Starfell chapter sampler

STARFELL: Willow Moss and the Lost Day

Oswin, despite his threat, had made no attempt to leave and was now taking care of some morning monster ablutions: checking his fur for any stray bugs and polishing his teeth with a corner of Willow’s bedcover. In fact, Oswin had been threatening to leave the relative comfort beneath Willow’s bed ever since Willow first caught him three years ago. ‘Caught’ being the operative word, like an infection. Willow had been called to the Jensens’ farmhouse to deal with a case of a missing monster, wondering on the way over why the Jensens would want to find a monster . . . She decided not to think about it too much because, as her father always said, spurgles don’t grow without fertiliser. But when she arrived and Mrs Jensen pointed to the stove, squealing, ‘It’s in there . . .!’ Willow had been a little confused. ‘What’s in there?’ ‘The monster, of course.’ Willow had frowned. ‘But, Mrs Jensen,’ she’d replied, ‘I can’t deal with monsters!’ ‘You have to – you’re a witch and . . . he’s lost . . . Isn’t that what you do, find things?’ ‘But . . . how can he be lost if he’s right there?’ It turned out that the Jensens knew he was a lost

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