The Crystal Mirror by Paula Harrison

Author:Paula Harrison [Paula Harrison]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780857632029
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Published: 2013-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

The dark shape leaned right over her, its long hood hiding its face. It reached out a gloved hand…

“Laney, wake up!”

Laney yelled and scrambled into the corner of the bed to get away from that hand, that hood, that burning hate…

“Calm down, it’s only daylight!” joked Kim, pulling back the curtains. “I know it’s the summer holidays but I don’t want you lying in bed all day. It’s ten o’clock already.”

Laney stared round. There was no black shape. It had just been Kim. She must have been dreaming about that thing again – the thing Gwen had told her was a Shadow faerie.

“Are you all right?” Kim came over and sat down on the bed next to her.

Laney forced her face into a smile. “I’m fine. You just made me jump. I must have been dreaming.”

Kim laughed. “I thought maybe you were. You were muttering on about your shadow and how you had to find something. It must have been an exciting dream.” She leaned forwards suddenly. “Are you feeling OK? Your eyes are – they look a little red.”

“Too much sleep, maybe.” Laney blinked and looked away. Kim shouldn’t be able to see any change in her eyes, and they were golden, not red.

Kim got up. “I’m taking Toby into town. He needs some new shoes. Your dad and Simon have gone out. Tea’s at seven o’clock. Don’t miss it.”

“I won’t.”

Laney got dressed and decided to go to The Cattery, where Claudia lived. She wanted to tell her about last night. Maybe Claudia would know a bit more about Shadow faeries – Gwen hadn’t really gone into a lot of detail.

Gusts of wind beat against her as she turned the corner into Beacon Way. She glanced over at the church. Today its walls were as dark and grey as the clouds overhead. Last night she’d been up on the roof, hiding from that horrible dark figure.

She almost wished she hadn’t found out what it was. The thought of someone using a faerie’s dust – the body they’d left behind after they’d died – to give themselves power, made her stomach lurch. She walked on, imagining that a dark figure might leap out from behind every lamppost.

The Cattery was quiet. A ginger cat sat at the entrance to the street as if it was guarding the way. As Laney skirted past, it turned to watch her with big green eyes. Three faerie houses stood among the human ones. One was a small bungalow covered with sharp brown spines, which growled as she went past. Next door was a grey stone tower, with eyes that blinked from its dark slit windows.

The last one, Claudia’s house, was made from leopard print. The words above the door read: Do not provoke the beast within. As Laney approached, the house let out a terrifying roar that made her stagger backwards. She sidled up again, trying to get close enough to stroke the furry wall, when a long leopard-like tail swished down from the roof and knocked her over.

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