Starfell Willow Moss and the Lost Day (Starfell #1) - Dominique Valente Page 0,21

we aren’t welcome.’

‘Excuse me,’ said Willow, approaching him slightly reluctantly, particularly when he shot her a very sour look. She cleared her throat. ‘Um, sorry, would you happen to know where I could find the Sometimes house? I was told they used to live in the Ditchwater district of Beady Hill.’

The man looked at her, then snorted, mumbling under his breath.

‘Sorry?’ said Willow.

He harrumphed again. ‘Yes, well, you should be. The Sometimes family had the sense to move on years ago … Never thought this would happen in my city. First they told us we HAD to live here, and now they tell us we must get OUT? Don’ even make sense. We’ve lived here for years peacefully, making the most of a bad situation, paying our taxes … contributin’. It’s not like we deserved this; we’ve done nothing wrong,’ he said, then walked off, shoulders slumped as if they carried the weight of the world.

Willow felt a pang of pity, realising that he must be one of the magical residents now forced to leave his home. ‘He must have been a wizard,’ she said.

‘Proberbelly a gizard,’ agreed Oswin as a group of girls walked past.

One of the girls had shiny blonde curls and was carrying a basket laden with iced buns. She gave Willow a look of surprise at her speaking aloud, apparently to herself. The look soon changed to one of disgust when she noticed Willow’s hairy green carpetbag. The girl caught the eyes of her friends, and they erupted into whispers and giggles as they passed her. Willow picked up her bag, then followed the girls, though she really didn’t want to after the way they’d laughed at her. ‘Excuse me,’ she said.

They turned to her in surprise, and the one with the blonde curls raised a pale eyebrow. ‘I’m sorry, we’re not interested in whatever you’re selling.’

One of the other girls started giggling again. She stopped when Willow gave her A Look.

Willow took in a calm, steadying breath. She’d had a lot of practice what with having Camille for a sister. ‘I’m not selling anything. I was just wondering if any of you know where I could find Ditchwater …’

The blonde girl’s face twisted with scorn. ‘What do you want with that area? I heard they’re going to start tearing it down … Not soon enough, if you ask me.’

Willow’s frown darkened. ‘Those are people’s homes.’

The girl shrugged. ‘Not any more. Didn’t you hear about the new ruling? We’ve got Forbidden status now – no magical people allowed – which means that they’ve finally started kicking out the riff-raff.’ Then she paused and smirked. ‘Clearly they missed a few, though,’ she said, eyeing Willow’s dress with some disdain.

A girl with dark red hair, who hadn’t giggled along with the others, reprimanded her. ‘Kathleen!’

Willow closed her eyes for a second, then counted to three. She pushed down the top of Oswin’s head as it began to rise out of the bag in outrage. She heard him mutter, ‘I’ll show ’er riff-raff …’

‘Can you point me towards it, please? It’s important,’ Willow said.

The girl with the red hair answered. ‘If you follow this road, take a left by the river, and you’ll find Ditchwater a bit further on. Er … be careful.’

‘Thanks,’ said Willow, giving the girl a grateful smile, then picked up the bag and made her way up the street, hearing the friends argue as she left. ‘I don’t know what’s got into you, Mabel. You’ve been acting odd for days. Ever since you took my dress last week.’

‘I told you I didn’t take it.’

‘Then where is it? The last thing I remember was you trying it on last Monday night.’

Willow rounded the corner, and their voices died down. She could still hear Oswin’s mutterings from the bag. ‘Why’d yew push me down? I could ’ave taken ’er.’

‘Thank you, Oswin, I know – but I just want us to find what we need, and then get out of this city, without being noticed – and you, unfortunately, are very memorable.’

The kobold took this as a compliment and handed her an iced lemon bun that he’d stolen off the blonde girl. Willow grinned and took a small bite from a bit that wasn’t covered in fur before handing it back.

The grey clouds above were threatening rain and the sun was low in the sky by the time she found the Ditchwater district, and Willow stopped in surprise. It was a floating village, which wound along the river.