Barben's Magic Quest The Magic Begins

The Magic Begins

Copyright Elaine Ouston 2018

ISBN: 978-0-6481647-9-1

Morris Publishing Australia

19 Caloundra St, Landsborough, Qld, 4550

www.morrispublishingaustralia.com

The right of Elaine Ouston to be identified as the

author of this work has been asserted by her.

All rights reserved

This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permissions of Morris Publishing Australia.

This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, incidents, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Prologue

As twelve-year-old, Katie Clark settled for the night in a hollow ancient tree, she shook her head in wonder. Yesterday she was a normal Australian girl on holiday in Ireland. All that has changed – now she has magic powers and has been asked to help a wizard save the world’s ancient forests. Katie finally fell asleep, exhausted by the most exciting day of her life.

Chapter One

Falling into danger

Katie charged up Torc Mountain as if a raging bull was chasing her. She had to be first to the lookout; she had to see if they were still there. Her feet flew over the loose stones and fallen leaves on the path, creating a whirlwind that made them swirl behind her.

Her heavy coat slowed her down, but the air was cold and she knew she would freeze if she took it off. Her heart was pounding from the steep climb. Flicking her long dark hair from her face, she raced on. She looked back for her cousins, Sariah and Jacob, and her older brother Mike, who were following her. Sariah was close behind, her red curls flying out behind her as she ran, but the boys were way back, sword fighting with a couple of sticks as they jogged.

Katie arrived well ahead of the others. She bent over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. The dazzling scene of the lake view didn’t grab her attention this time. When she got her breath back, she peered over the edge into the trees below to see if they were still there. She wasn’t sure now if they were real, or if she had imagined them. They had flashed so quickly in front of her eyes.

***

It had all started that morning when they arrived at the picnic spot below Torc Waterfall in the Killarney National Park, just a few kilometres from the town of Killarney where they were staying. They climbed the path to the waterfall, and stood and stared in awe at the water tumbling over the falls many metres above their heads. The falls flowed into pools and then gushed down the stream below, creating many small waterfalls as it went.

After she and her cousins scrambled around the rocks at the bottom of the falls, Katie and her mum climbed the steep steps and path to explore the area above the falls.

A thick, tall, ancient forest surrounded them. The canopy above was so dense that the sun couldn't get through, so moss covered the tree trunks, and ferns grew thickly below, surrounding the trees. Katie gazed at the thick canopy above. Walking along the path was like walking through a tunnel of trees.

They stopped at a lookout with a view of the lakes and stood gazing at the valley and lakes below them. The sound of the rush of running water above and below filled the air. Bird calls were the only other sounds. The forest spread out below them like a path of green that led to the lakes. The lakes' surfaces sparkled in the sunlight as if they were sprinkled with diamonds.

Katie and her mum were mesmerised by the perfect scenery, until a gust of wind blew dust into Katie’s face. She sneezed and looked down to protect her eyes. At her feet, she caught a flutter of large, rainbow-coloured wings.

She kneeled to get a better look, the creatures fluttered wildly in front of her, too fast for Katie to see what they were.

Katie’s heart fluttered in time with their wings and she held her breath, awestruck by their beauty.

Look, Mum, what are they? They’re so beautiful.

But whatever they were, they vanished as soon as her mum turned to look at them.

What, Katie?

Oh, Mum, they were large and their wings were so pretty, but they fluttered too fast for me to see what they were, they looked like… Katie stopped; she didn’t want to say what she thought they were in case her mum thought she was weird.

Probably butterflies, Kate. Come on, we’d better head back. It’s close to lunch time.

Katie went reluctantly, but she couldn’t get the image of the creatures out of her mind. When they arrived back at the picnic site, she rushed to find her cousins, Sariah and Jake, and her brother Mike.

They were gathered around a stranger in a ranger’s uniform with her Uncle Steve and her elder brother, Aaron. She heard Aaron say, I heard there was a problem in the forest here.

Aye, to be sure. We have had some weird goings on. Very old trees dying for no reason. We have to get in the loggers to cut them before they fall down and hurt someone or destroy other trees. But then, some that we think are dead suddenly start spurting new growth. It’s a puzzle, I tell ya.

I’m a forest ranger in Australia so I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if I see anything odd, Aaron said frowning.

The ranger nodded. I don’t have to tell you now how vital it is keeping the forest safe. With all the pollution in the air, we need the oxygen our trees produce more than ever. Be careful though, there is something strange here to be sure. He waved goodbye and strode off up the path.

Katie stood listening, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. When the ranger had gone, she rushed over to Sariah, Jake, and Mike. Guess what? I just saw some kind of large insects and they had rainbow-coloured wings. They were beautiful. They were up by the lookout. Let’s go back and see what they are, she said, shuffling her feet impatiently.

Probably butterflies, Sariah said and flopped down on the blanket.

But, they weren’t. They were more like… oh… I don’t know. They weren’t butterflies though. Please come with me, Katie pleaded. She wasn’t game to mention what she thought they were to them either. They would just laugh at her.

Okay, let’s go, I’m bored hanging around here anyway, Mike said.

Jake nodded. Yeah, I’ll come too.

Sariah rose to her feet. Okay, but this had better be good.

Debbie overheard the conversation. Okay, but just to the lookout and then back for lunch in one hour, she said.

***

Katie had just caught her breath when Sariah came up beside her, gasping for air. When her cousin had got her breath back she said, Well, where are they? I didn’t come all this way for nothing.

Katie leaned over the edge. There was a gust of wind last time, and then a cloud of dust blew into my face and made me sneeze. Then they were there. Maybe the wind blew them up. But there doesn’t seem to be any at the moment. She sighed with disappointment.

As if it was listening, a blast of wind rushed up through the trees. The same dust blew in both of their faces and they sneezed. Katie saw them first. There. See, I told you. What do you think they are? she cried.

Sariah bent down to get a closer look. Wow. You are right. They are interesting.

The creatures fluttered before them and then flew off down the path to the left. Sariah and Katie hesitated before following them.

The path was very steep and rough. Roots of the trees around the path stuck out of the ground and those and large smooth rocks helped to make steps. But the ground was uneven and dusted with loose stones between them. They slipped and slid as they climbed down.

The girls tried to watch the creatures as well as watch where they were going. That didn’t work out too well.

As the creatures flew off to the left of the path, Katie stepped on a slippery rock and went for a slide over the side, following their flight path. Fear gripped Katie’s chest, squeezing the breath from her body. She closed her eyes, gulped in air, and hoped she would land on something soft.

Sariah reached for her and slipped on the same rock. She grabbed for a tree branch to stop her fall, but missed. She fell onto her bottom and slid all the way down the path. The rough path scraped her back as she flew down over the roots, gravel, and rocks. Ow, ow, ow, she cried as she bounced her way down. She came to a stop on a ledge 2 metres from the ground. She peered over. In front of her, the river rushed past. The bank of the river was strewn with large rocks and gravel. Occasional ferns grew between them close to the bank. Looking up, she couldn’t see Katie. She called her name but the sound of the rushing river drowned out her call. She must have fallen all the way to the river bank, she thought.

Finding a clear spot below, she jumped down. Landing on her feet, she brushed the dirt from her jeans