Stardust Read Online Free PDF Page B

were in the middle of our stardust clearing. Someone else would have noticed something.’
    â€˜But if it’s not a dark spirit doing it, why is it happening?’ asked Lucy.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ Xanthe replied. ‘The only thing that I can think of is that sometimes magic can be unpredictable. It doesn’t always work as it should. Maybe that’s allthat’s happening. Let’s not get too worried about it. Hopefully it won’t happen again.’
    But it did. Twice over the next three nights Lucy’s magic stopped working. Lucy tried not to get too worried about it, but it was hard. On the fourth day, she was trying to burn a pile of old branches to tidy up the stardust clearing. There was no one suspicious anywhere nearby, just a couple of teenage spirits who nudged each other when they saw that her magic wasn’t working, and Joanna, Robyn and Allegra.
    As Lucy felt the familiar blocking sensation in her mind, she threw up her hands in despair. ‘It’s happening again!’
    â€˜Oh dear, Lucy,’ said Joannasympathetically. ‘You poor thing.’ She turned to Robyn. ‘Why don’t you burn the branches instead, darling?’
    Tears of frustration sprang into Lucy’s eyes.
    Robyn lit the fire and then glanced at her mum. ‘Can we go?’ she said, her voice unusually serious. ‘I want to talk to you about something.’

    Joanna smiled. ‘We can talk later, Robyn.’
    â€˜No, Mum,’ Robyn insisted. ‘I want to talk now.’
    Joanna paused and then gave in. ‘All right. See you later, girls.’ She and Robyn flew off.
    Lucy rubbed her forehead. ‘I think I’ll go home, Allegra.’
    â€˜Now?’ Allegra said. ‘But it’s still quite early.’
    â€˜I know,’ Lucy said unhappily. ‘But I don’t feel like doing any more magic tonight.’
    â€˜OK, I’ll come back with you,’ Allegra said.
    â€˜No, you stay.’
    â€˜But you shouldn’t go on your own,’ protested Allegra.
    â€˜I’ll camouflage myself,’ said Lucy. ‘I’llbe all right. I’ll fly back as fast as I can.’
    To her relief, Allegra seemed to understand she wanted to be on her own. ‘OK.’
    â€˜Thanks.’ Lucy forced a smile. ‘Camouflagus,’ she whispered.
    Her body instantly disappeared against the starry sky. All stardust spirits could camouflage themselves, vanishing into the background, becoming almost invisible.
    She began to fly home, her thoughts racing in worried circles. Why wasn’t her magic working? Was Xanthe right? Was it nothing to worry about or was there something more sinister happening? Her magic had never stopped working before now. If it was a dark spirit, what were they trying to do?
    If it’s to freak me out, it’s working
, Lucy thought unhappily. She was beginning to dread doing magic in case nothing happened.
    Her eyes caught a flash of gold in the trees beneath her. She flew lower. Joanna and Robyn were facing each other in the alder grove. Lucy was about to fly on, but then she caught sight of Robyn’s face. Robyn was looking intently at Joanna. Lucy felt curious. What were they talking about? Their voices floated up to her.
    â€˜Please, Mum,’ she heard Robyn saying. ‘You’ve got to stop it!’
    â€˜No,’ Joanna said.
    â€˜But, Mum…’
    â€˜Don’t interfere, Robyn,’ Joanna said firmly. ‘I know what’s best.’
    â€˜But Lucy’s…’
    Lucy started as she heard her own name, but before Robyn could finish what she was going to say, Joanna cut across her. ‘Robyn! That’s enough! You know I’m only doing this for you.’
    â€˜But I don’t want you to,’ Robyn said miserably. ‘I like Lucy.’
    â€˜I know, but don’t you see…’ Joanna suddenly broke off and looked up as if she had heard