“All right then, thank you, Mrs. Windor.” She signaled her crew to move on to Johnny.
Mrs. Windor sneered as the rock star walked past. “Ravenswood should be shut down, not saved!”
Johnny raised an eyebrow. “I’m here to support a worthwhile, charitable cause.”
“You have no idea what kind of animals are really here!” Mrs. Windor snapped.
Kara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had to do something!
Suddenly, Inky was sweeping in ahead of Johnny. “Come on, now, people,” Inky said with a broad sweep of his big arms that forced Mrs. Windor out the front door. “Animal rights is an important issue and we’re here to support all animals.”
“Soon the whole world will know what you’re hiding here!” Windor bellowed as the door closed in her face.
“Who was that?” Johnny asked Kara.
Kara flushed. “Mrs. Windor. She’ll do anything to stop this concert.”
Johnny chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about her. Something tells me she’s going to go ape over this show! Trust me.” His dark eyes glittered with the bright lights held by the camera crew.
Kara smiled. Of course he was right.
“Believe it.” He winked.
Someone slipped a disk in a boom box and the room filled with a hip-hop blaster that was tearing up the charts. Johnny spun around the room demonstrating some of the hot dance moves that had catapulted him to stardom. Everyone cheered and got into the groove.
Kara leaned next to Emily against the wall beside the fireplace. Johnny had a way of making her feel so relaxed. He was just so cool.
“What do you think of Johnny?” she asked.
Emily fluttered her hand over her heart and rolled her eyes. “He is so cute!”
“Back at ya!”
“Everything okay with you and Adriane?”
Kara tensed, thinking of the unicorn horn she had swiped. Guilt overwhelmed her at the thought of Emily finding out what she had done. But one look at Johnny and the feeling vanished. “Don’t ask.”
“That bad?”
“Worse.” Kara remembered the book she’d found in the library—and the mysterious visitor who must have been looking it over. She told Emily about it and they quietly slipped upstairs to investigate, away from their company. They unlocked the library and went inside. Emily popped on the light. She started—and pointed at the rug. “Look!”
Kara focused on the large woven area rug by the door. The red, blue, and gold weave was splotched with brown.
“Someone tracked mud in here,” Emily said. Those weren’t splotches—they were footprints. Looking closer, she determined that the prints were wide, with three toes. “Only these prints are not human. Some kind of animal.”
Kara and Emily exchanged worried glances. “It can’t be bad,” Kara said. “The dreamcatcher would have stopped it.”
“That Fairimental warned us about something dangerous,” Emily reminded her. “Is that the book?”
“That’s it.”
For an instant, Kara thought she heard someone singing in the hall. Then the sound faded and her mind filled with calm.
Deciding it was just music from downstairs, Emily and Kara read a passage from the book:
Spellsing as one
See your work done
Spellsing as three
What you picture will be
“It sounds like it’s talking about us,” Emily said. “The power of three.”
“So spellsinging must be some kind of spell casting using music,” Kara mused.
“You think whatever was in here was looking for this magic?”
“Knock, knock,” a deep voice called.
Kara and Emily spun to see Johnny standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his confident grin. That’s weird—Kara thought she had locked the door behind them.
“What an incredible room!” Johnny eased into the library, admiring all the shelves of books and the odd little curios, all fashioned in an animal motif. “So this is the famous Ravenswood Manor library!”
Kara slapped the book closed and passed it to Emily, who slid it behind her back.
“Look at all these books!” he continued, walking around the circular room. “And these paintings are awesome! An original Parrish, a Bates, and this….whoa! The Munro Orrery.” He gazed up at the intricate mobile.
“Awesome,” Kara agreed, totally in awe of her guest.
“How do you know so much about Ravenswood?” Emily asked.
“I’m a history-head.” Johnny smiled. “Especially when it comes to haunted houses.”
“Haunted houses?” Emily glanced at Kara.
“Yeah, I live for this stuff. Ravenswood and the woods around the preserve are famous: full of ghosts, witches, and monsters!” He laughed.
“The woods aren’t haunted,” Emily said. “That’s just kids’ stories.”
“No? I’m sure there are some extra-special things going on here.” Johnny’s deep blue eyes sparkled as he smiled.
Kara nudged Emily’s arm. “Maybe you should take our homework to Adriane.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Emily said, bumping into bookshelves as she edged out the door.
“Soooo,” Kara said, smiling and sidling to the reading table, away from the secret computer panel. “You’re a Ravenswood buff. That’s cool, Johnny.” Her smile faltered and her heart started racing and suddenly she felt like a complete idiot. “Johnny. I called you Johnny… Can I call you Johnny? Or should it be Mr. Conrad, or Mr. C, or—”
Johnny laughed, and it was such a friendly laugh, an almost musical sound, that it instantly calmed Kara’s jitters.
“Johnny’s my name, don’t wear it out.” The rock star smiled, turning his baby blues to the rows of books. “I love to read.” He ran long fingers over the rich leather-bound volumes.
“You do?”
He laughed again and a warm, comforting breeze seemed to wash over her.
“Of course,” Johnny said softly as he scanned the titles on the shelves. “I’m on the road all the time. I’ve got to do something to make it less boring.”
“Boring?” Kara asked incredulously. “Your life, boring? I don’t believe it.”
He glanced her way. “Well, there are some pretty exciting moments. Like meeting new people and seeing new places…”
His sigh even sounded like music, and it made Kara’s heart beat like thunder. Suddenly, all she could think about was what he was going to say or do next.
“And getting onstage,” Johnny said quickly, “performing for my fans, singing my music. It’s like… magic.” He faced Kara, and for a split second she caught a flash of fire in his eyes.
Kara took a step back. She felt feverish. This was unreal. She was getting to spend time alone with Johnny Conrad!
Just wait until she told Heather and Molly and Tiff about this… she had the sudden impulse to sing it to the world!
“So you’re a singer, too,” Johnny said brightly.
Kara was startled. “Huh?”
“Your dad told me you were dying to win the contest, you and your pal with the guitar. Though, I hope for her sake that she’s got one top-notch voice, ‘cause you’ve got her way beat where it counts.”
Kara nearly choked. “I do? R—r—really?”
“I know about these things,” he said, low, musical tones seeming to echo beneath each of his words… words that filled her with the same confidence that radiated from the singer. “You’ve got something special. I can feel it. You know what that is?”
Kara thought of the unicorn horn… No, that was crazy. Johnny didn’t have anything to do with magic.
“Star power,” he answered for her. “And I’m never wrong.”
Before Kara could even think of what to say, Inky and two others were in the doorway.
“Wow. What a spread!” Inky commented, taking in the vast library. “This place rocks!”
“Come on, Johnny, press is waiting,” one of
the others said, popping her gold- and pink-haired head into the room. “We promised you’d do more interviews.”
“Okay,” Johnny said, walking to the door. He turned back and gave Kara a wink. “Star power,” he repeated.
As Johnny and his crew hurried off, she felt her head start to clear and realized she’d have to be more careful in the future. This library had to remain off-limits to visitors. And there was the computer, which held secrets practically beyond imagining.
She locked the door on her way out.
Star power! Kara beamed. “Finally, someone notices!”
LATE THAT NIGHT, an exhausted Emily dropped onto her bed without even bothering to change into pajamas. She wanted to read more of the book she had taken from the mansion... What little she had read about spellsinging had completely captured her imagination. Magic spell casting with music—awesome!
She had to learn more, but she was so tired.
What a day this had been—and things were only going to get more exciting. It would all be wonderful, absolutely perfect—if only Kara and Adriane could work out their differences.
Then again, there was that warning from the Fairimental. If the Dark Sorceress had set another of her plots in motion, she sure had good timing. The mages were so busy and distracted now that Johnny was at Ravenswood, they hardly had time for anything else. Emily decided tomorrow they would have to get Kara to call the dragonflies. They would contact Zach on Aldenmor and find out what was happening there.
Clank!
Slam!
“Cheep-cheep!”
Emily bolted upright in bed. Those sounds had come from outside. She ran to the window and looked out at the converted barn behind their house.
“Eeep-eep-ooooook!”
Krrrrang!
Someone was in the Pet Palace.
Emily burst from her bedroom, zoomed downstairs, and headed toward the back door.
“Emily?” her mom called out. Carolyn had been downstairs in her office with the reporter who had been at Ravenswood. The reporter wanted an animal specialist’s viewpoint on the Ravenswood Preserve.
“Just checking on Dr. McHenry’s monkeys,” Emily called out as she whizzed by.
She ran across the small expanse of yard and entered the Pet Palace. Bizarre! Some old woman was prying open the cages that held the former circus monkeys and letting them go free!
“Hey!” Emily hollered.
The old woman turned and Emily froze. Fear ripped up her spine, tickling the hairs on her neck. Mrs. Windor’s eyes glowed with red fire. She was hunched over, slobbering like a wild animal. A long tongue wagged from her mouth as saliva dripped to the wooden floor. A sudden burst of white light filled the space. For a moment, Emily didn’t know what had happened—then she saw her mother appear outside the nearby open window and saw the reporter with a flash camera.
Dr. Carolyn Fletcher’s jaw dropped. “What’s going on in here? What are you—”
The photographer snapped another shot, his flash blinding mother and daughter.
“Yiiieeeee-eeek-eeek-eeek!”
The monkeys howled and hooted, the sudden flash making them leap from the top of one cage to another. One landed on Mrs. Windor’s back and clung to her as she raced off.
Screaming madly, Mrs. Windor flung herself past the astonished trio and out the door, running across the backyard toward the parks and playing fields. The monkeys followed: one flying through the window and knocking the photographer flat on his back before bounding off into the darkness, another racing around and leading Emily and her mother in circles before escaping through the open back door.
Emily and her mother went outside, just in time to see the photographer drive off in his car.
“What was that all about?” Emily’s mom asked, startled.
Emily knew Mrs. Windor wanted to disrupt the concert any way she could and to prove the animals here weren’t safe. But this was crazy! And the way Mrs. Windor had looked—almost as if she weren’t human. A cold chill lodged in her spine.
Shaking her head, Emily said, “I guess Mrs. Windor finally went over the edge.”
They went back inside to grab flashlights so they could hunt for the missing monkeys.
Flashing red eyes gleamed from the edge of the woods, watching their house carefully. Mrs. Windor hummed a strange little song and backed into the shadows.
The monkeys followed her, their heads lolling, their eyes glazed, completely entranced by the melody.
Then, suddenly, Mrs. Windor bent low and hissed at the animals, her features melting and changing, her skin turning green and scaly, her eyes morphing to smoldering yellow slits in the night, her teeth sharpening to nasty points.
The monkeys shrieked and ran off in terror as the creature that used to be Beasley Windor straightened to its full seven foot form, its long arms swaying, its claws clicking and clacking in the near dark. It leaned back its massive head and roared.
Across the expanse of woods, deep in the heart of Ravenswood, cries of fear erupted in the magic glade. Magical animals that had been sleeping soundly suddenly awoke, horrified by the presence they sensed: a creature, dank and foul, from the darkest depths of their nightmares. And it was here.
THE MORNING SUN cast deep, shadows behind Kara as she trudged along the high, grassy bank of the Chitakaway River, head down, feet dragging. She swung her backpack by its straps, letting it graze the dewy grass and earth, not even caring if it got stained. Sparkling water danced over stones jutting from the river, the roaring and rushing creating its own special music.
She had suffered the most restless night’s sleep she could possibly have imagined. At one moment flying high in amazing dreams of success, basking in the glow of superstardom, the envy of all her friends—and at the next moment tossed into throes of anxiety, running scared in the blackest nightmares of failure, feeling utter humiliation as everyone laughed at her, their jeers and snickers echoing in her mind.
“Okay, okay, just breathe,” Kara said aloud, painfully aware of her own shortcomings as a singer—and the event looming over her this evening. The preliminary karaoke-style audition for the big contest would be held at seven in the school auditorium. Inky Toon would pick five lucky finalists who’d be allowed to sing during the preshow on Saturday. Johnny would judge that round of competition personally.
Kara would have to sing in front of dozens of people tonight—maybe even hundreds... including Adriane.
She clutched her backpack tighter, tormented by indecision. She could feel the unicorn horn inside, radiating with power, calling to her. Yet she also felt a nagging twinge of guilt for taking it in the first place, and for what she planned to do with it.
The whole concert was supposed to be about helping Ravenswood, and Kara had organized the benefit like a pro. But when it came to magic, she was a total amateur. Emily and Adriane had found their gems months ago and were constantly working to expand and control their abilities. So while her friends were on their way to becoming real mages, she was left behind, unable to control powers she didn’t understand. The only thing she knew for sure was that she supercharged Emily and Adriane’s jewels. But why should she, Kara Davies, play the role of helper? Why didn’t she have a jewel of her own, something to prove that she was the blazing star?
If she was ever going to become a real mage, she had to use a jewel. So why not this? A shiver passed through her; the unicorn horn practically buzzed with a vibrant life all its own. With trembling fingers, Kara opened the backpack and touched the unicorn horn. Sparks of energy ran around the intricate scalloped shape, sparkling over her fingers.
A fluttering in the breeze behind her made her turn just in time to see Lyra descend. Kara marveled at the cat’s powerful wings. Unlike the feathery butterfly-shaped wings of a pegasus, Lyra’s were sleek, hawk-like, built for speed and fast maneuvering. The tapered, golden wings folded to the cat’s sides, flashed, and disappeared.
“No ride this morning?” Lyra asked, brushing up against
Kara’s hip.
Kara scratched the cat behind the ears and shrugged. “I decided to walk.”
“Storm and I checked the entire preserve. We’ve found no sign of the intruder that scared the animals last night.”
“Maybe it was just a nightmare,” Kara said.
“Then we all had the same nightmare.”
“But nothing bad can slip through the dreamcatcher.”
“Unless it came from somewhere else. With all the people starting to arrive in Ravenswood, we’re on high alert.”
“Okay.” Kara looked down, shuffling her feet.
“Are you still concerned about this singing contest?”
“No! Yes. Maybe….”
“You sounded good the other morning.”
“Yeah, it’s easy when you have a band like B*Tween to sing along with. Tonight I have to sing all by myself!”
“You’re making too much out of this.” Lyra nudged her flank playfully against Kara, hard enough to make the girl wobble for a second before regaining her footing.
“Quit it! I am not! The entire school is going to be there!”
As they neared the Saddleback Bridge that would take Kara over the river and onto the main road to school, Lyra stopped and sat back on her haunches.
“Okay, let’s hear,” Lyra said.
“What, now?” Kara stopped, irritated.
“Give it your best shot,” the cat said patiently.
Kara looked around. A few blackbirds sat in an ancient oak. Other than the birds, the area was empty.
She took a breath. “Okay, you asked for it.” She put down her backpack and struck her best superstar pose.
She hummed a bit and started her choreographed steps, adding a few new ones she picked up watching Johnny and his crew.
Lyra bobbed her head along. “Good moves, but can you sing a little louder?”
Kara went for it.
The blackbirds screamed in protest at the obnoxious, screeching voice that suddenly interrupted their day. They flew away, squawking back a few insults.
Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5) Page 4
