The Broken Spell (16 page)

‘But you’re on your own,’ Una said, too solemnly. ‘Do you feel like you
have
to be on your own, Grace?’

‘You can calm down with the therapy voice, Una,’ Grace tutted, rolling her eyes. ‘I’m not having emotional problems. Delilah gets extra Irish lessons some lunch-times, that’s all. And it’s sunny out, so…’

‘We’ve missed you,’ Adie said. ‘Where’ve you been?’

‘Yeah,’ said Una. ‘You’re missing out on lessons with Ms Gold. The spells we’re learning are sooo amazing. She is
so
cool.’

Adie leaned back and swatted Una with her jacket.

‘Sorry,’ said Una. ‘I didn’t mean to… I just mean you should come to the lessons. You’d really like them.’

Grace distractedly flattened her sandwiches and rolled them back up in tinfoil.

‘How’s Jenny doing in the lessons?’ she asked.

‘Awesome,’ Una said, waving her hands enthusiastically. ‘We did this Cloaking spell. And she totally got it, straight away. And another time– Ow!’

Again Adie’s jacket hit its target.

‘Ow!’ Una said again. ‘You got me with the zip! If that had got my eye, I could have lost
my eye
.’

‘Jenny’s fine,’ Adie said, ignoring her. ‘She’s calmed down a bit now. She just wants to learn, like the rest of us.’

‘And set her spells loose on me?’ Grace said.

‘That was really stupid of her, but it wasn’t deliberate. Really, it wasn’t.’

‘And what about freezing Tracy Murphy – wasn’t
that
deliberate?’

‘So
what
if she froze the Beast?’ Una protested. ‘She deserved it. Besides, it was only temporary, and it’s not like she hurt her.’

‘We want you to come back,’ Adie interrupted. ‘Ms Gold’s
really worried about the Mirrorman. She says he’s incredibly dangerous. She says he has to be destroyed before he comes after us, and he
will
come after us. You know that better than anyone, because it was
you
he tried to get at through the enchanted mirror, right? She needs our help, Grace.
All
of us.’

Grace’s mind filled with the horrible image she had seen in Mr Pamuk’s shop. The image the Mirrorman had shown her. Her friends, bound and screaming and terrified. She hadn’t seen herself in the vision – was that the future if she left them to face him without her? Was she meant to save them? She shifted her weight and felt the Balau Dowser move against her back. She kept it tucked uncomfortably into the
waistband
of her skirt, afraid to be without it whenever the time spell bounced her back to Beth and Vera and Meredith. She wished she could control the spell and bounce back
immediately
, give them the dowser and get the Mirrorman pulled back to his own time. Then all this worry would be over.

‘We’re going to meet Ms Gold after last class for training. Please come with us? Just to see what the plan is,’ said Adie. ‘
Please
?’

‘Alright,’ said Grace. ‘Just to see what the plan is.’

18

IN TRAINING

The P block was quiet, as usual. Jenny leaned casually against the wall on Grace’s right, eyeing her and making no effort to welcome her back.

‘Hey Grace,’ Rachel said with a little wave. ‘It’s great you could come.’

She looked to Jenny as if to elicit a similar greeting, but Jenny said nothing, and continued to stare.

‘Jenny,’ a smooth voice said from the shadows at the end of the hall. ‘A  witch, much missed, has returned to your coven. How do you welcome her home?’

Ms Gold’s luminous features were barely visible in the dim light. Jenny inhaled loudly, then pushed herself off the wall and stood in front of Grace, a little too close.

‘Welcome back,’ she said, her voice low and level.

Grace nodded curtly, but couldn’t help feeling intimidated. There was something of the Baskerville hound in Jenny’s eyes, and it sent pins and needles up Grace’s neck.

‘Now everything’s as it should be,’ said Ms Gold, stepping from the shadows. ‘Let’s begin.’

She led them into the lab at the very end of the hall, the room furthest from the rest of the school. Inside, black blinds covered the windows, blocking out the fading daylight, and the smell of incense wafted through the air. The lights were left off, but the room was illuminated with several branched candlesticks. Grace thought it all looked a bit ridiculous, but the others seemed to relax in the flickering gloom. Perhaps they had become used to Ms Gold’s dramatic flair during the lessons Grace had missed. They remained solemn and quiet, taking their seats around one table, with Ms Gold at the head. When Grace had settled herself next to Adie, Ms Gold laid her hands on the table, palms up.

‘My Wiccan sisters,’ she said. ‘May your powers be fierce and your castings triumphant.’

‘Blessed be,’ the others said in chorus.

Adie looked at Grace with a little shrug and a grin as if to say,
That’s just something we do now
.

Ms Gold picked up a burning stick of incense and drew a figure of eight in the air, over and over, until the snaking line of smoke swelled into a thick band. She replaced the stick in its holder, but the wavy line of smoke continued to
move, maintaining its shape in the air. Suddenly the smoke billowed and the Mirrorman’s face burst from the centre, making them all jump.

‘This is the reason we’re here,’ said Ms Gold. ‘This creature has the ability and, more importantly, the desire to destroy us all. But I don’t want you to be afraid. Don’t underestimate how much you have learned and how far you have come. He is more powerful than any
one
of us. But if we work together, if we pool our resources, we are more powerful than him, and can banish him forever.’

The Mirrorman’s face was swallowed in the cloud of grey, and a smoky matchstick man took its place. The cloud spewed out another six puffs, which formed matchstick
figures
surrounding the man. He moved sharply, striking out at them but missing as they ducked his attacks.

‘We keep him surrounded, that’s the key,’ Ms Gold
continued
. ‘We stay nimble and quick, until he is trapped and contained.’

The six misty figures each cast out a strip of laddered smoke. The strips met in the middle, forming a net above the matchstick man’s head. The net smacked down in a
whoosh
that dispersed the smoke throughout the room. The girls coughed and waved their hands to clear it. As Grace shook her arm in the air she noticed Jenny sitting stoically, her eyes watering from the effort, making no attempt to clear the air, but letting the smoke drift over her.

‘Then we’re ready?’ said Jenny. ‘Ready to crush him before he gets to us?’

‘Not yet,’ said Ms Gold. ‘We’ve been expanding your knowledge, but now we need to hone your reflexes. Now the
real
training begins. Follow me.’

Ms Gold led them out of the school and down the road, following the rough track beside the river as it swerved out and around the woods. Grace felt nervous; if they weren’t heading towards the woods, where on Earth were they going – and why?

They walked for nearly an hour and, as night fell, the teacher finally guided them off the track, sliding down the grassy bank to the water’s edge.

‘This is your training ground,’ she said, spreading her arms in a wide arc.

She lifted a small velvet pouch that hung from her waist and pulled out five white ribbons. Looping the first one around Jenny’s neck, she licked her finger and thumb and pressed the two ends together. A small golden seal appeared beneath her thumb, like the wax seals Grace had seen on medieval scrolls in the movies. Inscribed on the seal in beautiful calligraphy was the letter ‘J’. Ms Gold arranged it lovingly beside the other charm she’d given Jenny. The teacher then gave each of the girls a ribbon in turn, finally wrapping one around Grace’s neck and finishing it with a golden seal inscribed with the letter ‘G’.

‘The aim of the game,’ she said, ‘is to collect as many
ribbons
as possible. You’ll battle against each other, using the spells you have in your arsenal, in order to obtain your
opponents
’ ribbons. If your ribbon is taken, you’re ‘dead’, and must return to this spot until the game is over.’

‘We’re going to fight each other?’ asked Adie.

‘And me,’ said Ms Gold. ‘Don’t look so alarmed. I won’t be attacking you directly – but throwing obstacles in your way as you combat each other. Your reflexes must become superfast, and your casting instantaneous. And you must learn to do this with any number of distractions.’

‘What are the rules of the game?’ Grace asked as a knot began to twist in her stomach.

‘There are no rules,’ the teacher replied, smiling. ‘You use the powers you have, and collect as many ribbons as you can. Everyone ready?’

‘Scary, isn’t it?’ Adie whispered to Grace. ‘But fun!’

‘Everyone ready?’ Ms Gold repeated, trotting a few feet away. ‘Then let the game begin!’

The girls stood uncertainly, until Ms Gold flicked her hands and strings of weeds shot out from the bank gripping the girls’ ankles. They shrieked and jumped into action – Adie and Una took off downstream, while the other three leapt into the air.

Grace somersaulted backwards, twisting off the writhing plant that had hold of her leg, and shot across the water,
stopping to hover over the river. Rachel had soared into the sky and could no longer be seen, while Jenny rested some way up from Grace, looking down with a sneer that made Grace’s stomach lurch. The clouds above them suddenly darkened, and one glance at the figure on the shore made it clear Ms Gold’s distractions had begun. Jenny took one more look at Grace, before shooting upwards in search of Rachel.

Grace knew she was at a disadvantage. With only a few spells she could confidently use, the others had her
outgunned
. She felt ashamed to think of it, but she knew Una would be her easiest target.

There was a sudden crack of thunder and a bolt of
lightning
pierced the water just inches from her feet. She swung herself horizontal to the water and took off after Adie and Una. In the distance, she could make out Adie’s curls
flattening
against her back in dark streaks as the rain pelted down. She increased her speed, squinting her eyes against the stinging rain. Adie was still running and hadn’t seen her. She could catch her before her friend even knew she was there.

She reached her hand forward but something hit her shoulder, knocking her out of her flight-path, and sending her tumbling across the bank.

‘Whoops, sorry!’ said Una’s voice. ‘You okay?’

Grace rubbed some muck from her cheek and nodded. She looked up, but couldn’t see Una anywhere.

‘Una! Where are you?’

The only reply was a little giggle, and shuffling in the leaves ahead of her.

Grace couldn’t help grinning, and leapt into hiding behind a drooping willow tree. Quick as a flash, she originated a black otter on a leash. The animal moved swiftly through the vegetation, twitching its nose as Grace silently ordered it to sniff out the competition. Without warning, the otter froze, its sleek body flattening to the ground.

In front of it, Grace could see two muddy footprints. The rain cascaded either side of them, yet they didn’t fill with water. Smiling, she thanked her little companion and
dismissed
him with a wave. Then, ducking to her hunkers at the side of the pathway, she waited for Una to come to her.

After a few moments, the footprints sucked in water, and new prints formed in front of them. When Una was nearly beside her, Grace jumped out, grasping at the air and,
wrapping
her arms around Una’s invisible shoulders, she tackled her to the ground and tickled her until her friend squealed with laughter. Then, feeling for the ribbon at her neck, she pulled and snapped the seal. The ribbon appeared in Grace’s hand, and Una’s protesting face appeared below her.

‘No fair!’ Una said.

‘Sorry, Una,’ Grace said, tucking the ribbon into her pocket. ‘That Cloaking spell was brilliant though!’

The praise didn’t improve Una’s mood, and she shrugged Grace off and trudged back towards Ms Gold.

‘Sorry, Una!’ Grace called again.

She turned to try and pick up Adie’s trail and immediately spotted a mini tidal wave thundering across the river towards her. She scaled the bank as the wave crashed to shore,
splashing
her jeans as she continued to scramble upwards.

‘You alright?’

As the water retreated, she could see Adie’s rain-soaked figure a little further downstream.

‘Jeez, Adie,’ she complained. ‘Yeah, I’m okay, but go easy.’

‘Sorry,’ Adie shouted back in reply, ‘but don’t worry. I’ve got good control over water.’

As Grace slid down the bank towards her, she could see her friend was telling the truth. Grace readied herself for flight as Adie made circles in the air with her fingertips, coaxing the falling rain into a spinning vortex. The swirling cage of water made a sudden rush towards Grace. Flipping into the air, she managed to get above it, then dived towards Adie with her arms outstretched. She was just within reach when a bolt of lightning cracked between them, so close that Grace could feel its heat. She toppled sideways into the river, which immediately swelled around her, forming a seat that held her tightly. Her watery throne rode like a wave towards Adie waiting on the shore.

Grace resigned herself to being ‘dead’ and relaxed into the river chair that soaked her clothes, before spying something moving along the bank. She opened her mouth to warn
Adie, but she was too slow.

Jenny uncloaked and directed the hanging branches of a tree to slide around Adie’s waist, pinning her arms to her side and binding her knees together. Adie looked shocked as Jenny snapped the ribbon from around her neck.

‘Where did you learn how to–’ was all Grace heard before the swelling water collapsed underneath her and she sank beneath the surface.

She heard Adie’s muffled scream from under the water, and surfaced to see her friend, now free, running into the river. Jenny was nowhere to be seen.

‘I’m so sorry!’ Adie shouted, as she waded in up to her knees. ‘I forgot to hold onto you!’

Grace did an awkward front crawl until she could feel sandy gravel beneath her feet.

‘It’s alright,’ she said. ‘Go on back to Ms Gold.’

‘You sure?’

‘I’m grand. See you back there when it’s over.’

She watched Adie make her way upstream, then leaned over and gripped her knees, coughing up the last of the silty water that she had swallowed.

‘Grace.’

She looked up to see Ms Gold standing on the bank. She was holding her hand out.

‘It’s not over, Miss,’ Grace said, coughing again. ‘I’ve still got my ribbon. Look.’

‘It
is
over, Grace,’ Ms Gold said. ‘This has gotten a little more competitive than I’d like. I’m calling time.’

Grace was surprised at her own disappointment. Jenny had at least one ribbon, but so did she. She still had a chance to win.

‘Let’s go.’ Ms Gold flapped her hand to hurry her along.

As Grace jogged towards the teacher, she spotted the little velvet bag hanging from her waist, and smiled to herself. She picked up speed but, before Ms Gold could grab her hand, she vaulted over the woman’s head, landing behind her to tuck her hand into her collar and snap the unseen ribbon from her neck.

‘Fudge!’ the fake Ms Gold shouted, spinning around. ‘How did you
know
?’

Grace smiled as Ms Gold’s luminosity melted away to reveal Rachel’s unusually flushed cheeks.

‘The bag was on a belt loop on her
left
, not her right.’

‘Fudge!’

‘You said that already,’ Grace said, still smiling. ‘That was good though, Rach.
Really
good.’

Rachel grunted in reply and marched upstream, where Grace could just make out the real Ms Gold, standing with Adie and Una on either side. She felt the flutter of butterflies in her tummy as she realised Jenny was the only one left.

‘It’s just you and me now.’