Stardust Read Free

nodded. ‘Yes.’ Lucy quickly flew over to the others.
    â€˜What was that about?’ Allegra demanded.
    â€˜Xanthe looked really serious,’ Ella said.
    â€˜Was it something bad?’ Faye asked, her eyes scanning Lucy’s face.
    Lucy swallowed. ‘Oh, yes. It’s bad.’ As the adults left the clearing, she told the others what Xanthe had said. They were shocked.
    â€˜So that’s what Dan meant when hesaid you were the Last of the Summer Spirits!’ Ella exclaimed.
    â€˜And there’ve been no other summer spirits since you.’ Allegra’s usually mischievous eyes were very serious for once. ‘That’s why you’re so powerful?’ Lucy nodded.
    Faye looked scared. ‘So there are dark spirits trying to catch you?’
    â€˜There might be,’ Lucy replied. ‘Xanthe said that no one knows where they are, but that none of us should go flying on our own.’
    They all glanced round uneasily at the dark trees.
    Allegra squeezed Lucy’s arm. ‘It’ll be OK.’
    Lucy really wished she could believe her.

CHAPTER
Three
    â€˜More toast, Lucy?’ Mrs Evans asked the next morning.
    Lucy started. She had been staring at a box of cornflakes, lost in thoughts about the night before.
    â€˜Lucy?’ her mum said, holding out a piece of toast.
    â€˜Thanks,’ Lucy said. She took it and absent-mindedly started to put chocolate spread on it.
The Last of the Summer Spirits…A great battle for power…An importantrole to play…
Xanthe’s words echoed round in her head.
    â€˜Are you OK, Lucy?’ her mum asked her. ‘You’ve hardly said a word since you got up.’
    â€˜I’m just thinking,’ Lucy replied.
    â€˜Don’t strain your brain,’ teased Rachel, her thirteen-year-old sister who was sitting opposite. ‘So what big important things have you been thinking about? Whether to clean Thumper’s cage out this morning or this afternoon? Or whether to have Coco Pops or Weetabix for your breakfast?’
    Lucy sent her a withering look. If only her sister knew!
    â€˜Oh, stop teasing, Rachel,’ said Hope, who was a year older than Rachel and much easier-going. She started to helpMrs Evans clear away. ‘I hope it doesn’t rain any more today, Mum,’ she said, changing the subject as Lucy and Rachel glared at each other across the table.
    Mrs Evans nodded. ‘The river in the village is really high. If it rains much more it is going to be in danger of flooding. The last time it flooded it was awful. There was lots of damage done. The water got into the ground-floor rooms of everyone’s houses. Cars were flooded. I really hope the rain holds off and the river has a chance to go down.’
    Lucy thought about the river in the woods that had almost flooded the night before. ‘I hope so too,’ she said worriedly.
    Her mum smiled at her. ‘Oh, poppet, there’s no need for you to worry about it.’ She ruffled Lucy’s hair. ‘The weatherforecast said that the next few days should be dry.’
    But what if the forecast is wrong?
Lucy thought, the image of a group of dark spirits drawing down power from the skies filling her mind.
    Allegra came round after breakfast. She and Lucy went outside to see Thumper, Lucy’s rabbit. ‘It’s weird to think that you’re the Last of the Summer Spirits,’ Allegra whispered as she sat on the grass and cuddled the small brown rabbit. ‘I couldn’t sleep last night. I just kept thinking about it.’
    â€˜Me too,’ Lucy admitted, unclipping the water battle to refill it. ‘Your mum even said I might be involved in a battle.’
    Allegra stroked Thumper, looking worried. ‘There might not be. The starsonly tell of things that might happen. Nothing’s definite.’
    â€˜But what if it does?’ Lucy said.
    Mrs Evans came out to take in some washing that was