Soul Splinter Read Online Free

beckoned with a crooked finger and Moll knew better than to ignore the fortune-teller’s command.
    She stood up with Alfie, leaving Siddy under Mooshie’s watch, and followed Cinderella Bull to the cave wall beyond the washing line, near the rocks that masked a gap out on to the beach. There, written by Moll in messy chalk, was the Bone Murmur, the words of the old magic read in the Oracle Bones and handed down to Moll from her ancestors:
    There is a magic, old and true,
    That shadowed minds seek to undo.
    They’ll splinter the souls of those who hold
    The Oracle Bones from Guardians of old.
    And storms will rise; trees will die,
    If they free their dark magic into the sky.
    But a beast will come from lands full wild,
    To fight this darkness with a gypsy child.
    And they must find the Amulets of Truth
    To stop dark souls doing deeds uncouth.
    For a while, Cinderella Bull said nothing, and Moll listened to the sea murmuring beyond the cave, then the fortune-teller pointed a gnarled finger at one of the lines: ‘
If they free their dark magic into the sky
.’ She paused. ‘The ripping noises you heard, that was the air tearing, thresholds opening up. The Shadowmasks’ dark magic was pouring in from the Underworld.’
    Moll blinked at Alfie, started to say something, decided against it, then mumbled, ‘Are you
sure
? Because I get things wrong the whole time and—’
    Cinderella Bull put a hand on Moll’s shoulder. ‘I’m sure, Moll.’ She slipped her crystal ball into the pocket of her pinafore. ‘Though we may not see them, there are worlds out there beyond our own. Our ancestors believed in a world where the old magic lies, where one day our souls will go to rest. We call that place the Otherworld.’
    Alfie glanced at Moll, who shrugged. She’d never heard anyone talk about different worlds before.
    Cinderella Bull went on. ‘They say that in the Otherworld the wind spirit whispers life into mountains so huge they’re lost amid clouds where griffins roam – and there’s talk of unicorns living behind thundering waterfalls and seas filled with mer palaces.’
    Alfie squinted at Cinderella Bull. ‘And the other place – the Underworld?’
    Cinderella Bull lowered her voice. ‘A place where dark magic brews. Though no one can be sure, there are rumours of werewolves stalking rotten forests and giant spiders that crawl through tunnels.’
    Moll groaned as she thought of the seaweed she’d dumped in Mooshie’s hammock recently. ‘I’m bound to end up there.’
    Cinderella Bull ruffled Moll’s hair. ‘The Shadowmasks’ magic is gathering strength. We thought we had you safe, but those owls managed to track you – they could only have been conjured from the darkest corners of the Underworld.’ She pointed to another chalked line on the cave wall and read the words aloud: ‘
And storms will rise; trees will die . . .
If we don’t stop them opening these thresholds, our lands will be destroyed.’
    Alfie gasped. ‘The cliffs – when we looked up and noticed the owls, we saw the gorse and bracken had died!’
    Cinderella Bull nodded gravely. ‘So it has begun already. And, as long as Darkebite holds the Soul Splinter, the Shadowmasks will have enough power to open these thresholds. It’s time to look for the next amulet.’
    Before anyone could reply, there was a moan from one of the alcoves at the far side of the cave. They walked back to the fire and looked up as an old man, bent over like a coat hanger, came staggering out towards them. He was wearing a spotted bow tie, a pair of maroon swimming trunks and socks pulled up to his knees. But that wasn’t the strangest thing about him: he also had a lobster pot wedged round his middle.
    Mooshie let her head fall into her hands. ‘Yet more madness before noon?’
    Hard-Times Bob, Cinderella Bull’s brother, was the last addition to the group of gypsies hiding in Little Hollows. According to him, he’d been chosen to come along because he had