by Vance Huxley
“Well that certainly ruined my mood.” Jenny sat down, more cautiously, then pulled her legs up as another footstool waddled over. “I’d rather it didn’t do that.”
“I can kill the shade, or move it to another job? Whatever it is probably volunteered as an alternative to absolute death. The only reason I’m not in furniture or in a plant in the entrance is I refused that option.” Ferryl looked across at Abel and a smile started to grow. “You are the master of the house, or this part at least. Tell your furniture to behave.”
At least that broke the mood, as did Abel ordering some of the footstools to stay where they were. Everyone tried the big armchair, but nobody liked how it moved to cradle them so Abel asked it to stop. As usual, Abel wasn’t keen on anything being bound, but he didn’t have many options because releasing a bound shade simply meant it had finished dying. Once the furniture behaved itself, the friends all came up with their favourite discovery. There were plenty because Abel now had access to the first two floors at the front of Castle House. That made eleven rooms in all, four downstairs and six upstairs plus the entrance hall.
The ground floor consisted of two large corner rooms and two smaller ones, one set out as a dining room and the other as a scullery with sinks, wide marble worktops and metal cupboards. Upstairs a huge master bedroom filled one corner, with a walk-in wardrobe or dressing room next door and a bathroom connected to that. The other rooms were two smaller bedrooms with a bathroom between them. Running water and a toilet, even late Victorian versions, came as a great relief after all the history lessons about the lack of hygiene in the past.
Kelis chose the large room at the opposite corner of the ground floor as her favourite, because of the books lining the walls. Some would have been new a hundred years ago, but others were tomes about magic and glyphs that looked much, much older. Abel could see her spending long hours tucked up nice and warm in there during the winter, reading about glyphs. Definitely warm, because despite a lack of fires or radiators they’d all taken off their coats.
Rob liked the scullery, it fascinated him once he found out it was a full kitchen. That had taken a little while, but eventually he’d realised the worktops and cupboards all contained glyphs. Reverse fire kept some parts cold, so those metal cupboards had to be magical fridges or maybe the coldest one was a freezer. Other glyphs would heat portions of a flat metal plate, or individual shelves in a metal cupboard to make an oven. The amount of magic put into those glyphs must decide the heat and enough intent would time the cooking. The pipes leading to some of the taps had heat glyphs stamped into them, but getting the water exactly the right temperature would take very precise control. Rob wanted to experiment, and had already made plans for an extra cold box for soft drinks.
The dressing room, also a walk-in wardrobe, really fascinated Jenny. While training as a sorceress Jenny kept switching between game characters, but she’d currently settled on Bonny the Barmaid. She’d even bought some cheap jewellery and lace to decorate a skirt and blouse. Now Jenny’s imagination had caught fire because the dressing room held clothes for women as well as the sorcerer, very expensive-looking clothes. She’d found a complete outfit, dress, shoes, gloves, wig, hat, brolly, and jewellery, carefully arranged on a dummy. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a Tavern character who dressed as a posh late Victorian, though Abel felt there might be one in the near future, possibly one with a pet fraggon.
The clothes also caught Ferryl’s interest because she’d been in the hole before those fashions developed, but the aquarium interested her more. It covered half of one wall in the library, almost two metres tall, four metres wide and extending maybe three metres back into the wall, full of exotic fish she didn’t recognise. Despite sometimes living near rivers or the sea, Ferryl had kept out of the water. She didn’t know what magical creatures lived there, or how vulnerable she might be. Now she had a whole tank full to look at, without even getting wet. Though it wasn’t just the creatures catching Ferryl’s interest. There were glyphs maintaining the water temperature and presumably keeping it clean, controlled by at least one bound shade. Ferryl wanted to investigate, to copy and understand the glyphs, but worried about killing the fish and other aquatic life.
Something more practical had caught Abel’s attention. There were vases, pictures, ornaments and furniture in every room, not a lot of them but they all had to be at least a hundred and eighteen years old. That meant they were antiques, so going by their pristine condition Abel felt sure everything must be valuable. Providing Woods would let him take things away, and convert them into cash, Abel could help mum out. Even if he had to keep the money secret, surely it could be fed into financing the game which would mean more money for all their families. The dryad had told Abel that Castle House belonged to him now, and only the inheritance laws stopped him moving in so that should apply to the contents. Unfortunately, “the dryad said it was okay” might not work in an antiques shop.
On the way out, Abel picked up a small, cheap-looking vase, just to check if he could take it away. When questioned, the luck toad repeated that Abel was the master and could do anything he wished. The small chest, sovereign or key would still kill anyone else who touched them, but the visitors could handle everything else if they didn’t cause damage. If a guest tried to remove any item they hadn’t brought in with them the house defences would stop them, unless Abel was present and authorised it. Stopping thieves might damage the décor and could destroy the item, but luck toad seemed very certain the offenders wouldn’t escape.
After Jenny went outside and came back in so the rest could watch her glyph dim, the luck toad also confirmed that the others could come inside the house when Abel wasn’t here. He could stop that by deliberately locking the door. After the warning about the key, coin and chest, Abel left them inside the house. He placed them on the table and Ferryl put a coloured bubble over the lot to remind Kelis, Rob, and Jenny. That should stop anyone getting accidentally killed.
There’d be plenty of time to explore the eleven rooms, because there wasn’t a short cut or puzzle to open the next locked section. The double doors sat at the end of a seven-metre-long, three-metre-wide corridor at the top of the stairs to the first floor, with a tall slim slot in a glowing panel on the wall next to them. Abel needed another key, and there wasn’t any clue where it might be. Nothing would be getting past the locked section until the door opened, not even an inquisitive puff of wind, judging by the gathering magic when Zephyr came near. At the same time, Ferryl reported magic gathering in two stuffed heads, a lioness and a black bear, one on each side of the door. Seemings stopped her from seeing what the heads really were, and she couldn’t tell if the rest of the animals’ bodies were hidden inside the wall.
The five of them went back to Kelis’s house, to the original Bonny’s Tavern, where they could get a drink while they talked. They’d got inside Castle House, and out again. Now what could they do with the place?
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Loot or Legacy
Ferryl had another bit of news once everyone had a drink. “The charred stone near the door, the one in the dead patch, is one of my wits. I looked very carefully on the way out, and I can’t see why the sorcerer used it. The only reason I can come up with is as a tripwire, one that would recognise me if I ever entered the house.” She smirked happily and lifted her cola as if toasting someone. “Despite how he treated me, Celtchar must still have thought I might break free one day.”
“Can you get to it? More importantly, can you read it? Or repair it, because the surface is definitely damaged.” Kelis hitched forward a little. “You said you put all Jenny’s and Claris’s schoolwork on a bone wit. How hard is that?”
“You can answer one question at a time, just so the rest of us can keep up.” Rob pretended to duck as Kelis turned towards him. “Help, Jenny, call up Fraggon.”
“Soon. I patted him again on the way out. I’m sure he likes me.” Jenny turned to Ferryl, her voice
losing any hint of levity. “You’ve stolen all my schoolwork? How? I can still remember what I’ve learned, I think? Or have I lost some?” Now she definitely looked worried.
“Your memories are intact. I copied all the knowledge you and Claris had learned at school, to help me with the modern world. That made one of my wits larger, which hurt more than usual when it came out. I’ll create a new one and transfer that knowledge, and future schoolwork. The knowledge is etched into the bone using intent, a section at a time, and any mistakes can be erased by healing. The etching is slow. It takes hours of concentration to enter the magically charged marks, I suppose you would call it code, to hold the basics of something like a new language. Fluency would take another long session, more hours of concentration even if the information only takes up a very small space.” Four heads leant forward, all wearing rapt expressions because Ferryl had them totally hooked. “How do you think the sorcerer remembered all the glyphs from the captured wits he forced me to put into my bones? He always cut them out once I’d read them and he’d recorded them, and probably destroyed the original.” Everyone flinched at just the thought, especially as they’d heard Ferryl scream when only two bone wits came out.
“So, I cannot have a wit.” Zephyr sounded downhearted.
“No, but as you grow you can remember more. Storing knowledge in wits needs a solid body.” Ferryl sounded sympathetic, but adamant. “It took me many, many centuries to learn that, centuries during which I had to relearn again and again. Take care, Zephyr, severe damage will leave you smaller and might destroy some of your memories.”
“I’d have to know how to heal my body before I could mess about with my bones.” Kelis looked glum, her interest waning. “I fancied learning German, but there just isn’t enough spare time. One of Laurence’s cousins, the ones I saw at that last dance, keeps emailing and he’s asking if I’ll come and visit. I can’t go, but I’d like to learn to at least talk to him properly when he visits England.”
Despite the chance to tease Kelis, Abel stuck with wits because he had his own use for one. “I wouldn’t mind putting maths on a wit. It isn’t cheating if it’s in my bone instead of my brain, is it?” He looked around the rest, startled by the smiles and laughter.
“Only you would ask about cheating. Actually, in Henry’s case, brain and bone are the same so it can’t be. I’d like to put all the things I’m learning about human biology on permanent storage. I’m sure I lose a page-worth for every two new pages I read.” Jenny tried for a bright smile but failed. “Chicken and egg, and all that. I need human biology to create a wit, but can’t learn human biology quickly without a wit.”
“No, you don’t. As I said, if you heal the bone the knowledge will be gone.” Ferryl thought hard, obviously working something out. “I’ve been talking about me, and I need healing when I move my wits from one body to another. Humans never need to take wits out, so they don’t have to heal the damage or force a wit into a new body. That means you don’t need to keep them small and concentrated, to start with at least. All you need is the control to etch and magically mark the bone inside your body without disturbing the flesh. Wits are magically locked etching, the same as creating glyphs inside a tree, or a stone guardian, or a magic diamond or gold.” Her eyes fastened on Jenny. “The other three can already reach inside earth compressed into a very small rock, to place a locking glyph at the centre. Further practice will get them deeper, and some bones are very near the surface.”
Despite just getting inside Castle House, everyone concentrated on creating wits. The sheer scope of what they could learn made it more important than exploring. With a wit, any of them could remember enough to pass their exams, or every page of those glyph books in the library.
A reply to Abel’s email to Woods and Green asking “Remove vase and sell?” brought them back to discussing Castle House. The reply simply said “All yours. As you wish. Please consult first.” Two more emails confirmed an appointment the day after tomorrow, on Christmas Eve when they’d all be in Stourton anyway.
Jenny left soon afterwards, before her dad started worrying. He still didn’t like her riding her moped in bad weather, especially in the evening. The rest thrashed it about, but then Rob and Abel went home to eat. The humans wouldn’t be thinking about treasure tonight, they all had school work to finish. They’d all made that mistake in the past, leaving holiday homework until later and then remembering too late.
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The following day the four school students worked on homework, then on how to raise some money from Castle House. Jenny worked from home because she didn’t fancy a rain-lashed fourteen-mile round trip on her moped. She had already started on fixing that particular problem, even if she complained the rain made it harder to learn to drive a car. Meanwhile internet enquiries about selling the valuables came up with the same thing time after time. Sudden finds of anything old and valuable needed a verified source or proof of ownership, and selling on websites such as eBay was restricted to over-eighteens. Their investigation turned to other ways people had come into possession of valuable items.
Meanwhile Ferryl had plenty of work to keep her occupied. The morning post delivered a thick parcel full of papers, her new identity and history. After glancing through them she took several and went to see Mrs. Ventner, Kelis’s mother. Half an hour later her mum called Kelis out of Bonny’s Tavern, leaving Rob and Abel to wonder what was happening. The big smiles when Ferryl and Kelis came back reassured them. “Kelis’s mum has accepted me as a lodger, in Claris’s old room, for as long as she has the house. Woods and Green supplied paperwork confirming that I have a small legacy.” Ferryl bowed to Abel. “From my deceased parents. The letter asked me to decide where I wish to rent accommodation, because I can’t buy my own home until I am eighteen. I will have a small lump sum to purchase school uniform, a laptop, that sort of thing, then a regular income to cover rent and board.”
To Abel’s surprise she came over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Abel. I have never been a real person, just me alone.” She held up some of the papers. “These need a signature, my signature, not my host’s. In all my years, I have never had a signature of my own.”
The rest gathered round her, really interested now. Somehow, they’d never really processed how Ferryl only experienced life through her succession of hosts, or that she’d never had a real body. Everything they took for granted, Ferryl experienced second-hand. She still would experience life indirectly, but for ninety years she could react as if the body she was inhabiting was hers, because the host would never know. The celebration only involved soft drinks, but then everyone wanted to do something to mark the occasion. After eating the hot bacon sandwiches Ferryl’s new landlady provided for lunch, Rob came up with the perfect answer. Ferryl wanted the burned wit from the door inside Castle House, and now Abel had been accepted as the master of the house she should be able to get it.
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A long, careful three hours later, Ferryl came out of Castle House with a blackened nub of bone. The luck toad had agreed that Abel could alter the house protection, but advised against changing the intricate web of magic and glyphs. After that warning, Ferryl and Zephyr inspected the wit and the surrounding area very closely, but removing it shouldn’t make any difference. The difficulty would be in repairing the underlying webs and whirls of magic in and around the wall itself. Neither Zephyr nor Ferryl could work out what most of them were for which meant it might be a bad idea to change anything.
Abel carefully explained all that to Fraggon while hoping the dead vine listened, didn’t care, or would follow Fraggon’s lead. The living stone creature uncoiled and came across the room to where it could watch Ferryl directing Abel, Zephyr advising, and Abel extracting the wit complete with the gold surrounding it. Once Abel removed it completely, both Zephyr and Ferryl directed him in repairing the magic flows across the wall until they met across the blank spot. Finishing the task successfully came as a big relief, nearly as much
of one as Fraggon slithering back to coil by the inner door. This time Abel took a picture with his phone. He felt sure it had smiled again.
Despite everyone else thinking she should put the wit into her bones straight away, Ferryl demurred. She’d wait until tonight, when she had chance to deal with whatever the wit held and make sense of any damaged portions. If they were too badly damaged, portions of memories might be distracting or confusing so Ferryl wanted time to erase them.
Instead, she wanted to go through the loot taken from Castle House. Ferryl had told the other four which items had been created with a glyph at their heart, or were charged with magic. According to Ferryl, none of those would be as valuable as the naturally created art so Kelis, Abel, and Rob had all chosen non-magical items. Having genuine valuables rather than those formed with magic had become a status symbol with sorceresses, even two hundred years ago.
Now everyone carefully wrapped the jewellery, half a dozen odd coins in a case, three small vases and a few statuettes and ornaments in gold and precious stones. Kelis had brought two books that caught her eye, Faustus and Queen Mab, both printed in 1821. An internet search showed the same editions on sale for two thousand pounds each.
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When Una arrived the following day to play taxi driver, she looked Fay over very carefully. “Shannon has told us about you, which is why I volunteered to drive you all today. Are you living here now?”