‘Well, of course, not right now,’ said Tock, flying after her. ‘You’re not ready.’
‘You need training,’ said Tick, flying after her too.
‘Training?’ Cora asked. ‘I’m eleven years old.’ She didn’t like where this was heading. She didn’t like it at all. She was starting to wish she was a giant, or a mermaid, or a werewolf.
Tock darted in front of her, stopping Cora in her stride.
‘Magic needs to be practised,’ he said. ‘Otherwise . . .’
Cora looked at the fairy, uncertain. ‘Otherwise?’ Otherwise was never good. She did not like otherwise.
‘Otherwise,’ said Tick, stopping to hover in front of her, too, ‘it can turn into something else.’
‘Something else?’
‘Something uncontrollable,’ said Tock.
Cora closed her eye and rubbed her temples.
‘The Jinx will be back,’ said Tock gently.
‘Whether it’s in a few days or a few weeks,’ said Tick.
‘We need to be prepared,’ said Tock. ‘For Archibald, too.’
Cora swallowed. She pictured herself standing face to face with Archibald and the Jinx. She shook her head.
‘Your magic and ours are the best defence we have,’ said Tock.
‘And the whisper root,’ added Tick.
‘You can do this,’ said Tock. He grabbed her hands.
Cora opened her eye. ‘But . . . I . . .’ she tried. ‘I’m just . . . me.’
Tick and Tock looked at each other, then back at her.
‘Not anymore,’ said Tick.
Cora took a deep breath. She felt like running away. She felt like going back to Urt and hiding beneath her blanket with Scratch.
‘We will help you,’ said Tock.
Tick nodded. ‘Magic is easy.’
Cora looked from Tick to Tock. If the feeling inside of her was magic and she could control it, then maybe it would give her enough of a chance. And enough of a chance to find Dot.
Cora squared her shoulders. ‘Do you really think I can control it? Whatever this is?’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ said Tock.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘I don’t know about this,’ said Cora.
She stood on a small hill and stretched out before her was a clearing dotted with a handful of stumpy trees. Tick and Tock stood waving to her at the other end of the grassy clearing.
‘It will be fish,’ Tick called back.
‘Fine,’ corrected Tock.
‘What are you supposed to be, anyway?’ she asked.
‘I’m a Jinx,’ said Tock. He had used magic to dress himself in what looked like a large, black raincoat. He stood up on his tippy toes and spread his arms out wide.
‘And I’m a warlock,’ Tick said. He was dressed in a black cape that draped over his hairy shoulders.
Cora tried to calm her nerves.
‘Just do what you did before,’ said Tick.
‘But I don’t know what I did before,’ said Cora. Hesitantly, she found the feeling waiting inside of her. It was like a calm pool of water she could dip her hand into it. But what was she supposed to do with it? She tried to remember what she had done at The Hollow and then again at the Black Market of Gwell . . . but everything had happened so suddenly.
‘On the count of three,’ called Tock.
‘Wait,’ said Cora. She wasn’t ready.
‘Remember to concentrate,’ said Tick.
Cora grabbed hold of the feeling. Now what?
Then, quick as a flash, Tock flew up the clearing. Arms raised, he darted full speed towards her and let out a roar.
Cora closed her eye and lifted up her hands in front of her face as he came barrelling at her. She waited. Nothing happened. She opened her eye to find Tock hovering in front of her.
‘Anything?’ he asked.
Cora shook her head.
Then Tick flew up the clearing, faster than Tock. Cora stood still and tried to focus. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with her hands so she held them out in front of her. She tried to push the feeling to the surface. But it stayed still. Tick came to a stop right in front of Cora’s outstretched hands. Then with a finger, he poked at her hand.
‘Nothing?’ he asked.
Cora shook her head.
Tock flew at her again, this time sending POP!s of magic at her. Cora ducked and jumped out of the way of the sparks. But she was so busy avoiding them that she completely forgot about holding onto the feeling inside of her. By the time Tock reached her, she was bent over with her hands on her knees, out of breath.
Cora sighed. She felt like she was failing more of Dot’s drills.
‘Perhaps we should try another day,’ offered Tick.
Cora shook her head. With Archibald and the Jinx on their tail, they didn’t have days to waste. Tock was right. Whatever she had, she needed to know how to control it. She had to keep trying. Cora squared her shoulders. ‘Again.’
Tick and Tock flew towards her at the same time. Then with a POP! of magic, Tock disappeared. Cora waited, hands out. She looked to her left and her right. Then the fairy suddenly reappeared next to her. ‘Boo!’ he cried.
Cora shrieked and jumped in the air. But, still, no magic. ‘Again,’ she puffed.
Tick and Tock once again flew towards her. This time from two different sides of the clearing. Then they both disappeared and reappeared behind her. Cora twisted around, tripped over her feet and fell to the ground. With a groan, she stood up and dusted herself off. ‘Again,’ she said.
They continued like this for an hour. Each time Tick and Tock tried something different but each time, Cora wasn’t able to summon her magic.
When they eventually stopped, the three of them sat on the hill, exhausted. Defeated, Cora looked down at her hands. She imagined herself standing in front of the Jinx and the warlock trying to summon her magic, failing and being eaten or worse, suspended in the air in pain like Tick and Tock had been.
‘I don’t think I can do this,’ Cora whispered.
Tick and Tock looked over at her.
‘There has to be something we’re missing,’ said Tick.
Like what? thought Cora. They had tried everything. Would the magic only appear when she didn’t want it to? Then a glimmer caught her eye. Her bracelet. She realised that it hadn’t tingled once on her wrist.
‘A lot of magic is connected to emotions,’ said Tock, scratching his chin in thought.
‘Try summoning the feelings you had at the lake,’ said Tick.
Cora thought back. Focus, she said to herself. It wasn’t difficult to remember how she felt. ‘I . . . I couldn’t breathe,’ she said. ‘The Jinx was squeezing me tight.’ She paused and waited for something to happen. The calm pool of water moved beneath her skin.
‘Wait,’ she gasped. And then as quickly as it started, it stopped. Cora let out a cry of frustration.
‘I . . . I’m sorry,’ she said, giving up. Because of her they no longer stood a chance against the Jinx or the warlock. She no longer had a chance of seeing Dot again.
Tick and Tock said something to her but Cora couldn’t make out what it was. She looked over at them but their voices sounded far away. Then Tick and Tock started to look blurry. She closed her eye and opened it again. But the fairies were still fuzzy and their voices were like echoes in her ears.
Suddenly, a crack of pain shot through Cora’s head.
‘Argh!’ she cried out.
The sharp pain flew through her body. The pain ripped through her like an earthquake. She threw her hands to the ground. She felt the earth beneath her start to rumble and shake.
Something had taken a hold of her. What was once a calm pool of water was now an out-of-control ocean in her mind. She couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t even hold onto it. There was too much to hold onto. It swept over her in gallons and gallons of waves.
‘Cora!’ the fairies cried.
She closed her eye and held her han
ds to her head. She let out another cry of pain but it didn’t sound like her. It sounded like a . . . like a roar. She couldn’t take it anymore. She felt like something was going to burst out of her skin.
‘Make it stop,’ she breathed. ‘Please.’
‘It’s your magic!’ said Tick.
‘Put it away!’ yelled Tock.
Cora heard the fairy’s voice clearly this time. Put it away? How? She opened her eye to find the fairies kneeling in front of her, eyes wide.
‘Think of a box or a jar or something to put it in!’ cried Tick.
Cora couldn’t think. The pounding in her ears and the pain was too much. She felt her bracelet tingle. Then she thought of Dot. And her bookcase that sat in their home in Urt. She knew it like the back of her hand. Cora pictured it and grabbed a book on the top shelf. She opened it and shoved the pain inside it. Then, snapping the cover shut, she put it back on the bookcase.
And just like that, the pain stopped. The calm pool of water returned. And Cora felt like herself again. She laid back on the grass, breathing heavily.
Tick and Tock looked around them.
‘I think that’s enough practice for today,’ said Tock.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cora trudged along behind the fairies in silence. She replayed what had happened over and over in her head. What was that?! She tried to remember what she had done. The strange pain she had felt still lingered on the edges. As she walked, she decided that the feeling she had, the magic, whatever it was, she didn’t want it. She didn’t want any of it.
Tick and Tock turned around to face her as they flew backwards.
‘Well, I think we can say that your first attempt at using magic was a success,’ said Tick with a smile.
There was a pause. Cora looked up at them. ‘A success?!’ she echoed. Had they lost their minds? How was any part of what had happened a success?
Tick and Tock nodded.
‘We think the magic was trying to control you,’ said Tick.
‘And you didn’t let it,’ said Tock.
‘So it was a success!’ said Tick.
‘Really?’ Cora queried.
Tick and Tock nodded.
‘Every magic is different,’ said Tock. ‘Just like every person.’
‘And we still have a lot of magical beings on our list to cross off,’ added Tick. There was a POP! of magic and the fairy held his notepad in his hand again.
‘We can cross off centaur,’ said Tock.
‘Maybe not just yet,’ said Tick with a smile.
Cora groaned. She knew what the fairies were doing. They were trying to make her feel better. But it just made her feel worse. She shook her head at them. ‘I can’t do this,’ she said.
‘Do what?’ asked Tock.
‘This,’ said Cora coming to a stop. ‘Be magic.’ She looked down at her feet. She felt a tear reach her eye. One thing was for certain — the magic inside of her scared her now more than ever. She wished she could just go back to the way things were when she was in Urt. When she was with Dot. ‘I just . . . want to go home.’
The fairies flew down by her side.
‘It will get easier,’ said Tick gently.
‘You’ve already done the hardest part,’ said Tock.
‘And practice makes purple,’ said Tick.
Cora paused. ‘Perfect,’ she corrected.
‘Really?’ replied Tick. ‘Not purple?’
Cora shook her head but couldn’t help the small smile that reached her lips. She swiped at her eye.
‘What if it happens again?’ she asked. ‘What if I can’t control it the next time?’ And what if she did something worse . . . what if next time she hurt Tick or Tock? Or someone else she cared about?
Tick and Tock looked down.
Then Tock looked up suddenly. ‘You will,’ he said confidently.
‘She will?’ asked Tick, doubtfully.
Tock elbowed Tick in the ribs. ‘You will because we know someone who can help.’
‘You do?’ Cora replied.
‘Yeah, we do?’ asked Tick, rubbing his ribs.
‘At least . . . I hope she can,’ said Tock.
Cora wasn’t so sure. The last time the fairies knew someone who could help, she had ended up destroying their entire kingdom and getting them banished. She hoped the whisper root was enough to keep the Jinx away. At least for a little while longer.
‘The gateway is close,’ said Tick, flying ahead of them.
The fairies flew up the hill and Cora walked up the steep, grassy slope. When she got to the top, she noticed that sitting below them, alone in a field, was a small, wooden cabin.
Tick pointed down towards it. ‘There,’ he said.
The fairies flew down the hill and Cora followed on foot. When they reached the cabin, the fairies knocked on the door.
The door opened and a man stood behind it. He had long hair tied back into a knot, no eyebrows and one of his pant legs ended at his knee. When he saw Tick and Tock, he stuck out his bare leg and put his hands on his hips.
‘What do you think?’ he asked.
‘Hello Earl,’ said Tock. ‘Did the wood nymph steal your pant leg again?’
Earl nodded before turning and walking back inside the cabin, leaving the door open.
Tick, Tock and Cora followed him.
‘Third time this week,’ said Earl.
The inside of the cabin was compact and uncluttered. A chair stood in the middle of the room and a small table sat nearby. On the far wall were three clocks. Each of them showed a different time and the hands on them moved backwards at different speeds. The man walked up to the chair in the middle of the room and pushed it to the side. Then he bent down and with a piece of chalk he drew a triangle on the wooden floor. The lines glowed blue, then the floor inside the triangle disappeared and a swirl of blue light sat in its place.
When the man stood up, he looked over at Cora. ‘I’ve got one of those,’ he said proudly. Then he rolled up one of his shirtsleeves to reveal a scar across one of his arms. Cora noticed that his scar was flat and white instead of bumpy and red like hers.
‘Did you hear?’ Earl asked the fairies. ‘About the Jinx that’s on the loose?’
Cora looked at Tick and Tock.
‘Where?’ replied Tock worriedly.
‘It was spotted not far from here. Over in Berry Nest.’
‘That’s not far at all,’ said Tick to Cora.
Cora’s heart quickened. She was running out of time. ‘We must hurry,’ said Tock. ‘To the Oak Wood.’
Tick and Tock jumped into the swirling blue gateway. Cora didn’t want to be left behind. She gave a wave goodbye to the man with the missing pant leg and jumped in after the fairies, diving into the swirling blue light.
Chapter Thirty
There was a loud sucking noise, followed by a POP! and Cora found herself flying through the air and then landing with a SPLOSH . . . right into a flowing stream. She sat up with a gasp as the cold water soaked every inch of her. Then she stood up and trampled out of the stream onto the rocks nearby. She looked around to find Tick and Tock fluttering their wings from a safe distance away, smiles on their faces.
Cora flicked her wet hair out of her face. ‘Really?’
‘The gateway is not an exact science,’ said Tock apologetically.
Then there was a POP! and Cora was dry again.
‘Thank you,’ she said. She looked around them. ‘Where are we?’ The stream she had fallen into ran through a wood. She could see a squat house sitting up ahead.
‘The Oak Wood,’ said Tock.
‘We know someone who lives here,’ said Tick. ‘Or we did know someone who lives here.’
‘Someone who might be able to help you with your magic,’ said Tock.
‘Are you sure she wants to see us?’ Tick asked Tock. ‘Last time . . .’
‘Last time was an accident,’ said Tock. ‘Besides, last time was also a long time ago. Belle would have forgotten.’
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br /> Cora and the fairies followed the stream up into the wood. When they got to the house that sat at the top, they stopped.
Cora saw that it wasn’t a normal-sized house. It was much smaller and much rounder than any house she had ever seen. She would have to crouch to fit inside the small, orange door.
‘What are you two doing here?’ came a voice from behind them.
Cora turned around to see a woman carrying a basket of vegetables. She was shorter than Cora and her skin was a light shade of green. Her dark hair fell in plaits by her pointed ears.
Before they could answer, the woman reached into her basket, picked up an onion and threw it at them! It tore past them, just missing Tock’s head. Then suddenly one after another, she threw more vegetables at them. Cabbages! Turnips! Lettuces! Sweet potatoes! Everything and anything the woman could get her hands on was flung straight at Tick and Tock.
‘Looks like she hasn’t forgotten,’ said Cora with a smile, as she dodged a flying radish.
When the woman ran out of vegetables in her basket, Cora heard the tinkling of a bell and then the woman’s basket was full again.
Uh-oh.
The woman threw a beetroot at them and then another whole lettuce head. The fairies tried to dodge the flying vegetables that were flung their way.
‘Belle! Belle! It’s us! Tick and Tock!’ said Tock, his hands raised innocently in the air.
‘I know!’ said Belle. She threw some tomatoes and then a cauliflower.
Tick and Tock ducked and dived but it was impossible to avoid being hit. The woman had very accurate aim.
When the woman’s basket became empty again, she stopped. She glared at the fairies as she huffed and puffed. Tock was covered in cabbage leaves and Tick was dripping in drooping spinach pieces.
‘Why are you here?’ Belle asked.
‘We need your help,’ said Tick.
‘A very angry Archibald Drake along with a very angry Jinx are not far behind us,’ said Tock.
‘Why would I help you? After what you did,’ said Belle.
Tick looked at Tock.
‘We’re sorry,’ said Tock. ‘It was an accident. Honest.’
‘A lot has changed since you last saw us,’ said Tick.
Jinxed!: The Curious Curse of Cora Bell Page 10
