Silver Hill by Catherine Cooper Read Free Book Online Page B

looked different and there wasn’t even a moon tonight. He knew they didn’t have enough time to get lost.
    ‘What are we waiting for?’ asked Camelin.
    Jack was relieved when Camelin took off from the bell tower. All he had to do now was follow.
    As they flew over the fields Jack peered down but he couldn’t see any of the familiar landmarks. After a while he began to enjoy the flight. The weight of responsibility seemed to lift from his shoulders, he felt carefree and elated. He tried to bring his thoughts back to their problem but the raven part of him took over.
    ‘Whee!’ he croaked as a sudden impulse overtook him and he flew past Camelin on his back.
    ‘Thought you couldn’t do that?’
    ‘There’s nothing to fly into here.’
    Jack became aware of Timmery flitting round his head.
    ‘I thought you were having a ride?’
    ‘I thought so too but I wasn’t holding on tightly enough. Do you think you could warn me the next time you’re going to turn over?’
    ‘Sorry, I don’t know what got into me.’
    Camelin sniggered.
    ‘Come on, race you.’
    It wasn’t a fair race. Camelin didn’t wait until Timmery had reattached himself. Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to beat Camelin but it did feel good to speed through the air. Occasionally Camelin flew upwards in a wide arc and did a triple loop-the-loop.
    After a while Jack’s bones began to ache. He hoped it wasn’t much further. He’d been concentrating so hard on flying he’d not taken much notice of the landscape but even in the dark, he could see they were approaching a long stony ridge. Strange rock formations stood jagged and black on the horizon. He suddenly realised it was the same one his Book of Shadows had shown him. Jack felt a shudder run down his back. The place hadn’t looked too bad in his bedroom but now, as they flew towards it, he suddenly felt threatened.
    ‘What’s that place?’ he called to Camelin. ‘Over there on the horizon.’
    ‘They’re the crags of Stonytop Ridge. You don’t want to go up there after dark, especially on a moonless night.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Don’t you know anything? Some of those rocks aren’t what they seem to be.’
    ‘How would I know, I’ve never heard of Stonytop Ridge before.’
    Jack heard Timmery’s shrill voice in the still night air:
‘ When lightning flashes in a thunderstorm,
On Stonytop Ridge a Hag is born .’
    Jack shuddered again. He didn’t like the look of the crags or the sound of Stonytop at all. He looked at the sky, it might be dark but at least there was no sign of a storm.
    Camelin flew alongside.
    ‘It’s Hag country, all round here. That rhyme’s as old as the crags themselves. Some say they come to life on stormy nights. There’ll be a crash of thunder, a flash of lightning, an ear-splitting crack, then bang! One minute you’re looking at a rock, the next it’s a Hag. All the bits of shattered stone up there are the remains of rocks that have exploded.’
    Jack didn’t doubt there was some truth to what Camelin was saying. He knew mountaintops and ridges weren’t safe places to be in any kind of a thunderstorm, moon or no moon.
    ‘Do you think it’s true?’
    ‘Don’t know, but it’s where Hags go when they all get together, especially on moonless nights. You’d have a problem telling the difference between some of those rocks and Hags in the dark.’
    Jack shuddered as he remembered their encounter with Finnola Fytche.
    ‘We’d better stay well away. The one Hag we’ve already met was one too many for me.’
    Jack was glad Camelin didn’t disagree.
    ‘Are we nearly there?’ asked Timmery.
    ‘We are,’ shouted Camelin as he tilted his wings and began his descent. ‘Westwood Roost here we come!’
    Jack could see the mouth of the cave as they came into land. Its gaping black mouth looked menacing. They were on their own this time: no magic, no Nora or Elan to help. Jack desperately tried to think of a plan. Neither he nor Camelin could see