The Blue Seal of Trinity Cove

by Linda Maree Malcolm

  “I don’t know, David, but I can tell you it’s something sinister. I’ve never in my life before felt such an evil force. I felt her power when she had her tentacle wrapped around my neck and I honestly thought she was about to kill me. If it weren’t for Ranku and Tinka and the chief coming in when they did, I don’t think I would be here to tell the story.” Bobby felt her face go pale and she touched her hand to her throat as she was remembering the terrifying experience. David looked into her eyes and she saw something in him that was unlike anything she had seen in a person before, other than her mother perhaps. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her towards him and they walked on in silence like that for a little while. Tears sprang to her eyes again but she blinked them away. She tried to understand what it was that was passing between them but, as usual, it was all beyond her. She did recognise though that it was nice to be comforted by him in this way and she secretly hoped that whatever she had to endure in the future in regards to the island, he would be there to experience it with her. She suddenly found herself liking the idea of having a male companion in spite of her insistence and vow to herself that she would remain alone for the rest of her life. He was her cousin after all and oftentimes cousins became close, even if they were boy and girl and not girl and girl. There was nothing wrong with that. She pulled away from him though, in spite of herself. Why did he have to be so familiar with her? It was just too much.

  Chapter 4

  The Orbs

  They ordered their milk-shakes at the store and sat at their regular table out the front.

  “I still don’t understand what all of this has to do with my heritage, do you? Did she say anything else about my ancestors?” David asked Bobby.

  “No, I know it’s strange because I can’t work that out either. But the Crone keeps talking about you all the time and even the professor can’t understand why.” Bobby got to the bottom of her glass and started to slurp noisily.

  “Well, I think you’re right. The only thing we can do is to go there and then I can see for myself what’s going on. I’ve only got one week though before I go to live at the boarding school so …” and David let the sentence trail off as he looked at Bobby intently.

  “Right, well, that came around fast. What a fast summer!” Bobby said.

  “Yes,” David said and looked away from her to stare at the ground.

  “So when can you get away?” she asked.

  “I don’t see any reason to put it off. Let’s meet at the tree tonight. Actually that works well because Mum and Dad are going out with friends tonight and they won’t notice I’m not at home.”

  “Okay,” Bobby said and pushed the wave of apprehension that came over her away. As scared as she was to meet with the Workhouse Oracle again, she was also determined to get to the bottom of this mystery no matter what.

  Bobby and David barely had time to collect their thoughts when they found themselves lying, again, on a bed on the sandy floor of the island hut. And right then the professor burst through the door. They leaped to their feet.

  “And not a moment too soon, I should say. There’s a lot going on and I’m pleased to be seeing you again.

  How are you?” the professor shook David’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder.

  “I’m very well, thank you. But I hear things aren’t going so well here on the island,” David answered.

  “No, indeed. We are living through perilous times, my lad, but for some strange reason, our old Crone thinks that it’s you who holds all the answers. I don’t for one moment pretend to understand what it is that’s happening but I must say I am rather interested in what you make of it all.” The professor ushered them from the hut. Sebastian was already holding onto Bobby’s hand and David observed it with a puzzled look. When they stepped from the hut there was no welcoming party as there usually was. In fact the whole place seemed rather quiet and deserted.

  “I think you’ll find things to be quite changed, David, since you were last here.” Sebastian made an awful crying sound and rubbed Bobby’s hand with his other hand as if trying to say something.

  “What is it, Sebastian?” David asked.

  “I’m afraid Sebastian has had quite a shock. He’s remembering when Bobby was almost killed by the Oracle. We thought we might lose you, Bobby, and now he has nightmares most nights. I fear he may never let you out of his sight again,” the professor explained.

  “But look silly, here I am, right here. Nothing has happened to me and nothing will, I promise; cross my heart.” And Bobby made a cross over her heart and then knelt down to give the monkey a big hug. Sebastian rubbed his eyes and looked at her woefully as if wiping away tears. She rubbed his head and they walked on.

  “I’m afraid things haven’t improved since you left, Bobby, and in fact I would have to say that if we don’t have some kind of answer soon we are indeed going to lose the Crone and goodness knows what will become of the island then,” the professor said, confirming her fears. David stared at the professor wide-eyed, still not fully comprehending the gravity of the situation.

  “Bobby told me it has something to do with my heritage but have you worked out exactly what it is?” he asked the professor.

  “No, that’s exactly the problem David, my lad, no-one seems to be able to understand what it is that she’s saying. She keeps mumbling something about a Blue Seal and then says ‘David will know, David will know.’”

  “Really,” David answered and he looked thoughtful for a moment. “A Blue Seal. But what does she mean by Blue Seal? I have no idea what that could mean …”

  “I thought that might be your answer,” the professor said. “I would like to take you to see the Crone but I fear for your safety if the Workhouse Oracle makes an appearance again. I’m sure Bobby’s told you about what happened.”

  “Yes, I got that story. But I don’t see that I have any option,” David said. “I will go into the hut and Bobby can wait outside. If I’m there without her, it may make a difference.” David had obviously already made up his mind that this is what he would do.

  “Yes, I think you’re right David. There is no other option,” the professor agreed.

  Bobby waited outside the hut and was relieved that, this time, there were no strange objects flung from the hut or blood curdling screams from the Crone. Instead everything was quiet, eerily quiet, Bobby thought. She asked the professor if he had worked out for what reason the orb objects that had planted themselves into the trees had been sent.

  “All I can tell you is that they are here to collect information about us; this much I know for sure. We have noticed that whenever activity or even conversation takes place in this area,” and he used his finger to draw an imaginary line in a circle outside the Crone’s hut, where the trees were placed, “the lights of the orbs all begin to flash in unison. Whether they are recording the sounds or visual images though, I cannot tell you. I would dearly like to take one out of a tree to examine it more closely but it is very dangerous as they seem to double as a weapon, as you already know.” He looked at the spot on her cheek that had been cut. It had healed almost completely and was now just a scratch that would not scar. At that moment the lights of the orbs started to flash but this time there was a low-pitched whirring sound as well.

  “What’s this then?” he said almost to himself. Then another orb started to make a whirring sound, and then another.

  “It’s almost as if they’re talking to each other,” Bobby said. “That gives me the creeps. They could have been listening in on our conversation all this time and maybe they even know who I am and …” The orbs left their individual places on the trees and flew into the middle of the arena. They formed a column, one above the other and each one of them began to make strange noises and their lights flashed crazily as if they were very excited. The chief’s son immediately pointed his spear toward the column and began to move warily toward it. The orbs then flew about in different directions as if deliberately forming a pattern that woul
d have seemed quite pretty, Bobby thought, if it weren’t for the fact that she felt her life was in danger again. She suddenly found David right beside her, staring at the scene as if trying to take it all in. An instant later the orbs flew in the direction of Bobby.

  The professor and David instinctively formed a huddle around Bobby as if to protect her. The orbs fluttered up and down right in front of their faces; were they trying to decide how to get to her, Bobby thought, because that was exactly what it felt like. David put his arms behind him and grabbed Bobby to his back so that she was pressed hard against him and not able to be seen. It made no difference. Within a second, and before they had time to even think, the orbs had flown behind them and began to attack Bobby’s backpack. Bobby heard a high-pitched scream and then realised that the dreadful sound was coming from her. She dropped the bag. They rotated very fast, pressing at the bag in the same fashion that a round saw presses at a piece of timber, until her backpack was torn completely to shreds and the contents had fallen to the ground.

  “They’re after the crystal ball,” the professor yelled. “Quickly, we mustn’t let them have it.” He lurched forward and at the same moment the chief’s son leaped into the fray with his spear, but both of them were driven back immediately by orbs that flew at their throats. It was a warning, “Interfere and your throat will be cut,” was what they were saying without words but with their strange lights and whirring sounds. Bobby watched on in horror as the contents of her bag were shredded to pieces. Her favourite pyjamas that she’d worn almost every night for three years, underpants, handkerchiefs, photos of her mother, her diary, biscuits and even her drink bottle, all shredded. She was so pre-occupied with what was happening right before her eyes, she had completely forgotten that the crystal ball was still lying on the sandy floor of the hut they had arrived in. Normally she would have put the ball straight into her backpack but this time she hadn’t for some strange reason.

  “Don’t move,” the professor said through his teeth. “Don’t say a word.” The orbs flew all about the heads of the four of them threateningly and the ones positioned at their throats moved closer. They all buzzed and flicked their lights and made the whirring noise more urgently now than before. And then Bobby noticed that one of them rose above the others and was making a louder, and different, noise to the others.

  “They all want to kill us,” Bobby thought to herself, her intuition working overtime to try and understand what was happening, “but the leader of them has realised that they can’t because then they’ll never get what they want and that means their mission has failed.” All at once and in an instant they flew back to their original positions and embedded again into the trees. The chief’s son took up his post again with an emotionless face that gave away nothing of what he was feeling. The others backed out of the arena quietly and slowly so as not to disturb them again. It was only when they were well down the track that Bobby broke the silence.

  “I know they were looking for the ball and it just so happens that I forgot to collect it and left it lying in the hut when we arrived,” she said.

  “What an absolute stroke of luck, dear girl, very lucky indeed. I dread to think what would have happened if they had found it, although I can’t imagine how they could have taken it to the Workhouse Oracle – possibly by some kind of magnetising apparatus. Still, this is obviously a very intelligent piece of technology we’re talking about here and so nothing would surprise me where they are concerned. Are you both okay?” The professor looked at each of them with concern.

  “Yes, f-f-ine,” David finally managed to say. “I see now what you mean; those things are lethal,” and Bobby noticed that he looked quite pale and his eyes had a look of terror in them that she hadn’t seen there before. “This Workhouse Oracle really means business, doesn’t she?” he murmured, hardly audibly. “I mean, what sort of a place does she live in if she has machines like that under her control and what does she want with us anyway? I can’t for the life of me work it out – and …”

  “I know, David,” Bobby said and she found herself putting an arm around his shoulders to comfort him.

  “What was it that the Crone said to you in her hut, David?” the professor asked.

  “Well, nothing that made any sense to me unfortunately,” David said. “Just that she went on and on about this ‘Blue Seal’ and that my family knows of it. But I can’t for the life of me work out what it is she means.” He stopped talking and rubbed his head the way he did when his logical mind couldn’t get to the bottom of something.

  The professor responded, “I was afraid of this. I fear we have to make our own decision now. We have to take a chance and guess what it is we should do to retrieve this Blue Seal and we have to do it now because time is of the essence. I’m afraid if we don’t act soon the worst will happen. The island will be taken over by those machines; the ball may be taken from us; our Crone will die. The very future of the island lies with us and what we decide right now.” Both David and Bobby agreed.

  “There’s only one thing for it then,” David finally said. “I know I said I wouldn’t do this but I think we have to go back to Ina and Henry’s time, the period of time when they got back from the island, and do some investigating. Obviously there is some story or thing that contains this Blue Seal and it’s up to us to find it, and quickly.”

  Another adventure, Bobby thought – and then noticed how, in spite of everything, she felt a little excited. But for some reason she couldn’t get rid of a gnawing sensation that she was about to find herself in more danger than she had ever been in her life before.

  Chapter 5

  What Really Happened to Henry and Ina?

  Bobby and David found themselves under a very old-looking desk in a very old-fashioned classroom. There were ink stains on the floor and when they looked up they saw an old blackboard with the words written on it:

  Ina Fairweather is the winner of the Queensborough Chronicle’s Young Journalist Award. Award presentation will be tonight at the Annual Dance at the Queensborough Memorial Hall.

  “What an absolute co-incidence; we land in this room on the day that this news is placed on the board,” said David, getting his bearings.

  “Oh, I don’t think this is a co-incidence,” said Bobby. “Just perfect timing like everything else that happens in the universe.” They suddenly heard a noise and realised that it was too late to hide as a janitor had already entered the room.

  “What are you two scallywags doin’ in here? Come on; be off with ya or the Headmaster will be hearin’ ‘bout this!” He looked at them curiously as they scuttled out from under the desk. He didn’t recognise them at all and in this town everyone knew everyone. They made their apology and hurried from the room.

  “Did you catch what they were wearin’?” they heard him say, as they escaped into the passage, as if his mop might be interested in his gossip. “I ’ave never seen the likes of them before, I ’afta say.”

  “I suppose we are going to look out of place, aren’t we?” Bobby said, looking at their clothes. She was wearing leggings with a skirt, shirt and jacket and David wore jeans and a T-shirt. They both wore running shoes.

  “Gosh, I hadn’t even thought of that. Well, there’s nothing for it then. We have to make sure we stay way of sight rather than attract attention to ourselves.” Good old David and his logic, thought Bobby, and she was glad he was with her. When they left the tiny school building they made for the small forest that was adjacent to the school. They were discussing what their next move should be when they heard ballroom dancing music drifting toward them from down the street.

  “Okay, I think if we follow that music we will find the dance that the notice talked of and I bet we will find Ina and Henry too,” David said and Bobby agreed. They ran from tree to tree until they were just behind the hall where the music was coming from. It was decorated with balloons and streamers and there was a big banner above the door saying “Queensborough Annual Dance”. They made their way
along the side wall of the building and then crouched down out of sight behind an enormous chimney.

  “How’s this going to work?” said David. “Do you think we’ll even see them?”

  “I don’t know exactly, but my intuition tells me we don’t have long to wait; we just have to be patient,” said Bobby feeling quite sure of herself. David looked at her as if considering whether or not he should say what he was thinking when they heard a young man speaking who must have been standing just on the other side of the chimney stack. They pressed back against the wall so as not to be seen.

  “Ina, why don’t you just admit it? I know you remember everything. Why won’t you talk to me about it?” The voice of the young man sounded desperate and pleading.

  “Henry Brewster, I swear, I don’t know what you’re talking about and I wish you’d just stop all of this nonsense.” Ina’s voice sounded irritated and had a note of being superior and patronising, or as if she was trying to be that way. Bobby and David looked at each other in dismay. Their very own grandparents were standing only feet away from them; to hear them talking at all, let alone to each other, made both of them feel quite gobsmacked.

  “But it’s not nonsense, Ina. Why won’t you listen to me?” Henry asked, continuing the conversation.

  “I wish you’d just leave me alone, Henry. It’s not right, all this whispering around corners when no-one else is watching. You know I’m going out with Robert Clyde and I plan on marrying him as soon as I’m old enough. Besides, I could never go out with someone like you … I mean, well, that’s not what I meant, except that Robert is going to get an education and we’ll have a fine life and … well, that’s all there is to it.” Bobby and David couldn’t see Henry’s face at that moment but they could sense the utter devastation that he felt. Bobby felt appalled that her grandmother could be so judgemental and snobby. They heard a movement which sounded like Ina making an attempt to walk away and Henry grabbing her arm.