The view should have been glorious on such a fine summer’s day. A patchwork of emerald fields stretched across the rolling landscape, threaded by the shimmering silver ribbon of a meandering river. But there was a dark cloud on the horizon, a blotch of swirling blackness that widened like a hungry mouth about to devour all in its path…
Standing on the balcony of Maddergrub Manor, Edwin felt the summer breeze turn chill, his skin puckering as an icy shiver tingled his spine.
“It is them.” Lord Maddergrub lowered his bronze telescope, his expression grim. “The Vampiropteryx have breached the dimensional wall and are massing to attack our home. We must raise all defences.”
Lord Maddergrub waved a hand. There was a rumbling noise, then something huge emerged from the ground in front of the manor. At first Edwin thought it was some kind of giant mushroom, but as more of the structure emerged he saw it was a hefty stone tower. Another tower appeared some distance away to the right, and another to the left, all linked by a thick wall that rose to surround the manor. The towers and wall sprouted castle-like battlements, and Edwin realised that Lord Maddergrub had, quite literally, raised the defences.
“We should send word to the Council of Wise Ones,” suggested Lady Maddergrub. “They are sure to lend assistance.”
“I fear there is not time,” said Lord Maddergrub. “We must face this menace without their aid.”
“Should this be happening?” Edwin whispered to Maddy. “Did the Vampi… bat monsters attack Maddergrub Manor?”
“No.” Maddy’s gaze was locked on the horizon, her lips trembling as she spoke. “They must have followed us back through time. It’s my fault. I led them here.”
Edwin placed a tentative arm around her shoulder, but hastily withdrew it when he spied Rosabella hurrying onto the balcony.
“I can’t find them,” mewled Maddy’s elder sister. “I’ve looked everywhere, but there’s no sign of Floriana and Alphonsus.” Then she noticed the horizon, and her pretty features distorted with fear. “Oh my. Are they really going to attack us?”
“No,” said Maddy. “They’ve come to read the gas meter.”
Edwin didn’t think it was a fitting time for jokes. And neither did the rest of Maddy’s family, judging by the way they looked at her.
“What is a gas meter?” asked Rosabella.
“Never mind,” sighed Maddy. “I’ll have to remember to make my sarcastic put-downs more relevant to the time period.” She turned to Lord Maddergrub. “So what’s the plan, father? Do we wait for them to strike, or shall we launch a pre-emptive attack to their flanks?”
“You should not concern yourself with battle tactics,” Lord Maddergrub told Maddy. “You shall help Prince Edwin and Rosabella find the younglings, and then proceed with them to the nursery where you shall remain for the duration of the battle.”
“I’m not hiding in the nursery with the babies,” protested Maddy. “I want to fight alongside you.”
“War is the domain of men,” boomed Lord Maddergrub. “Not for women or children.”
“Mother is going to fight.” Maddy pointed to Lady Maddergrub, who wore lightweight armour and brandished an ornate longbow. “And she’s a woman.”
“She is my wife,” said Lord Maddergrub. “That is a totally different thing.”
“Thank you.” Lady Maddergrub bowed to her husband. “I think.”
“Let me fight,” Maddy begged her father. “I want to help defend our home.”
“You are not ready.” Lady Maddergrub laid a hand on Maddy’s shoulder. “Even if you were a man. You have yet to complete your magic schooling.”
Edwin winced. He knew Maddy would never get to finish magic school, and noted her pained expression as she reeled away from her mother.
“We must go.” Rosabella beckoned Edwin and Maddy. “We must find the younglings and keep them safe. And quickly. We don’t have much time.”
“We’d better do as she says.” Edwin went to take Maddy’s arm, but she had already gathered up her skirt and was sprinting from the balcony. He followed after with Rosabella, down a flight of stairs, before catching up with Maddy in the courtyard below.
“This isn’t fair.” Maddy was fuming. “I can handle a magic longbow as well as anyone. I should be out there defending the manor, not minding toddlers.”
“You must obey Mother and Father,” said Rosabella. “For once, why can’t you do as you’re told?”
Maddy shot her elder sister a glare before hurrying off through a doorway.
“We need to find your brother and sister.” Edwin followed Maddy into an oak panelled corridor. “Have you any idea where…”
He froze on hearing a clanking sound, and then yelped when he saw a column of armoured figures marching towards him.
“Look out! Walking suits of armour!”
Maddy remained calm as the suits of armour came straight towards her.
“They’re on our side,” said Rosabella, joining Edwin in the corridor. “Part of our magical defences.”
Edwin nodded, trying to look as if he had known that all along. He stood to one side to allow the walking suits of armour to pass, but after the last had clanked by he couldn’t see any sign of Maddy.
“Where did she go?”
Rosabella answered his question with a puzzled shrug.
They ran down the corridor calling for Maddy, but there was no answer. Edwin checked behind a hanging tapestry, just to see if she was playing a silly game. But Maddy had vanished.
Edwin just stood there, unsure what to do. From outside he could hear Lord Maddergrub barking orders above the rhythmic clank of marching armoured sentries, and knew that time was running out…
Then he caught a flash of lurid green up ahead.
“Maddy!” Edwin sprinted down the corridor, but it wasn’t Maddy who came running towards him.
“Rosabella! Prince Edwin!” A sobbing Floriana threw herself at him. “Oh Prince Edwin, something terrible has happened!”
“It’s OK,” crooned Edwin, struggling to unwrap her arms from his waist. “Everything’s going to be fine. We’re going to stay in the nursery whilst your mummy and daddy defend the manor against those evil, magic leeching bat monsters.”
Floriana wailed like a tomcat, and with hindsight Edwin thought he probably shouldn’t have gone into quite as much detail.
Rosabella pulled her little sister away from Edwin. “Where’s Alphonsus?”
“He’s on the main tower,” sobbed Floriana. “The main tower roof.”
“On the tower roof?” Edwin frowned. “What’s he doing up there?”
“That’s the terrible thing,” croaked Floriana. “He was threatening to throw my dolly into the moat. Then the alarm cry sounded and he slipped, and now he’s dangling. You’ve got to save him. Please, Prince Edwin.”
“Um…” Edwin wasn’t sure if he was up to that. “We’d better tell your parents.”
Floriana shook her little green head. “They’ll be too busy fighting off those magic leeching bat monsters.”
“Then maybe Maddy…” Edwin looked around, but there was still no sign of her bespectacled face. Then he looked at Rosabella, and was surprised to see she was inspecting her reflection in her hand mirror.
He coughed discreetly. Rosabella lowered her mirror, but kept one eye on her reflection whilst speaking to him.
“There’s no one else who can help. I could try, but it can get very windy on the tower roof and I’ve just had my hair done. Plus the cold air wouldn’t be good for my complexion.”
Edwin realised it was down to him to save Alphonsus. “Then you’d better go to the nursery,” he told Rosabella. “I’ll try and rescue your brother.”
“This way.” Floriana grabbed Edwin’s hand and guided him along the corridor, squeezing past another troop of marching armoured sentries before mounting the spiral staircase at the foot of the main tower. Edwin recalled climbing the same steps before when trying to escape the powers of the Tome Terriblis. Except
of course it wasn’t before, but eight hundred years in the future. And Bryony had been with him…
Bryony. Edwin realised he hadn’t thought about her for a while. Or Bill. Or even his mother.
They were all in great peril, somewhere in the future. Inglenook too. Even Wychetts’ magic was at risk. Everything he cared about.
But right now Maddy and her family had to be his main concern.
“Hurry up!” wailed Floriana, trying her best to drag Edwin up the winding stairs.
“Sorry.” Edwin realised he’d been dawdling a little, and increased his speed to keep up with Floriana. The stairs seemed to go on forever, and Edwin thought the tower was twice as tall as he remembered. He was exhausted when he finally reached the top, and Floriana had to help him open the hefty door to the tower roof: a flat hexagonal area walled by battlements, with a pole in the centre from which fluttered a flag bearing the Maddergrub coat of arms.
“Here he is.” Floriana scampered across the roof to point over the side. “Still dangling.”
Edwin peered over the battlements to see a green haired boy hanging off a ledge on the tower wall. He called down to Alphonsus. The boy looked up, his terrified face the same colour as his hair.
“Save him,” whined Floriana. “I want him back. Please save him.”
Edwin leaned over the wall, but it was obvious there was no way he could reach Alphonsus. He looked around for something, anything he could use to reach the boy. Then he saw the perfect solution right in front of him: the flagpole!
Edwin grabbed the flagpole, and was trying to prise it free from its moorings when he happened to glance upwards.
The swirling dark blotch had grown in size. The sunlight dimmed, and the chill wind intensified. Edwin heard shouts from below, and looked down to see Lord Maddergrub marshalling his defences. Lady Maddergub stood beside her husband, poised with her longbow. A line of armoured figures manned the outer wall, swords and axes at the ready, whilst the defensive towers now bristled with huge silver cannon.
“Hurry!” Floriana shrieked at Edwin. “I want him back!”
“Get inside.” Edwin waved at Floriana. “It’s not safe up here.”
“I’m not leaving him,” wailed Maddy’s little sister. “Just hurry!”
With a mighty heave, Edwin pulled the flagpole from the roof. It was a lot heavier than he’d expected, and he staggered forwards whilst trying to balance its weight. A sudden gust of wind caught the flag, almost wrenching the pole from his arms.
And as Edwin wrestled with the flagpole he saw more movement in the sky, dark forms streaming from the widening black maw: giant bat-like forms with glowing red eyes…
Edwin stood like a statue as he watched the swarm of bat monsters descending on Maddergrub Manor. There were hundreds, probably thousands of them, blackening the sky and turning day into night.
He could hear the swish of their leathery wings, their high-pitched cries seeming to stab like needles at his eardrums. But Lord Maddergrub’s booming voice cut through the din.
“We shall defend our home to the death. The enemy will never set foot inside Maddergrub Manor, nor defile our hallowed lavatories. On my command. Select a target. Ready. Aim. Fire!”
There was a loud boom, and the air crumpled as the silver cannon discharged glittering beams of magic at the swarming bat monsters. Many invaders succumbed to the blast, but such was their number that it seemed to make no difference.
Then Edwin heard a woman’s cry, and saw a stream of glowing pink darts arcing into the sky; it was Lady Maddergrub, arms moving in a blur as she loosed a flurry of magic arrows into the ranks of the enemy.
Again the attackers sustained heavy casualties, but it was obvious that the manor’s defenders were vastly outnumbered.
“Prince Edwin!” Floriana was tugging at his sleeve. “You must hurry. He is sure to fall at any moment.”
Edwin tore his gaze from the battle, just as another gust of wind ripped the flag from the pole. As the flag fluttered away, Edwin tottered across the roof to lower the pole over the tower battlements.
“Alphonsus!” Edwin angled the pole to where the green haired boy was hanging. “Grab hold. I’ll pull you up.”
But Alphonsus didn’t respond, too terrified to let go of the ledge. There was another loud boom from the magic cannon, but then Edwin heard a different sound in response.
An ominous whistling…
A shower of luminous green fireballs poured from the sky onto Maddergrub Manor. The outer wall bore the brunt of the onslaught, large portions crumbling where the missiles hit home. The armoured sentries met a similar fate, toppling from the battlements and scattering into pieces in the courtyard below.
Edwin looked up and saw another wave of bat monsters diving to attack the outer wall. Their mouths gaped wide, spewing their lethal green payload onto the manor’s defenders. Then there was a throaty shriek as the living stone gargoyles took flew off to meet the enemy…
The battle raged on, but Edwin tried to focus his attention on saving Alphonsus. He leaned over the battlements as far as he dared, so that the tip of the flagpole was hovering close to the frightened boy’s head.
“Grab hold,” Edwin shouted. “I won’t let go.”
Slowly, painfully, Alphonsus moved his right hand towards the pole.
“That’s it.” Edwin called encouragingly, trying to ignore another barrage of glowing green fireballs that fell a lot closer than he’d have liked. “Nearly there…”
Then there was a terrible shriek from overhead. Edwin looked up and saw a gargoyle wrestling with a bat creature directly above the tower. The home side appeared to be winning, but then a stray green fireball came hurtling from the sky to strike the gargoyle. There was a deafening crash, and an avalanche of shattered stone chunks fell onto the tower. The roof shook, and the flagpole slipped from Edwin’s grasp. He reached down and grabbed it, but couldn’t stop himself pitching forwards over the side of the tower.
One end of the flagpole somehow wedged in the tower battlements, and Edwin was left grasping the other, dangling perilously over the side of the tower as the flagpole bent under his weight.
The flagpole bent more than it should have done, and Edwin looked down to see Floriana clinging to his waist. He was now hanging level with Alphonsus, who reached out and grabbed his shoulders.
There was a splintering sound as the flagpole snapped. And then they were falling…
12 Lucky Us
The cockroach pulled harder on Bryony’s legs. She gripped the handle even tighter, and felt the hatch jerk open under the strain.
“Whoa,” said Boney. “That’s a little too much. Pull more slowly.”
Just as Bryony was about to point out that she wasn’t doing the pulling, there was a loud clang followed by a thunderous roar.
Then Bryony was hurled backwards, blasted by an incredible force that came from nowhere. She managed to keep hold of the hatch, although it felt like her arm might be torn from her shoulder. There were startled shrieks from around her, and she felt her leg slip free from the cockroach’s grip.
Bryony clamped Boney tighter under her left arm, but was struggling to keep hold of the hatch. She felt her fingers slipping from around the slimy handle, and knew it was only a matter of time before she was swept away by the unstoppable force…
Then suddenly the roaring stopped.
Bryony fell to the floor, gasping and spluttering. It was only then that she realised she was soaking wet.
“That was fortunate,” said Boney. “It would appear there was a build up of slunge behind the service hatch.”
“Lucky us,” coughed Bryony, thankful at least that she hadn’t swallowed any slunge.
“I was not being sarcastic,” said Boney. “Take a look around.”
Bryony magicked another flaming torch, and saw the pipe was now free from giant scuttling insects. “They’ve all been washed away.”
“The slunge saved us,” said Boney. “But more cockroaches will be
here soon. We should make haste. So no time to stop for a rest, in case you were feeling a little drained.” The skull chuckled. “Drained. We’re in a pipe. D’you get it?”
“No,” sighed Bryony. “But you will if you don’t stop the dumb jokes.”
She clambered through the opened hatch, taking care to close the door behind her. The torchlight revealed another circular tunnel extending into the gloom.
“It’s all right,” said Boney. “It’s too narrow for cockroaches. Giant ones, at any rate. Now let us hurry, according to my rat informant there should be another door at the end of this passage.”
Bryony set off, but her relief turned to disgust when she caught a vile smell. And disgust to horror when she realised the cause.
“I stink of slunge,” she grumbled. “I’ll need a bath before I meet my mum.”
“You still intend to see her?” Boney sounded surprised. “As a Guardian I thought your priority would be to defend Wychetts. Not to mention the rest of your family.”
“My mum is my family too,” said Bryony.
“Of course. Sorry, I wasn’t forcing you to make a choice. Although I suspect you made that choice a long time ago.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” snapped Bryony. “So shut up and stick to navigating.”
“I am afraid I cannot do both.”
“Fine.” Bryony sighed. “But if you mention Mum again, I’ll knock your head off.”
“Then there wouldn’t be much of me left,” Boney pointed out.
“Sure. Sorry.” Bryony’s anger subsided, and she felt guilty for mocking the skull. “It must have been hard for you.”
“I dare say it was, if I could remember who I was or how I came to be here in the first place.”
“But you remembered about the Wise Ones.”
“Only once you turned up. It’s as though your arrival triggered part of my memory.”
“Hey.” Bryony had an idea. “Maybe I could help you remember other stuff. If I asked some questions, it might trigger more memories.”
“Worth a shot,” agreed Boney. “And it’ll help pass the time, seeing as scope for ‘I Spy’ is somewhat limited. So go on, fire away.”
Wychetts and the Dungeon of Dreams Page 7