Free 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison Page A

out.”
    “By the next full moon,” said Morag. “In three days’ time.”
    “I’ll return for it then,” said Warwick. He turned again and came down the remainder of the steps and was heading away from the caravan when the door could be heard closing.
    Tanya and Fabian watched as he strode back through the forest. Tanya became aware of Oberon’s head cocking to the side, but the dog seemed to understand that he was to stay with Tanya and madeno attempt to follow Warwick. They waited, leaving several minutes until Warwick was out of sight before edging out from their hiding places.
    Tanya looked at Fabian.
    “We can’t go to see Morag now,” she said in a low voice.
    “I know,” said Fabian. “If she’s in contact with my father, we shouldn’t take the risk. She might tell him we’ve been to see her, and as far as he’s concerned, we’re still forbidden from coming into these woods.”
    They set off, hurrying away from the caravan silently.
    “Who do you think Warwick was trying to find out about?” Tanya asked.
    Fabian narrowed his eyes behind his thick-lensed glasses.
    “I don’t know,” he said. “But the person Morag did see in her vision had to be Nell. She’s the only new person in the household.”
    “I wonder what happened in her past,” said Tanya. “Morag said she saw a lost child. Perhaps she had a child who… died.”
    “She’s never mentioned any family,” said Fabian. “Apart from her dead husband.”
    “What about the person Warwick was asking about, the first one? Who do you think that might be?”
    Fabian shook his head. “I can’t think who else he would want to find out about.”
    They pondered this for the remainder of their journey back to the manor, but by the time they arrived, they were no closer to finding any answers.
    As they moved through the house, there were signs that Florence and Warwick had both returned before them. Warwick’s muddy footprints marred Nell’s mopped floor and Florence’s keys were on the side. The charm bracelet, Tanya noticed, had gone from where she had left it, and she made a mental note to mention it to her grandmother when she saw her next.
    However, when she went upstairs to put the compass back beneath the floorboards, Tanya saw the needle as she took it out of her pocket.
    The compass was working again. With that, all thoughts of the old charm bracelet slipped her mind entirely.

 
    Tanya left her room and crossed the landing, eager to tell Fabian about the compass. She was almost at his door when it was flung open from the other side, making her jump. Fabian stomped out, his nostrils flaring.
    “Look at this!” He brandished something beneath her nose. “A mousetrap! It would have taken my toe off if I hadn’t seen it in time.”
    Tanya frowned. “It’s not like my grandmother or Warwick to use mousetraps.”
    “That’s because they don’t,” Fabian said hotly. “Florence doesn’t like them, and we’ve never needed them with Spitfire in the house. It has to be Nell’s doing!”
    “Well, I daresay my grandmother will put a stopto it,” Tanya said impatiently. “Listen, about the compass—”
    A terrible, high-pitched squeal of agony prevented her from finishing the sentence.
    “What was that?”
    Fabian looked blank. “What?”
    “A scream, down on the landing.”
    The compass forgotten, Tanya edged away from Fabian and toward the staircase. “You didn’t hear it?”
    Fabian shook his head but followed her anyway. The sound of whimpering drifted up to them. She descended the staircase. She knew in her gut where the sound was coming from, and the fact that Fabian could not hear it did not bode well. Each step brought her closer to the grandfather clock on the landing. The sound was coming from the other side of it. She approached, ignoring Fabian, who was prodding her and demanding an explanation. Already she had a horrible premonition about what she was going to find.
    Fairies resided in the clock, and the