by Edrei Cullen
But Max just squinted at her, bewildered, as he backed away down the corridor.
‘Max! Stop!’
There was no time to chase him and find out whether he was sick or not. Ella carefully corralled her friends through the door of Wheelbarrow’s office. As she urged them all to hold onto her, she caught a glimpse of Gloria Ulnus, stealing through another door nearby.
She was wearing a gasmask.
chapter 13
letters & legacies
Splashing out of the pond in the Dell at Willow Farm, the foursome tumbled apart. It had been jolly hard fitting into the barrel of water in the office with Ella keeping a hold of everyone. But she was the only person with sufficient Portality skills to transport them all that far.
As they scrambled up the pond banks, Ella let them go.
‘That was quite a ride,’ said Humphrey coolly, pulling himself up and looking about for a sprig of pussy willow to dry off with. He seemed his calm old self again. Samantha caught her foot on a root at the water’s edge and fell face-first into the mud. She was clearly back to normal! Charlie’s feet spun underneath him, churning up the earth the way they usually did.
Ella let out a sigh of relief. Obviously the Scatterbungle poison hadn’t spread to her home in Dorset—yet—and away from it, her friends seemed almost entirely recovered. Or, at least, they hadn’t been exposed to it long enough at Hedgeberry for it to have any lasting effect.
She pulled Dixon out of her dungarees. He looked up at her wide-eyed, his thumb still firmly planted in his mouth.
‘Scary. Hairy. Rhymes with canary,’ he said. Although, with his thumb in his mouth it sounded more like ‘Sshcary, Heeewy. Wymes with canuury.’
‘Don’t worry, my friend,’ said Ella, planting a kiss on his head and paddling back into the water. ‘Just get yourself back to Magus right away and let the Queen know we need her help.’
Dixon took a huge breath and spat out his thumb.
‘Yes indeed. Go with speed!’ he cried out, flinging his arm in the air. The idea of having a job fully restored the pixie’s confidence. He leapt off Ella’s hand like it was a diving board, headfirst into the pond.
Ella took a long breath as she watched him go. The Magicals would be here soon. They’d know what to do.
As Ella and her friends made their way up to the house, Charlie gave Samantha and Humphrey a quick summary of what happened at Don Posiblemente’s. He read to them from the Flitterwig File pages he had been given.
The words Charlie spoke reminded Ella of Don Posiblemente’s insistence that she find the team who could master the Keys. She stopped for a moment and pulled Samuel’s leather cord with the Key attached to it out of her pocket. It shone brightly but she couldn’t touch it. She carefully lifted the box she’d found under the stone with her mother’s name on it out of her skateboard bag and tucked the sparkling object next to the other three dazzling Keys lying in there. She wondered where the last one might be.
The box twinkled like a clear night sky. Her friends peered into it. It looked completely empty to them. Samantha looked harder, which made her lose her footing and slide down the banks of the Dell. Humphrey shook his head at her and blew his long fringe out of his eyes in a way that made him look cross-eyed. Charlie jogged impatiently on the spot, to help him think, his feet moving so fast he was digging himself into a muddy hole.
Ella looked at her friends uncertainly. She had pretty much decided these guys were her team. Of course they were. They were her true friends. She trusted them with her life. But were they actually up to the task?
Charlie saw Ella’s pensive face. He tucked the pages back into his pocket and forced his legs still. As if reading her thoughts, his little, freckled nose flared. ‘We’ll be just fine,’ he said with absolute certainty, hopping up out of the hole. ‘I’m your Protector. And these are your best friends. And we’re going to find out how in Magic’s name we can undo this Scatterbungle disaster together.’
At that moment Granny’s labradors hurtled towards them, barking for all they were worth. Ella spotted Granny at the top of the hill, her hand up to her perfectly coiffed grey hair, trying to see who was there.
‘What on Earth is going on, Ella?’ Granny asked, once she’d reached them. She was more than a little perturbed to find four slightly damp children in front of her. ‘You’re supposed to be at school.’
Ella hadn’t actually thought about how she’d explain this unexpected visit to her human grandmother. It wouldn’t work at all to tell her everyone at school was ill on account of a poison called Scatterbungle, that some sort of creatures, probably Troggles, had released in the school grounds, thanks to an Evil Elf Duke from a Magical Kingdom called Magus.
No. That wouldn’t do at all. But lying wasn’t Ella’s forte either. She hesitated.
Fortunately Samantha piped up. ‘Hello,’ she said, proffering her utterly delicate hand. ‘I’m Samantha.’ Granny surveyed the slip of a girl with her halo of curls, slanting turquoise eyes and muddied clothes. She narrowed her eyes. ‘And this is Humphrey.’
Granny shook Humphrey’s hand, peering down her nose at the gothic-looking boy before her. She nodded to Charlie. What an odd bunch, she thought to herself.
‘We’re on a bit of a field trip,’ Samantha continued, which wasn’t entirely untrue. They did have some research to do.
‘And we have a few days off now,’ added Humphrey drolly, which wasn’t entirely untrue either.
‘And I was wondering if everyone could stay here?’ said Ella, jumping in.
‘Yes, well, a little notice would have been polite, don’t you think, Ella?’ she said, frowning at her granddaughter. Although, to be honest, she was tickled pink by this fortuitous opportunity to finally get to know some of Ella’s friends.
Ella looked at the ground.
‘But it is rather nice to see you,’ Granny quickly added. ‘A few days will be fine. Although I’ll need to check in with that dreadful school of yours. Hardly surprising that they let you gallivant about the country with hardly a care for your safety. Did you come by bus?’
The children smiled politely.
‘Oh, and Ella, your father’s still here,’ said Granny, leading the children up to the house. ‘He decided to stay on after your last visit. He’s been sorting through some of your mother’s old things. Goodness knows what’s come over him to make him do that.’
Ella’s heart leapt at the thought of spending more time with her father. But then her heart fell. She couldn’t stay. She had to get back to Hedgeberry.
And, besides, did she really want her friends to see how terribly unhappy her father was?
But Ella needn’t have worried. For Samantha seemed to react naturally to the man’s miserable state of being, transforming at once into the Spritely healer that she was, around him. Mr Montgomery shuffled back towards the fireplace and avoided Samantha’s gaze and tucked his hands deep into his old cardigan when she introduced herself, but he did look over to Ella and nod his head by way of a ‘hello’. Ella nodded back gratefully and smiled.
‘We tend to leave him be,’ said Granny, pulling Samantha away quite decisively. She really didn’t need presumptuous, if well meaning, children trying to draw her darling son out of his broken shell. ‘He hasn’t been quite himself, since, well, since the accident, you know, when he lost his wife and Ella’s two brothers.’ Samantha nodded at Granny in understanding. The Sprite Flitterwig’s clear gaze quite took Granny aback.
Ella’s father stepped forward. ‘I am able to speak for myself,’ he said, looking seriously at Granny. Granny’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. Something strange had come over her son, ever since he had begun going through his wife’s belongings. But no-one commented. In fact, it was as if he hadn’t said anything at all.
‘We having a party?’ said a voice from the kitchen doorway. It was Grandpa. He had a parrot on either shoulder and looked like he’d been pulled through a hedge backwards. Bits of leaf and grass stuck to his jumper
and poked from his hair. ‘Something of a kerfuffle with our llama, Violet,’ he said, by way of explanation.
As Granny made the necessary introductions, Humphrey noticed how Ella’s father seemed to fade into the corner of the room again, as if he wanted to be invisible.
Humphrey watched Ella curiously. No wonder she was so patient with him, silent and sullen sod that he was. Humphrey was a bit like her father, except he knew instinctively that he was happily quiet. Unlike Mr Montgomery.
‘I like your cardigan,’ Humphrey said to Mr Montgomery in his eternal monotone.
Ella’s father looked up at him in surprise. But before he could say anything Granny stepped in between them and shepherded her son away.
What a peculiar group sat at dinner that evening. Two humans in the twilight of their years and an anxious Elf, Goblin, Sprite and Moglin Flitterwig worried about their school, waiting eagerly for word from the Magicals. And, of course, there was Father, somewhat overwhelmed by so much company, chomping silently to himself.
Granny was a little out of sorts for she was having difficulty remembering the sequence of the afternoon’s events. She knew that after she had brought the children into the house, she had picked up the phone in the drawing room and dialled Hedgeberry to make sure it was alright that the children were away from school. Yes, she was sure of that fact. She felt certain that everything was quite fine, but she couldn’t for the life of her recall who she had spoken to.
She looked over at Charlie, tucking into his cauliflower and cheese and a vague memory slid in and out of her consciousness. Charlie grinned at her in a manner which irritated her terribly. But she couldn’t think why. Perhaps it was all those freckles.
Charlie felt a little guilty for being so good at magic today, truth be told. For he had actually succeeded in enchanting Ella’s Granny with a Ponkalucka wish that had made her rest easy, and he had added a little bit of Bamboozlement to make her forget.
And Ella. Well, her mind was a mess, worrying about Hedgeberry and the Giants and the mayhem unfolding, but it was hard not to feel that something good was happening over dinner. Silver cutlery clinked and crystal glasses were raised. White linen napkins were touched to mouths and candlelight spread rich and warm across the oak dining table.
Charlie and Humphrey and Samantha engaged Granny in conversation, their gentle, magical natures, charming the human lady, in spite of the clear agitation they were all feeling. Ella could see on their faces that they were worried about everyone back at school, worried that their headmistress might not be alright, worried that Ella was going to have to take a lot on her shoulders. Humph and Sam had tried to contact their parents who were Flitterwigs but all walkytalky lines were down. Ella felt so grateful to know that, at least, her and Charlie’s families, being human and all, were okay.
Upstairs in the study, Ella’s father, who had excused himself early from dinner, listened to the seemingly cheerful dining group as he flicked absently through his late wife’s notebooks.
His darling Rosemary’s diaries made him remember her zest and courage and lust for life. He sat and thought of how much it had broken his heart that day, so many years ago, when he’d looked at his motherless three-year old child sitting next to those diaries. He’d had to leave the room, it hurt so bad. The sight was unbearable to him. But it was finally occurring to him now that Ella had suffered dreadfully, too.
He stopped on a random page and read:
I don’t know what it is about Ella that makes me worry. But I do. She is barely six months old but already she looks at me as if she cares for my wellbeing. That isn’t right in a baby, surely? And the other day, when we were at the beach, I felt she was in danger. I thought I saw a huge arm come up out of the sand. But the G’s are permanently asleep aren’t they? Certainly that’s what I learned at Hedgeberry. Christopher will think me mad if I try to explain to him.
I do my best not to worry him with my strangeness, I do love him so, but I worry someone is after my daughter.
The words ‘G’s’ and ‘strangeness’ made Ella’s father squirm, never mind a huge arm coming out of the sand. But, he wondered, as he had often wondered before, what it was that made his long-lost wife so peculiar. He had never thought her mad, although it had been suggested to him more than once. She had always seemed so certain and sure of the world. And yet, he knew there was something about her that she kept secret.
He looked at his feet and remembered how peculiarly large hers had been. He remembered the perfect points of her ears and her long hair. Hair that seemed untameable. Uncuttable. And something inside him stirred. She was special, his wife. He had always thought so. But was she special, special? His mind wandered to the strange children sitting at dinner tonight. They were a highly unusual looking bunch. Indeed, Ella so resembled Rosemary that he could hardly bear to look at her sometimes.
Had he been so caught up in his grief that he’d missed seeing something special in his very own daughter?
He sighed deeply and was about to close the book and go to bed when he noticed two envelopes settled on his beside table. One was addressed to Ella. The other to himself. Both in his wife’s hand. Where did they come from? They must have fallen out of a diary. He lifted them both up. There was a lingering echo of lavender about them. All the diaries still smelt of lavender. Everything about Rosemary always smelt of lavender. He smiled sadly and thrust the envelopes into the pocket of his cardigan. He would put Ella’s somewhere she could find it and read his own once he was settled in bed.
Downstairs, Granny and Grandpa seemed to glow in the warmth of the children’s company, relaxing more than Ella had seen them do in ages. Granny was terribly impressed by how quickly Humphrey filled the dishwasher (of course, he Personified the dishes when she wasn’t looking and instructed them to stack themselves). She didn’t notice the worried frown burrowing deep into his moony forehead. And as for Grandpa. Well. Loving his animals as he did, imagine his utter delight when Charlie told him that the reason one of his parrots was so unsettled was because he had a splinter in his wing. Grandpa didn’t even question how Charlie could have known this (not that he could have believed Charlie spoke perfect Animumble) but his pleasure allowed Charlie the briefest respite from the sense of impending doom looming over his head.
And Samantha. Dear Samantha. Granny had been complaining about a vase she wanted that sat up high on a top shelf she couldn’t reach, and how Grandpa was always too busy to get the step ladder out for her. When Grandpa went back to his animals and Granny left the room for a moment, Samantha unfurled her wings, flapped up high and popped the vase down for her, without knocking it over! She’d filled the vase with obliging flowers from the garden before Granny returned from the bathroom and put her hand up to her chest in delight!
Ella’s heart was heavy with worry as everyone went to bed and she prepared to sneak out. But at least her friends were safe for now. Samuel Happenstance had warned that if exposed to Scatterbungle too long, those affected might never be okay again. Getting back to Hedgeberry tonight was paramount. She had to find the other Key and figure out how to make them all visible and functional for her friends before she exposed them to the poison again.
She scribbled a hurried note to Charlie, asking him to try to find any clues he could in her mother’s diaries and slipped it under his door.
As she passed her father’s bedroom door on her way out, she leant her head against it. Taking a deep breath, she knocked gently and said goodnight.
‘Goodnight Ella,’ she heard him reply.
chapter 14
scents & shrinkification
The Clearheart padded down the stairs and made her way to the back door of the boot room to grab her skateboard in its bag. The air was still and orderly as Ella tip-toed through the kitchen. The smell of Granny’s perfume lingered silken smooth in the air, and as she entered the boot room, the waxiness of Grandpa’s sou-wester filled the gaps. It mixed with the waft of cinammon and rain, and the combination felt co
mplete.
She stared at the bulge in her skateboard bag of the box with the four Keys she’d collected in it. Magical Keys dipped in the waters of the five Sacred Dewdrops. She pulled the box out and held it, willing what was inside it to guide her.
She had to think back to what she’d learnt all those years ago about the greatest of Magical treasures, the Dewdrops. Surely she’d find a clue there. A clue that would help her guide her team and the Keys so that together they could fight the poison.
As she bent down to put the box of Keys back inside her bag, Ella was stopped in her tracks by something else tucked inside it. She picked the something up. It was a purple envelope with a post-it note stuck to it.
Ella tucked the envelope quickly into her pocket, her heart pounding. She wanted to read what was inside at once but she didn’t want to distract herself right now. A letter? From her mum? And another apology from her dad?
Ella slipped out into the cold night.
When she reached the Dell, shivering slightly, Ella had to brace herself before jumping into the pond. There was nothing pleasant about travelling by water when it was cold. Nothing at all. She took a deep breath and was about to dive in when she felt a vibration in the ground and then a sharp tug at her hoodie.
‘Charlie!’ said Ella.
‘Ella! How could you leave without—’ Charlie opened his mouth angrily but he was stopped by the sound of a sob.
Ella recognised it as Dixon’s at once.
‘Dixon?’ she called out.
‘Oh noooo, blow, can’t gooooo,’ the pixie wailed, appearing from behind a tree. He looked as if he’d run into the tree three hundred times in a row. Which he probably had! ‘I can’t get through the Mirror of Foreverness back to Magus,’ he sobbed. ‘It won’t let me through. Whatever I do!’ He tied his cap around his throat and pulled it tight. His lime-green face turned purple.