Secret Spell

by Linda Chapman

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  In the Star World

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Also in the Series

  Extract from Star Friends: Wish Trap

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Copyright

  A snowy owl, a badger, a stag and a wolf gathered by a waterfall of falling stars. Their fur and feathers glittered with stardust and their eyes were a deep indigo blue. The owl hooted softly. “My friends, let us see what is happening with the young animals and their Star Friends in the human world.”

  As he touched the surface of the pool with the tip of his wing, an image slowly formed. Four girls and four animals with indigo eyes were settling down for the night. A girl with dark-blond hair was hugging a fox, a girl with black curls was cuddling a red squirrel, a girl with long dark brown hair was stroking a deer and a girl with red hair was curled up beside a wildcat with a tabby coat.

  “They all look happy,” said the badger with a sigh of relief.

  Hunter the owl nodded. “The young animals are doing well. They have been teaching their Star Friends how to use magic to keep the human world safe. The good deeds they have done so far have strengthened the magic current that flows between our world and the human world, and has made their magical abilities stronger.”

  The wolf stiffened. “The picture is changing!”

  A new image formed, showing a person wearing a black hooded robe and holding a stone bowl filled with small objects. Shadows were swirling up from the ground.

  The stag pawed the earth in alarm. “Someone is working dark magic near the Star Friends!”

  The owl nodded gravely. “I’m afraid it appears to be as we suspected. Two Shades have already been defeated by the Star Animals and their friends. But now more trouble is coming their way.”

  The wolf growled. “I believe I know this person we can see.”

  “You do, my friend,” said the owl. “She has caused problems in the past. Her magic was once bound but now she is able to use it again.”

  “What can we do to stop her?” said the stag.

  “Nothing.” The owl shook his head. “It is up to the new Star Animals and their friends to stop this threat. All we can do is watch.”

  “And hope the dark magic does not win,” said the wolf grimly.

  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 floor 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 flowed 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 shadowtravel. 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 flicker 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 fluffy 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 th
ese 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 shadowtravel 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!”

  The girls pulled on their clothes. As they left Maia’s bedroom the animals vanished – it was important for them to stay secret from other humans.

  Ionie fell into step beside Maia as they went downstairs. “This is really exciting, isn’t it?” she said in a low voice. “We might all have new powers. And it sounds like there will be more Shades for us to fight.”

  Maia nodded in agreement. Although Shades were scary, she felt a thrill at the thought of using her magic to stop them. “Last night was exciting, wasn’t it?” she said to Ionie.

  Ionie grinned. “Stalking a possessed gnome, rescuing friends from a burning shed and using magic to fight an evil Shade… I mean, who’d want to do anything else on a Saturday evening!”

  Glancing at Ionie’s happy face, Maia remembered something Sita had said – that she thought Ionie had been lonely and was really enjoying hanging around with them now they were all Star Friends. Maia was beginning to feel Sita was right.

  When they went into the kitchen they found Maia’s little brother, Alfie, sitting in his high chair.

  “Morning, girls!” Mr Greene said cheerfully. “Nice to see you up so bright and early.”

  “We were going to go out for a bike ride,” Maia said.

  “OK, but have some breakfast first.”

  “Bek-fast!” called Alfie, offering his sister a piece of his toast.

  Maia grinned. “Thanks, Alfie, but I’ll get my own.”

  Alfie threw the toast on the floor. “All gone.” He giggled.

  “Come on, young man,” Mr Greene said, undoing the harness and scooping Alfie up out of the high chair. “We’re going to clear some leaves in the garden together.”

  Alfie shook his head firmly. “No leaves. No beetles.”

  “Don’t be silly. Beetles won’t hurt you,” his dad said.

  “No beetles! No!” Alfie’s voice rose and he struggled in his dad’s arms.

  “He’s scared of beetles,” Maia explained to the others as they got out the cereal boxes. “He was helping Dad the other day and they found a nest of beetles under a pile of leaves.”

  “All right, Alfie, all right,” Mr Greene said soothingly. “You can play in the sandpit then.”

  Alfie continued to struggle. “No garden! No!”

  Sita went over and took his hands in hers. “Oh, Alfie, don’t worry. The beetles will leave you alone. You can have a nice play in the sandpit.” Alfie stopped wriggling and stared at her as she spoke. “You can play with your spade, can’t you?” Sita went on, her gentle brown eyes fixed on his.

  “Play,” Alfie repeated, gazing at her. Then he looked up at his dad. “Me play outside.”

  Mr Greene blinked. “OK, great.” He turned to Sita. “You really have a knack with little ones, Sita.”

  Sita smiled. “I get a lot of practice with my little brother.”

  Mr Greene nodded. “Well, thanks,” he said, and he carried Alfie outside.

  “Were you using your magic then?” Maia whispered to Sita.

  She nodded and grinned. “Of course. Willow told me we should use it as often as we can to help people. Every bit of good we do strengthens the magic current.”

  “And our own magical abilities,” added Ionie.

  They had just started to eat breakfast when Mr Greene came back in.

  “Maia, you haven’t seen the key for the shed, have you?”

  Maia shook her head. “Sorry, no.”

  Mr Greene frowned then went out again, muttering, “I don’t know where it can be.”

  Maia thought for a second and then, remembering what Sita had said about using their magic to help people as much as they could, she picked up a spoon. Could she find the key? She turned over the spoon and looked into the shiny surface, opening her mind to the current of magic. She felt it flow into her, making her tingle all over.

  “Show me the key to the shed,” she whispered.

  An image formed in the back of the spoon. It showed a key inside an old pottery vase. Maia recognized it as one of the flowerpots that sat just under the shelf where the key was usually kept. The key must have fallen into the vase! She put down the spoon and hurried to the back door.

  “Dad!” Her dad was looking under the jam jars and paint tins. “Have you tried in the flowerpots? It might have fallen off the shelf.”

  “I did have a quick look,” Mr Greene said.

  Maia’s eyes fell on the vase, and she picked it up and turned it upside down. A metal key dropped out. “It’s here! Look!”

  “Oh, well done!” her dad said. “That was
a lucky guess.”

  “Yep,” Maia said, hiding her smile. Being able to do magic was awesome!

  As soon as they had cleared away their bowls, the girls set off on their bikes. It was a crisp November morning and the sun was just starting to rise. The chilly breeze made their cheeks glow, and Maia was glad she had put on her scarf and gloves. The streets of Westcombe had an early Sunday morning quietness about them. A few people were out walking dogs or running but most of the houses still had their curtains drawn. The girls passed the playing fields where a huge bonfire was prepared.

  “Are you all going to the fireworks tonight?” Maia asked as they cycled past.

  Her friends nodded.

  “How about we meet there at six?” Sita suggested.

  “I can’t be there until six fifteen,” said Lottie. “Can we meet then? I’ll be with my maths tutor until six.”

  Ionie frowned. “Maths tutor? Why do you have a maths tutor? You’re almost as good at maths as me.”

  Maia groaned inwardly. Couldn’t Ionie tell that saying things like that would really irritate Lottie?

  “Because I’m sitting an entrance exam for secondary school in January and my mum wants me to try and get a scholarship,” Lottie retorted. “And actually I’m just as good at maths as you!”

  “Oh, look, there’s Auntie Mabel’s house,” Maia said hurriedly, before Ionie could reply. “Maybe we should stop by later and tell her what happened last night.”

  Auntie Mabel was an old lady who could do magic – not with a Star Animal but by using crystals. She had been one of Maia’s granny’s best friends but Granny Anne had died just a few months ago. Auntie Mabel had told Maia that she knew all about Star Animals because she had seen Granny Anne’s Star Animal – a wolf – when they were children. Auntie Mabel had said that she and Granny Anne used to do magic together and now she wanted to help Maia and her friends. Bracken and the other Star Animals weren’t too keen on having the help of someone who wasn’t a Star Friend but Maia really liked being able to talk to Auntie Mabel about magic and ask for her advice.