Book excerpt: In The Witching Hours, Anna and Max travel the world with their father, the Professor - but their real adventures take place in the dangerous underworld of dark fairies, where the children face sinister creatures and battle for their lives. Stuck in a leaky beach house by the Australian seaside, all Anna wants is a holiday - but in the shadowy ghost town of Mermaid's Purse, something strange is going on. A famous explorer has gone missing, leaving behind their research about a long-lost shipwreck: a wreck that may be hiding a dark secret. In the midst of a violent gale, Anna sets out to explore the town, sure that Max and the Professor will be safe indoors. But with a weird voice calling out to her from across the sea, and a network of cobwebbed tunnels running beneath her feet, Anna is about to learn that this ghost town might not be as empty as it seems ... Beware what lies beneath.