Wychetts and the Key to Magic

by William Holley

Chapter 20- A Temporary Truce

  The dust cleared, and Bryony found herself hunched beneath a large chunk of fallen rock lodged at an angle against the tunnel wall. Stubby crouched beside her, his black button eyes filled with a mixture of relief and shock.

  “That was close,” he spluttered, shaking dust from his whiskers. “Are you all right?”

  To her amazement, Bryony found she was unhurt. “I’m OK. But what about everyone else?”

  Bryony slithered out from under the rock, and gawped at the damage inflicted by the tremor. The air was hazy with dust, but she could see that a large portion of tunnel roof had collapsed, and the ground was split by jagged cracks. Dim shapes moved in the murk, and she saw Pipsqueak and Dagger Tooth lifting their heads to gaze groggily around them. But where was Edwin?

  Bryony looked around, desperately searching for that silly ginger head. And then she heard a strange and terrible noise echoing down the tunnel. It sounded like wailing; agonised, grief stricken wailing.

  Peering through the dust, Bryony saw the spiders clustered around a wide crack in the ground.

  “She is gone,” cried Wincella. “The Great Mother has gone, swallowed by the hungry earth.”

  Bryony couldn’t feel pity for the Widow Splicefinger, but the agony in those cries was plain to hear, and she felt a lump in her throat as she watched the spiders mourn the loss of their mother.

  Pipsqueak, however, showed no sign of remorse. “So justice is done,” he squeaked. “Your leader is dead. I won the fight. The Key and the power belongs to the Ratello Mob!”

  The rats cheered, but Dagger Tooth silenced them with a raised paw. “It’s not over yet. Look down the tunnel. The way ahead is blocked.”

  Bryony saw that the tunnel had caved in, and the route to the Pit was now sealed with rubble. “Edwin went down there,” she gasped, suddenly remembering where she’d last seen her stepbrother.

  “Then the Sisterhood has won,” claimed Wincella. “For we made a deal with the boy. He will find the Key and set us free.”

  “The boy was probably crushed when the rocks fell,” said Dagger Tooth. “It looks like nobody’s won.”

  Silence fell. Bryony stared at the pile of fallen rubble blocking the tunnel. She couldn’t believe that Edwin was gone. She couldn’t believe that she’d never see his stupid ginger head or hear his irritating voice again…

  “Bryony.”

  Even now, she could hear him. His voice was muffled, but there was no mistaking that grating, scratchy tone.

  “Bryony, can you hear me?”

  Yes, there could be no doubt about it. The voice was definitely Edwin’s, and it was coming from behind the pile of fallen rocks.

  “Edwin!” Bryony’s heart leaped. She ran to the rock pile and yelled at the top of her voice. “Edwin, I can hear you. Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine,” replied Edwin. “Escaped without a scratch. How about you?”

  “I’m fine too.” Bryony sighed with relief. “Stay there. We’ll get through to you, somehow.”

  “I’m not staying here,” said Edwin. “I’m heading on to the Pit.”

  “You mustn’t,” warned Bryony. “It’s dangerous down there. There’s a warning on the wall.” She tried to locate the swirly mouse writing, but that portion of wall was blocked by rubble.

  “You try and stop me,” taunted Edwin. “I’m going to reach the Key first. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” Then he started laughing. “See you later. Maybe!”

  Bryony turned to Stubby as the sound of laughter faded. “What are we going to do? We can’t let him go into the Pit on his own.”

  “I’m afraid the boy is right,” sighed Stubby. “There’s nothing we can do. Not without the Key’s magic.”

  Bryony gritted her teeth. “We’ll see about that.”

  “What are you doing?” Stubby stared at Bryony as she knelt in front of the fallen rocks.

  “I’m going to dig a way out of here,” said Bryony, trying to lift a large rock. The rock wouldn’t budge, so she grabbed hold of a smaller one and tried to lift that.

  “But that will take hours,” said Stubby. “Probably days.”

  Bryony struggled, but managed to prise the smaller rock free of the pile. “There’s no other way,” she grunted, tossing the rock aside and seizing another.

  “But are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “I’m digging,” snarled Bryony, trying to move another chunk of rubble. “It’s hardly rocket science.”

  “Digging is more complicated than it looks,” said Dagger Tooth, who was also watching Bryony’s efforts. “If you move too many rocks from the bottom, you could bring the whole lot down on you.”

  Bryony managed to yank the rock free, but the movement dislodged some rocks above it.

  “Look out!” Dagger Tooth dragged Bryony away before the rocks came crashing down.

  Bryony’s heart sank as she surveyed the result of her efforts. She realised Stubby and Dagger Tooth were right. It would take days to dig through, that’s if she wasn’t crushed to a pulp in the process.

  “It’s hopeless,” she groaned. “We’ll never find Edwin.”

  “Oh I don’t know.” Pipsqueak cast his gaze over the wall of fallen rocks. “I reckon a troop of rats could dig through that lot in a matter of minutes. That’s if we found a way of supporting the upper rocks.”

  “That would be simple,” said Wincella, scuttling forwards. “A strong mesh of spiders’ webs should keep it in place.”

  Pipsqueak seemed sceptical. “Your webs could do that?”

  “Our webs are the strongest webs of any spider,” said Wincella, proudly.

  “And my boys are the best diggers in the business,” insisted Pipsqueak with equal conviction. “Between us we could have this problem sorted in no time.”

  “You could?” Bryony glanced eagerly from spider to rat. “You’d help me, both of you?”

  Pipsqueak and Wincella stared at each other again. Then Wincella spoke.

  “The Sisterhood will assist in clearing the passage. In return, we demand that our deal with the boy is upheld.”

  “Impossible,” insisted Pipsqueak. “The Key is ours by rights, because we won the fight.”

  “You shall not find the Key unless we help you,” pointed out Wincella.

  “And neither will you,” said Pipsqueak.

  Another bout of staring followed. Then Bryony had an idea. “How about a truce? If you work together you can clear the tunnel, and when we find the Key we can share the power between you.”

  “The Sisterhood shall share the power with no one,” said Wincella.

  “Same goes for the Ratello Mob,” added Pipsqueak.

  Then Wincella spoke again. “However, we will consider a temporary cessation of hostilities. We shall help clear the tunnel, and then settle this matter when we reach the Pit.”

  Pipsqueak thought about it, and then nodded. “You got yourself a deal. A temporary truce. Until we reach the Pit.”

  Wincella bobbed in agreement. Bryony breathed an inner sigh of relief. It wasn’t a perfect arrangement, but at least it meant she stood a chance of finding Edwin before he reached the Pit, and whatever dangers awaited him there. That’s if it wasn’t already too late…