to act strangely. Her rogue magic came from something else … she knew it. In the back of her mind, Granny Flossy’s voice on a cold winter’s night whispered, ‘Folk that venture into the forest of Wisperia don’ always come back the same. I’ve heard stories of people who changed. Their hair turned to flame, their feet to hooves, their fingers to leaves … Forest-touched, they call it … They end up having to make a life there, away from everyone they know, as they’ve turned wild.’
Willow swallowed. She’d been to Wisperia when she’d tried to get back the stolen day. The forest must have done something to her. She tried to push the thought that her hair might turn to flame or her feet to hooves out of her mind, with difficulty.
The problem was getting anyone in her family to consider these risks because, when the lost Tuesday had been restored, so had the usual timeline. No one remembered when the day went missing at all, and they didn’t know what Willow had done or where she’d been … The only people who remembered were those, like her, who had been in the presence of the spell that had brought back the day.
‘Please, Mum, just listen to me – I think I know what’s happened. I’m going to tell you all about it, and afterwards you’ll see what needs to be done.’
She asked them not to interrupt so that she could get through the whole story. To her surprise, they agreed. Mostly, she would find out later, because they’d been trying to gather just how far her fevered delusions went and how urgently they should send for help.
‘So you see,’ she said, when she finally finished explaining all that had happened a few weeks before, ‘I believe that something affected my magic in Wisperia. It scrambled it around or something. I think, under the circumstances, that the best thing to do is to send for Moreg. She’ll know what to do, and how to help me find Nolin Sometimes.’
There was a long pause while her family stared at her in what Willow thought might be amazement at the fact she’d helped to save the world and kept quiet about it for so long, or perhaps even a little quiet pride at her courage in the face of such adversity … But it soon turned out to be something else entirely.
Her oldest sister, Juniper, came forward, an odd look on her face as if a beloved pet had died. She felt Willow’s forehead and frowned. ‘It’s the stress, isn’t it?’ she said, looking at her mother, her mouth in a sad line. ‘Ever since Granny passed. She can’t face reality any more.’ Then for a second her serious demeanour slipped and she clamped a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh, I’m sorry … I shouldn’t laugh as it’s really quite awful, but … “send for Moreg”!’
This made Camille giggle, then whisper loudly, ‘She only used her first name too, like they were friends! Can you even imagine?’
Willow closed her eyes in frustration. When she opened them, she saw that her mother’s face was serious and rather sad, and she began to explain things as if Willow were still quite little, or possibly a bit dim.
‘My dear,’ she said, patting Willow’s hand gently, ‘I don’t think Moreg Vaine, the, um … most powerful witch in Starfell, would concern herself with the problems of a twelve-year-old girl.’
This elicited a few more sniggers from Camille and Juniper, but Raine turned and gave her other daughters A WARNING LOOK, and they stopped giggling immediately.
‘Sorry, Mum,’ said Juniper.
Raine’s face was twisted with worry. ‘What really concerns me is this delusion of yours, Willow. The idea that somehow you and Moreg went off on some wild and impressive adventure together when Granny passed away. I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but that just didn’t happen.’
‘WOT?’ blurted Oswin from beneath the table, where he was hiding by Willow’s feet, his fur turning a violent shade of orange. ‘I WOS THERE! She took me WIFF ’er in a BAG made o’ HAIR! ’Tis NOT made up and ’tis NOT about the ol’ Flossy Mistress, yew … yew … CARBUNCLED CUMBERWORLDS!’
There was a long silence at this.
Then Willow said, ‘Thanks, Oswin.’ She and the kobold shared a conciliatory look. Mostly about how little his outburst would actually help. Still, it was nice to have someone on her side for once.
Willow’s mother pursed her lips in distaste, but