Beyond the thick, frozen wall she could see shadows moving. No doubt Jessie and her mates were having a good laugh before they flew away.
She stepped back and tried to breathe slowly. She’d melted the frost around Fletcher that time so maybe she could melt this too. She placed her palms on the ice and closed her eyes.
Warm up
…
melt
… she told it. She felt the ice soften but when she opened her eyes again she’d only made a small hollow in the thick surface.
She’d been angry that time when Fletcher was frozen and that had made her hands grow hotter, she was sure of it. So maybe if she could make herself feel that way again…
Picturing Jessie’s sneering face as she’d frozen the doorway, Laney put her hands on the ice again. She felt her fingers glow with heat and in a few minutes a hole had melted in the frozen wall. As soon as it was big enough she climbed through, spread her water wings and zoomed upwards. Her group was nowhere to be seen so she broke through the lake surface and circled round to get her bearings before making her way back to the shore.
A large group was gathered at the water’s edge.
“You! It had to be you.” Frogley’s bony jaw was tight with fury. “You abandoned your group leader and you were seen damaging the ancient Mist dwellings on the lake bottom.”
“No, I didn’t…” Laney’s head whirled as she thought of the underwater houses being lived in by ancient Mist faeries. “I mean, I went to look atthe buildings but I didn’t damage them.” She caught sight of Jessie hanging back behind Frogley, looking smug.
“This is intolerable!” Frogley puffed out his scrawny chest. “In fact, as Mist Elder I’ve decided that I can no longer have you at training. You are a menace to our tribe. How can the Thorns and the Greytails respect us, if we train someone like you?”
“I didn’t do anything, honestly,” said Laney. “I went into one of the underwater houses and some people blocked the doorway, so I broke out again – that’s all. I just want to learn and improve my skills.”
“You will
never
be taught all our skills and you will
never
become a full member of our tribe.” Mr Frogley raised his voice, letting the words roll off his tongue. He pointed one skinny arm at the path that led away from the lake. “Go and do not return. Tomorrow I shall inform your father of my decision.”
Laney’s face burned. She closed her eyes, changed back to human form and made her way through the crowd of Mist kids. Jessie’s face was now blank and her arms were folded. Cathy looked shocked and Leah had turned away.
Laney walked on, unblinking, until she’d gone round a corner out of sight of the lake. Then she sat down on a tree stump and put her chin in her hands. It was over. Her plan to become good at Mist spellshad lasted for two whole training sessions. Why had she told Fletcher that she’d search for the Myricals alone? All those weeks of searching together – it had seemed like such a chore but without it there was a great big hole.
A light drizzle began to fall, adding beads of water to her hair. She looked up hopefully, but the rain was falling widely – on to the path, the grass and on to Hobbin Forest just a few strides away – so she couldn’t possibly have made it happen. She gazed at the edge of the wood, wondering if she should just go home. There were three trees grouped together straight in front of her. The middle one was smaller than the others and in the fading light it looked like the shape of a man – a tree-man. She stared idly at it, picking out its features. The top branches looked like arms and there was a knobbly bulge for its head. The leaves gave the tree-man a sort of coat down to its trunk-like legs.
A meow came from behind her and she jumped up. “Dizzy! Don’t creep up on me like that!”
The little black cat paced up and down, uttering a string of meows.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re saying.” Laney leaned
She stepped back and tried to breathe slowly. She’d melted the frost around Fletcher that time so maybe she could melt this too. She placed her palms on the ice and closed her eyes.
Warm up
…
melt
… she told it. She felt the ice soften but when she opened her eyes again she’d only made a small hollow in the thick surface.
She’d been angry that time when Fletcher was frozen and that had made her hands grow hotter, she was sure of it. So maybe if she could make herself feel that way again…
Picturing Jessie’s sneering face as she’d frozen the doorway, Laney put her hands on the ice again. She felt her fingers glow with heat and in a few minutes a hole had melted in the frozen wall. As soon as it was big enough she climbed through, spread her water wings and zoomed upwards. Her group was nowhere to be seen so she broke through the lake surface and circled round to get her bearings before making her way back to the shore.
A large group was gathered at the water’s edge.
“You! It had to be you.” Frogley’s bony jaw was tight with fury. “You abandoned your group leader and you were seen damaging the ancient Mist dwellings on the lake bottom.”
“No, I didn’t…” Laney’s head whirled as she thought of the underwater houses being lived in by ancient Mist faeries. “I mean, I went to look atthe buildings but I didn’t damage them.” She caught sight of Jessie hanging back behind Frogley, looking smug.
“This is intolerable!” Frogley puffed out his scrawny chest. “In fact, as Mist Elder I’ve decided that I can no longer have you at training. You are a menace to our tribe. How can the Thorns and the Greytails respect us, if we train someone like you?”
“I didn’t do anything, honestly,” said Laney. “I went into one of the underwater houses and some people blocked the doorway, so I broke out again – that’s all. I just want to learn and improve my skills.”
“You will
never
be taught all our skills and you will
never
become a full member of our tribe.” Mr Frogley raised his voice, letting the words roll off his tongue. He pointed one skinny arm at the path that led away from the lake. “Go and do not return. Tomorrow I shall inform your father of my decision.”
Laney’s face burned. She closed her eyes, changed back to human form and made her way through the crowd of Mist kids. Jessie’s face was now blank and her arms were folded. Cathy looked shocked and Leah had turned away.
Laney walked on, unblinking, until she’d gone round a corner out of sight of the lake. Then she sat down on a tree stump and put her chin in her hands. It was over. Her plan to become good at Mist spellshad lasted for two whole training sessions. Why had she told Fletcher that she’d search for the Myricals alone? All those weeks of searching together – it had seemed like such a chore but without it there was a great big hole.
A light drizzle began to fall, adding beads of water to her hair. She looked up hopefully, but the rain was falling widely – on to the path, the grass and on to Hobbin Forest just a few strides away – so she couldn’t possibly have made it happen. She gazed at the edge of the wood, wondering if she should just go home. There were three trees grouped together straight in front of her. The middle one was smaller than the others and in the fading light it looked like the shape of a man – a tree-man. She stared idly at it, picking out its features. The top branches looked like arms and there was a knobbly bulge for its head. The leaves gave the tree-man a sort of coat down to its trunk-like legs.
A meow came from behind her and she jumped up. “Dizzy! Don’t creep up on me like that!”
The little black cat paced up and down, uttering a string of meows.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re saying.” Laney leaned
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