“What?” he cried. Losing his grip, he tumbled through the air, his limbs waving. As he landed on the floor, Sorrel sprang from the table and caught him in her jaws.
“Let me go!” squawked the stretchy man.
Maia pulled the tin out of her bag, opened the lid and Sorrel spat the man inside. Maia banged the lid back on.
“What just happened?” the little man screeched.
“I think you’ll find I just tricked you!” said Ionie. “You’re not the only one who can cast illusions! I made you see what wasn’t there!”
“No!” the little man shrieked, battering at the tin.
“Two down, two to go,” said Maia, high-fiving Ionie.
Sorrel gave a smug meow and Bracken bounded over. “Now, that’s what I call teamwork!” he said.
“Argh!” Sita squealed, as Ionie and Maia suddenly appeared in the shadows by her wardrobe. She and Willow leaped to the far side of her bedroom and stared at them with wide eyes.
“Ionie? Maia? Is it really you?” Sita cried.
“Yes, we shadow-travelled here together,” said Maia, going over to her. She looked at Bracken. “Bracken, guard the door. We’ll have to vanish if anyone comes.”
“I thought it was the Shade who’s been following me!” Sita said. “I—” She broke off with a gasp and pointed to the wardrobe. “The Shade! Look! There it is!”
Hearing a low, sinister laugh, they swung round. A tall figure stepped out of the shadows. Its limbs were angular, its fingers tipped with spiky nails. “Sita, oh, Sita,” it hissed.
For a moment, Maia felt her blood freeze. But then she came to her senses. “You’re not real!” she said, marching over to it. “I don’t believe in you!” And with that, the Shade vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Sita gaped. “What … what’s going on?”
“The Shade was an illusion, Sita. There hasn’t really been a Shade following you,” said Ionie. “But there has been one affecting you.”
“Where’s the yellow stretchy man you got on Bonfire Night? The Shade is trapped inside that,” said Maia.
“It’s in my coat pocket downstairs,” said Sita.
“Go and get it,” urged Ionie.
Sita hurried out of the room and returned a few moments later with her coat. She pulled the little stretchy man out of the pocket. “There’s a Shade inside this?”
“Yes, one who’s been making you imagine a Shade was stalking you,” said Maia.
As they spoke, the little man started to laugh. Ionie snatched him from Sita before she could drop him. “The tin, Maia! Ow!” she yelped. The stretchy man had grown fangs and it bit Ionie’s fingers, but she didn’t let go.
Maia pulled out the tin and they stuffed the stretchy man inside with the other two.
“Horrible creature!” said Ionie, shaking her injured hand.
“Here, I can heal you,” said Sita.
She touched Ionie’s hand and breathed in deeply. Before their eyes, the wound closed up. Ionie smiled at Sita.
“So, there wasn’t really a Shade stalking me, it was just an illusion?” Sita said.
“Yes, caused by that Shade,” said Maia. “I think that Mrs Crooks has somehow worked out we’re Star Friends and that she stuck those stretchy men to the sparklers before Auntie Mabel gave them to us.”
“But why?” said Sita.
“To distract us from following her!”
Sita frowned. “But she’d only just met us earlier that day.”
“Well,” said Maia, realizing that Sita was right, “maybe she knew we were Star Friends before she actually met us. That could be why she was so horrible to us in the clearing.”
“OK, but if she was putting Shades into the stretchy men, why does she have all those gnomes?” Sita said.
Maia frowned. She couldn’t think of an answer to that.
“Right now we haven’t got time to figure this out,” said Ionie. “We have to help Lottie.” She held out her hands. “Come on, let’s shadowtravel!”
When they arrived in Lottie’s room, everything was neat and tidy, like always, but Lottie was sitting on the floor with a letter in her hands, in tears. Juniper was stroking her hair with his little paws. “Don’t cry, please don’t cry,” he was begging.
“But I’ve failed my piano exam.” Lottie picked up another letter from the floor beside her. “And the maths challenge.”
“Hi, Lottie!” Maia said.
Lottie almost jumped out of her skin.
The girls called their animals’ names and they appeared, too.
Lottie stared. “Why are you all here? What’s going on?” she whispered.
“Well, it’s like this—” Ionie began.
“Shh!” Lottie said hastily. “Mum and Dad are downstairs!”
“We’ll be quiet,” promised Maia in a quiet voice.
“Well, we’ll try,” said Sita, looking around anxiously.
“So why did you come?” demanded Lottie. “Was it because you heard about my exam results?” She held up the letters. “I failed maths and piano.”
“I don’t think you did.” Maia really hoped she was right. She let magic tingle through her. To her relief, the letters in Lottie’s hand started to glow with a shining outline. “They’re just an illusion!” She touched them. “You’re not real,” she said.
When the letters vanished, Lottie gasped. “What happened?”
“A Fear Shade made those letters appear,” Maia explained. “It made you believe your fears were coming true. You haven’t failed your exams.”
Lottie stared. “Really? Oh my goodness, I’ve been so worried. So it was all a Shade?”
The others nodded.
There was a slight rustling noise and Bracken and Sorrel swung round to see a stretchy man creeping across Lottie’s desk.
“There it is!” said Bracken.
The stretchy man started to run but in a flash, Juniper had jumped on to the table and grabbed him in his paws. “You’re going nowhere!” Juniper exclaimed.
“Apart from back to the shadows!” added Ionie.
The stretchy man struggled in Juniper’s grasp.
Maia took the box out of her bag and opened it just enough to get the little man in and then slammed it shut. “Got him!” She looked at the others. “Now what do we do?”
“We need to send them back to the shadows,” said Lottie.
“How exactly do you plan to do that?” said Sorrel. “Do I have to remind you that Ionie must be looking a Shade in the eyes to be able to command it? That may be a problem.”
Maia bit her lip. Sorrel was right. The stretchy men moved so fast when they were free – and there were four of them. How could Ionie hope to be able to look them all in the eye at the same time?
“Perhaps we should try sending them back one at a time,” said Lottie. “If we open the tin and take one out, Ionie could try and command it.”
The lid on the tin shifted upwards slightly as the stretchy men inside tried to get out.
“We’d better be quick!” said Sita. “This could go horribly wrong if they all escape.”
“OK, let’s open the lid,” said Lottie. “Ionie, get ready.”
“Remember, they bite,” warned Maia. “Here goes!” She loosened one corner of the lid of the tin.
WHAM! The lid exploded off the tin and the stretchy men leaped out.
Sita screamed and Maia ducked as one jumped over her shoulder. Ionie staggered back as another launched itself straight at her face with its claws out. Luckily Lottie saw what was happening and, using her super-speed, she sprang in front of Ionie and batted it away just in time. It flew through the air and landed on the floor.
“Thank you!” Ionie gasped.
The animals sprang into action, trying to pounce and grab but the stretchy men seemed to be everywhere. One of them reached the door and Maia realized the man was planning on squeezing underneath it.
“Stop it!” she cried.
Maia and Ionie both threw themselves f
orwards but even as Maia felt her fingers close round it, it seemed to slip out from between her fingers.
“It’s escaping!” cried Ionie.
“Freeze! Everyone, freeze!” exclaimed Sita.
All of a sudden Maia found she couldn’t move. What was going on? She could see that everyone – her friends, the animals and even the stretchy men – were frozen to the spot.
“Oh,” Sita said faintly, looking around the room. “I didn’t think it would work that well.”
Maia’s thoughts raced. How had Sita made everyone do as she said?
Sita took a trembling breath. “OK, listen to me. Maia, Lottie and Ionie, I want you all to unfreeze. Bracken, Willow, Juniper and Sorrel, too. Unfreeze!”
It was as if a magic wand had been waved. Suddenly Maia found she could move again.
“What’s going on?” Lottie said, staring at Sita, who was standing in the middle of the room looking rather sheepish.
Willow trotted over to Sita. “Your magic, Sita,” she said softly. “It’s just as we thought.”
“I know,” said Sita in a small voice. “I’m not sure I like it.” Willow nuzzled her.
“What are you talking about?” demanded Ionie.
“Yes, enough of talking in riddles. Will one of you please explain what just happened?” said Sorrel sharply.
Sita put her hand on Willow’s head. “Um … we were planning to tell you all about it but then everything started going wrong and I couldn’t focus on anything other than the Shade I thought was stalking me. You know we all thought my magic was to do with healing and soothing people?”
They all nodded.
“Well, it is about healing but I think that the soothing part isn’t quite what it seems. People do calm down when I tell them to…” She glanced at Willow for help.
“But it’s because Sita’s magic lets her command others,” explained Willow. “If she tells them to do something, they have to do it. People, animals, Shades.”
Maia looked round at the four little stretchy men still frozen in position – one halfway under the door, one crouching down, one bending over, one on his tummy. Their eyes were rolling furiously as they fought against the magic but they couldn’t move.
“That’s awesome,” breathed Lottie.
“And scary,” said Sita, with a slight shake to her voice.
“Sita, you must be the really powerful one the Shade told us about!” Maia realized.
“But I don’t want to be,” Sita said.
“I don’t think you have a choice,” said Bracken.
Sorrel gazed at Sita. “You will be in danger. A person using dark magic would do anything for your kind of power.”
“Oh,” Sita whispered.
Lottie picked up a frozen stretchy man that was lying near to her. “Look, let’s talk about this more after we’ve sent these Shades back to the shadows.” She looked at Willow. “Can Sita do that?”
“No, Sita can command them in this world but only a Spirit Speaker like Ionie can send spirits between worlds,” Willow said.
“But what Sita can do is command the Shades to look Ionie in the eyes,” said Sorrel.
She picked up a stretchy man in her mouth and held it up to Ionie.
Lottie nudged Sita. “Go on then. Do your commanding thing.”
“Stretchy men, I … um … want you all to look at Ionie,” said Sita.
Sure enough, all four stretchy men reluctantly looked at Ionie.
“Go back to the shadows where you belong!” Ionie said. The Shades shivered and shook and then, with a last wide-eyed look, they fell still.
“It worked!” said Sita in delight.
The animals bounded around the room.
“Well done, Sita,” said Willow.
“That was brilliant!” yapped Bracken.
“Shh!” said Lottie, glancing towards the door.
“You did exceptionally well,” Sorrel purred to Ionie.
“The Shades have really gone,” Ionie said in a low voice. “It’s over!”
Maia shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
“What do you mean?” said Ionie.
Maia took a deep breath. “We’ve still got Mrs Crooks to deal with.”
Ionie grabbed Maia’s hand. “Time to shadowtravel to Mrs Crooks’s house!”
“No,” said Sita quickly. “Not now. It’s late. Imagine what will happen if our parents come looking for us and we’re not in our bedrooms? They might even have discovered we’re missing already.”
Maia hesitated but Sita was right. “OK, we’ll go round to her house tomorrow after school then.”
The others all nodded.
They said goodbye to Lottie and all their Star Animals and then Ionie shadow-travelled with Sita and Maia back to Sita’s house. Leaving Sita there they went on to Ionie’s. As they arrived in the shadows beside her wardrobe, there was a knock on her bedroom door.
“Do you two need anything?” Ionie’s mum said, opening the door and looking in. “How’s the homework going?”
“Fine. We’ve just finished, Mum,” said Ionie, smoothing down her hair.
Maia nodded. “I’ll call my dad and ask him to collect me.”
“Don’t worry, I can drop you home,” Ionie’s mum said.
Maia and Ionie shared a look of relief – that had been close. What would have happened it they hadn’t got back in time? Shadowtravel was amazing but very risky.
As Mrs Cooper drove Maia and Ionie past Mrs Crooks’s cottage on the way back to her house, Maia wondered what Mrs Crooks was doing. All the lights were off in the cottage. Was she out in the woods gathering plants and herbs to do more dark magic? Maia shivered. How could they possibly stop her?
Sita, Maia realized, thinking of Sita’s new power. She’d be able to command Mrs Crooks. Tomorrow, Maia thought. Tomorrow we’ll stop the dark magic once and for all.
After school the next day, the girls asked if they could go for a walk and then have tea at Maia’s house. To their relief, all their parents agreed. They headed to Mrs Crooks’s cottage and stopped on the street. “OK,” said Ionie. “As soon as she opens the door, you’ve got to use your magic, Sita, and make her ask us in. Then, once we’re in, you need to command her to tell us about the dark magic she’s been doing.”
“I’m scared,” said Sita, her eyes wide.
Maia squeezed her hand. “Don’t be. We’ll all be with you.”
They started to walk down the drive but, before they could reach the door, Mrs Crooks came out. “What are you girls doing here?” she demanded.
Her dog ran out and started barking at them. It snapped at Sita’s ankles, making her squeal and back away.
“Jack! Stop that! Come here!” called Mrs Crooks. “You girls, clear off!” she said angrily. “You heard me, go away! Stop upsetting my dog!”
With all the noise and confusion, Sita didn’t have a chance to try and use her magic on Mrs Crooks.
“We’re not upsetting him!” Ionie shouted.
“Whatever’s going on here?” Hearing a familiar voice, Maia swung round and saw Mary from the Copper Kettle tea shop. “Jenny, what’s happening? Jack, come here! Stop making all that noise.”
To Maia’s surprise, the dog stopped barking and ran over to Mary, greeting her with a wagging tail. Mary took hold of his collar.
“These children are bothering him, Mary,” said Mrs Crooks angrily. “Hanging around on my drive. Trying to upset him.”
Mary shook her head. “These girls are lovely. They wouldn’t do that – they all adore animals.”
Mrs Crooks harrumphed.
“Girls, I’m sorry about this. Please excuse my sister,” Mary said to them. “She’s not very keen on young people, you see.”
Maia stared. Mary and horrible Mrs Crooks were sisters? Yes, now she looked, she could see similarities between them but Mary’s face was open and smiling whereas Mrs Crooks’s was closed and suspicious.
“Calm down, Jenny. I promise you, these girls wouldn’t e
ver hurt an animal. Would you, girls?” Mary went on.
“Never, we all love animals,” said Ionie.
“We really do,” Lottie said, holding her hand out to the dog. He growled.
“Sorry, Lottie,” Mary said. “Jack’s not very good with young people. He was a stray who was badly treated by some teenagers once. That’s why he’s only got one ear. He came into the vet’s where Jenny used to work. She helped get him better and then adopted him.”
“Oh,” Maia said slowly.
“Jenny’s working at the new wildlife sanctuary,” Mary went on.
Maia’s mind spun as she tried to match Mrs Crooks the conjurer of Shades with Mrs Crooks the animal lover that Mary was telling her about.
“We’ve got badgers and foxes and rabbits and hedgehogs,” said Mrs Crooks, slightly gruffly. “Polecats, squirrels and weasels. Some of the animals we keep away from visitors – those who aren’t too badly injured and who are going to be released back into the wild. The ones that need a lot of care become too trusting of people, so they have to stay at the sanctuary. They’re often injured because of young people –” she fixed them with a look –“leaving litter in the woods. But Mary’s right, if you like wildlife you should come and visit.”
Mary smiled. “Maybe today they could have a quick look in your shed, Jenny?”
Shed! Maia saw the others’ eyes all widen.
Mrs Crooks nodded. “I don’t see why not. Provided you’re quiet and don’t touch anything,”
“What’s in the shed?” Ionie ventured.
A rare smile lifted the corners of Mrs Crooks’s mouth. “Animals,” she said. “Would you like to see?”
The girls exchanged looks. For a moment, Maia wondered if Mary and Mrs Crooks were doing dark magic together. She wanted to see inside the shed – after all it was what they had come here for – but was it an elaborate trap?
“Um … our parents probably wouldn’t like us to come in without getting permission first,” Lottie said slowly.
“Of course,” said Mary. “Good girls, that’s very sensible of you.”
Just then a car pulled up. “Hi, girls,” said Mrs Greene, putting down the window. “Is everything OK?”
“Everything’s fine,” said Mary.
Secret Spell Page 6
