Free The Crystal Mirror by Paula Harrison Page B

kids gave a cheer as Jessie swooped into the air and flew away across the fields.
    Hot with anger, Laney flew straight after her.
    “Face it, Laney!” Jessie yelled back at her. “There’s something wrong with you and you’ll never be one of us!”
    Laney accelerated through the air. She would catch Jessie and make her sorry for being mean about her dad. She started to gain on her, but Jessie swung round and, seeing Laney so close, stretched out her hand. A cloud of hail with ice the size of tennis balls beat down on Laney, who put her handsover her head to protect herself. One hailstone hit her on the side of the face and she fell, spiralling downwards through the air. She hit the ground and lay there, unable to move.
    “Serves you right, freak girl,” called Jessie, and with a swish of purple wings she flew away.
    Laney lay there for a while, while the balls of ice melted around her. Every muscle in her body hurt and she didn’t feel like she’d ever move again. What hurt even more was that some of what Jessie said was true. She had failed the test and Miss Reed had told her that she’d never become a proper member of the Mist tribe.
    The stars became brighter and she heard foxes barking in the forest. Claudia’s face loomed over her, making her jump. “What are you doing?”
    Laney tried to sit up. “I had a…row with Jessie. Then she hit me with these hailstones.”
    Claudia raised her eyebrows. “So much for people in the same tribe sticking together. She’s never really liked you, has she?”
    “I guess not.” Laney got up and brushed the half-melted ice off her dress. “I need to learn how to do that hailstone thing. Then if she tries it again I’ll get her back.”
    “That’s the spirit,” said Claudia.
    Laney looked at her, noticing for the first time that she was in human form. “How did you know Iwas here?”
    “I didn’t. I was just wandering around a bit and talking to the cats. They’re still freaked out by the red moon last night, same as the grown-ups are. But at least the river’s back to its normal colour.”
    “It’s not red any more?” Laney felt relieved. At least everyone would stop being upset about what she’d done.
    “Yeah, don’t do that again. It looked gross.” Claudia paused. “Why are you out here anyway?”
    “I had to meet the Elders in Hobbin Forest. They wanted to test my Mist powers because of the red moon.” Laney clenched her hands for a moment, remembering how much it had hurt.
    “Weird,” said Claudia. “They’re really stressed out about this red moon thing. But us Greytails don’t believe in that kind of stuff. Did you say my mum was there?”
    Laney nodded. “I didn’t know she was an Elder.”
    They began walking across the field together. “She’s the only Greytail Elder in the village, worse luck, and she never lets me forget it. So what kind of test was it?”
    “They used this thread. They made it into a loop and put it around me—”
    “The Seeing Thread?” Claudia’s eyes nearly popped. “No way! That’s serious stuff. They use it for judging spell crimes and things like that, butI’ve never heard of it being used on someone young before. Does it hurt as much as it’s supposed to?”
    “It was horrible but it was over quickly, I guess.” Laney didn’t add that she’d gone to save Toby from having to go through it. She was sure Gwen wouldn’t have wanted Toby tested, but Stingwood was definitely nasty enough to do it.
    “Did they find anything?” said Claudia.
    “Not really. I’m not supposed to be the greatest Mist faerie of the century or anything.” Claudia shot Laney a sideways look, her eyes thoughtful.
    They came to the footpath that ran behind the village. From there, they turned up Oldwing Rise and stopped outside Laney’s house.
    “I’ll never get back up there.” Laney looked in despair at her open window. “I don’t want to wake my dad up.”
    “I can help you get back in. Just give me a