“Bracken!” Maia yelled at exactly the same time as Ionie called Sorrel’s name. Bracken and Sorrel appeared instantly. At the same moment, the pine needles suddenly stopped whirling and fell motionless to the floor.
Bracken growled and leaped at one figure while Sorrel sprang towards the other.
“Bind them all!” the figure closest to the path cried.
Creepers wrapped round Sorrel and Bracken.
The trees near to the path started to shake. Maia suddenly realized this was a warning to the figure – that Sita and Lottie must be coming after them. “Si—” she started to shout.
The figure snapped her fingers. A creeper thwacked over Maia’s mouth, cutting off her warning. Looking round, she saw one cover Ionie’s mouth, too, and two more wrap round Bracken and Sorrel’s muzzles.
Sita and Lottie stepped through the trees with Willow and Juniper beside them. Their mouths fell open in horror as they saw Maia and Ionie and the animals imprisoned by creepers. Lottie used her magic and leaped forwards. In a second she was beside Maia and Ionie, trying to free them.
“I comm—” Sita began to say.
The figure hissed a word and a tree branch swept down. It hit Sita hard, knocking her on the head. She collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Creepers instantly twined round her, covering her mouth.
“Sita!” Maia tried to cry but all that came out was a muffled sound.
“Bind the rest, too!” ordered the figure, and before Lottie could do anything creepers snapped over her and Sita’s wrists and ankles, and caught Juniper and Willow, as well.
The figure laughed. “How predictable. You each acted just as I thought you would. Did you actually think you could stop me with your feeble Star Magic?”
Maia frowned. The voice was frustratingly familiar. Who was it? And what about the other figure – the black-haired one who was now standing so silently?
“You can’t bind us!” Sorrel hissed.
The Star Animals vanished to nothing in a swirl of starlight, leaving their creepers in coils on the floor. Maia was glad they had got free but she suddenly felt horribly lonely without Bracken there. Squirming wildly, she managed to prise away the creeper covering her mouth.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“Do you really not know?” The figure laughed in amusement and shook the hood back, revealing her face, framed by blond shoulder-length hair.
“Esther!” Maia felt as if she had just had a bucket of cold water tipped over her. Beside her, she heard the others gasp, too.
“Yes, it’s me.” Esther smiled.
Maia looked round at the other figure – the silent black-haired one. “So, who’s that?”
“I think you’ve met my cat?” Esther clicked her fingers and the other figure pushed its hood back, revealing Essie’s dad.
“Your … your cat?” Maia said in confusion, wondering what Esther was talking about.
Esther smirked and clicked her fingers. In front of Maia’s astonished eyes, Essie’s dad changed shape, shrinking and becoming the family’s black-haired, green-eyed cat. It shook itself and stalked towards Esther with a meow.
“I don’t actually have a husband,” said Esther. “I needed one at times, to drop Essie off at school and things like that so I used Oscar, my cat, as a stand-in. Isn’t it amazing what you can do with magic?”
Maia’s head whirled. So that was why Essie’s dad had always seemed so odd! He wasn’t human!
Lottie managed to wriggle free from the creeper covering her mouth. “Why?” she burst out. “Why are you doing all this?”
Esther smiled. “Because I can,” she said.
Maia felt warm breath on her ankles and jumped. Glancing down, she saw Bracken. He had managed to sneak back and had crept through the undergrowth to her and now, hidden by the leaves, he was gnawing at the creepers tying her ankles. His indigo eyes silently met Maia’s. She didn’t dare say a word in case she gave him away. If he could free her then maybe she could free the others – or attack Esther in some way.
Esther was walking up and down in front of them. “Have you any idea how much money you can make with dark magic? I discovered early on that plants have the power to make people look younger. If I take the life force from a plant and make a potion with it, then add just one tiny drop into each batch of face cream, the face cream will really work. It actually can make those wrinkles melt away.” She looked around the clearing. “This place – this clearing – contains astonishingly powerful magic. I realized it when I came here for a visit last autumn. I decided to move back and ever since I started using these plants and trees in my products, they have worked better than ever.” She smirked. “Of course, the latest batch of face cream has had some rather amusing side effects that I’ll have to iron out before I sell it to the wider public. But it has been fun seeing the parents in Westcombe revert back into teenagers – really becoming younger!”
“So, that’s what’s been going on!” Maia realized. “Everyone who has been using the face cream has not just been looking younger but they’ve also been acting younger?”
“Yes, the effect only lasts as long as they use the cream but it’s been amusing to watch. There will be consequences from the meetings that have been missed, the responsibilities that have not been met. Upset will follow for some time to come. Just like with the dreamcatchers I gave to you two and Tara. They brought their own problems to your families, didn’t they?” She chuckled darkly. Maia felt the creeper around her ankles give way and Bracken started on her wrists.
“But why would you want to cause problems for our families?” Lottie said.
Esther’s eyes narrowed. “Your mothers were geeks. They weren’t supposed to be the success stories and end up with perfect lives.” Her voice grew bitter. “I couldn’t believe it when I came back and saw how well they had done for themselves. I wanted to upset them. I was the popular one at school. I was supposed to be happy and successful. Not them.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. You are successful,” said Lottie, mystified. “You’ve got your business – even if it’s based on dark magic – and you’ve got…” She looked at the cat. “Well, not a husband, but you’ve got Essie. What will she think if she finds out about all of this?”
Esther started to laugh. “Oh, Lottie. You think you’re so smart, don’t you? You’re just like your mum – she always thought she was cleverer than everyone else, too. But you’re not clever enough. Have you really not realized the truth?” She pulled a small gold bottle out of her pocket and held it up. “Taking the life force from the plants to make anti-ageing products may be dark magic but it’s nowhere near as dark as the potion I made and put into this little bottle.” She held the bottle up. “This is a real anti-ageing potion.”
“What do you mean?” said Maia uneasily.
“Watch,” Esther said, her blue eyes glittering. She put the bottle to her lips and drank, and in front of their horrified eyes Esther started to shiver and tremble and change – into Essie…
