Glasruhen Gate

by Catherine Cooper

  Nora hadn’t told Jack where Groweena was. He looked carefully at the statues until he was sure he could see a faint light inside one of them. As he approached the light grew brighter. He put the finger of his right hand on the statue’s lips and held an acorn firmly between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. There was an immediate surge from within the statue. Jack could feel his finger getting hot. It was the same sensation he’d had when he’d touched the rock in front of Jennet’s well. He didn’t take his finger away until the last spark of light was extinguished. He then clasped the golden acorn with his right hand and held it tight. A powerful energy coursed through his veins, his body felt as if it were on fire. The golden acorn shone through his clasped fist and the Hamadryad acorn in his other hand also began to glow.

  ‘It is done,’ said Nora when the light dimmed.

  Jack breathed deeply. It hadn’t been an unpleasant sensation but it wasn’t like any other feeling he’d ever had.

  ‘What do I do with the acorn now?’

  ‘I’ve prepared some pots by the rockery, go and push it into the soft earth then we’ll do the others.’

  Camelin humphed and hopped off behind the rockery. Jack presumed he was going in search of his oracular frog while they were busy.

  One by one the names were called and one by one Jack transferred the spirit of the Hamadryad from the statue into the acorn along with Arrana’s knowledge. He didn’t stop until he’d held up the last acorn and Nora read out the name: ‘Allana, the Beautiful, Guardian of the Grove, Most Kind and Wise,’ read Nora.

  ‘That’s the Hamadryad from Newton Gill!’ exclaimed Jack.

  ‘It is, she was one of the last I rescued. Newton Gill will have a Hamadryad once more.’

  Jack felt elated. He couldn’t wait to go and see the Gnarles and tell them the good news. He quickly transferred the last tree spirit into its acorn and planted it in the last empty pot.

  ‘Our work is done for tonight, would you like to help plant them at the weekend?’

  ‘I would, especially Allana. I’m so pleased for the Gnarles. Does it mean the Dryads will return to Newton Gill Forest and the Gnarles won’t be hollow trees anymore?’

  ‘There’s a lot of work to be done before any of the Dryads return, new trees will need to grow. Dryads won’t live in a tree once it’s become a Gnarle. When Allana is established the new trees will flourish again in Newton Gill Forest. The Gnarles will have lots of company and they’ll never be lonely again.’

  ‘Haven’t you finished yet?’ grumbled Camelin. ‘I need to show Jack my oracular frog. He hasn’t had a good look at him yet.’

  ‘Him?’ said Nora, ‘I think you’ll find he’s a she.’

  ‘What! I’ve got a girl frog? What use is she going to be?’

  ‘She has a name. It’s Saige.’

  ‘I don’t care what her name is, I wanted an oracular frog. Only the males predict. She’s going to be about as much use as a glass football.’

  Jack tried not to laugh.

  ‘Can I go and help Camelin look for Saige?’

  ‘Of course you can, we’ve done all we can for the moment. The Hamadryad acorns grow at a tremendous rate, by the weekend they’ll be strong saplings, big enough to plant. In no time at all we’ll have mighty oaks in the forests again. It won’t be long before you’ll be able to visit Arrana’s little sisters.’

  Camelin shuffled and gave Nora a pleading look.

  ‘Very well, off you go, but that frog has to be back in the garden by nightfall, I’m not having you keep it in your loft.’

  Nora picked up the box and went back to the herborium. Camelin didn’t look too pleased.

  ‘Have you tried asking Saige the important question yet?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Naw, I couldn’t find him, I mean her.’

  ‘Perhaps if we call her she might come out.’

  ‘You can if you want.’

  Jack called and called, he looked everywhere he thought a little frog might be hiding but she was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘It’s getting late. I’m going to have to go home for my supper.’

  Camelin mumbled something, which Jack didn’t hear. He went and said goodbye to Nora then made his way to the hedge.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow after school,’ he called.

  Camelin didn’t answer, he was too busy grumbling to himself. Jack smiled as he stood and watched him poking around the flowerbeds with his beak.

  After supper, Orin wanted to know all about Annwn. Jack made her promise to be surprised if Camelin wanted to tell her everything too. He was just about to get into bed when his Book of Shadows vibrated. He turned to the front page and writing began to appear. It was a message from Camelin:

  Nora says 2 tell yu its party time 2morow nite

  Yor grandad nows all abot it so yu can cum after schol

  bring yur wellis

  Jack wondered what kind of a party it was going to be, so he wrote back:

  Why do I need my wellingtons?

  It wasn’t long before he got an answer:

  I cant find my frog

  I need yu to luk in the lak

  Gerda too bizy to help

  Jack laughed. He read Camelin’s message to Orin then replied:

  OK

  I’ll help you look for Saige after school.

  ‘I think it’s time for bed now,’ Jack told Orin. ‘I’ll collect you and the wellingtons after school tomorrow night before the party.’

  Camelin was waiting for Jack by the hedge.

  ‘Did you bring them?’

  ‘Of course I did.’

  ‘Put them on now and we’ll go and have a look in the lake.’

  They spent the next half hour hunting for the little frog, in and around the water’s edge. A fluttering sound made Jack look up.

  ‘Nora says it’s party time,’ piped Charkle.

  Even the thought of the party didn’t seem to cheer Camelin up.

  ‘I’m sure we’ll find her,’ Jack told him as they walked towards the patio.

  ‘Nora says Saige will come out when she’s ready, once she feels at home. How long d’you think it takes a girl frog to feel at home? I bet it’s longer than a boy frog.’

  Jack changed into his shoes and they made their way to the house.

  A loud cheer greeted them when they entered the kitchen. Jack took his wand out of his bag so he could understand everyone.

  The rats were all seated on their upturned beakers at one end of the table eagerly waiting to hear all about Annwn. Jack looked at Elan’s empty place; it didn’t seem the same without her. At least Camelin cheered up when he saw the size of the rhubarb pie Nora had made.

  ‘I thought you’d taken all the rhubarb into Annwn,’ he said.

  ‘I kept a bit back for the special celebration I promised you.’

  Timmery flitted around Jack’s head.

  ‘Look at me, I’m a bird again. Nora said I could be a bird tonight so I can see what’s going on and Charkle’s a Dragonette again.

  ‘It feels good to be back to normal at last,’ said Charkle.’

  He flew swiftly around the room. As he passed the kitchen window the last of the day’s sunlight streamed in and lit up his shiny green scales. It was the first time Jack had seen Charkle look truly happy.

  ‘Camelin look at this!’ he cried, before performing a loop-the-loop over the centre of the table, blowing fire as he turned.

  ‘Show off,’ grumbled Camelin.

  Nora knocked the table three times.

  ‘I think it’s time we heard all about your adventure, I wouldn’t mind hearing the whole story too!’

  Camelin hopped onto the table, strutted the full length of it and waited until they were all silent. He coughed twice then began.


  ‘Well,’ said Nora when Camelin had finished, ‘that’s certainly filled in a few of the missing bits for me.’

  Motley stood and cleared his throat.

  ‘Do you think there might be room for a very intelligent rat the next time you all go adventuring?’

  ‘If we could find one,’ laughed Camelin.

  Nora frowned.

  ‘There won’t be any more unplanned adventures, will there?’

  Jack and Camelin looked down at the table and shook their heads.

  ‘Will there?’ Nora said again to Timmery and Charkle.

  ‘No, we promise,’ they replied.

  ‘Now, I think it’s story time. Which was your favourite Charkle?’

  ‘Oh, The Dragon of Howling Hill, I’d love to tell that one.’

  They all clapped when Charkle reached the end of the story.

  Camelin stood and stepped forward.

  ‘How about you Timmery?’ asked Nora.

  Camelin sat down again.

  ‘They’ll tell all the best ones and I won’t be left with anything.’

  ‘I liked The Rat and the Treacle Vat.’

  ‘What did I tell you?’ grumbled Camelin, ‘That’s the one I wanted to tell.’

  Timmery ignored him and retold the story just as well as the storyteller had. When Timmery finished, the rats cheered and shouted for more, but Nora held up her hand.

  ‘We’ll save the rest for another time. Jack needs to get home soon but the good news is he’s allowed to come and stay for the weekend.’

  Nora turned to Jack and smiled, he smiled back.

  ‘Your grandad has the Allotment Club Plant Sale and will be really busy. He thought you might be bored if you had to go along. Would you like to come and stay here for the weekend?’

  ‘I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.’

  ‘You could help me find my frog,’ said Camelin.

  ‘I will, but not tonight.’

  They all said goodnight. Jack was planning to write to Elan when he got to his room but he was so tired he went straight to bed instead.

  COMMUNICATIONS

  There was a lot of activity in Grandad’s kitchen on Friday afternoon when Jack got home from school. People were arriving with posters and trays of seedlings which they loaded into the back of Grandad’s car ready for the following morning.

  ‘Now you’re sure you don’t mind?’ he asked Jack. ‘You can come along tomorrow if you want.’

  ‘It’s fine, really.’

  ‘I don’t know what time we’ll finish on Sunday, so wait at Nora’s until I come for you.’

  ‘I will, I promise.’

  Jack collected Orin, put his backpack on and picked up his wellingtons. He made his way to the bottom of Grandad’s garden and waved goodbye before stepping through the hedge. He felt excited. He couldn’t wait to go into Newton Gill Forest and show the new Hamadryad to the Gnarles.

  ‘You took your time,’ said Camelin as Jack stepped into Nora’s garden. ‘I’ve been waiting all day for you to arrive.’

  ‘I’ve been at school, I couldn’t have got here any faster. Besides, I needed to get my things first from Grandad’s. Look, I’ve brought my wellies again.’

  ‘We can’t look for Saige just yet. Nora wants to show you something.’

  ‘Look at that!’ cried Jack.

  Camelin turned his head towards the pots by the rockery.

  ‘Oh them! That’s why Nora said to meet you here. That’s what she wanted you to see.’

  ‘I could hardly miss them, they’ve grown so much. They’re like small trees already.’

  Jack could see Nora hurrying from the house.

  ‘What do you think? Aren’t they wonderful?’

  ‘They are,’ agreed Jack.

  Camelin hopped onto the top of the rockery.

  ‘Have you found Saige yet?’ asked Nora.

  Camelin shook his head.

  ‘You can’t have looked everywhere. What about inside your secret cave?’

  ‘Secret cave?’ replied Camelin as innocently as he could.

  ‘The one on the other side of the rockery, the one where you think I can’t see you. But then, maybe somewhere that’s full of crumbs wouldn’t be a very nice home for a little frog.’

  ‘There aren’t any crumbs in there,’ said Jack.

  Camelin glowered at him, but hopped around to look inside his hidey-hole.

  ‘She’s here!’

  ‘That’s good,’ said Nora. ‘I’ll leave you to get acquainted.’

  Camelin called Jack over to pick Saige up.

  ‘Come on, I need you to bring her up to the loft.’

  ‘Now?’

  ‘Right now, I can’t wait any longer. The suspense has been killing me.’

  Jack put his wellingtons down and carefully scooped Saige into his hands. She croaked loudly as he held her up so he could have a good look at her.

  ‘She’s lovely. How old do you think she is?’

  ‘Ten,’ croaked Saige.

  Jack couldn’t believe what he’d heard.

  ‘She is an oracular frog. Did you hear that?’

  ‘How do we know she’s ten? She could say anything.’

  ‘Well let’s test her out? Look, there are some starlings on the bird table. How many are there Saige?’

  ‘Ten,’ croaked the little frog.

  ‘Oh great, it’s the only number she knows,’ grumbled Camelin.

  ‘No, she’s right, count them.’

  Camelin counted the birds one by one.

  ‘There are ten!’

  ‘See, she is an oracular frog.’

  Camelin started to jig around the rockery.

  ‘I’ve got an oracular frog,’ he chanted.

  Jack smiled at Saige.

  ‘What now?’

  ‘Put her inside one of your wellingtons. We need to get her past Nora.’

  Jack tipped one of his wellies on its side and Saige hopped in.

  ‘Ready?’ asked Camelin.

  ‘Ready,’ Saige and Jack replied.

  Sneaking past Nora hadn’t been easy. Jack hoped Saige wouldn’t say anything until they were out of Nora’s hearing. Camelin hopped up the ladder first and Jack followed. He pushed the wellington onto the loft floor. As he poked his head through the trap door his mouth fell open.

  ‘Where did that come from?’

  ‘I told you, it’s that little bit of magic I tried. It’s the same as the dustbin we gave to Myryl.’

  ‘But your loft isn’t big enough for anything that size, it’s huge, especially where you’ve got it. Why didn’t you put it in the middle where there’s a bit more room?’

  ‘I didn’t want Nora to see it.’

  ‘She’d hardly miss it!’

  ‘I need you to help. I can’t get the lid off so I’ve not been able to look inside.’

  ‘I won’t be able to get the lid off either. It’s wedged between the rafter and the floor. You’ll only be able to get the lid off if you make it smaller.’

  ‘Smaller! Smaller! I’ll have you know that dustbin is full of sweets. That’s why I need to ask the important question…’

  Jack interrupted Camelin.

  ‘You do realise if Nora finds out she’ll take your wand away. We’ve both been told to use them wisely.’

  ‘I did use it wisely. I asked for a variety of sweets with no banana flavour.’

  ‘Well they’ll rot in there unless you reduce it.’

  Camelin groaned.

  ‘I can’t bear to do it, you’ll have to.’

  Jack got out his wand and pointed it at the big shiny dustbin.

  ‘Lunio,
’ he commanded.

  A blue light filled the corner of the loft. Small exploding sparks crackled and fizzled as they bounced off the metal. There was a strange crunching sound as the dustbin began to shrink.

  ‘Not too small!’ yelled Camelin.

  Jack didn’t stop the spell until a small dustbin, an exact replica of the bigger one, stood in the corner of Camelin’s loft.

  ‘Now you can get the lid off.’

  Camelin shuffled over and put his beak through the handle and flipped the lid off.

  ‘Oh wow! Come and look Jack, I wonder how many there are?’

  ‘A hundred and sixty two,’ croaked Saige.

  Jack and Camelin both looked at the little frog as she hopped around the loft.

  Camelin looked disappointed.

  ‘That’s not many. You do realise I’m not going to be able to share them now, there’s only going to be enough for one.’

  Before Jack could reply Nora called them to come down to the kitchen.

  ‘See you down there,’ said Camelin as he hopped onto the window ledge.

  ‘What about Saige?’

  ‘She’ll be fine, you can take her back to the garden before bedtime.’

  Nora’s Book of Shadows lay open on the kitchen table. She looked very excited.

  ‘We’ve got a message from Elan.’

  Camelin swooped onto Nora’s shoulder to have a look.

  ‘Go and sit with Jack and I’ll read it out to you.’

  Camelin hopped down and shuffled over to the other side of the table.

  Nora sat and read:

  I have wonderful news!

  The Blessed Council have agreed to open all the portals.

  And even better news,

  Gwillam went into the mountains to the Caves

  of Eternal Rest

  and sent a dream message to the sleeping Druids

  to tell them about my return.

  They’ve agreed to be woken and to leave the Caves.

  They want to return.

  With their help, my work here will be easier than

  I had expected.

  ‘Does that mean Elan’s coming back soon?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Sooner than she’d anticipated,’ replied Nora. ‘She’d hoped to be able to return with us after our visit at Samhain, but with the Druid’s help she should be back by the summer. There’s a bit more, it’s a message for you Jack: