Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 At dinnertime, Lily found out she was not the only one with family who'd been affected by a purple tornado. Reports had come in of other tornadoes that had struck, leaving a trail of damage and a thick layer of purple dust behind. "My aunt on the east coast lost every tree in her garden," Johan from Topaz dorm announced, twirling a strand of spaghetti around his fork. "One tree landed across her front door. The neighbors had to rescue her." "My dad was taking a bath when the roof blew right off our house," said Spike. "He said he'd never grabbed a towel so quickly!" There was a lot of laughter. Spike grinned and ran a hand through his red hair. "It's true," he added. "And my granny was staying over, and her false teeth ended up in the paddock with Franny, the donkey. Mom only just stopped Franny from eating them." Lily giggled. Sometimes she didn't know who

told taller tales— Spike or Phoebe. "Hmm. I wonder what's causing all these tornadoes." Zara pulled a tiny notebook and pencil from her pocket. She wrote the date at the top of a new page. "It's extremely unusual to have so many all at once. I think we should make notes of where the tornadoes happened and at what time." "Wow, I feel so much safer now that Detective Zara is on the case," said Skye sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Amber. Zara glared at Skye. "My uncle actually is a detective and I've been learning lots of skills from him." "My uncle actually is a detective," Skye mimicked, sounding remarkably like Zara. "Get over yourself, Zara. The tornadoes are caused by freak weather. The fact there are so many is just a coincidence." Lily wished she could be like Zara and shrug off Skye's teasing. "Laugh all you want, Skye," Zara said. "But my uncle says a good detective should always question coincidences." "What if these tornadoes are caused by dark magic and they're part of an evil plot to take over the island?" said Phoebe, her eyes widening. "It could be Ms. Primrose or Ms. Willow again!"

"No, it couldn't. They're both in prison," Zara pointed out. "But it could be someone else! It's a mystery!" said Aisha in excitement. "Oh, puh-lease!" scoffed Skye. "It's just a few tornadoes caused by bad weather. You're all so silly!" Zara turned her back to Skye. "It could just be bad weather," she said to Aisha, Phoebe, and Lily. "But I think there may be more to it. I wonder if there's a pattern to these tornadoes?" Lily had a thought— could the magic map help them? Maybe it would now show the damaged buildings and trees, and if they looked at it, they might be able to see if there was a pattern to where the tornadoes were hitting. She was going to suggest it to the others, when she hesitated. What if they went to the map and there wasn't any damage marked on it? She'd look really stupid. Someone else will probably think about checking the map, she thought. So she stayed quiet. Everyone continued to argue about whether the tornadoes were part of an evil plan or just freak weather. It began to make Lily's head hurt. Quietly, she left the table and ran to the stables.

Feather was in her stall picking at a net of hay. She left it immediately, coming over to softly nuzzle Lily's hands. "Lily, is everything all right?" "Yes," said Lily, rubbing her forehead. "The others are arguing about all the purple tornadoes that have been hitting the island, so I thought I'd come and talk to you instead." Feather rubbed her muzzle against Lily. "I'm glad you did. I always like seeing you." She blinked at her. "It makes me feel warm inside."

Lily put an arm around her neck. "I feel like that too. I've never had a best friend before, Feather. I…" She hesitated and then decided to say what she wanted to, even if it was a bit embarrassing. "I feel like I have one now." "Me?" asked Feather. Despite her embarrassment, Lily laughed. "Of course you!" Feather gave a happy sigh. Lily rested her cheek on her neck. For a few moments, they just stood there in contented silence. "I wish we could do something to stop the tornadoes," Lily said. "They sound awful. What if one comes to the school?" She thought of the beautiful building and its grounds being wrecked. It would be horrible. "Do you think one might actually come here?" asked Feather anxiously. "I'm not sure. Zara thinks there might be a pattern. Maybe we would be able to see one if we looked at the magic map." She glanced at Feather, wondering what she would think. "That's a great idea!" said Feather. "Why don't you go look?" Lily nodded, feeling pleased. "It's a bit late now. I'll go tomorrow. I might even ask Aisha, Zara,

and Phoebe to come with me." Being with Feather made her feel so much braver. Yes, she told herself firmly. Tomorrow I'll ask the others to come and look at the magic map with me, and we'll see if we can figure out what's going on… and if the academy's in danger!