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

stripes, yes? The colours. But you didn’t picture their exact placement on your face. Always remember, girls, Glamour can do wondrous things, but you have to be
specific
about what you want. Otherwise, it dumps the elements in any old order. As you’re building the buzz,take a moment to picture
exactly
the result you want. Take your time, there’s no rush.’
    ‘It didn’t work for me at all, Miss,’ Una said, frowning into the mirror.
    ‘Me neither,’ said Adie.
    ‘Or me,’ said Grace.
    ‘There’s a knack to catching the buzz,’ Ms Gold replied, ‘so don’t despair. Rachel’s rather unusual – I’ve never seen anyone get it perfect on their first go. Just remember the golden rule of witchcraft–’
    ‘Knowledge equals power,’ said Grace.
    Ms Gold smiled and took Grace’s hands, holding her arms out straight.
    ‘Practice makes perfect.’
    After an hour of Glamouring, Grace still hadn’t managed to give herself bouncing black curls, but she had managed to change her eye colour from green to blue, and had had an interesting blunder when she tried to make her face like a fish, but made it red-brick instead by glancing out of the window at a wall just as she caught the buzz. They were not outstanding achievements, but she felt wonderfully in control . Even though she didn’t always get the result she wanted, the very fact that she could change her appearance made her feel so
witch-like
. Finally, she and the girls were getting somewhere. They weren’t just students learning about plants and fungi and all their properties. They were
witches
. Realwitches, learning real magic. It was bliss.
    ‘Thanks Miss, that was so brilliant!’ chorused the girls, as they prepared to go home.
    ‘Seriously, Miss, that was the best class ever!’ Jenny grinned.
    ‘You’re very welcome, girls. It’s my pleasure.’
    ‘Miss?’ Una said tentatively.
    ‘Yes, Una.’
    ‘What happened to your coven? How come Ms Lemon and Mrs Quinlan won’t let you teach us?’
    Ms Gold’s light-filled eyes darkened as she got up from her chair.
    ‘I don’t want to rake up old graves, there’s no good in it.’ She took a deep breath and gave them a big forced smile. ‘Let’s leave the past in the past, shall we?’

5
OLD SPELLS, LIKE FINE WINES
    Once again, the dense air of Mr Pamuk’s shop was heavy with incense. Grace was wary of being back in the stone cavern and kept a good ten metres distance from the enchanted mirror, where she had seen – what? A terrifying face with weird eyes, a creature that had tried to get her…
    But Ms Lemon had insisted they return to the shop for another visit.
    ‘Best to face your fears,’ she said. ‘Besides, Mr Pamuk is a fountain of information. You’ll need his advice. Not to mention he’s the only decent supplier around here – you can’t be a witch without him.’
    This time the girls were given free rein to wander aroundthe shop as they pleased, picking up items and asking what the more interesting-looking ones were for. Grace thumbed carefully through an ancient spell book. The crunchy brown pages were covered in an indecipherable scrawl of black ink, punctuated with hand-drawn diagrams.
    ‘Do spells go out of date?’ she asked. ‘I mean, we used our ordinary kind of language when we were doing spells. Do the old ones stop working if the language is too old?’
    ‘Not at all,’ said Mr Pamuk. ‘And frequently, like fine wines, spells mature wonderfully with age.’
    ‘Do you mean they become stronger?’
    ‘More potent. Yes, very often. The most successful witches will always include some of the oldest spell books in their libraries.’
    ‘Mr Pamuk, this mirror’s broken.’
    Across the room, Una held up a small mirror with a wooden handle. The face of the mirror was shiny, but showed no reflection.
    ‘Careful, Una!’ said Grace.
    ‘It’s alright, Grace,’ said Ms Lemon. ‘That’s a Penzios Mirror, for Reverse Glamour spells – changing the appearance of