CROSSING THE HEDGE

“I’m just a girl

with dreams & nightmares,
wishes come true,
‘shape-shifters’
me & you.”

Written by Jemma & Ginny Castle

© Copyright
AGES 9 and up

Written and illustrated by Jemma & Ginny Castle

This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, and real locales are
used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s
imagination, and any resemblance to actual events of locales or persons, living or dead, is purely
co-incidental.

Copyright © 2009 Jemma & Ginny Castle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means or manner whatsoever (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of author. Except in the case
of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

The moral right of the authors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by
them in accordance with relevant Copyright, Designs and Patents Acts.

This book is available subject to the condition that is shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the author’s prior consent in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser.

Summary
Faye is just an ordinary girl. At least that’s what she thought.
Of course she had ideas and interests but she never imagined that being curious could lead her on
such a path of no return by crossing the hedge.

After that, things would never be the same.

~Page 2~
 CHAPTER 1

“Kittens are wide-eyed, soft and sweet.

With needles in their jaws and feet.”
~Pam Brown

“Its all perfectly true,…..Luna” she conspired with her pure

white kitten.

Thumping the thick book down on the windowsill, she read

the title out aloud - “The Worlds Best Fairy Tales by Readers
Digest”.

It was actually quite difficult to find a place to put the book

down. There were old mugs of half drunk tea littering every
surface, as well as soft toys and beach shells. The book was
extremely heavy and so it landed hard where it did and
stayed put -….after wobbling a little.

“You know what, Luna?” she pondered, “if I had only one
wish in all the world, I would wish to have the ability to
change into any animal I wanted, whenever I wanted”.

“That’s not too much to ask, is it” she continued.

“Not too much at all”, replied the purring bundle of fluff.

Not hearing her kitten, for it largely resembled purring, Faye

daydreamed a little to herself.

~Page 3~
It had all begun with a book she had read recently called
‘Animorph’. It was about some kids and some aliens and the
kids had been able to change into animals.

It has stayed in her mind and from being a daydream it had

become an obsession.

The truth is that even before she had read the book she had
be obsessed with animals and dreaming of turning into an
animal.

She sighed heavily and collapsed on the bed. The purple

striped duvet folded in around her and the old bed sank a
little. Lying there with her head on her arms she drifted off
into sleep.

The deep, rhythmic purring of her kitten stopped abruptly

and the room was filled with silence.

~Page 4~
 CHAPTER TWO

“Many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares,

where there is a danger of their coming true! “
~Logan Pearsall Smith

Faye felt as if her heart had stopped and her throat closed up.
She struggled to breath. She was running into the deep,
darkness of the night. She did not know where she was and
was struggling to find her bearings. The last thing she
remembered was lying down on her bed in broad daylight.

It had been a lovely sunny afternoon and she had made

herself a cup of apple juice before settling down with a faerie
book and a purring kitten.

Normally she would have been outdoors but this was not a
normal afternoon.

Her parents were unexpectedly away, leading an anxiously

awaited, full-week kayaking trip with some tourists. Though
this was their livelihood, Faye and Luc were unaccustomed to
being left totally alone. They were both responsible though
and her older brother had been left in charge.

John, their neighbour was also close-by if there was any need
and he was really nice.

~Page 5~
Luckily for her, Luc was not an overbearing sibling and he had
soon left her to do her own thing after checking that her
mobile was full charged and she had promised to keep it with
her.

He had gone off skateboarding with a couple of his friends at

the cage. The cage was an abandoned tennis court at the
edge of the village, near the old school. The school had
closed down four years ago as the local council had decided
there were too few children to keep it going.

The remaining 10 children on the island were now either

homeschooled or had gone to boarding school on the
mainland.

Luckily for Faye and Luc they were homeschooled, via a

computer-based tutor program, whilst their parents tried to
eke out a living on their island. For the majority of the time
their parents were around and about if they needed help, but
occasionally during the long summer months they would be
lucky enough to have a group of tourists who would pay a lot
of money to travel to the Far Isles, by kayak.

Having completed their studies during the morning, Luc and

his friends had gone off to enjoy the afternoon together.

Unfortunately for Faye there were no children her age on the

Island so she tended to either be out with the kayaks and her
parents, beachcombing or reading in her room.

Occasionally she landed a job of babysitting some of the

Islanders bairns, who were too young to need schooling. To
their delight she read them fairy stories.

~Page 6~
Faye loved fairy stories and mythical beasts and knew many
of the stories by heart, having read them and re-read them so
many times.

As her mind flickered over her daily life, she felt as if her
dreamtime had gone into slow motion. She saw a narrow
track leading into a group of trees and she hid there trying
desperately to catch her breath.

Shaking with fear and drenched with perspiration, she clung

to the lowest branch and hauled herself up into the leafy
canopy of trees. Suddenly she was aware of how loud her
gasping was and she tried to relax, hoping that this would
silence the noise.

She was breathing again and she could hear her heart
hammering away. It was a good feeling as it meant she was
at least still alive.

A sudden pain on her cheek made her start and she brought
her hand swiftly up to her face…

~Page 7~
 CHAPTER THREE

“Turn your face to the sun

and the shadows fall behind you.”
~Maori Proverb

There was a loud rumbling noise and the pain came again.

Faye rubbed her fingers across her face and gasped as she
felt a furry, prickly thing. She screamed.

Bracing herself she scrunched up her eyes and froze.

---SILENCE---

She opened her eyes, and there were a pair of amber eyes
starring right at her.

Her head shot backwards in self defence and a little white

paw darted out and connected with her nose.

“Ouch, Luna – that was really sore and you gave me a fright
waking me up like that” she scolded her kitten.

Not in the mood for Luna at all, she scooped her off her bed
and put her outside the room. Closing the door firmly she
put on the light. It was not dark enough to need it but it gave
her some comfort. It was summer and it would be a few
hours before it grew dark.

~Page 8~
She had obviously fallen asleep after reading the story and
Luna had woken her up in the usual fashion of tapping her
claws again her cheek repeatedly.

Faye was still breathing hard and the memory of her

nightmare clung to her like a wet sheet.

Just 11 years old, she felt too scared now to be alone and
desperately hoped that her brother would come home soon.

She glanced at her face in the mirror and ran her finger along
the bright red scratches on her cheek. Luna had drawn
blood… She shivered and wondered if it had been Luna or if
it had been her dream?

She remembered running away and hiding and not being able
to breathe.

The nightmares had started after the book. By the book, she
meant the “Animorph” book. Before that she had never had
nightmares. These were bad ones. But she knew that they
were linked to the book because the things she was running
from were the same things that were in the book. All except
that she did not have the skill for shapeshifting like the kids in
the book, so she could not escape.

So far she had always woken up before ‘they got her’ but this
particular nightmare, they had got too close. The alien slugs
wormed their way into people’s brains and that was what she
was scared of.

Drawing a deep breath of air she stared out of her window

but there was no-one on the street.

~Page 9~
 CHAPTER FOUR

“All our dreams can come true,

if we have the courage to pursue them.
... If you can dream it, you can do it.”
~Walt Disney

Faye sat down at the small table in her room and opened her
laptop. She pressed the power button and waited for it to
boot up.

Seating herself comfortably on her dressing table chair, she

waited for a moment at the password request. She smiled to
herself, remembering the way the kids in the book changed
into animals of their choice.

She typed in the letters of her password:

A.N.I.M.O.R.P.H.

and listened to the hum and buzz of the laptop as it loaded

her settings.

Without pausing she clicked on the Google Chrome icon and

the internet screen popped up.

She typed in her Facebook address and then entered her

email and password.

“No, I don’t want you to remember my password, thank you”

she groaned, clicking the ‘never for this site’ button.

~Page 10~
It was so annoying the way websites tried to store your
information. Her parents had warned her to be careful on
the internet and not to let sites save her password.

She smiled as she saw the small red notification circles next
to her messages. She clicked on chat but her friend, Mia was
no longer online.

“Oh no, I’ve missed her” she exclaimed as she looked at the
time. It was already 17:21.

Normally she went onto Facebook about 3pm but today she
had fallen asleep and missed her friend. It was so fun
chatting on Facebook, she felt disappointed.

Clicking on the message button, she opened the message

from Mia.

“Where are you, Faye? I have so much to tell you and I have
been waiting for you to come on line! I can’t even text you as
I have no airtime in my mobile.”

Faye moaned. She had no free SMS’s left either and she
could not phone Mia as she did not have much airtime
herself. She had promised her parents she would not waste
it whilst they were away.

Their landline was used only for their internet connection and
for business. Once she had used it a few times to have some
long phone calls with Mia and the phone bill, when it arrived
weeks later had been over £200.00. Her dad had checked
the itemised billing over the internet and it was all her fault.
She had felt so bad. Of course there was free calls after 8pm

~Page 11~
but Mia’s mother would not let her speak on the phone after
8pm.

She clicked on the reply button.

“Hi Mia

Sorry I missed you. I have a lot to tell you too. I can’t wait until tomorrow.

Whats up? You sound excited? Is it a good or a bad thing?

I fell asleep this afternoon after reading a story and I had such a bad dream AGAIN!
It’s really getting to me.

Those slugs in the book really freaked me out badly but I do so dig the idea of
animorphing. I wonder if it’s possible?”.

Before she finished the email message, she opened another

tab on her browser.

Typing in “animorph” she clicked and waited…..

Glancing through the search results she skimmed through the

mass of text on the page:

… Did you ever wish that would could turn into your favorite animal? The Animorphs invite you along on their adventure! Did you
ever wish that you could turn into your favorite animal? The Animorphs invite you along on their adventure!

…. Five human kids and an alien with the ability to turn into any animal they touch vs. an army of parasitic ...

… Animorphs on TV.com
Find the latest on the Nickelodeon show Animorphs, including video, season and episode guides, exclusive pictures, cast bios, and
more.

It was all about the book. Surely there was more than the
book. She had read about the idea of shapeshifting in
another book. It must be possible. In ‘Animorph’, the kids
touch the animals and absorb their DNA. That was a bit far
fetched but still Faye knew that magical stuff existed…

~Page 12~
She was not keen on the alien stuff in the book and it freaked
her out a little,….a lot. She knew it was not true or possible
and that aliens did not even exist but her nightmares worried
her and seemed very real.

Opening a new tab, on her browser she typed into the search
box “how to shapeshift” and waited…

A sigh escaped her lips, there was an awful lot of waiting

about on the internet. She clicked back to her Facebook
session and carried on typing to her friend.

“Mia, I know it’s just a book but I am certain it can happen. There are
quite a few different stories and stuff about it on the internet. Just
imagine how cool it would be if you could change into a rabbit and speak
to your pet in its own language. You could go bounding about your
garden together and eat lettuce and stuff. It would be way cool”

She paused and clicked by to her search results.

Cool, there was a ‘Youtube’ about shapeshifting. She

glanced down the list of results. Astral travel, pulling power
from the universe, …

She clicked on the ‘Youtube’ and smiled. This was fun and
without realising it she let go of her bad dream.

The ‘Youtube’ was a load of rubbish and had nothing to do

with shapeshifting. There were a couple of other ‘Youtubes’,
so she took a look.

There was cool one that someone had done with ‘Adobe
Aftereffects’ with a cat and slippers changing in to each
other. She copied the address and pasted it into her message
to Mia.

~Page 13~
“Mia, check this out – it’s pretty cool. Got to go and get tea ready as Luc
is still out with his friends. I am missing my mum and dad and wonder
how they are. I was a bit scared just now with no-one in the house.”

She clicked the send button.

There was a scratching sound at the door, a persistent

scratching and then a meow.

“Hello, Luna” she crooned and got up to let her in. Scooping
her little kitten up she returned to the chair to watch a few
more ‘Youtubes’. “Its ok Luna, I forgive you for cutting my
cheek open and giving me a heart attack” she mumbled,
clicking on the mouse pad and tapping away at the keyboard.
Luna was purring away already, happy again.

Ok, so there was obviously a TV series or movie on the

‘Animorph’ book she read. The ‘Youtube’ she had just
watched looked exactly like she would have imagined a scene
from the book.

Stroking her purring kitten, she mumbled “Luna, I wish I

could change into any animal I want and back when I feel like
it”.

She felt a tingling buzz in her hand and her fingers felt like
pins and needles. She snatched her hand back and glared at
it, flexing her fingers and shaking her hand in disbelief. Had
Luna bitten her? There was no sign of it and Luna seemed to
be asleep, though still purring away.

She got up carefully and placed her kitten on her bed. Then
she walked to the bathroom and washed her hands with
some soap. Good, she felt cleaner now. She felt like a
shower and went to fetch her towel. She wondered when
Luc would be back.

~Page 14~
~Page 15~
 CHAPTER FIVE

“Five years from now

I'm probably going to look back
on the things I'm doing and cringe. “
~Fiona Apple

The shower was wonderful and she felt much better

afterwards. Her brother came home and they chatted over
their food. He was tired and went to bed early.

Faye stayed up a while and wondered about her parents and

how they were doing.

The Far Isles were 2 days paddling away. They would sleep
over at some of the uninhabited isles on the way and also for
food breaks. The weather forecast was good so their
paddling should be easy.

She went up to her room after feeding the kitten and settling
it down for the night with some fresh water and checking the
cat litter box was clean.

The wooden stairs creaked and groaned and she tried to walk
as quietly as she could, so as not to disturb her brother
whose room was downstairs directly under the stairs.

She settled down in her chair, and opened Windfinder.com to

check the weather forecast for her parents.

“Weathers’ good” she said to herself.

~Page 16~
Faye stood up to brush her hair, which she did often and
looked out her open window. The street lights were now on
and it was quiet outside and not even a breath of wind. A cat
ran across the street. Faye watched it carefully, enjoying its
fluid movement. Then she moved her chair across to her
dressing table, sat down and stared at herself.

She thought about the cat she had just seen and imagined,
with all her energy, that she really could shapeshift. A curious
feeling crept across, under her skin. As she watched, her
eyes bulged in surprise.

Then the feeling took over everything she knew and she
watched in amazement as her features changed in slow
motion and her face sprouted hair and long whiskers.

She raised her hand and touched her face and suddenly she
was totally grossed out and it was not fun anymore.

“Eeuw, Vark” she shrieked loudly.

Standing up and knocking her perfumes and deodorant from

her glass table she screamed “No, no, no…what have I done,
STOP”. She kept screaming, unable to stop herself.

After a while, at the back of her mind, she heard her brother
running up the stairs. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

He barged into her room and shouted “Whatever is the

matter, Faye?”

“Nothing,” she managed, turning towards the window.

Luckily her fairy lights are on and the only source of dim light
in the room apart from her laptop screen. Holding her hands

~Page 17~
around her face, she continued “I was just watching an awful
‘Youtube’ and it gave me a terrible fright. I’m sorry, Luc”

“Are you sure, your voice sounds weird” he questioned her,

rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“Yes, thanks, I am fine now,” she managed.

Sighing in disgust, Luc left the room, slamming the door.

“One day something will really be wrong and I won’t come to

help you, Faye” she heard as he complained his way down
the stairs.

“Now go to bed for goodness sake. You still have to do

school work tomorrow, even if Mum and Dad are not here”
he finished, slamming his own door downstairs.

Faye felt her face with her hands, almost sobbing. “Why did I
do this”, she cried - not knowing how to undo it. But her
fingers found nothing but skin and she rushed over to the
mirror and stared at herself. Her face was nearly back to
normal and as she watched the final changes she laughed in
relief.

“Freak, that was scary” she whispered to herself and giggled

rapidly with relief.

With a quick rub over her face, she confirmed that she was
100% girl again; complete but without the scratches over her
cheek. Curious and weird, ….. freaky but amazing. It sort of
made her feel like it DID really happen as there were
scratches before and now they were gone. Was healing a
part of the transformation?

~Page 18~
She flopped down on her chair with her face in her hands and
then she sat up and clicked on her Facebook messages.

It was late now and Mia was not online until tomorrow but
she HAD to tell her.

Opening a new message, she selected her best friends name

from the list of recipients.

Mia used to also live on the island but when the school closed
down, Mia and her Mum had moved to England, where her
Mum had managed to get a job. Still the two friends spoke
over the internet almost everyday. It seemed like Mia was
still somewhere in the village at times, even though Faye only
got to see her about once a year. This summer, Mia was
coming to stay with her for a week during the school
holidays. It was a really long journey by train and ferry but
her single mother had agreed to it as she was working
through the summer holidays and Mia had no siblings or
family nearby to look after her. Faye could hardly wait.

“MIA YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT JUSTHAPPENED TO ME,”

she put down in a rush, not caring about any email etiquette.

“I FEAKING HALF TURNED INTO A CAT. I ACTUALLY DID IT. I

REALLY DID IT. I don’t know how, BUT you have to believe me. It
was freaky and gross and I don’t think I will do it again. I really did not
like it at all. LUC NEARLY BUST ME TOO> I HAVE TO SPEAK TO
YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

She clicked the send button and shut her laptop down, not
waiting for it to close down properly before she jumped into
bed. She left her fairy lights on confident that they would
keep troubled dreams at bay…..

~Page 19~
 CHAPTER SIX

“Wake up, it's a beautiful morning

Honey, while the stars are still shining
Wake up, would you like to go with me
Honey, take a run down to the beach

Oh momma, I wanna go surfin'

Oh momma, I don't care about nothing”
~The Drums lyrics

Faye was woken up at 5:00 am by the alarm on her mobile. It

was a song by The Drums and it always put her in a good
mood for the whole day. She took a while to cancel it,
leaving it to go off every couple of minutes, on snooze, while
she got dressed. It was fun dancing away and singing “Hey
momma, I wanna go surfin” while she got ready to go down
for an early breakfast. Reluctantly she cancelled it after a few
times, knowing it would wake Luc.

Luc was a late riser but she was always up with the birds.
Outside she could hear the seagulls squawking their greeting
to the sun. She felt thankful to live by the sea and loved the
sound of the gulls in the morning. Most people hated them
but she liked them, especially Herring Gulls, which she
sketched occasionally. They were as big as cats and intrigued
her.

Dressed in her favourite purple sparkly leggings and miniskirt

and her black velvet hoodie, she tip-toed downstairs and into
the kitchen.

~Page 20~
Glancing around she decided on an extra thick layer of
peanut butter on a white roll. It would drive her mother
demented and was not the most healthy breakfast in the
world but whatever.

As she was about to whip open the fridge door to drink some
apple juice straight from the carton (hee hee) she was
reminded of her little kitten by her sudden door scratching
and repetitive meowing.

Luna slept in her cozy little catbasket in the back hallway, at

night with her catbox because she was not totally potty-
trained yet.

Faye leant over and hooked the door open with her wrist and
Luna shot into the room with a burst of speed.

“Ok, Ok, Luna – Good Morning” she retaliated, “I’ll have your
breakfast ready in a mo”. Silently she wondered why Luna
did not just go out and catch herself a wee mouse. That’s
what she would do if she was cat.

She opened the back door and left it open so that Luna could
go outside if she wanted to.

Faye always thought about what she would do if she were a

certain animal. Today it was a cat. Hmm….and away she
went to dreamland as she prepared her kittens breakfast.

There had been little time to wonder about what had

happened to her in her dream last night, was it just a dream?
Absent-mindedly she brushed her free hand against her
cheek and breathed in sharply remembering the mirror
episode vividly. (That part at least was all true!).

~Page 21~
By this stage, Luna was gobbling down her Whiskers jelly, and
Faye thought she would go out for a quick stroll to clear her
head before homeschool time.

Thinking of Luc, she quickly scribbled him a note:

Luc, I am going out for a while.

I will be back by the time
you have finished breakfast, then
we can do our school work together.

xxx Faye

Leaving the backdoor wide open, so that Luna could go out

after eating, Faye first went to her favourite little clump of
trees. It was nearly, but not quite, a wood. Once she was
inside the trees she realised that this is where she had run to
in her dream. It was suddenly all too real.

She started. There, hanging on one of the upper twigs was a

piece of the shirt she had been wearing yesterday afternoon,
during her nap! FREAKY. She took a step backwards and
decided in a hurry to go somewhere else. Before she left she
pulled the clothes shed off the twig and twirling it between
her fingers she set off down the footpath and over the bridge
to the cage.

As she crossed the bridge she sped up into a jog and took a
left turn through the bamboo and briar roses. In full summer
it was difficult to get through there and the thorny branches
snatched at her clothes.

A short distance from the turn there was an enclosed section

of trees, that some of the older kids used to hang about in

~Page 22~
the school holidays and they had damaged the fence by
standing on it repeatedly.

She slowed down and jumped neatly over the tangle of wire
fence that was half covered by matted grass. She almost
slipped on some dew covered moss but managed to catch
herself before she hit the ground. A young tree saved her fall
and she clung to it with her life.

Hanging there, she felt in awe of the woods and their tree
spirits and did not want to let go. Trees had such a good
feeling about them and she felt very close to being a dryad –
guardian of the trees. She felt so annoyed when the older
kids damaged the trees as they did and left litter lying about.

It was a sacred place this, and she wondered that they did
not feel it.

She felt small in comparison to the big trees and the chirping
of a nearby bird caught her attention. All else was silent as
the village still slept. She felt her full concentration drawn to
every detail of the wee bird. It was a robin. Its chest was
reddy brown. She felt as if her eyes were microscopic as she
could suddenly see every detail of every feather. Then an
abrupt movement in the grass below caught her eye and she
flew down to tug the first earthworm of the morning out of
the ground. Delicious. She snapped it down and chirruped
her glee. Then she flipped her tail back and forth like a
wagtail and took off to land next to the robin she had been
studying. No other thought entered her mind.

The robin took off and together they flew a winding path
through the trees. The early morning sunlight was streaming
through and catching the green leaves and glowing with life.

~Page 23~
All around there was the squeaking, scratch of other birds at
song.

Even the air tasted different. The midges were out and she
collected a few with her outstretched beak.

Other birds joined in their play and she felt at one with the
world.

As she sang her song, it felt almost as if she were saying

“cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up”

There seemed to be no end of things to do or places to fly

with the woods and time had no meaning.

She was lost in the glorious, multitude sounds. At dawn the

song of the birds was more rapid and she glowed with the
rise and fall in pitch but delivered her song at a steady
rhythm, with a pause; before singing again.

As she sang her cheery song, she felt drawn toward the
village and she flew off to inspect the lawns. No fence stood
in her way and she felt equally familiar with the birds in the
village, as those in the woods.

After a while, she felt a bit tired and sort of sat down a bit.
Catching her breath, she looked closely at another bird that
flittered about a boggy area of a neglected garden. It was
eating a worm. She felt a bit weird as if she was going to
throw up and her vision blurred, and she lost all
consciousness.

~Page 24~
 CHAPTER SEVEN

“…like that little blackbird in a forest in Germania

yes it's very pretty but he don't know where he is

life should be more fun

it should be a laugh a minute
going ha ha ha ha ha ha
but we don't know where we are”
~Harris Tweed lyrics

Faye became aware of voices around her and she opened her
eyes a little to peek at what all the noise was about.

She felt a little disoriented and could not quite make out
where she was.

There were people looking at her, so she closed her eyes

hoping they would go away.

It really was quite noisy.

“Do you mind?” she muttered.

“Oh, she’s alive and awake” she heard a familiar voice call
out.

She winced. More noise. She had quite a headache as if she

had bumped her head or something.

She could hear nosy comments and questions in the

background.

~Page 25~
“Who is it?” “What happened?” “Who does she belong to?”
“Ah, and what her name” “Faye?” “I’ve heard her called
Faye” “Shame of them, leaving their children alone”
“Children running the streets”

Someone shook her lightly and she opened her eyes again,
trying to sit up.

“Oh, don’t be worrying about that Lassie” said John, the

ambulance driver. “You’d best keep lying down, until your
brother arrives”.

My brother, thought Faye to herself,….my brother?

“um, Where am I” she asked, some what confused.

Struggling to sit up again, she looked about her and was

amazed to see that she was almost sitting in a bog, in a
garden down the road from the cage.

“Um, er” she managed.

Then she heard running footsteps coming towards her and

she looked up onto her brother’s anxious face.

“Faye, whatever is going on?” He demanded. “Are you

alright, I was so worried when I got the call?”

Before she could manage an answer he carried on with his

barrage of questions.

“Whatever are you doing in Mary Floras’ garden?” he

announced, glancing about at the onlookers.

~Page 26~
It was a nosy village where people liked to poke their noses in
other peoples business. It was very annoying but Luc dealt
with it in his stride. “I think you can all go home now,
everything is fine, thank you” he said stiffly.

The folk narrowed their eyes at him but moved away

grudgingly.

Faye was surprisingly on the garden side of the fence, next to

the winding tarmac road that led down to the islands’ only
shop, near the pier.

How she got there she could not begin to imagine, and yet
she very clearly was in Mary Floras’ garden. She felt she must
apologise and looked around for the old lady.

“Best to keep still, Miss Faye,” John reminded her.

His bright ambulance outfit glared at her and she winced.

She really did have a bad headache.

“Er, Luc?” she managed.

“Yes, Faye”

“I’m not really sure” she giggled a bit. “I mean, I left you a
note, did you get it?”

“Yes, just…”

“So, I went to the cage,” she pondered “and….?”

“Miss Faye, are you ok, now?” queried John.

“Yes, John, I think so.” She replied.

~Page 27~
“Well, I think we’d best take you home then”.

“Sure” both her and Luc said together.

John was their neighbour and also the ambulance driver. Not
much ever happened on their little island but he was on call,
to assist if there was ever a need. Today had obviously
caused much excitement as quite a crowd had collected at
the sign of the flashing ambulance lights.

~Page 28~
 CHAPTER EIGHT

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run

than outright exposure.
The fearful are caught as often as the bold.”
~Helen Keller

By the time John dropped them off, they had both been
forced to promise that they would keep in touch with him
twice a day. He said that he did not want to worry their
parents but they could both see that he was edgy.

On the way home, Faye had concocted a likely story. Saying

that she had seen a cute kitten on her way down to the cage
and had followed it. When it had run into Mary Floras’ croft
she had climbed over the fence without thinking and in her
rush to catch up with the kitten, she must have tripped and
fallen. Obviously she had knocked her head during the fall
and must have been knocked unconscious.

That was how a passerby had found her and had called for
the neighbours and eventually the ambulance.

“I really feel fine, John, honest” she insisted as they got out
of the ambulance, still rubbing her head.

She cringed, as she caught a glimpse of their other

neighbours peering out of their windows. She knew that
before they had settled into their morning schoolwork, her
version of the story would be running rampant right across
the island. That was how things went in small communities.

~Page 29~
Once inside, Luc avoided looking her in the eyes. He sat her
down and made her a cup of apple juice. Then he just sulked
about the counter as she sipped at it.

She was lost in thought when there was a loud knocking at

the door. They both started and then looked at each other
and winced. So, the news had spread already…

Luc reluctantly strolled to the door, silently cussing under his

breath. He kicked out at a marble that lay idly in the passage
and it shot off, connecting with the metal storage heater
with a loud clang. He swore loudly. Then realising that there
was someone at the door, he said “oops”, nearly as loudly.

His hand hesitated on the door handle as he tried to figure

out who was lurking on the other side. Then quick as a flash
the post flap opened and a stained, wrinkled hand popped
through. It accompanied a shrill, echoing voice.

“Hello, anyone home?”

They both laughed. It was obviously the old lady that Faye
had gotten her kitten from.

Luna had been a present for her 11th birthday and she had
gone with her Mum to choose her from the old lady.

Luc shuddered as he opened the door.

“Hello, young man, were you waiting for me to knock again?”

she asked.

“Not at all” Luc replied.

~Page 30~
“Ah, well, shall I come in then or shall I just stand outside
waiting for you to invite me in?”

Faye shot out of her chair, laughing loudly and pulled the
door open.

“Come in, Medach” she giggled. Grabbing the old lady’s

gnarled fingers, Faye pulled her inside.

“We were just going to have a cup of tea” she announced,

“would you like some?”

“Ah yes, don’t mind if I do” replied the old lady as she settled
herself down into Luc’s chair which was smothered in
morning sunbeam”.

“Sit down Faye” growled her brother.

He clearly was not to keen to get into the whole scenario of

what had happened but he clearly knew she was lying and
was waiting for her to come clean. Honestly Faye did not
have much of a clue. She had a fleeting memory of going for
a walk and watching the sunlight in the woods and the trees.
It made her feel peaceful.

In the background, the noises of the kettle boiling, filled the

air.

“Is everything all right, dear” asked Metach. “Your Mum

asked me to check up on you whilst they are away, you
know”.

“Yup” was all Faye could manage. Hoping to change the

subject she jumped up and darted for the back hallway, to
retrieve her kitten.

~Page 31~
Luna was fast asleep dreaming kitten dreams, but need
exceeded courtesy and Faye lifted her up.

“Luna, Luna Loo” she came back into the room, crooning
kisses at the sleepy bundle of white fur.

She dumped Luna on Metach’s lap.

“So, what do you think?” she asked.

“Ooh, she looks just lovely and smells like she has just had a
bath” the old lady replied, lifting Luna up to her nose.

Faye and Luc burst out laughing. Luna had been rather
fragrant, in the worst way imaginable when she had arrived.
The old lady’s house smelt heavily of cats and it was not a
pleasant smell.

Their Mothers’ first condition for allowing the kitten to stay,

had been that Faye had to give her a bath. Luc had helped
her and luckily he had had the foresight to bring two pairs of
long, heavy duty plastic gloves. Little Luna had had a few
scratches in her. Soon enough though she had settled down
and begun to enjoy the warm water and after a nice
shampoo had smelt just like tea tree. Far more pleasant.

“Yes, she loves having a bath” Faye filled in.

“Well then, she looks good enough”, Metach said, rolling her
eyes towards the biscuit tin and Luc got up to get the
biscuits.

Metach was very fond of their mothers’ spicy home-baked

biscuits and he had forgotten to offer her any.

~Page 32~
After a bit of chit chat, and no mention of the mornings’
ambulance event, they both began to relax. Metach asked
after their schooling and Faye showed her a couple of their
text books and the online computer programme.

“I’m not interested in those computer things” Metach had

said waving her hand at her laptop. “Let me see your art”
she had insisted and Faye had fetched some of her latest
paintings.

Murmuring encouraging sounds, they were both taken aback

when Metach suddenly announced that she was off.

Seeing her off at the door, she suddenly grabbed Lyra’s hand
and whispered coarsely “Look after that kitten of yours for
she is more magic than you realise”.

Metach’s eyes flickered and seemed to glow for a moment

and Faye pulled back in surprise.

With almost super human strength, Metach pulled her

forward and grabbed onto Luc at the same time.

“Don’t you think I don’t know what you’ve both been up to”
she hissed before hobbling off towards the low pedestrian
gate.

Faye and Luc looked at each other in amazement.

When they looked back, Metach was away already.

Stunned to silence, they ambled inside, careful to duct tape

the post flap, just as they did in poor weather. They did not

~Page 33~
feel like anymore interruptions today and if anyone else
knocked they were going to pretend that they weren’t there.

Back in the kitchen, Faye had to break the silence. “What do

you think she meant, exactly”.

Luc shook his head but he went a bit white, almost straight
away.

“LUUUC?” interrogated Faye.

“Nothing”. Luc went straight to his homeschool laptop and

shut Faye out of his space. “I’m busy and we’ve started late”.

Startled, Faye collected the mugs and rinsed them off. She
wiped the surface, trying to collect her thoughts and then
picked Luna up off her chair. Luna always loved to sit on her
chair. No matter where she was put, she would end up on
Faye chair. Even if Faye was sitting on it, she would claw her
way up Faye’s back and perch between her shoulders, like a
parrot. There was no way Faye was going to be able to study
with Luna in the room. As she carried her little kitten across
the kitchen, Luna burst in to a purr. Faye opened the back
door and put Luna outside in the sun, before shutting the
door. She had to push Luna back with her foot, saying “No,
Luna” to stop her sneaking her way back in, straight away.

Faye switched on her homeschool laptop. She was very lucky

to have one for school and a private one in her bedroom.
Most people on the island did not even have one in their
house and had to use the facilities in the local community
hall.

As her laptop was busy starting up, Faye looked at her

brother. He was pretending to work very hard and was

~Page 34~
moving his notebook and pencil-case about loudly but he was
clearly avoiding her.

She sighed and cast her mind back to the morning’s events.

Far from having a relaxing walk before schoolwork, she

seemed to have been flung into an adventure that she was
not ready for.

~Page 35~
 CHAPTER NINE

“The happiness of the bee

and the dolphin is to exist.
For man it is to know that
and to wonder at it.”
~Jacques Yves Cousteau

Faye tried to concentrate on her science topic. It was linked

to a book called Horrible Science “Ugly Bugs”. She leaned
over and grabbed her kindle. Part of her homeschooling
bundle had included a kindle and it was pretty cool. Most of
the folk in the village had not even heard of a kindle, never
mind used one. As she read through the pages, she giggled.
The ‘Horrible Series’ had such a funny way of putting things,
it did not really feel like one was doing school work.

That was certainly one thing she didn’t want to turn into, a
bug … she thought to herself.

She felt herself starting to relax as she got drawn into the
story.

After a while, she realised she was hungry. She looked over
at Luc, but he was very involved with his studying.

It was time for a snack. She got up quietly and tiptoed across
to the kitchen and peeked about for something to eat. What
did she feel like? Hmm. Another peanut butter sandwich
would do and she made 4 of them, spread thick with butter
and then plastered the peanut butter down on top before

~Page 36~
closing them. They looked like mountains and she smiled.
Then she got 2 plates down from the cupboard above the
drying rack and put 2 on Luc’s plate and 2 on her own. Then
she set about making two glasses of Ribena.

Picking up Luc’s plate and his glass, she ambled back to the
study.

Standing behind Luc, she hesitated before calling out his

name. She could not believe her eyes. He was on Google.

She looked at his search results….and gasped out loud.

“LUC, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she shouted.

Luc nearly jumped out of his skin and he quickly pressed ALT-
TAB and switched back to his homeschool tutor.

Then he spun around his chair and glared at Faye, almost

making her drop his lunch.

“What are you doing sneaking up behind me” he growled.

“Here’s a snack” she spat and stormed back to the kitchen.

She stood there shaking. She could not believe her eyes.
That must have been what Metach was talking about and she
never knew!

She was amazed.

Luc followed her through to the kitchen and she heard his
footsteps but was too afraid to face him.

~Page 37~
“I’m sorry, Faye,” he started. “I did not mean to snap at you
so, it’s just that you gave me a heart attack”.

“Its ok, Luc.” she offered. “I guess it’s really my fault, I

should not have shouted so loud”.

She turned around and looked down at the floor.

Luc moved forward and took her hands in his. “Its Ok. Faye,
really it is”.

She looked up at him, with tears welling in her eyes.

They almost never fought, so she felt a bit emotional about it.

“Luc” she ventured. “I never knew you were interested in

shapeshifting?”

“Well I am, so what?” he retorted.

“Nothing, Luc” she said, “Its just that…..”

“Faye, don’t try and interfere in what I am doing, just keep it

a secret, OK!” he threatened.

Faye could not help herself. She giggled.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded. “It really is possible”.

“Luc, you misunderstand me” she said.

Then she sighed a deep sigh of relief. They had always been
very close and had had so many adventures together. Why
should she have felt that she could not talk to him?

~Page 38~
Its just that over the past couple of months he had been out
with his friends so much and she had been on her own so
much that they had grown apart a bit but now she thought to
herself, it seemed that they had not really grown apart at all.

Smiling, she said, “Luc, you don’t have a clue, do you?”

“Don’t be horrible, Faye, of course I do” he replied. “I have

been studying shapeshifting for a couple of years now. I
know quite a bit!” He sounded really put out.

“Luc, that’s not what I mean” she said softly.

“Well what do you mean, Faye” he raised his voice.

“Why don’t we eat our sandwiches in the lounge in the sun

and I’ll tell you what I mean,” Faye said picking up her glass of
Ribena and her plate of sandwiches. She was starving.

In the lounge she settled down on the rug, waiting for Luc to
come through. He didn’t.

“Luc” she called.

Then he was there, standing in the doorway. He looked

peeved.

“Oh, Luc, don’t be upset with me” she pleaded. “Let me

explain.”

“OK” he mumbled.

“I really want to hear your story but I can see you’re confused
so I’m going to start first.

~Page 39~
Faye blazed through her account of the previous night and
her experience in front of the mirror.

Luc’s eyes bulged. “I don’t believe it” he said. “I had no

idea”.

“I just could not tell you,” said Faye “I felt like you would
never understand”.

“Well I do and what’s more, I have a lot to tell you” he said.

Luc looked at her and then came over and learning down, he
gave her a big brother hug.

Suddenly the whole world seemed brighter. Luc was just the
best brother in the whole world.

“Ok, Luc,” she began. Before I tell you anything else, you
need to spill the beans!”

Luc seemed a bit embarrassed but he started his story.

It went something like this.

He had been fascinated by the same book, which he had read

3 years before her.

It had been on his mind almost constantly and he had paid a

lot of visits to the community centre and the free internet
service there. He had also searched the books in the public
library attached to it, but had not found any answers. Yes,
there were kid’s books but that was it.

Then he had started to search the internet. He had found out

as much as her, really at that time. Recently he had become
obsessed with it again and had been spending a lot of time

~Page 40~
investigating it. Using some of the techniques, he had read
about, he went out to the cliffs where he could be alone.
There was a cave up there that overlooked the hidden bay
and no one went there. He had by chance met Metach who
was out gathering mushrooms, as she did and she had
recognised him straight away.

He had been meditating and trying to change his state of

being and she had startled him. After a while they had
gotten into conversation and he had asked her if she had
read a series of books by David Eddings. She replied that she
had. In those books there was an old mage, whose wife was
a wolf and he had also taken the form of a wolf. In time she
had taken the form of a human and after that an owl.

He and Metach had sat up there by the cliffs chatting about

shapeshifting for hours.

Metach was different from the other villagers. She spent a

lot of time on her own and she did not gossip with the rest of
them. It was almost like she was above them. She was a
special lady even if her house smelt unbearable.

Still she had said some interesting things and he had gone
back to the library to do some more research. Using the
computers at the community centre allowed him more
privacy than at home. He had given the excuse that he was
off with friends at the cage but that was just an excuse.

Really the other boys did not spend much time with him, still
considering him an outsider but it made his parents feel
better if they thought he was off with friends.

“Ok” Faye interrupted “but have you, like….”

~Page 41~
Yes I have, OK! Do you not remember Dad telling about the
dolphin he saw in the bay, last week?” he rushed. “That was
me! I jumped right over his kayak!”

“Wow, Luc, that’s amazing” Faye squealed. “But how?”

“Well, I suppose if you want to enough you can do it” he said

dreamily.

“REALLY, really, really LUC”, squealed Faye. “A dolphin?”

“Yes, Faye, a dolphin” he insisted. “I really did it”.

“But how?” asked Faye.

“Well, the other afternoon, I had been thinking a lot about it

and Luna was distracting me, by bugging me in my room. So I
took her outside. When I came back to my room I locked the
door. I did not feel like being disturbed,” he explained. “I lay
down on my bed and I was thinking very clearly about
dolphins. I read about a year back that if you practice and
meditate properly, you can make contact with your animal
guide. It’s possible to shapeshift in the astral realm but rare
in the physical one.”

“I don’t know anything about any of that,” sighed Faye.

“Well, I read up on meditating and have been mediating for

about a year,” he explained. “There are different ways to
meditate but I found a method that works for me and you
can really feel it working.”

“Wow, I never really heard anything much about meditating”

said Faye.

~Page 42~
“Yeah, well Dad and Mum know a whole lot but they have
been too busy struggling so hard, just to make ends meet
since the grant fell through that I guess everything else has
been put on hold,” ventured Luc. “Anyway. they taught me
some stuff when I was a bit younger - it’s good for relaxing
and stuff”.

“Cool!”

“Well, like I said, I was meditating and I sort of went and had
like a vision and I actually met my animal totem, it was a
dolphin. How cool is that! Then I think because I focussed on
it so hard, I actually felt myself sort of merging with my
totem and I became a dolphin,” he explained. “It was so like,
awesome. Very different, not like you would expect at all.
One minute I was there in the spirit and the next I was
leaping for joy in the ocean. I was very conscious of
everything I was doing, but it was sort of instinct and I did
not have to think about my movement before I did anything.
Everything went in super slow motion and I still remember all
of it. Does that make any sense at all?”

“Yeah, it does, more than you realise” murmured Faye

dreamily.

“Well, it carried on for a while and then we, … my spirit

totem and I, swam into the bay. I recognised it straight away.
It was like a REAL dream. Have you ever had one of those?”
he asked.

“Mmm, I have actually, sort of like dreaming but that you are
in control of yourself in your dream and you can question
things and that,” replied Faye.

~Page 43~
“That’s it. So in my dream vision, I sort of saw that there
were some tourists kayaking in the bay and then there was
this one kayak coming straight towards me. I felt this surge
of energy and as it came right near me, I leapt right up out of
the water,” he said in a dreamy voice, as if he was in a trance.
“It was Dad and he saw me. He was like - wow, so happy and
amazed and I was like trying to get him to really look at me
but he did not see past the dolphin, then I thought that it was
just a dream vision.”

“But Dad really did see a dolphin in the bay” spluttered Faye.

“Yes, I know and it was me. I really did it, I really did….but it
was from a dream vision into reality, sort of like astral
travelling into reality, I don’t fully understand but it
happened” he splurted.

“WOW!”

“It was something I will never forget, but I don’t know if I

cant do it again, I have been researching it so much, that’s
why I am out most of the time, I am sorry….” He ventured.

They lapsed into silence. Then Faye breathed heavily and said
“I think I have something else to tell you, Luc.”

“What is it?”

“I think I changed into a bird this morning” she whispered.

“WHAT! You think?” he asked

“Yes, I think” she confirmed. “I have a memory of being a

bird, not changing into a bird but it’s a very different thing to
be and birds don’t think very deeply,” she continued. “When

~Page 44~
I woke up in Mary Flora’s garden, I was confused but it must
be that I exhausted myself and passed out.”

“Faye” he gasped. “A bird, well I never”.

Faye smiled. It was kind of neat. She had had two

shapeshifting experiences and Luc had only had one.

“In real life, Faye, are you sure? I mean in broad daylight in
the flesh?”

“Luc, do you know that birds think different to us, really they
do” she ventured.

Luc was silent.

“I’m being serious, Luc, they really do” she stated.

“Yes, Faye, I suppose they do. I’m just thinking about when I
dream-changed into a dolphin,” he started. “They think
differently as well. But it was so cool. I never knew my
totem was a dolphin but I sure was getting so sick of
everyone seeing dolphins on the kayak tours and not getting
to see any myself. I went and researched dolphins until I
thought I knew everything about them.”

Faye looked at him, and stopped eating.

“I was sitting in my room and Luna was scratching at the

door of the kitchen to come into the house. It was
distracting me, so I got up and let her in. She followed me
into my room and climbed up my back and sat on my
shoulders” he glared at Faye as if it was her fault.

Faye laughed knowingly.

~Page 45~
“Well she was sitting on my shoulder, a bit like a parrot and I
was reading about dolphins” he continued. “She was purring
away and I was talking to her, telling her all about dolphins”.

“Yes” said Faye. She was beginning to realise what must

have happened.

“Well, I know it sounds stupid but it seemed like she was

listening to me and I told her what I was thinking.”

“What?” asked Faye.

“Well she knew that I really wanted to be able to turn into a

dolphin. I REALLY wanted to”.

“YUP”.

“Well, she must have dug her nails into me because I got this
weird buzzing feeling all over and felt kind of pins and
needles all over” he said. “It creeped me out and so I took
her back outside”.

“Hmm…” murmured Faye

“Well, she was not happy with me and it must have been my
imagination but I swear I almost heard her say something!”
he said. “…Anyhow”.

“Luc”.

“Yes”.

“I think we need to speak to Metach” announced Faye. “I

think there is more to her than meets the eye.”

~Page 46~
“Why?”

“Well something she said to me at the door about Luna,

really”.

“You mean about her being ……?” he asked incredulously.

“Yeah, that’s what I mean” confirmed Faye. “But in the

meantime, you and I have a lot of catching up to do!”

“Yeah, I guess” smiled Luc. “You know, it feels good to be

able to share this with someone, little sis!”

Faye smiled. This was so cool!

“Still, there is something else, Luc” she continued.

“What?”.

“We do need to keep this secret,” she insisted. “and I think

Metach already knows, if you consider what she said to us
when she left, I am not sure she approves”.

“Faye, have you not heard the stories about Metach?” asked
Luc.

“What stories?”

“Well people in the village, stay clear of her, that why she is
such a loner” started Luc.

“But Mum and Dad like Metach,” countered Faye.

~Page 47~
“Yes they do, but we are not from here, Faye, don’t forget
that” ventured Luc. “Mum and Dad are different from most
people anyhow, and you know that?”

“What do you mean?” asked Faye

“Well for starters, why do you think we were raised on fairy

tales? Don’t you think you’re a little old for faerie tales” said
Luc.

“No I don’t think, I am too old for fairy tales, and besides,
what does that have to do with it?” she asked.

“It has everything to do with it,” said Luc.

“Dad is actually a professor of folklore” he announced. “You

do know that don’t you?”.

“NO, I don’t know that!” spat Faye. Suddenly she felt a bit
worried. It was as if things were changing and she was not in
control anymore.

“I did not mean that in a bad way, it’s just that…” he started.
“You must have been too young to remember but that’s the
reason we first came out here. Dad came out to study the
local folklore.”

“I don’t understand!”

“Well the funding fell through unexpectedly and we were

stuck here. That was just before the local school closed.
There was no way Mum and Dad had enough money to move
again as they had used all their savings to buy this house. So
they thought about things. Before Mum and Dad met, he
was part of a Watersports Club on the mainland. They ran

~Page 48~
courses and Dad qualified as an instructor in a very sort time.
He did sailing, kayaking, powerboats and even some
windsurfing – so he knew a lot about stuff already. When the
school closed, many families moved away and most of the
kids went to boarding school on the mainland. Schooling
was not a problem because Mum is a qualified teacher and
homeschooled me when we were still on the mainland. Dad
decided to start doing kayaking with the tourists as there
were so many of them in the summer. Mum really enjoys
kayaking as well so when the school closed and she no longer
had a post as assistant teacher there, it seemed logical that
they would do the kayaking together. It meant they did not
need to employ anyone.” Luc took a deep breath.

“SO” demanded Faye.

“Well, that’s how we got where we are now.” He said. “But

let’s not forget how we got to this part of the story!”

“OK”

“Well, I was telling you that Dad was a professor of Folklore,”

started Luc.

To cut a long story short, Luc told her how much Dad knew of
all the all stories and that he believed they were true.
Although they may have been changed by time, and people
had changed them by word of mouth over time, the truth
was in there.

He was fascinated to talk to all the local people about their

individual family histories and their stories. Most of them
clammed up and would not tell Dad anything, much to his
disappointment but Metach had bonded with them and she
told them a great deal. Seems Metach herself believed in

~Page 49~
faeries and such and she had herself had experience with
falling in love with a selkie when she was young. He was a
handsome young man and they used to meet at the shore.
As time passed, Metach discovered he was really a selkie. A
seal man. She found his seal skin and hid it and persuaded
him to come and live with her.

She was in her late 30’s by then and her mother had already
passed away. Her father had been a fisherman but he had
never come back home from when she was very young. Lost
at sea or what, they never knew.

Obviously the locals here are so suspicious anyway and they

never accepted Metach’s lover. The locals found Metach
quite fey enough anyway but when they could not find local
links when they questioned the man, that was the end of
that. If you’re not from around here, the locals don’t want to
know you.

So Metach lived happily with him in her cottage for several

years. Metach had 3 children, all boys. The boys were just
like their father and they never felt quite at home on land.
Sadly Metach was very attached to the land. One day as the
story goes, Metach’s man found his seal skin and off he went.
The boys followed him and though they visit her from time to
time in the form of seals they never return to land or to
human form. The boys missed her though and you can still
hear them calling for her at times but she does not go down
to the shore much anymore and spends her time in the hills
and cliffs searching for mushrooms and stuff.

“That’s totally amazing, Luc” squeaked Faye. “I never knew

that”.

~Page 50~
“Ah, well that’s because you always have your head stuck in a
book and don’t see the magic before your eyes!” he taunted.

“That’s not fair” said Faye pouting.

Luc went on to tell her that their parents were very involved
with the world of faeries and folklore and believed it.

It seemed amazing how little Faye knew.

No-one in the village spoke to her really and she never heard
anyone speak about Metach. They just turned their backs,
when she came into the village shop.

“Poor Metach” she mused. “Did you speak to her of this?”

“Yes, I did and she told me her story, straight from her own
lips” he announced. “I told Dad and he has a record of it
himself. He was fascinated.”

“DAD”?

“Ha ha, yes Dad,” he countered. “I’ve even spoken to Dad

about shapeshifting myself”.

“You have?” Faye was disbelieving, “What did he say?”

“Well we had a bit of a long talk about it but I did not say I
was interested in it. It was more of a general talk. Dad
knows a whole lot about these things!” he explained.

“WOW!”

~Page 51~
“So, I don’t really think you need to keep it secret from Dad
and Mum but from the rest of the village YES, it must stay
secret!” he explained.

“LUC!”

“I was even deliberately trying to get Dad to recognise me

when I was leaping next to his kayak”, he continued. “He
was so dense, he could not focus on my eyes and see it was
me.”

“I remember how excited Dad was, “ said Faye remembering

hearing the story from her father. She even remembered
Luc, teasing him and saying it could not be true and that
dolphins never came into the bay.

“Luc….”

“Yes, Faye”

“I really want to do the dolphin thing, can we?” pleaded

Faye.

“OK, but only on one condition”

“What’s that”

“You have to show me how to do the bird and cat!” he

insisted.

They grinned at each other. So much for school work.

~Page 52~
 CHAPTER TEN

“If you get to thinking you're a person of some influence,

try ordering somebody else's dog around.”
~Will Rogers

They must have talking deeply for hours when Luc suggested
they have something more to eat. It was really time for their
afternoon break.

They moved through to the kitchen and Faye put the kettle
on. There was a sharp rap at the door and she glanced at
Luc, who shook his head. He had answered it last time and
that was enough.

They both looked at the clock in the kitchen, it was nearly

3pm.

Faye dragged her feet to the door. Never a moment’s peace

in this place. There was always someone at the door. She
peered through the frosted glass trying to place the persons’
shape. Then she carefully unlocked the door, trying not to
make a noise with the keys. It would not do for it to get out
that they locked their door. Here no-one locked their doors
and it would soon be out all over the island. Something else
to talk about.

There was another sharp rap on the door, just as she was
opening it and she got a fright.

~Page 53~
“Hello there, Faye”

“Hi, Mary Margaret, how are you? Would you like to come
in?”

“Ah, not to bother, love. I just wanted to ask you to take my

dog, Mara for an afternoon walk.”

“Sure, I will. Are you feeling alright, you look a bit pale?”

“Aye, I’m thinking I’ve put me back out”

“Sorry, of course I will help you walk Mara”

“Do you think you could get my messages for me when you
are out?”

“Sure, have you got a list?”

After about 5 minutes of chit chat, Faye came back to the

kitchen after neatly closing the door.

“How could you leave me out there with her for so long?”
she demanded from her laughing brother.

“It was only five minutes” Luc replied.

“Did you hear her?” Faye asked.

“Nope” he confessed. “I was on Google”. He smiled at her

and she could not help smiling back.

“Please will you come with me,” she begged.

“Where?”

~Page 54~
“Mary Margaret wants me to take Mara for a walk and also
to get her messages from the shop” she explained.

“You know, she is just being nosey. She has no right to ask
you to do her errands, when you should be doing your school
work. Mum would be really boiling, you know!”

“M&M says her back is out”

“Well I think she just wanted to see if you would say anything
about what happened this morning.” He said. “Actually you
do look pale, Faye, I’m not that sure you should be going
out”.

“Yeah, I feel quite wiped out, but I said I would”.

“Ok, I’ll go with you, it’s our afternoon break anyhow. Quick
grab your sandwiches” he said, heading for his room.

Faye put her sandwiches in a lunch box and filled up two juice
bottles for the walk. It was not that far, but she always got
thirsty. She was actually looking forward to taking Mara for a
walk, especially if Luc was coming with. She really wanted a
dog, but so far had only just succeeded in getting a kitten an
that had taken long enough.

Grabbing her mobile, she called to Luc as she passed his

room, “Lock up will you, I’ll meet you in the road outside
M&M’s house.”

“In a minute” he called back.

Soon they were making their way along the shore-path to the
pier. That was the only shop on the island. Just one. It was

~Page 55~
actually the other half of the post office, which also served as
the only place to buy fuel.

The scruffy shop stocked up on a few odds and ends and if

you were lucky a newspaper - but those ran out quickly.

There was a small ferry that came across once a week, with
both tourists and supplies for the shop. It brought the mail
too.

Island life was slower and you did without, for the pleasure of
waking up to the seagulls.

The path along the shore was not a well worn one but it was
where most of the island kids used to hang out, before the
school closed down and they went off to boarding school.

It still felt eerily quiet without the familiar faces. Some of the
kids would be back for summer holidays later in the season
but some families had moved away permanently.

They chatted along the way, letting Mara tug them off, in
turns.

Mara was the usual collie type dog, that most people had but
taking her for a rare walk was like having a temporary best
friend. Faye ran her fingers through Mara’s long coat, which
was warm from the sun. Mara was spotless and smelt good.
Mary Margaret rarely let her go outdoors, unless it was for a
walk and so she was mostly an inside dog. She was a clean as
Mary Margaret’s house. Though you could not call it a home,
it was just too tidy. Still a dirty, unkept dog was not a nice
thing to smell or run your hands through, that’s why she liked
Mara so much.

~Page 56~
There was quite a list of messages and Faye and Luc thought
that Mary Margret was having them on but sure enough, her
order was already waiting at the front of the shop. All they
had to do was check it and pack the items into the bags they
had brought.

Faye raised her eyebrows at Luc and returned the gesture. It

was quite a bit to carry so far.

Mara was no use. She was off following every scent she
could find. She especially wanted to chase a cute little black
and white kitten opposite Mary Floras’ Croft on the long way
back. From the pier shop they had walked uphill for a bit.
They had followed the narrow winding tarmac road looking
for something to catch their interest but almost no-one was
out. The weather was turning and Luc suddenly announced,
“Its going to rain, hurry”.

Less than a minute later, they got caught in a downpour. It

was impossible to run with all the messages and Mara was
not enjoying the rain either. She was trying desperately to
hide away, her long nails clicking on the wet road. They were
all sopping by the time they reached their road and they
headed for their own door first, desperately wanting shelter.

Once inside, Mara took a dive at Luna and pulled Faye

headlong down the passage, growling. As Luna tried to
escape, Faye tried to hang onto Mara. Luckily Luna had in
inherent dislike of dogs and hid under the sofa in the lounge.
Faye almost dropped the heavy bags of messages. As it was,
a couple of eggs got broken in all the bashing about.

“Damn” she shouted. “What a disaster”.

~Page 57~
Shoving Mara into the kitchen, she closed the door and
dumped the bags of shopping.

“I am going to change, I am sopping” she whined.

“Me too!”

After a bit, Faye made her way back downstairs and was
about to pop into Luc’s room when there was a sharp rap at
the door.

“Argh” she growled.

It was Mary Margaret. The rain had stopped and she was
wanting her messages and her dog.

Faye was bushed, so Luc took them over straight away, so as

to get Mary Margaret out of the house.

He came back bearing a bag of sweets for Faye.

Faye had collapsed on the sofa and was almost asleep. They
had a quick chat and nibbled some of the sweets.
.
“I am so tired, Luc” she yawned. “Just wiped out”.

“You don’t look too good, perhaps you’re overdoing it?” he

looked at her with puzzled look on his face. “Have a norak”.

“A ‘norak’?”

“Yeah, isn’t that cool?” he laughed. “I learnt that off one of

the old codgers, down by the pier. It means a snooze in
Gaelic.”

~Page 58~
“Ok.” She frowned at him. “Whatever. Anyway it stays light
really late in summer, so there is time to catch up what we
missed today, later.”

“I was thinking of trying your mirror thing. Do you mind

going over it with me quick?”

“Yeah, sure” she agreed. “It was quite simple, I just looked in
the mirror and focussed on me really wanting to change into
an animal. I had just seen a cat running in the street outside
my window, so I suppose that must have been fresh in my
mind.”

“Anything else?”

“mmm, well I had that incident with Luna that I told you
about but I am not sure. I tried not to think to much about it
but then again, Metach mentioned something about Luna as
well…” she drifted off in thought.

“I’ll keep that in mind, but it’s not really my style. Not boy
stuff, I mean,….if you understand…” he elaborated.

Faye giggled. Boys were so…..like boys, really.

“I’m falling asleep any minute, dude” she yawned again. “Go
check out the mirror thing on the internet and see what else
you can see before you do anything. Don’t do anything daft
and if you need help, just come wake me up, if you can…”

“I’ll be fine, besides you did not even tell me before you tried
it!!” he pointed out.

“mmm, but be careful anyway, and go away now and leave

me alone. I’m dead on my feet….YAWN”.

~Page 59~
Faye was asleep before he even left the room.

~Page 60~
 CHAPTER ELEVEN

“People who hate cats

will come back as mice in their next life.”
.~ Faith Resnick

She was gasping for air again. Her lungs burning like they
would burst.

“Don’t try and breath, Faye, just use your gills”. It was just a
thought that floated through her head, as liquid as the water
that surrounded her. But it made sense. She relaxed and her
gills opened slowly at the suggestion and absorbed some
oxygen from the ocean around her.

Almost instantly she felt a deep sense of relief flood through

her brain.

She looked around. A silver fish darted past her and she
stared at it. She wondered if Luc was somehow nearby or
connected to her.

“Where are you?” she put out into the waters and instantly
received a millions answers. Anemones waved at her,
mussels showed her what they were made of. She laughed
out loud. Streams of bubbles rose upwards and the echo of
her noises rebounded off the surrounding seascape.

Despite her relief at being able to “breathe” and the humour

of the sea creatures, she still felt panicky.

~Page 61~
She knew something had been and probably still was
pursuing her. It was the same old nightmare except that she
had run. She had taken the same turn they had on the way to
the shop earlier that afternoon. She had run along the shore
path. When she reached the pier, she had glanced behind her
and she was still being perused. All she could do was jump
off the pier and swim for her life.

She had made her way out to the moored boats hoping that
someone there could help her. Usually she was really fit and
could swim unaided for some distance, but after running the
entire way along the shore-path, she was out of breath.

She had run out of energy and cramped up. Unable to tread
water and fearful for what followed her, she had panicked.

Then before she could reach one of the tourist’s boats, she
had started to sink. It was far deeper that she had imagined.
Way deeper that she could have feared.

What had potentially been an escape route was turning into a

watery grave.

There was a loud, knocking noise and she heard someone call
out, somewhere a door opened. She was rudely brought
back to the land of the living.

Faye leapt off the couch and into the passage, before she
was fully aware or knew what she was doing.

She was just in time to see the postman throwing their post
on the hall carpet and then before he closed the door, he
popped a small black and white kitten in the door. Then he
shut the door firmly.

~Page 62~
Faye took one look at the kitten and one look at the door.
Then she stepped over the kitten and opened the door. She
called after the postman, who was already climbing over
their shared low fence, to deliver John, the ambulance
drivers’ mail.

“Hello, this is not our kitten” she called.

“Ah, well, it was scratching at your door hard enough, I

thought it must be. Never mind, throw it out again! He
muttered all in one breath before completing his step over
the fence between them and their nearest neighbour.

Faye shuddered. It felt as though a cool breeze had passed

right through her. Then she looked down and felt her hair
stand on end. She was sopping wet. Even her hair was
dripping. Her jeans were stiff with water and there was
seaweed between her toes. She quickly stepped back inside
and behind the closing door, she stifled a scream.

The stray kitten clambered up her leg and the pain shot
through her like a knife. As she bent down to remove it, it
licked her hand. Half holding, half clamping the kitten she
felt torn between putting it straight outside or taking it to
the kitchen to give it some milk.

First things first.

She had to get changed.

Faye leapt up the stairs, two by two. Into the bathroom she
flew and grabbing a towel from the banister outside, she
started peeling her sodden clothes off. It seemed to take too
long before she climbed into the shower to warm up.

~Page 63~
She was already going purple with cold and full of
gooseflesh.

Warming up, under the steaming water, she blocked her

mind. She was really not going to think about this.

She shampooed her hair for a long, long time under the hot,
hot water. She smiled at the delicious smell of the shampoo.

She was brought back to reality by the visiting kitten, which

was literally climbing up the outside of the shower cubicle.

Faye reluctantly switched off the shower and climbed out

grabbing her towel. She felt a bit better now and this kitten
was kind of cute. She was sure that Luna needed a friend but
would her mother agree.

Thinking again, she was sure that it probably belonged to

someone, just like Luna belonged to her even if she went
wandering about.

She skipped over the landing and into her room, firmly
closing the door. It was still a strange kitten and it definitely
was not going to be in her room, whilst she was changing.
She laughed at herself.

Outside the kitten wailed its frustration and it scratched at

the door.

Faye changed as quickly as she could. She wanted to speak

to her brother. This nightmare thing was getting out of
control and even though she tried not to think of it whilst she
was awake, it was frightening her. The last two dreams had
come in broad daylight.

~Page 64~
Coming out of her room, she scooped up the new kitten and
called out as she traipsed down the stairs.

“Luc, where are you?”

SILENCE

The kitten bit her finger and she put it down. Going into her
brothers’ room, she held her nose. Then she opened his
windows and the curtains. He was obviously not inside. She
quickly picked up his laundry and went through to the kitchen
and popped it in the washing machine. Phew, he needed to
clean up his room. “Boys” she though to her self and sighed.

The kitten followed her everywhere and kept scratching her

leg or alternatively bit her finger when she finally agreed to
pick it up. It was impossible to do anything with it around.
Luna was not so demanding.

She had an idea and picked the kitten up again. As quick as

lightening she rushed to the back door and popped it out.

“Thank goodness!” she exclaimed.

Then she plonked herself down in her homeschool chair. For

a moment she did nothing at all and then reluctantly she
grabbed the landline phone and punched in his mobile
number.

Within seconds, she heard it ringing and leaving the handset

up-turned on the desk, she strolled through to his room.
There was his phone - ringing, right next to his bed.

~Page 65~
She sat down on the bed and answered the phone. Not sure
what she expected to hear, she said “hello”.

It was stupid, she knew but it seemed automatic.

On the other-side, all she could hear was relative silence. She
hung up.

Where on earth was Luc? She cast her mind back. She must
have fallen asleep on the couch. She remembered feeling
exhausted after all the excitement of the day and deciding to
take an afternoon nap.

She got up and went to his bathroom. Her brother was lucky
enough to have and en-suite bathroom, whilst she and her
parents shared a bathroom upstairs.

She peered at the mirror. Nothing there but a pale-faced girl

with vague lines under her eyes.

“Mmm, I wonder” she said aloud. Just then there was a

noise at the window and the strange kitten came bounding
in, followed by Luna.

“Ah, well, so I see you have made yourself at home then,

coming as you please” she said chirpily.

She definitely did not feel chirpy. She closed the window
after them. Perhaps his room has aired enough. One thing
was for sure, when she put them out again, they were NOT
going to come in again without being invited. Who knows
what a strange male kitten would do to the house. It was
probably not even litter trained and if her mother came back
to a house that stank of cats pee there would be trouble. No,
no, no - this kitten was going straight back out the back door.

~Page 66~
Even as she was thinking about it, the kitten climbed up her
leg. She was wearing her black leggings and they were not
very thick and it hurt.

“Kitten, stop that”, she shouted grabbing it before it could

scratch her more. It was insistent.

Holding it in the crook of her arm as she usually did Luna, she
looked around for her own pure white kitten. Luna meowed
from the passage. As soon as she got near her, Luna
bounded off and into the study.

“ah, Luna what’s up with you?”

Luna jumped up next to Luc’s laptop and rubbed herself

against it.

“Now that’s an idea”, Faye said as she settled into his chair,
still holding the strange kitten.

She looked at his screen. There was a series of search results

opened and it all centred on one topic – shapeshifting. She
clicked back to the search page, after making note of the last
tab he had left it on.

The kitten bit her finger really hard and she looked at it firmly,
right in the eyes as she lifted it up by the scruff of its neck.

“Listen right, here kitten” she started and then it rubbed up

firmly against both sides of her face - then stared at her.

She gasped. Something about those eyes was really familiar.

~Page 67~
She looked at the screen and then back at the kitten and the
kitten nodded at her.

“Luc?” she asked, surprised.

The kitten bit her finger softly and then stretched up and
carefully side swiped her face.

~Page 68~
 CHAPTER 12

“Black cat or white cat:

If it can catch mice, it's a good cat.”

Chinese Proverbs quotes

Faye, picked her “brother” up and carried him very gently

into his bedroom and closed the door.

“We need to talk,” she announced.

This was weird! She sure was not into having a cat for a
brother. Definitely weird.

<Nod>

“Ok, so you don’t know what to do, right?”

<Nod>

“OK….” she puzzled.

<Nod>

SILENCE…

“I’m just trying to think of how it went with me” she

explained. “First off I panicked and then I screamed NO, NO,
NO – then it kind of reversed itself.”

~Page 69~
<Nod>

“I’m thinking” she confirmed. “Ok, what about us going to

speak to Metach?”

<Vigorous shake – negative> accompanied by a low angry

growl.

“Ok, Ok, I think I have another idea….” She pondered.

“What about this….um, you did the mirror thing, right?”

<Nod>

“So,…..how about we go to the mirror and you can focus on

your image to change back”.

The kitten jumped up and ran through to the en-suite

bathroom room, purring. Faye followed and watched as the
kitten peered up at the high, shaving mirror above the basin
and meowed loudly and insistently.

She got the idea, really quickly and bent down to pick it up. It
seemed so weird despite her own experiences but she knew
it must be true. Her brother was a cat. She hoped he could
return to being himself, as she really needed to talk to him.

She popped the kitten down on the shelf above the basin,
carefully moving the razor and shaving cream out the way.
Then she giggled loudly, just thinking about what a big shave
her brother would need if he stayed in his current form. Oh
dear.

“Luc, just look at your eyes, they are still the same. Human
eyes! Just focus on your eyes and move your face really close

~Page 70~
to the mirror so that’s all you can see. Maybe try and think
about all the things you really like. I’m going to go through to
the kitchen to make you a cup of coffee and your favourite
chocolate biscuits. By the time I get back, you’d better be
back!” she insisted.

With that she left the room, resisting the temptation to give
the kitten a stroke on its back.

Passing the study she had an idea and picked up the landline.
Quickly punching in the digits of her brothers mobile, she
waiting until it rung a few times and then hung up. Perhaps
that would trigger something. She had heard it ringing and
remembered that it was next to his bed, in his room. He
would hear it too.

She opened the kitchen door and out sprang Luna. “Hello,
my baby, how are you?,” she said stroking her kitten roughly.
Luna immediately began to purr loudly. “Lets get you some
food, but first I must put the kettle on for Luc. I really wish
he was back to himself, I do!” she said vehemently.

She felt the fine hairs at the back of her neck stand up and
she felt weird.

Checking that the kettle was full enough, she popped the
switch and listened as it rumbled into life. Then she lent
down to open the bottom cupboard where they kept the cat
food.

Sometimes she went down to the shore to collect fresh

mussels for Luna on the instructions of Metach but the past
two days there had been no chance for that. Normal cat food
would have to do. She was about to tear open another foil
packet of Whiskers when she heard a disconcerting noise

~Page 71~
behind her and she froze, remembering her recurring
nightmares. Surely not here….. in broad daylight!

Then she screamed as something took a firm grasp of her

shoulder.

She screamed and screamed and screamed…

~Page 72~
 CHAPTER 13

“Borrow trouble for yourself,

if that's your nature,
but don't lend it to your neighbours.”
Rudyard Kipling

“Don’t panic, Faye, it’s only me” she heard a voice say and
she spun around to face the intruder.

It was John, the ambulance driver from next door, come to

check up on them.

“Aye, John” she commented. “But you should have knocked,

you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry, dear” he apologised. “The door was unlocked and I

was a little worried as neither of you has been to see me this
evening, like we arranged”.

“This evening?” said Faye with surprise. True enough it was

evening as she glanced at the kitchen clock. In summer it
stayed light so late it felt like it was still daytime but it was
definitely evening. No wonder Luna was demanding to be
fed.

“Oh, John, we are fine, thank you!” she managed. “Don’t

worry so much about us. I really just tripped over my
shoelace this morning. I had a sleep and I feel fine now. We
are so busy with our homeschool work that I did not notice

~Page 73~
the time. Mary Margaret was also over and we had to walk
Mara for her and fetch her messages, so time kind of ran
away with us today. I’m ready for bed already!” She smiled,
hoping that he would feel happy and be away already.

She definitely did not feel comfortable with him in the house
at the moment.

“I’m just making Luc a cup of coffee, would you like one
too?” she asked.

“Thanks but no,” he replied. “I’m on call in a minute – 12

hours shift, you know”.

“Yes, we’re about to have our ‘tea’ in a mo, so well, see you
tomorrow. Thanks for dropping by John and thanks for this
morning,” she added.

“Not so fast, young lady,” interrupted their neighbour.

“Where is your brother, I’ve not seen him about at all this
afternoon?”

Faye froze.

SILENCE

“Well,..?” John repeated.

“I just said, I’m making Luc a cup of coffee. Remember I said

we have been busy with our school work?” she started.

“Where is your brother, right now, my dear?” he repeated.

“I just had a quick look through the house looking for you
both and I did not find him”.

~Page 74~
“Um, he’s having a shower” she insisted.

“Ah, well, I’ll just wait until he’s out,” he announced.

“perhaps I will have that cuppa you were offering after all”.

Faye moved towards the kettle and popped it on, to reheat.

What on earth was she going to do. She quickly prepared 3
mugs and leant down to take the milk out of the fridge.

Just then there was a shrill, repetative beeping sound.

“Ah, that’s me pager,” said John. “I’ll have to run. Tell you
what, I’ll pop by in the morning,” he continued jotting his
pager number down on the whiteboard in the kitchen. “You
two give me a shout if you run into any trouble. Any trouble
at all!” he repeated, raising his eyebrows up and down.

Faye sighed loudly. “Thanks John, but I am sure we’ll be fine.

Not much going on around here, so we’ll be in bed right after
our meal”.

She followed John down the passage and firmly closed the
door behind him, locking it. She leant with her back against
the door and put her hands over her face.

That was a bit too close. She was sure that Luc and her could
sort things out before her parents got back, even with the
help of Metach but the pressure of having John unexpectedly
in the house was too much for her. He really was being a
mother hen.

She heard the kettle click off in the kitchen and ran down the
passage to pour Luc’s coffee for him.

~Page 75~
“Luc, I’ve got your coffee here. What do you feel like eating
for supper?” she shouted as she ran.

Luna was busy trying to trip her and then she remembered
her milk and finished feeding her.

No answer from Luc. She felt almost terrified to go into his

room.

She yawned. On top of everything else she was exhausted.

She deliberately sat down at Luc’s computer in the study, not
sure of what to make for supper and feeling a bit ill worrying
about her brother.

She read through the tabs he had open in Google Chrome.

Nothing new there. She typed in “How do you transform
back into human form?” and “shapeshift” and waited while
the search screen loaded.

The only decent website that came up was Wikipedia and

that was only folklore related. Bearing her brothers
conversation about her dad and folklore, she decided that
there might be something in it and had a good read.

Seemed that if you were the victim of a spell or curse, you

became trapped in a form but if your shapeshifting was
voluntary, then you would return to your original form, even
if it took some time.

Well, that was encouraging. She was surprised at the distinct

lack of info about shapeshifting. Perhaps she was just using
the wrong term and needed to look on more magical sites.
Perhaps some pagan sites? They knew quite a bit about
pagan stuff and their Mum was very open minded. She had
taught them about all the religions in the world and about

~Page 76~
the crusades and how so much old knowledge had been
destroyed, books burned and people too.

Faye leant back in the chair and stretched. Then she rubbed
her face and stood up. She had a mission. There was no
putting it off any longer. She had to go and visit her brother.

She walked through to the kitchen and picked up his mug of

coffee.

She was just about to turn around when she heard a gruff
voice behind her.

“Faye” it said.

She felt the hair on her neck stand up on end and Luna
arched her back and hissed, moving towards the door slowly,
backwards.

She spun around reluctantly.

A very worried boy was looking at her. It took her a moment

of surprised wondering to realise that it was actually Luc. He
was a bit hairy and odd looking.

Then unable to contain herself she leapt through the air and
wrapped her arms around him.

“LUC, I’m so happy, you have no idea how worried I was

about you” she shrieked.

“I don’t feel so good” he replied.

“Here, have your coffee” she insisted.

~Page 77~
“Um, well maybe but I need to talk to you he said.

Handing him his mug, she asked “What’s wrong, you don’t
look totally yourself?”

Taking a long sip, he mumbled something inaudible. Then

said, “That’s much better, thank you”.

“What did you say?” she asked.

“I am NEVER doing that again!” he said very loudly.

“What, the cat thing?” she guessed.

“Yes!”

“I sort of understand that, I only half changed but I felt

creeped out. But truly the bird one was awesome but when I
ate that worm it was gross. It did not hit me until I watched
another bird do the same thing a bit later, that it hit me so
hard. That was when I passed out. It was pass out or throw
up,” she laughed out loud. “I definitely won’t be doing the
bird thing again in a hurry.

Luc gagged. “I ate a mouse” he managed to get out. Then

he threw up all over the kitchen floor despite holding his
hand over his mouth.

Faye realised that she should have been quicker off the mark
when she saw him heaving but she could not think of
anything to give him to throw up in.

It stank and she felt like throwing up herself. Ergh.

~Page 78~
Luc handed her his half spilt mug of coffee and tugged off his
splattered tracksuit trousers. Then dashed back to his
bathroom.

Faye felt like laughing and crying at the same. She had her
brother back. He did not look totally right and he had just
thrown up all over the kitchen, and guess who was going to
clean it up? She had to be grateful to have him back though.

She shuddered. A mouse, YUK!

Then she stepped outside and gathered the mop and mop
bucket. Adding some disinfectant to the bucket, Faye lifted it
up to the sink to add some hot water.

This was totally gross.

~Page 79~
 CHAPTER 14

“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have,

and one of the best things you can be.”
~Douglas Pagels

Once Faye had finished the kitchen, it was sparkling. It had

taken a while to get finished but was worth it. Floor mopped,
dishes washed, and the sweet fragrance of the rose air
fresher that she had just sprayed more than enough of.

Too much air freshener actually,…. she thought as she leant

over the counter and opened a window.

Luc had come in halfway through to apologise and she had

sent him off to bed. It would be good for him to get an early
night, and besides she felt much better. He on the other
hand was looking rather green.

There was a noise at the window and as she jerked her head
towards it, she saw a face looking right at her. Then she
breathed a sigh of relief. It was Luna.

She cuddled her kitten, who started purring immediately.

Luna was happy and she did not have the heart to put her
away for the night. “Tonight you can sleep in my room and
keep me company”, she nattered away to Luna as she closed
up the kitchen. Luna purred even louder and needled Faye’s
arm.

~Page 80~
An early night would be good for her too. It was just past
9.20pm. She poked her head into Luc’s room to check on
him. He was already fast asleep. She left his night light on, in
case he had to get up in the night and then she began her
journey up the wooden stairs to her room.

What a whirlwind today had been. It seemed to have

dragged on far beyond a usual day.

Gently plopping Luna down on the closed toilet seat, Faye

brushed her teeth and washed her hands and face. There,
she felt a bit clearer already. She changed out of her clothes
and popped them into the laundry basket. That was
something to do tomorrow as it was Saturday tomorrow. Air
out Luc’s room, vacuum and do the laundry. Another day.
Perhaps Luc would feel up to helping.

A quick shower and then Faye was ready for bed. She held
the towel around her and picked Luna up, pulling the light
strand behind her.

“I wish I could get a good sleep tonight” she announced.

Luna purred extra loudly.

Faye was just finished putting on her pyjama’s when her

laptop started ringing. The screen blinked into life. Mia was
online.

Faye jumped over and sat down. She quickly switched to her
Skype screen and answered the call.

“HELLLOOOOO MIA” she squealed.

~Page 81~
“Faye, where have you been?” demanded Mia. “I have been
calling and messaging you all day.

“Oops, sorry Mia,” she replied. “It’s been a busy day,” she
confessed.

“What’s happening?” demanded Mia

“Mia, I have so much to tell you, I don’t know where to start”

she squealed. “But how are you?”

Oh, I am ok, you can read your messages BUT I WANT TO

KNOW ABOUT YOU!” she insisted.

“Sure Mia, but I thought your Mum made you take Skype off
your computer”.

“Yeah, she did but I was desparate to speak to you, now tell
me what’s going on!”

Faye gave her the lowdown on what had happened and Mia
listened quietly to it all, exclaiming out loud at appropriate
occasions.

Near the end, she said, “You need to read this stuff I found
on the internet, it’s a really good site. It’s the only one I
found on real shapeshifting stuff. I already sent you the link
on Facebook.”

“Thanks, so much Mia. You are the best friend!” shouted

Faye.

“Still I think you guys need to be careful. It’s a bit gross

eating worms and mice! I really think being human is quite
good enough for me,” Mia laughed. “Even better, if Luc

~Page 82~
thinks your parents won’t mind, maybe you should tell them
about everything so that something dangerous does not
happen to you both!”

“We’re being careful, Mia, don’t worry” consoled Faye.

“NO, YOU’RE NOT!” accused Mia. “You’re my best friend but

you’re not being careful. You’re being impulsive and it could
get you into such bad trouble, I can’t help you. Maybe
nobody could,..” she finished off lamely.

Faye was speechless. She did not know what to say. Really
Mia was right but it was so exciting and she was hooked.

“Faye, are you there?” asked Mia.

“Its OK Mia, really.” She went on “I understand your concern

and you are a good friend. Thanks”.

“Phew, I thought you were fed up with me, but I had to say it,
Faye, I am really worried. I am excited too but worried. I
can’t wait until the holidays. Why don’t you just wait until I
am there and then experiment some more?”

“I can’t think straight anymore, Mia. I am really tired and

think I need an early night without nightmares, I hope. I’ll
speak to you in the morning,” she said.

“Oh, Faye don’t be mad with me,” begged Mia.

“Mia, I am not mad. Just tired. Tomorrow is Saturday and I

can speak to you when I wake up. How’s that?” she asked

“Sure, sleep tight and I miss you. Cant wait for holidays,”
said Mia.

~Page 83~
“Sleep tight and hold on…..Mia thanks so much for calling.
It’s so nice to talk to you and don’t feel bad. True friends can
say what they think, its ok really. Love you” said Faye before
she ended the call by clicking on the button.

As much as she wanted to go and check all her messages, she

could hardly keep her eyes open. Even Luna felt like a dead
weight lying on her lap and she was asleep already.

Not bothering to shut down her laptop, Faye staggered over

to her bed and switched her nightlight on. It was still quite
light outside but her nightlight made her feel a bit braver.
She flatly refused to have nightmares tonight.

Then she slumped into bed and pulled the covers up. Luna
was curled up neatly on the duvet beside her and Faye placed
her arm around her kitten.

She briefly glanced at her new book that lay mostly unread
on her bedside table. It was a really good book and normally
she was such a bookworm but the last couple of days had
held such adventure that she had forgotten-to-remember to
read. It felt as if she was trapped within a story herself. A
living adventure.

Within seconds she was fast asleep.

~Page 84~
 CHAPTER 15

Luke: I'm not afraid.

Yoda: You will be. You... will... be.

~ Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Faye awoke with a sudden jerk. She lay there breathless. It

was light outside but that did not mean anything. Summer’s
‘daylight’ hours were long this far north. It was light until
after 10pm at night and again from about 3am. Winters were
far longer, about the reverse really. Dark until 10am and dark
again at 3pm. She had not thought about it so clearly before.

It seemed forever before she breathed. Then she heard a

noise and relaxed. It was the chirp of an early morning bird
which set the time at about 5am.

Fear left her like removing a cloak. Amazing, she thought to

herself, no nightmares. The first full nights sleep in a long
time. She reached her hand out to her kitten and stroked
her. Luna burst into a dawn chorus of purring. Cozy in bed,
Faye smiled to herself.

Sometimes life was so good.

She sat up in bed and fluffed her pillows, then she reached
over for her book. Soon she was lost in thought, absorbed by
the developing story and Luna purring contentedly. She was
so drawn into the story that she did not hear Luna murmur,
“not even a word of thanks”. Still Luna was happy to be

~Page 85~
sleeping inside on her mistress’s bed. She briefly dug her
claws into Faye’s wrist and gave her a sharp bite but nothing
seemed to draw her attention. So Luna drifted back into
slumber purring contentedly, with Faye’s hand on her back.

Within an hour, Faye’s book had been devoured. Not that

she read every single word, or understood every single word
– but she was a rabid reader for her age.

She sighed with pleasure. It had been a good storyline. A

book they had ordered the internet. She loved the story and
it was part of a series. The author made the world of “Ingo”
sound so real. She liked the way the author described the
change, especially the first times when the girl was gasping
for air and had to stop trying to breathe. That had really
helped her when she had gone into the bay to escape her
nightmare. She thought about it a bit. At first she had
thought Luc was close-by speaking to her but now she
wondered…

“Luna, I wish I could turn into a mermaid, sometime,” she

whispered aloud to her kitten.

Luna’s rumbling purr stopped for a second and she looked at

her mistress but Faye was already climbing out of bed and
aiming for the bathroom.

“First animals, now mixed beings,” Luna complained with a

low growl. “Never content are they - HUMANS!!!”

The sound of the shower lulled Luna’s senses and she relaxed
a bit. Then she decided that she herself needed to make a
visit downstairs to the catbox. She meowed. “I’m hungry
too, for some milk,” she announced to the world.

~Page 86~
Faye was soon back in her bedroom with her hair wrapped
and wearing her thick, purple gown. It was so nice and
warm.

She glanced in the mirror and thought about using her

Clearasil and then sat down at the computer. She booted it
up and put in her password. She giggled to herself as she
changed her password to:

I.N.G.O.

How cool was that!

She moved her mouse pointer to the bottom right hand

corner and the start bar popped up, awaking from its auto-
hide feature. It was 5.21am. She looked at the calendar and
mentally marked off the days until her parents returned. The
time seemed to have gone by so fast, it was almost as if they
had just left and yet they were soon to be back.

She wondered at how things would turn out and heard the
voice of her sensible friend. Yes, definitely Mia was right and
only a good friend would really speak their mind. A friend
who just agreed with you was not really a good friend were
they?

Luc and her really ought to cool off about this shapeshifting.
It did seem to have its unpleasant side and was not as simple
as one imagined. One was clearly not totally in control of
oneself as she could remember with the worm episode. She
barely remembered eating the worm at the time but
watching another bird eat a worm had brought it back to her.

It was quite weird realising that different animals actually

thought differently and lived differently. It seemed obvious

~Page 87~
she knew, laughing aloud but it was SOOO different when
you actually experienced it. She certainly knew more about
birds now that she had shapeshifted. Much more in fact,
than if she had done one of her homeschool projects. Still it
was not something you could publish, was it? she asked
herself.

Usually Faye published her homeschool projects on-line on a

schoolwork website. So far she had a few documents that
others had downloaded and had a few subscribers. It was
good experience really. Mostly she published Powerpoint
presentations on different subjects but she could not imagine
publishing something on shapeshifting. Still there was not a
lot she had found herself on the topic that was any good and
perhaps what Luc and her had experienced would help some
other kid their age. Maybe if she had read about some of the
more unpleasant things herself, it might have made her think
twice.

She logged into Facebook and paused before clicking on her

messages. A while back she had started with this cool
application. It was called “Horse Saga” and she had a foal to
deliver. She could not believe that she had been too busy to
check on it.

Faye was obsessed with animals of all kinds and there were
no horses on the island they lived on. Not even one!
Definitely not something to shapeshift into as a horse
running about the commons would cause a lot of interest.
Even her brother’s astral dolphin adventure had people
talking. It was so easy to get people talking in this place.

She decided to do her “Horse Saga” first and her messages

later. Besides Mia would still be fast asleep !

~Page 88~
It was quite surprising that Mia had used Skype last night.
She must have been really worried because her mum was
adamant that Skype was not for 11 year olds.

Some time back, Mia’s mum had insisted that Mia remove
Skype from her computer and Faye thought she had. They
used to talk late into the night because it was free but Mia’s
mum disapproved and had caught Mia after hearing the noise
at some late hour after Mia was supposed to be in bed
asleep. That had been the end of that, until last night.

~Page 89~
 Glossary
Codger Old man
Kindle Electronic reading device
Messages 1 Shopping
Messages 2 Email messages or chat messages
Norak Snooze
Shapeshifting Physically transforming into an animal
Tea 1 Supper
Tea 2 A hot drink made with teabags

~Page 90~