The Jack Brenin Collection

by Catherine Cooper

  ‘You could come over and cook me a fry-up, and then we could go for a flight.’

  ‘I’m not sure Nora would agree to breakfast.’

  ‘She’s not going to be here.’

  ‘Where’s she going?’

  ‘Here, there and everywhere. She’s been very secretive this last week. I’m not allowed secrets because apparently I can’t be trusted to keep them.’

  Jack tried not to laugh.

  ‘Maybe it’s something to do with my party.’

  ‘What’s not to know? You’re all getting dressed up, having loads to eat then going out to collect lots of sweets. There’s no surprises there.’

  Jack thought he’d better change the subject.

  ‘Breakfast and a flight then, see you nice and early.’

  ‘Not too early,’ Camelin replied as he hopped back onto the window ledge.

  When Jack was alone he went back over to his wardrobe. Before he shut the door, he looked at the clothes on the first hanger. They were the ones he’d been wearing the last time he’d left Annwn. They looked quite ordinary but he knew once he went through the portal, they’d transform back into the robes he’d worn the last time he was there. It was hard to believe that in a few days’ time he’d be attending his coronation. The three pieces of the King’s torc were safe at Ewell House, Lloyd the Goldsmith was making him a special crown and Nora had said his green and gold ceremonial robes were all ready and waiting for his return. There wasn’t anything else he needed to do except enjoy his half-term holiday.

  TROUBLE

  ‘Anyone home?’ Jack shouted as he entered Nora’s kitchen.

  There was a scuffling sound from inside the pantry. Jack was about to investigate when Camelin’s head appeared from behind the door. He looked pleased with himself as he shuffled over to Jack.

  ‘You’re early.’

  ‘No I’m not, it’s nearly lunchtime, but it looks like you’ve eaten already. Is that jam on your beak?’

  ‘Blackberry jelly.’

  ‘Nora will know if you’ve had your beak in the jar.’

  ‘Naw she won’t, it’s in a bowl and I stirred it round so I didn’t leave a hole.’

  Jack bit his lip so he wouldn’t laugh. At least it meant he didn’t have to cook Camelin any breakfast.

  ‘Are we still going for a flight? Only it’s really misty out.’

  ‘Course we are, any time you’re ready.’

  ‘But we won’t be able to see where we’re going.’

  ‘Trust me, it’ll be amazing, we’ll fly above it.’

  They transformed in the kitchen and hopped out into the garden. Jack shivered as the damp air hit his feathers.

  ‘Follow me,’ croaked Camelin as he took off.

  Jack quickly lost sight of him. He felt as if he were flying through cotton wool.

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Just head upwards, you’ll be fine.’

  Jack pulled hard on his wings and in the space of a few downbeats he soared out of the blanket of mist. Before him rose Glasruhen Hill. It looked like an island in the middle of a swirling white sea. It was an incredible sight. He followed Camelin to the summit. They flew in a large circle. In the distance the tips of the Gribeira Hills and Moel Hened could be seen but their slopes, like icebergs in the sea, were hidden from sight.

  ‘Didn’t I tell you it’d be great?’

  Jack nodded in agreement; he’d never seen anything like it before. He didn’t want to say anything to break the spell of the magical landscape that lay before him.

  They flew in silence, skimming the top of the mist and racing each other around the visible slopes of the hill. When they needed to rest, they landed on the outcrop of rock near the Raven’s Bowl. ‘We’ve been through a lot together since we were last here,’ said Jack, as he hopped over to the hollow in the rock and peered into the water. ‘It’s hard to believe I’m going to be a king in a few days’ time.’

  ‘Aw, you’ll always be Jack to me. I won’t be bowing down to you or doing your bidding when we’re not in Annwn, you do know that, don’t you?’

  ‘I wouldn’t expect you to. Besides, who else could I have so much fun with?’

  Jack hoped Camelin wasn’t going to launch into a grumble about his new friends. It was a relief when he looked towards the sky. Jack followed his gaze. He couldn’t see anything but he could feel the thin warmth of the sun directly overhead.

  ‘Must be nearly lunchtime,’ announced Camelin. ‘Time to go.’

  As they flew back to Ewell House, the mist wasn’t as thick and Jack didn’t have any problem following.

  Once Jack had transformed and dressed he joined Camelin by the range. The dampness from the mist hadn’t affected him when he’d been flying but now he felt chilled inside.

  ‘Mist makes your feathers all druffled.’

  ‘Druffled?’

  ‘You know, damp and ruffled, but if you dry them out too quick they get fluffled.’

  Jack laughed as he watched Camelin slowly rotating.

  ‘How long will you need to do that for?’

  ‘Ten minutes and thirty-two seconds,’ croaked Saige as she hopped out of the pantry.

  ‘She’s been spying on me,’ grumbled Camelin. ‘Why else would she have been in there?’

  A loud rap on the patio door stopped the conversation. Jack and Camelin exchanged a look before Jack went to open the door. Raggs almost tumbled into the kitchen. He leant heavily on his stick and fought to get his breath back.

  ‘Take your time,’ said Jack, as he lifted Raggs onto the dresser.

  ‘It’s Peabody,’ he wheezed, ‘he’s gone!’

  ‘Good,’ said Camelin.

  Jack upturned a beaker for Raggs to sit on.

  ‘What do you mean, gone?’

  ‘He’s disappeared.’

  ‘Skulking around somewhere more like,’ grumbled Camelin, ‘never trust a Bogie.’

  Raggs took a deep breath.

  ‘No, he’s gone, from Ewell House.’

  Camelin stopped in mid-turn.

  ‘As in not here?’

  Raggs nodded and took several deep breaths. Jack filled a thimble full of water for him.

  ‘Did you see what happened?’

  ‘Oh yes. As soon as you two flew off, he was out of the house at a fair old rate of knots… went straight down to the hedge and into the tunnel.’

  ‘He’s probably back by now,’ said Camelin.

  Raggs shook his head.

  ‘He’s not. I followed him. He headed straight for Newton Gill Forest. It wasn’t easy keeping up and I kept losing sight of him in the mist, but I presumed he was heading for his home so I just kept going in the direction of the Gnori.’

  ‘And was that where he went?’ asked Jack.

  ‘I don’t know, I never got that far. I saw him again when we got to a bit of a clearing, then, Bam, one minute he was there, and the next he was gone. Just seemed to disappear into thin air.’

  Camelin humphed loudly.

  ‘So why didn’t you come and tell us as soon as we got back?’

  ‘I couldn’t, it’s a long walk to Newton Gill Forest and back again, especially when you’ve got a bad leg. If you’d not gone off you’d have been able to stop him. I wasn’t the one Nora left in charge. If you’d been here he wouldn’t have left the house.’

  Camelin glowered at Raggs. Jack sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

  ‘This isn’t good you know, Nora isn’t going to be pleased with either of us when she gets back. You didn’t tell me you weren’t supposed to leave Ewell House.’

  ‘You didn’t ask. Besides, if Peabody’s gone he can’t have been as scared as he was making out. I still say he wormed his way into Ewell House to spy on us. He’s done us all a favour by leaving.’

  Jack sucked in a breath of air then exhaled slowly.

  ‘You do realise we’re going to have to go and look for him.’

  ‘Why?’ grumbled Camelin.

/>   ‘We need to get him back before Nora comes home. Anything could have happened. We can’t just leave him out there.’

  ‘He’ll come back; he’s onto a good thing here. Besides, it’s lunchtime.’

  ‘What if he’s been Bogienapped?’

  ‘Who’d want to Bogienap him?’

  ‘I can think of one person who might. That’s why he was here in the first place, don’t you remember? Velindur mistook him for Pyecroft and tried to grab him.’

  ‘You don’t think he’s stolen the torc, do you?’ said Raggs. ‘I’m sure he was carrying something.’

  Camelin gulped.

  ‘What kind of thing?’

  ‘I couldn’t see, it was too misty.’

  Jack’s heart missed a beat.

  ‘Can we check to see if the torc is safe? Do you know where Nora’s put it?’

  Camelin shook his head.

  ‘She said it was safe and that no one would find it.’

  ‘We’d better hope Peabody hasn’t taken it, not after everything we went through to find it. There’s one thing we do know for sure; Peabody can’t do magic so he didn’t just disappear. Where was he the last time you saw him, Raggs?’

  ‘He’d reached the clearing just before the inner ring of Gnarles and was heading towards the path that leads to the Gnori. I went over to where he disappeared and tried to find him but there was nothing. His tracks just stopped. I don’t think I can walk there and back again, but I can show you if you carry me.’

  Jack smiled kindly at Raggs.

  ‘You stay here in the warm. If Nora comes back before we do, you can tell her everything that’s happened.’

  ‘Everything?’ exclaimed Camelin.

  ‘Everything,’ confirmed Jack. ‘Are you ready to go?’

  ‘What about lunch?’

  ‘That’s going to have to wait, this is urgent.’

  ‘Could I at least have a biscuit?’

  Jack ignored Camelin’s last remark.

  ‘Come on, the sooner we get started, the sooner we can eat. I’m not sure we can do this on our own though. You go and round up Motley and the rest of the Night Guard and I’ll go and pay the Fairies a visit. I’ll meet you in the meadow by the Mound.’

  ‘Why don’t you just shout it out to the whole of Glasruhen? If you tell the Fairies it’ll be all over the forest in no time.’

  ‘They might be able to help. They can see into Elidon, so if Peabody has been Bogienapped they can at least try to find out where he’s gone.’

  Camelin humphed and grumbled to himself as he left the kitchen. Before Jack followed, he went over to the biscuit tin and got Raggs something sweet to eat. ‘I’m sure Nora won’t mind. Thank you for all your help. If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t know where to start looking.’

  Jack left Raggs nibbling the biscuit. He raced down to the hedge and didn’t stop running until he reached the stile on the back lane. It didn’t take him long to climb over and cover the short distance to the Fairy Mound. He bent over and peered into the tunnel.

  ‘Twink, Netty, Rhoda, is anyone there?’

  There was a faint popping noise from inside. At first Jack thought it might be the Dorysk but when a high-pitched voice answered him, he realised the sound had been the doorknob transforming.

  ‘No one’s in, goodbye.’

  ‘Wait, don’t go. Do you know when they’ll be back?’

  ‘When they arrive… goodbye.’

  ‘But when will that be?’

  ‘They’ll be back at Samhain, they’ve got a coronation to go to.’

  ‘I need to find them before then. Do you know where they could be?’

  ‘No one at home, no one to ask, not seen them in a while. Goodbye.’

  Another faint popping sound told Jack the conversation was over. He stood up and looked around the meadow. The mist had lifted and Jack could see Motley and the other rats bounding towards him.

  ‘Night Guard, ready for duty,’ said Motley as he came to an abrupt halt at Jack’s feet.

  The rest of the rats quickly formed two ranks and stood to attention. Jack smiled as Motley straightened his back and waited for the rest of the guard to do the same.

  ‘Isn’t the Dorysk with you?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Top secret, hush-hush, my lips are sealed,’ replied Motley. ‘He’s had leave of absence from the Guard until after your coronation. Very important mission he’s on.’

  ‘Well we’ve got a very important mission too. Has Camelin explained our problem?’

  ‘He has. We need to locate the whereabouts of Peabody and escort him back to the safety of Ewell House.’

  Jack nodded and was relieved to see Camelin land in one of the trees at the edge of the forest. Motley had seen him too.

  ‘Forward, men, to the forest. We must find the missing Bogie.’

  Jack watched as the rats quickly broke ranks and raced over to the trees. Camelin swooped down but they bounded past him; in seconds they were lost from sight. Jack ran over to Camelin.

  ‘I’d better transform, we can cover more ground if we fly.’

  Soon they were airborne and weaving their way through the lifeless trees. They went deeper and deeper into the forest and only slowed down when they reached the inner circle. They landed next to one of the Gnarles.

  ‘We should ask the trees before we start searching, they might have seen something or even know what’s happened.’

  Camelin croaked loudly and rapped his beak several times on the bark of the nearest tree. It wasn’t quite how Jack would have woken the Gnarle but it was effective. Two sleepy eyes, halfway up the trunk, began to open. Jack waited until he knew they’d been seen.

  ‘Who’s there?’ a deep, sleepy voice asked.

  ‘It’s Jack Brenin and Camelin; we’re sorry to disturb you but we’re looking for the Bogie who lives in the Gnori. Have you seen him?’

  ‘The Bogie, now let me see, that would be Peabody. He’s not been in these parts for a while now.’

  ‘We need to find him, he’s gone missing.’

  The Gnarle chuckled loudly.

  ‘That’s a good one! A Bogie, gone missing! Well he won’t be lost; Bogies always know where they are. If you can’t find him it’s because he doesn’t want to be found.’

  Camelin nudged Jack with his wing.

  ‘I told you he’s sneaky, he’s probably hiding somewhere and watching us all searching for him. Let’s go home, this is pointless.’

  Jack cocked his head on one side and listened intently. The only sound in the forest came from Motley and the Night Guard as they scurried through the trees.

  ‘Anything?’ Jack called.

  ‘Nothing,’ replied Motley, ‘his front door is locked and there’s not a sound coming from inside. His trail just stops, not a sign of him anywhere, it’s like the ground just swallowed him up, don’t you know.’

  Jack sighed and turned back to the Gnarle.

  ‘I’m sorry we disturbed you. You’re probably right. We’re wasting our time if he doesn’t want to be found.’

  The Gnarle yawned and closed his sleepy eyes. Jack scanned the forest one last time for any sign of life. He was aware of Camelin rocking impatiently from side to side.

  ‘Come on, Jack, let’s go.’

  Jack nodded.

  ‘Back to Ewell House, everyone,’ he shouted to the Night Guard.

  When the rats were out of sight, he took off with Camelin. As they headed towards the edge of the forest where he’d left his clothes, Jack felt uneasy. He hoped Nora was going to be there when they got back to the house.

  By the time Jack reached Ewell House, Camelin and Raggs were sitting at the kitchen table with Nora. He could see, by the way Camelin’s head was drooped, he’d been told off.

  ‘I’m sorry for all the trouble,’ said Jack.

  ‘What’s done is done,’ said Nora. ‘I’ll send messages out to the trees to see if they’ve seen or heard anything. Unfortunately, not much information comes out of Newton Gil
l. I’ll summon the Fairies too. Don’t worry, it will sort itself out in the end, but for now I don’t want any of you going into Newton Gill Forest.’

  ‘I’ll go and inform Motley and the rest of the Night Guard,’ announced Raggs, as he picked up his stick. Nora helped him down onto the floor and held the door open for him.

  ‘It’s getting late,’ said Jack, ‘Grandad will be home by now. I ought to be getting back for my tea.’

  ‘Some of us haven’t had our lunch yet,’ grumbled Camelin.

  ‘You’ll enjoy your dinner even more then,’ Nora told him. ‘We’ll see you tomorrow, Jack, and hopefully by then I’ll have some news.’

  Jack said goodbye and made his way to the tunnel. The light was fading rapidly and he decided to run back to Brenin House. It had been a long time since breakfast and his stomach was rumbling.

  PROCLAMATION

  ‘What do you want to do today?’ Jack asked Camelin as he entered the kitchen at Ewell House.

  ‘I’m grounded and Nora says we’ve got to wait here for a very important visitor who’s got a very important message.’

  ‘Do you know what it’s about?’

  ‘I’m not included in anything these days. The Dragonettes and even Timmery went into Annwn with Nora and, what’s more, they haven’t come back yet.’

  Camelin snapped his beak shut when he heard Nora’s voice. She was talking to someone outside in the garden. Jack tried to make out what was being said but they were too far away to be heard. The voices stopped and were replaced by footsteps.

  When the door opened, Camelin humphed loudly.

  Jack was surprised to see a jet-black squirrel scamper onto the kitchen table. It was dressed in a tabard with a small leather dispatch bag over its shoulder, both of which bore the Royal arms of Annwn. The squirrel was also wearing a pair of spectacles. As it approached Jack it flicked its tail from side to side.

  ‘Dorysk?’ asked Jack.

  Camelin tutted loudly before the Dorysk could answer. Nora gave him a disapproving look as she sat down next to Jack. She smiled and nodded at the Dorysk several times before she spoke.

  ‘I’ve waited a long time for this moment. You’d better tell us all why you’re here.’

  The Dorysk coughed daintily into his little paw before reaching into the bag. He pulled out a small scroll.