Wolf Notes and Other Musical Mishaps (19 page)

“You can’t go,” said Yann. “You only get one chance to enter the Storm Singer competition, Rona, and if you win that, it’s your only chance to
become Sea Herald. You can’t be late. I’ll go.”

“No,” said Helen. “I’ll go. You two get to the competition at your own speeds, and I’ll check out this possible spy.”

“If you find a spy, Helen, what will you do?” demanded Yann. “If you find a kraken or blue man, a sea kelpie or sea serpent, a nuckelavee or giant eel, what will you do?”

Helen frowned at Yann’s scary list, then shrugged. “See if they need a plaster? Play them a solo on my fiddle?” She patted the violin case on her back.

“Don’t joke, human girl. The edge where sea and land meet may be a holiday destination to you, but like any joining of two worlds, it draws evil beings from both.”

Helen grinned. “I’ve dealt with a power-hungry minotaur and a child-stealing Faery Queen in the last year. I can sneak up on a seaside spy.”

Rona wailed, “But if
you
go, Helen, you won’t hear me sing!”

“Yes, I will. Your volume and confidence have improved so much in the last two days, I’d hear you even if I was still in Taltomie.”

Rona blushed. “Do you think so? If I’m louder and more confident, it’s because of your coaching. You’re much better at performing than me.”

“You write better music, so it evens out. Now get going, and I’ll track down your mystery guest. I’ll probably be in the audience in time for your songs, and if not, just project loudly enough to reach me wherever I am. Good luck!”

They hugged, and Rona smiled. “I’ll get to
Geodha Oran faster without you two anyway.”

She ran down to the sea’s edge, pulled her furry rucksack off, flapped it open, and swung the sealskin cloak over her shoulders. She shimmered in the sunlight reflecting off the sea, crouched on the rocks, then bounced into the water.

A seal.

She waved a fin, and swam off.

Helen turned to Yann. “You carry on along the seaweed, while I go on this wild-goose chase.”

“If it’s something as small as a wild goose that’s been covering its tracks, I’ll be delighted. Anyway, I’m coming with you.”

“You’re as wobbly as a newborn foal on these rocks. What use will you be?”

“The creature isn’t on these rocks. The patches of cleared sand lead up the beach, towards that cliff. Even if it isn’t doing anything sinister, it seems to be taking an inland route to the venue. So I’ll get there faster and safer by following it.”

Once Yann had struggled to the base of the cliff, he pointed up the steep rock wall. “A path, with more brush marks. Let’s climb up.”

Now it was Helen’s turn to feel insecure. Yann trotted up the gritty narrow path like a goat, while Helen concentrated on every step.

When they got near the top, Helen whispered, “I’ll peek over, I’m smaller and quieter than you.”

She edged past Yann and saw an expanse of pale salt-blown grass, with grey rocks scattered along the cliff edge as if they’d been tossed there by storms. “It’s clear. Nothing here.”

Yann stepped up, and checked the landscape
carefully, just in case Helen had missed a sea monster right in front of her. He nodded. “It’s clear, and I can’t see any tracks on this grass. Let’s go towards Geodha Oran. If this creature is watching the contest, we’ll spot it on the way.”

As they followed the jutting and jagged coastline, Helen asked, “What’s a Sea Herald?”

“Pardon?”

“I thought Rona was competing in the selkies’ Storm Singer competition, but you said this was her only chance to become a Sea Herald. What did you mean?”

“Hasn’t she told you, all those mornings you’ve spent screeching on the beach?”

Helen shook her head, and Yann smiled down at her, like he always did when he explained something Helen didn’t know.

“This afternoon’s competition, ignorant human child, is just for selkies competing to become a Storm Singer, the highest level of sea singer. Today’s victor then enters a contest between selkies and other sea tribes, to become Sea Herald. Hardly any Storm Singers get the chance to be Sea Herald, because these contests are held very rarely, so Rona is under a lot of pressure to win.

“Her mum and two cousins are Storm Singers. Her great-grandmother was a Sea Herald. Rona has a family reputation to uphold. Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell you, in case it made you both nervous.”

Helen frowned. “She did say it was a family tradition to win the Storm Singer competition. She’s wearing the dress her mum wore when she
won. But she didn’t say that if she wins she’ll have to enter another competition! I don’t know if I can coach her through more songs. She gets so
anxious
!”

“You won’t have to. The Sea Herald contest isn’t a performance, it’s a race and a quest. If she becomes a Storm Singer with your help, she’ll need my help to become Sea Herald.”

“Rona? In a race and a quest? You’re kidding!”

Helen wished she hadn’t given Rona so much advice on performing. Perhaps Rona would be happier if she didn’t win this competition, then she wouldn’t have to endure another one.

But Rona’s greatest pleasure was to write and sing songs, and the winning Storm Singer was invited to sing at lots of fabled beast gatherings.

Then Helen heard distant voices and faint laughter.

“We’re nearly there,” said Yann. “Let’s find a place we can watch as well as listen.”

“What about the …?”

Suddenly they both saw it.

A rock, on the cliff edge.

A pool of shadow behind the rock.

A shape, shifting, in the shadow.

Helen and Yann stopped.

The figure moved round the rock, peered down at the crowd below, and the bright afternoon sunlight touched its head.

Helen and Yann gasped.

First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts

Helen doesn’t want to become a vet like her mother so when an injured horse turns up on her doorstep she isn’t pleased. Only this horse isn’t entirely normal … and nor are his friends.

Suddenly, Helen is thrust into an extraordinary world of magic, fantastical creatures and a dangerous beast known as the Master. Can Helen work out the riddles and help her friends find the Book of Wisdom before the Winter Solstice?

Storm Singing and Other Tangled Tasks

A centaur, a selkie, a fairy and a phoenix — Helen has unusual friends. And in the third book in the
First Aid for Fairies
series, they face some even stranger opponents. Helen must help Rona the selkie to win the storm singing competition, and stop the deep sea powers from going to war. But who is trying to sabotage the competition and why?

Rocking Horse War

Pearl’s brother and sisters have disappeared
leaving
three missing rocking horses and some strange hoofprints on the lawn. She sets out to find them, but Thomas, a mysterious boy with extraordinary talents, has different plans. As powerful land magicians turn the mountains against her, can Pearl save the triplets from their unknown fate?