“I guess I better cast the spell to send us back.”
“We dinnae need the spell,” he replied. “We can use the Faery mound”
“The mound?”
“Aye. The one yer friend told us aboot. Do ye ken how tae get there?”
“I know how to get there, but I don’t know how to get into the mound.”
“Not tae worry.” Fergus set off down the sidewalk. “I ken how tae get inside. Ye just go in. Any Faery can do it.”
Chapter 15
Fergus stopped on top of the hill behind the Rose Garden at Finlay Park. Hazel hurried to catch up with him. “Wait a minute.”
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Just…just…don’t go down there…. not just yet.”
He inspected her at close range. Her cheeks flushed, and she panted for breath. He saw her like this last night, and now they got ready to go…. somewhere else.
Her eyes skirted around the park, but she didn’t see people strolling by or sprinklers spraying the lawns all around. Her hand rested on his arm, and she inched closer… closer.
“Don’t leave yet, Fergus,” she breathed. “Not yet.”
He folded her in his arms. “Awright, lass. We dinnae ha’e tae go just yet. We can go back tae yer house fer the night if ye wish’t. We can stay ’ere a few more days, just the two o’ us, afore we go huntin’ up a mite o’ trouble again.”
She laid her head against his chest. “We don’t have to do that. I just want to feel you for a minute before we rush off. We don’t know what we’ll find over there.”
“We’ll find no danger. I can tell ye that,” he replied. “We’re goin’ intae Faery. It’ll be another castle light the one in Urlu…”
“Angus’s castle?”
“No, the Faery castle under the mound. Didnae ye ken? All the mounds are castles underground. That’s what takes up so much muckle space. Down ye go, and there ye are amongst nobles and servants and carriages and cooks, the same as any castle up above.”
She buried her head in his arms. “I can’t understand all this.”
“Ye’re one o’ ’em, lass,” he told her. “Ye were born tae’t. Ye’re growing stronger day by day, and now ye belaing there the same as any Faery. Ye’ve naught tae worry aboot there. It’s yer home.”
She raised her face to kiss him. “No. Angus’s castle is my home now, the same as yours. I’m more Urlu than Faery now. I belong with my own people.”
He closed his eyes and swam in the delirious ecstasy of her kiss. She was Urlu! She would go home to Angus’s castle. She would go home with him, and they would live in peace the way he always dreamed they would.
All they had to do was find the Stone of Scone, and now they knew where to go looking for it. He pushed her back, and his smile matched hers. “Come alaing. Let’s leave this daft auld world.”
She laughed out loud, and they strode the rest of the way over the hill to where the grassy slope hid them from view. Fergus faced her and took her by the hands. He beamed down at her. A question hinted in her eyes. She didn’t know how this would work, and he couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when it happened.
They hesitated for an instant before the mound activated. The ground under their feet changed to the consistency of pudding. Their weight sucked them down. The gelatinous soil closed over their heads.
The next instant, Fergus inhaled a deep breath of fresh air. He opened his eyes and shook the dust out of his eyes, and he and Hazel landed on their feet on a solid floor.
Hazel’s eyes popped when she saw the high hall packed with people. Fergus shrugged his plaid into place. He knew this place too well to be surprised by anything he saw. A tall golden throne sat empty at one end of the hall. Conversation bubbled in all directions.
Before Hazel could say a word, Alasdair Sinclair strode out of the crowd. He clapped Fergus on the shoulder. “Ah, lad. There ye are. We wondered when ye’d show up ’ere. How’s the business?”
“The business is cookin’ as usual,” Fergus replied. “We’ve been there and back again.”
“I’m sure ye ha’e,” Sinclair replied. “The King was ’ere, but he’s gang now tae consult wi’ the Folk o’ the Dell. Did ye find ought tae help us alaing?”
“We found the Stone,” Fergus replied.
Sinclair’s bushy eyebrows flew up. “Ye dinnae say’t.”
“It’as ’Azel that found’t. It’s back at Loch Nagar, but we couldnae get’t when we were there. The witch’s defendin’ it from us. I can ainly imagine she thinks we’ll bring the curse on the Stone.”
“Humph!” Sinclair exclaimed. “We’ll get’t back if we ha’e tae raze the castle tae the ground.”
Fergus held up his hand. “Dinnae do that—not yet. There may be another way, and as laing as the Stone is safe behind her walls, we may as weel leave it there until we really need it.”
“We need it,” Sinclair replied. “We mun’ restore it tae the Abbey.”
Athol emerged from the crowd. “Cameron, as I live and breathe! I ne’er expected tae see ye alive again. Where ha’e ye been?”
“Tae the other side o’ insanity,” Fergus joked, “but I found summat o’ great price there and I brought it back wi’ me, so I consider my mission a success.”
“That’s awright, then,” Athol replied. “We’ve had fun and excitement here, too.”
“What fun and excitement is that?” Fergus asked.
“The King plans tae join his Army tae the Folk o’ the Dell tae combat these terrible holes. They’re popping up all o’er the country since ye’ve been gone. The people don’t dare go above ground now, fer fear o’ ’em. The Folk o’ the Dell think they can put a stop tae’t, but they’ll be needin’ protection from the Army tae hold back the tentacles while the Folk work their magic.”
“That’s good, then,” Fergus replied, “so long as the Folk o’ the Dell can do it.”
“This is a terrible idea,” Hazel blurted out.
“Eh?” Fergus rounded on her. “Why’s that, then?”
“It’ll never work,” Hazel told him. “They’ll never close the holes by any trick. Don’t you see? The Loch Nagar witch trying to close the holes is what caused this backlash in the first place. The situation obviously got a lot worse while we were away.”
“What do you suggest?” Athol asked.
Faing Sinclair strolled over. “Ha’e ye heard the news? The Folk o’ the Dell are marchin’ out tae meet the King’s Army. Wi’ any luck, the holes’ll be no lainger in a few hours.”
Hazel shook her head. “This is bad. This is going to end in disaster.”
Fergus studied her. He wanted to take her hand and tell her everything was going to be all right, but the words died on his lips. He couldn’t tell her everything was going to be all right when he read in her eyes she was telling the truth.
How did she know? The holes came from the curse, and the curse was her. Only she could stop them, but before anybody could say a word, a deep, rumbling tremor shook the hall. The conversation and rollicking voices died, and a hush fell over the assembly. Everyone looked at each other.
Another reverberation groaned through the mound. It rose in pitch to a screaming roar. All of a sudden, the roof peeled back. Bricks and plaster crumbled away from the ceiling, and the bare night shone down through the opening.
People shrieked and bolted in every direction. Fergus took one glance upward. Sod, soil, roots, and stone flew away from the ceiling to nowhere. The sucking noise of the hole shrieked through the night outside.
He seized Hazel by the hand. “Come on! We ha’e tae get out o’ ’ere afore the whole thing falls on our heads.”
“We have to get out there!” she shrieked. “We have to stop it.”
“We cinnae stop it,” he screamed back. “If we go intae that thing again, we’ll wind up somewhere else we dinnae ken. We mun’ avoid it at all cost. We mun’ get tae Loch Nagar and retrieve the Stone.”
“We can’t retrieve
the Stone by ourselves, and if we don’t stop these holes, all these people will die.”
Fergus struggled to stay calm. He had to convince her. “Ye cinnae go out there, lass. If that thing tears ye away o’ me….” He couldn’t finish.
“Come with me,” she told him. “Whatever happens to one of us out there will happen to both of us. Wherever we go, we’ll be there together.”
“Ye dinnae ken that, lass,” he gasped. “We could be separated.”
She shook her head, but before she could reply, the roof caved in on top of their heads. Screams split the air, and people ran for their lives. A massive pile of brick and beams crashed onto Fergus’s arm. It knocked Hazel’s hand out of his grasp. He staggered back out of the way just as an enormous mountain of debris smashed down in front of him. It cut him off from Hazel and he lost sight of her.
One glance upward, and his heart stuck in his throat at what he saw. The starry night sky glittered above the shattered ceiling. More beams and stone dangled by the dainty roots of grass and trees outside. The whole edifice would collapse in seconds.
He couldn’t stick around to look for Hazel. He couldn’t even see the other side of the hall. He joined the manic rush of bodies heading away, heading anywhere but here. He made it halfway across the hall when the Earth above him pulled him up the same way it lowered him down from the surface just a few minutes before. It spat him out on a grassy hill surrounded by forest.
He cursed under his breath when he looked around and recognized where he was. He would recognize that mound anywhere. He was in the forest outside Angus’s castle back in Urlu.
He couldn’t go to the castle. He just couldn’t face his brothers and explain everything to them. Where would he start? He would have to start all the way back in his early boyhood when he first encountered Faery outside their kitchen door. He would have to explain how he came to attend the Faery parties on moonlit nights while all Urlu slept safe and sound in their beds.
What would Angus say when Fergus gave him the message from the Faery King? No, Fergus couldn’t go to the castle. If he did that, he would be bound by Angus’s decision. Angus might decide to go visiting the Faery King instead of concentrating on preparing to meet the threat.
What was the threat, exactly? The holes were the threat, and the holes were Hazel. They devolved on Hazel wherever she was. They would appear where she was, and only she could deal with them.
He whirled away from the path back to the castle. He didn’t know where he would go, but he wouldn’t go there. He wouldn’t assault Loch Nagar castle all by himself. He had to find Hazel. He had to find the Faery King and tell him what Hazel said about the Folk o’ the Dell not fighting the tentacles. He had to…
He stopped. What did he have to do? What could he do? For the first time in his life, he felt utterly powerless. What good was Faery sight if he couldn’t act? He never realized how crippled he really was until he found Hazel and lost her all over again.
She had the power and he had the sight. Together, they formed one combined magical being. He told her what she had to do and saw the things she couldn’t. She worked her magic to accomplish what needed to be done. Without her, he faced this situation crippled and helpless. He couldn’t fight the holes and he couldn’t go after the Stone without Hazel. Whatever else he did, he had to find her first.
Chapter 16
Hazel stood in the middle of the demolished hall under the Faery mound. She couldn’t see Fergus anymore, but that didn’t matter. Screeching voices, crashing stone, and deafening thunder assaulted her ears from all sides, but she stood still and undisturbed. Something called to her outside, but she already had the power to deal with this. She was the only person who could.
She straightened her arms at her sides, closed her eyes, and drew in a long breath. She visualized a handful of bright luminous filaments rising from the floor to the ceiling. When she concentrated on them, they wound themselves around her and raised her into the air. They swirled around her to form a cocoon of fibers.
When she hit the ceiling, they shoved her through it and spat her out on the dewy, chill grass amid the chaos of a battle scene. Faery people raced all over the place. She could recognize them now, even though they looked as normal as ever.
Women in fancy gowns and men in decorated kilts ran in all directions. Rank upon rank of Faery soldiers, all dressed out in kilts and swords, cut across the mound. The mound resembled Finlay Park in a curious way, only without the concrete walkways, Rose Garden, gazebo, and electric lights she used to know. She must be hidden somewhere in the mists of time before this hill became Finlay Park.
The Faery King sat astride a magnificent grey stallion. He waved his sword above his head and bellowed orders to the Army, which advanced on the vacuuming hole across the grass.
Beyond the Army, Hazel beheld the most bizarre creatures she ever laid eyes on. One-eyed monsters, each no bigger than an ordinary watermelon, tumbled over the grass in swarms. They bowled along the ground toward the hole, which sucked them up by the score. Whatever spell the creatures intended to cast obviously didn’t work.
The howling wind falling into the hole caught hold of the army. It whipped the men’s hair into their eyes and tore at their clothes. They struggled to hold their ground for one agonizing moment. Then all hell broke loose. The ranks dissolved. Some of the men ran for cover, while others staggered against the wind’s oppressive force.
In front of Hazel’s eyes, a huge tentacle darted out of the hole. It rocketed over the foot soldiers’ heads and caught the King’s horse by the ankle. It whipped the horse out from under him. The horse screamed as it shot forward into the air. The King somersaulted backward out of the saddle and hit the ground on his backside. His officers rushed to his side as the horse disappeared into the gaping maw.
Haze observed the scene from far away. She didn’t need to see all this to understand the hole or what she needed to do about it. She took a step forward. Then she took another. She walked straight through the scattering ranks toward the hole.
She didn’t need to see or do anything. She already knew what would happen when she got there. She walked up to the hole. The wind lashed all around her, but it didn’t disturb a hair on her head. Tentacles snaked out to snatch and grab, but they never came near her.
She put out her hand to touch the hole. She peered down into the darkness. Her eyes went out of focus for a moment before her vision cleared. The hole no longer appeared dark. It became a shimmering sea of myriad colors vying with each other to form some image.
While she watched, the colors congealed into a clear picture of a mountain lake. Unlike Loch Nagar, forests covered the mountains, and a tiny shingle cabin tucked into the trees by the water’s edge. She never saw a more inviting spot. That’s where she would find her answer. She knew that in an instant.
She put out her hand, and her fingers disappeared in the ravenous hole. The next thing she knew, its unstoppable force sucked her down, and she dove into a long tunnel. She didn’t lose consciousness this time, but kept her eyes open all the way down, down, down. The lake and the cabin came closer until she broke through into the clear blue sky above the water.
She caught herself in mid-air. She floated down and willed herself to soar to the beach, where her shoes touched the sandy boat ramp near the jetty.
She searched the landscape, but she could see no people—not that she expected to see any. This scene reminded her of a dream where she controlled everything that happened. She flew where she intended herself to fly. She could conjure up any image or memory she wanted, but she would never encounter anything real here.
She walked up the beach to the tiny winding path. She climbed the cabin steps and peeked through the window. Still nothing. This was the landscape of her own mind, so why did she look for people here?
She popped the door latch and let herself in. No food lay out on the table. The cabin sat neat and abandoned by the world. A rocking chair rested in front of the fireplace. A w
oven wool carpet covered the floor where sunshine streamed through the window.
Hazel’s heart went out to the cabin. No other place appealed to her so much. She could settle here and forget all her troubles. She wandered through the rooms and up the creaking staircase. Under the gable roof, she found a lone double bed. A tiny square window afforded a sweeping view over the lake and up the mountains where the sun shone on the snow fields.
A colorful quilt covered the mattress. She stroked her hand across it when she noticed a hole in the fabric where the stuffing poked through. She moved down the bed and saw two more holes in different places. While she stood there admiring the scene, her eye fell on a basket resting in a corner of the attic room. She lifted out a pin cushion with a threaded needle sticking out of it.
She plucked out the needle, wet the thread tips, and knotted them. With a few deft stitches, she sewed the hole shut. She sewed all three holes closed before she put the needle away.
She returned to the window. What a beautiful, peaceful spot this was. Serenity and happiness flooded her heart. Why should she spend her life in war and strife when she could have this?
She turned around to leave the attic when she noticed the quilt move. She flipped back a corner and jumped away with a startled scream. The quilt’s underside teemed with a million grey wriggling bodies of mice. They formed a solid mass of squeaking, jabbering, tussling life where the quilt’s bottom fabric should have been. No stuffing remained between the bottom and the top.
Hazel tossed the quilt down quick to cover the mice. No one would ever know, looking at the quilt top, what it hid underneath. She hurried down the stairs to the front room.
A high glass French door let sunshine into the cabin. The crystal blue lake spread to the far mountains, and the forest treetops rocked in the wind. Those mice in the bed faded from her mind, and she breathed the relaxing contentment of the landscape.
She sat down in the rocking chair and let her eyes drift shut. She never had to leave this place. She was home at last.
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