‘What do they look like?’ asked Destiny, enthralled despite herself.
‘They’re a cross between a nator and a quave – that’s why they’re called “Natorqua”.’
The children were surprised to see Saddlers eyes fill with tears.
‘Such beautiful, beautiful animals and now someone, something, is poisoning their minds. Destroying them one by one, so that the very thread of Emajen’s existence is being unravelled!’ Saddler covered his eyes with his hands.
‘There, there don’t fret, my dear,’ Mrs Saddler comforted, patting his hand with her own.
At length Saddler looked up, wiped his eyes with his sleeve and gave Mrs Saddler a watery smile.
‘That’s why Emajen needs your ‘elp!’ he said at last.
Destiny and Anthony looked at each other puzzled. They were in no doubt at all now that Saddler was telling them the complete truth, but how could they possibly help?
Destiny got up and put her hand on Saddler’s arm. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,’ she said gently, ‘but I really don’t understand what you think we can do!’
Saddler had composed himself and smiled up at her gratefully. ‘We’ve been silly,’ he said sadly. ‘I can see that now. The Natorqua ‘ave always been there. We’ve always taken it for granted that they were … that they always would be. Now that something is ‘appening to ‘em, no one in Emajen knows what to do or ‘ow to reach ‘em.’
‘What exactly is happening to the Natorqua?’ Anthony frowned.
‘Slowly, but surely, their minds are being poisoned. They’re becoming aggressive and their anger is beginning to spread throughout Emajen. Gone are the days when anyone could wander freely among ‘em, breathing in their calm and beauty. Now no one can go near ‘em. At first they just ran away, but lately they’ve been threatening to attack anyone what goes anywhere near. That’s if you can find ‘em. They’ve gone into ‘iding, just like your Yeti!
It was the Prof ‘oo suggested I should look to your world for ‘elp. ‘E said I would find someone there, ‘e was sure, ‘oo would know about the workings of animal minds. Animals like the Natorqua. Someone ‘oo might be able to undo the damage before it was too late.’
‘But why us? Why not a grown up. Surely you need an animal psychologist or something!’
‘An animal psychologist ‘oo would even believe Emajen existed?’ Saddler looked hard at Destiny, who felt herself blush. ‘And if they did believe it, what then? ‘oardes of people from your world coming into Emajen and bringing their technology? No, we want to look after Emajen, not destroy it!’
‘Good point,’ said Anthony. ‘Although not all our technology is bad.’
‘But you still haven’t explained why us!’ persisted Destiny.
‘Because my travels took me to a place called Ay … America and there I saw two young people what seemed to ‘ave an extraordinary affinity with animals. That poor dog was so grateful that you came along. Another minute or two and that paw would ‘ave been seriously damaged!’
Destiny’s mouth gaped.
‘And as for you, young man, seldom ‘ave I seen such gentle ‘andling of nators … I mean ‘orses, ever.’
‘You were at the ranch?’ Destiny’s eyes looked as though they might pop out with amazement.
‘Just passing through,’ said Saddler airily.
‘I knew I recognized you from somewhere.’ Anthony grinned. ‘You look a bit different without the sunglasses and lairy shirt!’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
For a short while there was silence. It seemed to Destiny that Anthony had quite happily accepted everything that was going on. She still couldn’t quite get her head around it all. She glanced up at the window. Outside, the shadows were lengthening. Could someone really make you hallucinate a whole new place, with objects that talked and sunshine that softened towards the end of the day; just like it might do on any day? When they had left the greenhouse, it had been about half past midnight. It was December. Cold, with days that seemed to end almost before they’d begun. Yet here they were on a warm, late autumn evening. What had happened when they followed Saddler through the blackness?
Saddler caught Destiny’s glance. He seemed to follow her thoughts.
‘Hmm, about time we were getting you home then,’ said Saddler, getting up and reaching for the box once more.
‘It’s been a real pleasure.’ Mrs Saddler beamed, hugging the two children for the umpteenth time. ‘I do ‘ope you’ll come and visit us again soon!’
This time Anthony and Destiny were ready for the bright light followed by the dark blob and all three stepped through the darkness together.
It seemed so incredibly peculiar to be back in the greenhouse. It was still dark outside and a white blanket of frost had covered everything in their absence. Destiny shivered and thought longingly of her warm, toasty bed.
‘So what happens now?’ asked Anthony, pointedly.
‘Well, it’s a long journey to where we think the Natorqua are … or at least where they were last seen. It’s a lot to ask, I know!’
‘How far is it?’
‘Ahh, it might take a few days.’
‘But that’s impossible,’ cried Destiny. ‘Even if we could help you, there’s no way we could be gone for a few days. Time isn’t that much slower on Earth!’
‘No, no, not ordinarily, no. But there may be a way. Could we meet again? Tomorrow night? And I’ll explain.’
By now, Destiny was so tired, she would have agreed to almost anything to get back to bed. Anthony looked as though he felt much the same.
‘Great.’ Saddler beamed. ‘Tomorrow then.’ And he disappeared in a flash of brilliance.
The house was as dark and silent as when they had left it a few hours before. They didn’t have the energy for nervous giggling as they stole back up the stairs. Back in their rooms, they were both were asleep almost before their heads hit their pillows.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jenny and Matt both chuckled when Destiny and Anthony finally appeared, bleary-eyed, for a very late breakfast the next morning.
‘Kids today, they’ve got no stamina!’ Matt laughed.
Having spent a day at the stables where Destiny now shared a pony, they made excuses early in the evening to go up to Destiny’s room and excitedly made plans for the night ahead. Destiny shivered with anticipation. ‘I still can’t quite believe it’s all real,’ she said.
It felt even less real as they crept once more down the creaky staircase and out into the chill of the night.
‘Maybe we just had the same crazy dream last night,’ whispered Destiny as they neared the greenhouse.
‘I don’t think so,’ replied Anthony. ‘Dreams are usually muddly. Last night was certainly strange, but it didn’t jump crazily from one thing to another like dreams usually do! Anyway, look …’ He pointed to the familiar glow coming from the greenhouse.
There were no crates or mugs of hot chocolate this time. Saddler greeted them warmly, but said, ‘We need to ‘urry. We got things to do today.’
So saying, he pushed the key firmly into the box and, before they knew it, they were standing once more in his bright, cosy kitchen. Mrs Saddler was there to give them a welcoming hug and a bar of chocolate each to munch on the way.
‘On the way where?’ queried Destiny.
‘I’ll explain as we go,’ said Saddler.
It was a beautiful autumn morning with only the odd wisp of fluffy cloud trailing across an otherwise clear, blue sky. Saddler said ‘morning’ to a bird perched on the fence post, but it stopped singing abruptly and flew away.
‘Hmph!’ growled Saddler. ‘See what I mean? It comes to something when the birds are too scared to even pass the time of day!’
‘You said you would explain where we were going,’ said Anthony, to take Saddler’s mind off the bird.
‘Ah yes, well now. We’re going to see someone. ‘Er name is Nebiré. She’s probably the wisest person on Emajen. She can use eight
-nine per cent of ‘er mind-power, so they say. She’ll be able to ‘elp us!’
‘If that’s true, how come she can’t use her mind-power to help the Natorqua?’ asked Destiny.
Saddler shook his head. ‘The Natorqua ‘ave lost their trust in other beings from this world. And their collective mind-power is much stronger than Nebiré’s. Besides, she would never make the journey – you’ll see!’
For a while they walked on in silence, each one wrapped up in their own thoughts. The sun was rising towards noon. It was pleasantly warm and the sounds of bird song wafted through the balmy air. Destiny found that, if she listened very closely, the songs did in fact have words. They didn’t make a lot of sense until she realized that the birds were singing to each other, or rather talking to each other in little sing-songy voices. She smiled to herself, maybe that’s where the ‘chattering of birds’ comes from, she thought.
At that moment the smile disappeared from her face as she experienced a sharp stinging pain in her ankle.
‘Ow!’ she yelped. Looking down she saw that there was blood trickling through her sock and onto her trainer. Anthony and Saddler had both spun round to look at her.
‘Are you all right?’
‘I think something bit me.’
Saddler scoured the ground. ‘Aha,’ he crowed and swooped down on something not far from where Destiny was standing. When he stood up he had what looked like a small, furry ping-pong ball pinched between his finger and thumb.
‘What’s that?’ asked Destiny, rubbing her ankle.
‘That,’ said Saddler disgustedly, ‘is a Grund. Nasty little blighters!’
The children looked closer. Huge, innocent eyes blinked at them out of the soft, round fluff.
‘Are you sure it bit me? It looks so cute!’ Destiny stretched out her hand to stroke the soft fur.
‘Watch out!’ yelled Saddler.
The creature’s eyes disappeared as a huge gaping mouth sprang open to reveal a full set of sharp, vicious-looking teeth. Destiny’s eyes bulged with horror. She snatched her hand away just in time, as the fangs slashed together, missing her fingertips by a whisker. The Grund wriggled furiously in Saddler’s grasp and started hurling abuse at them in a gruff growl that seemed incredible coming from such a small, sweet-looking creature.
Saddler glared at it with disgust. ‘Only one thing you can do with these. You might not want to watch!’ he said apologetically. So saying, he dropped the Grund on the floor and raised his leg in the air. Destiny flung her hands over her eyes, but that didn’t cut out the rather unpleasant squelching sound Saddler’s boot made as it came back down again, hard!
Anthony put a restraining hand on her shoulder, knowing her well enough by now to know what might happen next. But Destiny was too shocked to be angry.
‘I can’t believe you just did that!’ she said quietly, and then hurried off up the road to hide the tears that sprang to her eyes.
‘I’m sorry!’ Saddler looked really woebegone. ‘Never seen one of ‘em ‘til about a few months back. Now they’re everywhere. Once they get ‘old of you, they very often don’t let go. Still, we’d better be getting on.’ He looked around cautiously. ‘Where there’s one, there’s bound to be more!’
So saying, he hurried off after Destiny. Anthony frowned, shook his head and then strode after them.
Nothing else untoward happened and within about an hour they reached a densely wooded area at the top of a small hill. Here Saddler plunged out of the warm sunlight into the cool shade of the trees. Occasionally, a ray of sunshine managed to filter through the leaves but then it would disappear as though made to feel unwelcome by the thick gloom. It was strangely silent: no rustling in the undergrowth, no bird song, nothing. Even Saddler, who had soon regained his natural bubbliness after the Grund incident, muttered, ‘Stick to the path,’ and then fell silent.
The path was narrow and wound like an unruly ribbon between the trees. At one point, Destiny looked back, but the way behind them seemed to have been gobbled up by the murk. She could almost have thought that the trees had moved together obscuring the path completely. Except of course she knew that couldn’t happen!
It seemed to take an age to wend their way through the wood and they were beginning to wonder if, in fact, they were lost, when the path ended abruptly and they stepped out into a bright, sunlit glade. The glade swelled at the far end into a small hill: a hill with a door in the centre and a chimney from which wisps of bluish-grey smoke curled. As they watched, the smoke formed various shadowy shapes, which then fizzled away into the clear blue sky. They gazed for a moment, fascinated. The outline of a bird appeared. It flapped its wings once and then faded. Then a rabbit wiggled its ears, took a gigantic leap and was gone into the blue yonder.
A stirring from within the hill broke the spell. The door creaked open and a vast shape loomed in the doorway.
CHAPTER TWENTY
How to describe Nebiré? She was grotesque and beautiful at the same time. The shape that lumbered through the opening could have been no more than five feet tall, but made up in girth what it lacked in height. As Nebiré stood surveying the group, they could see a kind of sparkling aura that shimmered around her from top to bottom. Her face was heart shaped, accentuated by the way her hair parted in the middle and fell, long and straight almost to the ground. A single eye regarded them with brilliant, purple intensity. She was stunningly beautiful, despite the three chins that wobbled beneath her delicate jaw. Two of her hands rested on the huge, wide hips; the other two gestured to the group to follow. As she shuffled round, large webbed toes appeared beneath the flowing gown she wore. The children were so stunned, that they couldn’t say anything, but Saddler had regained his cheeriness and shouted out, ‘Morning Nebiré,’ in a hearty voice. Nebiré lumbered back through the doorway. As she shambled, her hair parted slightly. Destiny stifled a gasp. A second eye, as startlingly blue as the other was purple, gazed out at them from beneath the strands. It crinkled upwards slightly at the corners, as though it had heard the gasp and was smiling. Then the hair swung across again and it was gone.
Nebiré led them, walking painfully slowly, her breath rasping harshly with every step, up a dimly lit passage. Other passages branched off here and there, but they took no twists or turns and suddenly the passage opened into a wide room. It was much bigger than you would have thought from the outside and a large picture window filled the room with light. Crystals hung from the ceiling, which tinkled and spun in a light breeze. Every so often a shaft of sunlight would catch one and send a rainbow of colours skittering about the room. Saddler, who had obviously been here before, made straight for the hearth and picked up the kettle that was quietly simmering there. Nebiré oozed her bulk into a great, padded wicker chair and motioned the children to sit nearby on piles of big, soft, brightly coloured cushions.
‘You know that path of yours gets worse!’ Saddler chuckled, as he placed a tray of drinks on the table next to Nebiré’s chair. ‘I thought we were never going to get here.’
Nebiré laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound that seemed to come from somewhere far down inside her.
‘It keeps unwanted visitors away,’ she replied in an equally deep, rasping voice. ‘And it occasionally likes to have a little fun with friends!’
‘Now.’ The beautiful smile vanished and her face became serious. She looked at Anthony and Destiny who were sitting rather awe-struck on the floor next to her. ‘I have heard a lot about you from my friend here. Also my crystal web shows me many things.’ Both right arms waved at a group of crystals hanging at one end of the room. Now that they looked closer, Anthony and Destiny could see that the pattern they made did in fact look like a spider’s web.
‘You want to know why I cannot reassure the Natorqua?’ continued Nebiré. ‘We all have our own skills. Mine lie in seeing the past, the present and what in time may well come to be. But you, between you, possess the mind-power to reach all living creatures. More than you realize. Much more. If y
ou use that power wisely, in time it will grow, become stronger. But for us, here on Emajen, there is not much time. We can only hope that the powers you possess now will be strong enough!’
Anthony looked straight at the one, piercing purple eye.
‘I …’ he glanced at Destiny, ‘… we, don’t understand what it is you think we can do.’
‘It is our hope that you will agree to journey to where the Natorqua have concealed themselves. The crystals have followed their trail so far, although I cannot always clearly see them.’
‘I can’t understand,’ said Destiny. ‘Why anyone would want to poison them!’
‘For centuries we have lived at peace in our world. The Natorqua have kept it so. But there is evil abroad. It has come from another place. I am getting closer and soon I will know from where, but for now I am still in the dark.’
‘Supposing we found the Natorqua, I can’t see what we could do!’ said Anthony.
‘The crystals may be able to tell us – we shall see!’
Nebiré used all four hands to heave her bulk out of the chair. She shuffled across the room to where the crystal web shimmered and glittered. She began working the crystals with long sensitive fingers turning and weaving them. The room became very still. To begin with, hundreds of rainbow colours flickered around the room, but as they watched a bright, white light began to glow in the centre of the web. It spread from one crystal to the next, round and round in circles until the whole web was suffused by its brilliant glimmer. All the while, Nebiré muttered and weaved. Finally, she stopped. The light began to fade to be gradually replaced by a picture.
Destiny and Anthony gasped. Clearly visible in the distance were two figures walking up a stony path. It didn’t take long for them to realize that they were seeing themselves. The figures walked towards them, gradually moving into clearer focus. They looked tired and dirty. They were saying something to each other, although their words couldn’t be heard. They seemed to agree on something and the Destiny in the picture flung down a rucksack and sat down heavily on a big rock at the side of the path. Anthony squatted beside her. He looked as though maybe he was explaining something. He scooped up some stones into a pile and then spread them with his hands. The onlookers could see the stones trembling and one or two rolled a little. Anthony seemed to watch them carefully. He pointed to one and then looked at Destiny, as if asking her opinion. Destiny nodded and Anthony grabbed up the stone, weighing it thoughtfully in his hand. The picture faded.
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