Philippa Fisher and the Fairy's Promise by Liz Kessler Read Free Book Online Page B

walked away from the stones, toward the path. If I followed this, at some point I should meet Philippa’s mom, or at least Robyn, coming up the path. What if I’d made a mistake and Philippa’s mom wasn’t going to veer off the path at all? Maybe the SRB was something else. Or perhaps I’d gotten the whole thing wrong and nothing bad was going to happen to her at all!
    Except I knew better than that. I’d seen it. SRB doesn’t make mistakes. Something bad was going to happen soon — unless I stopped it.
    Just then, I heard a noise in the distance. A rustling of footsteps on the path — twigs breaking, mud squelching. Someone was coming toward me!
    I sped up again, hurrying toward the footsteps. Rounding a corner, I saw her.
    “Robyn!” I yelled in utter relief. She was here! I’d found her!
    She peered in my direction through the darkness. Another few steps toward me and she saw me too. “Philippa!” Her face was one enormous beaming smile of relief. She threw her arms around me. “Oh, Philippa, I’ve been so worried. What happened to you? For a moment I thought you’d — well, I’ve been thinking all sorts of ridiculous thoughts! Come on, let’s get back to your parents.”
    “Yes, we have to find Philippa’s mom — and I think she’s on her way here,” I said.
    Robyn laughed. “Philippa’s mom?” she said. “Your mom, you mean.”
    I paused. How was I going to explain this? “Look,” I said. “I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I’m not Philippa.”
    Robyn laughed again. “OK, whatever you say. I’m not Robyn either, then. Who should we be? Catwoman and Wonder Woman? Hey, yeah, that’d be fun. But can I be —”
    “I’m not joking!” I said seriously.
    Robyn looked at me but didn’t say anything.
    “It’s not a game,” I said. “I promise. Philippa did disappear. She went to ATC with me. The poem you read on the stone, about following a fairy around the stones — she followed me!”
    “But — but there was just that funny woman up here with us,” Robyn said. “Wasn’t there?”
    “Yes, it was a woman,” I said. “But that was just a disguise, like this. It’s so that ATC doesn’t catch me and stop me from doing what I’ve come here to do.”
    “So it’s, it really was — you’re —” Robyn stared at me, but didn’t go on.
    “Robyn, it’s me, Daisy,” I said softly. “Philippa’s still at ATC.”
    Robyn nodded silently.
    “She’ll come back soon, I promise, once we’ve figured out how. But I’m here because something really bad is due to happen to her mom any minute now, and we have to stop it.”
    Robyn’s face paled. “What’s going to happen?”
    “I don’t know. But it’s going to happen very, very soon. Philippa says you might be able to lead me to the place we think she might fall. Something to do with flooding and a landslide.”
    In an instant, Robyn’s attitude completely changed. She was in charge now. “Come on,” she said. “I know where you mean. Tell me the rest on the way.”
    And with that, she turned and led the way, and as I followed her, I told her everything — and silently prayed we wouldn’t be too late.
    “Here,” Robyn said after we’d walked for several minutes. We left the path, inching carefully over to the place where the hill fell sharply away to a chasm below.
    “How did that happen?” I asked.
    “There used to be mining caves near here, so the land was already quite unstable, and then whole chunks of it were ripped off in storms last year. That’s why there are signs telling you to stay on the path.”
    “Signs that you can’t see in the dark,” I said.
    “Exactly. If anything’s going to happen to your mom — I mean to Philippa’s mom — this is where it’s likely to happen.”
    I looked down and peered into the darkness below us. What if she was already down there? Perhaps we were too late. We yelled down to see if anyone was there but got no response. So, I checked my MagiCell,