Eye of the Storm

rather than leaving no trace of a wound,’ suggested Tor.
    Erin nodded. That made sense. Much as she wanted to make Kestrel completely better straight away, Jackie would be absolutely bewildered if Kestrel’s wound suddenly closed up and healed.
    ‘We should go,’ said Chloe, glancing at the sky. ‘The night’s almost over.’
    Erin realized that Chloe must have had a rather dull time. ‘I’m sorry we don’t ever seem to get the chance to do any normal stardust magic at the moment.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ said Chloe, rolling her eyes. ‘I’m used to it.’
    Erin hoped she wasn’t really upset with her. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’d better go. We can play tag on the way home though.’
    Chloe smiled. ‘OK!’
    Calling goodbye to the horses, the two girls flew away, chasing each other across the skies.
    Up in the clouds, Marianne looked down and smiled…

CHAPTER
Six
    Oh, Mum. It was really difficult last night. I was trying to do healing magic, but I couldn’t do it properly. It kept almost working, but not enough. Tor said I was doing well, but I need to be able to do it well enough to make Kestrel’s leg better. And I’m sure Chloe’s a bit fed up with me. She didn’t get to do much last night. I feel bad about that. I know she wishes she could do weather-weaving magic and she finds it hard that it’s just me who can do it, but I had to keep practising. I just wanted to get the magic right so I could help Kestrel. I hope she understands.
    Erin sighed and put down her pen. She could see the sun rising in the sky through her half-open curtains. It was early in the morning and no one else was up yet, but she hadn’t slept well. She wanted to be able to heal Kestrel so badly. Now, she picked up a hagstone. Would she be able to make it work well enough that night?
    Turning it over in her hands, she felt a tingling feeling. Excitement leapt through her like a flame flaring. Magic! The stone must be trying to show her something again.
    Eagerly, she stared at the hole and let her mind go blank, trusting to the magic just as Tor had once told her to. To her surprise, a vision of Chloe appeared – Chloe writing in a diary. Erin stared. She hadn’t even known Chloe had a diary! Chloe was frowning. The vision seemed to zoom in on the words. Erin caught sight of her own name:
    Erin was really annoying last night…
    Erin felt a jolt. She forced her eyes away. It was Chloe’s private diary. She knew she shouldn’t read it, but she couldn’t stop herself. Her gaze flicked back.
    All she did was her weather magic. We didn’t get to do anything fun. And she wasn’t even that good at healing. She wants to heal Kestrel, but I don’t think she’ll be able to.
    Erin’s heart thudded. Chloe hadn’t said that to her! She’d been really encouraging.
    She thinks we’ll stop Marianne too , Chloe’s writing went on. But I don’t know how. She’s got no power. We’ll never be able to stop a dark spirit like Marianne.
    Erin blinked and felt the vision fade.
    A sick feeling rose inside her. She should never have read the diary even if it was in a vision. But it was horrible to know that Chloe thought those things about her.
    Trying to push what she had seen from her mind, she got up and went downstairs.
    Chloe came hurrying to meet Erin at the stables that day. ‘Hi!’ she said cheerfully. She dropped her voice. ‘I mailed Xanthe to see how she is and told her what’s been happening. I said about how you need to find a way to increase your power so you can send images of Tor to the clouds and destroy the dark gateway. I hope she can help.’
    Erin nodded, feeling very awkward. It was strange having Chloe chat so normally and yet knowing what was really going on in her head. For a moment she wondered if she should say anything, but that would mean admitting she had been spying on Chloe. She decided to keep quiet.
    ‘I hope you can make the stone work tonight,’ Chloe went on. ‘I bet you’ll be able to.’
    ‘Mmm,’ Erin said.
    At that moment – to her relief – Anna, one of the other helpers, arrived. Chloe changed the subject.
    ‘Should we go and see Kestrel, Erin?’

    Erin nodded.
    ‘It’s going to be horrible for you not being able to ride him,’ chatted Chloe as they walked towards the stables. ‘Do you want a ride on Ziggy later?’
    Erin nodded again, but didn’t speak.
    Chloe frowned. ‘Are you OK? You’re being really quiet.’
    ‘I’m… I’m fine,’ Erin