Cloud Magic

didn’t!’
    Erin gasped as suddenly two girls, both her age, appeared out of thin air, flying in the starry sky. ‘B-but – b-but…’ she stammered.
    At the sound of her voice the girls looked down. They both looked horrified.
    ‘ Camouflagus! ’ Erin heard them say, and they both vanished instantly.
    ‘Wait!’ Erin shouted. ‘Who are you? Come back!’ Hope surged through her. She didn’t know who they were, but they must be magic. Maybe they could help her? ‘Please! Do you know anything about sky horses? About weather weaving? Come back. I really need your help!’
    The air shimmered and one of the girls appeared. She had blonde corkscrew curls and was wearing a silver dress. Erin frowned. She looked oddly familiar.
    ‘Allegra!’ a voice exclaimed and then the other girl appeared. She had dark wavy hair and was wearing a golden dress.
    Erin suddenly recognized them. It was the two girls she had seen on the cliff path that day. ‘What… what’s happening?’ she whispered. ‘Who are you? Are… are you…’ she stared at them and said the only thing she could think of: ‘… fairies ?’
    The blonde girl smiled. ‘Don’t be silly.’ She flew down and landed lightly on the shingle beside her. ‘We’re stardust spirits, of course!’

C H A P T E R
    Four
    Erin stared at the blonde girl. ‘Stardust spirits?’
    ‘Yes, but you must be one too if you’ve heard about sky horses and weather weaving,’ said the blonde girl. ‘I’m Allegra, by the way. And this is Chloe,’ she added as the dark-haired girl landed next to her on the beach.
    ‘Hi,’ Chloe said easily. ‘Who are you?’
    ‘My name’s Erin.’ Erin shrugged helplessly.
    ‘What do you know about weather weaving?’ Allegra asked.
    ‘Nothing apart from the fact I think I might be a weather weaver.’ Erin saw their astonished looks. ‘It’s a long story.’
    ‘Tell us,’ urged Allegra.
    So Erin took a deep breath and told them about discovering she was a weather weaver and everything that had happened to her that day, including the sky stallion speaking to her and telling her he was trapped.
    ‘Wow!’ said Chloe as Erin finished. ‘That sounds so cool! I’ve never even heard of sky horses.’
    ‘I have though. It’s because Chloe’s only been a stardust spirit for two days,’ Allegra quickly explained. ‘But I’ve been a stardust spirit for ages. Xanthe, my mum, is one too. When we saw you at the beach today, she said she thought you looked like you might have stardust powers. She’s really good at recognizing people who have. She was right this time!’
    Allegra seemed to see the bewilderment on Erin’s face. ‘Do you want to sit down and I’ll tell you all about stardust?’
    Erin nodded and they sat down together on the large rocks at the bottom of the cliff. The stone felt reassuringly solid beneath Erin’s legs. She felt almost as if she was in a dream. She believed in magic, but this was all so weird!
    ‘Being a stardust spirit is brilliant!’ Chloe burst out before Allegra could begin. ‘You can fly and do magic!’

    Allegra grinned. ‘Every person in the world has stardust inside them – it’s what makes humans imaginative and creative. But some people have extra stardust and these people can turn into stardust spirits at night time.’
    ‘We have to help nature – using our magic to put right any wrongs done by people,’ Chloe added.
    ‘And you’re saying I am a stardust spirit,’ said Erin slowly.
    Allegra nodded. ‘Weather weavers are a special kind of stardust spirit. It’s very unusual to be a weather weaver though – they can talk to the sky horses like you can and do magic with hagstones. I don’t know much more about them because I’ve never met one before. I bet Xanthe would love to meet you. She’s not with us tonight because she had some other stardust spirits to see; everyone is really worried about the strange weather that’s been happening and it sounds like you’ve found out the reason for it all. Xanthe and I go home to Devon tomorrow – we’ve been staying at Chloe’s house for the last few days…’
    ‘Xanthe’s my godmother as well as being Allegra’s mum,’ Chloe put in. ‘She and Allegra told me about stardust two nights ago. They made it sound as if it was a story, but as soon as I heard about it I had to try and turn into a stardust spirit to see if it was real.’
    ‘So how do I become a stardust spirit?’ Erin asked anxiously. ‘I don’t