Frankie shook his head and muttered crossly about being sick of dealing with random ripples of bothersome magic, cleaning up after everyone else just magicked this and magicked that without a single thought for the consequences. He even shook his fist at the sparkly cloud, as if that would make a bit of difference.
‘Frankie,’ I said, taking hold of his arm, ‘I think we have to get over there. Whoever that odd woman is, and whatever it is she wants with Toby, the answer is over there.’
He took a deep breath and nodded. ‘You’re right, counting girl. Mia,’ he corrected. ‘Now, how to get across? We need a branch or something.’
We looked about the trail. Unlike how it used to look, it was tidy and had neat edges, with the bush plants all trimmed back, apart from the rain-heavy fern fronds th
