“Ach!” Angela screamed when she noticed Carl next to her. This was quickly followed by a gasp from the collection of children and adults as everyone turned with large eyes to stare at the foursome who’d just arrived within their midst.
“They’re alive!” someone shouted, and then everyone began talking at once.
Ian was immediately pulled into Madam Dimbleby’s tight embrace, and she sniffled into his hair. “Where have you been?” she demanded.
But Ian was having difficulty breathing, squished so close to the headmistress that he found he couldn’t speak. Next to him he heard Theo say, “We were at the shore, ma’am.”
Madam Dimbleby then released Ian, much to his relief. Wiping away her tears, she said, “But the cyclone!”
“We found shelter along the cliffs,” Carl said quickly. When Madam Dimbleby’s eyes studied his dust-covered clothing, he added, “We found our way to a cave where we were able to get out of the wind, but the cliffs shook so hard, I’m afraid we got a bit dusty.”
At that moment Thatcher Goodwyn, their schoolmaster, stepped forward and Ian noticed right away that the man was clutching one of Theo’s shoes. “Thank heavens,” he said, dropping to one knee to look closely at her. “I felt certain the beast had swallowed you whole!”
There was another collective gasp from Ian and his companions. “The beast?” he asked.
Thatcher looked over his shoulder at his twin brother, Perry, who nodded grimly and explained, “While we were searching for you along the beach, we came across the most astonishing thing: a bridge made of solid ice leading from the shore all the way out to sea. A most unnatural occurrence, which was why we were immediately suspicious of it.”
“Caphiera’s doing!” Theo said, her eyes opening wide.
“Yes,” Thatcher agreed. “It could only be Caphiera.”
“But I thought you said something about the beast,” Carl reminded them.
Again, Perry exchanged a meaningful look with his brother. “As we moved away from the ice bridge to continue our search for you, we saw Magus’s beast bolt out of a nearby cave with a girl’s shoe in its mouth. We were caught completely unprepared, you see. Neither of us had thought to bring our rifles, and we were forced to retreat as the beast made its way onto the ice and ran back across the channel.”
“Is the ice bridge still there?” Ian asked. He worried that the beast might come back once it realized Theo was still alive.
“The ice began to melt in earnest the moment the beast was out of sight,” Thatcher told him. “I’ve no doubt it’s long gone by now.”
Theo shivered next to Ian and he reached an arm around her shoulders. “There, there, Theo,” he said. “That nasty creature only managed to nick one of your shoes.”
“It’s not that, Ian,” she told him softly. “It’s that now we have proof that Magus, Caphiera, and Atroposa are all working together. I fear we’re in terrible danger.”
“Atroposa?” repeated Perry, and his eyes lit with understanding. He turned to look out to sea. “Oh, my,” he said. “The cyclone! Yes, that must have been the work of the sorceress of air!”
Madam Dimbleby had been wringing her hands the whole time they’d been talking, and her face visibly paled when the discussion turned to Magus, Caphiera, and Atroposa. “We’ll have to alert the earl immediately!”
“Leave it to me,” Thatcher volunteered, getting to his feet and motioning for his brother to follow him.
“We should also inform Professor Nutley,” Perry suggested as the two began to walk quickly down the drive.
Thatcher called over his shoulder to the headmistresses, “We’ll be back this evening. Please ensure the children remain inside the keep until our return.”
Madam Dimbleby nodded dully, and Madam Scargill waved her hands at the large crowd still hovering about the front steps. “You heard your schoolmasters,” she said to all the children. “Let us move along inside and see to supper.”
The dishes from their evening meal had just been cleared when the sound of a motorcar crunching along the gravel reached Ian’s ears. He hurried to the door and pulled it open to find the professor, his schoolmasters, and the earl approaching the front steps.
“Good evening, Ian,” said the earl kindly.
“My lord,” Ian replied, feeling a wave of warmth for the man who was his patriarch.
“I’m very glad to see you safe,” said the earl as he stopped in front of Ian and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you, my lord.” Ian then greeted Professor Nutley, Thatcher, and Perry while the earl said his hellos to the headmistresses and the other children.
Once the greetings and salutations had been seen to, the earl called all the adults and Ian, Theo, Carl, and Jaaved to a closed meeting in the headmistresses’ private study. “Best not to worry the other children with our discussion,” Ian heard the earl say to Madam Dimbleby.
When everyone was comfortably seated in the study, the earl began. “I have spoken at length with Masters Goodwyn about today’s events, and while I am very glad to see the four of you safe, I am most troubled by the power of the forces against us. Professor Nutley has suggested to me that he would like to offer a plan to help keep you out of harm’s way, so I shall turn this discussion over to him.”
The professor nodded formally to the earl and cleared his throat. “I consulted with a few of my scientist friends this afternoon when word reached me of the waterspout off the coast, and they confirm our suspicions—barometric readings and the mild weather conditions over the channel could not possibly have supported a waterspout of the size and strength as struck the cliffs earlier today. Therefore, with the other evidence noted by Thatcher and Perry of the ice bridge running straight from Calais and the appearance of the beast, we must conclude that at least three of the four offspring of Demogorgon have now combined forces and are working against us.”
The professor seemed to pause for dramatic effect, but Ian was aware that everyone in the room had already concluded as much, so the poor old man was left looking slightly disappointed by the lack of reaction from the faces staring intently at him. He cleared his throat again and continued. “Dover is not safe,” he announced. “As long as Magus, Caphiera, and now Atroposa know that Theo resides at the keep, I fear another attack is imminent, and I’m quite convinced that that will put all the children here in grave danger.”
Madam Dimbleby’s hand moved to cover her heart, and Madam Scargill frowned more deeply than usual. “What are we to do, Professor?” Theo asked meekly.
“Why, my dear girl,” the professor said with a twinkle in his eye, “we must go to Spain!”
The room fell into a stunned silence. Ian was the first to break it when he repeated, “Spain? Why would we go there, Professor?”
In response the professor reached into his blazer pocket and extracted a folded piece of paper. “I have in my possession a letter from Señora Latisha Castillo,” he said. Ian’s brow furrowed. He was quite certain he’d never heard the name. “Latisha,” the professor explained, “is the younger sister and only surviving heir of my former colleague Sir Donovan Barnaby.”
“Sir Barnaby?” Thatcher said. “Wasn’t that the archeologist chap who was with you in Greece and unearthed some of Laodamia’s scrolls?”
“It was indeed, Master Goodwyn,” replied the professor. “And as you also know, Barnaby was killed some years ago while on a return trip to Greece when the tent he was sleeping in caught fire, poor fellow.”
“And you’ve recently been in touch with his sister?” Ian asked, anxious for the professor to tell them why he wanted them to go to Spain.
The professor seemed to remember the letter in his hand and got back to it. “Barnaby used to talk very affectionately of his sister years ago when we shared stories around the campfire in Greece. And I’d quite forgotten about Latisha until last year, when I came across some of my old friend’s notes.
“It took several months to locate her—she’s
moved to Spain and married a banker, you see—but eventually, I tracked her to Madrid and began correspondence. And it was all rather ordinary until this letter arrived and Latisha mentioned that she had kept many of Barnaby’s diaries. In fact, she even has the one recovered from the fire, which he wrote in the very night he died.” The professor then stared meaningfully around the group. But Ian had no clue why the old man considered that significant, and he could tell that no one else in the room did either. He was about to ask when Carl beat him to it.
“Pardon me, sir,” said Carl timidly. “But I don’t understand what that’s got to do with anything going on here.”
The professor looked surprised. “Why, my young Master Lawrence!” he said. “It’s got everything to do with what’s happened here! You see, Barnaby kept a journal to record the events and discoveries he’d found on each of his archeological digs.
“And the reason this particular journal is so important is because right before Barnaby died, he uncovered a lengthy scroll hidden underneath the marble flooring of Laodamia’s villa. That scroll was thought lost, completely destroyed by the fire in Barnaby’s tent, you see, but his sister has revealed to me that my good friend actually managed to copy down much of the scroll in his last diary before he was taken from us!”
“But I still don’t understand what that’s got to do with Magus, Caphiera, and Atroposa showing up again,” Carl admitted, scratching his head.
The professor’s eyes were bright as he looked at Carl and replied, “Laodamia’s scroll was hidden in such a fashion that I believe she must have been certain it would never be found. It was not with the other scrolls, nor was it tucked away in one of her silver boxes for Ian and Theo to find. Whatever prophecy she recorded on that particular piece of parchment must have been too important to allow anyone else to see, yet also too important to destroy. It is my firm belief that the only thing Laodamia could hold so vital would have to do with all of this. At the very least, we must embark to Spain and discover the truth of it. And, might I add, if we were able to do so in secret, we might remove Theo from the threats that surround her at this time.”
Ian felt goose pimples line his arms. Deep in his bones he had a feeling that the contents of that scroll could change everything. They had to get to Barnaby’s diary.
“The professor is right,” Theo said, and Ian saw immediately that she was fiddling with her crystal and held a faraway look in her eyes. “The content of the scroll is important to us. It reveals something … something I feel we must know.”
The professor’s chest puffed out in a way that suggested he was rather proud of himself. “You see?” he said, pointing at her. “Even our own little Oracle agrees.”
But one glance at the schoolmasters and the headmistresses told Ian they at least still held some doubt. He knew that the decision would rest with the earl. When all heads turned to him, the earl surprised them by asking the professor a question. “Professor Nutley,” he began, “am I correct in saying that there is a fourth offspring of Demogorgon that was not accounted for by today’s events?”
“Yes, my lord. Lachestia the Wicked, sorceress of earth, has not appeared to have contributed to the chaos of earlier. But that could be because the last legend that supports her existence suggests that she vanished over three thousand years ago, and she is presumed to have perished within a cursed forest.”
“Wish the rest of that mingy lot would all vanish in a cursed forest,” Carl muttered. Ian smiled. He couldn’t agree more.
The earl sighed heavily and a deep frown settled onto his face. “Perhaps you are right, then, Professor. The keep does not appear to be the safest location for our four special children. Perhaps a sojourn in Spain would allow them some respite from all this trouble.”
But Madam Dimbleby protested. “Professor Nutley, with all due respect, the newspapers still report pockets of trouble in Spain. Don’t you think it’s a dangerous environment for children?”
Ian knew from reading the papers, which often cluttered the earl’s library, that she was referring to the newly ended civil war that had devastated Spain for several years.
“Not at all,” said the professor. “The conflict ended months ago, Madam. And I can assure you that Madrid is quite safe. I firmly believe the best thing to do would be to escort the four children out of Dover. Besides, they’re on summer holiday at present, and a trip to Spain would be an excellent educational opportunity for them.”
“Can’t you simply request the diary from Señora Castillo?” asked Madam Scargill.
“I have,” said the professor. “But her husband recently passed away, I’m afraid, and the poor woman is quite starved for company. She would much rather we come to visit, you see, and she is insisting that Barnaby’s diary is far too precious a memento for her to part with. She has graciously invited me and anyone else who would like to join me for the journey. If we leave within the next day or so, we’ll not be away longer than a fortnight, which I believe will be just enough time for things to settle down here.”
Ian gave the earl a long and hopeful look. He very much wanted to go to Spain, as he’d never been there before.
The earl pulled at his red beard thoughtfully. “Very well, Professor,” he said. “We shall go to Spain and visit with the good Lady Castillo.”
“You’re going along as well, my lord?” asked Madam Scargill in surprise.
The earl nodded. “I have never been to Madrid,” he confessed. “And that is the one city I’ve always longed to explore. Of course, I shall also feel better about the safety of the children if I’m there to protect them.”
Across the room, Jaaved announced, “If you please, my lord, I’d like your permission to stay here.”
The earl looked at the boy curiously, but Ian understood. Ever since they’d come through the portal, Jaaved had repeatedly told them how uneasy he felt about leaving Dover. When Ian and Carl escorted Theo to Lady Arbuthnot’s in London, Jaaved never wanted to go with them, and the only time the younger boy had willingly ventured beyond the outskirts of the village was when Carl was in hospital. Ian thought it likely that the Moroccan orphan couldn’t quite believe the good fortune the keep had provided him. For the first time in his life, Jaaved had a secure home and an education and was surrounded by people who loved him. Ian thought that perhaps Jaaved was afraid to step beyond the borders, lest he discover that it had all been a dream after all.
The earl eyed Theo, as if asking her whether Jaaved would be safe enough if he stayed behind. Theo nodded after a moment and the earl said, “Very well, Jaaved. But I shall request that you not travel beyond the walls of the keep.”
“I promise,” Jaaved said, looking relieved.
“We’ll just need to pack a few things,” Perry announced, as if it were already decided that the schoolmasters would go along.
The earl looked kindly at Perry and Thatcher and said, “About that …”
“Yes?” they asked together while Ian’s eyes darted to the earl. It almost sounded like he was working up to tell them they weren’t invited.
“I wonder if I could ask you to stay behind on this journey, so that you might be of some service to me here in England.”
The twins flushed at the same time, making them look more alike than usual, and Ian felt uncomfortable witnessing their embarrassment. “Why, of course, my lord,” Thatcher said quickly. “We’re always willing to be of service to you in any way we can.”
The earl then told the men about an orphanage in Cornwall that he’d been sending a fair amount of money to. The orphanage was rumored to be in desperate need of repair and quite overpopulated. The earl needed an envoy to go and ensure that the money he’d donated was being put to good use, and that more beds were being made available to the children housed there.
“It shouldn’t take longer than a fortnight,” he told the schoolmasters. “And Cornwall’s a lovely town. You’ll rather enjoy it, I’m sure.”
The schoolmasters were quick to agree and
take up the charge. Once that was settled, the earl got to the business of protecting the other inhabitants of the keep. “I’ll hire some men from the village to patrol the grounds, day and night. And I must insist that the children stay on the keep’s property for the time being, unless accompanied by Landis or one of my men.” Looking at Ian, Theo, Carl, and the professor, the earl announced, “We’ll be off the day after tomorrow,” which settled the matter for good. The earl got to his feet then. “Thank you, Maggie and Gertrude. I’ll not keep you a moment longer, as I’m sure you have quite a few tired heads to put to bed.”
It was the headmistresses’ turn to blush, and Ian saw Madam Dimbleby’s eyes move quickly to the clock, which indicated that it was well past the youngest orphan’s bedtime. “Yes, of course!” she said, slightly flustered. “We must get the wee ones to bed at once.”
The earl gave a slight bow and opened the door to the study, allowing them all to leave. Ian could hardly contain his excitement but realized almost immediately that he needed to wipe the broad smile from his face when he saw the way the other orphans were looking at them as they exited.
He knew that none of the other children would trade places with either him or Theo, especially given the day’s harrowing events, but all the children at the keep were aware of the special treatment Ian, Theo, Carl, and Jaaved were afforded—especially by the earl. He knew to them it looked like favoritism, and he had to concede that perhaps there was a little truth to that.
So he made a conscious choice to keep his features neutral while he moved through the crowd on his way to his room. But he couldn’t help overhearing the muttered frustrations of many of the children nearby when Carl announced that he, Ian, and Theo would be going to Spain. Ian pulled Carl by the arm and coaxed him to the stairs. “What’re they all miffed about?” whispered Carl as they moved away from the others.
“Pay it no attention,” Theo said softly as she came up next to them. “But we’d best keep talk of going to Spain to ourselves until we actually leave.”
The Curse of Deadman's Forest Page 6