Page 51 of The Book of Unwritten Stories

The scene of the accident was devastating, and she couldn’t look that way. Instead, she walked down to Federal Street, looping back around until she reached Botts Court that led her back onto beautiful Chestnut, Sephy’s street. The entire time she was scanning the sky for Hades, calling out for him a couple of times. When she reached Sephy’s garden, she saw him perched in the branches of the oak tree.

‘Hey, I’ve been calling for you. I need your help.’

He looked sad. Could birds look that sad, had he looked that way when Lucine had died?

‘I need you to take me to trouble.’

At this he perked up a little.

‘You know where she lives, right? I need to talk to her, so can you show me? But you can’t tell the aunts, they won’t like it. This is between us and trouble.’

He nodded, then took off in the air.

‘Go slow, I can’t run far, okay?’ Dora called after him. ‘And don’t go through all the busy streets, take me a quiet way.’

She had no idea if he’d understand that, but he headed towards New Derby Street which was definitely much quieter than everywhere else. Dora wasn’t sure what she was going to say to Morana. Hades flew a little distance then he’d perch on a rooftop or a wall to wait for her to catch up. Dora was out of breath. Olympic track athletes could train with birds, that would keep them in top-notch running condition.

When they reached the corner of Jaho she thought about grabbing a coffee, although it was busy and she preferred the little café further down, The Wolf Next Door, where the cups weren’t pink but the coffee was good. She waved to him and took a seat at one of the outside tables to catch her breath and think about what she was doing. Her aunts would be furious with her, but she felt a desperate pull towards The Book of Black Magic too. Was the fact that it was out in the world what had been holding her back from being able to relax? It was her book too if her parents wrote it, and she deserved to take a peek inside of it, especially if this Morana was reading it. If she could get the book off Morana and talk to her, it would be worth it. Not that she wanted a book of black magic spells. Lenny wouldn’t even let her look at the nice book of magic spells, so this one would a billion per cent be out of bounds, but it would solve all of their problems.

Hades landed on the fencing next to her and a group of women all wearing matching tees and witch hats began to coo and ahh at him excitedly. He began to peck at Dora’s hair, preening her, and they screeched in delight.

‘Oh my God, we love him, can we take a photo? Is he your pet? Did you train him to do that?’

She smiled at them. ‘He’s my familiar. I’d ask him if you can take a photo and, no, I have never trained him. He’s very clever, aren’t you?’ She gently scratched his head, and he hopped up and down. The youngest of the group approached him.

‘You are beautiful, can we take your photograph? Please.’

Hades gave a curt nod then Dora laughed as he stood up and pushed out his chest. She rolled her eyes at him. ‘You are such a guy.’

Hades squawked as if agreeing with her then took off into the air, soaring majestically above the rooftops.

‘I want a pet crow. How did you do that? It’s incredible.’

Dora stood up. ‘I think I’m his pet, not the other way around. Enjoy your day, ladies.’ She left them excitedly chattering about Hades and followed him down onto Wharf Street, where he was perched on the top-floor window ledge above an empty shop.

He had done as she’d asked and brought her to where Morana lived. But suddenly Dora wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing.

As she crossed the road, she noticed a dark stain on the tarmac and walked around it because it looked like blood, like a lot of blood had been spilled. The door to the apartments hadn’t been closed properly, allowing her to get inside without alerting Morana she was here. There was a stillness inside along with the strong smell of sage, rosemary, lavender and Palo Santo that filled the air. The higher she climbed, the more intense the smell was and she reached a door that was also ajar and knocked.

The woman that answered looked as if she had been replaced from the haughty, obnoxious one she had met earlier. There were dark shadows under her eyes that looked haunted and her hair was scraped back in a messy bun. Mascara trails down her cheeks told Dora she’d been crying.

‘What do you want?’

Maybe not all of her attitude had gone.

‘Can I come in?’

She sighed. ‘I’m busy.’

‘Doing what, cleansing the whole of Wharf Street? I could barely breathe walking up these stairs it’s so strong.’

‘Good.’

‘What? Good that I can’t breathe?’

Morana looked horrified. ‘No, I didn’t mean that. I meant it’s good it’s strong. I need all the help I can get.’

‘Then why don’t you let me in and I can help you.’