Her voice sounded loud in the empty house, and she flinched. The cloud drifted out of the lounge, and she followed it, snatching up the spell book and her keys as it drifted through the front door! She rushed out and found it hovering just outside. She followed it down the road, and it matched her, pausing if it moved too far ahead.
The route it took was horribly familiar, and within ten minutes she was stood before the school gates. She folded her arms and gave the cloud a look. If it was possible, she thought it was staring straight back, saying, ‘what, you asked for riches?’
She nodded. ‘Fine, very clever. Find me, like, money riches, stuff I can spend.’
The cloud drifted back past her, then across the road and hovered above the gutter. Beneath it lay a penny, which she picked up, ignoring the urge to throw it at the cloud. ‘OK, I get it, you can go away now.’
The cloud vanished and she shivered, wrapping her arms around her. Her school jumper was too tight, it showed off all the fat bits. Mum insisted she wasn’t fat, but then Mum was like, size forty, so she didn’t believe anything she said. It was cold. The summer had ended with a bang, like someone had closed the door marked ‘yay, sunshine’ and opened the one labelled, ‘let’s depress the crap out of everyone.’
She turned for home, took about three steps, and stopped. She’d just done magic. And talked to a cloud. She should probably look it up, or maybe blog about it. Dammit, fricking computer. She pulled the book out, flicking through it as she resumed walking. There had to be something useful in here, maybe a ‘get thin’ spell, or a ‘meet Ariel from the little Mermaid’ spell, something worthwhile.
A cough made her glance up from her book. She could see her house, over the shoulder of the smelly man blocking her way. He wore the clothes of a homeless man. In fact, she was pretty certain he was a homeless man. ‘Help you?’ She tried to step past him and he moved, blocking the pavement. ‘Oi, what the hell?’
‘I saw something. In your house.’
‘When have you been in my house, ewww?’
He shook his head, like a dog, super keen to be believed. ‘I haven’t been in, I meant, through the window, this morning. I saw your mother.’
She slapped him on the arm, and put her hand in her pocket for her phone. ‘You creepy bastard, I’m calling the police.’
He shook his head harder, putting his hands up. ‘Sorry, please, I’m not saying it right. I was just walking past, this morning, and there was light, this blue light, like fire, coming from the lounge. And I looked and your mother was writhing around, in pain I think, then she just… vanished.’
He articulated the last part with his hands, showing something going ‘poof’. The smell was weaker now, and his eyes were sharp, a pale blue that hinted at mysteries. ‘How do you know it was my mum?’
‘Well, she was in your house, Scarlet, so who else was it likely to be?’
Next instalment: Monday 14 October