Macy Vickers and the Book of Spells

by Paul R. Melia

  Romulus shrugged and smiled. “We’ve lived within the Land of Tormencer all our lives and are used to whatever the weather throws at us. As my sister has already mentioned, you may find the nights cold, though throughout the day it can be quite the opposite.”

  Macy dived into her suitcase again and pulled out a selection of clothing. Blue jeans, black tee shirt, black jumper, black socks, green trainers and a navy-blue fleece jacket. She shut the lid and placed what she had chosen on top of it. “Okay... I’m sorted.”

  Olivia fumbled through her suitcase and pulled out a pair of black jeans, knee high black boots and socks, a dark green sweat shirt and cardigan, and a black waist length woollen jacket. “Me too.” She placed her clothes on the bed and slid the suitcase back under it.

  Macy looked at Olivia shyly. “Should we go to the bathroom to change?” she asked as she used a foot to push her suitcase back under the bed. She was far too embarrassed to get changed in the same room as Romulus.

  Olivia agreed, and they crept out of the bedroom, glided cautiously down the hall, and headed for the bathroom. The wooden floor in the hallway had a loose carpet down the middle and Macy and Olivia used it to their advantage to muffle their footsteps.

  In keeping with the rest of Chandler House, the bathroom was huge … and they had plenty of room to dress. Both girls quickly changed — tiptoed back down the hallway and re-entered the bedroom.

  — CHAPTER SIX —

  Photographic Memories

  Jack returned to the girl’s bedroom moments later. Without warning he switched off the table lamp and produced a large black, hand-held torch from a rucksack strapped to his back.

  “This’ll do the trick.” He switched the torch on and held it under his chin and his face lit-up in a haunting glow. “What do you think?”

  “Oh, yeah … really spooky,” Olivia scoffed.

  Macy placed a hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “I’d call it an improvement.”

  Both girls laughed.

  “Very funny,” Jack replied sarcastically. He removed the torch from his chin, turned it off and turned the lamp back on.

  Macy baulked at what Jack was wearing. “What do you look like? You’re going to stick out like a sore thumb.” She pointed at the jumper Jack had chosen to wear. It was bright red.

  “What’s the problem?” Jack wore a dumb expression on his face.

  “Seriously?” laughed Macy whimsically.

  Jack’s face dropped. He zipped up the black three-quarter length coat he was wearing over the jumper. “Better?”

  Macy stopped laughing. “Yes, much better.” She lowered her voice and pointed at the torch. “Why are you bringing that?”

  It was a question that brought a sharp rebuff for Jack. “Don’t you know anything? It’s obvious, isn’t it? The first rule of sneaking out of a house at night is not to give yourself away. How else are we going to walk down the stairs? Unless you think it’s a better idea to switch the hall lights on? That’ll really go unnoticed.” He wore a smug look.

  Olivia threw a sarcastic comment in Jack’s direction. “If you switch your torch on, isn’t it going to be seen too?”

  Jack ignored her and fiddled with the outside case and switched the torch back on. It wasn’t as bright as before, just a faint orange glow. It wasn’t even powerful enough to cast a beam onto the floor. “Nice,” he whispered to himself.

  Olivia latched onto what she thought was a fault. “We’re not going to get far with that.”

  Jack looked annoyed, but he also had an answer. “It’s got a dimmer switch … so I can adjust the brightness,” he replied in a dull voice.

  All the way through the childish bickering Romulus and Hangaku stayed seated and silent. Patiently waiting for a lull in the unwarranted proceedings. When that moment finally arrived, Romulus wasted no time in taking advantage of it.

  “I don’t want to rush you, but now you have finished, can we get moving? We’ve got a lot of travelling ahead of us.”

  Macy took Jack and Olivia by the hand and a group hug ensued. “I shouldn’t have to remind you both, but we’ve been friends for a long time, and we are about to go on the biggest adventure of our lives. I don’t want us falling out with each other before we’ve even started.”

  Her stern, no-nonsense approach proved to be the right course of action as Jack and Olivia decided to call a truce.

  It was agreed since it was Jack’s bright idea to bring a rucksack he would be the one to carry both Romulus and Hangaku. The rucksack would be the ideal place for them to keep safe. Jack didn’t mind, especially once he’d felt the weight of them. “They’re as light as two feathers,” he joked.

  Macy opened the bedroom door, then suddenly stopped in her tracks. She turned and caught sight of Romulus poking around the side of Jack’s head. “I’ve got a question.”

  Olivia looked more than a bit annoyed. “What now?”

  “Calm down,” said Macy hastily. “Isn’t anyone a bit curious?”

  “Of what?” grumbled Olivia.

  “We haven’t got a clue where we are even going!”

  Olivia pointed at the rucksack. “Romulus does. We’ll follow where he tells us to go.”

  Romulus wore a look of dejection on his face. “I’m afraid it’s a good point. I’m not sure if I will be able to find my way back to the entrance that leads to the Land of Tormencer.”

  Jack joined the conversation. “Now you tell us...” An air of despair was clear in his voice.

  Macy was more up-beat. “Well, at least that’s cleared up. There’s not much we can do now. I know just about every bit of my aunt and uncle’s house and estate. So, hopefully we will be able to find the entrance together.”

  Before leaving the bedroom, Jack switched the lamp off and his torch on, mindful to keep the beam low. He moved quietly down the hallway with Macy and Olivia close behind, without so much as a squeaky floorboard to give the game away.

  The next obstacle was the staircase. And to make things a bit awkward it was made of solid hardwood and had a slippery polished gloss surface. Though, as with the hallway, it had a carpet running down the centre.

  The staircase also veered to the right half way down, and into an L shape near the bottom.

  Jack slowed, turned his head and glanced back at Macy and Olivia. “Keep close. I don’t want one of you tripping and falling on me... Romulus and Hangaku wouldn’t be too pleased either.”

  He spoke too soon ... his concentration had been broken and on the way down the stairs he stumbled forward. Luckily, he managed to grab the handrail. But as he did the beam from the torch shifted from the floor and travelled steeply up and across the wall. The change in direction of the torch beam exposed a group of framed photographs.

  Romulus spotted them first and asked Jack to stop as he was sure he recognised the images within them.

  The photographs showed a large walled in garden, and some included a bird’s eye view looking directly down on it. They could only have been taken by someone in a plane or helicopter … or perhaps even someone flying a drone.

  One photograph jumped out at Romulus and he motioned to Macy and Olivia for them to look at what he’d found. He pulled himself further out of the rucksack and scanned all the photographs again but came back to the same one. His head was level with Jack’s neck and he whispered an explanation of what he could see.

  The garden area within the walls had been where Romulus and Hangaku had arrived after they had managed to escape from the Land of Tormencer. He pointed at two doors, one at the front and one at the rear of the garden.

  “That’s it! This is where we want to be.” His finger turned white. He’d pressed it so hard against the glass protecting the photograph the blood circulating through it had drained away.

  “Are you sure?” Macy whispered frantically.

  “Yes,” said Romulus confidently.

  Hangaku agreed. “Yes ... it’s definitely where we arrived.”

  Macy looked despondent. “I
think I know where it is.” The tell-tale sound of uneasiness was evident in her voice. “It’s the Forbidden Garden!”

  Olivia had a glint in her eyes. “The Forbidden Garden? So that’s what it looks like on the inside?”

  Macy reached up and placed a hand on the photograph in question. “Probably. But having never been inside … as my aunt and uncle would never allow it, I can’t be sure.” She shook her head. “In all the time I’ve been coming here I’ve never once noticed these photographs before.”

  “Who cares.” said Jack coldly. “If it’s where Romulus and Hangaku say we have to go, then, we will have to go inside.” He seemed more than happy at the prospect of getting to see inside the Forbidden Garden.

  Macy didn’t look best pleased, but she knew Jack was right.

  Jack turned his attention away from the photographs and adjusted the torch beam. It shone a little brighter than before — but not too much, and he continued to descend the stairs.

  Romulus and Hangaku swayed to the motion of every step taken by Jack and were locked in a strange argument. Strange, because unlike most arguments, in the heat of the moment voices are usually raised … but in this case it was all waved arms and whispered words.

  The argument was over whether to tell their three new helpers a piece of vital information. The possibility that some of Kraken’s soldiers could be waiting for them on the other side of the rear doorway to the Forbidden Garden.

  Romulus finally got his way, and the decision not to tell them was agreed. He had concluded that if they were informed of the possible danger awaiting them they might have had second thoughts about helping. The last thing he wanted to do was scare them too much. With a reluctant shrug Hangaku had seen his point of view.

  The exchange of words hadn’t gone unnoticed by Macy and Olivia who were close enough to the rucksack that their noses were nearly touching it. Jack on the other hand seemed oblivious to the argument. He was too busy concentrating on where he was going.

  “Is there a problem?” asked Macy cagily. She knew there had to be something wrong.

  Romulus squirmed uneasily. “No, it’s nothing to worry about.”

  Olivia wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes!” replied Romulus frostily. “Everything is fine.” The colour seemed to drain from his face, and he turned his head away from her.

  Olivia knew something wasn’t right but couldn’t put her finger on what it might be. Instead, along with Macy she reluctantly accepted what Romulus had said and dropped the subject.

  They finally reached the bottom of the stairs and bolted over to the front door. Jack shone the torch beam up and down it. Luckily the key was still in the lock and Jack, closest to the door, gently turned it — sprung the latch and hurriedly made his way outside. Macy and Olivia followed close behind.

  “Don’t forget to close the door,” Jack whispered as he descended the marble stairs leading to the courtyard.

  “Obviously,” said Olivia smartly. “I’m hardly going to leave it open, am I.”

  Jack hadn’t heard Olivia’s cursory reply and carried on down the stairs.

  They moved stealthily through the grounds of Chandler House in search of the entrance to the Forbidden Garden. Macy overtook Jack and positioned herself out in front to give directions. Jack didn’t need his torch as the full moon lit their path like a runway. Instead he placed it gently into his rucksack, careful not to drop it on Romulus or Hangaku.

  A strange feeling hung in the air, almost as if nothing had really sunk in properly as to what they were doing. It was plain to see they all felt a sense of excitement and fear in equal measure.

  Then, from out of nowhere a thick fog descended and engulfed all before them. But Macy was like a sniffer dog on a scent trail and still managed, after several wrong turns and bumps into trees, to locate the front door to the Forbidden Garden. Though it had taken a considerably longer time than normal. And in the meantime, as quickly as it had appeared, the fog dispersed.

  Macy leant forward and placed her hands on her knees. Her mind was racing as she knew what they were preparing to do was nothing short of madness. She also felt uneasy about going against the express wishes of Aunt Doris who had told her never to enter the Forbidden Garden.

  “Are you certain this was the way you came?” She hoped Romulus had somehow got his bearings wrong and there would be no need to enter the Forbidden Garden.

  But her hopes were soon dashed as Romulus was adamant in his recollection. “It’s the right place, there’s no mistake.” He upped his gaze and gave the door and walls a thorough scan. “Neither myself or Hangaku could reach the door handle to open it but we did manage to climb up the inside wall using some ivy vines as rope. It was quite dark, but I remember catching my sword on a jagged piece of stone just before I reached the ground on this side.” He reached down and touched his waist. “It ripped clean off. But we were in too much of a hurry to stop.” He glanced over at a section of wall and pointed. “I was right over there.”

  Jack moved forward and knelt beside the crumbling brickwork. With an open palm he swabbed the grass like a metal detector, and it didn’t take long before he located something.

  “He’s right. Look.” He picked up a small shimmering object, half buried in the grass, and raised it above his head. “It looks just like a sword.” He passed it over his shoulder into the eager hands of Romulus.

  Romulus raised both hands and the sword in the air in celebration. “That’s it… My lost sword… I thought it had gone forever.” He fiddled excitedly with the leather belt and brass buckle attached to the sword sheath and placed it around his waist.

  Macy, in the meantime, moved towards the door and grabbed the handle. Gradually she applied some pressure, but the door wouldn’t budge. It had been many years since it had last been opened and the hinges were rusted shut. Olivia and Jack did their best to help, and between them they pushed, pulled and even shoulder charged the door into submission.

  Finally, the hinges relented, and the door cracked opened with an ear-piercing creek. Macy entered first — but was swiftly overtaken by Jack. Eager wasn’t a strong enough word as he barged past her — pulled his torch out of the rucksack and turned it on.

  “Wow... The photograph we saw at your aunt and uncle’s house must have been taken some time ago. It didn’t show the garden overgrown like this. It’s like a jungle.” Jack moved further inside, both arms out in front and his eyes squint. He pulled, twisted and clawed at the mass of tangled foliage in front of him, careful not to knock the torch out of his hand.

  Macy followed the torch beam and the path cleared by Jack. “I hope my aunt and uncle don’t find out we’ve been here.”

  Olivia seemed apprehensive. “I don’t like this.” Her voice lowered as she followed the others. “I don’t like this at all.”

  Macy slowed and waited for Olivia to catch up. Both girls then quickened their pace and tucked in close behind Jack as he negotiated his way past a mass of small trees, long grass, prickly black current bushes, and swathes of irritating stinging nettles.

  Suddenly, he let out a howl as his face brushed along a particularly large stinging nettle bush. “No way… My cheek feels like it’s on fire” He turned around and shot the torch beam in Macy and Olivia’s direction. “How come I have to go in front?”

  Macy rolled a hand across her mouth and attempted to hide a smile. “You were the one who pushed your way there,” she sniggered. “And anyway … you’ve got the torch.”

  Jack looked up to the heavens. “Whatever.” He couldn’t be bothered arguing, his cheek was hurting too much. He faced the front once more and continued to move forward. Only this time keeping a keen eye on the stinging nettle bushes on all sides of him.

  Everything went quiet again, apart from the occasional over exaggerated wince of pain from Jack as he gently rubbed several white spots that had broken out on his face from his encounter with the stinging nettle bush.

  And then it appeared.
Jack stopped in his tracks and moved the torch beam around in an arc. “There it is.” He had found the rear door in all its degraded glory. And now it was the only thing that stood between them and a whole new world.

  As with the front door, it was mostly covered by green ivy and white fungus and it was impossible to tell its colour.

  Tentatively, and showing the obvious signs of nerves, Jack took hold of the round golf ball size door knob and started to turn it.

  “Hold on,” came a shout close to his ear. It stopped him in his tracks before he’d reached the point of no return and he released his grip with unerring speed.

  “What is it? What have you seen?” Jack turned and looked over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Romulus … his head almost buried inside Jack’s ear.

  Romulus looked worried. “That was close.”

  “What’s the problem?” asked Jack nervously.

  Romulus sunk his head into his shoulders. “It’s not really a problem,” he said furtively.

  — CHAPTER SEVEN —

  Smells, Scares and Lucky Escapes

  Macy decided she’d had enough of standing round and didn’t wait to be asked to join in the conversation. “Why stop Jack from opening the door then, if there isn’t a problem?” She moved forward and stood face height with Romulus. “Is there something you’re not telling us?” She could sense something wasn’t quite right but couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

  Romulus lifted his head. “I’m not sure what you mean?” He had a look of unease written on his face. It was obvious he knew exactly what Macy was on about. It had to do with the argument he’d had with Hangaku earlier about the possibility that some of Kraken’s soldiers might be wait for them on the other side of the door.

  Hangaku wore a frown of despair at the thought that yet again her brother was going to fail to tell the others of his concerns. But that’s exactly what happened and instead, he swung back round to face Jack, and again sunk his head into his shoulders.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what got into me. Maybe the thought of going back home spooked me a little.” He rubbed his chin nervously and dropped further down into the rucksack. “Carry on, Jack.”