Infinite Spring

by J. A. Armitage

  “Of course, the invisible perimeter fence has now been disabled.” Aethelu followed James and then helped Anais over the wall.

  As they walked up the driveway, Anais marvelled at how much had changed since her time in Florence. The trees now fully in leaf, hid the manor completely. Everything looked so verdant and alive. The bright sun of the day reminded her that spring was nearly over and they were heading towards summer. Flowers, she had not seen before lined the driveway and birds tweeted merrily from the trees above them. She looked up and noticed that the tree’s leaves were so thick that they almost touched forming a canopy along the driveway. Sunshine still made its way through in great patches, illuminating the way. Anais had never seen the Manor look so beautiful and as she approached the main steps, she saw that the little gardens at the front were a riot of colour from all the flowers and bushes in bloom. It was almost as if everything was lulling her into a false sense of security, but she knew what was awaiting her inside.

  They had called the Manor from the airport to let them know that they were on their way. Arcadia had let them know that Andrew was still stable but was not breathing on his own yet.

  James didn’t even bother going into the house, instead running around the side straight to the surgery. Anais took his suitcase and hauled it up the main steps along with her own. The main entrance was deserted, but the smell of smoke permeated the air. Leaving the luggage, they both ran straight down to the kitchen. It still had a slight haze of smoke about it, so Anais opened the back door to let in some fresh air. Aethelu had run straight over to the larder door, which was being held open with a large sack of potatoes. Instead of the floor of the larder they found a big hole with a ladder leading down to the cellar. Anais followed Aethelu down the ladder into the blackness.

  The cellar, having no natural light, was lit up by various torches.

  “The power is out completely down here.” explained August when he saw them. He was filthy from hours of cleaning. The glass had been cleared away, but Anais could clearly see the broken screens that lined the wall. Wires were hanging out everywhere and the sparse furniture had scorch marks all over as did the walls.

  “Lulu, Anais!” A voice Anais recognised as Arcadia’s came from the corner of the room. She came running up to them as quickly as her heels would allow and gave them both a quick kiss on the cheek. Anais had never seen her like this before. She was covered in black grime from head to toe, with a sponge in one hand and a bucket of soapy water in the other. She still managed to look beautiful and somehow elegant, despite her designer dress being ruined and having a huge rip down the side.

  “Are you ok?” asked Aethelu indicating the rip which also had a spot of blood on it.

  “Oh, this? Yes, I’m fine. A bit of glass fell out of one of the screens on to me. Ruined my dress, but never mind.” She brushed it off.

  “How is Andrew?” asked Aethelu.

  “He’s not breathing by himself. He’s still bleeding in torrents, which is the worrying thing. Goodness knows what Jago gave him, but it looks like this time he wanted to kill rather than to warn us.”

  “Why? We are doing everything that he wants.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he wanted some information that Andrew had and didn’t want us to know.”

  “Did Andrew say anything about a breakthrough before it happened?”

  “Actually, he did. Come upstairs. Let’s have a break. I’ll tell you what he’d found out over a cuppa. August, leave it. I don’t think we can do much more now.”

  They all climbed the ladder and sat around the table whilst Anais made coffee for them all.

  Away from the dimness of the cellar, the filthiness of Arcadia and August was even more apparent. Arcadia pulled a compact mirror out of her pocket and grimaced into it.

  “Urgh, I look awful!” Her face was black, and her hair matted with grime. “If only the Hollywood cronies could see me now, eh?”

  “So what actually happened? What did Andrew tell you?” asked Anais, as she brought across four steaming hot mugs of coffee and passed them around.

  “Well, since you have been gone, things have been pretty quiet. I was actually just about to head back to France. Andrew had been looking for Amber and Abel, and Jago had been keeping a low profile. We assumed he was quiet because we were working on the Elixir, which is what he wanted. Then, last night Andrew told us over dinner that he had found Amber and Abel.”

  “Please tell me he gave you the address before he was attacked.”

  “He did. It’s in Cairo. Mama wrote it down.”

  “Well that’s something, at least. So what happened then?”

  “Rafe obviously thought that as Andrew was in such high spirits, it would be a good time to tell everyone that he was thinking of asking Judith to marry him and bring her to the manor permanently.”

  “He didn’t?” Aethelu looked murderous. “What the hell was he thinking?”

  “I don’t know. I guess he thought that Andrew might have accepted them by now. Anyway, there was a huge bust-up. Andrew flew at Rafe and they ended up brawling over dinner. Food was sent flying everywhere, and it ended up with Andrew storming off to the cellar.”

  “Rafe is an idiot! How insensitive can you get? I could kill him.” Aethelu jumped up

  “Save your breath and for goodness sake sit down,” Arcadia said. “Rafe felt awful this morning when he saw what had happened to Andrew. I think he finally realises the damage he has caused. He’s at the surgery now. As you know, Andrew is bleeding and won’t stop. Aldrich is using Rafe’s blood as a transfusion. He volunteered as soon as he knew it was needed.”

  “Big deal. He can generate as much blood as he needs. It’s hardly going to hurt him.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s keeping Andrew alive, whilst Daddy tries to figure out what’s wrong.”

  “Yeah, but still…” Aethelu trailed off.

  “Aldrich’s got James to help now,” interrupted Anais.

  “I’d forgotten about that,” said Arcadia. “You found Sabine. Well done.”

  “Doesn’t really help us much here, though, does it?” said Aethelu, obviously still mad. “What if it was Rafe that did that to Andrew and not Jago at all?”

  “Don’t be silly, Aethelu. Do you honestly think Rafe is capable of doing such a thing?” Arcadia snapped at her.

  “Well, did Jago leave any indication that it was him?”

  “No, but who else could it have been?”

  Aethelu looked at her intently.

  “It wasn’t Rafe. Since when did Rafe have any interest in science? He wouldn’t have been able to produce something that would stop our blood clotting. Besides, I already told you, he’s been hooked up to a machine passing his blood to Andrew for hours.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s just guilt.”

  “Think about what you are saying, Aethelu. I know that Rafe has behaved despicably in regards to Andrew, but do you honestly think he’s a murderer?”

  Aethelu finally admitted defeat. “I suppose not. I’m sorry. Of course, not. I’m just so angry with him.”

  “It’s funny, though,” started August, who so far, had remained silent. “I was beginning to suspect someone in the house. After all, how else had Jago managed to evade all the security measures for so long? I kind of wondered if Andrew had been helping him somehow.”

  “What is wrong with everyone?” Arcadia threw her hands up in the air.

  “No one in the house has done this. Remember that Rafe had been attacked already, and Andrew is currently lying on his death bed in the surgery. Are you saying they did this to themselves?”

  “No, course not. I mean, obviously, it’s no one in the house.” August looked embarrassed.

  Arcadia drained her coffee and stood up.

  “If you will excuse me, I really have to go and have a shower.”

  “Oh, God!” Aethelu almost shouted out, prompting Arcadia to sit back down and the others to stare at her.

  “Oh, God, Oh, God,
Oh, my God!”

  “Whatever is it that has you appealing to a deity?” asked Arcadia with a slight look of bemusement on her face.

  “You know what this is, don’t you?”

  “What, what is, sweetie?”

  “This…Alex, Rafe and now Andrew.”

  “I still don’t know what you mean.” Judging by the looks of confusion on the faces of the others, Arcadia wasn’t the only one who didn’t get it.

  “The weird illnesses, The comas, it’s the Jago Virus. He’s already unleashed it. Jago didn’t wait for us.”

  “It can’t be,” said August, the shock apparent in his voice.

  “Why not? He had it. Why not use it?”

  “No, August is right,” said Anais. “It can’t be. The Jago Virus is highly contagious. If it was the Jago Virus, we’d all have contracted it by now. We know that whatever did this to the boys isn’t contagious. Even if it can’t be passed between the Custor Lux, for whatever reason, Mrs Smithson would have caught it. She’s been here plenty since Rafe first caught it.”

  “I hear what you are saying, but what if Jago found a way to replicate the symptoms without the contagion? A warning, if you will, for what we should expect if we fail.” said Aethelu

  “But why?” asked Anais

  “That’s been asked a lot lately. I don’t know. Perhaps he thinks we aren’t going fast enough. Perhaps he is mad that we found Sabine when we should have been looking for the necklaces.”

  “It could explain why he did this, but I had him down as cleverer than that. I don’t think he did this mindlessly. There is a reason he’s doing these things that we just don’t know yet.”

  “I’m going to talk to Daddy.” Aethelu stood up and walked through the still open doorway to the courtyard. Anais followed her. She wanted to hear Aldrich’s take on it all, but she wanted to see Andrew, too.

  The surgery was cramped with the two hospital beds taking up one side of it. Aldrich and James were both busy working at the other side of the surgery in such close quarters that they were almost tripping over each other. Andrew looked peacefully asleep, but his skin was sallow and he looked shrunken. Anais was surprised to find the second bed empty. Apparently, so was Aethelu.

  “Where is Rafe?” she demanded.

  Anais suddenly panicked and wondered if they were too late. She looked back at Andrew and was relieved to see his chest moving up and down rhythmically, indicating he was now breathing on his own.

  “Aethelu, Anais. What are you doing here?” Aldrich asked rather gruffly. He wasn’t too happy about being interrupted.

  Aethelu ignored his question and asked hers again.

  “Where is Rafe? Isn’t he supposed to be keeping Andrew alive?”

  Aldrich sighed. “Andrew’s condition has improved dramatically in the last few hours. The bleeding has stopped, and he is now breathing on his own. I let Rafe go about half an hour ago when it became apparent he wasn’t needed anymore. He has gone to his room and is on strict bed rest. Please do not disturb him. He needs time to recuperate.”

  “Oh! That’s great news. Is he going to be ok?” she asked, indicating Andrew.

  “I can’t honestly say, having not seen anything like this before. However, he does seem to be getting better. The Light has kicked back in and his body is now beginning to rejuvenate by itself.”

  “I have a theory Daddy, about what is happening to Andrew. About what happened to Alex and Rafe, too.”

  “Go on.”

  “It’s the Jago Virus, a non-contagious strain of it. Jago is showing us what we can expect if we don’t make that Elixir soon. This is what he will unleash on the world. We thought we were safe from it with The Light running through us, but we are not. We are just as likely to succumb to the Jago Virus as anyone else.”

  Anais thought about what Aethelu was saying. It made sense to some extent, but something was niggling her that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It took Aldrich to say it out loud before she realised what it was.

  “It could be the Jagovirus,” he conceded, “If this was unleashed on the world, it would be catastrophic. Of course, if this is indeed the virus, I must apologise to Anais.”

  “What for?” asked a bewildered Aethelu, but Anais already knew.

  “For making me go through IVF. Any baby I had wouldn’t have made a difference.”

  “It seems that is the case. I am sorry Anais. The question is, what do we do now?”

  “Andrew found Amber and Abel right? We go to Egypt, get the necklaces and finish this,” said Aethelu. With that, she turned around and with a steely determination, marched out of the surgery with Anais hot on her heels. They headed back to the main entrance. As she was passing through it, Aethelu pulled a Post-It Note from the little side table and handed it to Anais. Aethelu picked up the suitcase that had been left behind and started to carry it upstairs. Anais followed with her own suitcase, leaving James’ in the entrance hall for him to collect later.

  In Aethelu’s room they both flopped down on the bed. Anais looked at the Post-It Note that had been left. It was an address in Cairo. She read it out lazily.

  “Let’s go. You and me. Alone. We’ll find them, get their necklaces and finish this once and for all,” Aethelu spoke softly, now with sadness in her voice.

  Anais got up and walked over to the huge bay window.

  She didn’t know what would happen with Andrew, but she was determined to put a stop to this. Aethelu was right. Finding the remaining necklaces were the final part of the puzzle. They would go to Egypt together, just her and Aethelu. It was the only way to end the madness that had surrounded them for the last year. Would it be enough though? If they did find the necklaces and succeed in making the Elixir, would Jago ever really be done with them? Anais realised that it would never be over whilst Jago was still alive. They would find the necklaces, they would make the Elixir, but the only way to end it would be to kill him. She clenched her fists with a determination she’d never felt before. He’d killed her parents and hurt so many of the people she loved. It could only end with Jago dead.

  She looked out over the grounds and watched a squirrel run across the lawn. It seemed like the whole world had come alive. The sun shone brightly illuminating the grounds. It was a promise of the summer that was about to arrive.

  The End

  Eternal Summer

  Guardians of the Light

  Book three

  Chapter Thirty One

  Morning came late for Anais and Aethelu, who slept in until eleven. They were awoken by a knock on the door by August.

  “Can I come in?” he shouted through the door.

  Anais pulled the duvet right up to her neck and making sure Aethelu was also suitably covered, shouted back for him to enter.

  “Winnie thought you might like some breakfast. She sent me up with this.” He indicated the silver tray in his hand which was laden down with breakfast goodies, Muffins, croissants and fruit. He placed it on the bedside. “Dad says can you go down for the scan thingy as soon as you’ve had breakfast.”

  He seemed to notice that the girls weren’t wearing anything under the duvet at that point because he turned bright red and made his excuses.

  After breakfast, both girls made their way down to The Manor’s kitchen, carrying the tray and basket with them. It was unusually empty. Winnie unusually was nowhere to be found, either cooking or baking at the huge oven. As it was, they found her in the little surgery across the courtyard.

  “I hope you don’t mind me being here. I just really wanted to see my first grandchild.”

  Anais smiled and lay on the bed next to the sonogram machine.

  Aldrich and James were also in the small space making it seem very crowded.

  “Please lie back. This will feel cold.” Aldrich squeezed some cold jelly onto her stomach and rolled the probe around in it.

  Immediately a grainy image appeared on the screen.

  “It’s our baby! Oh, she’s beautiful!” Aethelu
gripped her hand tightly. Anais almost giggled as she saw tears appear in the corners of Aethelu’s eyes. It was very uncharacteristic of her. It was more like Winnie to be crying and when she looked over, sure enough, Winnie was bawling into a handkerchief.

  After five minutes of making checks, Aldrich pronounced the baby fit and healthy.

  “Right then,” said Winnie, wiping her eyes. “Best crack on with dinner. It’s not going to make itself.”

  Anais thanked Aldrich, who had printed out a photo of the scan for them and, after wiping the jelly from her stomach with tissue, followed Winnie back to the kitchen with Aethelu.

  Once there, they found Arcadia, who had just arrived back from Egypt.

  Aethelu ran to give her sister a hug, followed by Anais.

  “Did you get it?” asked Aethelu quickly. Anais knew she was referring to the last missing pendant. Aldrich had ascertained that the one that they had received from May was Abel’s and so it was just Amber’s that they were still looking for.

  Arcadia looked crestfallen and Anais knew, even before she answered.

  “No, May said that she never saw the other pendant. She thought that there was only one.”

  Anais' heart sank. The jubilation she had felt just the day before at finding Abel’s pendant quickly wore off. It was as useless as the other thirteen without Ambers. Now, without any of the family in Egypt, they were even less likely to find it.

  “Are Rafe and Judith with you?” asked Winnie, changing the subject.

  “No, they are staying at a local hotel for now. They wanted to come to dinner tonight, though, but they weren’t sure if they would be welcome with Andrew.”

  “Of course they are welcome. It’s going to be hard for Andrew, but he is going to have to get used to it at some point. Has anyone seen him since we’ve been back or is he still moping around in his room?”

  “I saw him yesterday,” answered Anais “but he still seemed upset.”

  “Well, anyway, I said you’d call them, Mama, to let them know if it’s ok. Now, Anais, I’m afraid you’ve been wearing some awful clothes recently. I’m stealing you for the day. We are going to get you some proper maternity clothes and maybe we can do some shopping for the baby, too.”