by Katie Penryn
“Yes,” I replied. “You should go and see her. She doesn’t know it, but some of the things she told us you’ll find useful, especially now that you have to find her brother.”
As we stepped off the bottom of the flight of stone steps leading down from the front door, a flash of bright red caught my eye. Something had fallen off the balustrade onto the gravel at the side. I picked it up.
“What’s that?” asked Felix over my shoulder.
I showed him. It was a hoodie marked with Marc’s name tape. I turned round sharply to take it back into the house.
“No,” said Felix. “Hang on to it. It’s late. We’ll take it with us and give it back tomorrow. The police have plenty of Marc’s clothes for the dogs.”
When we reached the car, I threw the hoodie onto the backseat and forgot about it.
“Phew,” I said as I drove out through the two towers and onto the main road. “It’s been a heavy day.”
Felix sighed and said he could only agree. “And we’re no further forward. One child’s returned and another one’s been taken. Boss, the police are never going to solve this case. Nor are we by conventional means. We have to use magic.”
I thumped my hand on the steering wheel in exasperation at the truth of Felix’s statement, but what could we do?
“Felix, we haven’t found a spell that’ll help us. We spent all last night searching the Book of Spells.”
“We’ll have to look again.”
We drove on in silence. At last we reached the town gate into Beaucoup-sur-Mer. That’s when Felix sat up to attention. “Penzi, we have to call on the High Council of the Guild of White Witches for help. This situation is beyond your novice capabilities.”
“Oh no, Felix. They’ll be begrudging, irritated, disappointed in me.”
“Boss, you cannot win in the fight of good against evil if you do not have the right tools. They must give them to you.”
“Must?” I asked. “Can you imagine using the word must to those seven powerful and all-seeing women?” I asked, causing the engine to protest as I changed from third to second at a roundabout without braking enough.
“We’ll be diplomatic.”
“I’m too tired for that,” I said accelerating out of the turn.
“Sleep for an hour first. Then another go at the Book of Spells. If we don’t find anything we can use, we have to visit the High Council at midnight. We cannot let this situation continue for one more night, boss. The man could lose patience and harm Marc.”
“Don’t you think I realize that, Felix? Of course, we’ll do what you suggest.”
Neither of us spoke for the rest of the way home; Felix glad to have won his point; me wondering how to phrase my request to the High Council of the Guild of White Witches in such a way as not to bring down the wrath of the Chief Witch.
Chapter 34
Gwinny had a hot meal waiting for us. While we ate, we filled her and Jimbo in on the goings-on of the day. As soon as supper was over, Felix and I left the kitchen for the study.
“Wait,” I said taking hold of his arm as he was about to open the study door. “We’ll need a precious gem if we’re to visit the witches tonight. I used one of my own jewels last time. I don’t want to do that again. So, come to the brocante with me now, before it gets too late.”
“Right-ho, boss,” he said pivoting on his heels in mock obedience and marching to the front door.
It didn’t take him long to prize a small ruby out of the mirror frame we had already vandalized in the name of magic. We gathered together the other items we needed, stowing them away in a basket ready for a possible trip to the dolmen: the cognac, a sprig of bay leaves, the silver goblet and a box of matches. Back in the study, we braced ourselves for the flash of dazzling light that always accompanied my lifting of the cover on the Book of Spells. With that safely out of the way, we searched the index once more but had to admit defeat. There was nothing for it if we wanted to save Marc but to visit the High Council. First, we allowed ourselves an hour of sleep, not that I’d ever be able to fall asleep in the circumstances, but I must have done so because I was awoken by Felix at a quarter past eleven.
We tiptoed down the stairs, drank down a quick cup of coffee, scooped up poor little Slinky for duty as a natural being, collected our basket and made it out to the car in ten minutes. As I was the one calling this meeting and not the High Council, we had to be punctual. One minute past midnight and they would not answer my call.
I handed Slinky to Felix who cradled him in the crook of his arm while I started up the car and drove slowly along the cobbled road, out over the Esplanade and up the hill towards the medieval town gates. We had the bad luck to run into a series of red lights one after the other. At the last one before the gates I happened to glance down at the dashboard. The fuel gauge read empty. In all the to-ing and fro-ing of the last few days I’d forgotten to fill up. What a lucky thing I’d noticed before we set off on the main road leading to the dolmen. I’d never have found a service station open outside the town at close to midnight. As Felix filled up the tank, I decided to take this little mishap as a good omen. We’d nearly run out of fuel but we hadn’t. All set for our unscheduled appeal to the High Council, we carried on our way, reaching the foot of the hill up to the dolmen at ten to midnight.
All lay dark around us. No moon. No stars. A shrill wind whistled past as we scrambled our way up the hill encumbered by our basket and a sleepy Slinky. The pointed crests of the firs whipped backwards and forwards. The new leaves on the ancient oaks fluttered above us as we set the ruby down in its wreath of bay leaves. While I tucked Slinky away out of sight and sound under the top flat stone, Felix filled the silver chalice with cognac. We stood together hand in hand for a few moments waiting for the clock to tick round to midnight. As his watch clicked over, Felix struck a match and lit the cognac. Up the blue flames spiraled into the night air. Felix and I set off on our triple circumference of the dolmen, making sure to travel in a clockwise direction to keep evil spirits at bay.
“What’s that wonderful aroma?” a voice called out above us, seconded by another saying, “Mmm, smells like Christmas pudding.”
Good. The White Witches of the High Council sounded jolly. Maybe they’d go easy on me for once and not scold me.
High above us they materialized one by one until all seven peered down to see who had called them
“Ah, Mpenzi Munro,” said the Chief Witch. “To what do we owe this pleasure? It’s only a couple of weeks since your last assessment. Are you in trouble, m’dear?”
Hearing the witch speak in such dulcet tones, little Slinky let out a plaintive mew for attention. The witches had spoiled him last time, and he hoped for more of the same.
“Oh, you’ve brought the cute little kitten with you,” said the secretary leaning out over the dolmen to get a look underneath.
“Watch it,” the Chief Witch called out pulling her back and saving her from falling out of their shimmering illusion.
I bent down and picked up the little kitten before the secretary had a nasty accident. I handed him up to her, and she tucked him into her lap. He purred like a vacuum cleaner on full power as she tickled and stroked him.
The other witches held out their hands saying, “My turn. My turn.”
Felix laughed. “Witches and cats,” he whispered to me. “Works every time. Perhaps we should always bring a cat or a kitten as our natural creature. Keep the old biddies sweet.”
“I heard that,” the Chief Witch shouted down at Felix. “You watch your manners, young man. Remember you are here on sufferance as our Mpenzi’s helper.”
Felix bowed his head and muttered, “Yes, ma’am.”
All this good humor was all well and good, but we had a serious matter to attend to. I coughed and shuffled my feet to draw the Chief Witch’s attention away from Slinky.
“Yes?” she said raising her bushy eyebrows at me. “Why have you called us out on this cold night?”
“Your
Ladyship…,” I began.
“Go on, get on with it.”
It hadn’t taken her long to get back to her usual brusque self.
“Your Ladyship, I’m doing my best to fight evil, but I can’t do it on my own.”
“You have your magic to aid you, m’dear.”
“That’s just it, your Ladyship. I don’t know enough for this case.”
“That surprises me. We take great care to match up tasks to skills, you know. Don’t we, Madame Secretary?”
The secretary tore herself away from Slinky for a moment and muttered, “Yes, your Ladyship.”
The Chief Witch addressed me. “Our secretary doesn’t seem too sure of herself. Perhaps you could explain the situation, Mpenzi Munro.”
“It’s like this, your Ladyship…” and I gave her a précis of all that had happened with the vines, Hélène’s death and the kidnapping of first Nina and then Marc.
“He’s only a little boy. The same age as my brother Jimbo. He’ll be scared to death. His sister says the kidnapper didn’t hurt her, but he must be growing impatient for the extra money he’s demanded. Felix and I want to rescue Marc before something horrid happens.”
“And why can’t you?”
“We don’t know where the man is holding Marc. We tried scrying, but all we got was a blank black nothing. Nina says the man lives in a cave, but we don’t know where the cave is. If we could track Marc in some way, we could possibly find the cave and set him free.”
“Haven’t you looked in your Book of Spells?”
“Yes, your Ladyship, but we couldn’t find anything that would do.”
The Chief Witch gestured for the other six witches to put their heads together with hers and they held a whispered confab while I shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. Felix tapped his watch. Slinky mewed.
As last they broke free, and the Chief Witch addressed me again. “Mpenzi Munro, we all agree these are exceptional circumstances. Added to that, you have earned extra good points for so generously donating five hundred thousand Euros to pay the ransom for Nina… and you, sir,” she said turning to Felix. “We have decided to give you access to a Level Six spell. You will find a leaflet giving instructions in your Book of Spells when you next open it.”
“What power does the spell have?” I ventured to ask expecting to have my head bitten off, but the Chief Witch answered me civilly.
“It will allow you to summon up visions of the person on whom you bend your mind. You will need something belonging to him. Do you have anything of his?”
I shook my head sadly. We’d have to go all the way back to the château to fetch something of Marc’s and then home to use the Book of Spells. That would probably mean a trip all the way out to Cognac again. I was so weary. We’d had little sleep over the last few days.
“Feeling tired?” asked the Chief Witch with a softer note in her voice. She must have read my thoughts.
I nodded. “A little… and magic takes it out of me so.”
“You’ll get used to it after a while, Mpenzi Munro. The more magic you use, the tougher you’ll become. Perhaps you haven’t been practicing enough.”
Felix burst into the conversation saying, “Your Ladyship, Mpenzi doesn’t have to do the double trip. We do have something belonging to Marc.”
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“His hoodie. Don’t you remember picking up his bright red hoodie and throwing it on the back seat of the car?”
Of course. We could go straight home, learn the spell and rescue Marc. All of a sudden I didn’t feel so tired any more.
My spirits lifted, and I smiled up at the Chief Witch. “We’ll manage your Ladyship. We’ll set that little boy free if it’s the last thing we do.”
“Good girl,” she said. “Remember to keep on with the studying.”
With that the High Council shimmered away back into their world. Felix collected up the silver goblet and replaced it in our basket. We turned to leave when there was a sudden whoosh behind us and Slinky came flying through the air to land in the basket–on all four paws, of course.
“Sorry,” the secretary’s voice called out through the cold night air. “I wanted to keep him, but I’m not allowed to.”
As Slinky settled down next to the goblet and we began our descent, I said to Felix, “Don’t you dare say anything about witches and cats.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, boss,” he said. Then he crossed his fingers and said, “White witches, black cats.”
Chapter 35
While Felix put Slinky back in Zig’s basket, I hurried into the study and opened up the Book of Spells to check whether the promised spell had been added by the Chief Witch. Sure enough, a sheet of ancient parchment had been leafed inside the front cover where we couldn’t miss it. I lifted it out marveling at the beautiful colors of the margin illustrations and the gilded capital letters, and laid it on my father’s desk for Felix to read.
“Okay. What have we got here?” he asked seconds later. His enthusiasm to hurry on with the task almost made him touch the page. I smacked his hand away just in time to prevent him from receiving a mighty electrical shock. Only witches can touch the pages of the Book of Spells with impunity.
“That was close,” he said. “I’ll take it more slowly.”
He pulled up my father’s chair and sat down. I nudged the page closer so he could read it without straining. I watched his finger hovering above the words and symbols as he gave the page a first quick scan.
“Doesn’t look too difficult. Let me check again.”
This time he read out the makings of the spell as he moved down the page.
“First: a mirror–to see the image when it appears.”
“Check,” I answered and disappeared to fetch the one hanging on the wall above the basin in the downstairs cloakroom.
I laid it on the desk and waited for Felix’s next instruction.
“Salt. It has to be non-iodized.”
Simple. I darted across to the kitchen and collected up the glass jar full of sea salt crystals that Gwinny kept next to the stove.
“The third item’s more difficult, and certainly at this time of the night… or morning,” he said as he checked the time.
“So, what is it?” I asked.
“It says a likeness of the person to be found. I guess that’s an old-fashioned way of saying a photo. We can’t go waking Jean-Claude up at half past two in the morning to ask him to email us a photo of Marc. We’ll have to wait till morning, boss.”
We couldn’t afford to wait that long. The adrenaline pumping through my body warned me the villain could become desperate and do what kidnappers often do: cut off a finger as a threat. I concentrated hard and sent a mental plea for help to the High Council not expecting it to work but hoping against hope that inspiration would strike me.
Like a thunderbolt, I remembered the details of the Alerte-Enlèvement. Marc’s face would be all over the news and newspapers… and Facebook. The Ministry had a page dedicated to child kidnappings.
“Felix, there’ll be one on the Alerte-Enlèvement page on Facebook.”
“Heck, boss. I should have thought of that. I’m the digital guru, not you,” he mumbled as he clicked away on his laptop.
“Here we are,” he said as the page came up.
There was Marc’s sweet face looking out at us from the top post.
“Quick, print it off, Felix. My gut is becoming more agitated by the minute.”
“While I do this, can you find a fireproof dish or bucket?”
I dashed into the kitchen sure there’d be something suitable. Good. A metal roasting tin.
Back in the study Felix had the photo of Marc in his hand. He placed it in the roasting tin and poured a tablespoonful of salt on top of it.
“What next?” I asked.
“Cross your fingers while I teach you the spell.”
Secure against mishaps, Felix taught me the spell, and I repeated the words and imagined the sy
mbols several times for practice. We were ready.
Felix pointed to the mirror. “It says here that as the salt and the photo burn, the image of the person conjured up will appear in the mirror, so slide it next to the tin, boss.”
I moved the mirror until it touched the roasting pan.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded. We uncrossed our fingers. I summoned up what mental and psychological strength I had left after the past few days. As the energy pulsed through me I shouted out, “Ostende mihi ubi est Marc!” and added, “Show me where Marc is,” for good measure.
Felix lit the edge of the photo. It began to curl and burn. Our attention shifted to the mirror. Nothing showed; only our anxious faces peering down into it. The photo speedily turned to ashes, but the mirror remained blank.
What had we done wrong? It had to be our fault. Felix shrugged his shoulders, palms out.
We went over every step of the spell but couldn’t find anything we’d done incorrectly; the ingredients, the words and symbols; all exactly as had been specified in the spell the Chief Witch had sent me.
There had to be something we’d missed and time was running out. I had to relax; the stress was preventing me from thinking clearly. I sat down across the desk from Felix and closed my eyes. Emptying my mind of all thought, I let it spin this way and that. Poor little Marc… all alone with a monster… and probably cold because he didn’t have his hoodie with him. What? I flashed my eyes open.
“The hoodie, Felix. The Chief Witch mentioned we needed something belonging to Marc, something imbued with his essence. What could be better than his hoodie?”
Felix was at the door before I’d finished speaking. He was back in a trice carrying the bright scarlet fleecy top.
We set the spell up for a second time. This time when I uncrossed my fingers to cast the spell, I held Marc’s hoodie in my hands. As I brought it up close to my face, his little boy smell touched my heart. It reminded me of Jimbo. What a state I’d be in if it was Jimbo shut away in a cave with the horrible villain. I took a deep breath to steady myself and replaced Jimbo in my thoughts with Marc. I nodded to Felix. He lit the second photo.