The Jack Brenin Collection

by Catherine Cooper

  ‘No I won’t, but be careful; remember you got your wand taken away last time you decided to experiment on your own. Anyway, I’ve got some news for you, Elan and I saw four fairies this afternoon.’

  ‘Humph! Fairies. Noisy creatures. Never stop talking… they’re worse than Timmery.’

  ‘You’ve seen them?’

  ‘You don’t have to see them to hear them, I stay well away.’

  ‘Well they saved Elan and me when those boys tried to ambush us.’

  ‘Ambush! Where?’

  ‘In the field near the stile, they’ve been bothering us all day in town.’

  ‘I’ll get a watch put on them, don’t you worry, leave it to me.’

  ‘Thanks but I don’t want you getting into trouble.’

  ‘I won’t, trust me.’

  ‘I suppose I’d better be off now. See you tomorrow?’

  ‘Are you sure you can spare the time now Elan’s back?’

  ‘I’ll come over and we can do something together. OK?’

  ‘OK.’

  Jack left Camelin admiring his tidy loft. He made his way back to the kitchen and collected his letter.

  ‘I’ll be off now.’

  ‘How do you fancy blackberry picking tomorrow morning?’ asked Nora.

  ‘Can Camelin come too? I just said we could do something together tomorrow, he was feeling a bit left out today.’

  ‘Of course he can, he likes picking blackberries.’

  Jack wondered if Camelin would be pleased. He liked picking to eat but collecting was another thing altogether. Maybe Nora would let him eat a few.

  ‘We’ll arrange with your grandad for you to stay at the end of the month when we go back to Annwn,’ said Nora as he reached the patio door.

  Jack had to sidestep quickly as Medric burst into the kitchen, cackled loudly and dashed out again.

  ‘How many have hatched now?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Eight,’ replied Nora, ‘only two more to go. I was going to take you over to see them but I think we’ll leave it for a while, at least until Medric’s calmed down.’

  ‘Is there anything I can get for them?’

  Elan smiled.

  ‘Names!’

  ‘Names?’

  ‘We need ten names but we don’t know yet how many are males and how many are females. In his haste to give us the good news, Medric forgot to tell us.’

  ‘Won’t Gerda and Medric want to name them?’

  ‘Gerda asked us to do it, as a thank you for rescuing Medric.’

  ‘I’ll have a think,’ said Jack.

  ‘If we all make a list maybe Gerda and Medric can choose the ones they like best,’ suggested Elan.

  ‘That’s a great idea,’ replied Jack. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  As Jack went through the hedge he felt grateful that he had a safe way to get to and from Ewell House. No matter what Elan said he was still worried about Max and the others and he knew that if he bumped into them when he was on his own he wouldn’t be able to stand up to them. If only there was a way to stop them, but without magic he was powerless. He’d been looking forward to the holidays and hoped the boys weren’t going to spoil it. He promised himself he’d try to forget about them and concentrate on other more important things, like names for the ten goslings, and his next visit to Annwn. Elan had said it was only a formality to prove he was the rightful king but he ought to find out more. As soon as he was alone he’d ask his Book of Shadows.

  He could hear Grandad’s radio before he left the tunnel. The Test Match was still on. At least with the no talking rule Grandad wouldn’t be asking him any awkward questions. He needn’t have worried; Grandad was asleep in the chair. Jack wrote a three-word note… in my bedroom… and trapped the corner under the empty lemonade glass. He raced upstairs and got out his Book of Shadows but before he opened it he took out his letter from Annwn and showed it to Orin.

  REGISTRATION DAY

  ‘Can I go blackberry picking with Elan and Nora this morning?’ Jack asked at breakfast.

  ‘Of course you can, there’s nothing quite like Nora’s blackberry pie. Could you give me a hand this afternoon at the Cricket Club? It’s registration day and I could do with some help.’

  ‘Registration day?’

  ‘For the buggy race, but I’m forgetting, you’d have been too young to remember the last one you went to. It’s been going for years, since before I was a lad.’

  Grandad went over to the dresser and picked up a sheet of paper.

  ‘Here’s the poster. The race takes place on Monument Hill. The whole village gets closed to traffic for the afternoon.’

  ‘Monument Hill?’

  ‘It’s over at Lillerton, in the next village, you know, the hill you can see from my bedroom window with the spike on the top.’

  Grandad sat back and folded his arms. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

  ‘Ah! The buggy race! It was the highlight of my year when I was a lad. It would start at the top of Monument Hill and end up in a field at the bottom where the biggest fair of the year always took place. The race and fair are on separate weekends now. It’s a lot more complicated these days with all kinds of rules and regulations. There’s an entry fee for the race, a form to be filled in, and an information pack to sign for. As I said, a lot more complicated than it used to be. Only ten to fifteen year olds can enter the race but the team is allowed an adult to help with the construction. They use the bridleway now that goes around Lillerton. Runners, and horse riders usually use it, but on Race Day it’s given over to the buggies. It’s been turned into a cross-country event with lots of difficult terrain. The end’s the same though, with a downhill stretch from the top of Monument Hill to the field at the bottom.’

  ‘Did you ever do it?’

  ‘I should say so! Our team won three years in a row. We called each buggy we made, the Comet. We would have won four but one year our buggy was sabotaged.’

  ‘Sabotaged! How?’

  ‘Someone loosened one of the back wheels. We’d only just set off down the hill when the back end dropped to one side, I had trouble keeping the buggy straight and the next thing you know, one of the wheels went bouncing past. My best friend, who was riding the tail gate, jumped off and ran after it, but it was no good, we’d lost too much time.’

  ‘Did you find out who did it?’

  ‘Oh yes, they even bragged about it afterwards. It was the Smedley boys and their mate Archie Wratten, they’re still around now, always caused trouble they did, and from what I hear, their grandsons aren’t much better.’

  Jack knew exactly who they were. It made him feel a lot better to know Grandad knew about Max and Tank. Maybe he ought to tell him they’d been bothering him. Jack decided not to say anything, he felt sure if he didn’t deal with it himself they might never leave him alone.

  ‘What about Dad? Did he have a buggy?’

  ‘No, your dad wasn’t interested in anything sporty, always had his head in a book.’

  Jack looked at the poster again before helping Grandad clear the table and wash the dishes. The race sounded great but Jack had no idea how to build a buggy and he didn’t have enough friends to make a team. Even without reading the rules and regulations, he was sure, ravens, rats, bats and dragons wouldn’t be allowed as team members.

  ‘I’ll see you later,’ Jack called from the hall as he put on his backpack.

  ‘Bring Elan back for lunch if you like.’

  ‘Can she come and help at the Cricket Club?’

  ‘If she wants to, the more the merrier, I say.’

  Jack felt slightly guilty. He’d not be able to invite Camelin back for lunch or to help register the teams. Telling him he wasn’t included again wouldn’t be easy.

  ‘Take your hat,’ Grandad called, as Jack was about to leave. ‘You don’t want to get too much sun on the back of your neck. It’s a slow business picking blackberries.’

  Jack picked up the new white floppy cricket hat Grandad had bought him.
On the front was the Glasruhen Cricket Club badge. Jack smiled as he looked at the logo. It was the silhouette of a sturdy oak tree; several grew in the grounds of the cricket club where a great forest of oaks once stood.

  ‘See you later,’ Jack shouted back as he put on his new hat so Grandad would see he’d taken it.

  Jack thought about names for the goslings as he walked through the tunnel to the bottom of Nora’s garden. It was harder than he’d expected, especially since he hadn’t seen them yet. The only idea he’d had was to make the last two letters of the gosling’s names the same as Medric and Gerda. Finding ten names between them shouldn’t be too hard. As he approached the hole in the hedge Jack heard Saige croaking. He was too far away to hear what she’d said but he presumed Camelin would be nearby. He wasn’t wrong. As he entered the garden he saw Camelin perched on top of the rockery.

  ‘And how many girl goslings are there?’

  ‘Four,’ came Saige’s reply.

  Jack smiled. If anyone would know the answer to that question Saige would.

  ‘Six boy goslings then,’ said Jack as he joined them.

  ‘How do you know? Have you been asking Saige questions?’

  ‘No, it’s easy to work out.’

  Camelin humphed and looked annoyed.

  ‘You just take four from ten and you get six.’

  ‘I know, I know, it’s just that I haven’t thought of many goose boy names yet.’

  ‘What have you thought of?’

  ‘Cherry, Honey, Olive and Candy for the girls. Kebab and Bacon for the boys.’

  ‘But they’re all food names and you can’t have Kebab and Bacon.’

  ‘It’s not your choice, Gerda and Medric can choose and I happen to know Gerda likes Bacon.’

  ‘To eat maybe, but I’m not sure she’d choose it as a name for one of her boys.’

  ‘What are your brilliant suggestions then?’

  Jack thought rapidly.

  ‘Edric, Cedric and Brodric, Freda, Rhoda and Ada.’

  ‘Oh what lovely names!’ exclaimed Nora as she joined them. ‘Don’t you agree Elan.’

  ‘That’s really clever Jack, I’m sure we can think of some more names with those endings. What about you, Camelin? Have you thought of any names?’

  ‘No,’ grumbled Camelin, ‘I’m not clever like Jack.’

  ‘I’m sure you could think of at least one if you tried,’ coaxed Nora.

  ‘Garlic,’ croaked Camelin as he fixed Jack with his eye, ‘that ends in ic.’

  Better than Kebab or Bacon, thought Jack, but only just.

  ‘Are you ready to collect the blackberries now?’ asked Nora, as she took four bowls out of the basket she was carrying.

  Jack hoped they weren’t going back to Silver Hill, even in daylight.

  ‘Are we going far?’

  Elan laughed.

  ‘Only to the far end of the kitchen garden, the bushes there are laden with fruit but it will probably take us till lunchtime to pick enough.’

  ‘They’re for picking, not eating,’ Nora reminded Camelin.

  ‘It’s not my fault. It’s not easy picking blackberries with a beak without squashing them. You wouldn’t want me to put squashed fruit in the bowl would you?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter today as it’s all going to be made into blackberry jelly.’

  Camelin didn’t look too happy. Jack knew he’d be even more disgruntled when he found out that he was going to be busy at the Cricket Club all afternoon and that Elan was invited to lunch but he wasn’t. Jack got a chance to speak to Elan when Camelin moved away.

  ‘I’ve got to go home for lunch today because I’m helping Grandad at the Cricket Club all afternoon. You can come too if you like and Grandad said you can have lunch with us.’

  ‘That would be great. Have you told Camelin yet?’

  ‘No, I wanted to see if you were coming first before telling him anything.’

  ‘He’ll be fine, he can help Nora with the blackberries.’ Elan turned towards Nora, ‘I’m going back for lunch with Jack and won’t be back till late this afternoon.’

  ‘Lunch!’ croaked Camelin excitedly. ‘Already?’

  ‘No,’ replied Nora, ‘it’s lunchtime for you when your bowl’s full.’

  Jack could hear Camelin grumbling under his breath. Both his and Elan’s bowls were already full.

  ‘Can you leave them on the kitchen table for me?’ said Nora. ‘I’ll stay a bit longer and help fill the other bowl. Tell your grandad there’ll be a pot of blackberry jelly and a pie for him in a couple of days.’

  After lunch, Jack walked down the back lane with Elan and Grandad. Jack was lost in thought as Elan chatted to Grandad about the goslings. He was cross with himself for forgetting to ask about the Druid’s library his Book of Shadows had told him about. He’d presumed it would be in the palace in Annwn but his book might have meant Nora’s library. He might get a chance to ask Elan while they were in the pavilion. Crystal magic was something he wanted to know a lot more about. Any hope of talking to Elan disappeared when Jack saw the length of the queue at the Cricket Club.

  ‘Stand back,’ said Grandad as he produced the key for the pavilion.

  The crowd started to move forward until Grandad turned and held up his hand.‘Doors open in ten minutes, two o’ clock, like it says on the notice board.’

  A murmur of disappointment ran through the queue. Grandad seemed very excited.

  ‘There’s more than last year. It’s going to take a while to get through that lot.’

  Grandad wasn’t wrong. There was barely time for him to show Jack and Elan where to sit and tell them what to do before he went to open the door. Grandad sat at a table near the entrance and collected the registration fees. Elan and Jack were in charge of the forms and information packs. By the time the room had emptied Elan had over thirty team names on her list. Grandad looked at his watch.

  ‘Ten minutes to go. That was quite a turnout. They’ll not all be in the race. Some of them just go in for the best looking buggy. You get some strange looking karts. Last year’s winner looked like a pirate ship, mast, flag, and all. Can you two manage here while I start bagging this lot up ready for the bank?’

  ‘That’s fine,’ said Elan, ‘I’m sure Jack and I can manage now.’

  Grandad picked up the cash box. Jack waited until he’d gone through the door before speaking to Elan.

  ‘I had a dream last night about Velindur, more of a nightmare really.’

  ‘Oooh! Pixie Boy gets nightmares does he?’

  Jack swallowed hard. He hadn’t seen or heard anyone come in but Max and Tank were now standing in front of the table towering above them. Elan picked up a pen and looked straight at Max.

  ‘Fee first, and then fill in this form please.’

  Tank thumped both his hands on the table and glowered at Elan.

  ‘You fill it in.’

  ‘That’s not a problem if you can’t write,’ replied Elan as she held out her hand. ‘But I’ll need your registration fee first.’

  Jack held his breath; he thought Tank was about to explode but Max pushed him out of the way and threw his money onto the table.

  ‘If we don’t get a move on we won’t get registered, you made us late already.’

  Elan offered Max a form and a pen. He ripped the form out of her hand and went over to one of the tables to fill it in. Tank didn’t move. He stared at both of them in turn then moved his head closer to Jack’s.

  ‘Shame you and your girlfriend aren’t entering, we’d show you what a real buggy can do.’

  ‘Oh but we are entering,’ replied Elan.

  Jack stared at her, wide-eyed. Entering against Max and his gang in a buggy race wasn’t something Jack had been planning to do. They didn’t even have a team or a name for a buggy.

  ‘Wouldn’t bother if I were you, Freckles, we know who’s gonna win, don’t we Max!’

  Tank nodded as he chuckled to himself. Jack did his best to stare back but he kn
ew Tank could see the fear in his eyes. Max brought the form back but instead of handing it to Elan he held it up and let go of it. They all watched it float down to the table. When it landed Jack could see the name of Max’s buggy, it wasn’t something anyone could miss. Written in big capital letters was the word TERMINATOR. Max smoothed his long blond hair back from his face before fixing his eyes on Jack.

  ‘So… what’s your buggy called Pixie Boy?’

  ‘The Comet,’ said Grandad as he came through the door.

  Max and Tank turned quickly and without another word left the pavilion. Jack realised he’d been holding his breath. Grandad added Max’s fee to his cash box and got out his wallet.

  ‘Just time to register our buggy before it’s time to shut up shop.’

  ‘But Grandad, we haven’t got a team.’

  ‘I’ll help,’ said Elan.

  ‘Good lass, and so will I,’ replied Grandad. ‘But I’m afraid we’re stuck with the name Comet now.’

  ‘But we still need another team member,’ said Jack.

  Grandad patted him on the shoulder.

  ‘Don’t worry about that, I’m sure one of your friends will want to help when they know you’re going to be in the race.’

  Jack wasn’t so sure. His best friends weren’t going to be able to help even if they wanted to and they would have to build the buggy without any magic or it wouldn’t be fair. At least Grandad would know what he was doing. Elan gave him a smile.

  ‘It’ll be fun.’

  Grandad nodded in agreement before closing the door.

  ‘Let’s sort these forms out before Don arrives. He’s going to give me a lift down to the bank; we don’t keep any money here, not since those break-ins a few weeks back. You can come along if you want.’

  ‘If you don’t mind, Jack was going to come back to Ewell House; he wanted to look something up in Nora’s library.’

  ‘That’s fine, and if those boys bother you again, just you let me know.’

  Jack tried to give Grandad his best smile but inside he didn’t feel too good. As he and Elan left the Cricket Club he realised he hadn’t said anything to Elan about the library.

  ‘How did you know I wanted to use Nora’s books?’

  ‘Good guess… when you mentioned Velindur I thought you’d have a question you couldn’t find the answer to in your Book of Shadows… correct?’