Part 27 (1/2)

'Maybe-' Katie stopped speaking abruptly. Her neck twisted as she peered behind her seat, into the back of the van. She paused as if listening and then said, 'Is there someone back there?'

'No,' Gwen said, a little spooked.

'I thought I heard something. Well, not really heard.' Katie hesitated, then rushed on. 'You know that feeling you get that someone's looking at you and you turn and they totally are?'

'Yes,' Gwen said.

'I just had the weirdest feeling.' She looked around again a couple more times. Abruptly, she leaned forward and began patting the footwell. 'What's this?'

Gwen glanced across and saw that Katie had one of Iris's books in her hand. She didn't even remember putting it in the car.

'You can't read that,' she said.

Katie was already flicking through it. 'G.o.d, I know. The writing's terrible.'

'No, I mean you shouldn't. Your mum will have kittens.'

'Good,' Katie said. She began reading out loud. '”To forget old lovers; burn oregano. For enhanced fertility; place mandrake root under the mattress”. What's mandrake root?'

'A plant,' Gwen said.

'Sounds made up,' Katie said, still flipping pages. '”To make a new friend or increase loving feelings, give biscuits or cakes baked with caraway seeds”.'

'Please don't,' Gwen said. The traffic was building up as they approached Bath and she could only shoot tiny glances at Katie. 'I'm sorry. I promise you're not missing much. Iris was a bit eccentric.'

'Like you,' Katie said.

'Maybe,' Gwen said. She slowed Nanette for a queue, the red lights of the car in front reflecting on the wet road. 'Can I have that back, please?' She held out a hand for the book.

'I'm so sick of people keeping secrets from me. I'm not a little kid.'

'I know that,' Gwen said.

'Fine,' Katie said angrily. Then she turned her face to the window and refused to speak again.

Katie's stubborn silence upset Gwen more than she thought possible. She realised how much she had been enjoying being the cool aunt. And she was sick of tiptoeing around Ruby. It wasn't as if she even agreed with her sister. Ruby thought that protecting Katie meant stifling her, lying to her. She glanced at Katie. She was a good kid. Trustworthy.

'There are some things I could show you,' Gwen said.

Katie looked up. Her smile was pure suns.h.i.+ne. 'Can you show me how to hurt someone?'

'What? Katie!'

'Not hurt, then. Upset? Annoy? Embarra.s.s.'

'Is someone at school bothering you?'

Katie shrugged.

'This isn't going to work if you're not going to be honest with me. I'm not your mum; you can talk to me.'

'Will Jones flashed me.'

'What? Hang on.' Gwen pointed Nanette in the direction of the nearest parking s.p.a.ce. She couldn't concentrate on driving and wanted to look into Katie's eyes.

'Right.' She pulled over. 'Let's get into the back.'

'Okay.' Katie unclicked her seat belt and climbed between the seats.

There was a single mattress piled with a duvet and cus.h.i.+ons and Gwen arranged them into a kind of sofa. She switched on the wind-up camping lantern and closed all the curtains.

'Cosy,' Katie said, looking around approvingly. 'I can't believe you lived in here for a week, though.'

'I don't recommend it,' Gwen said. 'And it doesn't exactly scream ”excellent life choices”.'

Katie giggled. 'I think it's cool.'

Gwen resisted the urge to say, That's because you're fourteen.

'So. Was it an old guy in a raincoat?'

Katie leaned back. 'No. Will Jones is in my year. He was just trying to embarra.s.s me in front of everyone by waving his you-know-what in my face. It was horrible.'

Little git. Gwen fetched her tin of supplies from her handbag. 'How would you like to give him an itch in his you-know-what?'

Katie sat forward. 'You can do that?'

'Just for a little while. Maybe during a.s.sembly or, even better, does he play football?'

'Rugby.'

'Perfect. Next big match, I predict Will Jones won't be able to stop scratching his b.a.l.l.s.'

Katie laughed. 'That's disgusting. But I don't know if anyone will notice.'

'They will,' Gwen said. 'I'm talking really itchy. Rolling around on the ground with both hands down his shorts itchy.' She hesitated. 'It's something I'd better do, though. I think you need to start with something a little simpler. Safer. I don't like Will Jones, but I don't want him permanently disfigured.'

Katie's eyes were wide. 'Is that possible?'

'The thing you need to remember about magic is that there are always consequences. It's like scales, if one side goes up, then the other goes down.' Gwen leaned forward a little. Katie was going to grow into a Harper woman; it wasn't fair to keep her in the dark. 'Look, before I opted out of the training, my mother taught me all kinds of spells and hexes. She showed me how to pay attention to things, to use my intuition like another sense, and she was completely obsessed with the Finding. She wanted me to practice it all the time. What she didn't tell me was that you start to feel hollowed out. That if you do a spell that's a bit too strong for you, you can zone out for days afterwards. You feel sick. You can't think straight.'

Gwen hesitated. 'Once, your mum tried something.'

Katie's eyes went wide. 'No way.'

Gwen nodded. 'She didn't inherit any special ability. I don't know why. But Ruby was still raised by Gloria; she couldn't help but pick up a few things here and there. Anyway, when I was really little, like five or six, I remember her landing up in bed for three weeks. She was really, really sick. Gloria told everyone it was flu, but it wasn't. Ruby had wanted a Lego set that was too expensive. A castle, I think. She did a spell to make Gloria buy it for her and the after-effects d.a.m.n-near killed her.'