The Broken Spell (19 page)

‘Blonde
Witch
,’ the Mirrorman growled, still at Grace’s feet. ‘You’ll pay for this.’

Grace had seen the look on Ms Gold’s face before – when they had encountered the Mirrorman in the woods. It was genuine fear. But it melted into something defiant.

‘You’re broken, old man.’ Her voice trembled. ‘And I can finish you once and for all!’

Her hands shook as she raised them over him.

‘You’ll pay…’ said a different voice, no longer ancient. ‘Blonde Witch!’

Ms Gold screeched and spun around. Another Mirrorman stood directly in front of her, his weird eyes boring into her face. He didn’t look weak at all.

‘No!’ Frightened tears spilled down Ms Gold’s cheeks.

‘You’ll. Pay. For. This,’ he said again, advancing.

As Grace stared aghast at the second Mirrorman, she felt a sharp pain as the fishing fly twisted out of her hand and dropped onto the first Mirrorman’s waiting palm. Gripping it in his fist, Grace could feel the wave of energy it sent through him.

‘No! You won’t stop me now!’ Ms Gold had collected
herself
and grabbed the second Mirrorman by the collar, but her voice was high-pitched with terror. ‘I won’t let you!’

She dug her nails into his skin and the Mirrorman let out a girly squeal. The Glamour spell dissolved, revealing Rachel’s porcelain features.

‘Ha!’ Ms Gold exclaimed, scraping her clawed hand across Rachel’s face, just to be sure. ‘I taught you well, you little wretch. I taught you
too
well.’

Ms Gold’s head nodded with triumph as another beaded bracelet snapped around Rachel’s wrists.

‘Grace!’ Rachel cried.

‘
She
can’t help you,’ the woman sneered. ‘It’s over now.’

‘Yes, it’s over,’ The Mirrorman hoisted himself off the ground and his hands swung like lightning. ‘For
you
!’

Ms Gold was hurled to the ground by an unseen force. She slid slowly across the floor to the escaping, crawling demons. She shrieked as they latched on to her with glee, sinking their misty limbs into hers. But they never completed their
possession. The Mirrorman pounced, snatching all three into the air and propelling them through the well mouth in a cacophony of hissing squeals. Grace closed her eyes at the disappearing sound of Ms Gold’s screams as she was dragged down into the well.

Another powerful swing of the Mirrorman’s arm and the well mouth crunched shut, cutting off the stream of red light and plunging the P block into sudden darkness.

21

BACK TOGETHER

The storm was dying down outside and a few rays of
moonlight
lifted the blackness of the P block. Ms Lemon was
pushing
off the branches that bound her. Through the doorway, Grace could hear Mrs Quinlan snapping at everyone as she, Jenny and Una unbound their own limbs. Rachel and Adie sat very still nearby, though their beaded bracelets had fallen useless to the floor. The Mirrorman stood motionless by the site of the well. He wasn’t the same man that had followed Grace from the past. He looked older – much older – thin, scarred and tired. She couldn’t imagine what he had suffered in his decades down the demon well.

‘It was you.’ Her voice cracked. ‘In my dreams, in the mirror. It was
you
trying to reach me from inside the well, not the… younger you from the past.’

He didn’t answer. The jewelled fly had revitalised his body, enough to bring an end to the battle with Ms Gold, but his face was so weary Grace could hardly bear to look at it.

‘You knew who I was,’ she went on, ‘when we met in the past. You saw through the Glamour spell.’

His eyes dropped to the floor. He slowly turned and made his way to the emergency exit at the end of the block.

‘I’m sorry!’ Grace called, tears beginning to fall. ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop her from sending you down there!’

He leaned against the door, pushing it open, and fresh, rain-scented air rushed through the hall. He breathed in deeply.

‘Wait, Mirrorman–’ she started.

He paused to look over his shoulder.

‘Bob,’ he said. ‘My name’s Bob.’ He gave Grace a nod and then disappeared out into the night.

Jaded and sore, everyone gradually gathered around the scorched ring that remained at the site of the well. Only Jenny hung back.

‘I knew she’d be up to something,’ Mrs Quinlan growled, ‘but this…’

‘I’m
so
sorry, girls,’ Ms Lemon said. ‘If I’d have known she meant to use you like this, I might have gone so far as to bind your powers. If only to prevent her interest in you.’

‘Mrs Quinlan tried.’ The words were out of Grace’s mouth before she had time to think.

‘And how exactly would you know anything about that, Sparky?’ the Cat Lady snapped. Grace avoided her gaze.

‘Hmph,’ the woman grunted. ‘Didn’t work anyway –
useless
bloody Sophrosynic binding.’

Grace kept her mouth shut. She figured she would explain that she had broken into Mrs Quinlan’s house and sabotaged the spell when everyone was calm and well rested. In a few weeks. Or months. Or years.

At the sound of gentle sniffling behind them, Rachel rushed to hug Jenny and pull her towards the group.

‘Hey,’ she said softly. ‘It’s okay.’

‘It’s not,’ Jenny wept. ‘The hound, Grace. And all that stuff by the river. Then
this
. I’m so sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault.’ Grace grabbed her in a hug. ‘She’s gone now, and so is her stupid charm. And I’m sorry too – about
that
.’

She brushed her fingers over the cut on Jenny’s cheek, caused by her slingshot by the river. Jenny smiled.

‘Hey, it’s the least I deserve.’

‘Don’t be a twit.’ Grace wrapped her arms around her friend again, and Rachel, Una and Adie rushed in for a group hug.

‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ Mrs Quinlan said. ‘I have to leave, or I’m going to throw up.’

She marched to the empty doorway and stopped.

‘And
you
,’ she yelled down the corridor. ‘Teeny girl. Are
you going to show your face, or what?’

The woman tapped her foot, and Delilah crept around the door jamb. Mrs Quinlan coughed.

‘Your mother’s gone.’ It was the softest voice Grace had ever heard from Mrs Quinlan.

Delilah’s glance moved from the demon well, to the other girls, and then to Mrs Quinlan.

‘You did well to fetch me and Beth.’ The woman kept her voice low. ‘You saved lives.’

The girl’s face lit up in a happy smile.

‘You’ll need somewhere to stay,’ Ms Lemon said. ‘But I’m afraid my place is a bit small for two.’

She looked pleadingly at Mrs Quinlan, who huffed loudly.

‘You like cats?’ she snapped at Delilah.

The girl shrugged.

‘Well, there’s a lot of them. Come on.’ And Mrs Quinlan headed off down the corridor, with the small girl scuttling along behind.

‘Vera,’ Ms Lemon called after her. ‘What about this mess?’

‘School mess,’ the woman shouted back. ‘That’s for
teachers
to sort out.’

‘We can help you clean up, Miss,’ Una said brightly. ‘It’ll just take a little magic.’

‘Haven’t you learned anything from this, girls?’ Ms Lemon replied with a sigh. ‘The practical stuff is far too dangerous. Master your theory first.’

‘The theory doesn’t mean anything without the practical,’ Rachel said. ‘We need to learn both – to keep ourselves and others safe.’

‘You can’t take care of us forever, Miss,’ said Adie gently.

Ms Lemon looked at each of them.

‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘You’ve shown me that much already. I’m proud of all of you.’

‘So?’ Una chirped. ‘Practical lessons from now on!’

‘Practical
and
theory,’ the teacher replied firmly. ‘No skimping on either, is that clear? And if you fail any theory tests, you lose some spell time. Fair?’

‘Fair.’ Grace smiled.

‘Fair for some,’ Una mumbled. ‘I hate tests.’

Grace fell to the back of the group as Una went into
bargaining
mode with Ms Lemon, who rejected every attempt at an alternative to her teaching plan. It felt wonderful to have everyone back together again.

As she passed the broken window, she could see over the twisted branches to the moonlit night outside. In the
puddles
left by the storm, she caught the fleeting reflection of a black slicker heading towards the trees, and she smiled. Bob was going back to his little hut in the woods – and the world felt like a safer place.

Erika McGann grew up in Drogheda and now lives in Dublin. She has a respectable job, very normal friends and rarely dabbles in witchcraft. She loves writing stories that are autobiographical. Sort of.

The Demon Notebook
, her first book about Grace and her witch apprentice friends, is also published by The O’Brien Press.

Grace and her four best friends, Jenny, Rachel, Adie and
Una, are failed witches – and they have a notebook full of
useless spells to prove it. But one night, they stumble upon
real magical powers – and their notebook takes on
a diabolical life of its own.

The girls watch, helpless, as, one by one, their spells start to work, moving relentlessly towards the worst one of all …

Can Grace and her friends stem the wave of powerful
magic … before tragedy strikes?

My name is Rebecca Rafferty, and my mother has ruined my life. Again.

I didn’t mind her writing boring books for grown-ups.

But now she’s written one about an awful girl my age and everyone thinks it’s me!

Including the boy who delivers our newspapers, aka
Pape-boy
, aka the most gorgeous boy in the whole world.

Oh, the shame!

And if that wasn’t awful enough, the biggest pain in my class wants to use my ‘fame’ to get herself on the reality show ‘My Big Birthday Bash’.

I’ve just got to show everyone the REAL Rebecca. But how?

Things haven’t been easy for Jessie since her brother James - sports star and popular kid - died. Her mum and dad are lost in grief and she’s feeling isolated at school; when the popular girls on her dance team give her a hard time, she just can’t seem to remember the routines …

… and Jessie can still see James. Talk to him, or quarrel with him, more like! They always bickered when James was alive, so why change now?

But James might turn out to be her unlikely saviour. Along with Alan, the dorky new boy, can he give Jessie the
confidence
to show the rest of the dance team what she’s got … and help her and her parents on the road towards healing?

Funny, sharp and poignant, a story about living with a ghost, and the pain of letting go.

‘Sometimes it feels like I’m the one who’s missing, like I’m not really present in my own life any more – I’m like a ghost or something, wandering through school or home or town looking on at everything that’s happening and not really a part of it at all.
’

Ellen and Maggie have been best friends for as long as they can remember – sharing clothes, passions and secrets. WhenEllen goes missing, Maggie feels completely alone.

Looking back over the upheaval that led to Ellen’s disappearance, Maggie tries to make sense of her friend’s actions. At school and at home, she feels no one
understands
what she is going through – except maybe Liam, the boy next door who has always had feelings for Ellen.

How will Maggie cope without her best friend? And where on earth is Ellen?