"Well, it's all part of it. I've done this a dozen times. Moving to a new town, and gradually getting to know everyone," I said matter-of-factly. "If I'm known already, where's the fun?"

"Rose, don't be upset," Hannah reached across and squeezed my hand. "They don't know who you are. They just know that your Daisy's granddaughter."

"I suppose," I said but I wasn't convinced. "And everyone seems to know Daisy."

"So?" Mira chirped.

"Well, she's my grandmother, and I know so little about her, yet the whole town knows Daisy Frost, probably better than I do. It makes me feel a little intimidated, that's all."

"Cheer up, Rose," said Mira brightly. "Since when were you worried about what other people think?"

I knew she was right. Why was I so bothered? I shouldn't let it get to me.

"So, what do you have planned for our mad summer then?" I said changing the subject.

"Well, after this I suggest we go and have a meal somewhere. I don't need to be home yet. But tomorrow night if you're free we're going to an Annual Watch on Cradle Hill. And we have a picnic planned near Shearwater. A few others will be joining us too. It's beautiful there. You'll love it." Mira said happily.

"Oh my god, you're going to have to remind me about all of this. I hadn't thought I'd be so busy!" I blurted. "What else?"

"After that, there's a party near Cley Hill I told you about earlier, then we have a cinema trip, another party at Debbie's house, and then in two weeks time, just before we start school, we have a Masked Ball at Longleat House. The School has arranged for buses from the town centre to get there, it's going to be brilliant! Have you got a ball gown or long dress? Everyone has to be glamorous and wear masks so you don't know who is who. It's so exciting!"

"That sounds really nice but I don't have a ball gown or dress to wear. Is there a dress shop in town?"

"There's a new one near the courtyard, you can buy or rent a dress but you have to get in there quick because they're selling out fast, I'll take you if you like," Hannah replied.

"Thanks," I said cheering up. "Maybe we can pop by later? And here, I thought I would be sitting at Daisy's all summer, bored solid. This is really going to be great."

"So tomorrow night we're all meeting up on Cradle Hill. It's near yours, so you won't have to travel far."

"What's a Watch?"

"It's the Annual Freak Show," Mira laughed and it resounded around the coffee shop. "Oops," she whispered and laughed again.

"Hundreds of people descend on Warminster once a year to watch for alien encounters on top of the hill. It's apparently the anniversary of where the first sightings were," Hannah clarified, throwing a sharp look at Mira's joke. "It will be crowded up there but we all go along for the laugh mostly."

"We count the signs saying 'Take me with you', and 'We mean you no harm' and such. It's mostly just geeks who have watched too many Roswell films or ET. They all want a spaceship to land and take them away from their sad lives. I think it's funny," Mira said cheerfully.

"So what time are we meeting?"

"About eleven. They have a candlelight ceremony, followed by lots of chanting," Mira said. "Then everyone just stares at the sky. Last year it rained all night, everyone got soaked."

We all chuckled at the imagery.

"Okay, and the picnic - do you want me to bring anything? Daisy has a stocked kitchen; I could easily throw something together."

"No, it's all taken care of. Debbie's arranged it all. We three just need to turn up." Hannah added. "It's just a shame Lucinda will be there."

"Who's Lucinda?" I asked. Hannah hung her head when the name was mentioned and I didn't like it.

"Oh, don't mind Lucie, she's just miserable all the time. Just ignore her," Mira said cheerily.

"You don't like her?" I said with a concerned glance at Hannah.

"She's nasty, spiteful. I don't even know why she's going. She'll only whinge about everything," Hannah said in a huff.

"Debbie and Lucie's mother's are friends, so Debbie has to invite her. Besides she wants to meet Rose as much as the rest of them," Mira replied.

"And she fancies Morgan like nothing else. You need to watch out for her, Rose. If she thinks you're playing on her patch, she can be vicious," Hannah added.

"Sounds like a lovely girl. I'll try and remember to be polite," I said sarcastically and they both laughed.

I frowned. I didn't even know this girl and she was already a trouble maker in my eyes. If no one was going to stand up to her she would meet her match with me around.

A few people had left while we had been chatting, and others came in. Initially I noticed the looks from others, the stares and under the breath comments but I found it easy to ignore them, I was enjoying myself too much. What they had to say was the usual, "That's Rose Frost," or "Who's that with Mira Butler?" and I overheard a couple of complimentary comments about my appearance. I didn't try to listen to most of the room but I did try to overhear Aiden with his friends.

I don't know why but he intrigued me, I was sure I had seen his face somewhere before but couldn't quite place it. Sadly the level of chatter in the room and the fact that Aiden's group were whispering made it impossible to hear anything.

"So," Mira said suddenly. "Shall we go and eat? It's nearly seven thirty."

"Yep, I'm starved. Where's good to eat around here?" I said, not realising it was so late. "I've been to the Portuguese Restaurant. The food is really amazing."

Hannah stood and grabbed her bag. "Let's go there, then. I've never been before."

"Cool!" Mira exclaimed and ran to the counter to pay for our drinks.

"Doesn't she do anything slowly?" I whispered to Hannah who shook her head.

"Nope, she's like a Tasmanian devil, and she wears me out, frequently!"

We stepped out and walked along to the courtyard and the dressmakers shop. Mira's mum had already bought her dress for the ball, a lavender blue long gown, from a shop in Salisbury, while Hannah was having one handmade. I had no idea what would suit me but in the window was the most beautiful ruby red bodice dress with a tucked-in waist, and it fell to the floor in one long piece.

I very rarely wore a dress and I just hoped that my mum would agree to transfer a bit more of my allowance over this month than our agreed monthly figure. Both girls had unanimously decided that the Ruby Red dress would suit me, and I had to admit that colour would emphasise my pale skin.

"We'll come back when it's open," Mira announced. "Let's go eat, I'm starved."

Mr Vilhena was only too pleased to see me again, calling me "Miss Rose" at every opportunity and welcoming my 'new' friends with graciousness. We sat by the window again and I was overjoyed when Hannah and then Mira announced that this should be our regular place.

The restaurant had only a few seats taken by older couples and nobody that we recognised. We ate and chatted freely, the girls were keen to hear about my stories of schools and new towns.

When we talked about boys I started to clam up, having had no real experience to talk of. It was easier to ask questions than to answer them so I interrogated Mira and Hannah about the local boys and their own boyfriend statuses. I gathered that they had both been quiet on the boyfriend front though Mira had at least had a relationship for six months with someone called Darren Gray.

"He left town though, I was glad," she said unaffectedly. "He was boring, and expected me to spend my nights watching him and his mates play PS3. Dull or what?"

"How old was he, why did he move away?" I asked with keenness.

"He was seventeen and lived on the army base. His dad was a sergeant and got a new posting up north, I think," she replied.

"Did you miss him?"

"No! Not in the slightest."

"Hannah, what about you? Anyone on the horizon?" I smiled a cheeky grin at her and she giggled.

"That would be telling," she said. "You'll just have to find out in your own time."

"Oooiioooo," Mira and I both replied in a childish way. The noise level of our conversation had increased and I noticed glances from the other consumers in our direction.

"Shh, keep it down guys," I whispered, but it was hard to stop giggling.

We finished and all thanked Mr Vilhena for his amazing meal and left. I looked up at the fresh evening sky, dark with shining stars and a few wisps of cloud. The chilly wind made me snuggle deeper into the warmth of my jacket, and I was quickly grasping that that no matter how warm the days were, the nights are always cold.

The path was now lit brightly, as we walked back along the high street, with yellow globes from the intermittent lamps. The street was almost deserted except for a few dressed up girls and groups of guys walking to taste the town's nightlife, much as we were.

"So, who fancies a drink at Monks, anyone?" Hannah asked openly.

"Yay!" Mira squealed and checked her watch. "Um, it's ten thirty. Will anyone be there?"

"What's Monks?" I asked.

"It's the only club in town, and they let us in as long as we drink non alcohol drinks," Mira replied. "Let's go, it'll be great."

"Sure, why not. But only if I can buy the first drink," I replied enthusiastically, remembering Daisy's talk of 'No rules'.

"No," Mira answered. "We have to buy your drink first. You're new, remember," Mira answered.

"Yep, you can't buy your first drink, its bad luck," said Hannah. "Besides, maybe somebody else might buy us all a drink."

"Like who?" I said.

"Mike Silver or Aiden Deverill. They're always in that place."

"Mike? Pah," Mira exclaimed. "Mike is incapable of buying anyone else a drink. The skinflint. Believe me, I've tried!"

There was a story here that I still hadn't heard, and I was about to ask her when something caught my eye that stopped me in my step.

There was no traffic, the road was quiet from the usual rumble of cars but in the centre of the main street stood a lone figure of a boy. I recognised him instantly. He had been in the group which shouted a greeting to Daisy on my first evening here.

"Help me," he cried. His face was pinched in pain, but his voice was barely audible.

"What's wrong?" I shouted to him. The girl's stopped chatting some metres ahead and were watching me.

"Rose, are you all right?" Hannah shouted but I didn't move and continued to stare at the almost apparition-like boy. He wasn't there, and then he was. His shape seemed to shimmer around the edge, and I blinked as the edges flickered around him.

"Please help me. I'm scared," he cried again.

I used my eyes to zoom clearer but he didn't move away from the road.

A car was approaching from the small road on the right. It wasn't slowing down either.

"Move!" I yelled in anguish. "You have to move!"

"HELP ME!" he screamed once more, and as the car drove into my line of sight where the boy stood, he vanished.

I sucked in a breath and stepped back. "Oh my god, did you see him?" I cried at the girls who were now by my side.

"Rose, we didn't see anything," Mira said.

"There's nothing there, look," Hannah pointed to the white line in the middle of the tarmac.

I had seen him, I knew I had. Why hadn't they?

"He was there, I know he was," I kept saying it over and over until Hannah put her arm around my shoulder and tried to calm me down.

Then I smelt burning. My nose filled with the smell of acrid smoke and I coughed and tried to see its origin. Behind the brewery in the sky was a thick, black plume of smoke. It hung in the air before dispersing amidst a quick breeze. I ran across the road in its direction as fast as I could.

"Oh my god, he's going to be there! You have to help me," I cried as I turned to see Mira and Hannah both following me at a sprint.

"What is it, Rose?" Hannah was shouting but I couldn't answer. I didn't know myself. All I knew was that something was wrong and this boy was in trouble.

As I rounded the corner to the other side I quickened my sprint to the brewery entrance. The small back entrance was empty and I kept running, following the smell of burning. I could hear the girl's heavy steps behind me, and they were close but they weren't as quick.

The back yard was ill kept and rampant with weeds, and there it was, the burning car. The yellow and red flames were licking the air, higher and higher, eating the oxygen and spreading until the entire car, inside and out, was alight. The fierce unforgiving heat was immense already.

"He's in there!" I yelled, and didn't stop running.

"Rose, no," Mira cried. "It's too late. Leave it!"

"No! I need to save him!" I cried back and stepped closer to the car. The flames ate at the paintwork as it peeled away with the extreme heat, and blew away like powder. The closer I got the more I was heating up and I cooled my skin using a small amount of my gift.

"Get away, Rose!" Hannah was yelling, but I was almost within reach of the car door handle.

As the smoke poured through a hole in the roof, a side window exploded outwards with ferocity. I put my hands up to shield my eyes but got close enough to see through the window frames, searching for him, for a movement or a sign of the small boy.

"Rose! Stop it! Come away!" the girls yelled together, I think they were crying now. Their voices changed direction as someone else approached at speed. "Get her away from the fire. She'll be killed."

More running feet entered the yard and I could hear someone on a phone calling emergency services. "There's a fire, Wadham's yard behind the brewery. Come quickly!"

"Rose, get away from the car. It's going to explode," a new voice, a masculine voice shouted, still some distance away.

"Where are you?" I frantically yelled at the car, without looking back. "There's someone in there. I have to get him out. Where are you?" I tried to put my hand on the door handle but even as my hand drew near I could feel the hairs singe rapidly on my arm and I flinched away. I ran to the boot of the car, if I could just get close enough I could release the boot and see if the boy was inside. There might still be a chance to save him.

But I stopped for a second as I stared at the number plate. I knew it by heart. I could see the car clearly now.

It was a Black Mercedes.

The very first car that had followed me along the motorway to here.

The back window exploded and a fireball threw itself into the sky, knocking me backwards. I was too late in shielding my face and I felt the skin on my cheek singe down to its surface. I cried out in shock but there was little pain. I heard another scream and someone else was sobbing loudly.