Clothilde appeared with a large slice of cake and a glass of fizzy fourflower water, both of which she gave to Effie.
‘I’m so pleased you finally know,’ she said. ‘It’s been driving me mad. I just wanted to tell you to go in the Flow rather than worrying about deepwater or playing tennis with the ring on. But you can’t tell people. It ruins the whole thing.’
‘Apparently now you can tell people,’ said Effie.
‘Yes, well, that’s going to take some getting used to. But luckily there aren’t any more young people around that need initiating after you lot. You were the last of the Dragon’s Green kids to go in the Flow. So while you’re here studying the rest of us can just focus on looking after the library and keeping the Diberi out. Pelham says there’s one left from this recent batch, although she’s pretty harmless. But we hear that there might be a new threat developing in London.’
‘We can deal with it,’ said Effie.
‘The Mainland Liberation Collective have been driven out of Froghole at long last,’ said Clothilde. ‘And Millicent Wiseacre is being sent to the island in disgrace.’
‘Great,’ said Effie. ‘I hope I don’t run into her there.’
‘Oh yes – I forgot about that possibility!’ said Clothilde. ‘Anyway, don’t think about her now. Let’s just focus on the celebration.’
Effie looked around the room. There were Cosmo, Rollo and Bertie chatting happily together. Pelham Longfellow was going to join them soon. And there were Effie’s new classmates – or whatever she was supposed to call them. She once again admired the beautiful cheekbones, the cat’s ears, fur and all the other ways they had made themselves look distinctive and interesting. She sensed the pure lightness that seemed to surround each one of them.
‘I can’t believe I once thought that people weren’t doing much magic in the Otherworld,’ Effie said. ‘I can see it now, though. Everything’s made of magic, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ said Clothilde. ‘It’s how we can look the way we want, and live where we want. It’s why everything’s so beautiful. And you know now that we get more power the more we give to others. That’s why there’s no need for money here. And why so many people choose to serve others – like Bertie. I can’t believe you once thought she was a maid! She’s one of the most powerful elysians in this whole area. She mentors me.’
‘I understand so much more now I’ve been in the Flow,’ said Effie.
‘I know,’ said Clothilde. ‘There’s a lot that can’t be put into words. You just have to feel it.’
Effie didn’t stay in the Otherworld as long as she usually did. Although she still loved it there more than anything, she found that today she was keen to get back to her friends in the Realworld.
She walked to the portal on the Keepers’ Plains in a happy daze, between two parties, on the threshold of something, although she wasn’t sure exactly what. Studying at the Lodge. What was that going to be like?
The party at Maximilian’s house was in full swing when Effie arrived. All her best friends were there. Raven introduced Effie to her new familiar, Neptune, and Lexy looked happier than Effie had seen her for a long time. She brought Effie a slice of carrot cake and a banana smoothie, and slipped a green tonic in Effie’s pocket as well.
‘What’s that for?’ Effie asked.
‘To help you get in the Flow,’ said Lexy. ‘I’ve started reading about it already. You might need some homoeopathic sulphur as well. I’m not sure. Or maybe phosphorus. I haven’t decided.’
‘I’m so glad you’re all right,’ said Effie, putting down her cake and her drink and giving Lexy a big hug. ‘Why didn’t you tell us about JP? We would have helped.’
‘I know that now,’ said Lexy. ‘But I didn’t know how to put it into words. I didn’t know if I was just overreacting to something other people might think was normal.’ She shuddered. ‘He really got in my head for a while.’
‘Well, please, next time something like that happens, promise you’ll tell me?’
‘I will,’ said Lexy. ‘But I hope it’s not going to happen again. That poem taught me something. To be an authentic person you have to be brave enough to act for yourself and not just hide behind the idea of doing good for others. If I’d thought that way more then maybe I would have told someone sooner. I just thought it would be selfish to make a fuss.’
‘So JP’s philosophy went against him in the end,’ said Effie. ‘I like that.’
Maximilian and Wolf came over.
‘Meet my new brother,’ said Maximilian, proudly.
‘What?’ said Effie. ‘What do you mean?’
‘My mum and Dill Hammer are getting married,’ said Maximilian. ‘And Wolf’s coming to live with us.’
‘Seriously?’ said Lexy. ‘That’s amazing!’
Wolf handed Effie two keys. ‘These are for your grandfather’s place and the bookshop,’ he said. ‘You own the Old Rectory, and we need to discuss what’s going to happen with the bookshop. No one’s come to claim any of Leonard Levar’s things. They’re basically ours.’
‘But why have you got the keys?’ asked Effie, confused.
‘Because my uncle was doing all that removal work for Leonard Levar. I took the keys when I left my uncle’s place. He was knocking me about and after I epiphanised I decided I couldn’t stand it any more. I lived in the flat for a while – I thought you wouldn’t mind, and I meant to tell you, but everything was always so intense with the Diberi and then you had the Yearning and . . . Anyway, then I was living in the bookshop and—’
‘When my mum discovered what was going on she insisted he come and live with us,’ said Maximilian.
‘I’m going to be over the road with Dill to start with,’ said Wolf. ‘But I think he’s talking about moving in here, and me and Max having our rooms across the road. It’ll be like a massive den.’
‘A den of praying?’ said Raven. ‘And early nights?’
‘Haha,’ said Wolf. ‘It’s not like that.’
‘I know,’ she said, smiling. ‘I’m only joking.’
‘And you forget that I am a dangerous mage,’ said Maximilian. ‘I’ll spice things up a bit.’
The friends sat down on Odile Underwood’s big soft sofas and carried on talking, teasing one another and planning the future. They were all Apprentices now, more or less – even though Raven and Wolf still needed official mentors. Professor Quinn had formally taken Maximilian on, and Odile was looking after Lexy. And Raven had discovered her art was hunter, just like Neptune.
Neptune jumped onto Raven’s lap and started purring. He understood that a whole new chapter was starting for him too. Witches’ cats have to work quite hard at meditation, witches’ cats’ prayers and spell-making of their own. And he and Raven were now a hunting team, which meant, in their case, hunting for the truth, solving mysteries and searching out evil. Neptune’s days of hunting other animals were over. He and Raven were both going to need to spend a lot of time with the Cosmic Web.
Neptune now sensed the approach of a car. Yes, it was Raven’s mother, Laurel, coming to take them home. She had her new girlfriend Dora Wright with her, and a big bag of doughnuts. He told Raven, and she put down her smoothie and got up to find her coat. But wait. Neptune sensed something else as well. Another person in the car with Laurel and Dora. Someone he had not yet met but who was going to make things very interesting . . .
The doorbell rang.
Raven went to answer it. In seconds Laurel and Dora were swept into the party by the other adults and given drinks. Laurel quite forgot to explain about the hitchhiker they’d picked up and her incredible story and if she could just find Wolf she’d tell him that . . .
Standing in the doorway was a girl of about ten.
‘Hello,’ said Raven. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m looking for my brother,’ she said. ‘My name’s Natasha Reed.’
Acknowledgements
Thank you, as always, to my partner Rod Edmond, who read every draf
t of this book with his usual love and care, and who has remained the most wonderful companion on this adventure.
Thanks once again to my family: Mum, Couze, Sam, Hari, Nia, Ivy and Gordian, for all the love, support and happiness you have given me. And many thanks again as well to my extended whānau: Daisy, Ed, Molly, Eliza, Max, Jo, Murray, Joanna, Marion, Lyndy and Teuila. Ruth Troeller – happy 100th birthday. I wish I could have been there with you.
Many thanks to all my other friends, students and colleagues, in particular Amy Sackville, Teri Johns, David Flusfeder, Sue Swift, Alex Preston, Jennie Batchelor, Vybarr Cregan-Reid, David Stirrup, Bernhard Klein, Alice Bates, Steve Bates, Pat Lucas, Emma Lee, Charlotte Webb, Jean Balfour, Martha Schulman, Katie Szyszko, Sarah Parfitt, Gonzalo Garcia, Amy Lilwall, Tom Ogier, Roger Baker, Suzi Feay, Stuart Kelly and my wonderful new agent, Cathryn Summerhayes.
I am also extremely grateful for all the lovely people I get to work with on these books. Thanks so much to everyone at Canongate, particularly Francis Bickmore, Jamie Byng, Jenny Fry, Anna Frame, Alice Shortland, Neal Price, Megan Reid, Andrea Joyce, Jessica Neale, Caroline Clarke, Allegra Le Fanu, Becca Nice, Vicki Rutherford, Alan Trotter and Sylvie the dog. Many thanks also to Debs Warner for the brilliant copy-edit. And, as always, big thanks to Dan Mumford for the wonderful artwork.
‘The most exciting debut in children's fiction since Harry Potter’ Joanne Harris
‘A quest to create a magical book is at the centre of this thought-provoking fantasy’ Financial Times
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