Emajen

by Ashley Ledigo

  ‘Oy!’ roared Saddler. ‘None o’ that now!’ He jumped up furiously in an effort to retrieve his cap, but it remained just a hair’s breadth too high. Anthony and Destiny howled at the spectacle until tears poured down their cheeks. Shooting them a look of disgust, Saddler gave up on his cap and stomped away up the path. Anthony looked at the tree with awe.

  ‘That was so cool!’ He laughed. ‘I guess maybe we should give Saddler his cap back now though!’

  Destiny watched fascinated as the twig lowered just enough for Anthony to recover the cap. He thanked the tree politely and its leaves rustled as if in acknowledgement. Somehow, without having a face, the tree seemed to smile. It was a sort of upwards lift of its bark, but Destiny knew she was right, it was definitely a smile.

  The Prof appeared in the doorway of the house, hair fuzzing everywhere, and beamed broadly at them all.

  ‘Welcome, welcome,’ he said, and ushered them in.

  Anthony grinned at Saddler and handed him back his cap.

  The Prof’s house was a treasure trove. There was mess everywhere. Well, not exactly mess, more a generally organized chaos. The Prof waved a hand airily at some chairs and instructed the group to clear themselves a seat each. A vast mahogany desk groaned under the weight of books, files and papers and an assortment of intriguing looking gadgets.

  ‘Been inventing anything today, Prof?’ enquired Saddler, as he deftly removed a pile of manuscripts from an easy chair and placed them carefully on the floor.

  ‘As always, as always.’ The Prof beamed. ‘Here’s a little idea I had in the wee, small hours.’ He picked up a small round object the size of a ping-pong ball. It was a purplish-grey colour and it looked remarkably like a Grund. Destiny stiffened. However, on closer inspection, the object was clearly covered in tiny spikes rather than fur.

  ‘What does it do?’ she asked.

  ‘I call it a Grund Buster and the idea is it acts as a decoy. I’ve made a pretend Grund to try it out on. I was just about to test it out, when you arrived.’

  ‘No time like the present,’ said Saddler.

  The Prof needed no further encouragement. He placed the Grund Buster on the floor and tapped it gently with his foot. It emitted a low growl that sounded almost exactly like a Grund.

  ‘The idea is that any nearby Grunds will be attracted to the sound.’ So saying, he placed his pretend Grund on the floor near to the decoy. ‘Then when the real Grund gets near enough, our Grund Buster squirts it with a sticky fluid that immobilizes it for long enough for the Grund Buster to then finish the Grund off with its spikes.’

  ‘Gross!’ said Destiny

  The Prof pushed the pretend Grund nearer to the decoy with his toe. Sure enough, a stream of sticky liquid shot out from the decoy, missed the pretend Grund by several feet and squirted half way up the Prof’s trouser leg. The decoy then gave a low growl and rolled off in completely the opposite direction.

  ‘Oh well, it needs some adjusting,’ said the Prof sadly, as he dabbed at his trouser leg with a hanky.

  ‘Great idea, though,’ said Anthony, impressed.

  ‘Well now –’ the Prof ran his hands through his unruly mop of hair – ‘my inventions are all very well, but that’s not what you came for. We have lot of preparations to make.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Saddler, gazing with some revulsion at the Prof’s sticky trouser leg. He shook his head as though to clear his mind and looked earnestly at Destiny and Anthony.

  ‘You’re sure now …’

  ‘We’re sure!’

  ‘Enough said then. By Nebiré’s latest reckoning, the Natorqua are only a few days journey away and we’ll ‘ave Kaz to ‘elp us.’

  ‘Kaz?’ queried Destiny.

  ‘He’s a horse.’ The Prof smiled. ‘He says he doesn’t mind pulling a cart just this once, as it’s all in a good cause.’

  For the umpteenth time Destiny and Anthony glanced at each other. It really was hard to get their heads around animals that actually talked.

  ‘Probably moan the ‘ole way!’ grumbled Saddler.

  The short silence that followed was broken by the appearance of a small boy, with thin almost elfin features and dark hair that contrasted starkly with his pale complexion. He slipped in silently and stood close to the Prof’s side, gazing at the other three with wide, enquiring eyes.

  ‘Ah, Squib!’ The Prof gazed down affectionately at the boy and put an arm protectively about his shoulders.

  Squib, it turned out, had been very busy. There were three rucksacks neatly laid out in the kitchen with all sorts of useful items stowed away and enough provisions for a couple of days. Hopefully they would need no more than one stop along the way to re-stock.

  ‘How long do you think the potion will last?’ Destiny said anxiously to Anthony.

  Anthony dug deep into his jacket pocket and took out the tiny egg timer. He peered at it closely. A few grains of what looked like pale, rainbow-coloured sand speckled one end, while the other was nearly full.

  ‘How do we know it hasn’t just tipped back into the full side?’ said Anthony.

  The Prof beamed. ‘Actually, it’s one of my more successful inventions,’ he said modestly. ‘A one way egg timer. Nebiré says she doesn’t know how she ever managed without it. Try it and see.’

  Destiny pulled a slightly disbelieving face, as the decoy Grund flashed through her mind. Anthony gingerly turned the egg timer upside-down. The sprinkling of grains that had peppered the bottom slid, as if pulled by a magnet, towards the timer’s concave centre. Destiny held her breath. If the Prof’s invention didn’t work, they would have no way at all of knowing how much time had passed and, more importantly, how much time there was left.

  Destiny glanced up and saw Squib watching her. He smiled and nodded his head encouragingly. By now Anthony had turned the egg timer completely upside-down. It was difficult to tell – because there had only been a small number of grains in the bottom to begin with and because the egg timer was really tiny – whether it had worked or not.

  ‘Now turn it back the other way,’ enthused the Prof.

  Anthony did as instructed. Sure enough, a few grains only plummeted down from the middle of the timer to lie still and pale at its base.

  ‘Cool,’ said Anthony. ‘How long since we gave your granddad the potion, our time I mean?’ he asked Destiny.

  She looked at her watch and wrinkled her nose. ‘About twenty hours I think.’

  ‘Hmm, well we’ve only used up a few grains, so I guess that means we’ve got plenty of time left!’

  ‘Nonetheless,’ said the Prof, ‘we don’t know how easy it will be for you to locate the Natorqua, or how long you may need when you do!’

  There was a silence as everyone digested this comment. Then the Prof rubbed his hands and said cheerily, ‘Right, lunch, I think. Then we have a lot to plan and discuss and preferably a prompt start in the morning.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Saddler and the Prof had talked on late into the night, pouring over a rather ancient-looking map and discussing the merits of various routes and detours, none of which meant a great deal to Anthony and Destiny. At some point, Destiny had dozed off in a big comfy chair by the open fire, which crackled away merrily. She vaguely remembered following Squib and Anthony up several flights of stairs and sinking into the most deliciously soft bed. The next thing she knew, it was morning again and tantalising breakfast smells were wafting up the stairs.

  They set off in good spirits, sitting on blankets in an old but sturdy looking wooden cart. It was another beautiful day. They waved at the Prof as Kaz plodded away, Squib sitting pixie style on Kaz’s broad back. They could still hear the Prof shouting various last minute reminders and injunctions to ‘take care’, when they were well out of sight. When they couldn’t hear the Prof any more, Squib came out of his shell and began to chatter nineteen to the dozen, as though between them he and the Prof could weave a web of protection around the travellers. He told them all about
how he had met the Prof and, proudly, how he had learnt to read and write and was now learning all about the planets and the stars. After a while though he fell silent and without warning slipped from Kaz’s back and was gone.

  ‘Funny little chap,’ Kaz murmured fondly. He pulled a tasty looking morsel from the hedgerow with his teeth and munched it lazily as he clopped along.

  The day wore on. They stopped for lunch when the sun seemed to be at its highest point in the sky. Destiny had given up looking at her watch. It was confusing when the sun showed roughly one time and her watch showed something completely different. It wasn’t even as though you could reset it like when you went abroad. The time just moved differently here. After about the hundredth time of glancing at her wrist, she gave an exclamation of annoyance and crossly undid the strap, shoving the offending object into her rucksack.

  It was mid-afternoon when they reached a crossroad. Kaz came to a halt and contentedly munched on some grass by the side of the track. Saddler stretched and reached for his rucksack.

  ‘Can’t quite remember what we decided was the best way ‘ere.’ So saying, he pulled out a small scroll of parchment.

  Out of nowhere there came a distant rumble of thunder. It grew rapidly louder. The ground beneath them began to shake. A violent wind whipped up around them and the cart began to shudder. The sky, now darkened by an immense black cloud, seemed to press down on them like a huge oppressive hand.

  It was at this point that Kaz bolted. Saddler was flung violently backwards, lost his balance and toppled off the back of the cart, just managing to grab hold of the side as he did so.

  ‘Saddler!’ screamed Destiny and Anthony, their voices lost beneath the deafening rumble and the howling of the wind.

  Anthony grabbed Saddler’s arm and both children strained to draw Saddler back up into the thundering cart. At last, Saddler scrambled to safety, doggedly clutching the map in one hand. Anthony turned to see to Kaz, when he heard Saddler give a furious yell. As he spun around, a vicious gust of wind tore the map from Saddler’s grasp and it disappeared up into the thunderous cloud just as though someone had sucked it up through a giant straw.

  For a brief second, Destiny could swear she saw a beautiful face with a cruel smile amongst the dark clouds. Then it was gone. Everything stopped. Kaz came to an abrupt standstill and everyone sat in still, silent shock.

  Saddler was the first to pull himself together.

  ‘Everyone all right?’ he asked shakily.

  They nodded dumbly. Anthony climbed stiffly out of the cart and approached Kaz who stood panting, head hanging.

  ‘Kaz? Are you okay?’

  The poor horse was trembling. He shook his head dejectedly from side to side.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled.

  ‘What for?’ Anthony ran an expert hand over Kaz’s back and legs, checking for any signs of injury.

  ‘I’m no good!’ moaned Kaz. ‘I’m useless. I’m a useless nator. I ran away. I might as well be quave food!’

  ‘We were all terrified,’ soothed Anthony, satisfied at last that Kaz was, at least physically, okay. Kaz lifted his head and his ears perked up.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Really!’

  Destiny came up and put her arms round Kaz’s neck. She squeezed him affectionately.

  ‘You are so cute,’ she murmured, ‘and you sound just like Eeyore! And I’m sure your quick thinking saved us from a whole load more trouble!’

  ‘I am? I do? It did?’

  Obviously Kaz thought that sounding like ‘Eeyore’ must be high praise indeed. His chest swelled and he blew Destiny a gentle puff down his nose. Anthony grinned and rolled his eyes, but everyone suddenly felt a whole lot better.

  Saddler stoked up a small fire and made them all tea. Tea, he said, was a brilliant Earth invention. It didn’t taste quite the same on Emajen – different leaves, but it was just as nice – kind of nutty and Saddler believed you couldn’t ever have enough tea!

  ‘Well,’ said Saddler at last as he packed the tea things back in his rucksack, ‘we’ve lost the map, so it seems sensible to me to keep going until we get to the next signpost. Then we’ll see if we can find a place to ‘ole up for the night.’

  All agreed, they set off once more and Kaz had decidedly more spring in his step, but Destiny was quiet and thoughtful. She hadn’t mentioned what she’d seen, or thought she’d seen, to the others; it sounded too daft!

  ‘Do you often have freak storms like that here?’ she asked Saddler at last.

  Saddler scratched his head. ‘First one I’ve ever seen, but then a lot of things ‘ave been ‘appening round ‘ere what’s not normal!’

  ‘Oh!’ Destiny shivered. The memory of that cruel smile made her blood run cold.

  As they continued on their way, the day clouded over once more. It began to rain, not hard, but a persistent drizzle that clung in wet beads to everything it came in contact with. By the time they reached the next junction, the rain had begun to fall harder. They were wet, lost and miserable. Kaz had lost the spring in his step again and his head was drooping once more.

  ‘Well at least we’ll ‘ave somewhere to aim for,’ said Saddler, trying to lighten the situation. But the junction only offered a left or right turn and the sign post – when they eventually found it – had fallen over and was lying in the bushes.

  ‘Great!’ said Destiny. ‘What do we do now?’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  By the time they had stopped dithering and made up their minds which way to go, it was getting dark. Kaz plodded along miserably, muttering about his aching feet and the fact that the road seemed to have turned into a rutted track.

  They were beginning to think they would have to spend the night out in the middle of nowhere, when Anthony spotted a light in the distance.

  The darkness had descended very quickly, the sky as starless and cheerless as the scene below it. It took about another hour for the bedraggled bunch to reach the source of the light. What they found cheered them immensely. It turned out to be an inn as cheerful and friendly looking to their weary eyes as the night behind them was gloomy.

  Inside, the innkeeper welcomed them heartily. Destiny felt like she was living a scene from some tale of ‘Ye Olde England’ and she remembered what Saddler had said about where people on Earth had got many of their ideas from.

  They sat at a round table in a snug little corner, by the side of a roaring fire. Outside the rain spattered against the windows, no longer threatening now that they were safe and warm and rapidly drying off inside the bustling inn.

  The innkeeper was a small, round, jolly fellow, who rubbed his hands together a great deal and seemed to have a permanent beaming smile fixed on his face. He bustled over to their table and drew the curtains across the window behind them with an expansive gesture.

  ‘Never known anything like it!’ He chortled.

  Anthony checked on Kaz, making sure that he was comfortably stabled and had plenty of hay to munch, whilst Saddler ordered them some food and secured them a couple of rooms for the night.

  ‘Now, we need to decide what we’re going to do in the morning, since we’ve no idea where we are!’ said Saddler through a satisfying mouthful of rather delicious pie.

  ‘Do you think the innkeeper might have a map we could buy?’ asked Anthony.

  ‘Or at least might know where we could get one,’ suggested Destiny.

  The next time the barman appeared to collect their dishes, Saddler raised his query, but the barman greeted the question with a perplexed furrowing of his brow.

  ‘Well now, people around these parts aren’t generally in need of maps. I don’t know as I can help you there.’ He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and was just about to make a suggestion when a small, dark-haired man from the next table got up and hurried over to them.

  He bowed politely and smiled. Destiny shivered. For some reason, she didn’t like the smile; it somehow didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  The man introd
uced himself and said, ‘I accidentally overheard your conversation. I do hope you don’t think it rude of me to interrupt, but I gather you wanted a map.’

  His voice was nasally and rather whining. Destiny glanced at Anthony, but he was concentrating on the man and she couldn’t read his expression.

  ‘It just so happens,’ continued the man, ‘that I too am a stranger around these parts and I have various maps about my person. Whereabouts are you heading?’

  The innkeeper, Destiny noticed, had actually lost his smile and was looking at the man with clear dislike. She willed Saddler not to be too specific, but to her relief when he spoke he just said, ‘Me and my friends ‘ere are just exploring the area.’ He spoke politely, but Destiny could hear the suspicion in his voice and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  The man returned to his table and came back with an assortment of maps. The innkeeper wandered off, muttering something inaudible under his breath, but his wide smile had resurfaced by the time he reached the bar.

  Saddler looked at the maps closely and at length tapped one with his index finger.

  ‘This should do us nicely, if you can spare it – ‘ow much do I owe you?’ He dug in his pocket looking for his coin bag.

  ‘No, no! I wouldn’t dream of it. More than happy to help out a fellow traveller.’ The man smiled creepily and Destiny had to quickly repress a shudder.

  ‘That’s most decent of you, but then allow me to buy you drink with our thanks. It’s the least I can do to thank you for your kindness!’ Saddler stood up and put a friendly arm around the man’s shoulders, steering him towards the bar.

  Destiny cringed at the very thought of having to even touch the man and when she glanced across at Anthony she could see that the expression etched on his face exactly mirrored her reaction. With the stranger gone, however her mood lifted and she laughed.