‘Suspended?’ Pa asks.

I blush. He probably doesn’t even know what that means. He probably thinks they’re going to hang me upside down on the nearest tree.

‘She is not allowed on to the grounds of this school for two days,’ she says, her voice crisp with frustration. ‘We will expect her back next Wednesday, and not before. She may access the online portal to get her homework and any study notes.’

Pa blinks, and stares at her.

‘I fail to see how that is going to resolve the issue between them.’

‘We will have to pick that up on Clementine’s return,’ she says smoothly. ‘I hope that over the intervening period, Clementine will have a chance to work out what did happen here today, and be able to articulate it so that we can work with her on a solution.’

Pa mutters something under his breath before springing to his feet. Mrs Duke flinches back into the chair – he doesn’t look like he’d be so nimble.

‘Come on, Clem,’ he says. ‘Let’s go.’

He doesn’t exactly smile at me, but there’s a twinkle in his eye as he picks up my bag and swings it over his shoulder.

Mrs Duke stands and follows us out, frowning from the door as we leave – two little matches against a grey sky. We don’t look like we fit because, sometimes, we don’t. Pa may not have it in his blood, but he’s known about magic for longer than I’ve been alive. And me?

I guess there’s not much use in denying it now.

Amy Wilson has a background in journalism and lives in Bristol with her family. She is a graduate of the Bath Spa MA in Creative Writing and is the author of the critically acclaimed novels A Girl Called Owl – nominated for the CILIP Carnegie medal and longlisted for the Branford Boase Award – A Far Away Magic and Snowglobe, a W H Smith Travel Book of the Month selection. She also contributed to the Return to Wonderland collection of Alice-inspired short stories published by Macmillan.

Praise for Amy Wilson:

‘A story of wild winds and bitter frosts with the warmth of friendship at its heart’ Abi Elphinstone, author of Sky Song on A Girl Called Owl

‘A sparkling, frosty read, full of feisty characters, myth and mystery’ Daily Mail on A Girl Called Owl

‘Original and compelling . . . an unexpected tale of grief, magic and monsters’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars on A Faraway Magic

‘Wilson is such an exciting author . . . her stories blend the real and the fantastical with seamless fluency, and her writing has a stunning lyrical and emotional quality which brings extra depth and resonance to the action’ Lancashire Evening Post on A Faraway Magic

‘Amy Wilson is the rising star of children’s fantasy . . . her prose, like the star-studded landscape, never loses its shine’ Telegraph, Best Children’s Books of 2018, on Snowglobe