by Noel Pogson
Sir Philip steepled his hands, his elbows resting on the chair arms, and thought carefully before he spoke.
“The task is not in itself complicated, but so much time has elapsed since the events took place, that the implications of changing events are very large indeed. I take it that you want to prevent each of the boys falling victim to Shaul and losing their souls?”
“Yes.”
Sir Philip pursed his lips and looked steadily into the headmaster’s eyes, not sure what he was looking for, but looking none-the-less. All he saw was hope. He was very tempted to try and read the headmaster’s mind, but refrained, it would be very bad manners to say the least. As he watched the man in front of him, he allowed his mind to run over the task, and the associated risks.
“Each of the boys will behave totally differently once the event has been avoided Orion. There will almost certainly be significant changes in the lives of other students at the school as a result, and school activities might well take a different course, with some of the results possibly being very unpleasant. Changing the course of history like this is no small matter!”
“I know. However, consider the alternative, the future of the boys that we’ve lost. We both believe in fate Philip, and are firmly of the opinion that it controls events in such a manner that the desired outcome is always achieved. Fate has put us here in these chairs today discussing the option of adjusting history at the school. Maybe fate is expecting us to do it? Maybe the same fate that’s controlled everything to date will control it again?”
“Maybe fate has already controlled it Orion, and we shouldn’t be trying to change what fate has determined to be the correct course?”
“Do you think we can actually change the course of history?”
“No.”
“So…?”
Sir Philip smiled at his mentor before he continued.
“We’ve followed this argument through enough times Orion. If we undo a necessary piece of history, then fate will simply redo it, and nothing will change.”
“Precisely. If these events are necessary, then fate will take care of it. Either we won’t be able to save Rufus Logan from losing his soul in Mhonarr Castle crypt on the fourth of October, or, we will manage to do so only to find that it happens again another day. Could you live with your conscience though if you didn’t at least try?”
Sir Philip was feeling nervous. That always happened when he contemplated the twists of fate and how powerless they all were in the grand workings of the universe. So many people coveted power, magical and non-magical alike, and then exercised what little power they thought they had to their own advantage.
Very few people realised that it was all just an illusion, that they had little control over any of it at all, and that they were simply acting out the path that fate had set before them. Fewer still exercised the little power that they were given for the benefit of others, never thinking about the cost to themselves, or even knowingly acting for the good of others to their own conscious hurt.
Maybe it was because he had the Time Talisman, and therefore the ability to really change things, that he thought about it more carefully. Or maybe it was because he thought about it and understood it, that the ability to travel in time and make these changes had been entrusted to him?
He’d seen fate undo many of his and the headmaster’s changes in the past, and it was enough to convince him that even with a Time Talisman, no-one could significantly alter the course of history.
Either way, deliberately trying to change the past wasn’t something to be undertaken lightly. He was pleased that his father had hidden it from him until he was mature enough to understand the responsibilities that went with the privilege, and he was sorry that he’d had to reveal it to his own sons so early in their lives.
He smiled to himself as he realised that fate itself had forced his hand! The boys obviously needed to know, but why so young? In order to face their foe, that was obvious, but already? That was a disturbing thought!
The headmaster interrupted his reverie by clearing his throat, and the baronet smiled over at his long time mentor.
“Yes?”
“I need to come to the castle this evening Philip, and speak with the boys about half term. I trust that you still want them to come to Mhonarr next week?”
“Yes, but more importantly they want to come to Mhonarr next week, and of course you can come. Dinner at six?”
“I’m rather used to school eating habits, could we make it five thirty?”
The baronet smiled. “We can indeed.”
* * *
Zak and Tallion knuckled down to their homework the moment they got in from school. John Turner had been unable to collect them again, due to problems with the building work on the barn, so Jenny had come and done the honours. Steven went straight home though, so that he could use the fading daylight to help his dad around the farm before it got dark.
About four thirty the Portal Postbox hooted to announce the arrival of some magical mail, and Jenny Turner went to retrieve it. Bella Middleham often dropped quick notes through about playdates for Sophie and Freya, or to ask if she could come down for coffee, or to see if Jenny wanted to come up to the castle.
“Boys, Sir Philip would like you to go up to the castle this evening, in fact we’re all invited for dinner at five thirty. I’ll ring Dad and see if he’ll be back in time.”
Zak and Tallion looked at each other, holding a quick thought conversation.
“Okay Mum,” they answered simultaneously and subconsciously, whilst their thought conversation raced through a few different possibilities.
I bet it’s about half term and going to Mhonarr.
Yeah, I’ve been waiting for him to say something about it for days, I expected it last weekend, but he never gave any hint about it.
You still want to go? asked Zak, feeling a little bit of reluctance in their shared emotions, but not knowing if it was from him or from Tallion.
Yeah, and it was my reluctance we felt. I like being in the dale, and it’ll feel strange being away.
That sounds more like Zak Turner than Tallion Middleham to me mate!
Well, maybe it was!
The two boys grinned at each other and looked back to their homework.
“There’s just time to get this maths done, then we should go and get changed. Robes I assume for dinner?”
“Yep.”
* * *
At five fifteen on the nose, Tallion Middleham walked through the portal in the back of his wardrobe, and arrived in the portal room at Lofthouse Castle. His soul mate was right behind him, followed by the rest of the Turner family with John coming through last, shaking his head with amazement as he arrived in the castle.
Bella Middleham greeted them all, and led them straight through to the dining room where a semi-formal dinner was laid out. Standing by the window were Sir Philip and Professor Trell who both turned and warmly greeted John and Jenny. Sir Philip made the introductions. It was the first time that the Turners had met the headmaster of their son’s second school, and they both appreciated his good humour, and the twinkle in his piercing blue eyes.
Professor Trell, John, and Jenny sat down on one side of the table, with all five children on the other side. A sleepy but happy looking Bjarne sat quietly in the middle between Zak and Sophie, with Freya next to her mother, and Tallion next to his father.
Talk over dinner was easy, with the adult witches and wizards enquiring after and showing great interest in John’s building work, amongst other things. The children talked amongst themselves about what was happening at the different schools they attended, and what their friends were up to. The subject of homework came up, with Zak telling Bjarne that he should make the most of hardly having any because when he got to secondary school it would all change!
The meal itself was, as always, excellent, and the choice of desert was second to none, with a number of favourite magical dishes making a re-appearance. The ‘Oh my!’ pie
was back and went down a treat.
As everyone sat back replete, the dirty dishes faded from view, and were replaced by glasses of warm bramble wine for the adults, self-toasting mallow milkshakes for the children, and plates of Witch Frail’s Fragrant Fudge Fingers, and Harry Hallow’s Honey Snap Squares to nibble.
Sir Philip soon introduced the subject of Mhonarr Castle, and the boys’ attendance there the following week. Bella had already spoken with Jenny about it, so it was no surprise to the Turners, and the headmaster took the floor.
He quickly ran through the activities that the first years undertook at wizard school, some of which left the Turners a bit bemused, but he got their agreement that they were happy for Zak to take part in everything. He then moved onto the arrangements for the week.
Zak and Tallion would leave for Mhonarr Castle on Sunday afternoon at three o’clock, which would allow Zak to play football for the dale that morning, and then have his lunch at home. They would return on Saturday evening after dinner at the school which would again allow Zak to play football the following Sunday.
“I have just one question that I’d like to ask the boys if I may. Will that leave you enough time to get your academy homework done? We can arrange your magical life around the academy but it’s rather more complicated to do it in the other direction.”
It was almost as if the headmaster had been reading their minds! The two boys glanced at each other and held a quick thought conversation before turning back to him and confirming that they’d probably manage, but might have to postpone some of their magical reading if they ran out of time.
Bjarne had been letting the conversation wash over him as he tried to keep his eyes open, having effectively just spent the entire night reading a couple of books about potions, followed by only a couple of hours sleep in the Tomb, as he now secretly referred to his reading room in the LookOut tower. His brother’s comment about having to put off some reading because he might not have enough time to do it registered with him though, and the glassy look left his eyes and he became wide awake.
“That’s no problem, Tallion,” said his father. “You need to keep up with your academy homework first at the moment.”
“Right, so that’s settled then!” exclaimed the headmaster happily, beaming his infectious smile round the room.
“Oh, just one more thing. I want you to make the trip by yourselves if you feel up to it boys. We need to get you both used to porting on your own, and this will be a good opportunity. Happy? Splendid!”
Sir Philip glanced sharply at the headmaster, but got only the merest hint of a serene wink back before the aged wizard continued.
“All that remains is for me to watch you doing a bit of duelling before I leave, maybe in half an hour or so? With your permission of course Philip!”
“You don’t need to ask my permission Orion, you’re in charge of their education! For what it’s worth though, permission granted.”
“Excellent! See you in the duelling room in thirty minutes then boys. Now Philip, do we have time to review those papers you mentioned in your study?”
No other wizard would ever have dared to suggest to Lord Middleham of the High Wizard Council what to do in his own castle, but it just came naturally to the headmaster! With only faint smiles of resignation from both Lord and Lady Middleham, the baronet nodded his head, uttered a magnanimous, ‘Of course!’ and stood up from the table.
* * *
“Tallion, Zak, wait!” called out Bjarne, racing after his brothers as they climbed the marble stairs a few minutes later. “I need to talk to you and show you something.”
The two eleven-year-olds focussed in on Bjarne’s thoughts as they waited for him to catch them up, and were surprised that it all seemed to be about time.
“Have you got a few minutes for me to show you something in the LookOut tower?”
“Yeah, of course!” answered Zak immediately, starting to follow the multiple trains of thought that were running through his adopted brother’s mind.
Bjarne grinned, and headed for the shortcut to the bottom of the tower. Once they were in the secret passage he spoke again.
“I’ve just solved your ‘running-out-of-time’ problem for your reading! You’ll easily be able to get through all your homework now, although you’ll have to watch out for getting a bit tired!”
The boys came out of the passage into the room at the bottom of the tower, and didn’t say anymore as they raced up the stairs to the ninth floor. The exertion of the climb made talking impossible anyway, and even Bjarne’s thoughts became disjointed and hard to follow!
“We need to go in here quickly, there’s no time to lose if you want to get back to the duelling rooms for seven.”
To the consternation of his natural brother, who unlike Zak knew of his father’s prohibition on entering the room, Bjarne plunged his hand down on the ornate handle and swung open the door to Tai Tuie’s Tomb!
Tallion then recalled that the he’d recently walked through the door too! It was a few weeks earlier when his father had been helping him recover from being hit by the Libra Mortis at Zak’s football match. For some reason he’d sent him out of the door, and then instantly met him on the other side to take him back in again! The room had looked like a school dorm then, but now it looked like a small library!
Zak vaguely recognised the room too from the time he’d spent in there with his soul mate, but it was only because he was sharing Tallion’s mind that he worked out why he recognised it.
“Bjarne, we’ll get into real trouble for coming in here! Father said not to! Ever!”
“Well, if he finds out maybe we will, but that’s really unlikely, unless you tell him!”
“Of course I won’t tell him, but how come he won’t find out? What if he comes up here while we’re inside?!”
“He won’t. He can’t. While we’re in here, time stops outside the door. It’s a time capsule! Our lives are now the only lives in the whole world that are moving forward, everything else is frozen!”
“What? You’re talking nonsense!”
“I’m not! Honestly! I found out about it by accident one day because of Uncle Theodore, but I’ve proved it over and over again since. Time stands still outside this room for as long as you’re inside. No-one else can come in while we’re in here either, because we’re only in here for a couple of seconds, just while we open and close the door. So long as no-one is standing in the passage watching, then they can never catch us in here. I’ve read all about time travel since I worked out what the room does, and it’s fascinating. It can be really dangerous of course if you mess it up, but this room is absolutely safe.”
“So let me get this straight,” said Zak, comprehension slowly dawning. “If we stay in here for two hours doing our homework, when we walk back out of the door it’ll still be exactly the same time as when we walked in?”
“Yes! It’s brilliant! The gift of time!”
“And we can still get a full night’s sleep then too,” mused Tallion looking around, “so it’s better than using a wakefulness potion! How do you know how long you’ve been in here though?”
“The grandfather clock. It always says the correct time when you walk in the door, whatever time you arrive, and then it just clocks up the time that you’re in here. I got curious one day and went out of the room, which took me back about five hours, and then I opened the door again and the grandfather clock had reset back to the same time as the rest of the castle!”
“I’ve been using the room now for weeks to let me read without having to stay up all night. It’s a bit tiring, but so long as I make sure I’m back in my own room by nine p.m. real time, then I can still get a good nine or ten hours before morning which seems to get me through the day. I often have a short kip in here for a few hours too, just to top up!”
“I’m a bit knackered now though because I’ve already been in here for twelve hours since I got back from school this afternoon, and I only had a couple of hours sleep o
n the sofa before I came down for dinner.”
Tallion was staring at his brother with a rather incredulous expression on his face which was slowly turning into amusement and understanding.
“So that’s why you’ve been a bit spaced out when we’ve seen you in the evenings in the library? You’ve been spending hours in here reading!”
“Yeah. Don’t tell Father I know about this place though, I really need it. I’ve become totally addicted to it, but I realised at dinner that you two need it too.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t let on, and you’re right, we really need it too! Fantastic! Problem solved!”
“Do you think we could bring Steven in here to do his homework too?” asked Zak. “He’s desperately short of time in his life with all the extra farm work he’s trying to do!”
“I’m sure we could. The only danger is that Father or Mother will get suspicious about why we keep coming up the LookOut tower!”
“We’ll just have to tell them the truth when they finally ask us! Right, we need to get going if we’re going to get down to the duelling room for seven, look at the clock, we’ve been in here for twenty minutes already!”
Bjarne was shaking his head with a grin on his face, and it took a few seconds for Zak to work out why. Then he slapped his hand against his forehead and closed his eyes as he shook his head. Time outside the room wasn't moving; it was still only six thirty five in the rest of the castle!
* * *
“Right boys, I do want to see your duelling skills, but first I need to talk about Mhonarr Castle,” said the now serious faced headmaster, as they gathered at seven o’clock in the duelling room.
“You met Sargas Malchus on your first evening at Mhonarr Castle, and from the account that Arcturus gave me, he showed up in his true colours; not pleasant to behold! I’ll not beat about the bush Tallion; he wants you dead. He only wants that because his father wants that, and he won’t do it himself because that would land him in jail. He’ll bewitch someone else to do it.”