Katy Hunter and the Magic Star

By Moira Hodgkinson

Far away from everything familiar, Katy Hunter dreads the thought of spending six months in the sleepy countryside with relatives she barely knows. She soon settles in but all is not as it seems at Clover Cottage. Dark dreams, whispered secrets and mysterious hooded figures fill her with fear in the dead of night. When she finds a silver star th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fenix Flames Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Dec 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781913768102

Moira Hodgkinson

Moira Hodgkinson is the author of practical books on magical practices and also writes urban fantasy pagan novels for both adults and children. She is a regular guest speaker at pagan conferences and holds open Sabbat rituals in the heart of Sherwood Forest.

Book preview

Katy Hunter

and the

Magic Star

by

Moira Hodgkinson

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Published by Fenix Flames Publishing Ltd 2020

Copyright © 2020  Moira Hodgkinson

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who performs any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Published by Fenix Flames Publishing Ltd

Design & Layout: Ashley Mortimer

Front Cover and Illustrations: JJ Gill

Printed by Lightning Source International / Ingram Spark

 Paperback ISBN    978-1-913768-09-6

eBook  ISBN    978-1-913768-10-2

www.publishing.fenixflames.co.uk

By The Same Author:

The Witching Path (2007)

The Witch's Journey (2017)

The Folklore and Magic of Dolls (2019)

Wild Women (2017)

Blue Moon (2020)

For Phoebe, with love forever.

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Chapter One

Six months isn’t long. Katy’s mum said for the twentieth time that day. You’d better start packing now, because we’re leaving tomorrow, with or without your stuff.

"Six months isn’t long. Katy mimicked. Six months takes me right through the entire summer holidays, a whole school term, and - whoopee - I get to spend Christmas on my own with a couple of boring old relatives who I haven’t seen since I was five. Gee, thanks mum."

Your Aunt Sybil is far from boring, believe me. Oh, by the way, they’ve said you don’t need to call them ‘Auntie’ or ‘Uncle’. Now, would you please just get it done, Katy. Her mum folded her arms over her chest and huffed loudly, turning away from Katy and heading for the door. I told you last weekend you had to start packing. You’re the one who left it till now, not me.

"That’s because I’m not going! Katy shouted, suddenly getting up off her bed. She threw a hairbrush into one of the cardboard boxes her mum had brought upstairs for her. There - I started packing. Happy now?"

Katy, her mum glanced back with gritted teeth and her hands went to her hips, a sure sign that she was in a really foul mood and about to break. We have been through this before. Your dad and I will never get an opportunity like this again. Working on this project together is something we’ve been looking forward to for years, it’s a chance in a life time. We’ll have a six-day break at Christmas and we’ll spend it with you at Sybil and Tom’s. They do have telephones in South America Katy, and emails, and video calls. Stop giving me grief over this and get your packing done, okay?

Katy folded her arms, narrowed her eyes to the merest squint, turned her head away and looked at the mess of her bedroom. Her mum lowered her head sadly and Katy noticed there were tears starting to well up in her eyes. Katy, please. Her arms fell to her sides and her shoulders drooped as she walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her, leaving Katy alone. It was the first time Katy had seen her mum this close to tears in a long while, not since her mum’s best friend Melissa had died a couple of years ago, and she realized she was not the only one whose heart would be broken by the separation, never mind that it was only for six months.

Katy pushed a ringlet of red hair away from her face and roughly wiped away a tear that had escaped her eyes and rolled onto her cheek. She sniffed and sighed and huffed, and finally decided that packing was probably a good idea after all. Although her mum had said nobody else was going to do it for her, they wouldn’t make her leave without at least sorting out some clothes and few other essentials, but she didn’t trust her parents’ choice of clothing for her. She sighed and resigned herself to the fact that the move was going to happen, no matter what she said or did. At least if she did her own packing, she’d be able to pick and choose what she took with her.

Katy started to put more of her things into the box, ready for the move. She would miss this room and she sniffed back a tear, looking round to enjoy it while she still could. Her bedroom was colourful and bright, she’d spent ages getting it just right; the carpet and walls were a light shade of lilac, and the doors, window frames and furniture were highlighted with dark purples and deep reds, and a giant yellow sunflower, which Katy had painted the year before last, still brightened up the ceiling above her bed. She’d got such an ache in her neck and shoulders from stretching up to finish it, but it had been worth it. The only window in her room looked directly out to the front of the house, right across to the dull-looking houses on the other side of the street. To cheer up the grey view, Katy had used glass paints to create images of birds, flowers and fairies on the window, and the window-sill itself was adorned with statues of dragons, fantasy wizards and fairies. Her mum called it a cluttered mess, but Katy loved it.

She had one box full now, mostly with books. Katy loved to read and had books on all kinds of subjects. She had books about fairies, vampires and werewolves, dragons and unicorns, mysteries and detectives - her current favourite was the famous teen super-sleuth, Cynthia Cornelli. There were novels, non-fiction books, a series of excellent ‘how-to’ books and even comics, anime and a small selection of graphic novels. Katy could spend hours curled up in bed reading, long after she ought to have been asleep. She dreamed that she was the heroine of a mystery story, solving crimes and discovering secrets.

Louise Harper, who had been Katy’s best friend since their first ever day at school, was sometimes puzzled by Katy’s interest in mysteries and fantasy, but to Katy it was far more exciting to read about make believe and mysteries than the dull, boring stories Louise preferred. Louise’s favourite books featured prim and proper girls who lived at boarding schools and went around being perfect at everything all the time, the sort of boring, posh girls who wore straw hats with their school uniform and owned their own ponies. At Louise’s recommendation, Katy had actually read one of these so-called novels: T J and Becks at the Gymkhana! Thankfully, it hadn’t taken long to read, but it still counted in Katy’s mind as the top three most boring hours ever spent reading. A maths textbook would have more exciting. Even so, she was really going to miss Louise over the next few months. What on earth would she do on her own for the long summer holidays, which had only just started? Will I get on okay with the local kids? Will anybody else be as book-mad as I am? More to the point - what if I come back and Louise has a new best friend instead of me?

Being an only child was usually brilliant: she had complete and total control over both of her parents and everything she owned was hers alone, but today, she wondered what having a brother or sister would be like. Louise argued all the time with her older brother, Jed, and giving Louise a dead arm was one of Jed’s favourite things to do after school. Admittedly, he could be a royal pain, but still, Katy couldn’t quite understand why they hated each other so much.

If I had a brother or sister, we’d never fight, we’d be best mates. It would be nice to have someone who knows what you’re going through - someone you can always rely on and share things with. If there were someone else to go with, the move wouldn’t seem quite so daunting...

Katy jumped slightly as a knock at her bedroom door startled her out of her daydreaming. Her mum’s voice called from the other side.

Have you filled that box up yet? Her mum said in a sing-song voice, as bossy as ever, but Katy could tell she was trying hard to forget the argument had happened, trying hard to make everything feel okay again. The door creaked open - Katy would even miss that annoying creak - and her mum came in and sat on the floor beside her. Katy was trying hard to forget the argument too.

Just finished packing some of my books. Katy told her. Can you tape this shut while I hold the lid closed?

Together they closed the box and pulled packing tape over the top to seal it up. They smiled at each other and suddenly Katy burst into tears. Her mum cuddled her closely and stroked her hair, but it was no good, she was so excited, scared and sad all at once, that now they had started, the tears wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t help it. Katy had only been to the family house in the country twice since her grandma had died, and both times her parents had had to bring her back early. There was something about the house that had upset Katy. Though she could barely remember it herself, her mum and dad assumed that because she’d been so fond of her gran, being in the house without the old lady was too upsetting. On top of that, her parents travelled so much for their work, it made it difficult to find the time to visit Aunt Sybil and Uncle Tom, who now lived there. Though the two sisters, her mum and Aunt Sybil, met up as often as they could, Katy herself had only the vaguest memories of her aunt and uncle.

Her Mum started speaking to her in a soft, comforting voice and Katy slowly began to feel better. She managed to resist the urge to wipe her soggy face with the edge of her hoody sleeve, a habit she knew her mum hated; no sense in rocking the boat any further.

Are you worried about the house?

Not really, it’s not the house. No. She couldn’t explain it all in words when there was so much going on inside, knotting her stomach up and preying on her mind.

It’s only for six months. We’ll talk to each other every day on the phone. Louise and you will write to each other all the time, and she will still be your best friend when you get back. You’re going to love Sybil and Tom, and the house. We’ll come back for a week to spend the Christmas holidays with everyone. We’ll be back at the end of January. It will all be okay. I promise.

Yeah, I suppose so. Katy sniffed and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Her mum always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

 And besides, Mum added, your Aunt Sybil has a very special surprise waiting for you when you arrive, and it’s going to keep you quite busy for a while, help you settle into the old homestead.

At once Katy’s face lit up with anticipation. She loved surprises, who didn’t?

What kind of surprise? She asked.

Wait and see, Mum smiled and ruffled Katy’s thick red hair. Just you wait and see.

With that, Katy found herself being half carried, half dragged out of her room. Now come on, sweetheart. Mum said. Let’s get you some more boxes.

The rest of the day was spent deciding what to take, what to leave behind, and making sure things like her toothbrush and favourite trainers were not forgotten.

Her dad returned home early from work and the warm, early summer’s evening was spent with laughter, good food, and sunshine in the Hunters’ garden. Her mum and dad had each bought her a leaving present. She unwrapped red tissue paper to reveal a jewellery box. She opened it and took out a silver chain with a small orange-yellow stone hanging from it. The silver setting swirled around the stone in a spiralling curl and, when the gem caught the sunlight, it seemed to glow from the inside.

It’s gorgeous! Katy cried. I love it, thanks Mum. The stone is amber, isn’t it?

Katy had read about crystals like amber and amethyst and citrine from a book she had on precious stones and minerals and there was a new-age shop in town she liked which sold gothic and hippy clothes and had a small crystal display.

Did you know amber isn’t actually a stone or crystal? It’s fossilised tree resin.

Yes, Mum said, I know.

Katy’s crystal book had a section on the special qualities each crystal was supposed to have, but she couldn’t remember what amber was used for. Sometimes amber has little insects inside that got caught in the resin hundreds of years ago.

She made a mental note to dig out the book and find out if amber was supposed to have any special qualities. Maybe there would be a crystal shop in Little Billington where she could get some advice and pick up a pair of amber earrings to go with the necklace.

She opened Dad’s gift next. It was the entire new series of Cynthia Cornelli adventure novels, including the most recent