The Wildwood Arrow (6 page)

She rifled underneath, picking out an envelope with some photos inside. There weren’t many photos of her mum or herself when she was little. Her dad had said that some of them got lost when they packed up to move to Skellmore. She looked through them, pausing over one of her mum
holding her as a little baby – a tiny, blue-eyed thing with hair like fluff. Her mum was smiling and her short brown hair was ruffled by the wind. Behind them, a mass of bare tree branches pointed up at a wintry-looking sky.

The garden in the picture seemed so familiar – probably because she’d looked at the photo so many times. She wished she could remember more about her mum. Not the big stuff, but little things like her mum’s favourite food or how she’d brushed her hair. She didn’t know those kinds of things because she’d only been two when her mum died.

She closed the shoebox and put it away. It was like putting away a piece of herself, but she had to go. There were Myricals to find – and first she needed to go and apologise to Gwen.

Laney walked swiftly down the front path. The church steeple rose up on her right, grey in the morning sunshine. Laney wondered how many faerie flights that spire had seen – how many secrets it held. She turned into Beacon Way and walked down the hill. A sleek grey cat sat at the entrance to The Cattery, Claudia’s crescent-shaped road, and it fixed unblinking eyes on her as she went past. Laney stared back. Sometimes she wondered if the cats knew more than she did. The Greytail house on the corner gave a long, low growl as she walked on.

Hearing shouts in the park, Laney looked through the hedge. Craig Mottle and Jack Turney were mucking around on the roundabout. A bus rumbled down the High Street and in the swirl of dust it left behind Laney caught sight of Mr Stingwood. She stopped, not wanting to run into him after what her dad had told her the day before. Stingwood was the Thorn Elder from Gillforth village who’d performed the Seeing Thread test on her when she first Awakened. He was deeply suspicious of her and she knew he’d do all he could to stop her, Fletcher and Claudia being friends.

She watched him walk up to the door of the minimart, leaning on his walking stick, and then turn sideways to fit his massive shoulders through
the doorway. Just as he was halfway through, Sara Thornbeam, Fletcher’s little sister, came racing round the corner, nearly bumping into him.

“Get out of it, you little—” He waved his walking stick at Sara, who ran away. His eyes were fierce underneath his bushy eyebrows.

Laney hung back until he’d disappeared inside. She would never forget the nasty spells that had come from the end of his walking stick on the night of the flood. Hurrying past the shop, she took the turning into Gnarlwood Lane. The air here usually felt quieter but more alive somehow, as if just breathing it in would make you grow. But today it didn’t feel the same and the trees that lined the road creaked restlessly.

Laney knocked on Gwen’s ivy-covered front door and waited. The door swung open slowly as if the wind had moved it, then Gwen stepped out of nowhere. She held a deep-purple flower in the middle of her palm and the petals clenched then opened in a steady rhythm. Laney coughed as a bittersweet smell filled her nose and throat.

“Gwen, I’ve come to apologise about what happened after you went out last night.” Trying not to stare at the pulsing flower, Laney met Gwen’s eyes and was shocked by the coldness in them.

“Do you think an apology will make up for what you’ve done?” Gwen said quietly, the breeze ruffling
her white hair. “You destroyed my Spirit Smoke – a blend made by my mother that I have been using for nearly seventy years, and there’s damage to my rowan tree that will take many months to repair.”

Laney turned scarlet. “I’m so sorry! It was my fault, not Fletcher’s or Claudia’s. I had the idea of finding out more about the Myricals using the Spirit Smoke and—”

“The Spirit Smoke was not a toy.” Gwen’s voice stung like nettles. “It was made from grains of memory and experience going back hundreds of years, and held the knowledge of many generations.”

“I know I shouldn’t have—”

“And the rowan tree was providing ingredients for an important enchantment.”

“I’m really sorry,” Laney said again. “Maybe I could go and gather something from another rowan tree – that way you could still get the things you need.”

“No, thank you.” Gwen was silent for a moment and ivy from the walls crept over Laney’s arms and down her back. “Now you will have to excuse me.” And she shut the door.

Laney pulled the ivy off her clothes and retreated down the front path. She looked back at the house as she closed the garden gate. Black smoke was rising from one of the huge trumpet-shaped flowers that formed the roof. Laney turned away. She’d never
seen the Thorn Elder so cross before.

When she finally crossed the river and reached the fields on the other side, she found Fletcher sitting on a fence glancing at his watch.

He jumped down when he saw her. “What did Gwen say?”

“She’s really angry with me,” said Laney. “You were right – we never should have used the Spirit Smoke. It was a bad idea.”

“I did mend most of her plants, but there were a couple I couldn’t fix,” said Fletcher.

“One of the broken ones is a rowan tree that she really needed for an enchantment. She was making magic when I got there, with this purple flower that kept opening and closing its petals. Do you know what it was?”

“I’m not exactly an expert on Mystic spells.” Fletcher handed Laney the adder stone and unfolded his map. “Let’s start. There’s no point waiting for Claudia. I bet she’s still asleep.”

They scanned two fields in quick succession.

“We’re getting faster at this now,” said Fletcher, marking them off on the map. “What’s with you today? You’re really quiet. Are you still worrying about what Gwen said?”

Laney checked the last field again with the adder stone. She’d actually been thinking about Mist training and the disaster of the boiling lake. “It’s not
that. I’m just tired of looking through the stone.”

“OK, let’s swap over.” Fletcher took the adder stone and gave her the map.

Laney raised an eyebrow. “You’re actually trusting me with the map? You’ve been holding on to it for six weeks. Are you sure I won’t ruin it?” As she opened it out, a light rain began to fall on the paper and she hurriedly closed it up again.

“Hey, look what you did.”

“What?” Laney struggled with the map that had folded up crooked.

“Look!”

Laney looked. Rain carried on falling on her head, on the grass and on Fletcher. But just above the map, a patch of raindrops hung still in the air. She reached out a finger to touch one and they all fell together. Then the rain shower stopped, leaving the grass sparkling with water.

“You held those raindrops still without realising you were doing it,” said Fletcher. “I haven’t seen you use your Mist powers for weeks. The training yesterday must’ve really helped.”

“I—” began Laney.

“That’s a joke,” a snide voice spoke behind them. “Seeing Laney control her power is about as likely as seeing a pig win a gymnastics competition.” Jessie stood there, smirking.

“So it was you making it rain,” said Fletcher.

“Oh, well done. Give the stupid Thorn a medal.” Jessie folded her arms. “Didn’t you notice it was only raining over you and not the whole field?”

“Do you have to be like that?” Fletcher looked at Jessie steadily. “Laney actually did control her powers just then.”

The wind whipped up Jessie’s dark curly hair. “No, she didn’t. She did it by accident again. She’s always doing things
by accident.”

“I am here, you know,” said Laney.

“I was trying to forget,” Jessie snapped back. “What are you doing anyway? If Frogley finds out that you’re spending all your time with other tribes you’ll be for it.”

“Yeah, and you’d love to be the one to tell him, wouldn’t you?” Laney folded her arms.

“I bet your mum wouldn’t be too impressed about you spending time with Laney either,” Jessie told Fletcher. Suddenly she leaned towards him, trying to get a closer look at the adder stone. “What’s that?”

Fletcher shoved it in his pocket. “You should go,” he said shortly.

Jessie’s gold-ringed eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t staying anyway! But before I go, I’ll show you a real Mist spell that’s better than any pathetic effort from
her.
” She sneered at Laney and then with a sweep of her hand she conjured an arc of water that rose out
of the river and curved over the fence.

Glistening beautifully, the water lunged at Fletcher, hitting him hard and knocking him off his feet. Soaking wet, he flicked his fingers to summon a spiky bramble out of the hedge but Jessie just laughed at this move. “You won’t get me with that thing. Let’s face it – you Thorns aren’t really winning types.”

“What’s your problem?” Laney moved in between them, blocking Jessie. “The only reason he hasn’t beaten you already is because he’s nicer than you are.”

“How sweet! But that’s just a sign of weakness.” Jessie closed her eyes for a second and whispered something. Then she pushed Laney aside and pointed at Fletcher.

The water all over him froze instantly into a sheet of ice encasing every patch of his skin and clothes.

“No! Change him back!” Laney stared at the frozen Fletcher in horror.

“No way.” Jessie’s voice lowered. “I’m on to you. You can try and pretend that you’re just a dopey girl who can barely lift a water drop. But I’ve seen stuff and I knew you were a freak ages ago. When all the other Mists see you for what you are you won’t be coming back to training.”

“Get lost, Jessie.” Claudia vaulted neatly over the fence. “Isn’t it bad enough that we’ll have to see you
at school on Monday?”

“Oh great!” sighed Jessie. “It’s the Greytail.”

Laney held Jessie’s gaze and her hands glowed with heat. “Get lost, Jessie, before we make you.”

“Like I said, I wasn’t staying anyway.” Jessie walked off without looking at Fletcher’s icy figure.

Laney knelt down next to Fletcher. She could see his eyelashes, each one enclosed in frosted whiteness. Her face darkened. She would get Jessie back for this.

“Well, I suppose we have to defrost him,” said Claudia. “Although I quite like him like this. Not so bossy.”

“Is he all right under there?” said Laney. “He looks almost…” She didn’t want to say dead.

“I have no idea. Ice is your department, not mine.” Claudia poked one of Fletcher’s ears. “Frozen solid! Weird! I wonder if he can feel anything.”

“Claudia!” A sick feeling rose in Laney’s chest. “I’ve never done any magic with ice. I’ve never frozen anything.”

Claudia sighed. “Seriously, think about it. You don’t have to
make
the ice. You just have to melt it.”

Laney’s brain cleared. Claudia was right. “OK, be quiet a minute.” She took Fletcher’s ice hands in hers and closed her eyes.
Melt … just melt
… She tried to imagine the ice turning to water and dripping off his fingers.

“Er … I think you should stop now,” said Claudia.

Laney opened her eyes to find steam gently rising from Fletcher’s clothes and his hair standing on end. He blinked, dazed. “Wow, I feel really warm. What happened? Where did Jessie go?”

“She scarpered after turning you into an ice cube,” said Claudia. “Laney’s just thawed you out.”

“Urgh!” Fletcher wrung water out of his sleeve. “That’s why everything went white. At least she didn’t get a proper look at the adder stone. I really don’t want her finding out what we’re doing.”

“I don’t think she knows anything,” said Laney.

Claudia turned to her. “Good job, Water Girl. I don’t know why you’re worrying so much – you’ll make a great member of the Mist tribe.”

Laney wished she felt so sure. Jessie’s words echoed inside her head:
I’ve seen stuff and I knew you were a freak ages ago
.

What had she meant? Laney’s powers had only emerged six weeks ago. Before that, she had just been a human with no powers at all. There had been nothing to see.

After two more days of Myrical hunting even Fletcher had to admit they weren’t getting much further. Claudia wanted to hatch an elaborate plan to pay Jessie back but Fletcher refused to be a part of it.

“She isn’t powerful enough to make permanent ice,” he said. “That thin stuff she used didn’t hurt me. Just leave it.”

“If we try to get revenge, Jessie might come after us again,” added Laney. “She’s already starting to wonder why we’re hanging out together.”

Jessie wasn’t the only one who wondered. When Laney climbed reluctantly on to the school bus on that first Monday morning, there was a sudden break in the conversations around her. Feeling as if everyone was watching her, she made her way down the bus. The kids were divided up just as they’d always been. The faeries sat bunched together in their tribes away from the humans. Laney’s heart missed a beat knowing that most people couldn’t see which faces had gold-ringed eyes. Last term, before Awakening, she’d never known why everyone split into gangs like this.

Fletcher was with the older Thorns at the back. Claudia was sitting with some Greytail girls from Pyton. They all had a similar stylish look with streaked hair and earrings, and they were leaning
towards each other, laughing. Laney headed towards them but Claudia warned her off with a tiny shake of the head. So she turned back, finding a place near the front by the window. She couldn’t sit with the Mists her own age – Jessie was there.

When they got to school she went in search of Steph. The corridors were heaving with kids and the occasional shout of a teacher rang out above the general buzz, telling them to hurry to their form rooms.

“Hey, Dreamy!” Steph tapped her on the shoulder. “I’ve been calling you for ages. Did you have a good summer? Shame you couldn’t come into town more.”

“I know – my dad was too busy to give me a lift most of the time.” Laney pushed away a twinge of guilt about lying to her friend. The real reason was that the search for the Myricals had taken up all her time but she was bound by her promise to keep the faerie world a secret.

“What’s up?” Steph studied Laney’s face. “Are you worried that everyone will talk about you breaking the water fountain on the last day of term? I think they’ve all forgotten.”

“Someone’s bound to go on about it.” Laney glanced at Craig Mottle, who was yelling across the corridor. “There are some things you just can’t get away from.”

After registration they made their way to the science lab and Laney scanned the faces around her, counting the pairs of gold-ringed eyes in the crowd. A strange feeling settled around her heart. Her old life had been about school and friends and she’d always thought of the faerie world as separate from that. It was stupid really – she should have known she couldn’t just go back to ordinary life at school and only be a Mist when she was in Skellmore. She got out her book and her pens and tried to look normal but the pens rolled off the desk on to the floor.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” said Steph. “You’re acting all twitchy. Has something happened you haven’t told me about?”

“I’m fine – just tired.” Laney bent down to pick up the pens.

“Right, we’re doing an experiment on materials that conduct electricity,” Dr Direley, their science teacher, called over the noise. “I need some help … let’s see. Laney. Fill a dozen beakers with water and bring them to the front, please. Water is one of the materials we’ll be testing. Jessie, please bring that box of leads.”

The room went silent. Laney went to the sink and turned on the tap. She felt the pressure of all the gold-ringed eyes that she knew would be looking at her. She could guess what they were thinking – that
she would do something weird to the water: make it boil or turn a different colour. They thought she wouldn’t be able to control herself and keep her Mist power hidden.

“You can’t let Laney do it, sir. She’ll break everything,” said Craig Mottle. “She’s the one that bust the water fountain on the last day of term.”

“If you want to discuss it, Craig, you can come and see me at the end of school,” Dr Direley replied.

Hands shaking a little, Laney arranged the beakers in a row and began filling them. From the corner of her eye she could see Steph looking round in a puzzled way as she noticed the tension in the room. She stood the beakers on a tray and took them to the teacher. The water in every one was still and clear. She couldn’t resist a triumphant glance at Jessie, but the other girl wasn’t even looking.

“Now, before you begin let’s remind ourselves of some facts about electricity.” Dr Direley drifted into a monotone. “Here’s a picture of a lightning strike taken in Mexico. Lightning occurs when a cloud fills up with electrical charges.” He clicked his remote and a picture of red forked lightning appeared on the screen.

Laney couldn’t breathe. This was the Shadow’s attack spell – the red lightning – and it seemed ready to leap out of the screen at her. She jerked backwards, knocking one of the beakers with her
hand. It tipped over and rolled off the worktop, smashing on to the floor.

“I told you, sir,” said Craig.

“I’m sorry.” Laney hid her trembling hands behind her back. “I’ll get something to sweep it up.”

Everyone sat in the same groups on the bus journey home at the end of the day. Resigned to it, Laney sat by herself and watched the fields roll past the window. She glanced up as an older boy moved to the seat behind hers.

“Mist training’s at eight o’clock tomorrow night,” he muttered. “Don’t use your wings to get there – don’t forget.”

Laney gave a slight nod, her insides lurching. Another chance to join Mist training – that had to be a good thing, didn’t it?

When the bus got to Skellmore, she waited outside the minimart for Fletcher and Claudia. Cathy Rainer and Leah Millbrook, the girls from Mist training, stared at her as they passed. Leah straightened her glasses and whispered something to her friend, and Laney’s heart sank.

Fletcher came over. “We need to carry on our search tonight,” he said quietly. “Let’s meet in the field behind the yard at seven.”

“See you then,” said Laney, and Fletcher crossed the High Street heading for Gnarlwood Lane
and home.

“It’s always work, work, work,” Claudia grumbled. “When can we have some time off?”

“I bet the Shadow hasn’t stopped looking, wherever he is, so we can’t either.” Laney shivered. She knew she shouldn’t talk of the Shadow, but she couldn’t help it. It felt like they were always waiting, wondering when he’d appear again. It was starting to get on her nerves.

“You seriously need to chill out about the Shadow,” Claudia told her as they walked up Beacon Way. “He hasn’t been seen for weeks. Maybe he’s gone for good.”

“I doubt it. Sometimes I really get the feeling he’s not far away.” Laney didn’t add that she even thought she’d seen him a couple of times but it had turned out to be nothing.

“If he was, I reckon I’d know first – Greytail senses are basically perfect. Catch you later.” Claudia turned into The Cattery.

Laney carried on up the hill. She didn’t understand how Claudia had put their encounter with the Shadow on the night of the flood out of her mind so easily. It must be nice to live in the now without worrying about the past or future. Maybe it was time to admit to the others that she was still freaked out about the Shadow. She had faced him, fought him and yet now she felt more terrified than
before. Knowing exactly how someone became a Shadow made it worse. She could imagine how, after a faerie died, someone had gathered the only thing that remained: the dust. Then they’d used it to create a powerful dark spell. She suddenly wondered whose body the Shadow faerie had used that very first time and the thought made her stomach turn over.

She stepped sideways to avoid a small cloud of sprites hovering over the pavement. Now she had to think of a good excuse to tell Kim why she needed to go out on a school night. Luckily, Kim was in a good mood and happily accepted Laney’s excuse about preparing for a geography field trip. This was partly true, as they’d been given a letter about a trip to study the environment in a few weeks’ time. Just as she was explaining about the homework, Simon, her dad’s workmate, called in to grab some work tools from the garage and Kim forgot to ask any more.

Laney got to the yard behind the minimart at seven o’ clock and found Claudia sitting on the fence. “Where’s Fletcher?” she asked, surprised.

Claudia jerked her head at a maple tree in the field behind them. “He’s camouflaged up there. I saw him straight away but I couldn’t be bothered to tell him that. You can’t fool a Greytail.”

Laney climbed the fence and walked round the
tree, trying to spot him. “Fletcher, what are you doing?”

As soon as he moved she could see him, halfway up, slouching against the tree trunk. He grinned and jumped down.

“Don’t want to be seen with us then?” said Laney.

“Just practising for the next Thorn training. It’s better if we’re not seen together too much anyway.”

“Thorn training probably means talking to flowers and singing to trees,” Claudia whispered to Laney.

“You talk to cats, so what’s the difference?” said Laney.

Fletcher got out his map. “I think we should start checking Hobbin Forest today. We’ve put it off for ages because it’s such a big place to search. Now it’s time to go in.”

Claudia switched from funny to fierce in an instant. “Just because you’re a Thorn doesn’t mean we have to search the forest first.”

“Don’t worry,” Fletcher said calmly. “I can read the trees for signs of danger. You’ll be safe in there with me.”

Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “Last time I looked I could take care of myself.”

Laney grabbed the map. The roughly drawn lines of the river and the roads curved across the paper. Most of the fields and farmland around Skellmore
were already ticked off. Checking the village itself would be far too tricky during daylight.

“What happened to searching each place in order?” Claudia said. “I bet the forest isn’t the next place on that map.”

Laney looked from Fletcher’s serious face to the mass of trees on the other side of the field. There had always been something odd about Hobbin Forest. It didn’t seem like an evil place, just very old, as if it knew ancient secrets it would never share. People would come and go while the forest remained, wrapped in its own mystery and not caring about the wave of human life sweeping by. Wouldn’t the Shadow find it the perfect place to hide?

She lifted her chin. Maybe going in there and facing her fear would get rid of it. “We have to check the forest sometime,” she said. “I think we should just get it over with.”

“Fine,” said Claudia. “But it’s a huge place. It’s going to take ages.”

They hurried towards the forest. Laney tried to keep up with Claudia’s long graceful strides. She looked up at the dark treeline just before they plunged inside. A mob of crows flew squawking above the topmost branches, filling the air with their ragged black wings.