“You are a faerie, Laney,” Gwen said solemnly. “There are faeries living in different places all over the world and this village is one of them.”
Laney shook her head. “But this is just Skellmore!”
Gwen smiled and tucked her curly white hair under her hat. “There’s more to this village than you think. Come with me. There’s something I want to show you.” She tottered through the door and down the passageway. “Usually I keep my front room as ordinary as possible. Then I use my skills down here in my plant house,” she called back.
Laney skirted round the orange tree and followed her down the passage. Even though she’d been to Gwen’s house millions of times, she’d never been any further than the front room before.
They passed through a doorway hung with long curling vines and the scent of flowers filled the air. Then she was inside a huge plant house with two glass walls and a glass ceiling. Small trees stretched up to the windowed panes in the roof. Flowers grew beneath them in crimson, pink and mauve.
“It’s beautiful!” said Laney.
“This is the part of my house I could never let you see before you Awakened,” said Gwen.
They followed the path, which was almost covered with foliage. The flowers turned their faces towards Gwen as she passed. A nearby tree branch moved creakily to rest its leaves on her shoulder. Laney caught her breath.
“Come and sit down.” Gwen slowly seated herself on a wooden bench with long vines woven all around it. The flowers gazed at the old lady with upturned faces. Laney noticed that the backs of Gwen’s hands were covered with curling silvery marks that she’d never seen before.
“Other Elders said that you might never Awaken,” Gwen told her. “They said that twelve was too old. But there was just something about you – something waiting to come out. That’s why I’ve been expecting you to come here.”
“But why did I change… I mean, Awaken?” said Laney.
“Your faerie self was always inside you, waiting. Maybe it was simply the right time for it to come alive,” said Gwen. “Awakening must happen to each faerie, otherwise their power stays locked inside them. The power of your tribe has now been set free.”
Laney’s mind whirled with questions. “What’s a tribe? Claudia said something about that too.”
“Your tribe describes the root of your power, and in time they will become like your family,” said Gwen. “I am from the Thorn tribe. We draw our strength from plants and trees, and in turn we use our powers to help them.”
“Am I a Thorn faerie?” said Laney.
Gwen looked at her steadily and Laney suddenly wondered how much she could see with those penetrating eyes. “No, I don’t think you are,” Gwen told her. “But the Thornbeam family are Thorns and so are the Willowbys.”
Laney thought of Fletcher and his little sister Sara, both Thorn faeries. But what was she? “What are the other tribes called?” she asked.
“There are five tribes altogether. The Greytails have power over any creature on the land. Then the Kestrels have power over the air. The Blaze tribe can control fire and the Mist tribe have power over water.” Gwen smiled. “There are no Kestrel or Blaze faeries living in Skellmore, although we sometimes see them passing through.”
“Thorn, Kestrels, Blaze and Greytails?” said Laney.
“And Mist,” said Gwen.
“And Mist,” Laney repeated, pushing back the tendrils of hair that fell over her forehead. She felt as though the world was tilting sideways again, just like it had when Claudia had told her she was a faerie.
She had to know what tribe she belonged to. What power did she have? She sprang up from the bench and stared at her reflection in the window. The answer was staring her in the face. No wonder she’d made the water fountain explode.
“I have power over water.” She turned to Gwen. “I’m a Mist faerie, aren’t I?”
“Yes, I think you are,” said Gwen with a smile.
The front door banged and Claudia ran down the passageway. “Did you know there’s an orange tree in the middle of your sitting room?”
“Help yourself if you’d like any fruit,” said Gwen. “You did the right thing by sending Laney to me.”
Claudia grinned. “I don’t think I was explaining things very well.”
“I get it now,” said Laney. “I’m a Mist faerie.” It felt strange to say it.
“Well, duh!” Claudia grinned. “Don’t get me wet, OK? I don’t like water.”
“But why is this happening in Skellmore?” said Laney. “I thought this was the most boring place on the planet.”
“It is quite boring here,” agreed Claudia. “My mum and dad won’t even let me fly on my own half the time! I had to sneak out of the window last night.”
Laney blinked. She had a picture in her head of Claudia flying out of the window, her pale wings shimmering in the dark. “I’d like to learn to fly.”
“You have to be careful that none of the humans see you.” Claudia climbed on to a garden table and leaned back languidly. “Although people could work out what’s going on if they tried a bit harder. They could totally spot the different tribes, for a start. I mean, have you ever wondered why some people can make anything grow? That’s typical Thorn tribe. And people who dash about like a whirlwind – well, that’s your Kestrel tribe. As for us Greytails, well, we’re the best, of course…”
“Claudia, Laney needs time to take all of this in.” Gwen’s high voice grew stern.
Claudia carried on. “But it amazes me that humans never notice. And – oh! We haven’t told you how many famous faeries there are. Queen Elizabeth the First was a Greytail, but only because her mother, Anne Boleyn, was and—”
“Claudia!” said Gwen.
Laney struggled for a moment with her whirling thoughts. “But…where do you – I mean we – come from? And why do you live as if you’re the same as humans?”
“In the beginning we called ourselves the ‘Fair Eyes’, because only we could see the golden circles in our eyes that made us different,” said Gwen solemnly. “Time went by, and the name became shorter. ‘Fair Eyes’ became ‘faeries’. But the secret of our existence was kept hidden. Any stories about us faded into legend.” She fixed Laney with her gaze. “You must give your word that you will keep this secret, always.”
“Can we tell her the Tale of the First Faeries?” said Claudia.
Gwen didn’t reply. She watched Laney unwaveringly.
“I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” said Laney, wondering who would believe her anyway.
“Be sure you keep to your promise. Bad things will happen if you choose to break it. Now…” Gwen’s tone lightened and her little-old-lady manner returned. “The Tale of the First Faeries, did you say, Claudia? Let me see if I’ve got any Spirit Smoke in the cupboard.” She got up and went down the passageway, returning a minute later with a dark-blue bottle. “I haven’t done this for a while.” She clicked her fingers and a long vine dropped down to hold the bottle suspended in the air.
“What does it do?” said Laney.
“It’s the tale of faeries from long ago,” said Claudia. “It’s a great story!” “It’s not just a story,” Gwen said seriously. “This is faerie lore, part of the ancient wisdom of our people.” She took the stopper out of the bottle and thin grey smoke began to curl over the top. It swayed from side to side and then spread slowly outwards, turning from grey to all the colours of the rainbow.
Laney started to see shapes inside the smoke – mountains and people and trees. She wanted to reach out and touch them.
Gwen cleared her throat. “For hundreds of years, faeries lived in their tribes far away from humans. The Thorns lived deep in the forest.”
At Gwen’s words, Laney saw great green forests sprouting in the smoke. She could even smell the earth and leaves.
“The Greytails ran with packs of animals,” continued Gwen, and Laney saw a pack of wolves running under a full moon. She could almost feel the earth beneath th
eir feet, it seemed so real.
“The Mist tribes dwelled by the water, loving the quiet ways of the pond and stream…” As Gwen’s voice tailed away, Laney saw dragonflies skimming across a river, the sapphire sheen on their wings catching the sun.
“The Blaze and Kestrel tribes had their favourite places too.” At this, Laney saw the dancing flames of a fire and then a bird circling high in the air. She could feel the wind on her face.
“But as time passed, the forests were cut down and the humans hunted the animals for food. Life became hard for the faeries, so they secretly began to live among humans in order to survive. They learned to disguise themselves, joining in with human ways until they couldn’t remember why they’d ever stayed apart.” Laney watched the scene change as all the faeries’ wings vanished and they blended in with other people. She felt a little sad.
“Although they were hidden, the faeries never forgot what they were and each tribe forged a sacred object to hold the essence of their power. These were called the Myricals and they were very precious.”
The smoke changed colour and formed five objects. There was a wooden arrow, a pale wolf figurine, a slim transparent bottle, a scarred grey rock and a bright mirror. Laney leaned forwards to look at them more closely, but the images faded. Then the smoke turned grey again and curled away into nothing.
“And that’s how we came to be here, living with everyone else,” said Gwen. “That’s our faerie history and that’s how it’s told to each new faerie that Awakens. Although not many get to see the story by Spirit Smoke.”
“Cool, huh?” Claudia jumped down off the table and stretched.
“But it’s sad, really – the way they had to change their lives,” said Laney. “How weird to have magic power but be forced to hide it…” She stopped, suddenly realising that’s exactly how Gwen and Claudia were living.
“Listen to me, Laney,” said Gwen. “You must not let humans know what you are. This is the most dangerous time. Your powers are completely new and you’re not in control of them yet. Every thought, every feeling, could make something happen.”
“She’s already made something happen,” said Claudia. “She changed the colour of the river, down by the bridge. I bet the other faerie Elders will go mad when they find it. They’re already freaking out about some red moon.”
“A red moon?” Gwen said quickly. “Claudia? Are you sure that’s what they were saying?”
“Yes, they said the moon was red last night. They were really stressed about it.”
“They don’t know the red river was caused by me, though?” Laney bit her lip.
“It won’t take them long to figure it out. One of the Thorns saw you looking at the cat eyes on our pet shop wall, so they must’ve known you could see them. It’s a good thing you had your sunglasses on. You’ll have to tell everyone you’ve Awakened soon, though.”
Claudia stopped, turning to look at Gwen, who had risen from the bench, her face creased in thought. “A red moon – this is unexpected.” The old lady walked slowly back and forth. “I was working on potions last night so I did not go out, but I knew there was something… The trees felt a change deep down in their roots.”
“When my mum was talking about a red moon, she said something about a child of a weaver,” said Claudia.
Gwen continued tottering up and down the plant house, ignoring the two girls for a moment. The curling silvery marks on her hands stood out clearly. “Is this really the moment that the prophecy speaks of?” she muttered to herself. “Is it really so soon?”
“What’s wrong?” said Claudia. “I don’t understand what’s so bad about the moon looking like that. Is it a Thorn tribe thing?”
Gwen stopped in front of Laney and now her kindliness had vanished. “I must go and find the other Elders. Where are they, Claudia?”
There was a bang at the front door.
Claudia ran halfway down the passageway. She looked back, her face serious. “Um, you’ll never believe it, but they’re outside right now.”
“Take Laney and go!” Gwen commanded. “Get out the back way. If you’re careful maybe even the Greytails won’t hear you.”
“Sure – easy!” said Claudia.
Laney jumped as she heard more hammering on the front door. “Will they be angry with me?”
“I’ll tell them that you’ve Awakened, but I need to talk to them alone.” Gwen straightened her velvet hat and headed for the passageway with surprising speed. “You can meet them properly later on. Quickly now, my dear. Follow Claudia.”
Laney followed Claudia out of the side door as Gwen went to let her visitors in at the front. Claudia skulked through the jungle-like garden and climbed a tree in the corner, which had a cluster of low branches.
“You can climb, can’t you?” said Claudia, springing off the branch and over the fence in a graceful bound.
Laney heard voices coming from the house and shrank back behind a screen of leaves. The fence didn’t look easy to get over but if Claudia had done it then surely she could too. “Of course I can climb.” She heaved herself on to the lowest branch and tried to swing one leg over the fence.
The way that Gwen had hurried her out of the door made her nervous. What were the other Elders like and who were they?
There was a creak that sounded like the door of the plant house opening. Laney pushed herself on to the fence and tried to swing her other leg across. She hung for a moment, gripping on to the top of the wood with both hands. Now she was stuck. Great.
“Just swing yourself over,” hissed Claudia.
Laney flung herself over, slid down the other side of the fence and landed in a crumpled heap. Claudia shook with silent laughter as she dragged Laney up and pulled her into the undergrowth.
“Stop laughing!” said Laney.
“Shh! Just stay still for a minute,” Claudia whispered back.
Laney froze. She couldn’t hear anything or see anyone following.
“It’s all right. They didn’t come outside,” said Claudia at last, straightening up.
“How do you know they’ve gone?” said Laney.
“I’m a Greytail. Our senses are sharper than any other tribe’s. I can hear and smell things you can’t.”
“Lucky you.” Laney brushed dead leaves off her T-shirt.
“You wouldn’t say that if you had to walk past the boys’ changing room after they’ve had PE.” Claudia wrinkled her nose. “It’s so gross!”
“I don’t need super senses to know that.” Laney’s head suddenly ached and she leaned against a tree. She was worried about the way that Gwen had got rid of her. “Will people be happy that I’ve, you know, changed into a faerie?” she asked.
“Course they will. It’s just…” Claudia screwed her face up. “You’re twelve. Everyone was sure by now that you didn’t have proper faerie magic. And now, suddenly, here you are.”
“How old were you when you changed then? Did yours happen on your birthday?”
“No, it wasn’t my birthday. I found out when I was about five, but I think I always knew in a way. Tom was always talking to the cats in front of me so it was pretty obvious.”
“Tom can talk to cats?” asked Laney.
“Yeah, we all can – all of us in the Greytail tribe,” said Claudia.
Laney thought of Claudia’s brother – seventeen-year-old football-loving Tom. It seemed so weird that he had this whole side she didn’t know about. “So it usually happens when you’re younger than twelve?”
“Much younger.”
Laney’s heart sank. She couldn’t even do something weird like becoming a faerie in a normal kind of way.
A light rain began to fall gently on their heads, soaking into their clothes.
“Ugh! Laney, stop it,” said Claudia. “I hate getting wet. I told you that.”
“What?” Laney stared round. The rain was only falling in a small circle, which happened to be exactly where they were standing. It was her. She was making it rain.
“You’re seriously going to have to stop it,” Claudia told her. “You can’t go round making it rain everywhere.”
“I wasn’t trying to make it happen,” snapped Laney. “It just did!” The rain got heavier, pelting them with large drops.
“Laney!” screeched Claudia.
Laney raced away up the road, leaving the rain shower and Claudia behind.
She slowed down after she turned into Beacon Way, passing the entrance to The Cattery, the crescent-shaped road where Claudia and her family lived. This time she wasn’t surprised to see a few odd-looking houses among the row of normal ones. From a distance it looked as if Claudia’s house had leopard-print walls. Laney blinked and walked on.
She couldn’t help thinking that she was even more of a screw-up as a faerie than before she’d changed. First she’d got herself into trouble at school and then she’d turned the river red.
She climbed the hill and saw Mrs Mottle and Mrs Hughes standing and chatting in the street. There were no gold rings in their eyes, which meant that they couldn’t see any change in hers either. They were human. As she got closer, she heard bits of their conversation.
“And now there’s a big patch of red in the river,” Mrs Mottle told her neighbour. “I talked to Mr Lionhart down at the pet shop about it and he went very quiet.”
“I bet it’s a chemical spill. Someone should tell the council about it,” said Mrs Hughes. “Did you see that big red moon last night? It gave me quite a shiver.”
A crowd of white petals flew down from the sky and dive-bombed Mrs Mottle. Laney held her breath but Mrs Mottle didn’t even blink. The sprites swept on past her ear and flew off with a tinkle of laughter. Then they came round for a second time, flying right between the two women.
“Oh dear, it’s getting a bit windy, isn’t it?” said Mrs Mottle, oblivious to the tiny pale things dancing past her nose. “I hope there isn’t going to be another storm.”
As Laney went past, Mrs Hughes whispered something and Mrs Mottle nodded. She replied in a low murmur that Laney could still hear. “My Craig told me that she broke a water fountain at school yesterday. She’s turning into quite a little troublemaker.”
The Crystal Mirror Page 4
