by A. J. Ponder
Ignoring the dirty look from an old witch nearby, Perrin jumped astride her broomstick with a grin – it was about time the old biddy learnt that girls could do anything – including not riding side-saddle.
So, apparently, could old witches...(Most old witches would never resort to common violence – cups of tea, glaring, and spitting curses are more traditional.)...A gnarled hand shot out, grabbed Perrin’s broomstick and shoved her sideways, hard. Perrin toppled to the ground.
“Ike! We need to go back,” Alec insisted even as Mrs Bee’s attacker tumbled to the ground.
“How?” Ike said. “Besides, Mrs Bee can look after herself. Now let’s get you home where you can have a nice cup of cocoa and a bikkie and stop all your worrying.”
“What happened to you, Ike? What about the taniwha? And everything?”
“Oh,” Ike said. “I know a great legend about a taniwha. It’s from right here in Wellington Harbour. Once-”
“I’ve heard it already.”
“Huh? When?”
“You told it to me, remember?”
“Must be getting old. Can’t remember everything, you know.” Ike shut his cover with thump.
Alec frowned. “What’s got into you? This is important. We have to find my father. He’s missing.”
“What? He is? We do? I don’t think so, because I think I would remember that – but just on the off-chance, the lady didn’t waggle her fingers at all?”
“Yes.”
“And then did she screw up her eyes and say – “
“’Broken broomsticks, I can’t remember.’”
“That’s what she said? Exactly?”
“Those were her exact words.”
Ike moaned. “I don’t believe it, the oldest spell in the book. How embarrassing.”
Alec peered up. “Ike, I think we have a bigger problem right now,” he said as a girl on a broomstick careened towards them from one side and a fast approaching shadow loomed from the other.
“Yes, indeed. Meddling old witch. I’ve got half a mind to go straight back-”
“Watch out!” Alec tried to dodge as the girl with the broomstick careened into him. The impact sent Ike tumbling from his hands. “Ike!”
DROWNING – THAT’S NOTHING
Alec slammed into the deck in a tangle of broomstick and elbows. Where was Ike? He flailed wildly in an effort to free himself and rescue the book.
“Hello, I’m Perrin,” Perrin said, extending her hand to help him up. “You’ve got my book. Where is it?”
Alec wanted to yell, but then he saw Ike. He pointed stupidly to where the book was fluttering precariously on the edge of the deck.
Perrin looked just in time to see the Wizard’s Guide slip, somersaulting end over end as it fell helplessly into the water below.
“Oh zorch!” Perrin said.
Alec was yelling now. “Look what you’ve done.”
She squinted worriedly down into the water, up into the sky and down into the water again. “Can you swim?” she asked in a squeaky voice.
Alec nodded.
“Right, time to get off this bucket. 1,2,3, jump!” Perrin said, grabbing hold of Alec and pulling him over the side.
Air exploded from Alec’s chest as he hit the freezing water like he was hitting a wall. He plummeted deeper and deeper, feet thrashing wildly. The water squeezed his chest until at last he began to rise, dragging himself to the surface and sucking in a gulp of air – along with half a wave. “Perrin, you moron, look what you’ve done!” he spluttered, arms and legs furiously treading water.
There was no reply – only a broomstick bobbing on the waves not so far away. “Perrin!” he yelled again.
A moment later she surfaced. “Brgh glgg,” she choked, pointed skywards, and ducked beneath a wave.
Alec looked up and saw the black cloud again, moving slowly towards them – before he tasted salt.
Something was dragging him under. Perrin. Every instinct said to fight her grip, but he waited until he couldn’t hold his breath any longer before kicking to the surface with Perrin holding on tightly.
For a moment they both stared out across the water at the disappearing Fairy and its trailing shadow.
“What was that?” Alec asked.
Perrin began to flail, splashing wildly. Her mouth opened, as if she was might say something, and then she bobbed under, gagging on a mouthful of wave.
“Perrin, your broomstick,” Alec shouted, seeing it was floating gently away.
She thrashed around in half a circle before changing her mind and reaching back to grab Alec again, clutching him so tightly he could hardly move.
How could she have been so stupid to think they could swim back from here if she couldn’t swim at all? She was going to drown him if he couldn’t break free.
He shoved her away. “On your back!” he yelled over the surf and the ringing in his ears. “Roll onto your back.”
She clung tighter.
Alec pushed firmly and kicked away. Ignoring her half-gurgled protest, he swam the last few feet to the broom. Ike was there, not so far out of reach, sinking into the waves. For a moment he thought about getting the book, but he had to save the crazy half-drowned girl.
“Ga bgoogk!” Perrin shouted, thrashing around wildly and slipping under the water once more.
“What?” Alec said, kicking towards her.
Perrin spat out a mouthful of water. “No! Ge’ book.”
This time Alec understood. He shoved the broom towards her.
Too far away, she grabbed for it and plunged under the water.
Alec struck out to rescue her but she bobbed up to the surface before he got there, hands grasping for dear life onto the broom. “I’m okay,” she sputtered. “But Ike’s sinking!”
He looked back over his shoulder. Sure enough, Ike had disappeared.
“Ike!” He dove under the water, determinedly opening his eyes against the sting of salt. There, not so far away, sinking ever so slowly towards the bottom of the ocean, was Ike, the guide’s cover opening and closing like a jellyfish as it tried to push itself back to the surface.
He grabbed at Ike, and missed. Once, twice, and finally – lungs bursting – Alec got a decent grip and hauled the book to the surface.
“Careful,” Ike glugged. It sneezed, forcing a small fountain of water up into the air. “Oh, I’ll never be the same again. Save me from the watery death! And English alley rats! Shocking, that girl. No manners.”
Alec coughed. He didn’t have the energy to argue.
Perrin did though – now that she was safely holding onto the broomstick. “Stop your whinging, Ike,” she snapped. “We risked our lives rescuing you – we were the ones in danger of drowning, not you.”
Alec suspected the dark cloud was as much an incentive to Perrin’s dive as Ike’s fall into the water, but he didn’t say anything. Not that he had much of a chance to before something rough brushed up against his legs.
A shark?
He tried not to scream. And managed remarkably well. He only yelped a little before ducking down to peer around under the water, resisting the impulse to curl up his legs. Stand tall, look big, and hit the shark on the nose. Everyone said that was what you were supposed to do, but it didn’t seem quite so easy now. Not with that white flash that must be teeth. Rows and rows of teeth that would tear him apart.
“What’re you doing?” Perrin asked Alec when he surfaced.
“Something’s in the water. Something big.” He pointed as a grey wedge broke the surface. It sank back below the waves, but he could still see the shadowy grey shape circling, its tail moving almost nonchalantly through the water.
Perrin turned as white as a maggot in brine.
The creature stopped circling. It came straight at them, its wake rising. Alec braced himself as the head crested the water. Cold eyes topped a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, but apart from the teeth the head was almost human.
Like a mermaid, Alec thought, except for the
small fact that mermaids are pretty, brush back long golden hair and live in children’s picture books. This creature had biceps the size of tree trunks, a smile that included as many wicked teeth as your average shark, and worst of all, it wasn’t living in a picture book – it was swimming right in front of him.
It surged up, raising its huge spear in the air – silver-grey and shaped like a wedge. Alec realised he’d mistaken the tip for a fin.
“This is our territory,” the water-creature growled.
“We were just leaving,” Perrin squeaked.
Alec’s tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of his mouth, so he nodded.
“Leave faster, you morons. There’s others wouldn’t be so tolerant. Especially not now.”
Ike sniffed. “You could help us. Believe me, the quicker we’re back on shore the happier I’ll be.”
“Cubs with a wizard’s guide. How very interesting.”
Ike disappeared with a thump of shutting pages.
The creature snorted. “Keep your secrets then.” It shoved the rather ornately carved – and very sharp – spear at their faces. “I’d hurry if I were you. Men and their cubs are not popular around here at the moment.”
“We’re not cubs,” Perrin shouted after it.
The creature’s only reply was a flick of its tail.
Perrin sighed. “At least we’re alive, but it looks like we’ll have to rescue ourselves.”
“What? So we’re lucky it didn’t eat us. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Eat us? Never. They think we taste disgusting and pollute the water. Which is lucky, really – otherwise they’d probably kill us more often.
“Great,” Alec said, even more determined to get out onto dry land as soon as he could. “Come on, then.”
Perrin tried to swim but she didn’t get very far. Alec did his best to show her how to use the broomstick like a flutter-board and kick, but she couldn’t even do that properly. So Alec propped Ike up in the twiggy bristles and did most of the work. By the end Alec was so completely exhausted he let the waves push them ashore.
Covered in muddy-wet sand, Perrin doubled over and threw up a small ocean of seawater.
“You okay?” Alec asked. She just groaned and shrugged him aside. He collapsed back on the sand while she heaved and Ike flapped his wet pages and rustled soggily.
Relaxing didn’t help much though. He couldn’t help remembering his lost bike, and now that he thought about it his shoes were also missing. He checked in his pockets. He still had the fifty dollar note but Mum’s house key was gone, and his cell phone was completely dead. His mum would be furious. “I’m going to be grounded forever,” he groaned.
Perrin wiped her mouth and looked at him. “I think you’ve got more things to worry about than being grounded,” she croaked.
“What makes you so sure you’re not my only problem?” Alec growled. “First you crash land on top of me, and then you try and get us both drowned.” He got up and started to walk away. Head spinning and legs like jelly, he hardly walked two steps before sitting back down on the sand.
Perrin scooted over beside him. She dropped her voice and whispered, “People are after you.”
“Don’t be silly.”
She looked at him again. “They are. They even had your picture. And now they’re after me and Ike too. So who are you? ‘Sides some kind of NoMU with my wizard’s guide?”
“What?” Alec remembered back to the airport. The strange man who seemed to be chasing him. “Ugh. I hope not. But you’re familiar. “You’re the girl from the airport, aren’t you? “Oh. I think I’m your cousin.”
“You’re my cousin?” She rolled her eyes. “Are you sure?”
Alec stared at her speechless. No, he wasn’t sure, but did she have to be so rude about it? “You did say your name was Perrin just before, didn’t you? Well I’m Alec. Alec Kettleson.”
“You’re Alec Kettleson?”
He nodded slowly.
She shook her head and sighed. “No wonder no one told me about you. A NoMU. I’m never going to live this down.”
Alec gasped. “I rescued you!”
“And I’ll owe you, big time. That cloud was...it was pretty scary, and then in the water – I really thought I was going to drown.”
“Yeah, I thought you were going to drown, too.” Alec joked back, trying not to think about...anything more dangerous.
Ike poked his face out of his cover. “Drowning. That’s nothing. I thought I was going to be stuck at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity with the fishes nibbling my pages. Just look at me, I’ll never be the same again. Permanent smudge-marks, soggy binding, water dam – ”
“Oh, stop it!” Perrin and Alec said together.
They looked at each other. This was one thing they could agree on – the book had nothing to complain about.
KIDNAPPED
Mr Kettleson craned his head. “Alec?”
Trapped in the lightless dark, time seemed to drag. A slow and relentless whoosh, slosh, whoosh, slosh, echoed all around, like the tide on a sandy shore – only this was no beach. It was the beating heart of a taniwha echoing through the cavern.
Mr Kettleson’s hands slipped through the grates of his prison like claws – the nails pointed and hard, his fingers grasping. “Alec, is that you?”
A new sound shuffled in, slightly louder than the heartbeat. Footsteps. People appeared, lit dimly by fireflies, cowls up over their heads as if, even now, they did not want to be recognised.
“Water?” Mr Kettleson’s parched lips cracked as he said the word.
“Join us.” The sound was sibilant, almost at one with the water. The magic they were weaving was so thick it was almost painful, like a bright light.
Mr Kettleson shielded his eyes with his hands. “No.”
“I will. I will.” Half a dozen desperate voices echoed around him.
Mr Kettleson shook his head.
“Join us and there will be no more pain.”
Blood welled as he bit his lips together and shook his head again. In the silence he heard moans all around him as the terrible drain of magic subsided.
“Zat!” The voice echoed. “Zat...zat...za-
“Going wrong?” Mr Kettleson hissed.
“Don’t you worry about that, Mister. After tonight, you needn’t worry ever again.”
§
Alec startled awake on his father’s favourite couch. It had been a nasty dream, all jumbled up with taniwhas, flying boats, crazy magic users and his dad.
He turned over. Perrin was slumped over the opposite couch – crunching on toasted huhu grubs and listlessly stroking her broom.
Alec shivered. It was all true. Well, at least some of it was. The crazy cousin and getting dumped into Wellington Harbour – which meant maybe his odd dreams might also be true.
He sat up. “We have to rescue my father.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Perrin said. “There’re people after us, I’m not going anywhere.”
“He’s in terrible danger. We can’t just sit here.”
“Just watch me,” Perrin said through a mouthful of grubs. “Don’t get me wrong. Any other day I’d jump at the chance for a little excitement, but today I’ve been woken by ghosts, chased by wizards, and half drowned. I think I’ve had enough excitement.” She took a deep breath. “’Sides, I couldn’t think of anything worse than being seen with a NoMU. Imagine explaining that you’re my cousin. Ugh.
Ike’s pages fluttered in a soggy kind of way. “Young lady, your manners are atrocious.”
“Yes, they are,” she agreed. “Everybody says so.”
“But, Perrin, we have to do something. We can’t just sit here.”
“Why don’t you run around doing something, and I’ll stay right here and patch my broomstick.” She held it close. “My mum gave it to me special, and it’s ruined.”
“Didn’t you hear me? My dad’s in danger. He’s more important than that scraggly lump of wood.”
“It’s not a lump of wood,” she yelled. “It’s precious – but you wouldn’t understand. Your mother’s not dead.”
Alec grimaced. “I’m just worried.”
Ike fluttered his pages. “So you should be. Someone is trying to wake the taniwha.”
“The what?” Perrin asked.
“Think dragon,” Ike said. “It’s big and it’s dangerous, and it’s just over there – on the other side of the harbour, covered by dirt.”
Perrin looked. “You’ve got to be joking. That’s a hill – there are houses on top of it.”
“Yes.”
She snorted. “Nobody in their right mind would want to wake that.”
“Good.” Ike rustled sanctimoniously. “Finally you get the picture.”
“Why are these people chasing us anyway?” Alec asked. “We don’t know anything.”
Perrin frowned. “Yeah. If only we did, we might be able to do something useful.”
Alec stood up. “That’s brilliant. Let’s go and find out what’s going on.”
“You can’t be serious.” Perrin held her broomstick tighter than ever. “We were almost killed. Twice.”
Alec glared at her. “It’s better than sitting here sulking.”
“Sulking!?” Perrin exclaimed. “I’m just telling you your idea is stupid. We wouldn’t even know where to start looking.”
Ike coughed. “Er, excuse me.”
Two pairs of eyes swivelled in his direction.
“I believe I may be of some assistance. In my vast experience, if you want to find something out it’s best to go to the library.”
“You would say that,” Perrin sneered. “Why don’t we just ask to be burnt at the stake? That’d be more fun.”
“Got any better ideas?” Alec asked.
Perrin shrugged. “We could go to the ministry buildings. There’ll be answers there – as long as we can get inside. What if that scary guy I told you about has something to do with your dad’s disappearance?”
“How about that’s plan B,” Alec said. His cousin was obviously out of her mind. Her plan of breaking into buildings and running into kidnappers was unbelievably risky for someone who’d just complained libraries were dangerous.