Black Wood (A Witch Rising) by Jayde Scott Page A

freckled face.
    “What’s going on?” Emily
asked.
    Aurelie turned to face her.
“It’s a sign, dear. And not a good one. The crows return every
year, multiplied in number. This year, they come particularly
early. Muriel’s magic is growing by the minute. You must leave for
Black Wood tonight, because, once Muriel’s magic reaches its peak,
all is lost, and Ravencourt Manor will be hers forever.”

Chapter 18
     
    Emily returned home a few
minutes later, a black backpack thrown over her shoulder, her
thoughts circling around Aurelie’s advice.
    Don’t stop to sleep or eat.
Never ever drink or waddle into Black Wood’s streams for there are
water snakes and flesh-eating fish and the water spawns its own
dark magic. If you see a silverfur, speak the magic words and then
run because where there is one, other silverfurs aren’t far away.
Don’t trust anyone, not even the beautiful elves and the nixes with
their enchanting voices.
    The list went on and on, and
Emily’s head throbbed with the effort to keep it all in. Hoping she
would remember everything, she hid the heavy backpack under her
grandmother’s bed and went in search of her brother. She knew
shortly before midnight he’d turn into a troll, so there wasn’t
much time to share her plan.
    Emily found him in his room,
pacing up and down in front of the window. As soon as she entered,
he grabbed her in a tight hug. “Did you talk to Aurelie? What did
she say? Do you know how to get rid of Muriel? Dad was here to talk
to us.”
    “Slow down.” She raised her hand
to stop his rant. “What did you tell him?”
    “That you went over to Aurelie’s
because you felt bad about what you said to Muriel. He was pleased
but said he still wants you to apologize to her.”
    Emily pursed her lips. Maybe the
magic diary could take care of that and make her father think she’d
already apologized because she wasn’t sorry at all. “Did he say
anything else?”
    Sam shook his head. “Can’t
remember. Wasn’t really listening.”
    Emily pulled him onto the bed.
“We can worry about Dad later. There’s so much I need to tell you.”
Whispering, she informed him about Black Wood.
    “I don’t know. Doesn’t sound
like a safe place to me,” Sam said.
    She crossed her arms over her
chest. “Well, it probably isn’t, but I think we can trust Aurelie.
Grandma did. It’s the only way to get rid of that awful woman.”
    “When will you be back?”
    Emily shrugged. “Dunno. In a few
days, perhaps?”
    “There’s no way I’ll be able to
keep this from Dad,” Sam said. “He’s worse than Mum. He always asks
questions.”
    “The diary will take care of
him. I’m more worried about Muriel. Now, she won’t be easy
to fool.”
    Sam swallowed and nodded. “I
know what to do about her. I’ll be extra mean and make her angry
all the time, so she’ll forget about you.”
    Emily smiled. “Just be careful.
You know what she’s capable of.”
    Sam lowered his gaze, but she
caught the glint of sadness in his eyes.
    “Trust me, I know and I won’t
forget. Night after night, I change into this thing.” He shook his
head and rose to his feet, suddenly chirpy. “I’ll help you with
everything. What do you need done?”
    “The backpack has everything I
need. Aurelie will feed Solace while I’m gone. You just make sure
no one suspects a thing.” Emily peered out the window into the
dense darkness. The moon stretched against the horizon. She stood
and gave her brother a quick hug with tears in her eyes. She
wouldn’t cry, but a tiny sob escaped her throat nonetheless.
    “Hey, you take care of
yourself,” Sam whispered as she left for her grandmother’s
bedroom.
     
    ***
     
    The magic diary was still
wrapped in its black cloth. She pulled it out and began writing,
wishing for her father to be so busy at work he’d fail to notice
her absence. After she finished, she blew her grandparents’ photo a
kiss and snuggled under the covers, trying to sleep, for, once