The Long Staff (The Staff Wielder Series)

by Clare Wilson

  Torean also felt that he had inflicted enough pain upon his family. He would not permit anything to happen to his grandson, not after losing his boy.

  The journey seemed to take longer than it had that morning when they had all been fleeing through the countryside. Torean felt somehow grateful for the journey. He was not looking forward to setting up camp in the last place they had all been together. In spite of this, he could not see that they had any choice. No matter how tempted he may feel to rush after the boys, he knew it would be folly to try to set out down the mountainside at night. If the weather turned, or they made a wrong footing it could be fatal.

  When they arrived at Devil’s Ford Adaira tied Onero to a tree. It was the same spot where they had been camped previously, and she set about lighting a fire and preparing a meal for Torean and herself. It was as though they had never left. She was not hungry, but out of routine, and also to delay the time when she would have to stop and think about what was happening, she went through the motions of preparing them food. As she was doing this she thought about the fact that it somehow felt like so long ago that the four of them had been camped there together. The day had changed everything. When they had lost their home it had been hard, but they had still had one another.

  Torean went out into the trees and returned shortly with a dead rabbit. He had not gone hunting out of hunger, but more so he could avoid seeing Adaira’s face. It was hard to see her in so much pain. He sat in silence and skinned the small animal, preparing it to add to the broth which Adaira was preparing.

  He was then surprised that the smell of the food as it cooked made him feel hungry. It wasn’t until the meal was being prepared that Torean had realised that neither of them had eaten at all that day. It hadn’t seemed important. Why would you eat at such a time?

  The two sat and ate their meal in silence. As they finished, Adaira took Torean’s bowl from him and said, ‘So do you have a plan?’ Her voice was slightly hoarse from the exertions of the day.

  Torean looked up and said, ‘Not exactly.’ He had never felt this tired in his life. ‘I think we need to get to the outskirts of the town and head for Old Wilson’s farm. He is aware of our situation and it’ll give you somewhere safe to wait until I can get the boys back.’

  At this Adaira shot him an angry glance. ‘If you think I am going to sit in a house nursing a cup of tea waiting for you to save my son you are gravely mistaken.’

  ‘I just want to try to keep you safe, my dear,’ Torean pleaded.

  ‘It’s a little late for that, Torean,’ Adaira said in a tone which she immediately regretted. ‘We are all involved in this,’ she added in a kinder voice. ‘I will not sit and wait for bad news. I already lost Abhainn. I may not have been able to control that, but I will not allow the same fate to befall my son.’ Adaira had lost her forlorn look and now appeared to have a steely determination.

  ‘I’ll never forgive myself for what happened to Abhainn,’ said Torean, wiping a tear from his eye. ‘And believe me, I understand your feelings on the matter. If I cannot sway you, then we must do this together. Nevertheless, I still think we should head for Old Wilson’s first. I will need somewhere to gather my thoughts on how best to proceed, and he may have information on what has been happening in the village in our absence.’

  I will trust your judgement,’ Adaira said after a brief silence. ‘For now we must try to get some rest,’ she conceded. She felt too weary to carry on talking on the subject.

  At that Torean noticed some fairies had entered the clearing. It was as though the tiny creatures could sense their grief.

  Adaira had never seen fairies before and couldn’t help but look up in awe.

  They fluttered between the two like little fire flies. Dancing in an intricate formation, the creatures moved in a way which suggested they knew exactly how graceful they were. The beautiful light show seemed to bring them both out of themselves, and the two sat holding hands, both watching the skies. The little brown creatures were gone as quickly as they had come, but they seemed to remind the pair exactly what they were fighting for.

  After a short spell of silence Torean continued their conversation. ‘We should rise just before dawn to ensure we can be on our way as early as possible.’ He felt slightly more positive. ‘I think we should head from here down past Longford’s Pass. While it’s not the route the group took town into the village yesterday, it’ll bring us out at the right point to head for Wilson’s place without being noticed.’

  Adaira nodded.

  ‘Goodnight, Adaira,’ he said to her fondly. ‘I’ll get your son back for you.’ Once again Torean had a tear in his eye.

  ‘We’ll both get them back,’ said Adaira touching his hand. ‘And when the time comes, I want to see the look of defeat in her eyes. We cannot permit her to succeed, not after this,’ she said vengefully. ‘If it takes my last breath I will make her pay for what she’s done to our family. And if she has laid a hand on my boy I will strike her down personally.’

  ‘Don’t worry on that account, my dear,’ Torean said, heartened by her words. ‘When the battle comes, I will wreak vengeance upon those who have caused us this pain. But for now we must content ourselves with the knowledge that they won’t harm the boys while they are useful.’

  ‘Yes, that’s true. Goodnight, Torean,’ Adaira said. She was comforted by the thought that the boys should remain reasonably safe while the group needed them to lure Torean from the hills.

  With that the two of them lay down near the remnants of their fire and tried to get some sleep. They had not feared lighting a fire that night. Somehow it felt as though they had nothing left to lose. It was not easy for either of them to doze off despite their exhaustion. Be that as it may, if they were to have enough strength for the coming day, they knew they had no choice. As such they both lay dozing instead of properly sleeping throughout the night, both anxious to be up and on their way.

  ‘Cabhair,’ Torean softly said as they lay down. This incantation usually relieved the suffering of those around you. He didn’t know whether it would work in this case, but wanted to do anything he could to help Adaira find some peace.

  As Adaira dozed, she saw a mixture of images. She saw the boys in pain being dragged along the ground by the group. The images were interspersed with flashing pictures of small fairies. They weaved in and out of her dreams posing with their slim bodies and white blonde hair.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Long Wait

  Lizzy was impatiently pottering around the house, distractedly carrying out her morning chores. They had arrived back the previous afternoon and she was already finding it unbearable waiting for news about Torean and his family. This was made doubly difficult by the fact that she knew the first news she was likely to receive would be discerned from Lady Naithara’s mood when she returned from her trip into the hills.

  Their journey the previous day had been reasonably uneventful. They had travelled quietly, partially because they did not wish to alert anyone who may be in the hills that they were travelling, and partially because they were all rather frightened by the prospect of what lay ahead. The events of the previous days had all been rather a lot to take in. This had consisted of Lizzy believing Torean dead, only to find out this was in fact not the case. She had then discovered her mistress was in collusion with evil spirits, something which was incredible in itself. Finally, she had found that a man she had known all her life, Torean MacKay, was in fact some kind of sorcerer. Lizzy just keep calm. You have done everything you can to help, she thought to herself.

  When they arrived back she had busied herself catching up on chores in the house. Although the estate was of a reasonable size, recent lack of money within the Laird’s family had meant that she was the only servant in residence. She managed to avoid unwanted conversations with the cook, who came in and had asked why no-one had given her prior notice to the fact that the family were going away for an overnight stay. Lizzy had simply told her that she had not
had any notice herself. This didn’t seem to pacify the grumpy old woman, but there was nothing else to be said. Lizzy found herself almost laughing with amusement at the thought of how the cook would have reacted if she had told her what had really happened.

  Putting all the thoughts of the previous day aside, she went into the kitchen to prepare some mid-morning tea for the Laird. Taking a tray up to his study she knocked on the door and waited.

  ‘Come,’ said the familiar voice from inside.

  She opened the door and entered quietly. ‘My Lord, I am just bringing you some tea.’ She looked at him, waiting for a response. Despite their adventures of the past few days, being back in the house had made Lizzy revert to her normal formality with the old man.

  The Laird’s study was a fairly large room with an open fire. There were shelves containing many books, and in the corner, a large desk behind which the old man sat.

  As Lizzy entered the room, the Laird could tell by her expression and the tone of her voice that she was getting extremely frustrated. ‘My dear,’ he said kindly. ‘I know this is difficult but we must try to be patient. I assume that my niece has not made an appearance as yet?’

  ‘No sign, my Lord,’ Lizzy said despondently.

  ‘Well, she should be back today. I wouldn’t imagine they would stay in the hills for more than one night. It would cause too much suspicion,’ the Laird said, taking a cup from Lizzy. ‘Thank you, my dear.’

  ‘If I may be so bold,’ she said, cautiously, ‘what are you doing while we wait?’

  ‘Lizzy, my dear,’ the Laird said patiently. ‘I believe we are beyond the point where you should feel you cannot freely ask me such questions. If you must know, I am going through some old books and papers from the library,’ he said, picking up huge bundles of papers tied to together with string. ‘My great grandfather amassed quite a large collection of texts, many of which involved the occult. He was, shall we say, a keen observer. I am working on the assumption that my niece has learned something about her arts from the works in this house. I cannot see where else she would have learned about the power held within Cairn Holme.’ He suddenly looked angry as he turned over pages which lay strewn on the desk in front of him.

  ‘Have you ever read such books before?’ Lizzy asked, slightly frightened at the thought of books on the subject of evil being kept in the house.

  ‘No, my dear,’ the Laird said, trying to reassure her. ‘Although I was aware that they were in the library, I personally have never had any interest in such subjects. In all honesty I had forgotten about them until this situation arose. I realise we will be highly unlikely to be able to help Torean when he has to fight this evil, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try to obtain any information possible about what this could mean.’ He had an expression on his face which showed he didn’t believe he would find anything worthwhile, but he had to do something. The old man had always fallen back on books throughout his life. In all other situations they had provided the knowledge he needed, or more importantly, the comfort he had needed. He was desperately seeking some of that now.

  ‘Yes,’ Lizzy said, looking hopeful. ‘It’s good to know that we’re not just sitting here waiting for bad news.’ She turned and headed back towards the door. ‘I had best let you get on with your work. If you need anything just ring the bell.’

  ‘Thank you, Lizzy, you are most kind,’ he said, smiling at her fondly. ‘If you can let me know when my niece returns I would be most grateful. Although, please ensure that you do so subtly. She’ll have gone off on this mission with the hope that I wouldn’t notice her absence. I believe it would be best to keep up this pretence for the time being.’

  ‘Yes, my Lord,’ Lizzy replied, exiting the room. She walked down the stairs and looked at the clock. It was eleven thirty. She wondered when Lady Naithara would return. If her journey took a similar length to the one they had taken the previous day she should hopefully be back in the early afternoon.

  Lady Naithara made an appearance just before four o’clock. Lizzy tried to appear as though she did not find this unusual. She took Naithara’s coat from her and enquired whether she would like to take tea.

  ‘Ah,’ said Naithara wearily. ‘That would be wonderful. I have had quite an eventful morning; can you please bring it to my room? I would like to have a late afternoon nap.’

  ‘Of course, my Lady,’ said Lizzy, following her up the stairs.

  When Lizzy entered the Lady’s room carrying a tray containing a pot of tea and some fresh crumpets, she noticed Naithara had drawn the curtains and was sitting up in bed by lamp light.

  ‘Thank you, Lizzy,’ she said smiling. ‘You’re a godsend.’

  Lizzy sat the tray on Naithara’s lap and enquired innocently, ‘You look rather pale, my Lady. I hope you are not coming down with something?’

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ Naithara said, picking up the teapot and pouring it into her cup. ‘It’s simply exhaustion. I’ve had a busy morning.’

  ‘What were you doing?’ Lizzy enquired further.

  ‘Erm,’ Naithara stuttered, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. ‘Well, come now, Lizzy, a young lady is allowed to have some secrets,’ she said, hoping to lead Lizzy away from further questions by suggesting she may have a young beau.

  ‘Of course, my Lady, forgive my impertinence,’ Lizzy said with a slight curtsey. ‘I hope your ventures were fruitful?’

  What a strange question? Naithara thought. Then she dismissed this thinking Lizzy must have believed her suggestion about meeting a young man. ‘Yes,’ she replied trying to look demure. ‘They were very fruitful indeed.’ She thought to herself, more fruitful than you can imagine my dear.

  ‘Will you be dining with your uncle this evening?’ Lizzy enquired, hoping to glean any form of information she could about Naithara’s plans for the rest of the day.

  ‘Of course,’ Naithara replied matter-of-factly. It was like a verbal game of chess, she knew she must be careful what she said to avoid making the girl suspicious. If Lizzy did notice her sneaking out the in the night she may be curious, perhaps it would be best to mention her late night rendezvous, following the story of her imaginary beau. ‘Can I trust you with a secret, Lizzy?’ she enquired.

  ‘Of course you can,’ Lizzy said, feeling slightly apprehensive about what Naithara was about to divulge.

  ‘I will be going out tonight,’ she said, speaking in unusually feminine tones. ‘I have arranged a secret meeting with my love tonight at midnight. Will you keep this secret from my uncle?’

  ‘Yes, my Lady,’ Lizzy said, trying not to look too relieved. ‘I would be glad to keep such a secret, new love is so exciting.’ She did her best to appear in awe of Naithara.

  ‘Yes it is,’ Naithara said smugly. She was happy this silly girl seemed to be lapping up her every word. ‘Now, Lizzy,’ she continued. ‘If you don’t mind, I am weary. Can you wake me in a couple of hours?’

  ‘Yes, my Lady,’ Lizzy said, curtseying and backing away towards he door. ‘Enjoy your nap.’

  ‘Thank you, Lizzy,’ Naithara said, sipping her tea.

  Lizzy closed the door softly behind her. It took all her strength not to gallop down the hallway to the Laird’s study. She slowly walked away and back to the staircase. Now out of sight of Lady Naithara’s room, she could contain herself no longer. She held her skirts to stop her tripping and took the stairs two at a time until she was on the next landing. Slightly out of breath, she took a moment to compose herself and then knocked on the Laird’s study door.

  ‘Enter,’ the Laird said nonchalantly. He knew he could not sound anxious in case his visitor was his niece. As the door opened and Lizzy entered he looked visibly relieved.

  Lizzy closed the door behind her and stood at the door.

  ‘Well, my girl?’ the Laird asked impatiently. ‘Don’t just stand there, come in and take a seat. Tell me everything.’

  Lizzy crossed the room and took the seat opposite the Laird at this desk. It f
elt strange sitting across from him here, she had never been in this position before. She took a deep breath before starting and said, ‘It’s hard to say.’ She wasn’t really sure where to begin. ‘She’s tired, and has gone for a rest. She fed me a story that she had been out meeting a secret lover. She also confided in me that she is sneaking out of the house tonight to meet this mystery man at midnight.’

  ‘Interesting,’ said the Laird.

  ‘What do you think it means?’ Lizzy asked, feeling frustrated.

  ‘Well,’ the Laird mused, stroking his chin. ‘It’s worrying that she doesn’t seem to be in a dark mood. This suggests that their mission had some level of success.’

  ‘Oh God, no,’ Lizzy muttered, putting hands to her face.

  ‘The fact that she’s told you about this fictitious meeting with a lover this evening suggests that they are meeting again tonight. She obviously thought it best to tell you about this so that if you saw her leaving the house you would not be suspicious.’

  ‘So what do we do?’ Lizzy asked pleadingly.

  ‘All we can do just now is make sure that we follow her this evening and try to find out what is happening. Did she mention where she was going?’

  ‘No,’ Lizzy said, now angry with herself for not asking this question when she had the Lady’s ear. ‘Will it be the clearing beyond the aviary again?’

  ‘Probably,’ the Laird replied. ‘We know that they have met there more than once. It would seem strange to try to find somewhere else secluded to have their gathering. Nevertheless, it would probably be best for us to follow behind her just in case. I would suggest we leave the house around eleven fifteen and wait in a quiet part of the garden. When she leaves through the scullery door, we should then be able to follow close behind her to ensure we don’t miss what is happening. We’ll need to be careful to ensure we find somewhere close by to watch, but somewhere we cannot be seen.’