Melindarah considered this. ‘If Bart intended to sacrifice himself for you, but someone else took his place, you would also be restored.’
‘You mean if another person died instead?’
‘Not necessarily. Imagine you were about to be attacked by a lion and Bart stepped in front of you, but then someone else pushed him out of the way and took his place. Then, as the lion leapt at that person, in mid-flight it had a heart attack and died, and everyone escaped unharmed. Because there had been a genuine act of sacrifice involving both you and Bart, you would be restored.’
‘It’s quite complicated, isn’t it?’
Melindarah spread her hands. ‘I don’t make the rules.’
Chapter 18
Something Good, Something Bad
Later, lying in a comfortable bed in a comfortable bedroom, Dani mulled over her terrible choice. From the other bed came the peaceful sounds of Bart sleeping. She wished she knew what it was like to be him at the moment.
If he stays like he is now, what sort of life will he have? she wondered. Will he be happy or unhappy? At peace or in pain? Is he like a vegetable, alive but with no thoughts or feelings? Is he there at all?
One thing she did know was that she missed him every second of every day. She remembered how, back at the castle, Bart would often wake in the night crying, miserable about his life as a servant, and missing the parents they had never known. Dani would crawl into his bed and hold him, just as she imagined a mother would hold a child, and comfort him back to sleep.
In the kitchens she had always kept an eye on him. Whenever he struggled she helped him, whether by showing him how to carry three fully laden plates at once or by cheering him up when his spirits flagged. It had never felt like a burden. In fact, she realised, it had helped her, too. Knowing that Bart needed her had enabled her to find the strength to keep going.
Sometimes, she had been the one who was unhappy. Whenever she was, Bart would notice and sit at the end of her bed and tell her a story. She loved his stories. Usually they were about some twins who lived in the forest and had adventures, and they always made her feel better. More than anything else, she wanted to hear Bart tell her another story.
Dani realised that she had made up her mind. She would do it.
I have to. If I don’t, then every day I’ll know that I could have saved him, but chose not to. Surely that would rot her away from the inside. Every time she saw his big, vacant eyes, she would see her own selfishness. So, what choice did she really have?
Dani promised herself that Bart would never discover the price that she was going to pay to make him better. She didn’t want him to feel responsible for her early death. She would make up some story of a rare illness causing her to age and die, and make Edward promise not to tell Bart the truth. What was the point in saving him if his life was burdened with guilt?
Next door, Edward shifted uneasily in bed. Every night a creeping anxiety made its way into his stomach. It was fear of what the next day would bring, and a lack of confidence in his ability to meet its challenges.
He wondered what he would do in Dani’s position. It wasn’t hard. If someone sucked out his horrible, sadistic, younger brother’s brain, he would shower them with gold and be eternally grateful. The world would be a better place. He wouldn’t sacrifice a fingernail to fix that little creep.
But he knew that Bart and Dani’s relationship was very different from his and Vincent’s, and he guessed that Dani would agree to do whatever it took to help Bart. If she did, what would that mean for his own mission to return Bart to the castle? If Dani had only three years to live, she would surely be even more determined not to return, and with Potjer gone, he had no chance of forcing them back.
Which left the other option: that he kill one of them. But he had already had three opportunities, and had been too cowardly to take any of them. Why, he thought for the hundredth time, does my father care so much about a simple servant boy.
The next morning, in the sitting room, a servant served Bart and Dani fruit, eggs, bacon, toast and spinach. Dani didn’t have much of an appetite, but Bart tucked in, although he left the meat alone. The tiny part of his mind that remained seemed to remember that he was a vegetarian. Soon Edward joined them.
After a while, he put down his fork. ‘So . . .’ he began, but then stopped.
Dani knew what he was trying to ask, but didn’t feel like helping him.
He struggled on. ‘Have you, um, decided then?’
Dani was swamped by a wave of gloom. She didn’t know if she could get any words out, so she said nothing.
Edward stared at her, and then went back to his breakfast. The rest of the meal passed in awkward silence. When they were finished Melindarah entered and sat with them. She looked at Dani and raised her eyebrows. ‘Well?’
Dani nodded, staring at the floor.
‘You will do it?’
Dani, still not trusting herself to speak, nodded again.
‘I see,’ Melindarah said. ‘Now?’
Dani took a deep breath and wished things weren’t the way they were. But they were. Again, she nodded.
‘Then come with me,’ said Melindarah, standing. ‘Bart must come too, of course.’
Dani didn’t want to stand, didn’t want to move, because every movement took her closer to the thing that would extinguish most of her life. Nonetheless, she got up. ‘Bart. Follow me.’
Suddenly, Edward also stood. ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Dani, do you really want to do this?’
Dani looked away.
‘You’re giving away almost all of your life,’ continued Edward. ‘Maybe Bart’s happy the way he is. He doesn’t look sad, or in pain.’
Dani started to walk from the room. Edward grabbed her shoulder. ‘Dani. Your life is all you have.’
Dani shook his arm off and turned to him. ‘Edward, you have to promise not to tell Bart the price I’m paying. He mustn’t ever know. Promise.’
‘But, Dani –’
‘Just . . . promise.’
Edward stared at her. ‘All right. I promise.’
Dani turned away.
‘Dani.’ Edward started to follow but Melindarah raised her hand. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘You must wait here.’
‘But . . .’ began Edward.
Melindarah stared at him. ‘You. Must. Wait. Here.’
Edward began to walk backwards, and the look of surprise on his face suggested that he hadn’t chosen to. He kept going until the back of his knees hit a chair and he sat down. Melindarah, Dani and Bart left the room.
Dani followed Melindarah along the corridor, up a set of winding stone stairs and out a door onto the castle roof. The view was even more breathtaking than the one from the sitting room, but Dani was uninterested. In one corner of the roof was a covered three-walled shed and inside it were benches and shelves crowded with containers of all shapes and
sizes, as well as rocking chair, a small table and two beds.
‘Why up here?’ asked Dani.
‘It must be done in the open air. We need to harness the power of the air and the sun.’ Melindarah walked to the shed. ‘Help me pull the beds into the open. They have wheels.’ Melindarah lifted the end of one and pulled it to the centre of the roof. Dani pulled the other out.
‘Put them next to each other, three steps apart,’ said Melindarah. ‘Can you ask Bart to lie on the bed?’
‘Bart. Lie down on the bed,’ ordered Dani.
Bart moved between the beds, and stood looking uncertainly from one to the other. He may have stayed like that for hours, had Dani not pointed to one and said: ‘Bart. Lie there.’
Bart lay down. Melindarah fetched a small table and placed it between the beds. ‘Dani, you lie on the other bed. After I complete the transfusion, you will be tired and lack energy. It may also affect your mood. It is a big change,
and it takes time for both body and mind to adjust.’
Dani nodded. ‘I get it.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ Melindarah asked softly.
‘Because he’s my brother, of course.’
‘Is that the only reason?’ asked Melindarah.
Dani thought. ‘No. If he was a horrible brother, I wouldn’t do it. I’m doing it because he’s funny and nice and clever and good company and my best friend.’
Melindarah looked at her and then slowly nodded her head. ‘So be it, then.’
She returned to the shed and came back carrying a collection of tubes and beakers which she placed on the table. She fitted the ends of two tubes into holes on either side of a beaker and then repeated the process with a second beaker. She now had two beakers, each of which had two tubes sticking out of it. The other end of each tube ended in a spike. Melindarah picked one of the spiked ends up. ‘We must now connect you to Bart. You are sure?’
Dani wondered if she was. ‘Yes,’ she said quickly, before she had time to re-visit all her doubts and fears.
Melindarah brought the spike towards her. ‘This might hurt a –’
‘Ow!’ exclaimed Dani.
‘Sorry. It’s always better to do it before you have time to think about the fact that it’s going to hurt.’
The spike had entered Dani’s arm just below her shoulder and the tube was already filling with her blood, which soon began to run into the beaker. Dani felt a bit sick.
Melindarah picked up a tube attached to the other beaker. ‘Please tell Bart to remain still.’
‘Bart. Stay still,’ said Dani. She wondered if this was the last command she would ever have to give him. She tried to forget about the fact that she was shortening her life and concentrate on the good bit – that she was giving him back his.
Melindarah pushed the spiky end of the tube into Bart’s upper arm. There was now one beaker filling with Dani’s blood and another filling with Bart’s. Each beaker had a second spiked tube leading from it. Melindarah inserted the spike of the tube coming from Dani’s beaker into Bart’s other arm, and the spike of the tube coming from Bart’s beaker into Dani’s other arm. Dani’s blood was now flowing out of her and into Bart, whilst Bart’s flowed into her.
Melindarah returned to her shed and soon returned holding two cups, each about a third full of a dark green liquid. She handed one to Dani. ‘It’ll taste horrible, but if you want to proceed, drink it.’
Dani sipped it. It tasted worse than disgusting, but she gulped it down. Immediately, she felt drowsy.
‘Oh, no. You’re about to pass out!’ said Melindarah. ‘Quickly. Tell Bart to drink.’
‘Baaaaaart,’ Dani slurred groggily. ‘Driiiiiink.’ Now she could sleep. No! She had to tell Melindarah something. ‘Waaaaaait.’
‘Have you changed your mind?’
‘Noooo. Doooonnn’t telll Baaaarrrrttttt whaaat I diiiiid. Seeeecrettt.’
‘Understood. By the way, I might have forgotten to mention this. There is a small chance you will both die in the operation. But it’s unlikely.’
‘Wh–’ began Dani, and then passed out.
Edward waited alone in the sitting room, staring out the window and trying to work out what to do. He knew he didn’t have what it took to kill Bart or Dani. He just didn’t. How, then, could he get Bart back to the castle?
He drummed his fingers on the windowsill. Maybe he should just accept that he wasn’t capable of it and give up. Maybe his father was right. Maybe he didn’t have what it took to be King. Maybe he should just forget about becoming the ruler of Tintarfell and do something else with his life. Edward felt a weight lift from his shoulders. It might even be for the best. He could go and live in a village somewhere and become a painter.
Far below, above the forest, he saw a bird flying towards the castle. It flew closer, until he could see that it was a pigeon.
Dani awoke, but her eyes remained shut. She felt terribly weak. Even pushing her eyelids open was an effort. For a moment she didn’t know where she was, and then she remembered. Bart lay on the bed next to her, eyes closed.
Melindarah sat in front of her, between the beds on a rocking chair. ‘You will feel weak for a while,’ she said, sounding exhausted. Her hair was damp from sweat.
‘Did it work?’ asked Dani.
‘Bart will take a little longer than you to wake. When he does, we’ll know.’
Dani struggled into a sitting position and then stood, supporting herself by gripping the bed. She cautiously tested her legs, walked slowly to Bart’s bed and looked down at her brother’s face. When his eyes opened, would there be anyone home? Would she see Bart’s happy sparkle, or that terrible vacant look?
‘If the procedure has been successful,’ began Melindarah, ‘Bart will now be able to communicate with animals and persuade them to do what he wishes.’ She leant forward. ‘Powers such as these can be used for good or for ill. You must make sure Bart uses his to do good and help others. Will you do that?’
Dani nodded. ‘Yes.’ Then she remembered. ‘Until I die,’ she added bitterly.
‘Yes, there is that.’
Bart stirred. Dani looked down at him, hoping with all her heart that he would be better. She had missed him so much. He groaned and opened his eyes. Dani stared into them and saw . . . Bart. The real Bart.
‘Why are you staring at me?’ he asked. ‘You look like you’re trying to hypnotise me.’
Dani threw her arms around his neck and began to cry.
Bart’s hands gently patted her back. ‘What is it, D? It’s all right. Where are we? Why are we on a roof? What’s going on?’
Dani had no words, because she was sobbing with relief. After a while she pulled herself up and wiped her hand across her face, not really clearing the tears, just spreading them.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Bart. ‘Are we in trouble?’
Dani shook her head.
‘Um, who’s that woman behind you?’
Dani opened her mouth, but her lower lip began to wobble.
Melindarah smiled at Bart. ‘I’m a witch.’
‘Oh,’ said Bart. ‘Should I be scared of you?’
‘No,’ smiled Melindarah. ‘Let me explain. In fact, Dani should start, when she is able to.’
Dani wiped her face again and nodded. She sat on Bart’s bed, gathered herself and explained everything that had happened since he had been kidnapped.
Bart listened intently, occasionally asking a question or exclaiming ‘Wow,’ or ‘Really?’
Dani changed only one detail. Instead of telling Bart that restoring him had cost her most of her life, she said that its only effect would be for her to feel tired and drained for a few days. When she had finished, she asked Bart what he recalled.
Bart frowned. ‘Some of the things I sort of remember, like the soarers. I think I know what they look like, and I remember climbing, but it’s all foggy.’
‘Tell me what happened back at Tintarfell Castle after you rode off on Edward’s horse,’ said Dani.
Bart sat up and told them how he had been knocked off Edward’s horse and then awoken in a cart, discovered that he could communicate with the sparrows and persuaded them to leave a hay trail. He described the cottage in the forest and how a man called Lord Jasper Randling had taken him to the top of the hill to ‘unblock’ the spell that was stopping him from using his powers. ‘Then things get foggy, but I think . . .’ Bart frowned. ‘I think he tricked me. I think he wanted to take my powers for himself somehow.’
‘More memories may come back later,’ said Melindarah. ‘Did Randling say anything about why he wanted your powers?’
Bart frowned and then shook his head. ‘Not that I remember.’
‘Bart, you should thank Melindarah,’ said Dani. ‘She saved you.’
‘Thank you,’ sa
id Bart.
‘It’s your sister you should thank,’ replied Melindarah. ‘She has done more for you than you know.’
‘Thank you,’ said Bart to Dani.
‘Bart, do you understand the powers you have to communicate with animals?’ said Melindarah.
‘Not really.’
‘You were born with them, but they were blocked by a spell,’ replied Melindarah. ‘That part of what Randling told you is true. I have removed that spell, although it will probably still operate within Tintarfell Castle, should you return there. However, outside the castle, whenever you try to communicate with animals, it will now be much easier and clearer.’ She fixed Bart with a serious look. ‘You must learn about your powers, Bart, and use them to do good. Will you?’
‘I promise,’ said Bart. He turned to Dani. ‘What do we do now? Return with Edward to the castle?’
There was no way Dani was going to spend the last three years of her life as a servant. ‘Do you want to go back to scrubbing dishes and peeling carrots?’ she asked.
‘Not really. In fact, not at all.’
‘Then we won’t.’
‘Yippee,’ exclaimed Bart. ‘We’ll be free. We can do all the things we talked about. We can eat sweets, and swim in the sea, and sleep under the stars, and never get ordered around by anyone ever again.’
‘Well, we’ll have to find a way to make some money to buy food –’ Dani began.
‘Yes, yes, yes, we can think about all that later. Just enjoy it for a moment, D.’ Bart grabbed her hands. ‘We’ll run along the beach, and roll in the grass, and eat fruit off trees, and jump off waterfalls, and go fishing, and sit by a fire at night, and a hundred other things. Yes?’
Dani found her brother’s enthusiasm impossible to resist and smiled. It was so good to have him back. But then she remembered that whatever they did, soon she would start to turn into an old woman, and in a thousand days she would die. She would be free, but not for long.
Chapter 19
A New Threat
The Twins of Tintarfell Page 13