She saw a small group of two boys and a girl sat on a bench and decided to go and talk to them.
“Hello!” She said. “I’m sort of lost..! What is this place? Where are we?”
The kids on the bench looked at each other in puzzlement and then the boy on the end said. “We are here!”
“Where else would we be?” Another said.
Poppy shrugged, it was a question she couldn’t answer without telling the story right from the beginning. “Are there any adults here?”
Once again they all looked a little bewildered and didn’t even bother to answer; they just looked at her gormlessly as if she were insane.
Poppy was beginning to get annoyed now. These kids were either being awkward or really didn’t know anything. “I’m looking for my brother...! He’s just a baby! Have you seen him?” She snapped impatiently.
“Bernadette looks after all the babies...” The girl said and gave a nod in the direction of the Ferris wheel. “If he’s here she will know where!”
“Thanks...!” Poppy mumbled and as she sprinted off she heard one of the children ask ‘what’s an adult’?”
One sip was all it took to turn back the tide of time, another mouthful and her white hair turned raven black. Agyness grinned from ear to ear with pleasure as the life giving elixir careered around her body soothing her aches and pains. Tossing her gnarled crook she stretched her spine which cracked and creaked as she and stood upright.
“I’m beautiful again!” She purred and flicked her silky hair back over her head so she could take a good look in the mirror.
She frowned in disbelief at her reflection, and then she rubbed her eyes and took another peek through her fingers. “No!” She screeched and wiped the mirror on her tatty apron. “This can’t be so!”
Agyness screamed in agony at the thought of all those wrinkles still on her face, the dark bags under her bloodshot eyes and those mangy, toothless gums. She screamed again, again and again until she fell to her knees dropping the mirror which spun across the ground and smashed into a thousand pieces against the wall.
Just as Poppy reached the tent she thought she heard someone calling her name and spun around to see who it was.
“Poppy...” Jesse cried breathlessly as he skidded to a halt, only he was running too fast and barged right into her. “Oh no..! She caught you too?”
Poppy grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away, and then prodded his chest with her fingers. “You’re real! I can feel you... I mean you’re not dead anymore?”
“Stop prodding me then! It hurts.”
“You are alive..! How is that possible?” She said slowly so as to let the words sink into her brain. “All these kids must be alive in here..! It has to be some kind of powerful magic to do all this. I mean look at it! It’s like Pleasure Island in here!”
“Yeah!” Jesse cried excitedly. “Everything is free- All the rides, all the food and drinks are absolutely free. It’s brilliant; I don’t know why I ever wanted to escape in the first place!”
“Don’t talk like that..! We have to find Nathaniel and get out of here!”
Jesse’s eyes shone with the fever of a magical spell. “But everything is free. All the rides and all the.....!”
“Food!” Poppy snapped angrily. “I heard you the first time. I’m going to find my brother now either help me or take a long ride on that ghost train... There’s no queue!”
“Oh him...! I already found him! He’s in that tent with Bernadette.”
Poppy rolled her eyes and glared at Jesse. “Well!” She said.
“Oh right..! You want me to take you to him!”
He led Poppy inside the tent, which looked like a very poorly equipped nursery, even on closer inspection the toys were mostly old, dog eared and tatty. In the corner two toddlers slept peacefully, cuddling their teddy bears, in a cot made of cardboard oblivious to the din going on around them.
The floor was covered in dolls, plastic cars and other toys whilst the walls were plastered in a multitude of crayon and felt tip drawings; children were strewn where they could find space to play and chattered endlessly. There was an absence of the usual crying or bickering that one might expect, infact it was a happy place where everyone seemed blissfully content.
Poppy carefully tip toed around a small red plastic table where four little girls were playing at ‘tea parties’. Then Jesse came to a stop in front of a rocking chair, sat in that chair was someone vaguely familiar to Poppy.
“Who’s this?” The girl whispered and gestured to the sleeping tot in her arms.
Poppy guessed she was about fourteen years old but very small for her age, infact she was engulfed by the chair she sat in, which wasn’t all that big in itself. She wore thick black glasses which perched precariously on the tip of her nose, and for such a diminutive child she carried the unmistakable air of authority.
“I’m Poppy Darke!” Poppy answered as she pushed passed her friend.
“Newby?” The girl asked whilst looking over her glasses at Jesse.
“No” He replied. “She’s here for her brother...”
“...And then we’re leaving!” Poppy interrupted.
The girl smiled. “Indeed..! You Newby’s always say that..! But believe me when I say this ‘no one leaves... Ever!”
The girls mind was intelligent yet deeply caring. Poppy found herself liking this mind, but of course she always had.
“Bernadette Craven!” Poppy Said. “You will escape this nightmare... And one day you will be the Headmistress of a great, great school!” Poppy sensed the girl processing the information received and storing the data in the logical part of her mind. “St Michael’s School, it’s where I go and you are the Headmistress!” She said.
“And where is this... Great Saint Michael’s school where I shall one day be Head Mistress?” Bernadette said scornfully.
“Burnham’s Lowly!” Poppy replied quickly, and, with more pride in her voice than she would normally want to reveal she added. “... And you are a great Head!”
Bernadette’s white cheeks blushed slightly as she smiled. “Is this your brother?” She asked and pulled back a towel to reveal the baby sleeping on her lap.
Poppy nodded with relief and gently lifted him into her arms. “Oh Nathan, I’ve found you at last, now no one will ever hurt you again!” She whispered lovingly against his rosy cheeks.
“That’s all very sweet!” Bernadette said abruptly and stood up. “Now I believe you mentioned something about getting out of here. I’ve got a school waiting for me..! In oh I’d say about thirty years or so!”
“Jesse!” Poppy said and turned to her friend. “Round everyone up and bring them here! Leave no one behind! Hurry, I don’t know how much time we’ve got left?”
Word passed quickly amongst all the children in the cauldron and before long every single child had been found. The tent filled to capacity and those who couldn’t see strained their ears as close to the door as possible.
After a while Bernadette asked for quiet and instantly a hush descended on the crowd.
Poppy stepped forward and licked her dry lips. “You don’t know me but my name is Poppy Darke, I came here to rescue my baby brother. Every last one of you is a prisoner in this... Magical place..! This magical cauldron...!”
Titters and sniggers erupted throughout the audience, which Bernadette raised a hand to silence.
“Please listen to me!” Poppy begged. “You were all taken from your beds, from your mums and dads and from your families! Out there beyond the walls is an evil Witch who will stop at nothing to steal your spirit. She wants the energy contained within your souls to keep her young and beautiful... But it is your youth and your beauty, don’t let her take it.”
“How do we know all this is true...? You could be making all this up!” Said one of the boys she’d spoken to earlier on the bench.
“Do you remember your mum?” Poppy shouted angrily. “What does your dad look like? Where did you sleep last night?
”
The murmurs petered out and silence once again descended over the children like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night.
“All of you!” She shouted so those at the back could hear. “I know everything here is free and all these rides are exciting. The cauldron is dying and if we don’t get out so will we!”
More murmurs and one little girl at the front burst into tears. “I’m scared!” She sobbed. “What does dying mean?”
“I want all of you to take a look at these drawings on the walls. You painted them, all of you! What do you see?”
She waited while dozens of the kids inspected the drawings; some of them even found their own and ripped them from the tent canvas. Poppy noticed one boy in particular, and realised she knew him without actually ever having met him. His name was Sergio Ignacio Garcia; somehow she knew that he should have been a famous World War II fighter ace. He had been stolen late in 1920, taken from his bed in the middle of the night.
Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared at the crumpled piece of paper in his hands. Taking the paper gently from the boy, Poppy smoothed it out against the palm of her hand.
“These people are your mum and dad, aren’t they?” She asked.
He nodded. “...And that little splodge was my dog Max..... I drew this so, so long ago! How could I forget them like that?”
Poppy smiled as she handed back the drawing and moved on to a girl, who had long red hair and looked about sixteen.
“You must be Louise Smith?” Said Poppy, the girl was fiercely intelligent and had a strong mind which stood out in the crowd. The memories were stacked neatly and easy to read and the blindness was down to nothing more than swelling caused by a bump to the head. No sooner had Poppy sensed it than the healing process began.
Louise removed a lace glove from her right hand and gently stroked Poppy’s face. Then she smiled. “You have a kind face..! I thought you would have a kind face!”
“...And in the morning when you wake up and remember all this as nothing more than a bad dream, you will see your mothers face once again!” Poppy said and turned to all the other children who were clamoring to speak to her. “All of you... What do you see?”
Bernadette began collecting the art work and comparing the subject matter. “They...!” She spluttered. “They are all the same.”
“You all painted yourselves with your mums and dads, your brothers and sisters. You painted your homes and your dogs or cats. The magic tried to make you forget these things, but look- your memories were here all the time, right under your noses!”
The little girl who had been crying tugged on Poppy’s coat. “Will you take me home?” She said. “I’m tired and I want my mummy!”
Bernadette Craven Turned to Poppy and dropped a handful of paintings as she did so. “I’m with her!” She gushed. “Let’s get out of this dump!”
Poppy suddenly sensed mass fear and panic, the sensations were quickly followed by screams and shouts coming from outside the marquee. She pushed her way through the heaving children and almost fell through the door. “What is it?” She shouted at Jesse.
“Cracks” He replied anxiously. “Cracks are appearing everywhere and all the rides are shutting down.” No sooner had he finished speaking than all the lights went out, plunging the cauldron into an eerie green glow.
“Right..! Everybody must board the ghost train right now!” Poppy screamed at the top of her voice. “Hurry, we haven’t got long!”
Bernadette Craven shouted for order and calm before grabbing Poppy by the shoulders. “No kid ever rides the ghost train! It’s just too scary!”
“No kid would ever ride the ghost train... Without their mum or dad to cling on to..!” Poppy finished Bernadette’s sentence with a twinkle in her eye. “Please trust me!”
“And then what?” Bernadette asked. “Some of these kids grew up in here from being babies? And not only that!” Bernadette went on. ”Look at what they are wearing! I’ve only ever seen clothes like that in old books or in museums!”
All Poppy could do was shrug, because she simply didn’t know what awaited them on the other side. “I don’t know!” Poppy cried impatiently. “But if you stay here you will die... Come with me and there’s a chance that we can survive, maybe even go home!”
Lady Agyness De’athly stroked her perfectly manicured fingernails and smiled. Then she crawled on her hands and knees to where she had discarded the golden ladle.
She felt much stronger now, and afterall she had only taken one tiny, little sip, “I’ll drink it all!” She cried and grinned with a toothless smile. Climbing to her feet she steadied herself against the edge of the cauldron and dipped the ladle deep into the potion. Drawing it out she greedily drank, gorging on the liquid, swilling it around her mouth and savoring the tingling sensations as it spilled down her throat in waves of ecstasy.
Wiping her mouth she breathed heavily and smiled broadly with a brand new set of pearly white teeth. She shrieked with joy and excitement as she snatched up a shard of broken mirror and inspected her reflection.
“Ah there you are my lovely!” Agyness beamed with joy.
“I thought you’d never come! You’re late” The reflection snapped. “What on earth kept you?”
“Verina my dearest, I am here now and we are together as one... and forever young!” Those last words of Lady Agyness De’athly made Verina Graves smile and as object and reflection merged becoming one; the spell was at last complete.
Tearing off the dirty and torn rags of the old Witch, Verina replaced them with a school uniform that had been left for her hanging neatly behind a screen. She inspected and savored every inch of her delicious new body, starting with her long legs and working her way up to her torso, arms and neck. Looking in the mirror at her beautiful face she frowned slightly. “Almost perfect!” She whispered. “Almost... Beautiful?”
Almost wasn’t quite good enough for Verina Graves and her vanity saw her snatch up the golden ladle once more and plunge it deep inside the cauldron. Gibberish verses danced out of her beautiful mouth passed her young plump lips and shimmered on the air above the cauldron.
“I have everything!” She purred. “...The world belongs to me now!”
Her curse began to take hold of the cauldron causing its contents to bubble and simmer. She stirred the concoction waiting for the right moment to take that final sip. That last mouthful which would enable her to live forever young, to reign over both humans and demons for all time.
The souls began rising, spinning faster and faster through the cauldron, a swirling vortex of desperate spirits. There distant screams snapped Verina out of her daydreaming and caused her to peer nervously into the cauldron’s depths. Charging through the deep abyss of magic Verina saw the ghost train spiraling up towards her through the mist.
“No..!” She cried. “It can’t be... Impossible!” She staggered backwards, away from the cauldron and muttered a protective gibberish mantra.
The cauldron shook and trembled violently causing the whole house to shudder on its foundations. Paintings tumbled from the walls, chairs toppled over and a woodworm infested table finally caved in, collapsing into a cloud of dust. In the drawing room a lone candle fell from its mantle onto a pile of books and fire quickly took hold.
Eyes wide with terror, Verina gasped as Poppy Darke began to rise up beyond the rim of the cauldron standing atop a vast swirling column of souls. Surrounded by a strange light her golden locks floated weightlessly around her head like a radiating halo. Her eyes of deepest blue shone luminous and fixed on Verina.
Muttering the ancient words of her magic Verina concocted a storm of thunderous lightening and directed her wrath with venomous precision.
Poppy simply held up her right hand and absorbed every last drop of magic like a lightning rod. Then with the slightest nod of her head Verina was not only struck dumb, but her entire mouth simply vanished from her beautiful face; leaving only smooth skin where her lips once sat.
Verina panicked and clawed at her own face trying to find her mouth. Without her words of gibberish and sounds of magic she was lost, she screamed a silent scream which went unheard forever.
Suddenly Poppy closed her eyes and arched her back as if in pain, and instantly great luminous, translucent blue wings began to unfurl behind her, filling the room with their shimmering magnificence. Shuddering once like the wings of a young bird before its first flight, they reached forward and enveloped a defenseless Verina, lifting her clear off the floor and dragging her toward the cauldron.
The bravest of the spirits reached out from the spiraling column and grabbed at Verina, and soon enough she was overwhelmed with the greedy, grabbing hands of souls. They swarmed around scratching and biting at her like a shoal of hungry piranha and finally managed to drag her in to their ramshackle midst. As the souls take back all that she had stolen -beauty, youth and flesh all crumble in to the cauldron of fear.
As the last death throes of the cauldron thundered around the building Poppy glided to the floor and shielded herself and baby Nathaniel with her new found wings. No sooner had she hit the ground than the cauldron imploded upon itself and crumbled into the room below.
Poppy opened her eyes and screamed, for just as she did so the mangy skeleton of Lady Agyness De’athly / Verina graves slammed into the ground beside her, and with her last vestiges of magic raised a bony finger of blame and pointed it at Poppy.
Poppy screamed again only this time louder, and the shrill pitch exploded the skeleton into powder.
Chapter 31
The end of the beginning....
The acrid smell of fire wafted around the house chased closely by thick black smoke. Fragments of burning paper floated on the draught looking for an exit as if trying to escape the growing inferno.
By the time Poppy had gathered her thoughts together and stood up those Strange wings had disappeared without her even noticing.
“Come on then Bro’!” She said wearily. “Let’s go home.”
Poppy Darke Page 24