Cathy Cassidy - Scarlett

Hiya!

Do you believe in magic? I do not conjurers tricks or scary spells, but the power of hopes, dreams and wishes. For me, the magic always seems strongest in beautiful, wild, middle-of-nowhere places, and thats why Ive set Scarlett on the west coast of Ireland, one of my fave places ever.

Scarlett is an angry girl. Her life is just one long run of trouble, and when she is packed off to Ireland to live with her dad, Scarlett feels like shes been buried alive. Then she meets a mysterious boy, Kian, and the magic begins

I hope you like Scarlett. Its a book for anyone who has ever felt angry, lost or misunderstood, a book for everyone who likes to dream. And whether you believe in wishes or not, they really can come true

Best wishes,

Cathy Cassidy

xxxx

cathycassidy.com

Books by Cathy Cassidy

DIZZY

DRIFTWOOD

INDIGO BLUE

SCARLETT

SUNDAE GIRL

LUCKY STAR

PUFFIN

PUFFIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3
(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
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(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India
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(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England

puffinbooks.com

First published 2006
12

Text copyright Cathy Cassidy, 2006
All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-14-192607-0

Thanks

Most of all, to Liam, Cal & Caitlin for their love, support, patience and first-reading skills I couldnt have done it without you. Also to Mum, Dad, Andy, Lori, Joan and all of my fab family. Hugs and thanks to Catriona, Fiona, Mary-Jane, Sheena, Zarah, Mel and all my lovely friends youre the best.

Special thanks to Elv, for uncovering the story I wanted to write all along, and to Francesca, Adele, Kirsten, Jo, Jodie, Sarah, Rebecca and all at Puffin for being so kind, clever and fab. Thanks to Darley Anderson for just being the best and coolest agent in the world, and to Julia, Lucie and all at the agency. Also to Paul for all his hard work on the website and Martyn for doing the sums!

A big thank you to Siobhan Daly, who helped so much and so patiently with my Irish research, and also to Dermott, Mickey, Tina and Maeve for their input. Thanks to Tania for the hair story, Hazel for the hazelly bits and Tara, who started me thinking in the first place.

I am in trouble, again. Its big trouble the kind that requires urgent phone calls and whispered conversations in the school office while I sit on a plastic chair outside Mrs Mulherns room, painting my fingernails black.

Sometimes I think that Greenhall Academy is more of a prison camp than a school. Mrs Mulhern is wasted as a Headmistress with her charm, compassion and world vision she could be running Wormwood Scrubs. Shes always banging on about how the fabric of society will just crumble away if you dont wear perfect school uniform and excel on the sports field and donate bars of soap and unwanted PlayStation games to the Third World, which is clearly kind of crazy.

Mrs Mulhern just loves rules, and I dont. Thats the problem really.

I waft my fingernails about, trying to dry them, while Miss Phipps, the school secretary, runs around looking nervous and hassled. She digs out files and answers calls and gives me nasty looks with her lips all crinkled up like shes sucking a lemon.

Scarlett, she says sniffily,I still cant locate your mother. Her office say shes in a meeting and cant be disturbed. Ive told them its urgent, but they dont seem to care

Too bad, I sympathize, putting my feet up on the coffee table to see if shell say anything. She doesnt. I think its my red wedge sandals that scare her, or possibly the black skull-print ankle socks. She frowns and huffs and hides behind her PC screen.

Ive been in trouble a million times before, and if theres one thing Ive learnt its that hanging your head in shame wont change a thing. Theyll bawl you out anyway.

With a name like Scarlett, you cannot sneak through life blending into the background people notice you, like it or not. Of course, they notice me even more these days, since I had my hair dyed the colour of tomato soup, but hey, why not? You cant fight destiny.

Mum once told me that red is natures warning colour, signifying danger, trouble. It warns the other animals to back off, stay away. I like to think that my name and my hair colour are a little clue for the rest of the world to do just the same back off and leave me alone. If they choose not to take notice of the warning, well, thats not my fault, is it?

Its past three by the time Mum appears. She stalks into the office in her swish grey suit and her spike-heeled shoes, her hair swept up in a bun with strands of expensive honey-blonde streaks falling delicately round her face. She kicks my feet off the coffee table with one pointy toe, drops her briefcase on to a chair and leans towards Miss Phipps.

So, she says in a tired voice. Whats she done this time?

Things move quickly after that. Were taken through to Mrs Mulherns office and seated in front of her big, leather-topped desk. Miss Phipps brings in a tray of freshly brewed coffee and pours one for everyone except me before bustling back to the outer office. I dont even get a biscuit. Im probably destined for solitary confinement and a diet of bread and water, if Mrs Mulhern has her way.

Im very sorry to have brought you here this afternoon er, Ms Murray, Mrs Mulhern begins. Im afraid weve had another incident. Im sure I dont need to tell you that Scarlett isnt settling in too well at Greenhall Academy. There have been countless problems, from somewhat minor breaches of the school-uniform code