Feathers, Tails & Broomsticks Read online

  The girls laughed, following him. ‘Yeah,’ Alexa scoffed, ‘because we’re model citizens.’

  Hella slung her bag over her shoulder. ‘Hey, some of us are.’

  ‘You just skipped most of your first day back at school.’ Alexa grinned wickedly.

  Hella frowned as they exited the café. ‘Shut up,’ she muttered.

  The trio crossed the street, following the petrol-smell of the old car. It was parked outside of a small building. On the front window was a For Sale sign. As Hella got closer, she saw an orange Sold sign taped across the front. The old woman huffed and puffed. She had managed to only haul out two small boxes onto the curb.

  Hella approached her. ‘Hey there, do you need some help?’

  The old woman looked up at Hella, shorter than the student. Her eyes were a clear, calm blue. They sparkled as she smiled. ‘Well, what a polite young person you are. That would be great, thank you, dear.’

  The three students each picked up a box from the boot as the old lady opened the wooden door to the shop. James lugged the heavy box in with a puff. ‘Did you just buy this place?’ he asked.

  The old lady smiled. ‘I sure did, young man. I’m Remy Stealthing.’

  James gave a ridiculous head-bob. ‘I’m James. What’s up?’

  Alexa nudged him, stepping forward. ‘Ignore him, ma’am. My name is Alexa, and this is Hella.’ She held out a delicate hand.

  Remy took it, looking surprised, then turned Alexa’s hand over in hers. ‘You have some nice rings there, dear.’

  Alexa raised her eyebrow.

  ‘I hand-make some jewellery.’ Remy told her. ‘Once I’m set up, you should come and see if there’s anything to your taste.’

  Hella wandered off as Alexa made a delighted squeal. Hella was far more interested in the books. ‘Is this a bookstore you’re opening?’ Hella asked, her eyes alight with excitement.

  The store was large and open for Mill Valley, with a wall of shelves to her right, and even an almost separate little room up three small steps. There were double sliding doors, too, leading to another room. The only bookstore Mill Valley had was a dodgy old second-hand one at the deep-end of a creepy alley. Hella’s mother asked her not to go there, so she had to order books online.

  Alexa smiled at Hella’s enthusiasm. Remy nodded. ‘Indeed it is, dear. Among other things.’ Hella didn’t think all the boxes contained books, but a lot of them did. She bent down to look. ‘You certainly seem to like books.’ Remy observed.

  Alexa and James nodded in unison, and Hella could almost feel their collective eye-rolling at her. Hella picked up a book with gentle fingers. It appeared to be on witchcraft. Her mother would like this, she thought. ‘I really do,’ she said to Remy.

  ‘Well, then. I could use some help in here.’ The old woman eyed her. ‘How old are you?’

  ‘I’m sixteen,’ Hella said, again twisting the end of her red braid.

  The old woman smiled. ‘Would you like to work here after school, and on the weekends?’

  Hella’s head snapped up. ‘Work?’ she said, her eyes bulging. ‘In a bookstore?’ She squealed. ‘Yes!’ She put the book down carefully. Hella glanced at her friends, who were both smirking at her, as if to say, of course she does.

  Remy smiled. ‘Well then, dear. Help me get the rest of these boxes in.’ The teenagers helped Remy for another half an hour while they waited for Grace Corvime to pick them up. Hella’s mum pulled up to the side of the road, behind Remy’s old Toyota.

  Hella’s mum climbed out of her car. ‘I got your call, honey. What’s this about you getting a job?’ Her mum’s pale round face glittered with freckles in the sunlight, her pale skin glowing.

  Hella led her mum into the store, where Alexa and James had taken up seats on the dusty floor and were talking to Remy. ‘Mum, this is Remy Stealthing. She’s opening a bookstore here! She’d like me to work for her after school, and I really want to. That’s okay, right?’

  Grace held out a hand to shake Remy’s. ‘Hi, Grace Corvime. Nice to meet you. A bookstore, you say? Well, you certainly have our attention. We’re a book-loving family.’ Her Mum put a hand on Hella’s shoulder. ‘Of course it’s okay, honey. But I don’t want to see your schoolwork suffer, okay?’ Her emerald eyes bore into Hella’s.

  ‘Yes, mum, thank you!’ Hella took her mother around the middle in a crushing bear hug. She was going to work in a bookstore. This is amazing, she thought.

  Her mum patted her on the head, smiling. ‘Can I give you two a lift home?’ She asked Alexa and James, who both nodded gratefully. ‘Come on then. You too, Hella. It was lovely to meet you, Remy.’

  ‘Can Hella start tomorrow, Mrs Corvime?’ Remy called.

  Hella’s mum looked at her daughter. ‘That okay with you?’ Peering up into her dark green eyes, Hella could tell her mum was serious about this.

  Hella turned back to the old woman. ‘Yes! Of course.’

  Her mum smiled, then gave a nod, ushering the teenagers to the car. ‘Come on, kids.’ As Alexa and James fought over the front seat, her mum stopped Hella under the awning of the store.

  ‘I know that you really want this, Hella, but I need you to go to school. If you’re going to work here, you need to show some responsibility, no more skipping classes and spending your days at that café. Understood?’

  Hella’s eyes popped wide. How did she know? Instead of asking, Hella nodded. ‘Got it.’ Her mum gave her a tight hug.

  Chapter Four

  Meele

  Meele smiled at the text message. ‘She found Remy herself. It’s started.’

  The message was from Grace Corvime. Thank the stars, Meele thought with a sigh. She tapped out a quick reply. ‘Good. She’s following her path. Make sure she stays on it.’

  Chapter Five

  Hella

  Hella woke bright and early on Tuesday morning. Her second day back at high school did not thrill her, but her heart gave a little thrum of excitement knowing that today would be her first day working in the bookstore with the old woman, Remy Stealthing.

  With a grunt, she tore off her bed covers and headed to the bathroom for a steamy shower, hoping it would wake her up. High school will never end, she thought drearily, but at least now something interesting was happening, not unlike some of the odd things to happen yesterday. Hella tried to push away the bizarre memory of the conversation she had overhead from her mum. The ‘prophecy’. The man with yellow eyes.

  Hella yawned. She wondered if she would get a discount on books from the store. She hoped so.

  Emerging from the bathroom, her long red hair wet and tangled, she paused in her towel, standing in her bedroom. Hella pulled on freshly cleaned jeans and a black top, coupled with a light navy-green jacket. Hella thunked downstairs in her black leather boots, undoubtedly waking her ever-late brother, Elliot. She banged on his door as she passed. ‘Wake up! You’ll be late again!’

  Her mother, Grace, met her on the middle landing with surprise etched on her pretty face. ‘He’s still asleep? I woke him twenty minutes ago.’ A long neat fish-tailed French braid fell past her mum’s waist, a masterpiece compared to Hella’s trademark messy-braid. ‘At least you look ready,’ she said, scanning her daughter.

  Hella popped up on her toes to give her mum a peck on the cheek. ‘Is my lunch on the kitchen bench? Remember I’m starting at the store today. I don’t know when I’ll be home!’ she called, already stomping down the rest of the stairs to greet her father brewing a pot of coffee in the kitchen.

  ‘Is there an elephant in this house? What’s with all the stomping, Hella? Are you trying to wake the dead?’

  ‘No, just Elliot. He’s asleep.’ Hella swiped a container with her name on it and slid it into her messenger bag. On one of the seats by the kitchen bar sat the family cat, Salem. His green eyes glowed at Hella in a familiar welcome. Her father, Finn Corvime, looked at her measuredly over the rim of his coffee cup. He was in a matching set o
f grey and black checked pyjamas.

  ‘Just because you write from home doesn’t mean you can’t get dressed, Dad.’ Hella smiled as she plucked the coffee from his hands and took a swig. ‘Eugh, that needs milk. I’m off. Love you!’

  She pecked her dad on the cheek and headed for the front door as he grumbled something about the perks of being a full-time author and specifically staying in his pjs all day. ‘Love you too, Hella,’ he called after her.

  As Hella closed the front door, she could hear both of her parents call for her brother to wake up, and Hella laughed. She liked that Elliot was lazier than her. It always made her look more put-together.

  It was a short walk to Mill Valley High from the white-picket fence of the Corvime house. The sun was shining again today, and Hella secretly wished it was a little cooler. Living in Australia was pretty good, but often far too warm for her liking. She pulled out a book and began to read as she walked, the path familiar. Hella passed the park on her way, the play equipment empty in the early morning. As she rounded the corner, past the primary school at the base of the small hill, Hella was almost run over by Alexa wrapping her up in an excited hug.

  ‘Did you see this?!’

  Hella was assaulted by a mop of black hair. ‘I can’t see anything. Get off me,’ she said affectionately. ‘What are you talking about?’

  Alexa stepped back to show her the fresh ink sprawled across her left shoulder, spiralling in Celtic patterns along her skin.

  ‘Woah, what is that? You got another one? Do your parents know? Wow.’

  Her friend laughed delightedly. ‘I’m glad you asked. Let’s go.’ She took Hella’s arm in hers, and together they walked up to the front door of the school and along to their first class. ‘It’s Celtic, you see. I actually noticed it in one of your mum’s pagan books last time I was at your place. It means eternal life; it goes in a circle. It means forever.’

  They sat down together in first period English. Hella’s green eyes bulged. ‘Your parents let you get that?’ she whispered. Alexa smiled, nodding. ‘Yup. My dad came with me and helped me choose it. They paid for it, too.’

  Hella smiled over at Alexa, pretending to be jealous. But she didn’t want a tattoo just yet. What if she regretted it later? Hella concentrated on class, relieved to be in a lesson she liked. Possibly the only good thing about this school was English class and hanging out with Alexa and James. The rest of school life had become frustratingly boring and predictable. Alexa’s shenanigans provided an amusing relief.

  For the next hour, Hella learned about George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and the allegory it allegedly posed in reflection of supremacy in society. Overall, she thought the book so far was a bit dull, but she did enjoy reading. And she much preferred it to other classes.

  Until she saw that Valerie Winter was here. In the front row. Her long blonde hair reflected the sunlight streaming in from the windows. Hella frowned. She and Valerie had once been friends, but high school had changed her. And certainly not in any good way. She was popular. Probably the most popular girl in school, but she was very mean. Hella gave the back of Valerie’s shining head a withering look she hoped the other girl could feel.

  The teacher wrapped up the lesson with a clap and a smile.

  As they walked to next period, Alexa suddenly turned to her and said, ‘So, did you figure out what your mum was talking about?’ She waved her hands in a mock-spooky gesture. ‘The prophecy?’

  Hella froze. ‘No,’ she said pointedly. ‘I was trying to forget about it.’

  As a lady of the weird and all things mad, Alexa’s darkly-lined eyes popped. ‘What? No! You should ask her! What if it’s something cool?’ When Hella remained despondent, Alexa nudged her. ‘Oh, come on. There is so little entertainment in this town. It is day two back at school and I’m already bored out of my mind. And also, my tattoo itches, so you need to distract me.’

  Hella shrugged. ‘You heard what James said. My mum’s weird. It’s probably nothing.’

  Alexa smiled with perfectly white teeth. ‘Being weird is the best kind of interesting. Weird is so much better than boring.’

  Chapter Six

  Hella

  Hella felt the rest of the morning slip away in a blur as she spent most of her time in her own head, dazedly drifting from class to class until lunchtime, where she wandered aimlessly into the cafeteria and sat down on a bench without taking out her packed lunch.

  After a moment, James and Alexa came over holding matching sandwiches from the cafeteria. They sat down opposite Hella and started to greet her, but Hella blurted out, ‘Do you really think it’s cool to be weird?’

  Alexa laughed. She gestured up and down herself. Her hair was black, cut sharply along her jaw-line for dramatic effect. Eyes heavily made-up. About a dozen piercings glittered along her ears, and her black clothes were mostly held together by large silver chains. ‘Yes,’ she said with a smile, taking a bite out of her sandwich. ‘Why?’ she mumbled through her food.

  ‘You guys really didn’t see that man yesterday, when we were walking to the café?’ Hella pulled out her lunch, staring at it glumly. She had no appetite.

  The cafeteria began to buzz with the crowd of hungry students swarming together and chatting loudly. Dozens of tables filled up around them, and Hella noticed Valerie walk by with her nose crinkled at Hella.

  Alexa finished chewing her bite, then frowned. ‘Hella, I’d forgotten about that. But I really didn’t see anyone. Why are you so obsessed with this? Is this you trying to be weird, because we could just change your hair—’

  ‘What? No, it’s not that. What’s wrong with my hair?’ Hella reached up to her messy braid with a frown.

  ‘I think what she means,’ James chimed in, ‘is that we’re wondering why you’re so worried about this, Hellhound. What was so strange about this guy? Was he wearing a top hat or something?’

  Hella shook her head. ‘No, no. He…’ She paused. Whether or not Alexa and James were accepting of the weird and wonderful, it was a wholly different thing to be seeing people who weren’t there, with evil-looking yellow eyes.

  She swallowed hard. ‘It sounds crazy,’ she hissed over the hub-hub. The last thing she wanted was someone overhearing her strange story. That only seemed to excite her friends, whose eyes bulged as if she were holding back some juicy piece of gossip rather than potentially admitting she was a little bit crazy. ‘That older man I saw. He was wearing a suit and looked pretty normal. But then he looked at me. And his eyes were yellow.’

  Alexa and James frowned a little, blinking.

  ‘Yellow?’ Alexa asked.

  ‘Yes. Like bright yellow. And then he was gone!’ Hella snapped her fingers.

  James’s friendly face spilt into a smirk. ‘Are you serious, Hell?’

  ‘Yes, I am.’ Hella growled. ‘He was there. I saw it. He… he laughed at me, and then vanished.’

  ‘Maybe it was just some idiot wearing coloured contact lenses?’ Alexa suggested. ‘I don’t have any, but they look pretty real.’

  Hella paused, then shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  Alexa leaned forward. ‘Are you saying you saw a demon, or shapeshifter, or something?’

  Hella expelled a breath. ‘Oh, yeah, right. Sure. Here in Mill Valley? No way. Nothing that interesting would ever happen here.’

  The three of them laughed together for the rest of lunch until the bell rang. They all linked arms, and Alexa leaned in to whisper in her ear, ‘See? At least weird stuff is interesting. Good story, Hella. You’ll make a great writer.’

  Chapter Seven

  Hella

  Hella kicked her way down the street that led to the bookstore, sending pebbles flying and skittering across the empty road. Her two best friends really didn’t believe her about the yellow-eyed man. They thought she was making it up as something to amuse them in this dreary old town.

  Hella looked around at the dilapidated old brick build
ings, rusted and mostly unused in this part of town. In most of the town. Mill Valley, her history teacher said, used to be a thriving town in New South Wales. Until 1915, when a great earthquake had shaken the town so badly it had caused damage to many of its buildings and given the citizens a terrible scare. Apparently, a lot of people had fled after that, never to return. But the few that stayed slowly built the town back up again; the school, the hospital, even the old library. Though, a hundred years later, and Hella could still see cracks in the walls between shelves in the school library.

  As her mood worsened, Hella found new things to kick out of her way, tree branches and larger rocks; she sent them flying with a vengeful swing of her boot before she heard the noise. A pitter-patter of running feet galloped up behind her, and she turned to see James jogging to catch up. She wanted to be mad with him, but he smiled at her like always, and she caught herself smiling back.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, sounding sullen.

  ‘I wanted to wish you luck on your first day at work. You must be excited.’ He finally caught up to her, slightly out of breath. He took one look at her face. ‘Or not.’

  She shrugged, continuing her assault on any loose items within kicking distance. The sun was shining down brightly, turning her pale skin into, she was sure, an array of freckles along her already dotted cheeks. Sliding her light jacket off as they walked, she tied it around her waist, letting the sun kiss her bare arms.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ James asked after a moment of silence.

  They were rounding the corner, about to see the bookstore. ‘You don’t believe me,’ she spat out.

  James blinked innocently. ‘About what?’

  Hella gave him a withering look. ‘The yellow-eyed man, James.’

  He looked at her with sympathy. ‘Oh, Hells. We didn’t mean to upset you, but it wasn’t a very believable story. If you’re going to be a writer, you need to know when tales are just a bit too tall to seem real.’