’ he yelled at no one in particular. Nothing happened. ‘Nope,’ he said.

  ‘Maybe it’s a dance,’ said Tick. He flew to the ground and danced a complicated series of steps along the ground. Finishing with a flourish and a click, Tick paused and waited. Nothing happened. ‘Nope.’

  The afternoon sun was hot and the wig on Cora’s head was making her hotter. Many minutes passed and they still didn’t have an answer. They were still no closer to finding Tynth. Cora grabbed the wig from her head and dropped it to the ground.

  It has to be here. There has to be something we’re missing. Cora closed her eye and concentrated. She blocked out the noise around her, the sun on her skin.

  Then there was a small tug. Cora’s eye flew open. The feeling was so light, she almost missed it. But it was there. She paused. Waiting for it to happen again. A tickling sensation tugged at her again. She took a step forward and waited. The tickle returned but softer. She turned and followed the feeling, walking a few steps ahead and then to the left, she let the feeling guide her across the rocky road. She felt another tickle when she turned to the right. And then another with each step she took.

  ‘Cora?’ queried Tick.

  ‘Are you making up your own dance?’ asked Tock.

  ‘You need to use your elbows more,’ said Tick, waving his elbows around.

  Cora focused on the tickling feeling. Moving her feet this way and that she walked around the rocky road until the tickling became constant.

  When it didn’t disappear, Cora stopped. She looked down at her feet. Something pulled her down towards the ground like an invisible rope was tied from her to the ground. She bent down to her knees and the tickling feeling became stronger.

  Cora remembered what Tick and Tock had said in Brolg. About the feeling they felt when others of their kind were near. Theirs felt like a hiccup. Could Cora’s be a tickle? Was this what Tick and Tock had meant? And if it was, then that could only mean that . . . there were syphons nearby.

  Cora’s heart quickened with hope. The tickling connection to her kind fluttering inside her like a butterfly. She brushed her hand along the ground in front of her to see if something was hidden beneath the rocks. Then she remembered the dream that she had. The one where she was back in Urt. Her home. And the cracks that split the ground apart from beneath her feet and the flames that rose up from them.

  Then suddenly it made sense to Cora. If Tynth was hidden because syphons lived there . . . then maybe the only way to find it was to . . . be a syphon. Maybe the key the demon was talking about . . . was her?

  Cora looked down at the ground. Hesitantly, she placed a hand, palm down, onto the rocky ground. She closed her eye and waited for something to happen.

  Then Cora felt it. Like a key clicking into place, the ground beneath her hand shifted. And suddenly, the earth below her feet rumbled. A crack appeared beneath Cora’s hand. It splintered, quickly growing bigger.

  Cora lifted up her hand and took a step back.

  Tick, Tock, Dot and Scratch were by her side.

  ‘Looks like you found the key,’ said Tick.

  The cracks grew bigger, spreading out like a web across the dry ground. The rocky road rumbled and shook.

  Cora and Dot steadied themselves.

  Suddenly the ground split open wide beneath their feet.

  ‘Uh-oh,’ said Cora.

  With a cry, Cora and Dot fell down into a hole, plummeting headfirst into the dark space below.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Cora and Dot fell down, down, down into the dark hole. Scratch screeched in Dot’s arms. Cora was about to grab the vampire magic to hover herself and Dot in the air when she felt two fairy hands clutch hold of her beneath her arms. Tick was doing his best to hold her up, his wings fluttering hard behind him. Opposite them, Cora saw that Tock was doing the same for Dot.

  The fairies did their best to hold onto them but the fall through the ground above was from too high up, they were tumbling too fast. The fairies tumbled with them, their wings beating hard to stay upright. The ground below them was swiftly rushing up to meet them.

  ‘This is going to be bumpy!’ said Tick.

  ‘Hold on!’ said Tock.

  The fairies, Dot and Cora landed on a patch of bright, green grass. All four of them rolled together across the ground like a snow giant rolling down a snowy mountain in Troll Town. They rolled and rolled along the soft ground until eventually they came to a stop in a heap of arms, legs, wings and a tail.

  ‘Perfect landing,’ said Tick, his face pressed into the grass next to Dot.

  Cora waited for Dot to say something. The old woman paused. Then she let out a laugh. The quiet air filled with the old woman’s delighted chuckle. Cora hadn’t known how much she had missed the sound of Dot’s laugh until she heard it.

  Cora laughed too as she met Dot’s gaze. Scratch sat up on Dot’s belly and licked his fur.

  Above them, Cora saw a hole in the sky. It was like someone had taken a great big bite out of the blue.

  Wait a minute, thought Cora. She sat up suddenly.

  A crystal blue sky. Soft, bright green grass. She breathed in the air. Clean, fresh and incredibly pleasant. Tynth was supposed to be the opposite of this. Where were the mud pits? And the poisonous gas?

  Rolling over, Cora felt the lush, green grass in her fingers. It was definitely real. Then,
standing up, Cora squinted out into the distance. The green hills continued around them all the way to the horizon. The setting afternoon sun coloured the hills with an amber glow. It was beautiful.

  Tick and Tock flew up into the air and gazed out onto Tynth. They held their noses closed with two fingers, expecting to smell poisonous gas. But the breeze blew coolly and calmly across their skin. The fairies let go of their noses.

  ‘H-how?’ asked Tick, his eyes wide. ‘Where are the mud pits that suck you in until you are swallowed whole?’

  ‘And the poisonous air?’ asked Tock. ‘That turns everyone inside out with the smallest whiff?’

  The Tynth that sat before them was more beautiful than anywhere that Cora had ever seen. Dot stood up and joined the three of them.

  ‘The air isn’t poisonous at all . . . it’s delightful,’ said Tick. He breathed in a large gulp of air with a snort.

  Cora looked at Dot confused. The old woman glanced suspiciously around them.

  Cora turned to find a cluster of houses sitting huddled together on the grass. They were small cottages with rounded windows and yellow roofs. Syphons. Cora stopped, her heart beating fast. Tynth wasn’t uninhabitable at all. It was hidden. And what better way to remain hidden than with rumours of mud pits and poisonous air? Ensuring no other magical beings came looking?

  Her mind full of thoughts, Cora walked away from the group, her feet taking her in the direction of the nearest house almost of their own accord.

  Her eyes unmoving from the cottage ahead of her, Cora pressed down her dress with the palms of her hands and pushed back the strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. She was so close. All that was left was finding out what lay behind the cottage doors ahead.

  But as she got closer to the cottage, Cora slowed and slowed until her hopeful steps became heavy with dismay. When she reached the front door, all hope of finding her syphon family had fluttered away from Cora like a snowdrift in Troll Town.

  Doors ajar, Cora could see that the cottages were empty. Furniture sat dusty and broken inside. Wood had rotted in parts. A few windows had been broken. Paint on the walls had started to peel. Some of the yellow roofs had even collapsed. The cottages were old and abandoned. Just like the houses in Urt.