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… compliments me on my dragon tatt.’
    Celeste leant forward. ‘What?! He saw through your fell?’
    ‘Yep.’ Ember brushed hair from her face. ‘So I ran … well walked quickly to the front doors. Then, he yelled out “Stop” or something and the doors wouldn’t open.’
    Brooke sat up. ‘Jesus.’
    ‘So that’s when I spun around and, using a little bit of power, made stuff from the shelves fly at him. Then, no other choice, I blew out the doors and made a run for it.’
    ‘Damn,’ said Celeste, ‘damn, damn, bloody damn.’
    Ember bit her lip. ‘I know Celeste, I know. But I was trapped. Trapped in the same building as a Skorn. Possible Skorn.’ 
    Ember knew Celeste was concerned about the Skorn, but she was probably just as worried about the girls’ secrets being exposed. Without their disguises, their fells, people would start to talk about the five sisters who lived by themselves in the large old manor. If it was one thing the girls didn’t need, it was attention.
    ‘Chloe,’ said Celeste, ‘have you come across anything like this? Skorns with those sort of powers? I thought they were sort of spies, on the lookout for people like us.’
    Chloe shook her head. ‘I’ve never read anything like that. Skorns are just people infected by Scathers …’
    ‘Scather zombies,’ said Brooke.
    Chloe didn’t even smile. ‘Yeah. We’re not even sure if their main purpose is to sniff out Vordenes or whether that’s just a by-product of having the spirit of a Grimshade creature inside you. I’m not even sure Skorns can see through fells. If they had too much power we’d be able to sense them .’
    ‘So what do we do?’ Ember asked Celeste.
    Celeste stood up. ‘We go Skorn hunting that’s what. You, me and Chloe. Brooke, you stay here with Skye.’
    ‘Hey!’ said Brooke, ‘Why don’t I get to see some action? Make Ember stay home, it’s her turn to look after Skye.’
    The little girl now sat cross-legged watching the conversation closely. Ember gave her small smile.
    ‘I don’t mind sitting this one out,’ said Chloe. ‘Talking about Scathers made me remember something I’d read in one of Great Aunt Rhea’s journals. Something about the Ring.’
    Celeste sighed. ‘We’d all love to find our Ring Chloe. We’ve been waiting most our lives, haven’t we? But there’s a time and a place, and this …’
    ‘But it’s important, Celeste. Really. I’m going to talk to Aunt Lani about it too.’ Chloe pointed to the small chapel on the other side of a low stone wall, the home of their aunt.
    Ember looked in the direction of the chapel and said softly, ‘She may not be much help, Chloe. She’s getting worse. Yesterday I found her lying on her back in the vegie patch. When I asked what she was doing she said she was learning Vegetablese.’
    ‘She’s gone a bit nutty, yeah,’ said Chloe, just as quietly. ‘But she’s still our Aunt Lani, and our only living connection to our other Aunts, Granny Ira and all that. Like I said, it’s important.’
    Celeste put her hand on her forehead and nodded. ‘OK, fine. Brooke, you’re in.’
    Brooke punched the air. ‘Woo! Gonna go skin some Skorn scum!’
    As one, the other three sighed.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    I T WAS LATE afternoon by the time Turner escaped all the commotion at the supermarket. After standing around with a dozen other customers for an hour, and finally giving a statement to the police and then talking to a reporter, he wanted nothing more than to get home.
    Chaucer Street was a narrow road, tightly packed with rows of 1950s semi-detached houses, each fronted with a minuscule front garden. The inhabitants on this street seemed to be having a little war in trying to outdo each other in elaborate letterboxes. Turner passed a small castle, a football, a miniature pillar box and his favourite, the ceramic mermaid sitting atop a rock-like letterbox at number 6.
    Carl, an exuberant border collie, met Turner