Jack held on tightly to the side of the coracle as Judd lowered it to the ground. He was grateful to be on dry land again. As he stepped onto the grass he shouted up to the giant.
‘You saved us. How can we ever thank you?’
‘You’re my friends now,’ replied Judd, ‘there’s no need for thanks.’
Camelin looked very pale as he turned and glowered at Jack.
‘You know I can’t swim.’
‘I know, but this is the last chance I’ve got to speak to Sabrina. I’m really sorry and I wish none of this had happened.’
As soon as the words had left his mouth, Jack realised he’d said something foolish. The soft mattress under his back told him he was back at Brenin House. He heard a moan and opened his eyes. Beside him was Camelin.
‘What did you do that for?’ he grumbled. ‘You promised we could have some fun. There was no reason to come back once we were on dry land.’
‘It just happened, I only realised what I’d said when it was too late. I’m sorry but you know what this means, don’t you?
Camelin shook his feathers and glowered at Jack.
‘It means I’m not a boy any more and I’m not going to get to go pond dipping.’
‘It means I might never find the missing piece of torc. You heard what Kerne said: once I was crowned we could go back to Elidon any time we want. We could have been boys together and had so much fun, but now, the lost treasure might be just that… lost forever.
‘You’ll be fine, you’re destined to be king, they all think so and you said that’s what you saw in the Stone of Destiny.’
‘I also saw Velindur shaking a book.’
Jack watched Camelin hop onto the windowsill and fly off in the direction of Ewell House. He felt overwhelmed with sadness. There was a week to go until the race. He’d do his best to try to find out what had happened to the standing stone from Monument Hill. If he was destined to be crowned king there had to be a way to find the missing piece of torc. He stood for a long time looking at the sky before he got back into bed.
‘Rise and shine, it’s race day! Come on sleepy head, up you get. It’s a lovely morning.’
The last thing Jack wanted to do was get out of bed. Grandad sounded so excited. This was the big day they’d all been working towards so it was only fair to put his heart and soul into making the buggy race a success.
‘Eat your breakfast,’ said Grandad as Jack walked into the kitchen. ‘We’ll leave the washing up for later. I’ll do one last check to make sure we’ve got everything and then we’ll be off.’
Jack had never seen his grandad with such a spring in his step. As they arrived at Ewell House, Techno and his dad were dropping the back of the trailer down.
‘It’s going to be a great day,’ said Techno.
‘Yes,’ replied Jack with all the enthusiasm he could muster.
With everyone helping, the Comet was safely loaded on the trailer in no time. Jack sat on the back seat between Elan and Techno. It was the first time he’d seen Elan all week. Nora had said she’d had something important to do but she hadn’t said what. He managed to catch her eye and mouthed sorry to her. She nodded and smiled encouragingly even though she looked sad. There was nothing either of them could say or do until later. Jack tried to put everything except the race out of his mind. He listened and tried to join in with the excited chatter going on around him.
It took a while for them to reach the car park. There were hundreds of people milling around the village. It seemed everyone had made their way to Lillerton for the race. At least the sun was out and the forecast was good for the whole day. Unfortunately the grass was muddy. Pushing the buggy up the hill wasn’t going to be easy. Once the Comet was off the trailer, Grandad helped Techno and his dad push it over to the starting line. Jack smiled when he saw how proud they looked standing next to it. The buggy glinted in the sunlight and looked as good as any of the others in the race, except for one bright red racing car at the end of the line. Max, Tank and Benbow stood next to their custom-made buggy having their photographs taken. The reporter and photographer from the local paper didn’t seem interested in any of the others. Jack looked up at the trees. He wondered if the starlings would be there. It should be Crosspatch, Grubber and Snaffle, as they always had the first watch of the day. Movement in a tree opposite the refreshment tent caught his eye. There were three groups of starlings, each sitting in neat rows of five. It looked like the whole Flying Squad had flown over to see the race. Jack was left in no doubt as to who they were when Camelin landed beside them.
Elan came over and nudged Jack. She nodded towards Max and what was left of his gang. An argument seemed to have broken out.
‘What’s happening?’ asked Jack.
‘We’ll know in a few minutes, the Dorysk’s over there somewhere,’ Elan whispered.
Before long a ladybird landed on Elan’s hair. Jack could see the tiny insect had a minute pair of glasses. When he’d gone Elan smiled.
‘You’ll never believe it; they haven’t even tried their buggy out. Benbow was supposed to be driving but he can’t get into the driver’s seat. Neither can Tank, his legs are too long. They’ve even spelt the name of the buggy wrong, they’ve got Terminater on the side. Wait until Techno finds out, that’ll make him laugh. If they’d used his plans it would have been built to fit. It looks like Max is going to have to drive and the Dorysk tells me he’s not happy about it. Benbow is riding on the back and Tank is doing the uphill push. I don’t think we’ve got much to worry about. Neither Benbow nor Tank can run very fast.
The loudspeaker calling for all competitors to take their places interrupted their conversation.
‘See you at the bottom of the hill,’ said Elan as she went off to join Techno at the starting line.
Jack made his way to a table where the uphill pushers had to sign in. He waved to Grandad then followed the other boys to the far side of Monument Hill. Jack wished he’d paid more attention to what had been said earlier in the car. He knew it was a staggered start and the first buggy over the finishing line would not necessarily be the winner. It all depended on the final time but he had no idea when the Comet was setting off. He could hear the loud crack of the starting pistol at intervals but it was impossible to see the starting line from where the pushers were standing. Most of the boys seemed to know each other. They were gathered in groups chatting and laughing. Only he and Tank stood alone. One by one the buggies arrived. The third team member raced over to help push their buggy to the top of the hill. Jack could hear the cheers and shouts as each buggy was released from the top for the downhill finish. He began to feel uneasy. There were very few boys left and one of them was Tank. A buzzing in his ear followed by a hurried whisper didn’t help.
‘They’ve been held up,’ the Dorysk shouted. ‘Elan said to tell you not to worry, she’s dealt with it and they aren’t hurt.’
‘What happened,’ Jack whispered.
‘A couple of boys were hiding in the bushes on one of the uphill stretches. One of them grabbed Elan and the other pushed the buggy into the hedge.’
‘Are you sure they’re alright?’
‘Elan and Techno are fine but the two boys will think twice about messing with Elan again.’
Jack was too busy talking to the Dorysk, and looking for their buggy down the track, he didn’t see Tank come over.
‘Talking to yourself, are you, Pixie Boy?’
Jack ignored him and kept looking towards the track for the Comet.
‘Oh look! Here comes the Terminator, this is where you get a nice surprise from me.’
Without warning he pushed Jack hard on the shoulder. Jack stumbled back but Tank pushed him again, and again, until Jack’s legs came to a halt against something solid. Tank sniffed the air around Jack.
‘Something smells. Must be bath time, don’t you think?’
With one final shove Jack fell backwards. He anticipated a bump on the head but instead he felt the shock of icy cold wa
ter. Tank had pushed him into a horse trough. He struggled to climb out but each time Tank laughed and pushed him back until a loud honking sound made Tank turn.
‘Time to go Pixie Boy, you’ll have a long wait for your friends, I think they might have got a bit tied up!’
Jack watched Tank run to his buggy. Benbow got off the back and the pair of them began pushing the racer up the hill. Now Tank was gone, Jack tried to get out of the trough but his legs kept slipping from under him. The bottom and sides were too slimy. He tried again but it was no good, he needed something to hold onto. On the back of the trough was a bronze horse’s head. Water trickled through its open mouth into the trough. The only thing Jack could see that might help him lever himself up was a ring through the horse’s mouth. He grabbed it with his left hand, put his right hand on the side of the trough and heaved. He’d got one leg onto the side when the ring broke and he crashed back into the water. He could see the Comet racing down the track. He waved and shouted to attract Elan’s attention. She leapt off the back and dashed over to help him.
‘Did Tank do this?’
Jack nodded.
‘Thanks,’ he said, as Elan helped him out.
‘You OK?’ shouted Techno.
Jack put his thumb up and then showed Elan the broken ring.
‘I’d have got out if this hadn’t come away in my hand.’
Elan stared at the metal loop. She took it from Jack, plunged it into the water and tried to remove some of the grime from its surface.
‘You know what this is, don’t you?’
Jack looked closer. Under the layers of dirt he could see a glint of gold.
‘It can’t be? How?’
‘It is! As soon as I touched it I knew what it was. You’ve found the last piece of the torc.’
Jack’s mouth fell open. Elan passed it back to him. He’d like to have examined it more closely but they were wasting precious time. He grinned at Elan as he zipped it into his tracksuit pocket before taking up his pushing position next to her at the back of the buggy.
‘Come on, let’s get the buggy over the finishing line; we’ve wasted enough time. We can catch them if we try,’ said Elan.
Jack looked up. There were still two buggies being pushed up the hillside and one of them was the Terminater.
‘Ready?’ said Elan.
‘Ready,’ replied Jack and Techno.
The ground had been churned up and it was muddy underfoot. Jack’s arms and legs ached as they pushed the Comet up the hillside. With Elan’s strength and their combined effort they gained on the others bit by bit and reached the top before either of the other two buggies.
‘Race to the finish,’ cried Elan as she took off down the hill.
‘To the finish,’ Jack shouted as loudly as he could.
The cheers and shouts of encouragement were deafening. Jack felt the wind in his hair as he ran faster than he’d ever run before. As they sped down the grass he could see the Comet cross the finish line. Seconds later he heard a loudspeaker announce the Comet team were home. He collapsed panting next to Elan on the sodden grass. Jack didn’t care – he was wet through already. When he managed to sit up he could see the red racing car was halfway down the hill. Benbow and Tank were struggling to run down the slippery grass. The other team were a little way behind but were gaining fast. Unexpectedly the red car swerved. Instead of heading towards the finish it veered off towards a waterlogged part of the field that had been roped off. A spray of mud erupted as the racer swept under the rope and plunged into the mire. It came to an abrupt halt. Tank and Benbow, along with several marshals, ran over to the car.
Max stood up in the driver’s seat and removed his splattered helmet.
‘Get me out of here,’ he yelled at no one in particular.
Some of the crowd giggled as Max tried to get out of the car, followed by loud peals of laughter as he slipped and fell in the mud.
‘The Terminater is disqualified for leaving the track,’ the loudspeaker announced. ‘The driver is unhurt.’
They waited eagerly for the results of the race. Eventually one of the organisers stepped up onto the stage and spoke into the microphone. He thanked everyone for coming and began reading the results in reverse order. Jack knew they hadn’t won. They’d lost too much time thanks to Max and his friends. He could see Grandad eagerly waiting to see how they’d done. Even though they’d had some hold ups, Grandad was still confident they’d be in the top ten.
They all cheered really loudly and congratulated each other when they found out the Comet was in fourth place. Techno whooped for joy and did a victory dance with his dad. Jack looked over to the tree where the starlings and Camelin had been perched but they’d all gone.
‘That’s a really great result,’ said Techno.
‘It is considering the problems we had,’ Jack agreed.
‘Max only has himself to blame for losing the race,’ said Elan.
Jack smiled as he looked over at the roped-off area where the Terminater had been abandoned. It didn’t look too good now. Max was nowhere to be seen. The photographer and reporter from the local paper, along with a huge crowd, were gathered around the winning team.
‘I think we need to get you home and out of those wet clothes,’ said Grandad. ‘Lying on the wet grass probably wasn’t a good idea, you’re soaked though.’
It didn’t take long to load the Comet onto the trailer.
‘I’m sorry we didn’t win,’ Jack said to Techno as they arrived at Ewell House, ‘it was a brilliant design.’
‘There’s always next year. I don’t think Max or Tank will be bothering us again. Danny’s left the gang too you know, he wants nothing more to do with them.’
‘Did you see Max’s face when he realised everyone was laughing at him,’ said Elan.
‘Serves him right,’ laughed Techno.
‘I hope you’ll be able to put your bike back together again,’ said Jack.
‘Dad says I don’t have to, he’s going to get me another one. We can keep the Comet as she is, we’ll be able to have some fun with her during the holidays if you’d like?’
‘We’d love to,’ said Elan, ‘wouldn’t we Jack?’
Jack nodded. He’d be happy to watch the others if they wanted to go downhill but he’d like to take his turn on the flat.
Techno grinned.
‘Do you two fancy a game of football, when the field’s dried out a bit?’
‘You bet,’ Jack said without any hesitation.
‘Count me in,’ said Elan.
Jack could see his grandad and Techno’s dad shaking hands.
‘Are you ready son?’ his dad called.
‘See you soon,’ called Techno from the open window as they drove away.
‘See you soon,’ Jack and Elan called after him.
Jack glanced up to the roof of Ewell House. Camelin didn’t look too pleased. Jack made a mental note to invite him for a game of Beakball on Nora’s lawn, when the weather was better and the ground had dried out. Making the buggy hadn’t been such a bad thing to do after all. He’d made a new friend, and more importantly, he’d managed to find the last piece of the torc. In the morning when he went over to Ewell House he’d see if Orin wanted to come home. Jack unzipped his pocket and put his hand around the twisted piece of gold. Camelin had been right, everything had turned out well, and he’d completed his quest. Now he had all three pieces he could be crowned King of Annwn at Samhain.
‘We’d better be getting home too,’ Grandad said to Jack.
They said goodbye to Elan and walked along the back lane to Brenin House.
‘Quite a day, wasn’t it?’
‘It was,’ agreed Jack.
When Jack was back in his room he heard a tap on his window.
‘Sorry you didn’t win,’ said Camelin.
‘It’s fine, I’m just glad Max lost and ended up in the mud.’
‘With a little bit of help from yours truly.’
‘What do you mean?
’
‘Max sent two of his friends to ambush Elan. I was watching from one of the trees. I tried to warn her but I’m not sure she saw my ravenphore. There was nothing I could do, not that Elan needed any help, so I followed Max. You didn’t see my signals either. I knew Tank was going to do something.’
‘So did I, but even if I’d seen you there was nothing I could have done to stop him.’
‘I knew Elan wasn’t far behind so I hung back and watched Max’s team struggle to push their buggy up the hill. It must have weighed a ton with all the metal they’d used to build it. Anyway, when he came down the hill I had a little flyover and gave him a surprise parcel, right on his visor. When he tried to wipe it off he smeared it all over, couldn’t see a thing, he hadn’t got a clue where he was going and shot straight into the mud. It was no more than he deserved.’
Camelin exploded in a fit of chuckles. Jack laughed too.
‘Can I see the torc?’ Camelin asked as he hopped onto Jack’s table.
Jack laid the three pieces of the king’s torc on his bed. He took out his wand and pointed it at the last piece.
‘Expolio,’ he commanded.
They watched as the grime slowly dissolved. Jack lowered his wand and smiled when the gold shone brightly.
Camelin nudged him.
‘Didn’t I say you could do it?’
‘You did but I don’t understand how the torc ended up as a bit in a horse’s mouth.’
‘Peabody told Nora there used to be a small pool at the bottom of Monument Hill. He said the torc had been given to a nymph for safekeeping but she obviously didn’t take it with her when she lost her home.’
‘Did Peabody say which water nymph used to live there?’
The Jack Brenin Collection Page 83