Firestar

by Anne Forbes

  Lewis looked embarrassed and, to Neil’s amazement, came out with the truth. “We were exploring a secret passage that runs from Glenmorven House to the castle, here,” he said innocently enough. “We were really annoyed the other day because your friends chucked us off Morven and well … we wanted to know why.”

  Chuck raised his eyebrows. A secret passage, he thought. Well, it certainly explained the strange noises behind the panelling. Mentally, he scanned his memory, trying to remember what they’d all been talking about at the time.

  “You were talking about the giants and blowing up the mountain to get inside it,” Lewis answered the question for him and shooting him a straight glance, asked sharply. “Why are you here, Chuck? Is it anything to do with a satellite?”

  Chuck was so surprised that from lounging back comfortably in his chair, he sat up straight. “Satellite?” he queried, his face heavy with suspicion. “What do you know about satellites?”

  “I thought that’s what you did?” Lewis pretended to be puzzled. “It’s what you were doing in Kuwait, wasn’t it? I was only young at the time but I remember mum and dad talking about it.”

  Chuck relaxed but his eyes were watchful. “I suppose a satellite does come into the picture, but actually at the moment I’m heading a team of geologists. That’s why they’ve been going over the mountain. They’re looking for mineral deposits. There’s no secret about it,” he said casually, “but I’d rather you didn’t mention it to anyone. I mean, Lord Robertson knows about it but I’d really rather keep our work quiet in case we do come across anything. I hope you’ll bear that in mind,” he said pointedly to Lewis. “You can tell your mum and dad, of course. I know they’d keep it to themselves.”

  “Oh, I’ve told them already,” Lewis looked surprised. “Dad phoned me from the States the other day and I told them you were here, living in a castle.”

  Chuck’s expression didn’t change but a shade of annoyance flickered in his eyes. He knew Bob Grant of old; an astute operator with lots of contacts. If he found out about his involvement with Powerprobe then he’d most certainly wonder why he was suddenly holed up in a castle in the wilds of Scotland.

  “This is a fabulous place to live,” Neil said, looking round, seemingly uninterested in the conversation. “Could I have a look at all these swords and things on the wall?”

  “Sure,” Chuck got to his feet and they wandered over to the fan-shaped display of weapons. Now thoroughly suspicious, he wondered if Neil had suggested the move to get closer to his computer. Print-outs littered his desk and although they were meaningless to someone his age, they didn’t really look like anything vaguely connected to geology.

  Lewis, who had been trained at an early age that it was the height of bad manners to try to read anything on anybody’s desk, was actually wondering much the same thing but, as it turned out, Neil was genuinely interested in the weapons.

  “I’d take one down to show you,” Chuck said, glad that the conversation had taken a new direction, “but they’re more or less anchored to the wall. When we first arrived, we wanted to see how heavy the swords were but we couldn’t shift them — short of digging the stanchions out of the wall, that is.

  “We read a poem called The Charge of the Light Brigade last term,” Neil admitted shyly, “and there was a fantastic picture of it in the book — the horsemen charging the guns with only swords in their hands.”

  “I know the one you mean,” Chuck said, his expression changing. “Most people tend to think of it as a dreadful waste of life but the Light Brigade overran the Russian guns, you know, and changed the course of the war.”

  “It must be hard to be really brave,” Lewis said thoughtfully.

  Chuck looked at him oddly. “Oh, I think both of you would measure up,” he said with a grin.

  Lewis saw the smile and taking advantage of it asked tentatively. “Since you know us, Chuck, do you think we could go on the mountain from time to time? I mean, Shona, the Ferguson’s daughter, really loves Morven and …” Lewis tailed off looking at Chuck hopefully.

  So that, thought Chuck with some relief, is why they really came. He softened the blow as much as he could. “I’m sorry, Lewis,” he said, grinning at him ruefully, but sounding serious at the same time, “really sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t give anyone permission to go on the mountain.”

  The two ghosts, in all their tartan finery, had been following the conversation for some time but at his words, their expressions changed swiftly from the mildly interested to the totally ferocious. They were, in their own way, very fond of Shona and, as Neil and Lewis watched, they exchanged determined nods before stepping up to Chuck and hugging him fiercely.

  Chuck drew in a gasping breath as he shivered convulsively in the blast of cold air that froze him to the marrow but not before he noticed that the two boys were looking, not at him, but at something or someone behind him.

  19. Hunting Giants

  Despite the poor visibility and totally foul weather, Shane and his little group of geologists moved steadily across the glens and passes of the mountains. Young, fit and unhindered by the heavy packs they usually carried, they covered the ground in long easy strides, taking care to give isolated houses and crofts a wide berth.

  “This should be it,” Shane said as they finally topped the summit of a ridge. “Glen Crannach”

  A jagged streak of lightning lit the length and breadth of the glen that stretched before them. A road ran along the foot of the mountains and telephone poles spoke of civilization somewhere but the darkness was unbroken by lights of any sort.

  “I can’t see any houses,” Sam said, viewing the isolation with disfavour.

  “I can’t see any giants, either, Sammy,” announced Jake, sourly. Of all of them, he had been the least enthusiastic. As far as he was concerned, ghosts and stone giants were the figments of particularly vivid imaginations and he was having none of it.

  Shane ignored him and, making their way downhill, they crouched in the lee of a massive stone cliff where they were protected to a certain extent from the worst of the driving rain. Huddling under waterproof hoods, they settled down to wait for the stone giants to arrive.

  It was Steve who felt the ground stir beneath him. “Hey, the ground’s moving!” he said in alarm as the slope beneath him heaved gently.

  Shane felt it, too. “Maybe the rain’s loosened the hillside,” he snapped. With one accord they looked up at the towering cliff that loomed above them.

  It was then that they saw that the cliff seemed to be leaning towards them.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here!”

  They were brave men, all of them, but they turned white with horror. The cliff was immense and they knew they were going to have to move swiftly if they were going to survive.

  “Run!” snapped Shane and, reacting instinctively to the command, they scrambled for safety.

  Panting with fear, more than exertion, they managed to reach a rocky bluff and, clinging on grimly, stopped to look back. Expecting to see the cliff collapse into the valley below, they were stunned to see a very different sight; for the cliff did not fall but had become the massive head and shoulders of a giant figure that was heaving and tearing itself from the slopes of the mountain.

  Terrified, they watched as huge rocks and stones fell from it and bounced into the depths of the glen. Great legs, pillars of rock, flexed at the knees and arms flailed wildly as the giant rose from the mountain and became mobile. Lightning flashed in vicious, jagged streaks as with a great roaring noise, it started to walk and they backed away in horror as they realized that it was walking towards them.

  “Scatter, and make for higher ground,” Shane yelled as he saw the giant’s massive, rocky feet crushing the ground as it moved in huge strides towards them.

  “There are more giants on the other side of the valley! I can see at least two,” Steve called.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Shane yelled back.

  They ran franticall
y for the head of the glen but the giants seemed able to see them and followed them towards the ridge.

  Then Sammy tripped and fell. Shane heard Jake scream. “Sammy’s down!”

  With one accord they turned and saw Sammy lying helplessly in the path of the giant’s feet. Shane saw the monstrous face of the giant change and knew that it had seen Sammy. Sick with fear, he ran forward, shouting “No! No!”

  It was useless, he knew. Nothing could stop the huge figure that towered above him and, screaming at it, he watched in amazement as, although the great head had no eyes that he could see, the giant seemed to notice him. It stopped and then, very deliberately, changed its course and walked around Sammy.

  Sammy then rolled down a slope to safety and Shane found that in trying to save him, he himself, was now in the path of the monstrous figure. So terrified was he that he froze in his tracks and watched as the great legs crushed the mountainside — and again changed direction! The giant, it seemed, had deliberately left its path to walk around him. The other two giants made no attempt to approach them at all but plodded ponderously on, their sighted, but eyeless, faces fixed firmly on the head of the glen.

  Shane took a deep breath and ran to where Sammy lay crouched in the lashing rain, shaking with terror. “It had no eyes,” he said, “but it looked at me and didn’t step on me. It could have done,” he gabbled, “but it didn’t.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Come on, Sammy. Let’s get you out of here. Can you walk?”

  “Sure I can walk,” Sammy said. “No bones broken either.”

  “Right. Let’s stay together and get out of here. The giants are ahead of us now.”

  “Look, there they are,” Jake pointed dramatically at the ridge where the three huge giants stood, outlined dramatically against the skyline.

  “If we cut off to the right, we might be able to see where they’re going,” Shane said. “Come on, let’s go!”

  As the thunder rolled and lightning streaked the sky, they covered the ground as quickly as possible and reached the next glen, hoping that they had managed to overtake the huge creatures.

  “Where are they?” Jake asked as he turned to see how far the stone giants had reached.

  “I can’t see them at all,” Sammy said, blank amazement in his voice. A sudden flash of lightning lit the glen and, in the few seconds of brightness, they saw that it was empty. There were no stone figures to be seen.

  “They’ve disappeared!”

  “They can’t have!”

  “Come on, they must be somewhere!”

  “But where did they go? There’s nowhere here for them to hide and they were huge. Much bigger than a house.”

  “Look there,” Sammy pointed. “Those rock falls weren’t there before, were they?”

  “No,” Shane agreed. “No, you’re right, they weren’t.”

  They looked at one another in silence.

  “Do you think the giants have gone back to being part of the mountain again?” Steve conjectured, surveying the fallen remains doubtfully.

  Sammy looked at the tumble of rocks and earth. “I think they have,” he said, bending down and picking up a piece of black rock. “I think that’s what’s been happening all over Scotland. They grow and they die.”

  “I’ve never believed in magic,” Jake said as he, too, bent and picked out a rock from the landslide, “but I do now. They were fantastic! Out of this world! I’m going to keep this as a souvenir.”

  “Good idea,” nodded Shane as they all bent and chose pieces of rock. “I’ll never forget tonight,” he said. “Strange, isn’t it, that the giants avoided stepping on us. It shows that they are intelligent. It could easily have crushed me, but it didn’t.”

  Steve nodded. “At first, I thought they were chasing us, but they weren’t, really, you know,” he said, turning his piece of rock over in his hand and looking at it thoughtfully. “They were going somewhere definite and it just so happened that we stood in their way.”

  “But they didn’t get far, did they?”

  “No, I can’t think why, either. They were certainly powerful enough. Maybe … well, maybe their magic just ran out on them.”

  “But where were they going?” Shane wondered slowly. “And why?”

  Although they hadn’t noticed it, the weather had started to clear and in the fitful moonlight they could see far over the mountains. Steve flung out his hand and pointed. “I reckon they were going there,” he said.

  They were suddenly still, silent and alert for, rising in the distance, sharp and clear, dominating the landscape, was the tall, hump backed shape of a very familiar mountain.

  Steve’s voice was grim as he turned towards them. “I reckon they were heading for Morven!” he said.

  20. Stag at Bay

  “Would you just look at them!” Kenny gasped, pulling up in a lay-by that gave them a glimpse of the road ahead, for about half a mile further on, a group of at least six giants barred their way.

  Kalman’s heart sank as he peered at the wall of giants that stood threateningly across the road.

  Larry turned white. “Oh boy!” he muttered, his face the colour of chalk, “they’re really out to get us, aren’t they!”

  Inside the van, fear now replaced the atmosphere of easy friendship that had grown between the Jelly Beans and the stag.

  “It’s too dangerous for me to stay with you any longer,” Kalman observed. “Don’t worry, I’ll get out here and take to the hills.” He flung the giants an assessing glance, knowing that the van wouldn’t stand a chance if they were to attack it. “It’ll be all right,” he assured them, “when they see me on the hill, they’ll leave you alone.” He looked at them grimly. “I’d hoped that we might get closer to Ballater before they stopped us but at least I’m rested now.”

  “But Ballater’s miles away,” Larry protested. “The giants might still catch you!”

  “Hang on! Don’t get out here,” Kenny said, swiftly reversing the van and driving back the way they’d come. “We passed a lay-by a while back that gives onto the mountain,” he explained, “and further up I noticed a pass. If you cross it, I reckon you might save a bit of time, for the road takes the long way round. Show him the map, Larry.”

  Larry fished in the glove compartment and drew out a rather tattered ordnance survey map. Folding it to where they were on the road, he pointed to the pass and a way across the mountains that would, indeed, cut a huge chunk from the stag’s journey.

  Kenny drew up when they reached the bottom of the grassy slope that rose towards the break in the mountains. “That’s the way to go,” he said, nodding towards the pass. He switched off the engine and clambered out to open up the back of the van for the stag. Kalman backed his way down onto the road, feeling the stag’s hooves scrabble to get a grip on the tarmac. His antlers proved more of a problem but by carefully turning his head Kenny finally extricated the increasingly panic-stricken stag.

  Once clear of the van, the stag lifted its head and stretched its legs with a sigh of relief. The mountain air was fresh and clean and it was glad to be free of the confined space inside the dreadful machine. Concentrating his mind, Kalman calmed the stag and brought it under his control again. Seeing the anxious faces of Larry and Kenny, he felt a twinge of remorse at having put them in such a position and knowing that their danger was real, he stepped forward, gently resting the stag’s head on their shoulders. They thought it was his way of saying thank you for their help but it was more than that, for he was using more of his precious magic to give them what protection he could.

  “Thank you,” Kalman said, “you’ll never know how grateful I am to you. But you’d better hurry for the giants are on their way already.”

  Despite the approach of the giants, Larry and Kenny watched in fascinated wonder as the great stag leapt swiftly onto the rough grass and heather of the mountainside and headed up the steep incline towards the pass that would take it deeper into the mountains and closer to Morven. Larry’s eyes clouded with
unaccustomed tears as he clambered into the van and watched it through the windscreen. “I’ll never forget that stag, Kenny,” he said as he watched it bound upwards, “it was a miracle, like.”

  “What we’re needing is another one then,” Kenny snapped, pulling out of the lay-by and looking worriedly in the rear-view mirror. “Here come the giants!”

  He’d left it a bit late for, even as he took off along the narrow road that hugged the side of the mountain, the giants closed in on the van, roaring and shouting in strange gravelly voices that raised the hair on the back of their necks.

  Kalman, however, had made a gross miscalculation in assuming that the giants would see him on the mountainside. They only had eyes for the van and it soon became apparent to Kenny and Larry that the giants didn’t know that the stag was no longer there. Totally petrified, Kenny put his foot to the floor and the engine screamed in protest as they rocked and bucketed their way round the many hairpin bends in the road. It was then that a press helicopter soared into view and, as the cameras rolled, horrified viewers all over Scotland saw the giants charging after the speeding vehicle.

  “Use the loudspeaker to warn them,” shouted the pilot suddenly to the TV crew for he could see more giants rising from the mountains ahead of the van. It was well and truly trapped. Kenny, with a face as white as chalk, stepped on the brakes as he saw the huge figures appear in front of him and Larry grabbed his arm in terror as the giants closed in on them. Controlled by Lord Jezail, the giants had their instructions. The van had to be destroyed … and that was what they did.

  The giants didn’t try to push the car off the road or deliberately thump it with their great hands — they gathered together in a roaring crowd round the van and collapsed on top of it, burying Kenny and Larry under a massive heap of rocks, stones and rubble.