‘Can’t they see it?’ said Summer.
‘No, it’s invisible to the naked eye.’ Michelle searched through the papers. ‘If a normal person walks through, nothing will happen. When anyone who possesses magic goes through, the web appears, wraps around them, trapping them, and leaving a black band around their neck.’
‘Does it tell you how to break the spell?’ said Luella.
Michelle searched through the papers again and found it. ‘There are three ways. One is for the caster to be killed, or if they just release the victim, and the last is heat to burn the band a way.’
Summer smiled. ‘Maybe I could do the last one.’
Michelle shook her head. ‘There’s a problem with that, it would need to be so hot it would kill them, as it would need the heat of the sun.’
Alex smiled. ‘I could do that.’
‘Can you do that without burning him?’ said Luella.
‘I didn’t burn you with the golden energy.’
‘Would that work on the spell?’
Alex nodded. ‘I believe so, and if it doesn’t, Michelle says there are two other ways.’
What if they try to capture you this way?’ said Blaze.
‘It won’t work on me, I don’t use magic.’
Blaze gave him a stern look. ‘But you have power, and there’s a chance it could capture you.’
‘It’s a power of pure energy I believe,’ said Alex. ‘I think we should destroy these papers now so the spell can’t get into other hands and be used again.’
Luella nodded. ‘I agree, burn it.’
‘I don’t,’ said Blaze, ‘I think it should be performed again, and you ladies should do it.’
Luella raised both eyebrows. ‘Why on earth would you want us to do that?’
‘So Alex can walk through it, and put my mind at peace.’
Daralis nodded. ‘That’s a very good point, and we can test Alex’s theory.’
‘But what if it works?’ said Luella. ‘He would be our prisoner.’
Alex smiled. ‘I’m already your prisoner.’
‘Very sweet of you, dear, but you’re going to insist on this.’
‘It makes sense, and if it works on me I can see if my power works in getting rid of it.’
‘Maybe I should do it,’ said Briana, with a cheeky grin. ‘Alex would make an interesting prisoner.’
Luella raised an eyebrow. ‘I know what you’re like, and my son would be safer with the dark witches.’
‘Why, Mother, that’s a terrible thing to say,’ said Briana, feigning hurt.
‘You know there’s a bar here,’ said Daralis.
Briana’s eyes grew big. ‘Now that’s a room I will have to try.’
Alex was confused about Briana calling Luella, mother, but thought it would be better to mention it later. ‘I best go and tell Joseph that I’ve wasted his time on that letter.’
‘I didn’t see him come out for lunch,’ said George, who had sat there quietly, but looked intrigued by the conversation.
‘I took him some food in earlier,’ said Summer. ‘He was studying a piece of paper with a magnifying glass.’
‘Is Joseph a wizard?’ said Briana, and for some reason she looked less happy.
‘No, just one of our friends,’ said Luella, who noticed her sad look. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I just realised where I am, and what I’m wearing,’ Briana frowned, as she glanced down at her dress. ‘You all look so fine in your clothes and hairstyles, and here’s me looking like some dark age peasant woman.’
‘We can sort that out for you no problem,’ said Summer. ‘Alex has bought us many clothes you can have, and we have our own stylist too.’
Briana shook her head. ‘I couldn’t ask you to do that.’
‘Yes, you can,’ Alex insisted. ‘Money’s not a problem here, so just ask for anything you need.’
‘You’re very kind, but I don’t think I could accept.’
‘I refused to accept anything off Alex once,’ said Blaze, ‘and trust me it doesn’t work.’
Alex stood and looked at their new friend. ‘I have to say, peasant girl, your dress might look old but it looks well made.’
Briana smiled. ‘After thousands of years of making your own clothes, you become quite good at it.’
Joseph stepped out of the study with some papers and an empty plate. Summer took the plate, and introduced him to Briana.
‘I was just coming to get you,’ said Alex. ‘I think your morning with the parchment was wasted.’
‘I thought so, until I found something.’
Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘What was that?’
Joseph passed him some papers. ‘As you can see from the part of the letter that I have managed to translate, it’s a message.’
Alex read it as Joseph had translated most of the message on another piece of paper. He turned to the others. ‘It’s telling someone where the government’s soldiers are, and the safest route to take to the ceremony.’
‘What ceremony?’ said Luella.
‘It doesn’t say.’
Joseph sat down. ‘There are still two lines I need to figure out, they’re such a mess, but I have a feeling they might tell us where.’
Alex rubbed his eyes. ‘Do you think this route and ceremony will lead us to the witches?’
‘Maybe, but that’s not the strange part of the letter.’
‘I’m not with you.’
Joseph pointed to two words at the bottom of the parchment. ‘The last two words that I haven’t written in English.’
‘What do they say?’ said Alex.
‘I have checked it, and checked it again, and it says . . . Godspeed, Alex.’
The room went quiet.
Alex shivered. ‘That’s just creepy.’
Joseph nodded. ‘Yes, I have to agree. Even with your inheritance off someone from the past, this message is something different. It’s at least three hundred years old, but not much further back than that.’
‘Do you think it’s off the same man?’
‘No,’ Luella interrupted. ‘I saw his writing and it was always in English.’
‘Are you sure the letter is that old?’ Alex inquired.
‘Yes,’ said Joseph. ‘The language is thousands of years old, but the paper is not much older than three hundred years.’
‘Does it matter how old it is?’ said Luella.
Joseph scratched the side of his head. ‘If it’s from anytime in the last five hundred years . . . who would be using that language?’
‘I stopped using it a long time before then,’ said Luella.
‘As did I,’ Daralis added.
Briana looked at the letter. ‘I stopped about two hundred years ago when I thought it would be a good idea for the others to learn English.’
Alex put the papers on the table. ‘I’ve a feeling the warlock was involved somehow.’
‘What makes you say that?’ said Joseph.
‘The ceremony part is all cloak and dagger, and was most likely written in the old language in case the letter fell into the wrong hands.’
‘Sound reasoning, but if the letter was for you, how could he know your name all those years ago?’
‘I’ve no idea . . . just add it to the list of other questions we want answers to.’
‘Well, I best figure out the rest of these words.’
‘Would you like any help?’ said Briana. ‘It is my old language.’
Joseph looked at her appreciatively. ‘Yes, that would be nice. I will just get my magnifying glass, as it makes it a little easier to read.’
‘I could scan it into the computer,’ said Michelle. ‘And you could zoom in on any word.’
Joseph smiled. ‘That sounds like a much better idea.’
Luella stood. ‘We would help you, but we need to sort out the ingredients for the spell.’
Joseph walked to the Library with Michelle, as the pucas and children came out of the cinema and Flax ran to Briana.
‘Mother,�
�� said Flax.
Alex raised a brow. ‘They have a lot of mothers.’
Briana picked Flax up. ‘They like to call all us white witches that, and we don’t mind.’
‘Have you not heard what they call you?’ said Summer.
Alex shook his head. ‘No, I can’t say that I have.’
Briana held Flax at arm’s length checking her all over.
The puca’s eyes grew big. ‘Is there something wrong, Mother?’
‘I heard you got badly hurt.’
‘Yes, I was, but Papa saved us.’
Alex smiled. ‘Not just me, honey, the others saved you too.’
‘Yes, and they’re also my family.’
Briana put Flax down. ‘Would it be OK for the other pucas to stay for a couple of days?’
Alex nodded. ‘We would love them to stay, but what about you?’
‘I would, but there are other pucas back home with little ones. I can’t stay too long as we have to be somewhere else in a few days.’
‘We can bring them here, there’s plenty of room.’
‘It’s a nice idea, but sadly the babies cannot fly yet.’
House, can you take us both to Ireland? Alex asked.
Yes, it is not as far as Norway, and I can take many I believe.
‘You don’t have to fly, and we can have them all back here in seconds.’
‘How can you do that?’ said Briana.
Alex smiled. ‘You saw me disappear earlier. It’s one way we can travel, and fast.’
‘OK, what do I have to do?’
‘Just think of where the pucas are, and House will do the rest.’
Briana concentrated on her home and they vanished, only to appear in a forest outside a small cottage which looked a lot like Daralis’s. Four startled looking pucas, two of them holding babies, stared at them.
‘Mother, is everything OK?’ said one of the pucas holding a baby.
‘Yes, Daisy, we are going on holiday for a few days. This is Alex, he’s our friend,’ Briana told her, and they all stared at him with some suspicion.
‘Do you need to get anything?’ said Alex.
‘I best get some clothes,’
‘You don’t need any, the ladies at the mansion will give you some, or I’ll buy you any you need.’
‘That’s very kind, but I do need other things,’ said Briana, and stepped inside her cottage.
Alex turned to the confused looking pucas. ‘Your friends are at my house.’
‘Which ones?’ said Daisy.
‘All of them, including Gort and Flax.’
‘Are they OK?’ said another puca.
‘Yeah, they’re well and happy, and there are two others you might know.’
‘Who are they?’ said Daisy.
‘Luella and Daralis.’
Daisy’s eyes grew big. ‘They’re also our mothers.’
‘Luella is my mother, and brought me here when I was a little boy. Briana called me little Alex.’
‘I remember little Alex, but you got so big.’
Alex nodded. ‘That happens to us, but I don’t remember seeing any of you here.’
‘We had to hide, and I wanted to play with you, so I became a cat.’
Alex scratched his head. ‘I remember a cat who liked a lot of fuss, and I was forever stroking it.’
Daisy smiled. ‘Yes, it was nice. Mother Luella brought another little boy not long ago, and we had to hide again.’
‘Well he’s at our house, and you’ll not have to do any hiding there,’ said Alex, and the pucas were at ease with him.
‘Would you like to hold my daughter?’ said Daisy.
Alex froze. ‘I’m not sure, she’s so small.’
Daisy frowned. ‘Don’t you like her?’
‘She’s very beautiful, but it’s been so long since I held a baby.’ The last time was Thomas and that made him nervous.
‘That’s OK, you can hold mine,’ she said, and held her baby out to him.
Alex took the baby and cradled her in his arms, she was like a ball of fur with yellow eyes and he was positive she was smiling. ‘I don’t think it will be a good idea to take the babies back.’
‘Why not, won’t they like them?’
‘They’ll love them, and want to hold them all the time.’
‘That’s good . . . it’s nice if others want to hold them.’
‘But you might not get to hold them yourselves.’
‘That will be OK, as long as they give them back before we go to bed.’
‘You wouldn’t mind them holding your baby all day?’
‘No, that would be good.’
‘It sounds shocking doesn’t it,’ said Briana, stepping out of her cottage with a suitcase.
‘It’s different,’ said Alex.
‘Yes, but pucas are different, it’s usually hundreds of years before there’s a new birth, so they stay as babies for at least five years.’
‘I can understand why they don’t mind others looking after them,’ said Alex. ‘OK, House, we’re ready.’
~~~~
‘Have you seen Alex?’ said Carrie, after they finished training.
‘He’s gone to Ireland,’ said George, without looking up from his book.
Carrie stood there looking confused. ‘What? He just popped off to Ireland like that?’
‘He took Briana to get something.’
Carrie was about to say something else when Alex appeared holding a furry little creature. A crowd gathered around them almost frightening the pucas.
‘Come on people let’s give them some room,’ said Paige, picking up two of the pucas. ‘Is this better?’ she asked them.
‘Yes, thank you,’ they both said.
‘Is the baby yours?’ said Paige.
‘The one Alex is holding is our daughter,’ said Daisy.
‘You know they won’t hurt her, they just want to take a look.’
‘That’s OK, they can hold her if they want.’
‘You don’t mind?’
‘No, she loves being picked up.’
‘Well, I’m Paige.’
‘I am Daisy, and my mate is Dandelion.’
‘I named them,’ said Briana. ‘If you were wondering why some have such different names.’
Alex nodded. ‘It did cross my mind.’
‘They used to name their children after themselves, father to son and mother to daughter. It became quite confusing when there were four Jaraks at the same time.’
‘And you of course like plants.’
‘You noticed that, I would’ve named Gort and Flax something else, but after what happened to their parents I thought it was best to leave them with their names.’
Alex glanced down at the baby in his arms. ‘And what is this little one called?’
‘She is Buttercup.’
Alex nodded. ‘It suits her eyes.’
‘They are not just fur, there’s so much more to them.’
‘I’ve known that since I first met them.’
‘I best go and help Joseph with that letter,’ said Briana. ‘What should I do with my case?’
‘Leave it there and I will take it up for you,’ said Alex, as he passed the baby to Carrie.
‘I’m next,’ said Paige, looking at Carrie.
Alex laughed. ‘There is another one.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ said Paige, smiling and held her arms out to the other mother.
~~~~
Alex caught up with Briana just past the stairs. ‘I wanted to ask you something without the pucas hearing.’
‘What would you like to know?’
‘You said there were four Jaraks at the same time, so I thought there would be a lot more pucas than we have here.’
‘There were once. The baby you held was the first since Gort and Flax, and we thought they were going to die out until Daisy came to me feeling sick.’
‘How long ago was that?’ said Alex.
‘About a year,’ said Briana. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘It’s nearly a year since I saved my first two daughters.’
Briana was about to say something when Luella and Daralis came down the stairs with a small glass bottle and a syringe.
‘We can try the spell when you’re ready,’ said Daralis.
Alex rubbed his chin. ‘Where are the children?’
‘In the cinema,’ said Blaze. ‘I best take the other pucas down there before you start.’
‘OK, let’s give it a go.’
‘We will need a doorway so we can cast it,’ said Luella.
Alex opened both doors to the party room and Luella started putting drops around the door frame, while she and Daralis read out the spell.
‘From the depths of hell,
we cast this spell,
to search and find,
the magic to bind,
and in the midnight hour,
we will control their power.’
They repeated the spell until Luella finished putting the potion on the frame.
‘I’m sure those weren’t the words Michelle translated,’ said Alex.
‘Not quite,’ said Daralis, ‘but it didn’t rhyme so we tweaked it a little.’
Web-like substances appeared in the frame of the doorway, interlocking with each other and became a dark spider looking web before it vanished.
Alex walked up to it slowly, and stopped, the web appeared in front of him. ‘I can see it,’ he said, and stepped back where the web disappeared. He waved his hand towards the doorway and it showed up, but vanished as he it moved it away.
‘You’re not frightened are you?’ said James.
‘No,’ said Alex, with a somewhat unsure look on his face. ‘Not really.’
Asima raised an eyebrow. ‘You might need to get this over before the children come out.’
Alex stepped back before walking through the open doors. The web quickly appeared once again. It wrapped around him for a few seconds and disappeared, when a black band appeared on his neck.
Luella stared at the band. ‘It works, now you should try to see if you can get rid of it.’
‘What’s the hurry?’ said Daralis.
Alex glowed slightly, and the band vanished. He shuddered. ‘That wasn’t a nice feeling,’
‘So you do have magic,’ said Blaze, as she returned, ‘as well as your other power, but at least you can overcome the spell.’
‘I’m now worried we didn’t do it right,’ said Luella.
Other Worlds: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Two - Fantasy Page 11