Dark Tricks

by Linda Chapman

  As they hurried into the clearing the girls called their animals’ names and the four Star Animals appeared. Willow bucked joyfully, Juniper raced up a tree, Sorrel rolled on her back in a patch of winter sunlight and Bracken chased his bushy tail.

  “We did it!” said Sita, breathing a sigh of relief.

  “Yep,” said Ionie. “Though we must remember to get rid of the decorations in our houses, too.”

  “And from my gran’s,” said Sita.

  Maia nodded. “Once we’ve got rid of them – and decided what to do with the Dark Stone – everyone will be safe.”

  “Until some new threat comes along,” said Lottie. “Do you think Auntie Mabel was right and more evil will come here?”

  “If it does, we’ll stop it!” Ionie declared.

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to, Ionie,” Sorrel said, weaving between her legs. “You saved the day today by turning into that Shade. And it was you who realized you could smash the globe.”

  Maia waited for Lottie to roll her eyes as she usually did when Sorrel boasted about Ionie but she didn’t. She smiled and linked arms with Ionie. “Sorrel’s right – you were amazing, Ionie.”

  “It wasn’t just me,” said Ionie. “You were brilliant when you snatched the Dark Stone and Maia was amazing when she fought off the magic spell…”

  “Only thanks to all of you,” Maia put in.

  “You were awesome, too, Sita,” Ionie went on. “If you hadn’t commanded Auntie Mabel, I don’t know what would have happened.”

  Sita blushed. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Maia. She made me realize why the magic wasn’t working. I just had to believe.”

  Maia glanced round and remembered something Auntie Mabel had said. “Is this clearing really powerful like Auntie Mabel told us, Bracken? Will it attract other people wanting to do dark magic?”

  “It might,” said Bracken. “It’s a crossing place – a place where the Star World and the human world meet. It contains a lot of power…”

  “And power will always attract people who want to use it for their own evil ends,” said Sorrel seriously. “We must all be on our guard.”

  “But those people aren’t here yet,” said Juniper. “So for now, let’s play!” He scampered away and Lottie raced after him, using her magic to climb a tree just as fast as him.

  “Who wants a game of tag?” she called, hanging down from a branch.

  “Me!” said Ionie to Maia’s surprise. “Only if I can shadow-travel though,” she added with a grin. “You’re way too fast otherwise.”

  “OK,” said Lottie. “Catch me if you can!” She swung through the branches before dropping down to the clearing floor. She landed in a patch of shadows and squealed as Ionie popped straight up and tagged her.

  “Got you!” Ionie said, laughing.

  Sita giggled. “One–nil to Ionie,” she said, sitting down on a tree stump and putting her arm over Willow’s back. “Willow and I will keep the score! We don’t have a chance of keeping up with you.” Willow snuggled against her happily.

  Bracken nestled into Maia’s arms and licked her face.

  “I’m so glad I didn’t lose you today,” she told him, remembering how awful she had felt when she thought she might never see him again.

  He wriggled deeper into her arms. “I hated being stuck in that snow globe and not being able to get to you. I never want that to happen again.”

  Maia hugged him tightly. “It won’t. We’ll keep each other safe.”

  “Forever,” Bracken promised. “Whatever comes.”

  Maia’s heart swelled joyfully. She loved being able to do magic with Lottie, Ionie and Sita, and being able to help and protect people, but most of all she loved having Bracken as her Star Animal.

  “I love you,” she whispered to him.

  He squirmed in delight and licked her nose.

  “Come on, Maia!” shouted Lottie. “Come and play!”

  Maia grinned at Bracken. “Shall we join in?”

  He nodded and jumped down from her arms. Bounding across the clearing, he leaped on top of Sorrel. “Time to play, pussycat!”

  Sorrel yowled indignantly and sprang to her feet. Bracken tried to run off but Sorrel was too fast. They rolled across the ground play-fighting while Willow shook her head and Juniper scampered round them excitedly.

  Fizzing with happiness, Maia ran to join her friends.

  Maia stood on a bridge. On one side, a dark mist rose from the ground. Maia’s blood turned to ice as the mist took the shape of a tall thin figure. It was a Shade – an evil spirit from the shadows who liked to hurt and harm people.

  As the Shade fixed its eyes on her, Maia looked around desperately. Where was Bracken, her Star Animal? And where were her friends and their Star Animals?

  “Let me past!” the Shade hissed.

  Maia stood her ground. “No!”

  In a shimmer of starlight, a fox with indigo eyes appeared beside her.

  “Bracken!” Maia whispered in relief.

  Bracken leaped between Maia and the Shade. “Go back to the shadows!” he growled.

  The Shade sniggered. “Why should we listen to you? Only a Spirit Speaker can command us.”

  Maia’s heart missed a beat as more dark shapes started to form behind the first Shade.

  They spoke with one eerie voice. “You may have defeated the Wish Shade but the one using dark magic has conjured more of us. She wants us to make all your fears come true!”

  Stepping forwards, the first Shade swiped at Bracken, who yelped in pain as sharp nails scratched him.

  “Bracken!” Maia screamed.

  Maia felt something licking her nose.

  “I’m here, Maia.”

  Hearing Bracken’s voice, she blinked open her eyes and looked into his anxious face. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Sita gently saying, “Maia, wake up!”

  Maia’s heart gradually slowed. She was in her bedroom with Bracken on her lap and Sita kneeling beside her. Sita’s Star Animal, a gentle deer called Willow, was next to Sita while Lottie and Ionie were still fast asleep on the f loor nearby with their Star Animals – a red squirrel and a wildcat. The grey light of dawn was just streaking across the sky.

  “Were you having a bad dream?” Sita whispered.

  Maia nodded. “It was about a Shade.” She shivered as she remembered. “Lots of Shades. Bracken got hurt. It was horrible.”

  Bracken licked her hand and Maia wrapped her arms round him. She couldn’t bear the thought of Bracken being injured. Ever since they had become Star Friends a few weeks ago, she had felt a deep bond with him – she loved him more than anything in the world.

  It’s like he’s part of me, she realized.

  The day she had met him in a clearing in the woods was etched into her mind. To Maia’s amazement, he had talked to her, telling her he was from a different world and that if she wanted to be his Star Friend he would teach her how to use magic to do good and make the world a better place. Most importantly of all, they had to stop anyone who was trying to use dark magic to hurt others. It had been even more amazing when her best friends had become Star Friends, too.

  “You probably had a nightmare because of that horrible Wish Shade we fought last night,” Sita said. “But Ionie sent it back to the shadows, remember? It’s gone. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  As Maia felt her fear fade, she wondered if Sita was using her special magic abilities. The Star Animals had taught them all how to use the magic current that f lowed between the human world and the Star World. The girls had found they each had different skills. Maia could see things that were happening elsewhere and look into the future; Sita could heal and soothe; Lottie was amazingly agile and Ionie could shadow-travel. Not only that, Ionie was also a Spirit Speaker, which meant she could command Shades and send them back to the shadows.

  Maia gave Sita a grateful look. “You’re right. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

  “Maia, what did you see?�
� Bracken asked.

  “Does it matter?” Sita said. “It was just a dream.”

  Bracken looked anxious. “I’m not sure. As Maia’s magic sight abilities get stronger, there might be things in her dreams that come true.”

  Maia felt a f licker of alarm and tried to remember. “I was on a bridge and the Shade said something about the one who had conjured the Wish Shade calling more Shades … and then lots more of them appeared. Then the Shade attacked.”

  “I hope it doesn’t come true,” said Sita. “It was scary enough facing just one Shade last night. I don’t want to have to fight lots of them.”

  Just then Ionie sat up sleepily and pushed her red hair out of her face. “What’s going on?”

  Beside her Sorrel the wildcat stretched and rolled on to her back. “I refuse to believe it’s morning yet,” she yawned. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”

  “No, it can’t. This could be important. Wakey-wakey, pussycat,” said Bracken, jumping over Sorrel’s tummy and landing on the end of her f luffy tail. “We all need to talk.”

  The wildcat leaped to her feet and hissed. But Bracken ignored her and trotted over to wake Juniper the squirrel and Lottie, who were curled up together inside Lottie’s sleeping bag. Juniper squeaked in protest and snuggled closer into Lottie’s arms so Bracken kept licking them both until they woke up.

  Soon the girls were all sitting round in a circle, cuddling their animals.

  “If Bracken’s right and Maia’s dream is true,” said Ionie, “then we have to try and find out who is conjuring these Shades.”

  “The Shade said it was a woman,” Maia remembered. “And that she’s the same person who conjured the Wish Shade.”

  “I wish we could use your magic to find out more, Maia,” said Lottie.

  Maia wished that, too, but she had already tried to see who had conjured the Wish Shade and her magic had shown her nothing but darkness. Bracken had told her it seemed as though the person was using a spell to conceal herself.

  “We should start by finding out who gave the little garden gnome with the Wish Shade trapped inside to Paige’s family,” said Ionie. “We need to know if that person knew about the Wish Shade and that it was going to make wishes come true in a horrible way.”

  Maia nodded. “I asked Paige once and she said that the gnome was from a friend of her mum’s. We need to find out her name.” She jumped to her feet. “Let’s go to Paige’s house now.”

  Ionie leaped up, too. “Yes, let’s!”

  “Wait!” said Lottie. “Everyone will still be in bed.”

  “Oh yes,” said Ionie, looking disappointed.

  Maia sighed. Now they had a plan she wanted to act on it right away.

  “While we’re waiting you could all try doing some magic,” Bracken said. “Maia’s magic seems to have got stronger from defeating the Shade yesterday, so maybe everyone else’s will have, too.”

  Juniper jumped on to Maia’s desk, his tail curling behind him. “You might all be able to do new things!”

  “Oh, I hope so! I can already do so many cool things with my magic, imagine if I could do even more,” said Ionie.

  Maia saw Lottie roll her eyes. Ionie sometimes said things that made her sound boastful and it really irritated Lottie. It used to annoy Maia, too, but now Maia was beginning to think Ionie didn’t mean to show off, she just didn’t always think about how what she said would sound to other people.

  “We could go to the clearing,” said Willow.

  Bracken yapped in agreement, Juniper chattered happily and Sorrel nodded her head. The animals all loved the clearing in the woods. It was where they had first appeared when they had travelled from the Star World and it was an especially magical place.

  Juniper leaped on to Lottie’s shoulder. “When we’re at the clearing we might also find out which of you is the super-strong one the Wish Shade spoke about.”

  Maia felt a jolt run through her. Just before the Wish Shade had been sent back to the shadows, it had told them that one of them would turn out to be incredibly powerful – so powerful that the person using dark magic would be scared of them.

  “I’d forgotten about that,” said Sita.

  “Me, too,” said Lottie.

  “It’s obviously going to be Ionie,” declared Sorrel. “She can shadow-travel and command Shades already.”

  Ionie looked pleased.

  “It might not be Ionie,” protested Lottie. “It could be Maia or Sita.”

  “Oh, I don’t want it to be me,” said Sita hurriedly. “I’m happy just healing people.”

  “It could be you, Lottie,” Maia put in. “Your agility is incredible. I wish I could run and jump and climb like you.”

  Bracken put his paws up on Maia’s leg. “I bet you’re the special one, Maia,” he whispered.

  Maia hugged him. She really hoped so!

  Sorrel trotted to the door, her tail ramrod straight. “Why are you all standing around talking?” she said. “Let’s go!”

  Copyright

  STRIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of the Little Tiger Group

  1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  Text copyright © Linda Chapman, 2018

  Illustrations copyright © Lucy Fleming, 2018

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2018

  eISBN: 978–1–84715–976–2

  The right of Linda Chapman and Lucy Fleming to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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