Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day. Dominique Valente

      If I’m not back in a week, please visit Wheezy for me. He likes the red Leighton apples, and won’t be fooled by the green gumbos.

      Love,

      Willow

      Leaving the note on the kitchen table, she tried not to think of what her father would say when he got home. Or what he would do to her when he realised that she wasn’t with her mother and sisters at the travelling fair. There was no point in thinking about it.

      Borrowed trouble. That’s what her dad called it. He always said that the god Wol provided enough daily things to worry about and there was no use borrowing tomorrow’s troubles as well. Though Willow doubted he’d appreciate her using his own logic against him.

      Green hairy bag in hand, she whispered a warning to Oswin to keep quiet or she’d hand him over to Moreg Vaine for her ginger pickling, and with slightly trembling knees she closed the cottage door.

      ‘Ready?’ asked Moreg, who eyed the bag with some surprise, though she didn’t comment.

      Willow definitely didn’t feel ready.

      

       4

       The Portal Pantry

      As Willow followed the witch down the lane, leaving the cottage behind, there was a small part of her that wished one of her sisters – preferably Camille – would walk past just then. She thought how nice it would be to tell her that the most revered witch in all of Starfell needed her help.

      But of course they passed no one. They walked along the winding dirt road that led away from Grinfog and its rolling fields and orchards. It forked left towards the shadowy woods that loomed on the horizon – woods that Willow had always been encouraged to stay out of.

      ‘This way,’ said Moreg, and Willow bit her lip nervously before she followed. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Wheezy, the Jensens’ retired show horse, standing forlornly in his field down in the valley with his purple wool blanket on his flanks. She supposed dismally, her knees trembling, that of course the witch would go through the dark woods rather than through the main roads that led out of Grinfog. From the slightly shaking carpetbag in her hands she could tell that Oswin was thinking the same thing.

      As she turned to follow the witch into the woods a raven circled above their heads, making a strange, haunting cry. In the distance more ravens appeared. Willow couldn’t hide a shudder, but Moreg looked up and smiled as if they were all old friends. Catching sight of Willow’s face, the witch said, ‘You know, a group of ravens are often called an “unkindness of ravens”, but I prefer the less well-known term, a conspiracy.’

      Willow frowned, her eyes following the birds as they circled. A conspiracy didn’t sound much better. As she stared she saw one particular bird edge closer to Moreg; it looked different to the others, as if one of its wings was made of ink or smoke. Before Willow could comment, Moreg held up one long slim finger, and the bird vanished with a rapid beat of its black wings. Willow swallowed, eyeing Moreg warily. Had she made the bird disappear with a simple lift of a finger?

      ‘Come on,’ said Moreg almost nonchalantly. ‘We’ll stop a bit later for the night.’

      As Willow followed the witch she thought about some of the other rumours she’d heard about Moreg over the years – like that she kept ravens, and that they carried her beneath Starfell into Netherfell so that she could dance with the dead. She darted a glance at Moreg and thought about asking if any of that was true, but then, catching sight of the witch’s face, she changed her mind just as fast.

      There was so much, though, that she did want to know. Like … did the witch really live in the Mists of Mitlaire – the fog that drove most people insane? Did she have several magical abilities as some had said? Or was that just a rumour, like the one Oswin had told her about the witch pickling children in ginger … which she still hoped was untrue.

      They had been walking for nearly a mile through deep, dark woods, the air smelling of pine and moss and the cold and damp inching along Willow’s toes, when Moreg slowed down. ‘We’ll be heading to the city of Beady Hill in the morning,’ she said. ‘It was the last known address of the forgotten teller we need, but it’s some distance away – so we’ll need a bit of help getting there.’

      Willow wondered if she meant that they needed to catch a coach. But she had hoped that just maybe her adventure with Moreg would involve a bit of broom flying … so she dared to ask, ‘Um, you … erm, don’t want to fly?’

      Moreg stared at her and Willow felt her cheeks burn slightly. But then the witch nodded. ‘I would. I had a flying carpet for a while – quite rare, you know. A three-seater, once belonging to a Tetan king, I believe, but that’s long gone now. Flew away right off the line, no doubt furious that it had been washed. Old carpets can be quite tetchy. Ordinarily I don’t do brooms. I’ve never found one I really liked – it’s such a stereotype, if you ask me, witches and brooms … Same with the hat. Never wear one if I can help it.’

      Willow supposed that when she thought ‘witch’ a picture of a broomstick did float into her mind. Although, admittedly, the few witches she had met only owned a broom that did nothing more remarkable than sweep, but she had hoped that Moreg Vaine would be the exception. After all, she was Moreg Vaine.

      ‘I’ve always wanted to try a flying broom,’ admitted Willow, who’d long wished for one of her own, and couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. If ever there was a time for a flying broom, surely saving the world was it.

      Moreg looked at her, shrugged and said, ‘Well, I suppose time is of the essence, and we are going past Radditch in any case …’

      Willow blinked. Radditch … Something tugged at the corner of her mind. Weren’t the people there known for something? Something to do with making things fly? A faint curl of hope expanded in her chest. Was the witch saying what she thought?

      ‘So, despite my misgivings, I think we’ll have to get some brooms, yes.’ Moreg didn’t look all that happy about it, though. ‘First thing in the morning.’

      Willow let out a small whoop of glee, and did a little jig, which made Oswin huff inside the carpetbag. She schooled herself fast when Moreg blinked at her in surprise.

      ‘Um,’ said Willow, clearing her throat self-consciously. ‘Oh, okay, if you really think that’s best.’

      Dusk was setting as, sometime later, Willow and Moreg entered a fragrant wood. They walked on until they came across a small clearing covered in purple clover, where Moreg told her they’d be stopping for the night. ‘We’ll make an early start to Radditch tomorrow.’

      Despite the promise of acquiring flying broomsticks, Willow was grateful to rest for the night. Her feet were sore, and she was tired and hungry. She set her carpetbag down, and then did a double-take when she saw what Moreg was doing. Seemingly, from out of nowhere, the witch had whipped out a large cast-iron pot, which she placed over an odd violet-hued flame that was suspended in mid-air. ‘I hope you like nettle stew – it shouldn’t take too long.’

      ‘H-how did you do that?’ exclaimed Willow.

      Moreg waved a palm distractedly while testing the stew with a wooden spoon, and muttering, ‘Needs salt, definitely.’ She patted the front of her cloak, reached inside, and withdrew a small ceramic pot from which she took a pinch of salt and sprinkled it into the pot. Then, seeing Willow’s bemused stare, she said quite nonchalantly, ‘Oh this? Been cooking all day.’

      Willow blinked. What?

      Moreg,