by Gwyneth Rees
Illustrated by Jessie Eckel
MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Gwyneth Rees is half Welsh and half English and grew up in Scotland. She went to Glasgow University and qualified as a doctor in 1990. She is a child and adolescent psychiatrist but has now stopped practising so that she can write full-time. She is the author of the bestselling Fairies series (Fairy Dust, Fairy Treasure, Fairy Dreams, Fairy Gold, Fairy Rescue, Fairy Secrets), Cosmo and the Magic Sneeze, Cosmo and the Great Witch Escape, Cosmo and the Secret Spell and Mermaid Magic,as well as several books for older readers. She lives near London with her husband, Robert, their daughters, Eliza and Lottie, and their two cats, Hattie and Magnus.
Visit www.gwynethrees.com
For Lottie,
with love
Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
1
‘Dad, why can’t I come with you today?’ Ava asked as she watched him ring the doorbell of her Aunt Marietta’s dress shop.
‘I’ve already told you, Ava,’ her father replied a little impatiently. ‘I’m going to be too busy to look after you properly once I get there.’
‘I don’t need that much looking after,’ said Ava huffily. ‘I’m nine, Dad. I’m not a baby.’
Ava could hardly believe how much her life had changed in the last two weeks. When she had first arrived at Dad’s house at the start of the summer holidays, she had been an ordinary girl coming to spend the summer with her divorced father while her mother went away on a once-in-a-lifetime sailing trip. Then, within days, her life had been turned completely upside down after she had discovered that her dad had a younger sister – Marietta – who she had never met before, and who owned a clothes shop just round the corner.
Only it had turned out to be no ordinary clothes shop . . .
From Marietta, Ava had learned the secret her father had been keeping from her for all this time – that he came from a long line of people who were able to travel via magic portals to other times and places. The portals existed in the form of magic mirrors – of which Marietta had many in her shop – and you could travel through them if you were wearing the right magic clothes.
The portals not only transported you to real times and places in history, Ava had discovered. A week ago she had put on a beautiful magic princess dress and made her first journey through a magic portal to Cinderella-land – just in time to attend Cinderella’s marriage to Prince Charming.
As her dad and aunt had explained, the mirrors acted as magic gateways only for those few families – like Ava’s – who possessed the travelling ‘gift’.
It had been a lot to take in for Ava – who hadn’t even really believed in magic until then.
The shop door was flung open suddenly and Marietta appeared, beaming at both of them. Her long red hair was loose and rather wild-looking, as if she hadn’t got round to brushing it yet that morning, and she was wearing one of her brightest green medieval-style dresses. ‘Come in, come in,’ she invited them at once. ‘Sorry the door was locked but I haven’t had time to open up properly yet.’
Ava’s father, who was so used to Marietta’s eccentric clothes that he rarely seemed to even register them, frowned as he glanced down at his watch. ‘We are a bit early but I want to get going as soon as possible.’
‘That’s all right, Otto. And don’t worry. I’ve got everything you need laid out ready for you.’ She smiled warmly at Ava. ‘You and I are going to have a lovely day together, Ava. I can’t leave the shop, because I’m expecting an important visitor, but don’t worry – I won’t let you get bored!’
‘What visitor?’ Dad asked.
‘Oh, nobody you know, Otto,’ Marietta replied swiftly.
As she spoke she led them through the small front section of the shop, which had several racks of dowdy second-hand clothes on display, and which Ava knew was only a cover for what the shop really contained. Through an archway in the back wall, screened off by a multicoloured beaded curtain, was a totally different room. Marietta called it her fairy-tale room as it contained dozens of beautiful gowns fit for a fairy-tale princess to wear. The walls were painted with colourful scenes from different fairy tales, and in the centre of the room a gold spiral staircase led both upwards – to Marietta’s special fairy-tale wedding section – and downwards to a room Ava had yet to see. In one corner there was a changing cubicle with a gold sparkly curtain pulled across the front, where Ava had changed into her fairy-tale outfits on her previous visits.
Today Ava’s father was planning to travel back to Victorian times – and Ava desperately wanted to go with him.
‘Marietta, don’t you think Dad should take me with him?’ Ava said to her aunt. ‘I mean, what’s the point in me finding out about the magic portals if I’m never allowed to use them?’
‘The point, Ava, is that you have many years ahead of you in which to use the portals,’ her father interrupted crisply. ‘And you’ve already travelled back and forth through one of them several times, despite knowing about their existence for barely a fortnight. I don’t think that’s the same as never being allowed to use them, do you?’
Ava had to admit that what he said was true. But that didn’t stop her feeling frustrated that her father seemed reluctant to let her use her newly discovered gift any further. Marietta thought she should be allowed more freedom to try out the magic too, but unfortunately Marietta’s views didn’t hold much weight with Dad. (Marietta was ten years younger than him and from what Ava could gather he tended to be overprotective of her as well.)
‘I bet if Mum knew about all this, she’d say I could go with you today,’ she said.
Her dad let out a dismissive snort. ‘Come off it, Ava! If your mother knew anything at all about any of this, she’d be back from her sailing trip like a shot and taking you straight home with her!’
Ava knew that he was right, of course. Although her mother could be fairly lenient when it came to letting her do certain things, this would more than likely totally freak her out. Ava’s mother didn’t possess the travelling ‘gift’ herself and she knew nothing at all about it – or about the existence of Marietta and her shop.
Ava’s parents had split up a year after she was born, and Ava’s father had managed to keep his secret from his wife during the brief time they had been together. Ava hadn’t seen much of her dad since then – until this summer, when Mum had asked him to take care of Ava while she was away for six weeks. Ava realized that her mum was counting on this time to give Ava the chance she had always wanted to get to know her dad better.
If only Mum knew how much better, Ava thought now.
‘Besides,’ her dad went on, ‘today I need to be able to concentrate on the job I have to do – not on looking after you, Ava. And I’m afraid Victorian London isn’t like Cinderella-land. It’s no place for you to be roaming about unsupervised.’
‘I roamed about in worse places than that on my own when I was younger than Ava,’ Marietta pointed out.
‘Yes, well, our mother and father weren’t exactly the most responsible of parents, were they?’ Dad answered her swiftly.
Marietta sighed. ‘They were certainly much more carefree than you are, Otto,’ she agreed. ‘But oh – we did have a lot of fun when we were children, didn’t we?’ She laughed as she added, ‘Remember that time they left us on that pirate ship for a day?’
‘I do remember,’ he answered crossly. ‘The pirates threatened to make us walk the plank, and you
could hardly swim at the time. We were lucky nothing terrible happened to us!’
Marietta laughed. ‘I suppose it did get a bit hairy at the end, right enough.’ She put one arm round Ava’s shoulders as she guided her for the first time through a door in the back wall of the fairy-tale room. ‘Come and see my Victorian room, Ava,’ she said.
Ava found herself in a narrow, dimly lit corridor that had doors opening off it on either side. All were closed except for a door at the far end, and it was to this one that Marietta led Ava and her father.
‘What do you think?’ Marietta asked as she stepped inside.
‘Wow!’ Ava exclaimed as she followed her.
For the room didn’t just contain racks of Victorian clothes. It had been decorated to resemble a small Victorian living room. There was an open fireplace, and the mantelpiece above it was full of old-fashioned china and glass ornaments, with a large rectangular mirror hanging from the picture rail above. A red velvet sofa sat in front of the fireplace, and the walls, decorated in a bold gold-and-red patterned wallpaper, were heavily covered with Victorian paintings and more ornate mirrors of different shapes and sizes.
‘I’ve put the clothes you’ll need through there in the dressing room, Otto,’ Marietta told him, pointing to a door that led off from the room they were in. She winked at Ava as she added, ‘Wait till you see the transformation that’s about to take place, Ava. Your dad is about to change from his usual scruffy self into the most fashionable of Victorian gentlemen!’
‘Are the clothes here magic like the ones in the fairy-tale room?’ Ava asked as her father disappeared into the dressing room and shut the door behind him.
‘Of course,’ Marietta replied. ‘Can you guess which one is the magic mirror that transports you back to Victorian times?’
Ava glanced around the room, inspecting each mirror in turn. Eventually she pointed to a large, heavy-looking oval wall mirror with an ornate gold frame that was situated on the back wall. ‘I don’t know why, but I’ve just got a feeling it’s that one,’ she said tentatively.
Marietta beamed at her. ‘See – it’s obvious you are perfectly ready to travel just like I was at your age. Do you hear that, Otto?’ she shouted at him through the closed dressing-room door. ‘Ava’s instincts are already telling her the right mirror to choose. That means she’s more than ready to travel through the mirrors by herself!’
‘I’ll decide when she’s ready, thanks, Marietta,’ Ava’s dad grunted back.
Unable to take her eyes off the mirror, Ava begged, ‘If Dad won’t let me go through on my own, then can’t you come with me today, Marietta? Just for a little while . . .’
Marietta looked sympathetic as she replied, ‘I told you, Ava. I have to wait here for my visitor and he lives quite far away so I’ve no idea when he’ll get here.’
When the dressing-room door opened several minutes later and her father stepped out, Ava could hardly believe at first that it was her father.
‘Wow, Dad!’ was all she could manage to blurt out.
Standing in front of her was a Victorian gentleman in a smart three-piece suit and top hat. His long flared black jacket came down to his knees and was unbuttoned to reveal a grey waistcoat with front pockets that held a gold watch and chain. He also wore a wide, elaborate grey necktie, and the top hat was made of dark felt and had a wide ribbon encircling the base.
‘Oh, Dad, please can you take me with you?’ Ava pleaded again, longing to dress up in a Victorian outfit herself.
‘Ava, I’ve already told you – I need to be able to concentrate on my work today,’ he replied a little impatiently. As Ava scowled at him he continued, ‘You remember that Victorian nanny I met before? Well, she’s arranged for me to interview a ballerina who happens to live next door to her.’
‘A ballerina?’ Ava queried in surprise. She knew her dad – who wrote historical books – did all his research by actually visiting the appropriate period in history, but as far as she knew he was currently writing a book on a totally different subject. ‘I thought you said you were writing about the lives of Victorian children,’ she said.
‘That’s right. You see, in 1861 – which is the year it is on the other side of our magic mirror at the moment – children who performed on the stage had to work extremely long hours with very little regard for their safety. This ex-ballerina, Madame Varty, apparently set up a reformed sort of ballet school, where young girls could learn in much better conditions than they had done previously. But she isn’t mentioned in any history books on the subject – which is why I’d like to interview her for mine.’ As he spoke he pulled out what looked like two very ancient theatre tickets from the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘You may as well look after these for me, Marietta,’ he said.
‘Are you sure you won’t need them this time?’ Marietta asked. ‘You are writing about the ballet after all!’ She turned to Ava and explained: ‘The theatre tickets that come with this suit are very special, Ava. Every time you take them through the magic mirror, whatever date it is on the other side automatically appears on them. And since the theatre in question is very close to where our portal opens up in Victorian London, it means you can easily go and see whatever’s on. They’ve got a ballet running at the moment.’
‘Not really my cup of tea,’ Dad said, pulling a face.
‘I love going to the ballet!’ Ava told them enthusiastically. ‘All those gorgeous outfits, and the ballerinas are SO graceful . . . I just wish I could dance like that! I had ballet lessons when I was little, but the teacher told Mum I had no coordination and that I was the most unbendy child she’d ever taught! Mum was really cross with her and stopped taking me after that!’
Marietta and Dad both laughed, and Marietta placed the theatre tickets behind one of the candlesticks on the mantelpiece for safe keeping.
‘I’ll see you both later,’ Ava’s dad said as he went over to stand in front of the magic mirror, staring into it intently as he waited for the bright glow that signalled the start of the magic reaction. Ava knew that, when it came, the brightness would quickly fill the whole room and be so unbearable that she would be forced to close her eyes – and that when she opened them again her dad would be gone.
‘Come on, Ava,’ Marietta said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ve made some new girls’ princess dresses with matching hats that I’d like you to try on for size for me. And I could do with some help sorting through an order of crowns that came in yesterday. You don’t mind, do you?’
‘Of course not!’ Ava exclaimed enthusiastically, her attention immediately diverted from her dad.
‘Good! Let’s get started straight away!’
And as Ava followed Marietta out of the room she glanced back only briefly at her dad, who was concentrating so hard now on his reflection in the mirror that he barely seemed aware she was still there in any case.
2
‘So who’s this important visitor you’re expecting today?’ Ava asked Marietta a little later that morning as she stood on a chair helping to arrange the five latest sparkling gold crowns on the shelf with all the others. She had already tried on the stunning new princess dresses and found that they all fitted her perfectly.
Instead of replying, Marietta pulled out a tarnished-looking crown from the back of the shelf and showed it to Ava. ‘Just look at this old thing – one of the rubies is coming unstuck from it again. Maybe it’s time I binned it.’
‘You can’t put a ruby crown in the dustbin!’ Ava protested in horror.
Marietta laughed. ‘The rubies don’t become real until they’re on the other side of the magic mirror, remember.’
‘I know, but even so . . .’
‘Well, don’t worry. What I mean is that I’ll send it off to a special recycling bin. All the new crowns that came today are made from recycled old ones. The magic in them is never lost – it just gets transferred from the old ones to the new. Luckily there are some very specialized recycling businesses run by certain f
amilies who have the travelling gift.’
‘What about the magic dresses?’ Ava asked curiously. ‘Do they get recycled as well?’
‘Oh, yes – as soon as they get too old to be worn any more,’ Marietta told her. ‘The magic thread in them gets extracted and I get it sent back to me in the form of brand-new reels.’
‘Everything about your magic shop is quite complicated, isn’t it? But so exciting as well!’
Marietta smiled as she replied, ‘Don’t worry, Ava. I’m sure you’ll soon get the hang of how it all works.’
Suddenly Ava remembered her original question. ‘Marietta, you said that you were expecting an important visitor today . . .’
‘Oh, yes . . .’ Marietta looked slightly cagey as she told Ava, ‘It’s an old friend of my father who contacted me recently. He couldn’t say exactly when he was coming, so I promised I’d wait in for him.’
‘A friend of your father? Really?’ Ava was immediately interested.
Something else she had only just found out that summer was that her grandparents on her father’s side hadn’t actually died before she was born as she had always been told. Instead it turned out they had left the real world twelve years earlier to go and live for good in one of the fantasy lands they had discovered. Since such a thing was completely forbidden, they had destroyed the portal they travelled through so nobody could follow them – and nobody had seen or heard from them since.
‘That’s right. I can’t say I ever remember hearing my father talk of him – but apparently the two of them knew each other when they were very young.’
‘Why is he coming to see you?’ Ava asked.
‘He sounded very secretive on the phone,’ Marietta replied. ‘He said that he had some information about our parents that might interest us, but that he wanted to give it in person.’
