The Monster of Shiversands Cove Read Free

furious.
    â€˜There is NO SUCH THING as magic eyes . . . or fairies,’ I yelled, right in Magnus’s face. ‘But there IS such a thing as stupid little four-year-olds who should LOOK where they ARE GOING!’
    Claudia stepped in front of me and glared up at me. She wagged her finger. ‘You should
not
shout at little children,’ she said, hands on hips.
    Then, she grabbed Magnus by the arm. ‘Come on, Magnus,’ she said, ‘we are going
to tame
that fairy. We’ll have a tea party for it.’
    She turned, stuck her nose in the air and glared at me again. ‘And
you
are not invited,’ she said, as she dragged Magnus off.
    * * *
    That night, Magnus was sitting up in bed, staring at his fairy-spotting guide. One small finger slowly moving across the page, his mouth making word shapes.
    Magnus can’t actually read. Not properly, not yet but, then, he doesn’t need to. He knows his fairy-spotting guide off by heart. Mum or Dad read it to him most nights.
    He snapped the book shut when he saw me and beamed.
    â€˜Stan,’ he said. ‘Isn’t this a lovely holiday? When I was with Claudia today, we
did
find a fairy! We did! At last!’
    Now, Magnus propped himself up on his pillow, beaming even more. ‘We are calling our fairy Harry,’ he said. ‘And Claudia says that two lovely little children like us will definitely be able to tame Harry.’
    I got into bed, hoping Magnus would shut up soon.
    He didn’t.
    â€˜Claudia says that when we tame Harry, we can
share
Harry,’ he said. ‘And Harry can sleep one night at her holiday home, then one night here.’
    I felt my teeth beginning to grind but Magnus hadn’t finished.
    â€˜And we can do a drawing of Harry,’ he said. ‘Because, Stan, we can’t take a picture of Harry. Fairies get very upset if little children take pictures of them. Fairies don’t like it. Fairies get scared when the light flashes in their faces. Fairy Fenella says.’
    I felt my teeth grind more but Magnus
still
hadn’t finished.
    â€˜And when we do the drawing we are going to send it to Fairy Fenella and get a Fairy Fenella badge,’ he said proudly. ‘Because, Stan, Fairy Fenella gives lovely badges to children who send her things. Claudia already has a bronze Fairy Fenella badge for making a tiny handbag out of felt and glue, for a fairy. So this time, Claudia might get a
silver
Fairy Fenella badge. And if this is a magic hotspot – because Fairy Fenella says there
are
magic hotspots, Stan, special places where magic is extra strong – we might find more fairies. Or even some little elves . . .’
    Now, this was the point where I snapped. I could
not
help it. Magnus was going on and on and
on
. And there I was, stuck listening with no Rory and no friends my own age. Just two weeks of listening to Magnus.
And
Claudia.
    â€˜If this
is
a magic hotspot,’ I snapped, ‘there won’t just be fairies or mermaids or elves, there’ll be a monsters too.’
    I know. I
know
. It was mean but I just could
not
help it.
    Magnus looked at me and tittered. ‘Stan, you’re being a silly again,’ he said, wagging his finger. ‘There are
no
monsters. Monsters lived in the olden days. They’re all gone now. Fairy Fenella said.’
    â€˜Fairy Fenella is
lying
,’ I said. ‘She doesn’t want to scare you. There are monsters, loads of them. Human monsters, like Medusa.’
    â€˜Medusa?’ said Magnus, eyes popping.
    â€˜A lady monster who is
so terrifyingly ugly
that little kids turn to stone
forever
when they see her,’ I said. ‘And then there are trolls. Trolls used to just live in Norway, but not any more. Now lots of trolls have moved here and trolls stuff little kids inside giant pitta breads and eat them with herrings and salad
three times
a day.’
    Magnus was staring at me, silently,