I'll Be There For You. Kerry Barrett

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СКАЧАТЬ The rest of us all stared at Fiona.

      ‘Ooooh,’ Lou breathed out.

      Mum scooped Fiona up off the grass and covered her face in kisses.

      ‘You clever, clever girl,’ she said. Fifi giggled and Finn put his arms up so Mum could pick him up too.

      Lou looked at me.

      ‘Looks like she’s a chip off the old block,’ she said, with a grin. ‘Your old block, at least.’

      Louise wasn’t a witch, but she was so accepting of my family’s quirks that I sometimes forgot she didn’t have the – ahem – talents we had. When we’d decided to adopt a child, we’d managed to find an agency that placed children of witches though, of course, there was never any guarantee that witchcraft skills would be passed on – no one was quite sure how these things worked. The twins’ natural mother was a teenage witch. According to our social worker (who was also a witch – they were everywhere if you knew where to look), her skills were unpredictable and uncontrolled and she had suffered badly with the mental health problems that often plagued people like us – my brother had suffered in the same way. Knowing their mum was a witch meant it was no real shock that at least one of our kids had inherited her talents but I was surprised Fiona had showed signs so young.

      I pushed back my chair and went over to where Finn stood, balancing on his baby walker and reaching up for a cuddle. I picked him up and kissed his rosy cheeks.

      ‘Hello, my boy,’ I said. He patted my face adoringly.

      ‘Mamamama,’ he said.

      Fifi wriggled in Mum’s arms, wanting to be part of my love-in with Finn. I sat down on the grass and pulled both kids into a cuddle. They both stared at me with their identical sludgy-green eyes.

      ‘Now then, kids,’ I said. ‘This is a big day for Fiona.’

      Fiona sucked her thumb gravely, clutching Pink Bunny. I ruffled her fair curls.

      ‘Life’s not going to be easy for you,’ I went on. ‘But me and Mummy Lou are going to be here every step of the way.’

      Finn lost interest. He clambered off my lap and crawled over to investigate Clemmie’s toys.

      Fiona snuggled in closer to me, her eyes heavy with sleep. I stood up and took her back to the table, enjoying the warmth of my beautiful baby girl.

      ‘Shall we have some wine?’ Mum asked. ‘I feel we should celebrate.’

      ‘Definitely,’ Lou said. ‘I’ll get it, I need the loo anyway.’

      She disappeared into the house and I felt a wave of relief that I was pinned under a sleeping child and no one had expected me to summon a bottle in my usual way.

      Because the truth was, that I couldn’t. Since the twins had arrived, my powers had become unpredictable. At first they were haphazard and uncontrolled, then they’d gradually dwindled to nothing. Now I couldn’t so much as conjure up a birthday cake or ‒ I wound one of Fiona’s curls round my little finger ‒ summon a cuddly toy. My one-year-old daughter had more witchcraft in her chubby hands than I did. And that made me feel terrible.

       Chapter 3

      ‘Don’t look so worried,’ Louise said to me later, as we sat in front of the TV. ‘Fifi will be fine. You can help her.’

      I gave her a weak smile.

      ‘I feel a bit out of my depth,’ I admitted. ‘I wasn’t expecting things to happen so young. We can’t explain that she should only do witchcraft when people won’t notice ‒ she’ll never understand.’

      ‘She might,’ Lou said. ‘They’re understanding more and more now. I’m sure she’ll get the hang of it.’

      ‘Maybe,’ I said doubtfully. ‘The thing is, this is a new experience for everyone. Esme and I didn’t start showing our powers until we were about three, Mum says.’

      ‘Perhaps you need some support,’ she said. ‘What about finding that witch baby group you talked about? I love the support I get from twin club ‒ just knowing other mums in the same situation has been so helpful for me. You could get that support from other witches.’

      She was, as usual, completely right. But she didn’t know that I was barely a witch myself at the moment. If I met up with others, they’d be bound to notice and then what? I had no idea what happened to a witch that couldn’t make magic.

      ‘Do you want to watch another episode,’ Lou said, waving the Breaking Bad case at me. I shook my head.

      ‘I’m wiped out,’ I said. ‘And I’ve got to be at work early tomorrow. You watch another one and I’ll catch up during the week if you like.’

      I stood up.

      ‘Night,’ I said.

      Louise caught my hand.

      ‘Are you okay, H?’ she said. ‘You just seem a bit out of sorts.’

      ‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘Honestly.’

      I was exhausted, that wasn’t a lie. I climbed the stairs slowly and went into the twins’ room. They were both sleeping peacefully in their cots. Finn was face down on the mattress, while Fifi had her arms flung above her head like a flamenco dancer. My heart ached with love for them both, but I was so scared that I was going to let them down when they needed me most that I let out a little sob. My brother had grown up in a non-magical family, not understanding his powers and not learning how to use them properly and he had suffered badly because of it. I couldn’t bear for that to happen to my children. I brushed Fiona’s hair off her face and kissed her forehead.

      ‘I’m going to sort this out, little girl,’ I whispered. ‘We’ll help you get control of your powers.’

      I kissed Finn too ‒ on the back of his head, in case turning him over woke him up.

      ‘And you, mister,’ I said. ‘Are you magical, too?’

      Finn snored gently.

      I crept out of their room and into our bedroom, where I sat on the edge of the bed.

      My pyjamas were under my pillow. I waggled my fingers in their direction. Nothing happened. Ordinarily I’d expect them to float out in a shower of silvery sparkles and land on my lap. I tried again. Nothing.

      That was the most basic of basic magic. It was what Fiona had done this afternoon. And I couldn’t do it. In a daze I pulled my pyjamas out by myself and put them on, then I got into bed and turned out the light so I wouldn’t have to talk to Lou when she came to bed. I couldn’t understand it at all. My mum’s powers had gone a bit wonky once, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had treatment. But that was completely understandable given what was going on in her body - and she’d not lost them entirely. I had always had trouble using spells if I was super-stressed, but that was always temporary and, normally, with a bit of concentration, I could cobble something together.

      My problems had crept up on me. Witchcraft СКАЧАТЬ