The Broken Spell Read Online Free Page A

is.’
    ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Adie frowned.
    There was an awkward moment of silence until Grace said, ‘Well, you’re welcome to hang out with us whenever you want. Especially if the Beast keeps giving you grief.’
    Delilah’s brow furrowed.
    ‘Beast?’
    ‘What we call Tracy Murphy,’ said Jenny through her chocolate sandwich, ‘because she’s, you know, a
beast
.’

3
THE OLD COVEN
    ‘What does it look like again?’ said Grace, gazing up into the leafy canopy of the woods.
    ‘Oval leaf, dark green, blah, blah, blah.’
    Grace sighed and pulled the weathered sheet of paper from Jenny’s hands.
    ‘We’re not going to win our glitter pens if you’re not even going to try.’
    ‘I’ve got all the glitter pens I need, thanks,’ replied Jenny. ‘Plus, we might as well let Una win. You know how she gets when she loses.’
    ‘It’s not just about
winning
. We should be learning this stuff. Getting good at it.’
    ‘You’re good at memorising things. Why don’t
you
just learn all this stuff, and whenever we need to collect a plantfor a spell or something, we’ll just ask you.’
    ‘So I do all the work. Thanks a lot.’
    ‘You’re welcome. Hey, what’s that?’
    Jenny reached up and tapped a leaf on a low-lying branch.
    A small butterfly flitted from the leaf, its golden wings catching the last of the evening sun in tiny bursts of light.
    ‘Woah! I’ve never seen one that colour before! It’s amazing . It looks like it’s made of gold.’
    ‘Look,’ said Grace, pointing to their right, ‘there’s another one.’
    As they watched, a third, then a fourth tiny butterfly fluttered upwards, wings glittering like little gems. The girls followed the insects, mesmerised by their prettiness, occasionally pretending to catch them, which caused the little creatures to flicker their precious wings even faster and the girls to giggle with delight. They followed them to a clearing in the forest and then stopped, open-mouthed, at the sight before them. Thousands upon thousands of golden butterflies danced as far as they could see. They covered the forest floor, smothered rocks and small bushes, and filled the branches of every tree. Grace had to squint against the light as her eyes adjusted to the world of gold around her.
    ‘My God!’ said Jenny. ‘It’s
so
beautiful!’
    ‘I see you’ve caught me,’ a soft voice said. Grace dropped her gaze, and there, in the middle of the clearing, with a basket of weeds hanging on one arm, stood Ms Gold.
    ‘Come over here,’ the woman said. ‘They won’t get under your feet, I promise.’
    The girls inched their way forward and, sure enough, a path appeared among the gold to make way. The rising butterflies swarmed around them; Grace felt like she was in snowglobe filled with glitter.
    ‘They keep me company,’ said Ms Gold, ‘when I’m collecting . The woods can be so dull, sometimes, don’t you think?’
    ‘What are they?’ breathed Grace. ‘Where did they come from?’
    The teacher gave her a sympathetic smile.
    ‘I’m not sure I should tell you. It’s meant to be a secret.’
    ‘Are you… I mean, are you–’
    ‘What the
hell
?’ Una appeared at the other end of the clearing, with Adie close behind her. ‘Rachel, come here and look at this. There’s gold…
butterflies
. They’re butterflies! Golden butterflies everywhere!’
    ‘Hey, Una,’ called Rachel’s voice from further back in the woods. ‘Stop trying to distract me! Just because you’re losing,
again
!’
    ‘No, seriously. Come here and look at this. It’s… it’s 
magic
.’
    Rachel stumbled into Adie and Una, and froze.
    ‘How… what… Wait a minute, is that Ms Gold?’
    ‘Hello, girls,’ Ms Gold said, smiling. ‘Come over here and join your friends. The insects are perfectly harmless and you can appreciate the full effect much better from here.’
    Rachel wandered forward, gazing around her as she went, and grinning at the sparkling motion-filled air. Adie kept