The Jack Brenin Collection

by Catherine Cooper

  ‘Oh! My hair band! I can’t go out without it.’

  Jack watched as Devorah shuffled over to the darkest corner of the cave. He heard a chest open, then shut. As the Hag returned to the entrance, she cackled happily to herself about how beautiful she looked. She went back to the basin, and peered at her reflection again. It took Jack by surprise when she started to chant in a high-pitched voice.

  ‘Basin, Basin, in the wall,

  Who’s the prettiest Hag of all?’

  Jack tried not to laugh as Devorah began to jig around the mouth of the cave. She returned to the basin and answered her own question in a deep gruff voice.

  ‘You are Devorah, with your band,

  You’re the fairest in the land.’

  Jack put his hands over his ears when a high-pitched cackling echoed around the cave. He watched as the Hag smoothed her long tangled hair and fluttered her eyelashes at her reflection before chanting again.

  ‘Basin, Basin, in the wall,

  Who’s the prettiest Hag of all?’

  Before the Hag could answer, Jack removed the peg from his nose and spoke. He tried to make his voice deep and gruff.

  ‘You’re not the fairest in the land,

  Whilst you wear that hideous band.’

  The Hag’s mouth dropped open. She stood for a few seconds and stared at the water.

  ‘Who said that?’ she screeched.

  ‘I did,’ Jack replied, in the same gruff voice. He put his finger into the water and swirled it around. ‘You looked far prettier when your hair was over your face.’

  ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about why you looked different, it’s the band, it really doesn’t suit you.’

  The Hag screeched again, even louder than before. Jack’s ears hurt. His throat felt sore from the horrible fumes, and from trying to make the gruff voice. He could see Camelin was standing outside the cave, presumably to get some fresh air. Devorah leant over the basin of water and waited until the ripples settled. She looked carefully at her reflection.

  ‘You’re right,’ she screamed, as she grabbed the band from her hair and flung it out of the cave. ‘Now, let’s try that again shall we…

  Basin, basin in the wall,

  Who’s the prettiest Hag of all?’

  Jack tried not to laugh as he replied.

  ‘Devorah Dytch, Devorah Dytch,

  Now you’re prettier than any witch.’

  ‘I never liked that stupid band anyway, don’t know why I ever thought it looked good, I’m so much prettier without it, you’re right basin, you’re right. Now… where’s that meesy?’

  Jack waited until the Hag started rooting through the pile of bones before tiptoeing out of the cave. He hoped Camelin had seen where the band had landed because he’d not been able to see a thing from where he’d been standing.

  ‘Did you see where it went?’ he mouthed.

  Camelin stuck his thumb in the air and patted the umbrella on his arm. Once they were clear of the brambles Camelin removed his peg and began running. Jack followed. They ran as fast as they could away from the cave.

  ‘We didn’t have to run so far,’ gasped Jack, ‘I could have wished us home.’

  ‘Oh we did! That was a brilliant run. I haven’t been able to do that since we were in Annwn.’

  ‘I need to sit down, at least until I get my breath back.’

  Camelin pointed to a large boulder in the grass. When Jack’s heart stopped racing he was curious to have a closer look at the piece of torc.

  ‘Where did it land?’

  ‘Land! I caught it in the brolly. I told you, umbrellas always come in handy.’

  ‘Can I see it?’

  Camelin opened the umbrella a fraction before producing the piece of torc from its folds.

  ‘It’ll look great when you’ve remade it.’

  ‘It’s lucky she threw it away, she’ll never know we’ve got it and won’t come looking for it.’

  ‘You were brilliant in there. All that stuff with the mirror, where’d you learn to do that?’

  ‘I didn’t, and I don’t ever want to have to talk like that again, my throat still hurts. We ought to be going.’

  ‘Aw Jack!’

  ‘I promise we’ll come back next Saturday night, as long as we can find somewhere safe to have some fun.’

  Jack was about to stand up, but before he could he slid off the rock. Camelin slid off too and almost fell on top of him.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Jack.

  ‘I think we chose the wrong rock to sit on, look, it’s not a rock at all, it’s a big toe and I think the giant it belongs to is up there.’

  Camelin pointed upwards. A dark shape towered over them. Jack didn’t dare move.

  ‘What’s it doing?’ he whispered.

  ‘Probably thinking,’ Camelin whispered back.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘Whether we’re worth eating.’

  ‘Time to go home I think!’

  Jack was about to wish them back to their beds when the giant bent over and began to rub his ankle. Jack could see lots of tiny red marks all over his feet. A great tear rolled down the giant’s face and almost dropped onto Camelin’s head.

  ‘He’s hurt,’ said Jack.

  ‘He nearly wet me through,’ grumbled Camelin, ‘come on, let’s go.’

  ‘He looks sad. We can’t just leave him like this.’

  ‘Yes we can; you might not have noticed but he’s a giant, he’s big enough to take care of himself.’

  ‘Nora would help him.’

  Camelin sighed.

  ‘Hello,’ Jack shouted. ‘Do you need any help?’

  The giant looked down at them. He didn’t say a word, but as he sat down the ground shook.

  ‘Don’t bite me, please don’t hurt me,’ wailed the giant.

  Camelin looked surprised.

  ‘We won’t hurt you. What’s wrong,’ shouted Jack.

  ‘You’re not Hags then?’

  ‘Absolutely not,’ replied Camelin. ‘We don’t like Hags, they’re smelly, horrid, nasty little creatures.’

  ‘And you’re not going to hurt me?’

  ‘No,’ said Jack, as he bowed. ‘We’re raven boys from Earth, I’m Jack and this is my best friend Camelin.’

  ‘A friend, you’re lucky to have a friend. I wish I had a friend. It gets lonely on your own.’

  ‘Aren’t there any more giants in Elidon?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Only me, Judd’s me name. Used to live on Earth myself, in Glasruhen Forest, but it’s hard to keep out of sight when you’re this big. The Lord of Elidon let me pass into the shadows so I’d be safe, and I was till a Hag moved in.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Jack.

  ‘It’s that Hag, Devorah Dytch. She bites and scratches and torments me. Just look at my poor feet and ankles.’

  Camelin laughed.

  ‘You could squash that Hag if you trod on her. What’s the problem?’

  ‘I couldn’t! I wouldn’t! I’ve never hurt anything in my whole life.’

  Camelin rolled his eyes.

  ‘But she’s tiny and you’re huge.’

  ‘She makes me give her some of my eels, she loves them but she’s afraid of the water, Hags don’t swim you know. In return she’s promised not to tell the Spriggans where I am.’

  Jack frowned.

  ‘Why wouldn’t you want the Spriggans to know where you are? They could shrink you back down to your proper size.’

  ‘I’m afraid of the tunnels.’

  ‘All Spriggans are afraid of the dark,’ said Camelin.

  ‘I’m afraid of the dark as well, I don’t like being in small spaces, I need to be in the open air. I can’t live on Earth; men just don’t understand giants. When I lived there a long time ago they stared at me, some called me names, some screamed and ran away, and worse still, some tried to kill me. That’s why Kerne let me come to Elidon.’

  ‘But I still do
n’t understand why the Hag bites and scratches you.’

  ‘It’s to let me know she’s hungry. When I feel the pain in my leg I go down to one of my traps, catch an eel and bring it back for her supper.’

  ‘Why don’t you hide?’ suggested Camelin.

  ‘It’s not easy when you’re this big.’

  ‘Well why don’t you make yourself a rowan berry necklace?’ asked Camelin. ‘They keep Hags and Witches away, they can’t stand rowan trees.’

  The giant sighed.

  ‘A long time ago there were lots of rowan trees in Newton Gill forest, but now they’re gone, all dead wood. When the last tree died the Hags moved in.’

  A sudden thought struck Jack.

  ‘If you had a hag stone you’d be invisible.’

  ‘I would if I had a hag stone, but I don’t.’

  ‘You can have mine,’ said Jack as he took the thong off his neck and offered it to the giant.

  ‘You’d give me your stone?’

  Tears welled up in the giant’s eyes again.

  ‘Please don’t cry,’ said Jack. ‘It’s fine, you can have it if you’d like it, and consider us your friends from now on.’

  The giant held out his hand and Jack dropped the stone into his palm. The thong had been far too long for Jack and he knew it wouldn’t fit over the giant’s head, so he slipped it onto his wrist. Jack hoped it would work, the stone looked so tiny now as Judd stroked it.

  ‘Thank you, this is the best present anyone could ever have given me.’

  Camelin frowned at Jack.

  ‘What are you going to do if we meet that Hag? She’ll be able to see you now.’

  ‘I’m hoping that’s not going to happen but if it does I’ll share yours.’

  Jack smiled at Judd.

  ‘We’ve got to go now, I hope we meet again, and I hope you don’t get bothered by any more Hags.’

  Camelin rolled his eyes.

  ‘When you two have finished, you were saying we ought to get home.’

  ‘Why the rush now?’ asked Jack.

  The growling from Camelin’s stomach gave Jack his answer.

  ‘Pass me the end of the umbrella,’ said Jack.

  ‘Goodbye Judd, we really do have to go.’

  The giant stood and smiled at them both.

  Jack made sure he had the torc securely in his other hand before closing his eyes.

  ‘I wish we were both home in our beds,’ he said slowly and clearly.

  It was late when Jack woke the next morning. In his hand was the second piece of the torc. He felt a great sense of relief. He was making progress, only one more piece to go and his quest would be complete. He needed to go and see Cory as soon as he could and look through the King’s stone. The rest would be easy, once he knew where he had to go.

  THE KING’S STONE

  The buggy was ready to be painted. Grandad thought there’d be time to give the new Comet two coats of paint. At least it meant Jack would be able to help, painting was something he was good at. They’d looked at the route around the bridleway together but the only part of the race Jack was involved in was at the end. He had to be at the bottom of Monument Hill for when Elan and Techno arrived there. They needed him to help Elan push the buggy up to the top. The race ended when all the team members had crossed the finish line. The buggies went down the lane while the other two team members ran down the grassy hillside. Jack knew he and Elan were fast runners and the downhill sprint didn’t worry him in the least. He’d felt a lot better about the race since he’d known he wasn’t going to have to drive the buggy.

  Jack looked across to Ewell House. He searched the sky in the hope of seeing Camelin but there wasn’t a bird to be seen. He was about to lie on his bed and look through his Book of Shadows when he saw Elan come through the hedge at the bottom of the garden. She made her way to the greenhouse, where Grandad was potting up seedlings. Jack raced downstairs and arrived in time to hear part of the conversation.

  ‘That’s fine,’ said Grandad.

  ‘What is?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Nora wondered if you’d like to come and see the goslings. She’ll be going over to the island soon and thought you might like to see how much they’ve grown.’

  ‘I’d love to, thanks.’

  ‘See you later then,’ said Grandad. ‘Don’t be too late, we’ve got an early start in the morning; we need to get the first coat of paint on the buggy as soon as we can.’

  ‘Nora’s expecting you early,’ Elan told Grandad. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  When they were out of earshot Jack was able to ask Elan about Camelin.

  ‘Is he alright? I’ve not heard from him since we came back from Elidon.’

  ‘He’s been in the library.’

  ‘The library!’

  ‘He asked Nora if he could look at the map of the whole area.’

  ‘Did he say why?’

  ‘Something about finding somewhere to go to have some fun.’

  Jack groaned.

  ‘I promised him that if we found the second piece of torc we’d go back and have some fun in Elidon on our final visit. He doesn’t get the chance to be a boy any more.’

  ‘You’d be safe if you stayed in the meadow near the fairy mound. You’ll not come to any harm in there.’

  ‘I’m not sure that would be Camelin’s idea of a fun place to go.’

  ‘You might want to mention it to Nora.’

  Jack nodded. He wondered why Camelin was taking so long to decide where to go, and what kind of fun he was expecting to have.

  ‘Come on, race you to the lake,’ said Elan, ‘we can get some running practice in.’

  He didn’t even wait for Elan to say go. He set off at speed and didn’t stop until he reached the edge of the lake. Elan was a fraction of a second behind him.

  ‘You cheated, you started before me,’ she panted.

  Jack was too out of breath to speak.

  ‘Breathe though your nose,’ advised Nora as she joined them. ‘When you can, hop into the boat and I’ll row us across the lake.’

  They were nearly at the island when Jack saw Camelin flying towards them. He landed gracefully next to Jack.

  ‘Mission accomplished,’ he announced before giving Jack a slow nod and a nudge.

  Jack didn’t answer; he knew Camelin wouldn’t say any more while Nora was there.

  As soon as the boat reached the island, Medric came hurrying towards them.

  ‘All present and correct, Gerda’s just got the youngsters ready for inspection, they’re all inside.’

  Camelin bustled ahead and poked his head in the doorway. Medric wasn’t far behind and pushed him out of the way with his outstretched wing.

  ‘Guests first, in you go Jack.’

  Camelin frowned but he didn’t argue with Medric. Jack was amazed by how big the goslings were. He could see how proud both Gerda and Medric were.

  ‘Have they been given names yet?’

  ‘They have,’ said Nora. ‘When they come over to the garden they’ll introduce themselves.’

  ‘They didn’t like my suggestions,’ grumbled Camelin.

  Nora gave him her disapproving look.

  ‘We’d better be getting back; this was just a quick visit. After lunch tomorrow your grandad has to go over to Beconbury. Once the buggy’s had a coat of paint there won’t be anything else you can do until it dries. I suggested you might like to stay. It will give you chance to go and see Cory. What do you say?’

  ‘Thanks! That would be great. Can Camelin come too?’

  ‘I don’t see why not.’

  Camelin looked pleased. It would also give them plenty of time to chat about their return visit to Elidon. As Nora rowed back across the lake, Jack’s thoughts wandered. He still didn’t know the area well enough to choose a safe place to go. It was going to be a hard task to persuade Camelin to stay in the meadow.

  The following morning Jack woke early. He wondered what was different, until he realised sunlight was str
eaming in through his curtains. He quickly drew them back. The blue sky confirmed it was going to be a lovely morning. He felt excited. This afternoon he was going to look through the King’s stone and see the place where the final part of the torc had been hidden.

  Jack had already laid the table for breakfast by the time Grandad entered the kitchen.

  ‘You’re up bright and early. Exciting isn’t it?’

  Jack could feel the colour rise in his cheeks. Did Grandad know where he was going later?

  ‘Nothing like the first coat of paint, it’ll transform what we’ve built into a something like a racer.’

  Jack grinned and nodded. He was relieved Grandad had been talking about the buggy.

  By the time Techno arrived at Nora’s everything was ready. Between them they’d finished painting by lunchtime. As they stood back and admired their morning’s work. Nora joined them.

  ‘You must all be really pleased. The buggy looks brilliant.’

  ‘It’s going to be really fast too,’ said Techno.

  Grandad didn’t say anything. He had a faraway look in his eyes and a huge grin.

  ‘You’d better go and get cleaned up,’ said Nora. ‘There are towels and plenty of hot water in the bathroom.’

  Elan raced Jack and Techno to the house. It didn’t take long for them to get cleaned up and soon three loud knocks on the door announced the arrival of Techno’s dad.

  ‘I’ll be off too,’ said Grandad, ‘see you later.’

  As soon as the front door closed, Jack heard Camelin calling from the kitchen.

  ‘Are you ready?’

  ‘We are,’ Elan shouted back as she winked at Jack.

  There was silence. When they entered the kitchen Camelin was perched on the windowsill with a very grumpy look on his face.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Jack.

  ‘You didn’t tell me Elan was coming too.’

  ‘I’m only going as far as the meadow. I need to visit Jennet.’

  ‘Well that’s different. Are you ready?’

  ‘What’s the rush?’ asked Nora.

  Camelin didn’t answer but Jack wondered if it might have something to do with food.

  ‘I’ll walk with you to the edge of the meadow,’ said Elan, ‘and meet you there later so we can walk back together.’