by Cliff McNish
‘That’s better! Get angry!’ Heiki smirked. ‘You sound more interesting when you snarl. Go on. Growl a bit. Grrr. I’d prefer you meaner.’
‘Have you hurt any adults?’ Rachel demanded.
Heiki did not answer, but her smile widened – and Rachel, suddenly, became aware that there was a third presence with them in the graveyard. It stood alongside Heiki, watching Rachel. Rachel could not see it, but she felt its casual observation on her, and recognized the pattern at once from her time with Dragwena: a Witch. Rachel took a step backwards and tried to control her trembling. Did Heiki realize, or was she being secretly followed?
‘Who told you other children are pathetic? A Witch?’
Heiki’s voice faltered. ‘What … do you mean?’
‘I think you know very well,’ Rachel said. ‘A creature with four sets of black teeth and a snake.’ She forced herself to look at the empty space to Heiki’s right. ‘They’re ugly. Quite easy to spot.’ She studied Heiki’s guarded expression – and realized with horror that Heiki did recognize the description.
Heiki and the Witch were working together.
Flee! Flee! screamed Rachel’s spells.
‘How many Witches are there?’ Rachel asked, unable to keep a quaver from her voice. She could no longer bear to look at the space next to Heiki. Jumping backwards, she shouted, ‘Show yourself!’
Heiki smiled. ‘What’s the matter, Rachel? Scared of a few gravestones?’
‘I think you’d better tell me what you know,’ Rachel said, making herself step forward close enough to grasp Heiki’s arm. ‘Where are you from? Not this part of the world, anyway. You’re a long way from home, aren’t you? A long way from safety. Better tell me everything.’
‘What if I won’t?’
‘I’ll force it out of you.’
‘Go on,’ cried Heiki, her face excited. ‘Just you try!’
Rachel launched a paralysing spell. Without harming Heiki it disabled her defences and immobilized her body, allowing only her lips and larynx to move. ‘Tell me!’ Rachel pressed, trying desperately to ignore the presence of the Witch.
‘What are you doing?’ squealed the girl, using her spells to try to pull away. In that moment, Rachel sensed Heiki’s great abilities. Fortunately, so far she could only partially control her magic.
‘Tell me how many Witches there are,’ Rachel said. ‘And where they are.’
‘You’ll not force anything out of me!’
Rachel sent an information spell into the girl’s ear, seeking access to her memories.
Heiki started to shake.
‘What’s wrong?’ Rachel said, alarmed – the information spell should not have injured her.
‘No! Please!’ shrieked Heiki.
‘I’m not—’ Rachel began, then realized Heiki was not talking to her. She was communicating with the Witch.
‘No, don’t!’ Heiki pleaded.
‘Not yet! Let me fight her. I can take her on my own. I don’t need your help. Let me—’
Suddenly Rachel gripped nothing. With a final groan of dismay Heiki’s voice trailed off, leaving only the deserted graves. For a few minutes Rachel stood alone, feeling snow land and melt on her hot skin.
Then a new voice breathed in her ear.
‘Hello,’ it said. ‘I am Calen.’
Rachel could see no face, but breath stirred the snowflakes above her head.
‘I am the thing that frightens you most, child,’ said the voice. ‘Are you ready for what will happen next?’
Rachel could not move or breathe.
‘Practise your magic, girl,’ said the voice. ‘The next time you meet Heiki she won’t require my help.’
The voice faded on the breeze, but Calen left a sign – snow; not white snow but grey, falling with relish on Rachel and the tombstones of the dead.
9
Games
Without Limits
Rachel shifted frantically home from the graveyard. When she arrived in the garden Eric, Morpeth and Mum ran out to her.
‘What’s wrong?’ cried Mum, seeing Rachel’s haggard expression. ‘What happened?’ She clutched Rachel tightly, feeling her shiver. ‘Oh, you’re safe at least …’
Rachel blinked, trying to get her bearings. ‘How long have I been gone?’
‘Hours,’ said Eric. ‘What did you find? More dog-hating boys?’
‘Worse than that,’ she murmured.
Morpeth held her long black hair. A few grey flakes of snow that had not melted on the journey oozed like oil against his fingers.
‘Oh no,’ he whispered. ‘Please tell me I’m wrong.’
Rachel sagged against Mum’s shoulder – and told them everything.
By the time Rachel finished Mum had long dragged them all inside the house and blacked out the windows. She sat next to Rachel in the living room, holding her in the near-darkness, and no one spoke for a while.
At last Eric said to Rachel, ‘Do you think the Witch and this Heiki girl might be coming to get you, then?’
‘Yes. I do.’
‘Soon?’
‘Probably.’
‘Tonight?’
‘Or earlier. I’ve no idea when.’ Rachel gazed at the wall, her eye-colours a disenchanted grey flecked with black.
Morpeth immediately placed the prapsies on sentry duty. Seeing Eric’s sombre mood, they took the task seriously, flitting between the corners of light peeping through the downstairs windows.
‘Those two won’t hold up a Witch,’ Mum said, ‘or this horrible Heiki.’
‘They’ll try, though,’ Eric replied. ‘They’ll warn us fast, too, won’t you, boys?’
Both prapsies waggled their heads while flying to inspect a crack in the ceiling. They stared at it with deep suspicion.
Morpeth scratched his chin. ‘When Paul and Heiki were snatched away,’ he asked Rachel, ‘did you notice the same pattern of magic each time – Calen’s?’
‘Yes.’ She glanced up hopefully. ‘I suppose that’s a good sign. Maybe Calen’s the only Witch.’
‘One would be enough,’ said Morpeth, ‘but we can’t depend on there being a solitary Witch. The real question is why any Witch is here at all.’ He leaned towards Rachel. ‘Calen singled you out, told you her name, deliberately trying to frighten you. I’m wondering why she would do that, unless—’
‘Unless she knows what happened to Dragwena on Ithrea,’ Rachel said numbly. ‘Unless Calen wants revenge.’ She felt her throat tighten. ‘And this strange new girl, Heiki … I bet she’s being trained to fight me. Otherwise, why didn’t Calen just kill me in the graveyard? It would have been easy enough.’
Mum held Rachel tightly, searching vainly for some words with which to reassure her.
‘We will absolutely protect you in every way,’ said Morpeth, joining Rachel on the couch. ‘To help do that I’d like to know more about what Calen is attempting to do. Both Paul and Heiki appear to be under her personal instruction. Why? Are they being trained to attack you together? Or is Calen hand-picking talented children for another reason?’
‘I bet this new Witch is just like Dragwena, or worse,’ Eric said. With sudden passion he barked, ‘Where’s Larpskendya? He promised he’d be here for us. He promised!’
‘I don’t know,’ said Rachel hollowly. ‘I haven’t stopped calling him. He doesn’t answer.’
‘Larpskendya wouldn’t abandon us,’ Morpeth said firmly. ‘But for now we have to find a way to survive without the Wizards. There has to be a way to fight back.’ He paced the room, watched by the attentive prapsies. ‘If we could eavesdrop on Calen when she interacts with children, we might understand this better. Paul is still trying to resist, we all saw that. Calen hasn’t broken him, yet.’
‘He might be tough,’ said Eric.
‘If Calen is anything like Dragwena, it doesn’t matter how tough Paul is,’ Morpeth replied. ‘He won’t be able to resist for long. We need to help him and children like him quickly.’
‘C
hildren like that aren’t going to be easy to find,’ said Rachel. ‘The really gifted ones are scattered across the world.’
Eric laughed harshly. ‘We’ll find them all right. It’s the end of the summer holidays tomorrow, remember. Any kids trained by Witches will hardly be able to wait!’
‘For what?’ asked Morpeth.
‘To get inside their classrooms, of course,’ Eric said. ‘I bet any kids trained by Calen can’t wait to use magic on their teachers!’
Before they went to bed that night Eric gave the prapsies strict instructions to stand vigil at all the windows and doors.
‘They won’t be able to be everywhere at the same time,’ argued Rachel.
‘Oh won’t they?’ said Eric. ‘Have you forgotten how fast they were on Ithrea?’ He clicked his fingers. Instantly the prapsies darted through the open doorways of the house. They moved at speed, so swiftly that Rachel knew they must be in another room a moment after leaving the last.
Eric slept uneasily on the couch. Rachel, Morpeth and Mum did not sleep. All night they huddled together on cushions in the shadows of the living room, planning and watching: watching the black windows, expecting an attack. No attack came. When dawn arrived the sun emerged cheerily as usual, as if nothing was wrong in the world.
Mum rustled up a breakfast of toast and eggs, which they ate in virtual silence. Mum was too distracted to notice the prapsies sucking tomato ketchup off Eric’s plate.
‘I’ve changed my mind,’ she erupted suddenly. ‘I don’t care what I said last night. You’re not leaving the house. None of you. I must have been mad, thinking to let you go.’
Rachel sat beside her. ‘Mum, you agreed. I’ll have Eric and Morpeth with me this time. We’re just going to stay in the background and find out what we can. That’s all.’
‘But you have no idea what might be out there! I’m your mother,’ she said simply, her tears flowing. ‘How can I let you walk out of that door? How can I do that? I can’t.’
Morpeth said to her gently, ‘All the choices are difficult now, but we know a Witch is certainly out there. If we wait timidly inside these four walls Rachel and Eric are easy targets.’ He saw Mum trying to formulate an objection, and said forcefully, ‘Calen signalled her intentions clearly in the graveyard. On Ithrea fear prevented most children from taking any action against the Witch. Let me tell you: Dragwena took no more mercy on them for that. In fact, she despised their weakness and killed them sooner.’
Mum buried her face in Rachel’s lap and Rachel silently motioned for the two of them to be left alone for a while. Morpeth and Eric went upstairs and made final preparations to depart.
‘We can’t take the prapsies,’ Morpeth said. ‘They’re too noisy. We’ll never shut them up.’
‘Yeah, all right,’ grumbled Eric. ‘I know. If a cat yawns they freak out.’
He coaxed the prapsies back to his bedroom, whispering a few words of encouragement. As soon as they realized they had been locked inside, both child-birds clawed forlornly at the door.
Returning downstairs, Morpeth and Eric found Rachel still half-draped in Mum’s arms. ‘Let’s go,’ Rachel said, extricating herself with difficulty. ‘Mum’s agreed to let us leave if she can come with us.’
‘No,’ said Morpeth. ‘That would be a mistake.’ He faced Mum, and her stricken gaze. ‘Rachel is going to have enough to concern her. If she has to protect you as well, that’s an extra worry, another distraction. If Calen is anything like Dragwena, she’ll probably try to hurt you just to get at Rachel.’ He paused, turning to Rachel. ‘That also goes for your dad. Now that we know something of Calen’s purpose, he should be kept as far away as possible.’
‘Too late,’ Mum said. ‘I called him yesterday. He’s already on his way back.’
Morpeth sighed. ‘I know how difficult this is,’ he implored her, ‘but he mustn’t come home. Tell him to go to a location not known by you, Rachel or Eric – a place never mentioned in this house.’
Mum stared furiously at Morpeth. ‘If we’re such a risk to Rachel, what about you? You’re just an ordinary man now. Without magic, aren’t you gambling with Rachel’s life by accompanying her?’
Morpeth said nothing to this, and it was Rachel who spoke up.
‘Mum, I need Morpeth with me. I need him.’ She met her mum’s intense stare. ‘Morpeth took care of himself on Ithrea, and me and Eric. If you’re with me, I’ll just worry. All the time.’
Mum slowly nodded, and the four of them made their way through the hallway. For a while Mum stood partially barring the front door. At last her whole body seemed to cave in and she held each of them in turn and said a few words they could barely hear through her sobbing. Then she opened the door, her hands lingering on the heads of her children as they pressed past her.
‘Close it, Mum,’ Rachel said softly.
Mum did not close the door. She simply stayed where she was, clutching the frame as if by keeping the door open and by maintaining a gaze on her children she could keep them safe.
‘I will protect them,’ Morpeth promised, pulling it shut himself.
Rachel glanced anxiously about. Outside the house a milk float trundled up the street, followed by a stray dog. It was still too early for school children.
All three crept timidly along the path to the gate, scanning the pale cloudy sky.
‘It seems safe,’ said Morpeth. ‘Can you detect any magic, Rachel?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want us standing out here like dummies. Get ready.’
Morpeth screwed his eyes painfully tight. Eric grinned.
As they had agreed the night before, Rachel turned all three into common sparrows. She had learned how to use such transforming spells on Ithrea, but it was complex and required all of her focus. She shifted them to a point high above the house. Morpeth looked uncomfortable and almost clattered straight into a tree. Eric, on the other hand, sped about with ease, as though he always went for a flight after breakfast.
‘Come on,’ said Rachel. ‘I can’t keep all three of us concealed like this for long. We need to hurry.’
She led them over the nearby streets. They skimmed close to the ground, faster than any bird, though not so fast that Rachel would miss any telltale smells of magic. Her scent flaps swayed delicately in the light winds either side of her beak.
‘Phew, they’re weird,’ said Eric, watching the flaps quiver. He peered under his wing. ‘Which school should we try first? Ours?’
‘No, further out,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing round here.’
They swooped across town, circling several infant and junior schools. The school day was now beginning, with children being called from playgrounds into assembly or first lessons. Rachel detected nothing unusual, so they searched in other towns.
Eric started trilling, a bizarre warble no sparrow had ever made.
‘Stay close to me,’ Rachel said. ‘I’ve found something.’
Tracking a familiar magical signature over a hundred miles away, she shifted them towards it. Eric shut his beak as they passed over a large, four-storied junior school. Its red brick buildings appeared quiet and orderly. Dropping lower, Rachel hovered level with the third-floor windows.
Eric bumped against her wing. ‘What is it?’
Within a classroom all the children sat attentively.
‘I see nothing strange here,’ said Morpeth.
‘Check again,’ Rachel told him.
Flying closer, Morpeth realized that he recognized one of the students.
‘Paul!’
Morpeth narrowed his sharp bird-eyes. Paul and the rest of the class faced the teacher. The teacher herself stood stiffly, with her back to the students. On a whiteboard she had drawn a detailed head-to-foot picture of herself. In one hand she tensely held a pen; her fingers were white with the firmness of her grip. In her other hand she held an eraser, poised to use. Behind her, on the desk, the teacher had placed her shoes. Next to her shoes there were also her neatly folded
pullover, several hair grips, a bracelet, earrings and a neckerchief.
Morpeth stared at the drawing the teacher had made of herself. The earrings and other items on the desk had been erased from the drawing, roughly removed.
‘What’s happening?’ Eric breathed.
‘Let’s see.’ Rachel used a cloaking spell to shift through the glass, and carried them to a position at the back of the classroom.
‘Wrong answer again, miss,’ they heard Paul saying. ‘Call yourself a maths teacher? Surely you can do better than that.’ He winked at a few of his friends. ‘What shall we remove this time, eh?’
All the students were watching the teacher with a mixture of dread and fascination. Most were open-mouthed, uncertain what to think or do. A few of the braver ones edged away from Paul.
‘Don’t,’ said one girl at the front of the class. ‘That’s enough, Paul.’
‘Not yet, it isn’t,’ he muttered defensively. ‘What’s the matter with you lot, anyway? It’s all just a bit of fun. I’m not going to hurt her.’ He glanced at the teacher. ‘Your glasses this time please, miss.’
Trembling slightly, the teacher rubbed out the glasses on the whiteboard. Then, with a flourish, she whisked off her real glasses and placed them on the desk beside the other items.
‘Are you simply going to let him do this, Rach?’ Eric growled. ‘Don’t just sit there! Do something, or I will!’
‘Wait,’ said Morpeth.
‘Wait for what?’ Eric asked angrily.
‘For worse to come. Rachel, do you detect a Witch?’
She nodded grimly. ‘It’s Calen, keeping out of sight.’
‘Stay calm, both of you,’ Morpeth warned.
‘Stay calm?’ Eric protested. ‘What’s Paul doing to that teacher?’
‘He’s just denting her dignity a little,’ said Morpeth. ‘I doubt Calen will be satisfied. Keep watching.’
Paul settled back in his chair. ‘Try this one, miss. Forty-seven times three hundred and fifty-five. That’s not too hard.’
I’m not … sure,’ she said, still facing the board. ‘Paul, please don’t make me do this. I—’
‘Just answer the question,’ Paul told her, his voice wavering slightly.