As they walked through the gate, Larna hurried over and peering in through one of the windows. “This place is awesome,” she said. “You’re going to love living here, Tibs.”
“Do you think you’ll have one of those fish-tank rooms, like the one at Balgaire’s?” Aron wanted to know.
“I might.” He laughed. “I wish you could have seen your faces when I pushed your hand inside that tank. Perhaps I’ll be able to conjure it up one day especially for you, once I know how to control my new powers. That’s if you ever decide to come back for a visit.”
Aron was curious to know. “If you can do that, why not bring Balgaire back?”
Tiblou sighed. “I wish. Even Violet’s amazing healing powers only managed to do that for a few minutes. Just long enough to distract Mordrog… ”
Aron cut in and drew a line across his throat, “So Yaya could polish him off!”
“That’s right, but even Neve, the Great White Witch, can only do so much.” He looked around. “That’s odd, I wonder where she is. She was just behind us a minute ago. Come to think of it, where’s Violet?”
He pushed open the plain white front door and went inside. Chet and Annie were already inside, having gone on ahead, but not the other two. Larna and Aron dashed from room to room, calling their names, but there was no reply. Back at the front door they met up with Tibs again. Everyone looked worried.
“Where’s Yaya?”
“I honestly don’t know, Larna. We need to find her and Violet quickly.” Tibs pressed the heels of his hands to his head. “My senses are telling me that something is wrong. Very wrong.”
“Right, where do we start?” Aron tried to roll up his sleeves as if he wanted a fight with someone.
“At the moment I haven’t a clue.” He touched his temples and closed his eyes. “I need to go into a trance like Balgaire did when we were looking for you, Aron. And I feel we need to be back in the garden. Don’t ask me why.”
They followed Tibs outside and stood in the middle of the front garden, waiting anxiously. “Form a circle so I can stand in the middle,” he instructed. “And please be patient. This is my very first challenge and I want to make sure I get it right.” He raised his arms and waited. Eyes closed, perfectly still. Everyone watched quietly as a blue mist slowly descended and surrounded him. The eerie silence was eventually broken when Tibs cried out, “OH, NO!”
“What is it, dear? What have you seen?” gasped Annie.
“Neve and Violet are in a dreadful place, but I’ve no idea where it is or how they got there.” He staggered and put out a hand to steady himself. Chet caught him just in time. “I don’t understand,” said Chet. “With Mordrog gone, there’s nobody left who’d want to harm us.”
“I have a terrible feeling there is someone, bro. Think about it for a minute. Who stole Mordrog’s wand ? Who stands to gain a fortune by taking over the warlock’s cruel scheme? Who enjoys being evil for its own sake?”
“Edsel!” they all exclaimed together.
Annie took her son by the elbows and shook him gently, making him look her in the eyes. “Are you saying Neve and Violet could be in mortal danger?”
Tiblou nodded miserably. “Yes I am. If the darkness overtakes them, we’ll never see either of them again.” He gulped. “I wish Balgaire were still here. I didn’t want this so soon… ”
“Stop it!” said Annie, sharply. “Nobody’s blessed with instant wisdom, and whatever else, it takes time.” She tapped his cheek. “Have a little faith in the ability and skill you have gained already and start again.” She drew a slow breath. “See if you can picture where they are. Let’s all hold hands and concentrate really hard, and see what happens. Yes?”
Forming another circle round Tiblou, the group joined hands and closed their eyes. Immediately, Larna began to feel hot and light-headed. Instinct told her to pull her hands free, but they felt glued to Chet’s on her right and Aron’s on her left. Then she felt a strong mental pull towards a wall of blackness. Of dread and despair. She’d never experienced anything like it before in her life and hoped she never would do so again. Yelling out, her eyes shot open. The spell broke and they all shook and blew on their burning hands.
Annie was white-faced. Aron was shaking uncontrollably.
Tiblou was about to collapse, so Chet slung his arms around him and held him upright. Everyone looked frightened.
“Oh, Yaya, what’s happened to you?” wailed Larna.
“They’re in the Forest of Darkness aren’t they, Tibs?” said Annie, cooly.
“Yes,” replied Tibs, nodding his head grimly. “They’re prisoners there.”
“How did this happen?” Aron’s forehead was crinkled into a deep frown.
“Somehow, Neve and Violet have been spirited to this dreadful place which is connected to the Dark Side of our world,” explained Annie. “We have to find them before they pass through the Realm of the Shadows and enter Eternal Darkness.”
“And if we can’t?” Larna whispered, her heart thudding because she realised she knew the answer already. Annie, Chet and Tibs looked knowingly at each other and for a few seconds nobody spoke.
Annie was first to break the silence. “We mustn’t give up. We must get them back. We will get them back. I pr… ”
“DON’T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN’T KEEP!” Aron shouted. “We might have stood a chance before, when Balgaire was here – if he hadn’t gone and got himself killed. Tiblou doesn’t even know how to use his powers yet, so he’s not going to be much use, is he?”
There was a shocked silence. Larna was particularly upset. She’d never known her brother panic like that before. He was usually the casual one. “Stop it, Aron,” she said firmly. “We’re all scared and this isn’t helping anybody… ” She paused as the heavens opened and they were caught in torrential rainfall. They’d been so engrossed in the disappearance of Neve and Violet that they’d forgotten it was time for the daily downpour.
Soaked to the skin, Annie shooed everyone indoors. Then Tibs hit a button on the wall and said, “DRY!” Instantly a warm gentle breeze filled the room, fluttering their clothes. They stood in their own puddles and watched each other dry out. The rain stopped exactly on schedule, but it was getting dark outside. So Annie suggested they stayed the night and regroup in the morning. Light-headed, hungry and mentally exhausted, Aron and Larna agreed. But until they’d found their grandmother, they weren’t going to be able to relax anywhere.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tibs somehow conjured up food to suit everybody, which Larna and Aron hardly touched except to move round the plate and back again. Their mood was sombre and, as they couldn’t think of anything constructive to say, there was silence. Eventually Annie announced they needed to sleep on it and see what might turn up in the morning.
The two of them shared a bedroom similar to the one Larna had back at their grandmother’s. The reminder of her pushed her further into despair. Lying on her back in the dark, tired out but unable to sleep, Larna wondered where her grandmother had got to and if she would be all right.
“Oh, Yaya!” she sighed out loud, bashing her pillow in frustration.
Aron sat up, pushed his bedding back and sat cross-legged like a mystic. “I can’t sleep either, sis.”
“We must try, said Larna, realising her worrying was doing neither of them any good. “If we don’t get some sleep, we won’t be any good tomorrow. G’night, Aron.” Her brother pulled the covers over him and replied with a grunt.
From the glow of the night light Larna could just make out the wall paintings and, as she focused on them, she thought she saw the characters move. It was too dark to recognise anybody, even though she squinted, and then it all began to swim. She told herself not to be stupid. They’re only paintings. But they drew her in until she felt compelled to follow the procession slowly and silently winding through the trees towards the blank fourth wall. She watched, mesmerised, as the cloaked figures crossed over onto the Dark Side. Their silvery outlines wou
nd their way further and further into the centre of the wall, leaving a trail which glowed in the dark, like a slug. The line halted and formed a circle. The light from their outlines illuminated a grossly misshapen and stunted tree. The moment was sinister. Then the whole picture vanished, except for a very thin silvery trail.
Larna shot up, hot and sweating, though her skin felt cold. She switched on her bedside lamp. Aron was on his side with the bedding over his head, but she could tell by his breathing that he wasn’t asleep. Jumping out of bed Larna went over to him and shook his shoulder.
“Aron, Aron!” she whispered, excitedly.“I think Yaya has sent us a message.”
“Whaddya mean?”
Pulling the duvet back and grabbing his arm, Larna pulled her brother out of bed and took him to the wall. “Look!” she urged.
“At what? It’s a blank wall.” He shook Larna off and turned back to bed.
Angry and frustrated, Larna seized Aron’s pyjama jacket, nearly pulling it off and thrust his face to the wall.
“Humour me, brother. Come closer and have a really good look. Now, what can you see?” Nose almost touching, Aron peered hard and then looked back at Larna who was nodding enthusiastically. He peered again, shaking his head in disgust. Twisting round Larna was dismayed to find she couldn’t see anything either. Deeply disappointed she let Aron go back to bed and slowly climbed into her own.
“Put the light out. We’re supposed to be getting some shut-eye.” Aron grumbled.
“Sorry.”
“I bet you were dreaming. Go to sleep.” With that he turned away and pulled the covers back over his head.
In that instant all Larna’s excitement turned to misery. Leaning over she switched off the light, bashed the pillows again and snuggled down. But sleep wouldn’t come. She tossed and turned. As a last resort, she tried to empty her head of all thoughts, a little trick her mum had taught her. It worked. She began to drift. In a semi-conscious state, she began counting the light pulses showing through her eyelids. She managed eight before realisation dawned. There shouldn’t be any light signals! She opened both eyes and stared at the blank wall.
“Look at this, Aron!” she exclaimed. “Wake up. Wake UP!”
“What is it this time?” he groused.
Larna could only point and stare. With bad grace Aron turned his head. Then did a double-take.
“You’re right!” he gasped. “There is something!” Flinging aside his duvet, he sat on the edge of the bed. Together they watched the glow slowly beat its way along the same path the cloaked figures had trudged earlier until it arrived at the twisted tree. It pulsed for a few seconds on the spot, then slowly did a circular tour of the trunk. The light vanished, then after a few more seconds, it did the same thing again. They were so excited, it took all their willpower not to shout out loud. Instead they gave each other high-fives.
“That’s Yaya’s all right,” laughed Larna. “I know it is! She’s sent a message telling us how to find her… and Violet.”
“What shall we do, Larna?”
“We’ve got to wake the others and tell them.”
Hurrying to the door, Larna switched on all the lights to illuminate the bit of corridor outside their bedroom and they headed for the stairs. They had to pass several doors leading off the landing and tapped on each one. There was no response from any of them. Continuing along the passage, they found themselves back at their own room. Somehow they’d missed the staircase in the dark, so they set off in the other direction. The same thing happened again. They’d been round it twice and they still couldn’t find the stairs.
“We can’t keep going round and round in circles, Larna,” cried Aron. “How are we going to find where they are?”
“Maybe we should shout. What do you think?”
Aron nodded. So they stood in the corridor and yelled at the top of their voices. They waited several seconds for someone to appear, then shouted again. No answer from Tibs or any of the others. Absolute silence.
“What are we going to do?” cried Larna, starting to panic. “We can’t make anyone hear us and we don’t seem to be able to find a way out… ”
Aron pointed to a nearby window. “Why don’t we give this a try, eh? It can’t be that much of a drop, can it? I mean, it didn’t look very high to me from the outside.”
It took him ten seconds to push the window up. It was an old-fashioned one with ropes and pulleys either side. Poking his head out into the blackness of the night, he said. “There’s one of those creeper trees on the wall, that’ll make it easier.” Sitting on the sill he started to swing his legs over the edge.
“Hang on a minute,” called Larna, ever the sensible one. “I think we should leave a note.” Rummaging in the bedside cabinet she found a pen and paper and began to write. “Hurry up,” urged Aron. “I’m getting cramp and its cold out here.”
Having explained where they were going and why, Larna took a couple of green tartan dressing-gowns from the open closet and put one on. She threw the other across to her brother. “Here, wear this. I’ll bring our trainers.” Then, one after the other, they climbed down the thick creeper with ease. Soon they were standing on firm ground.
“Come on,” called Larna.
They headed off into the unknown. This time, though, they were completely on their own.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After the brightness in their bedroom, they had to stand still for a few seconds letting their eyes get accustomed to the dark, and to get their bearings. There was just enough moonlight to enable them to find their way into the forest. Once inside, though, it was a whole different ball game. The trees looked like sinister beings, full of menace, having a life of their own with each gust of wind. Larna and Aron stuck together, kept their heads down looking for a sign – anything – that would lead them in the right direction.
They walked around for ages like a couple of lost souls and were just about to give up in despair when Aron spotted something in the distance. A pure white object which shone in the darkness.
“What’s that?” he queried. They ran to the spot, disappointed to find it was only a crumpled piece of paper. He picked it up and his eyes rounded in shock and he flapped his right hand madly, trying to shake the paper off.
“It burnt me!” he cried in disbelief, holding out his hand palm-up. “Look!” Sure enough, there were burns on his fingers.
“What the… ?” Larna bent down to get a closer look at the object. There were scorch marks on the paper too, a perfect set of Aron’s fingertips. Grabbing her brother’s hand, Larna saw that the ends of his fingers had gone smooth. What sort of trick was this, burning off someone’s fingerprints? She was beginning to get a bad feeling about all this and wondered whether she’d completely misread the message on the wall. Looking up into the distance she could see more luminous white scraps of paper.
In spite of their misgivings they decided to carry on following the paper trail, though they weren’t tempted to pick any of them up this time. The deeper they went, the darker and more menacing the forest became. Aron, normally the brave one, held onto Larna’s sleeve, maintaining he didn’t want them to get separated rather than admit he was petrified. The trail was becoming more difficult underfoot and the forest seemed to be hemming them in. They had to duck under low branches, and foliage constantly bashed them in the face. Wind whipped up and they were getting cold.
The stunted tree in the wall picture was instantly recognisable, ugly and misshapen with bits of white paper round its roots. Neither of them wanted to go anywhere near it, but they knew they had to brave it to find the next clue, if any. Out of the darkness above, a large sheet of black paper materialised and snagged onto the end of one of the higher branches, but they weren’t close enough to reach it or read anything that was written on it. Nervously, they inched nearer. Suddenly, bold silver letters began to appear and Larna spelled them out loud.
“S-A-Y G-O-O-D-B-Y-E.” She paused to let this sink in, then squealed… “Oh NO!�
�� as the penny dropped.
There wasn’t enough time to call out a warning to Aron, who was right behind her, nor run away because the earth began to shake. Aron swayed and fell out of sight as Larna made a grab for the tree and missed. Then the ground opened up beneath her feet and took her down.
* * *
Falling downwards into the hole, Larna plunged feet-first into deep icy water. The shock took her breath away and made her feel numb. Needing to breathe, she fought her way upwards, taking great gulps of cold moist air as soon as her head broke the surface. Treading water, she looked around to get her bearings and was amazed to find it wasn’t dark at all. There was a mellow glow, enough for Larna to see she was in a massive cave with a lake in the middle.
She swam towards some rocks where the water looked shallow. With both feet planted firmly on what felt like a grassy bed, she walked easily between the stones onto a sandy beach and looked around for Aron. The last confused memory she had of her brother was of him throwing his arms up and falling into the opening ground. Diving back into the freezing water, Larna searched in vain. There was no sight or sound of another living soul. She swam to the rocks again and wearily heaved herself up to sit on top of one of them, reasoning that Aron must have dropped through somewhere else. Sitting with her knees tucked under her chin, shivering uncontrollably, she felt more frightened and miserable than at any other time during this strange and surreal adventure in which she was involved. She was lost, alone and in danger of dying of cold. Getting up and moving around to try to get her circulation going, she suddenly felt a blast of warm air accompanied by a stench of sulphur. Following her nose, she stumbled along the tiny beach until she found a pit full of bubbling lava – the outer edge of an underground volcano. The stench of sulphur made her retch, but it was warm there, suffocatingly hot if she got too close. So she just stood there, basking in the heat, until she was dry again. It made her feel sleepy, but she knew she could not rest. She had to find Aron!
Spellbound Chronicles – Blood Line Page 11