The Midnight Chimes

by Paula Harrison

  “You’re such a baby! No wonder you have to share a room with Annie.” She stomped off.

  “I’m just glad I don’t share one with you,” I said, mostly to myself. “I wish I didn’t have to share a house with you either.” The wish bubble popped out of my mouth and drifted slowly through the air. I watched it in surprise. So much had happened today that I’d almost forgotten that seeing wishes was one of my new talents.

  This wish wasn’t like the ones I’d made with Annie, though. It had a dark, glassy surface – so dark that it was hard to see the picture of the wish inside. I caught a glimpse of Sammie leaving our house dragging a suitcase behind her, and my stomach lurched. It was only a wish though. It was Sammie’s fault for making me cross enough to say it.

  I Fight with a Frostblade for the Very First Time

  y lunchtime the next day, half the kids at school had asked Mrs Lovell if they could join Bat Club. Even Hector had tried to persuade her to let him go. Kids were talking about it in the corridors and wish bubbles were floating around with little pictures of bats inside.

  As we ate lunch Sally-Anne told us she’d seen the headmistress go up to Mr Cryptorum in the entrance hall to ask whether he could let more children into his nature club.

  “He said he already had plenty of people,” Sally-Anne said. “He was kind of snappish actually. How can three people be enough for a club?”

  “I think it’s because the bats don’t like a lot of noise,” Aiden said. “If there were more people it would just disturb them.”

  I was pretty impressed with this quick thinking. It worried me a bit though. If Cryptorum really was using the bats to help him would he expect us to go into the barn and get close to them? I didn’t really like the bats with their little beady eyes and flappy wings.

  As we left the dining room, we saw Miss Mason, the music teacher arriving with a sparkling smile. Her red lipstick was bright against her pale skin and she wore a purple sequinned jacket and high-heeled boots. “Are you ready for a musical afternoon?” she asked us. “I’ve got shakers, triangles and a xylophone for you to play!”

  There was a roar further down the corridor. “There are too many children,” growled Cryptorum. “And Too Much Noise!”

  Miss Mason’s smile faltered. “I’ll just fetch the sheet music!” She dashed back down the steps. It was funny to see a teacher as nervous of Mr Cryptorum’s temper as we were!

  News about Bat Club continued to be the hot gossip inside Grimdean House all afternoon, When home time came, a gaggle of kids hung around near the garden hoping to tag along. Miss Smiting firmly shooed them out of the building, her long skirt brushing the floor. “Off you go now or Mr Cryptorum will turn you all into bat snacks!”

  “So much for training secretly so that no one gets suspicious!” growled Cryptorum once the kids had streamed out of the front door.

  “Hush, Erasmusss!” Miss Smiting told him. “They are just curious children. We can do many thingsss to throw them off the smell.”

  “Off the scent?” said Nora.

  She smiled. “That’ss right.”

  I caught a glimpse of Miss Smiting’s thin green tongue behind her teeth. A mass of questions boiled inside my brain. “Miss Smiting, are you actually human?” I blurted out just as the clock on the tower began to chime. “And do the bats really help to find monsters? Is that why they flew off somewhere yesterday?”

  Cryptorum glared at me and for a second I thought he was going to send me away like the other kids. “Enough of these silly questions! We don’t have time for chit-chat.”

  Aiden’s forehead creased. “But, sir! I just want to ask one thing. Isn’t it strange that Robyn and me are friends and we’re both Chimes?”

  “That’s not strange at all,” Cryptorum said. “On some unconscious level you sensed you were alike in a very important way – that’s why you became friends. Now follow me!”

  Cryptorum took us out into the garden and across the leaf-covered lawn. I followed a bit sulkily. How come Aiden got his question answered while mine were just silly? I didn’t like it when grown-ups played favourites.

  The sun was sinking below the nearby houses in a blaze of orange. One lonely bat flew over the garden, wheeled into the sky and returned with a slow flap of its wings.

  I decided to try again. “So do the bats really help you with their echo . . . their echo-thingy?”

  “Echo-location,” Nora said.

  “We’ll get to all that in good time,” Cryptorum rumbled.

  There was a tiny movement at the edge of the barn. Cryptorum was over there in a second. He pulled Hector out of the shadows and marched him back to the house with one hand on his shoulder.

  “I was just looking for my football,” Hector protested. “I lost it at lunchtime. I’ll tell my dad!”

  “Tell him. He knows where I live,” Cryptorum said grimly. “This garden is out of bounds after school time to you and everyone else unless I say otherwise.”

  “I’ll see him out.” The grey-haired gardener hobbled out of the little side garden which was surrounded by tall hedges.

  “Thank you, Obediah.” Cryptorum nodded. “Then leave all your other jobs till tomorrow. You’ve done plenty for today.”

  Obediah Brown nodded and escorted a red-faced Hector up the marble steps. The single bat flapped past and I ducked, feeling the draught from its wings. The creature circled round and swooped under the roof of the barn.

  Cryptorum watched the bat disappear. “No more humans are here, so we’re safe to proceed.” He led us to the bottom of the garden where a stone bench stood beside a shed. Cryptorum pointed to the bench and we sat down. The wind swept down the long garden, peeling handfuls of leaves from the trees.

  Cryptorum studied us closely. “This is your last chance to change your mind. The midnight bell of the Mortal Clock woke up your second sight, but you do not have to lead the life of a Chime.” He looked from Nora to Aiden and me. “Many people like us close their eyes to the monsters and convince themselves they’re imagining the things in the shadows. They trick their minds until they cannot see the creatures any more. Not many people embrace their gift – it’s little wonder, really.” He turned and unlocked the shed. The door swung open to reveal a row of gleaming silver swords, each one long and stick-thin. Above them was a rack of wooden bows alongside a container full of arrows.

  “You may want to forget too,” he continued. “You could go back home and never speak of this again. Soon you will stop seeing the kobolds and the scree sags. You will stop hearing the boggun’s moan. You won’t even notice how extraordinary Junella is any more.” He nodded to Miss Smiting. “This life isn’t easy. I got the gift at thirteen after my parents hired a craftsman to fit a clock to our tower. By fifteen I’d run away from Wendleton, driven to desperation by trying to keep the town safe from monsters. My father and mother did not understand, and how could I explain it to them?”

  “Where did you go?” I asked.

  “I travelled south – I wanted to get as far away from my troubles as I could – but all I met were more monsters. At last I reached the Amazon river where I met an amazing person – half woman and half snake. She showed me how to survive in the rainforest. That was more than fifty years ago.”

  Miss Smiting gave a faint hiss, her green eyes alight. “It does not ssseem such a very long time.”

  So Miss Smiting was half snake. I guess it explained a lot.

  “At last I learned to live with danger – I found my courage,” Cryptorum continued. “But you still have a choice. You can still live an ordinary life – forget what you saw in my basement and go home.” He looked at us searchingly. “But whatever you choose, you must keep the Chime world secret. Telling people of monsters they cannot see would only cause panic, and that could be dangerous for them and for you.”

  My stomach was doing somersaults. I was scared but not scared enough to go home. “I don’t want to forget what I’ve seen,” I said. “I want to know how to fight.�
��

  “I want to know how to use those.” Aiden was staring at the wooden bows in the shed.

  Nora hesitated, before adding, “I’m staying too.”

  Cryptorum nodded. “All right. Then the first thing you need to know is how to handle a blade.” He took three swords out of the shed, handing one to each of us. “These are frostblades and they’re made from silver. The name comes from the pale colour of the metal.”

  I took the sword. It had a wooden handle bound with leather and the blade was amazingly thin and light, almost like those weapons they use in fencing. If my family had been here they would have freaked at the sight of me – disaster-area Robyn – holding a sharp blade.

  The funny thing was I didn’t feel like I was going to drop it or do anything stupid. Holding it felt like the most normal thing in the world. I twisted my hand gently to flick the blade in a sideways figure of eight. The sword made a swooshing noise as it moved.

  Aiden was trying out his weapon too. “It doesn’t look much like the swords you see on TV.”

  Cryptorum closed the shed door and drew his sword from the sheath beneath his jacket. “It’s not made for fighting humans. Silver isn’t a strong metal but it has certain qualities that make monsters fear it.”

  “Is it because it’s so shiny?” I guessed. “And expensive?”

  “Silver has the highest electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of any metal,” Nora told us.

  We all looked at her.

  “If the creatures of the Unseen World have a high electrical voltage then it’s possible that being pierced with a silver blade weakens their life force and makes them easier to defeat,” she added.

  I lowered my blade. How did Nora know all this stuff? It was hard to believe she was in the year below us.

  “Well I’m not a scientist but I know that monsters can be beaten by a frostblade,” Cryptorum told us. “It pierces them like nothing else I’ve ever tried. I made these many years ago.”

  Miss Smiting put a hand on his arm. “I shall go. I mussst move the kobolds out of the dungeon.” She glided back towards the house.

  “Why is she moving the kobolds?” I asked.

  “Because they’re not dangerous enough to kill someone. They just need to be taken somewhere wild – far away from humans – and released.” Cryptorum snapped. “Now stop asking questions and listen!”

  “Sorry!” I longed to ask whether they let the bogguns and the scree sags out too. I hoped the answer was no.

  “So here are the most essential sword moves. Watch closely.” Cryptorum demonstrated each movement in slow motion. Then he made us repeat them at the same speed until he was sure we’d got it.

  We twisted, blocked, sliced and jabbed. Cryptorum had a name for every move – stuff like the short-hand parry which basically involved blocking someone else’s attack. I knew I wouldn’t remember the names but everything else was easy. It felt like the frostblade was part of my body, and its movement flowed like water into my fingers, along my arms and all the way down to my feet. The dying sunlight glinted on my sword as I moved. It was a bit like dancing.

  When the garden grew dark, Cryptorum switched on the shed light. Then he took out three leather jackets and told us to put them on.

  “Sir, this doesn’t fit,” I said, trying to find my hands at the ends of the way-too-big sleeves.

  “Just make the best of it, Robyn,” Cryptorum growled. “You need some basic protection if you’re going to fight each other. You and Nora pair up. Aiden, you can practise against me. Take turns to attack and defend.”

  I faced Nora and flexed my arms, trying to get used to the stupid leather jacket. Nora was shorter than me so her jacket looked even sillier. I took up a blocking position. “OK, you go first.”

  She hesitated. When she moved, I saw straight away where her thrust was aiming. I parried, hitting the sword out of her hand. I was pleased but I didn’t want to show it – Nora was smaller after all. “OK I was lucky that time. Want to try again?”

  Nora scrambled for her sword. One of her plaits had come loose and she suddenly looked even younger than usual. She tried again – a side swipe this time. I blocked her blow and knocked her blade to the ground a second time. She flushed and picked it up again. She wasn’t any better at defending either. It was like fighting a kitten.

  I looked up to find Cryptorum watching. “Swap over,” he told us. “Aiden you fight Nora. Robyn, you’re with me.”

  We swapped. I faced Mr Cryptorum with my sword ready, and the wind whistled down the garden, ruffling his mane of grey hair. I tried a sharp jab to the side but he swung round, blocking it easily. So I went for a high slicing movement. He brought his sword down on my shoulder and I winced. The tough leather of the jacket took most of the blow.

  So it went on. Thrust – block – slice – parry.

  The rhythm beat through me as I ducked and turned and swung the blade.

  At last, Cryptorum stepped back. “Enough! You’ve done well – all of you.”

  I let my frostblade drop to my side and tried to get my breath back. My heart was racing, like, two hundred beats a minute, but I felt proud. I’d actually been good at this. Amazingly. No one would ever have expected it, especially not me.

  As I helped Cryptorum put the frostblades away, I spotted a beautiful sword hanging at the far end of the shed. It was thicker than the ones we’d been using and it had swirly markings down the blade. “That one looks amazing.” I pointed to it. “Can I try it out?”

  “No, you can’t!” Cryptorum scowled. “That’s my best blade. I was given it by a man whose ancestor fought monsters during the time of Shakespeare.”

  I didn’t argue but I ran my hand across the hilt of the sword when he wasn’t looking. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

  “You were really good,” Aiden said as we walked home afterwards. “I watched you at the end against Cryptorum and you were matching all his moves.”

  “I think he was holding back a bit.” I rubbed my shoulder which was starting to ache.

  “Yeah, he probably was. But still, for a first go you were awesome.”

  “Thanks.” I grinned, my stomach flipping over. I’d been good at something. Me!

  “I told Cryptorum that I wanted to stay when I saw those bows,” Aiden went on. “But I’m not sure about this at all. The fact is, if the world is full of monsters, just training a few people isn’t going to make much of a difference. Cryptorum needs a whole army.”

  A hedge rustled and we both swung round really fast. My hand clenched as if it missed the frostblade. Leaves parted and a whiskery nose poked out. We both relaxed – it was just a cat.

  “At least learning to fight them is a start,” I said.

  “I guess.” Aiden frowned. “But I don’t know how much help Nora will be. She kept dropping her sword and her swing was pretty slow.”

  I felt a bit sorry for Nora. “Maybe she’ll be better with a bow and arrow. See you tomorrow.” I turned down my street, ran down the side passage and let myself in the back door. The kitchen was steamy and smelt of pizza. My favourite. Annie was eating a jacket potato – she never had any pizza because she didn’t like cheese.

  I grinned. “Is it pizza for tea?”

  “Robyn! I forgot you were staying for your club. Did you have a nice time?” Mum asked.

  “Yeah it was good.” I scanned the empty plates and my stomach gurgled. “You did save me some, didn’t you?”

  Mum got up and checked inside the oven in a flustered way. “Sorry, honey. I completely forgot you were coming back later. I’ve got half a slice I didn’t finish so you can have that.”

  I stared at the half-eaten slice. I couldn’t believe they hadn’t noticed I wasn’t there. Pizza was my favourite meal and they’d eaten the WHOLE THING without me.

  Sammie smirked. “It was delicious! Best pizza I’ve had for ages.”

  “Why don’t I whip you up some scrambled eggs,” Mum said. “Careful! Ben’s running kit is ri
ght—”

  It was too late. I tripped over the sports bag and sprawled across the floor. Sammie giggled as I picked myself up. If only they’d seen me earlier doing all those great sword moves. I sighed. It would be so awesome to tell them and see the sneer wiped off Sammie’s face, but my new identity as a Chime had to remain secret – it was safer that way.

  To my family I had to carry on being disaster-area Robyn.

  Aiden Invents Some Awesome Gadgets

  iden, Nora and me stayed after school for Bat Club every day that week. On the third day, Mr Cryptorum set large round targets out on the lawn and taught us how to use the bows and arrows. We were using practice arrows, but the real ones were tipped with silver, Cryptorum told us, the same as the swords.

  I found using a bow a bit harder than the sword. I tried to keep up with Aiden, who was firing off arrows really fast and hitting the target every time. Nora’s first two arrows met her target. Then she sent one sideways and it hit the wall of the barn with a massive thud. A swarm of bats poured out of the roof and flew away into the distance.

  “Oops!” Nora pulled a sorry face. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  Mr Cryptorum’s eyebrows bristled and he moved us all down to the far end of the garden, well away from the barn.

  I positioned my next arrow against the string, lined it up with the target and released. The arrow whizzed through the air, hitting the target just below the bullseye. “Hey! Did you see that! That was my best shot so far.”

  “Hmm?” Aiden wasn’t looking at me. He was examining the bow. “I’d like to work on this. I bet I could make it shoot further.”

  “He’ll never let you.” I glanced over to where Cryptorum was trying to help Nora aim better.

  “Maybe.” Aiden got that determined look that meant he was planning to do something anyway.

  By the beginning of our third week at Grimdean House, I was starting to feel like I knew my way around the place. The other kids in class had stopped asking us about Bat Club, although I sometimes caught Sally-Anne watching us curiously as we slipped out to the garden at the end of school.