The Wonders of Vale

by Charlotte E. English

  That earned me a look of pure disbelief. ‘You brought one of the unicorns from back home? Here? You do know how incredibly endangered they are on the sixth, I suppose?’

  ‘Milady’s idea,’ I said quickly.

  She scowled. ‘Hello, Jay,’ she said as he came up.

  He responded only with a curt nod.

  ‘So,’ I said pleasantly. ‘How can we help you, Miranda?’

  ‘How did you find us?’ Jay interrupted.

  ‘I saw you come through from Whitmore.’

  ‘You’ve been following us all morning?’ I said. ‘Couldn’t you have just said hi?’

  ‘Was I welcome to?’ That came with a challenging look.

  I sighed. ‘I won’t lie, I’d prefer not to talk to you. But it does happen that we were looking for you.’

  She blinked. ‘Looking for me?’

  ‘Aye, thee. The thing is—’

  Miranda was backing away. ‘Look, I’m sorry about everything that happened. I really am. I’ll make amends if I can, but you don’t need to…’

  ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ I snapped. ‘We aren’t here to hurt you.’

  ‘I don’t know, Ves,’ she said, eyeing me uncertainly. ‘Last time we talked, you looked about ready to kill me. Still do.’

  ‘Ves is a violence-free area unless severely provoked,’ I said.

  Jay said, ‘Does abandoning the Society and betraying our movements to Ancestria Magicka count as severe provocation?’ He sounded mildly interested.

  I glowered, not because I wanted to kill Miranda but because I realised I didn’t. Not really. She looked so damned hang-dog, with her hair falling down, her jumper unravelling at the elbows, and those shadows under her eyes. ‘No,’ I grouched.

  Then again, when I saw pup race into view and hurl herself at Miranda like she was her best and long-lost friend, I considered revising that decision.

  ‘Don’t touch the pup,’ I said warningly.

  I was rewarded for my lack of generosity by two pairs of wounded eyes, fixed upon me in joint dismay.

  Pup’s won me over.

  ‘Fine, fine,’ I said with a wave of my hand. Since Emellana had showed up along with Goodie, I made introductions. ‘Emellana’s here to help us with—’

  ‘Emellana Rogan?’ said Miranda, staring at Em with the same kind of awe Jay and I had felt. Then she covered her eyes. ‘Oh, lords. The worst possible time to meet your heroes.’

  Emellana, serene in purple, merely lifted one brow a fraction of an inch. ‘Why is that?’

  ‘Because of—’ she stopped, and looked an enquiry at me.

  I understood the unspoken question. Yes, I had given Emellana the story of Miranda’s defection from the Society. No, I didn’t want to say that to Miranda just then. I ignored the question in her eyes, and said: ‘Miranda’s the former expert on magickal beasts with the Society. She’s to join us on this assignment.’

  Miranda stared. ‘I am?’

  ‘Milady’s orders.’

  ‘Milady?’

  ‘None other than.’

  Miranda looked from me to Jay in disbelief. ‘I thought you two were no longer with the Society either.’

  ‘Erm. Well, it’s true that we’re technically working for the Royal Court at Mandridore right now. They’re partnered with the Society.’

  Miranda’s eyes grew even wider. ‘What’s going on here, Ves?’

  ‘Something pretty big.’

  ‘I see that.’

  I decided not to share all the details. Miranda was still a traitor. ‘We’re looking for griffins,’ I told her. ‘Among other such creatures.’

  ‘Such creatures?’

  ‘Beasts of myth and legend. Oozing magick from every pore. That kind of thing.’

  ‘We’re heading for the Vales of Wonder,’ said Jay. ‘Soon as we figure out how.’

  ‘And what am I for?’ said Miranda.

  ‘You probably know more about griffins than anybody else, more or less,’ I said. ‘Right?’

  ‘That isn’t saying much. To the best of my knowledge, you two are the only people who’ve seen a live one in recent memory.’

  ‘And charmingly clueless about it we were. Are you with us or not?’

  Miranda appeared uncertain, to my indignation. Honestly, how much more of an olive branch did the woman expect?

  ‘Are you still with Ancestria Magicka?’ said Jay suddenly, with a narrow look.

  ‘Technically,’ said Miranda.

  ‘What I’m getting at is: are you here with or without their leave?’

  She grinned. ‘Without their knowledge, I think. I hope.’ The grin faded. ‘I don’t want to go back home. If I go with you, that has to be clear.’

  ‘The beasts back home need you far more than these do,’ I said, frowning.

  Miranda just looked at me. ‘How do you know?’

  Fair point.

  ‘Right, well, if that’s settled,’ said Jay. ‘I need to crack on with this little collection of mysteries.’ He sauntered off towards the nearest henge, hands in the pockets of his jacket, face thoughtful.

  Emellana held out her hand to Miranda, who took it uncertainly. There was a handshake. ‘Good to have you with us,’ said Emellana.

  ‘Is it?’ said Miranda softly.

  Em gave an affirmative nod, and grinned. ‘I’ve been reading your essays for years. My favourite was the one about firelight moths as familiars.’

  Miranda’s eyes widened. ‘Well, this is surreal.’

  ‘Miranda,’ I said. ‘We need some help here. Have you learned anything about this place?’ I indicated the henges with a sweep of my arm.

  Her eyes lit up. ‘Ves, this world is amazing. Amazing. You know they never had aeroplanes, or cars? Never needed them. Everything’s magick. Short-distance travel is all about the bubbles and lights — you saw that already. Long-distance journeys are taken by henge, and as far as I can figure, there’s an entire world-wide infrastructure.’

  ‘Uh huh, and how does that work?’

  ‘Like, you don’t need to be a Waymaster to use these empowered henges, necessarily. You buy travel tokens which seem to act as ticket, passport and charm in one. Take your token, step into the right henge and away you go, and the token’s used up. It’s marvellous. There’s a Union of Waymasters — big organisation — who set up and maintain these henge complexes, and keep them powered up.’

  ‘Jay,’ I called. ‘You need to hear all this.’

  Jay had already wandered out of earshot. I started after him, calling his name — and was just in time to hear him say, with something peculiarly like a giggle, ‘Oops.’

  And he vanished.

  ‘Oops?’ I yelled. ‘Oops?’ I set off at a run towards the henge that had taken him away, a turquoise structure whose stones crackled with a kind of lightning. As I approached, the lightning faded, leaving inert stones and no sign of Jay.

  9

  ‘Jay, you total idiot!’ I kicked at the nearest stone. He could’ve ended up anywhere. Canterbury. Edinburgh. Prague. Burundi.

  He reappeared two minutes later, just as Miranda and Emellana caught up with me. ‘Hah!’ he said, with gusto, and vanished again.

  This process was repeated twice more before he consented to pause in the centre of the turquoise henge, trembling violently and visibly out of breath.

  I looked him over carefully. He had an elated look about him that seemed out of character, and his eyes were too wide. ‘You okay?’

  ‘I have no idea where I just went to,’ he said, beaming at me. ‘But it was amazing.’

  ‘You’re pumped up,’ I said. ‘Bordering upon high. Let’s have a little sit down for a second, okay?’ I towed him back towards his rock of a seat, but he drew his arm out of my grasp.

  ‘No way. I need to go again.’

  ‘Jay, do you recall how Farringale affected most of us?’

  He nodded enthusiastically. ‘You were all bonkers.’

  ‘Totally intoxicated.’

>   I waited for the penny to drop.

  And it did, after a few seconds. ‘Oh,’ said Jay, with a laugh, and ran a hand through his hair.

  ‘We appear to have found your poison.’

  He physically shook himself. ‘It’s a pretty good feeling,’ he admitted.

  ‘I can see that. But we need you sane.’

  ‘Hey, listen to Ves, talking sense with the best of them.’ He beamed at me. ‘I’m proud of you.’

  I found myself casting a sideways look at Emellana, whom I would not have suspect me of foolhardiness.

  She smirked at me.

  I coughed. ‘Um, so, did you go to the same place each time?’

  ‘The first two times, yes,’ Jay said, and sat down suddenly on the grass. ‘Oops. I popped up smack in the middle of the same henge, looked like bloodstone or something like that. One of many, many. Bigger henge complex than this one, at a glance.’

  Miranda nodded. ‘Most of them work like doors, or so I gather. Like, each henge goes to a specific designated partner henge in some other complex.’

  ‘Right,’ Jay said. ‘But I could feel more potential than that, so the third time I tried to end up someplace else. And I did. Same complex, different henge. And then the fourth time I was somewhere else altogether, no idea where, except I think it wasn’t Britain.’ He looked around hungrily at all the other henges on the site, and scrambled to his feet. ‘I need to try them all.’

  I grabbed him by the sleeve. ‘Jay. Some other time, all right? You try all of these now, you’ll lose your marbles in record time.’

  ‘You think?’ Jay paused.

  ‘We’ll be scraping your sanity off the moon.’

  ‘But,’ he said.

  I waited, but that was it.

  ‘Let’s stick to the task at hand, can we?’ I said. ‘We need to find a way through to the Vales of Wonder. You can play with the rest some other time.’

  He grinned at me. ‘Thanks, Mum.’

  ‘You’re welcome. So, the Vales?’

  I was looking at Miranda, but she shrugged. ‘I haven’t heard of it.’

  ‘Anywhere we could find, say, a map or something?’

  ‘There’s a tourist information office back in town?’ she offered.

  ‘How about a library with a computer?’

  She stared at me. ‘No computers here, Ves. Remember? No planes, no cars, no tech.’

  I stared back. ‘No internet?’

  Miranda shook her head.

  ‘What dark nightmare is this?’

  She awkwardly patted my arm. ‘It’ll be okay.’

  I gave myself a shake. ‘Fine. Let’s try the tourist office, or failing that there must be a library somewhere.’

  Jay was drifting away. To my alarm, he was making a beeline straight for the spiralling agate structure near the centre of the henge complex. If one of the lesser ones had scrambled his wits, what would the mother of all empowered henges do to him? ‘Jay,’ I said, and grabbed him. ‘We’re going to need to get you some coffee, and a truckload of food.’

  ‘I’m not hungry,’ Jay said, but then stopped. ‘Actually, no. I’m starving.’

  I nodded. I’d felt the same way after my near-drowning in magick back at Farringale. ‘Do they have pancakes in this Britain?’ I asked Miranda. ‘Please say yes. I have a never-ending chocolate pot, but I don’t think that’s going to cut it.’

  ‘No idea. Let’s find out.’

  But when I looked around for Emellana, I didn’t see her. ‘Wha—’ I began, and turned in a circle.

  Fortunately, it isn’t too hard to spot a seven-foot-and-something-tall troll woman dressed in purple. She was on the far side of the complex, communing with the foremost stone of the amethyst henge. Communing’s the only possible word for it. We went after her, and found her with both hands set to the smooth stone and her eyes closed. She looked mesmerised.

  ‘Em?’ I said softly after a minute.

  She didn’t open her eyes. ‘Can I borrow that lyre?’ she asked.

  Jay gave me a shifty-eyed look. ‘Turn your back, Ves.’

  ‘What? No! I can be trusted.’

  He gave me a look that said, are you kidding me?

  I sighed, and turned around. ‘Unfair.’ I leaned against Addie’s soft flank, and watched pup gambolling happily in the sunshine. She stopped, nose to the earth, and began to dig furiously. Another nugget of loose change about to come a-cropper, no doubt.

  ‘Why is Ves backwards?’ I heard Emellana say, absently, and then came the dulcet tones of the lyre as she strummed a brief melody.

  ‘Because she wants to meld with the lyre and must therefore avert her eyes,’ said Jay.

  ‘Meld?’

  ‘It has a strange effect on her.’

  ‘Hmm.’ There was no more talk after that, for a while, but quite a lot more music, and I ached to turn around and watch what was happening. I knew Jay would scalp me if I did, though, and moreover he wouldn’t be wrong.

  ‘Are you finding much?’ said Jay eventually.

  ‘Not being a Waymaster any more than Ves is,’ said Emellana, ‘I feel very little of anything that is happening here. Until, that is, I pick up the lyre. I suppose what I am now sensing is not current activity but past, and there is a great deal of it. Very potent.’

  ‘It’s probably been an active complex for some time,’ Jay agreed.

  ‘Yes.’

  I couldn’t stand it anymore. ‘What is it that you’re trying to do?’ I said. Hey, I hadn’t turned around. I was still toeing the line of good sense.

  ‘Gathering information,’ said Emellana.

  I was hoping for something jazzier, but all right. Emellana was the expert on world exploration. She knew what she was doing.

  ‘Did you know your lyre absorbs magick?’ she added.

  I whirled around. ‘Does it! Orlando said it might, but I think he wasn’t sure. What is it—’

  I was intercepted at this point by Jay, firmly turned about, and left facing the other way. At least this time he was nice enough to stand in front of me, so I had a face to look at while I was talking. ‘Tut,’ he said.

  ‘It was only a little glimpse.’ Even that was enough to make my heart ache. In Emellana’s hands, the lyre had been blazing with magick and beauty. I could still feel it. ‘Moonsilver and rosewater,’ I added, unnecessarily.

  ‘Wasn’t it skysilver?’ said Jay, folding his arms.

  ‘I actually think skysilver is an inaccurate name. It’s more moon-coloured.’

  ‘I’ll let the Yllanfalen know your thoughts.’

  ‘It’s okay, I’ll just call my loving mother.’ I cracked myself up with that one. When I was still laughing twenty seconds later, I had to wonder whether Jay was the only one whose senses were a trifle disordered.

  Actually he looked stone-cold sane in that moment, staring at me with one brow raised.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said, and swallowed my gigglefit. ‘Erm. What’s she doing now?’

  ‘Ms. Rogan has moved off to another couple of henges. Oh, she’s coming back. Second.’ Jay disappeared from my field of vision.

  Two minutes later he said, ‘Okay Ves, you can turn around again.’

  I did, to find three empty-handed people and no sign of the lyre. ‘Where are you keeping that thing?’ I demanded.

  ‘You are the last person I am telling.’

  ‘Damnit.’

  Emellana wore that faint smirk again, and it was definitely directed at me. ‘Look,’ I said. ‘Give me another sixty years and I’ll be every bit as imperturbable as you.’

  ‘I do not doubt it,’ she said graciously. ‘Though if it helps, I do not believe the lyre’s effect on you to be particularly your fault.’

  ‘Particularly my fault?’ I echoed. ‘It’s only a bit my fault?’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  I decided not to rise to that. ‘What did we find out?’ I said instead.

  ‘I believe I have learned which of these henges goes the farthest,’ said Emel
lana. ‘There are clear differences in the potency of the magickal traces left behind at various sites. Though it is possible that the more potent henges lead to places of more intense magick, and the difference is unrelated to distance. The one Jay used is only of moderate power.’

  ‘Right,’ I said. ‘Keeping Jay well away from the stronger ones.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Jay.

  ‘Give me that lyre, and you can use any henge you like with my blessing. I’ll even scrape you off the ceiling again afterwards.’

  ‘There is no ceiling,’ he muttered, which I took to mean he had no reasonable response to offer.

  Win.

  ‘You didn’t find one conveniently marked “this way to the Vales of Wonder” I suppose?’ I asked of Em.

  ‘It’s not quite that simple.’

  ‘No,’ I sighed. ‘It couldn’t be, could it? We need a map.’

  ‘Or an obliging and knowledgeable passerby,’ suggested she.

  ‘I don’t see why there isn’t some kind of a map here already,’ I said. ‘Or sign posts, or… something. How do people know which henge to use?’

  ‘That… is actually a very good point, Ves,’ said Jay.

  I looked at Miranda. So did everyone else.

  She opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I haven’t used the henges myself.’

  ‘So how do you come to know so much about how they work?’

  ‘I asked around. I thought I might need them sometime.’

  ‘Nobody mentioned a handy map or something? Like the tube map. Something.’

  ‘No. Look, I’m thinking, but I don’t remember anything like that. It’s like… that question never came up, like no one would need to have that spelled out for them.’

  ‘They’re doing something we aren’t,’ I said, and stared hard at the henges as though that would help. ‘Jay?’

  He shook his head. ‘If you can use these without being a Waymaster, then it can’t be a Waymaster trick they’re using.’

  ‘Fair.’

  ‘It’s my belief,’ said Emellana mildly, ‘we may be looking too hard for an unusual solution.’

  ‘Meaning?’ said Jay.

  ‘Meaning that, while many things about this Britain are indeed wondrous, not quite everything needs to be. In this instance, the fact that we have a Waymaster with us is undoubtedly an advantage, but we need not make use of your talents on this occasion if it proves inconvenient. Miranda, you spoke of travel tokens. Do you happen to know where those are sold?’