‘Good. That gives me plenty of time to get her a gift. She so enjoyed my last one, after all. Better run along now, the sun will be up soon.’

The young fairy nodded in relief and hastened into the mound with the rest of the Sídhe. None of them thought to offer the Pooka shelter from the fast-approaching dawn, but the creature didn’t mind: he preferred his own company anyway.

When he was sure he was alone in the clearing, the Pooka raised his arms to the sky and whistled. From the branches of a nearby tree came a single magpie who circled the creature once before coming to rest on his outstretched hand.

‘Master,’ squawked the magpie. ‘It has been a while. How can I be of service?’

The Pooka leaned in close to the bird and whispered in his ear, ‘I need you to pay someone a visit …’

When the Pooka was done, the magpie nodded once and took flight, heading directly for the town below. The Pooka glanced at the rapidly brightening sky before melting back into the shadows of the woodland. It was time to rest and gather his strength. He had a busy night ahead.

Chapter One

Once a Witch …

Now that the rain had finally stopped, Cat and her friends were allowed outside for eleven o’clock break for the first time in what felt like forever. When the bell rang, the whole class jumped to their feet and charged for the door, ignoring Mr Brennan’s shouted reminder to stick to the schoolyard because the field was still wet and boggy after the latest downpour.

Cat hoped the drier weather would last throughout the weekend because tomorrow was Halloween and she had plans. Top of the list was trick-or-treating. Now that she was eleven years old she was painfully aware that her trick-or-treating days were numbered so she made a solemn promise to herself to make the most of it this year … just in case. After they had their fill of chocolate and sweets, she and her friends would pay a visit to the local bonfire. Some of the older children had been stockpiling wood for the past few weeks and the word around town was that it would be the biggest bonfire Clonbridge had ever seen. Of course, that was the rumour every year and every year it was much the same – a mildly disappointing affair broken up by the Gardaí as soon as the first crack of a firework was heard. It didn’t matter, Cat was still excited. Halloween was her absolute favourite time of year.

The only downside to her plans was that she had to bring her baby brother Mikey along. Mikey was fifteen months old and couldn’t walk for very long before crying that he wanted to be carried. Cat tried to protest that Mikey was too small to appreciate Halloween, but her mam had stood firm, saying that Mikey deserved to join in the fun and reminding her that she didn’t have time to bring him herself.