The Jack Brenin Collection

by Catherine Cooper

  ‘But it doesn’t belong to him. He can’t keep it,’ Jack said crossly.

  ‘I’m afraid that as long as Pycroft has the acorn he’ll believe it’s his. Bogies are like that. They don’t have a better nature you can appeal to. I’ll send Camelin over to you later to let you know if he’s there or not and what we intend to do.’

  ‘Can’t I go with you?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know how to begin to explain to your Grandad that we’re visiting a rubbish tip after dark. Would you?’

  Jack had to agree with Nora. He’d have to wait for her to send him news later.

  It was a long wait. For hours Jack watched from his bedroom window for any sign of Camelin. It was useless to write to Elan in his Book of Shadows. He knew she’d be out with the others. Orin kept Jack company until she yawned and scampered onto his pillow, where she fell fast asleep. It was nearly midnight when Jack finally saw Camelin’s silhouette swoop over the trees. He opened the window wide and Camelin flew straight in and landed on the back of Jack’s chair. He was really excited and began noisily telling Jack the news.

  ‘We’ve got the tip surrounded. You were right, he’s in there. Motley found him. He won’t escape.’

  ‘Jack,’ shouted Grandad from his bedroom, ‘is that the radio? It’s a bit late. Turn if off, there’s a good lad.’

  ‘Sorry Grandad,’ Jack shouted back then whispered to Camelin. ‘You’re going to have to keep your voice down and start again slowly from the beginning.’

  ‘Nora sent Motley and the Night Guard over to the tip. They came back and said they’d found a burrow, a big one made out of rubbish, and someone was living in it. Elan’s keeping watch and as soon as he returns she’ll help Motley and the Night Guard bring him over to Ewell House.’

  ‘Won’t he put up a fight?’

  ‘Naw. Bogie’s don’t like anything with teeth and claws. Besides, Charkle’s going to be there. If the Bogie gives them any trouble Charkle can persuade him to be good by directing his flame in the right place. I doubt any Bogie would want a singed bottom.’

  Jack laughed then remembered that Grandad was sleeping in the next room.

  ‘You’re going to have to go now.’

  ‘What about my lesson?’

  ‘We’ll have a double one in your loft tomorrow night. I hope I’m there when Pycroft returns the acorn.’

  Camelin was very excited when Jack arrived at Ewell House after school the next day.

  ‘They’ve got him,’ he cawed loudly before Nora could tell Jack the news. ‘Motley said they’d captured Pycroft and they’ll bring him to the house as soon as it’s dark.’

  ‘We must be ready,’ said Nora. ‘We can’t afford any mistakes. We must have the acorn back. The solstice is tomorrow night.’

  Camelin puffed his feathers out, strutted along the table and interrupted Nora again before she could continue.

  ‘Timmery’s gone to let Chief Knuckle know the good news. As soon as we’ve got the acorn back the Spriggans can come and shrink Grub back down to size.’

  ‘I shan’t be sorry to see him go,’ sighed Nora. ‘He’s such a size to feed. I’d better go and re-open the tunnel. Have you two got something to do before it goes dark?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jack and Camelin replied together.

  They went up to the loft. At the end of Camelin’s double reading lesson Jack congratulated him.

  ‘You’re nearly there. A bit more practice and you’ll be able to read anything.’ Camelin looked pleased.

  Once Jack had transformed they went outside to practise flying through the hoop for the last time.

  After supper Jack and Camelin kept watch from the chimney pot.

  ‘Are you feeling OK about the ritual tomorrow night?’ Camelin asked.

  Jack nodded. He was a bit nervous and anxious but at the same time curious and excited. He was just wondering how to explain his feelings when they saw something move by the gap in the hedge.

  ‘It’s them!’ Camelin cawed excitedly.

  Jack watched the procession as it made its way towards the house. Motley marched proudly at the front with his head in the air. The rest of the Night Guard surrounded the Bogie. It looked like Peabody, with the same mean pinched look, only this Bogie still had a long, sharp, pointed nose. He wore a green jacket and red hat which had a beautiful white feather tucked under the hatband. His brown trousers looked more like shorts and his green and red striped stockings came over his knees. His feet were the longest Jack had ever seen, longer than Peabody’s, and his flat, narrow shoes ended in points. A chestnut ferret brought up the rear and a small bat, with a purple sheen to its wings, flitted around the Bogie’s head. Jack and Camelin swooped down and circled the group. As they passed the tunnel opening Timmery joined them.

  ‘Halt,’ Motley commanded when they reached the patio door.

  Nora stepped out.

  ‘The Bogie,’ Motley announced as he and the Night Guard bowed low.

  ‘I believe you’ve got something to return,’ Nora said loudly.

  The Bogie looked annoyed. His eyes were cold and Jack felt a shiver run down his spine as Pycroft glowered at Nora. Eventually he reluctantly fished into his waistcoat pocket and brought out the golden acorn. But instead of giving it to Nora he wrapped his fingers around it.

  ‘I’d like to know what you wanted it for?’ Nora asked.

  The Bogie planted his feet firmly apart in a defiant gesture.

  ‘I haven’t got time for this,’ continued Nora and quickly withdrew her wand. ‘If I don’t get an answer in the next couple of seconds I’m going to shrink your nose so it matches your brother’s.’

  Unlike Peabody he didn’t protest or squeal or bob up and down. Instead he continued to scowl angrily at Nora.

  ‘I wanted it for my collection.’

  ‘You had no right of ownership to my golden acorn.’

  ‘Why not? I saw one of those birds bounce it off a boy’s head a while back and presumed nobody wanted it.’

  Camelin coughed and looked embarrassed when Nora gave him a cross look but she soon turned back to Pycroft as he continued to explain.

  ‘If I’d been quicker I’d have grabbed it then and there but the boy picked it up.’

  ‘So you got the Spriggans to steal it for you?’ continued Nora.

  ‘Not at first. I followed the boy and then told my brother about him. He had him cornered in Newton Gill Forest but somehow the boy got away so I got him to search the boy’s room, but he couldn’t find the acorn. Then he followed the boy here. I had a look at this place from the bell tower and realised that getting in without being seen would be a problem. That’s when I got my brother to go and see the Spriggans. I knew they’d be able to get in and out again.’

  Jack realised he hadn’t imagined someone watching him that morning on the back lane. It must have been Pycroft behind the trees. Jack shuddered again.

  ‘So you involved Peabody in your scheme.’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ Pycroft replied gruffly. ‘I’m very busy. Peabody runs a lot of errands for me. I knew Chief Knuckle would send a band of Spriggans here once he’d seen the torch I had to trade. Peabody got them to dig under the hedge. They were happy to go and get it. Saved both of us a lot of effort. They don’t mind digging and they had no problem finding the acorn. Spriggans can sniff out gold quite easily’

  Nora folded her arms. Pycroft still looked cross and defiant.

  ‘And is that all you’ve got to say?’ asked Nora.

  ‘Nothing else to tell,’ Pycroft replied rudely, ‘so I’ll be keeping the gold then.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Nora said sternly.

  ‘Don’t see why not. Finders keepers. If the acorn was important or belonged to anyone why was it being thrown away?’

  ‘That is none of your business. Besides, you didn’t find the acorn, you got others to steal it for you. Give it to me.’

  Everyone held their breath expectantly and looked at Nora as she held out her hand.

 
‘Hasn’t anyone told you my acorn is Druid’s gold?’

  Pycroft shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘You should have taken better care of it. That bird didn’t want it and what use could a boy possibly have with Druid’s gold?’

  Jack could see Nora was getting angry. She raised her wand and pointed it at Pycroft’s hand. His fingers sprang open. As he fought to close them again his palm began to shake. The golden acorn rolled off his trembling palm onto the ground. He was rooted to the spot and try as he might he couldn’t bend over to retrieve it. Motley picked it up in his paws and scampered over to Nora’s feet and offered it up to her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said kindly, then turned her attention back to Pycroft.

  ‘An apology would be nice.’

  Pycroft closed his lips tightly and scowled. Nora lowered her wand and Pycroft took a step back but Nora had seen him. She raised her wand again and froze him in mid-stride.

  ‘You had your chance to put things right and you chose to be rude. Now it’s my turn to choose what to do with you.’

  Pycroft’s whole body was frozen, his face twisted in a scornful look. With a quick flick of her wand a flash of light exploded in front of Pycroft’s face. His eyes crossed as he tried to see what she’d done. Nora had replaced his long sharp nose with a pig’s wide snout.

  ‘This will be permanent unless you find some manners and change your ways. For every good deed you do your nose will begin to change shape but each time you’re bad or rude it will shrink again. Now go back to where you belong and don’t come bothering me again.’

  Pycroft moaned. As soon as Nora released him his hand shot up to examine his new nose.

  ‘You’ll pay for this,’ he screamed and scurried towards the hole as fast as his little legs could carry him.

  Jack thought he could still hear Pycroft complaining but not for long. A great cheer erupted from everyone in the garden as Nora held up the golden acorn. They’d got it back at last.

  INTO THE PAST

  When they were sure that Pycroft had gone everyone spoke at once and continued chatting until Elan shook her chestnut fur and shapeshifted back.

  ‘That’s better,’ she said as she stretched her arms and legs. It’s almost midnight. Shall we go over to the hole and wait for the Spriggans?’

  They didn’t have to wait long for no sooner had they rounded the corner than the first head poked out of the hole, followed by another and another until twelve Spriggans almost filled the kitchen garden.

  ‘The Bogie returned your property?’ Chief Knuckle asked as he bowed low.

  ‘I have it back,’ confirmed Nora. ‘Would you like to shrink Grub down to size?’

  The Spriggans shuffled over to Grub who was sleeping soundly. They made a circle around him and started joining hands. Once the last pair were clasped together a series of small explosions began from inside the ivy that surrounded Grub. He woke with a cry and struggled to free himself from the tangle of leaves. He began to shrink rapidly. Whiff threw him the end piece of their rope and he tied it securely around his waist.

  ‘Please accepts my sincere apologies,’ the Chief said as he bowed again. ‘I hopes this is an end to the matter.’

  ‘It will be when you’ve left my garden and backfilled the hole,’ Nora replied.

  ‘Before we goes, you haven’t seen a Dragonette anywhere have you? One of my bands seems to have lost one and they thoughts it might have been in your garden.’

  ‘We’ve only got ravens, bats and a goose at the moment. I expect your Dragonette went back to its roost. Have you any idea where that might be?

  The Chief shook his head, ‘Sadly no,’ he replied before shouting to three Spriggans who stood near the hole. ‘Digging party, makes good.’

  It was impressive how quickly they all disappeared through the hole. Earth from inside the tunnel appeared and when Elan pushed the turf back into place it was hard to tell anything had ever disturbed the ground.

  ‘We’d better all get off to bed now,’ said Nora. ‘You two have an important flight tomorrow.’

  ‘I wonder where Peabody is?’ Elan said as they made their way back to the kitchen.

  ‘Here,’ a small frightened voice replied from the shadow of the house.

  ‘Step forward where I can see you,’ Nora commanded.

  Peabody stepped into the light from the kitchen. He had a scarf wrapped around his face to hide the shame of his shrunken nose. His knees began to knock loudly. Everyone stared at him.

  ‘He wouldn’t listen to me,’ he sobbed. ‘Pycroft never listens to me, always thinks he knows best, said he was keeping the acorn for good and no one would ever find out where he was going to hole up. Even I couldn’t find him or I would have come and told you, and now it’s too late.’

  Peabody began to sob even louder when he saw Nora raise her wand slightly.

  ‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t find him. I came in through the tunnel but now that’s gone I’m trapped. I can’t get out of your garden.’

  Nora held her wand high and pointed it down at Peabody’s nose. His teeth began to chatter and tears soaked into his scarf.

  ‘You’ll be glad to know we found your brother and I now have my golden acorn back. I think we’ve both been misused,’ she said kindly. ‘You shall have your nose restored.’

  A green light flashed from the end of Nora’s wand. There was a crackle and Peabody squealed excitedly as his scarf began to stretch. He quickly unwound it.

  ‘My nose, my nose, my distinguished wonderful nose,’ he cried as he jumped up and down. ‘Oh thank you great Seanchai, thank you. I’m forever in your debt. If there’s ever anything I can do, you only need ask.’

  ‘I think I’d like you to leave my garden,’ Nora told him as she pointed her wand at Peabody’s feet and raised him into the air. When he was level with her face he began thanking her again.

  ‘Oh great Seanchai, oh Mighty One, thank you, thank you.’

  They could still hear his voice in the distance after Nora had transported him to the other side of the hedge.

  ‘What will happen if Pycroft finds out Peabody’s got his nose back?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Unless Pycroft wants a pig’s snout for a nose for the rest of his life he’s going to have to start treating Peabody better, and everyone else he comes into contact with for that matter,’ replied Nora.

  There was a grunting sound. Everyone turned to where the noise had come from.

  ‘Camelin!’ Nora chided, but Jack could see she was trying not to laugh.

  Jack flew back to the loft with Camelin and transformed.

  ‘Are you worried about tomorrow night?’ Camelin asked Jack again before he left the loft.

  ‘A bit but I feel a lot better now Nora’s got the golden acorn back.’

  ‘Are we still going to watch that cricket match you wanted to see tomorrow afternoon? There’ll be lots of sandwiches.’

  ‘We are, but we’re not going to steal anything. Besides they’ll be watching out for you.’

  Jack could hear Camelin grumbling to himself as he left the loft. When he finally got into bed he couldn’t sleep. This time tomorrow he might still be in the past searching for the lost plates. He had to succeed, but what then? Once the cauldron was restored Nora would reopen the portal. Would he be left on his own again? Would he ever see any of his friends once they went back into Annwn? It would be painful to say goodbye. It would be worse if he failed. He’d never had this kind of responsibility before. He was afraid but he’d keep his promise. He’d do his best.

  It was late when Jack woke the next morning. The sun was already streaming in through the curtains. He listened but couldn’t hear anyone else moving about in the house.

  He found everyone, apart from Camelin, sitting in the garden.

  ‘Breakfast?’ asked Nora.

  ‘I’m not very hungry. I’ll wait for Camelin.’

  ‘Are you OK?’ Elan asked.

  Jack nodded even though he didn’t feel too good. His s
tomach was churning.

  ‘Is it all right if Camelin and I fly over to the Cricket Club this afternoon? There’s a match I’d like to watch unless you need us for anything else.’

  ‘I don’t think there’s anything else we can do now. Everything’s ready; we just need to wait until sunset.’

  Jack had a long wait for Camelin. When he finally appeared he looked as if he’d had a sleepless night too.

  Later that afternoon Jack and Camelin flew over to the pavilion. They found a good perch which gave them a grandstand view of the whole pitch. Jack explained the game but Camelin seemed distracted.

  ‘Is there anything you want to talk about before we go into the past?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Not really. I’m not looking forward to going back to when it all happened. You know, my bash on the head. I don’t think I’m going to be able to watch what the soldiers did to me.’

  ‘I’ll watch,’ said Jack with more confidence than he felt. ‘We’ll find out what happened and get those plates back in no time.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Camelin replied. ‘You know, I didn’t think you were going to be any use at first but I’m glad you’re The One. You just didn’t seem to fit the prophecy but I realise now you don’t have to be big and tough to be strong and brave.’

  Jack smiled. He didn’t tell Camelin how rude he’d thought he was when they’d first met.

  ‘Do you know what this prophecy says? I tried asking the Book of Shadows but it didn’t give me an answer.’

  ‘It’s written around the bottom of Jennet’s well but it’s so overgrown now I doubt anyone could read it.’

  ‘What does it say?’

  Camelin coughed and puffed out his feathers.

  ‘A Brenin boy you need to find

  Born at Samhain of Humankind.

  The One you seek is brave and strong

  And his true heart can do no wrong.

  The Golden Acorn he will see

  And listen to the Dryad’s plea.