The Broken Spell by Erika McGann Read Free Book Online Page A

bustle of chatter and noisy furniture, then sat in silence.
    ‘Home time, girls,’ the teacher said.
    Grace didn’t answer. She stared at her hands on the table.
    ‘Girls,’ Ms Gold said again. ‘It’s time to go home.’
    ‘Do we have to, Miss?’
    Ms Gold sighed and sat on the edge of her desk.
    ‘Are you worried about that window?’ she asked. ‘I promise I won’t tell anyone.’
    ‘It’s not that, Miss,’ Grace replied, still staring at her fingernails . ‘It’s just that… we were wondering if you could…’
    ‘Couldn’t
you
teach us, Miss?’ Rachel interrupted. ‘Magic, I mean.’
    ‘Beth and Vera are tutoring you,’ Ms Gold said, ‘and they want to keep it that way. I would love to help, I really would. But they’d never allow it.’
    ‘We wouldn’t have to tell them, Miss. We could keep it a secret.’
    ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’
    ‘Please, Miss,’ Adie said gently.
    The woman sighed again and stared into space for a moment. Grace gazed pleadingly at her when she looked at them again.
    ‘Small things,’ Ms Gold said quickly. ‘Just a few small, harmless bits and pieces. The big stuff I’ll leave to them. Agreed?’
    ‘Yes! Agreed!’

    The following evening, the five girls assembled for their first lesson with Ms Gold.
    ‘Now where shall we start?’ she said, smiling.
    All five girls were huddled around one desk, shuffling their feet with excitement.
    ‘Something lovely,’ said Una. ‘The golden butterflies!’
    ‘Hmm,’ Ms Gold frowned. ‘That’s a little complicated. Youneed a good grip on your surroundings for that one. How about we start a little smaller. With yourselves.’
    ‘With us?’
    ‘The easiest thing to keep control over – yourself. Let’s try a little Glamour.’
    ‘You mean like making ourselves pretty?’ said Rachel. ‘Yeah!’
    ‘Or ugly, or old, or animal-like,’ said Ms Gold ‘Whatever you want. Glamour is like a sheet between you and the rest of the world, and you can draw whatever you like on it. It doesn’t require a potion or anyone else to help. It’s just you and your imagination.’
    ‘Brilliant!’
    ‘Hands out like this,’ Ms Gold straightened her arms in front and spread her fingers. ‘Repeat after me:
Faciem occulta,
personam ostende
. Feel that tiny buzz beneath your fingertips? You need to keep hold of that and build it up. Wiggle your fingers.’
    Una started to flap her hands around.
    ‘
Gently
!’ said Ms Gold. ‘Gently, at first. Still got it? Right, wiggle a little more now. The buzz should feel stronger, it should be spreading up to your knuckles. Is everyone following me?’
    Five heads nodded.
    ‘Right, here comes the difficult part. You want to tip that buzz into your hands and use it before it falls out. So, whenyou’re ready, I want you to take a deep breath, picture
very
clearly in your mind what you want to see in the mirror, scoop your hands up and over your face, keeping your fingers moving all the time – hold on to that buzz – and ripple your hands down without touching your skin. Everyone ready? Then let’s go for it. Scoop and ripple down the face!’
    Grace’s heart was racing as she pictured herself with thick, bouncy locks of curly black hair. However, as she lifted her fingers, she felt the buzzing slip down the sides of her hands and disappear altogether.
    ‘Very good, Rachel!’ Ms Gold exclaimed. ‘Goodness me, you’re a natural Glamourer.’
    Grace opened her eyes to see Rachel’s were a deep shade of purple. Her hair had zipped itself into a stylish bob, and her teeth were blindingly white.
    ‘Mine didn’t work right, Miss,’ Jenny said, leaning over to scrutinise her reflection in the hand mirror in the centre of the desk. It looked like she had meant to give herself tiger stripes, but the orange, white and black had spread across her face in uneven blotches.
    ‘Ah,’ the teacher replied, ‘that’s lack of clarity in your self-imaging . You imagined the