The rest of the afternoon Brayden did his best to teach Jack to blend. Jack initially worked hard but soon became frustrated when the glamour wouldn’t bend to his will. In fact, it began to do the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do, making him the most obvious object in the room. Cali could barely keep herself laughing as Jack and his clothes turned an alarming shade of fluorescent pink over and over again.
Cain, who had been sitting with Brayden and Jack for most of the afternoon, looked at Jack sympathetically.
‘You will find it easier with practice,’ he said. Jack nodded.
‘Maybe,’ he said, trying not to sound ungrateful. Cain studied him for a moment longer but it seemed he had nothing else to say.
‘That will be enough for today. I want you to practice tonight. You will only have me tomorrow morning and then my brother, Abel will be taking over,’ he said solemnly.
Jack left feeling wrung out.
The next day he was pleasantly surprised when Cain took them outside Five Oakes to practice. Jack hadn’t been outside since he’d been to the Keeper’s glade. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and he turned his face up to the sun, slowly breathing in the warm air.
‘Does anyone know why we’re taking our lesson outside?’ Cain asked.
‘I suppose it’s because… well, because we need to practice in a natural environment. All the rooms in Five Oakes are controlled,’ Cali replied.
‘Well done Cali. Outdoors is less predictable than a room indoors. You must practice in different conditions. Today is ideal because of the contrast between light and shadow.’
It was a laughter filled morning. Cali managed to blend almost perfectly into the background (she had not succeeded in blending her hair which floated around oddly on her invisible head). Jack still had no luck and soon became frustrated with the whole thing, choosing to watch Cali’s efforts instead. Cain, who was watching the proceedings closely, took Jack to one side.
‘I had supposed that Aloysius informed you of the importance of this particular quality for your … quest,’ Cain said his eyes digging into Jack’s.
‘Yes sir, he did,’ Jack said uncomfortably.
‘You know Jack, this skill - it could save you.’ Cain looked for a moment longer at Jack.
‘I know. I’m sorry,’ Jack said. Cain nodded and turned to the others.
‘It’s nearly time to break for lunch and then my brother will be coming to teach you. I have brought a picnic unless you would rather eat inside?’ the others shook their heads and followed Cain as he led the way to the shade of the central tree where a large wicker basket sat.
‘I’m going to take a quick walk first...’ Jack called out to the group; his insides were squirming and he knew he would not be able to eat yet. No one took any notice, though he saw Cali glance round, a confused look on her face. Jack wandered slowly towards the trees on the edge of the clearing. The Keeper padded silently behind him, keeping her distance. As he started to walk beneath the boughs of the trees skirting the clearing he tried not to think about the time he had wasted. He was supposed to be learning important skills, skills that might help him find his sister.
Instead he had behaved like a kid, getting angry when he couldn’t immediately perform. Grimly he walked further into the wood taking little notice of where he was going, lost in thoughts of Sophie. Sometime later he looked up and realised with a shock that he could see Steele Manor. He stopped.
‘I thought I might find you here,’ a soft voice spoke making Jack jump.
Jack had another shock when, directly behind him, he saw the boy from the Keeper’s glade. A shiver of fear ran through him and a thought, a thought of moving gold and orange light flashed across his brain. The boy’s dark hair curled mutinously around his ears and fell into his dark eyes, which Jack remembered were sometimes a blazing flickering orange. A smile tripped lazily around the boy’s mouth.
‘What are you doing here?’ Jack asked.
‘Like I said before, you need to be more careful when you choose your friends,’ the boy said amiably.
‘I don’t need your advice. I don’t even know you,’ Jack said, not caring how rude he sounded.
‘That where you live then?’ the boy asked, nodding towards the Manor.
‘You must know it is,’ Jack said shortly playing along.
‘Going back are you?’
‘I … no. No! I just …’ The boy nodded again, knowingly, making Jack’s insides boil.
‘They miss you I bet,’ the boy said, confirming in Jacks mind that he did, indeed, know that this was Jack’s home. However, the boy evidently had no knowledge whatsoever of Jack’s relationship with his parents.
‘I don’t think so,’ Jack said. It was his turn to smile cryptically.
‘Aren’t you going to tell me your name?’ the boy asked.
‘Why?’ Jacks eyes narrowed suspiciously.
‘It’s simply good manners isn’t it? We’ve met twice now,’ the boy said. Jack shrugged. The boy held out his hand.
‘Don’t you already know my name?’ Jack asked.
‘I am Loomis,’ the boy said his hand floating in mid-air, waiting for Jack to clasp it. It seemed strange to Jack that he had met this boy twice now, twice in circumstances where it would be unusual to meet anyone. Jack reached instinctively to shake Loomis’ hand. Hadn’t something even stranger happened more recently? Jack strained to remember, a memory began to surface - flickering orange light, gold, pain, overwhelming pain. Jack’s eyes widened with the recollection as his hand finally clasped Loomis’.
Jack watched Loomis’ eyes change from brown to orange to searing white. The hand shaking his gripped tighter, vice-like until Jack could feel his bones grinding together. Loomis’ face was melting like candle wax, except his eyes, they retained their shape. Jack felt his skin burning. At exactly the same moment he heard a disturbance behind him, someone, more than one person from the noise they were making, running through the woods behind him.
Then the voice of Cain.
‘Jack! Let go!’ Jack automatically loosened his grip. As he did he felt a hand around his left arm pulling him away from Loomis. Jack stumbled and fell heavily to the ground, his hand breaking free from his tormenters grip. As he fell he saw Loomis spin around and sprint away towards the Manor, changing shape as he did so.
‘No!’ Jack shouted struggling to get up. Cain stopped him.
‘Jack listen to me. He won’t go to the Manor. There’s no point,’ Cain said.
‘How do you know that?’ Jack asked spinning around to face Cain fiercely.
‘There is nothing there for him – you are what he needs. You must come with us. Now,’ Cain said firmly. Though his voice was calm his skin was as white as his hair.
It was only then that Jack noticed everyone was with him; Gordy, Brayden and Cali. Jack nodded and with a final glance over his shoulder at the Manor he hurried after Cain back through the forest to the clearing. When they arrived at Five Oakes Cain turned to Jack.
‘I am sorry Jack. I am your guardian while I teach and it was a dereliction of duty to allow you to wander off alone, regardless of where you are going. Or what influence I was under,’ Cain said. Jack shook his head.
‘It wasn’t your fault Cain,’ he said miserably.
Cain turned from Jack, walked a little closer to the fifth tree and spoke Aloysius’ name. The door to the Head of Council’s office appeared rapidly in the trunk of the tree and the small group filed through one at a time, distinctly less cheerful than they had been earlier in the day.
Chapter 9: The Decision
By the time they reached Jack’s room they were almost half an hour late. Jack watched as Cain took his brother to one side for a hurried meeting. He wasn’t sure what Cain told Abel, but it did not appear to cause Abel any concern.
Abel appeared to be completely different to Cain. For a start he was short, at least three foot shorter than his brother. Unlike Cain’s mountainous features, Abel’s were pointed wi
th high, sharp cheekbones and thin lips, which stretched often into a smile. His hair was long, the colour of golden oak wood and his eyes were the remarkable green of an Earth Elemental. His skin was light green too.
‘Cain has explained why you are late. No further discussion is required,’ Abel said, his voice wistful and soft. ‘Today I’m going to try to teach you some of the history of the Elementals,’ he gestured to Gordy and Brayden ‘you two are excused if you wish.’ The gnomes shook their heads.
‘You’re an Earth Elemental,’ Jack said as Abel sat. There was a short silence. Jack heard someone gasp.
‘Yes,’ Abel said pleasantly, smiling.
‘Well, Cain, he’s a Water Elemental isn’t he?’ Jack asked, meekly, not sure what he had said wrong.
‘He is indeed,’ Abel replied, still smiling dreamily.
‘Erm…I guess I thought that you’d be the same…’ Jack said awkwardly. A great silence stretched out across the room.
‘That would be what you humans call… logical?’ Abel asked, curiosity colouring his voice. Jack nodded.
‘Jack, I think you’ve misunderstood some of the stuff you‘ve seen since you‘ve been here,’ Brayden jumped in. ‘Elementals live separately by choice because of the different conditions in which they thrive.
‘An Earth Elementals life partner is just as likely to be Metal, Air or Water as another Earth Elemental. When life partners are found this way they generally have children who will choose their path they come of age. As Cain and Abel have,’ Brayden finished, breathless.
‘Oh,’ Jack said.
‘Admirably well put Brayden,’ Abel said ‘perhaps you should be teaching instead of me.’ Brayden mumbled something inaudible.
‘Erm, you were going to tell us about the history of the Elementals,’ Cali said into the awkward silence.
‘Yes, I was, wasn’t I?’ Abel said. He looked as if he were shaking himself out of a lovely daydream ‘if you are ready?’ Jack, who had no intention of asking any more questions, nodded meekly. Abel settled back deep into his chair, curled his legs underneath him and began to speak.
And so began an afternoon quite unlike the morning. It was not as much fun as learning to blend but it was fascinating. The history of the Elementals was more exciting than the history of humanity, and Abel made it all sound especially so. He persuaded them to re-enact famous battles, speeches and triumphs from the election of Aloysius to Head of Council two hundred and ninety-eight years previously (‘and he was only a young ‘un at one hundred and seventy-six at the time’) right up to the day Sophie was taken.
‘But this is something for another time,’ Abel said, his eyes flickering to Jack briefly.
‘Don’t you…’ Jack began, but Abel held up his hand.
‘Another time,’ he said softly. Jack wanted to argue but he didn’t. The gnomes were a practical people and he knew there was a reason that Abel would not speak further.
Jack didn’t have a chance to discuss what had happened in the forest with Cali in the lesson. After they had finished Jack simply could not shake off Brayden who wanted to give him an impromptu quiz on the history of Elementals, as if to make up for his doubt earlier in the day. Jack had a moment alone with Cali when Brayden saw a gnome he knew in the corridor. Jack hurriedly told her to meet him later that night, and finally got away from Brayden by telling the young gnome that he was going to bed.
Jack went to his room and, as he closed the bedroom door, he heard the Keeper settling outside. He thinking more of his meeting with Loomis than about what he had just learned from Abel. He hadn’t thought about Loomis since the boy vanished in the glade, so much was happening to Jack that it had somehow slipped his mind. It didn’t strike Jack as strange at the time, but now… He and Cali had plenty of time to talk about the strange boy who had ambushed them. It was like they forgot, like the memory was erased. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?
This was one of the things he wanted to talk to Cali about, but first Jack had to get past the Keeper. The best way to do it would be by using glamour and blending but Jack had yet to learn even that simplest of uses. The only other option was to wait until she was asleep and sneak past. While he waited he would practice blending. Aloysius thought it was important and Jack was sure that it would be useful.
Several hours later Jack cracked open the door of his room and peered into the dark. The Keeper, a more solid shadow than the others, was leaning against the wall - Jack could hear her deep breathing. He opened the door a little wider, just enough to slip through and pulled it quietly behind him. Jack got to the end of the hall before he heard a soft noise and, turning, saw the Keeper padding along behind him.
‘Can’t you stay here – I’ll only be gone for a bit?’ he asked, frustrated.
‘Would you like to hear my riddle?’ the Keeper said. Jack frowned.
‘I wish you could blend!’ he said irritably. The Keeper vanished. Jack blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the Keeper didn’t reappear. He walked towards where he had last seen her and bumped into something warm and solid.
‘Is that … you?’ Jack asked astonished.
‘Would you like to hear my riddle?’ Jack backed off and stared at the empty hallway again. The Keeper being there was not ideal - after all she made everyone edgy - but at least no one could see her. And if no-one could see her, he might still be able to get to the central atrium without anyone seeing him.
‘Be quiet, I don’t want anyone else to know where I’m going,’ he whispered before spinning on his heel and rushing down the corridor. By the time he got to the clock Cali was waiting for him. She looked grumpy.
‘You’re late!’ She tossed her hair over her shoulder, crossed her arms and started tapping her foot as she glared at him. Jack looked up at the clock.
‘Only five minutes,’ he said and quickly filled her in on what had happened with the Keeper.
‘So she’s here now?’ Cali looked suspiciously over Jack’s shoulder.
‘Yeah,’ Jack said hastily. ‘That boy in the forest, Loomis …’
‘Is that his name?’ Cali interrupted, still looking over Jack’s shoulder at the empty atrium.
‘Yes. He introduced himself just before you lot arrived. He said it was only polite,’ Jack said, only now grasping how odd it sounded.
‘And then he attacked you,’ Cali said pointedly. ‘Very polite.’
‘Well, yeah. Weird isn’t it? Do you remember him? From that day at the Keepers glade?’ Jack asked, watching her closely. Cali looked confused for a moment and then she gasped, raising her hand to her head as if it hurt.
‘Was that the same … well of course … I wonder why …?’ she trailed off and looked at Jack, eyes like wide with bewilderment.
‘I know! Don’t you think it’s odd that we both forgot about it?’ Jack asked.
‘It is strange…’ Cali said.
‘You’d think we’d talk about it. Even tell Aloysius about it. But we didn’t!’
‘We should tell Aloysius first thing. About both meetings,’ she said.
‘I’ll speak to him if I get the chance. I haven’t seen him today though.’
‘Tomorrow,’ Cali said firmly.
‘Yeah,’ Jack said relieved.
‘Well, I’d best get back to bed,’ Cali said yawning.
‘OK. Well. See you then,’ Jack said and watched as Cali walked back to her room. She looked back just as she reached the corridor and waved at him. Jack waved back and watched her disappear from sight before he too went back to bed.
Jack was woken the next morning by a loud screech. He leapt out of bed and ran to the door, ripping it open to stare wildly around the hall. Cali sprawled on the floor.
‘What… are you alright?’ Jack asked, stepping out of his room and stubbing his toe on something warm and soft.
‘Something tripped me up!’ Cali’s hair was flying around her head as she looked to see what it was.
‘Oh. It’s the Keeper. She’s still blending. Keeper
, can you stop blending please,’ Jack said, helping Cali up.
‘Oh my! I’m so sorry!’ She had tripped over the Keepers tail. As the Keeper reappeared Jack saw that Cali was apologising to the Keepers rear end. He couldn’t help laughing. She turned to tell him off when her own face broke into a large grin. Jack, perplexed, looked around and saw a crowd of gnomes grinning, giggling, even blushing. He looked down and saw that he was standing in front of a group of strangers wearing only his underpants. Again. His face burned as he ran back into his room, slamming the door behind him.
Jack emerged a short while later. He and Cali went to breakfast, a warning look from Jack was all it took to stop Cali from saying anything.
‘I can’t believe it’s taken this long to realise that she’ll do stuff if I ask her,’ he said as they entered the food hall.
‘What are you on about now?’ Cali asked, grinning at his blatant attempt to distract her from the underwear incident.
‘The Keeper,’ Jack said. Cali fell silent for a moment.
‘I was thinking about that last night. Have you ever actually asked her to do something before? Other than answer a question of course,’ Cali asked, as she filled a bowl with mixed fruit salad.
‘No,’ he said slowly as they sat at a free table. ‘I don’t think I have.’
‘We can ask Aloysius about it today,’ Cali said brightly and began to eat her breakfast. As it turned out the conversation was altogether redundant because as soon as she finished eating a gnome approached them.
‘A-A-Aloysius is r-rescheduling your … class until later,’ it was the same gnome who had delivered the message about the meeting.
‘Why? What’s wrong?’ Cali asked. The gnome scanned the room before answering.
‘Cain is m-missing.’
‘Missing? But he was only here yesterday, how can anyone say he’s missing?’ Jack said shocked.
‘H-he’s supposed to ch-check in every t-t-t-twelve hours. H-h-he’s missed the last two.’ The gnome nodded respectfully to them and left.
‘It must have something to do with what happened yesterday,’ Cali whispered.
Elemental: Steele Stolen: Part 1 and 2 Page 9