Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,9

of the cups. Mrs Torre seemed pleased.

‘Good grades and some kind of reward are on the horizon for you both. I’m very happy to see this! And . . . you both dye your hair a different colour? We’ll see about that. Ooh, and here’s what you’re getting me for my birthday . . .’ She abruptly put the cups down. ‘Well, let’s keep that a surprise, shall we?’

The twins laughed.

Mrs Torre turned to me and picked up my cup. ‘And now . . . Vania.’ She took a deep breath, and all of a sudden I felt really nervous. What if she saw something awful? Or she said something about Bryce? Although, being psychic and all, I suspected the twins already knew I was feeling self-conscious about crushing on someone else’s boyfriend – even if that someone was Cassidy.

Mrs Torre’s forehead was creased with an intense frown. I looked at my leaves. They weren’t laced like the twins’ had been. Instead, most of mine were clumped together on one side. On the other side there was a shape that looked like a bird.

At last Mrs Torre started talking. ‘At a young age your true path was diverted, but now you are finding your way back. You are smart and rational, but you must learn to let your instincts lead you so that your true power can reveal itself. You will forge a new path alone and leave a trail so others may follow.’

Alone? I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to walk my path with Bryce. Mrs Torre noticed my concern, but that didn’t stop her from telling me something even more alarming.

‘There is a mysterious dark presence around you – a person who wishes you ill.’

I gulped, and the twins looked stricken.

‘C’mon, Mom – you promised you wouldn’t get all heavy,’ Amelia said.

Mrs Torre looked at me intently. ‘Most importantly, you are surrounded by people who love you, Vania, and this love will shield you from misfortune.’

I didn’t feel too reassured.

‘You also have a unique gift, which will stand you in good stead and serve to protect you. It will soon be revealed. All will be well,’ she continued, before reaching over and snuffing out the candle flame with her fingertips.

Four

Magic is the art of creating change with will. I considered the words carefully. I had just finished reading The Sixth Sense and Us, and it had turned out to be a total primer for doing magic. Not the pulling-rabbits-out-of-hats kind of magic, but real magic, where you could change things by willing them to. And I wanted to be able to make things I didn’t like change.

But the book’s explanations were all so esoteric that my brain ached at times trying to make sense of the power of magic. So I instead I translated it into quantum physics terms: everything is energy, and thoughts are energy . . . so thoughts can become things. That was logical.

It still seemed a bit daunting; however, if I gave myself credit for one thing, it was that I’d try anything at least once. So I decided to put the guidance of The Sixth Sense and Us into practice and try changing the things I didn’t like in my life by changing the way I thought about them. And while I was at it, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to learn how to protect myself magically from those who apparently wished me harm. If Mrs Torre’s reading had a grain of truth to it, I needed to be prepared.

My first step was with my parents. Since dinner at the twins’ place I had been thinking a lot about my relationship with Mum and Dad. The twins liked their parents and weren’t afraid to show it. I usually made a point of showing that I didn’t like mine. I knew they did love me in their own cold, distant way, but over the years a huge rift had developed between us. So I decided to be different and try to bridge that gap.

That night I didn’t complain at dinner. My mother had served fish, which was a little more bearable to me than beef, though for a moment as I looked at the fish head on my plate I did agonise over the depletion of the ocean’s population. But still, I ate all of it without uttering a word of resistance.

And instead of sitting in our usual stifling silence, I chattered away about my ‘great’ day at school and how much