by Chris Ward
‘Just “useful”?’
‘The Dark Man is a human, like you,’ Fallenwood said. ‘His battle is with other humans. The Kingdom of Fallenwood is not his concern.’
‘But if he destroys the school, it might be.’
‘We are of no threat to him. My Fallenwoodsmen dance only for themselves, not for others. You and your friends … you were privileged.’
‘How can you know?’ Benjamin said. ‘What if he decides to raze the forests, burn them all down?’
Fallenwood gave another trumpeting laugh. ‘But why would he? Everyone needs wood.’
Benjamin opened his mouth to argue, but instead he said, ‘If all the peoples of Endinfinium join against the Dark Man, we can banish him. We can push him back behind the High Mountains and put an end to the ghouls and other horrible creatures.’
‘Do you really want to see him banished?’ Fallenwood said. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know who this Dark Man really is?’
Benjamin shivered at the ethereal face he had seen at the river’s parting.
‘No,’ he snapped. Then, before Fallenwood could respond, he added, ‘I’d better go and wake the others. We have a battle to fight.’
Fallenwood refused any requests to join their fledgling army, though he did offer to have his Fallenwoodsmen provide a little assistance. First, he had Benjamin, Miranda, and Wilhelm assemble in one of the roofless rooms, to stand on a wooden board that had once been part of a cupboard. Then, before they had a chance to back out, the Fallenwoodsmen bound and wove beneath them, lifting them up off the floor. They held on to each other in sheer terror as they became the unwitting pinnacle at the top of a rapidly growing tower that rose up out of the ruined botanical society building, past the towering trees, until they were marooned on a tiny, shaky platform as high as an electricity pylon.
‘We’re going to die,’ Wilhelm stated. ‘I mean, we should have died about thirty times already. At some point our luck’s going to run out.’
‘Stop moving about!’ Miranda shrieked as Wilhelm took a couple of steps from one side to the other, while she lay immobile on top of it, white-knuckled from gripping the wood. ‘Can’t you just sit down?’
‘Look! You can see the school!’ Wilhelm shouted, pointing off to the south as a gust of wind caused the platform to lurch precariously, only to sway back level as the immense wicker frame below moved to counter it.
‘And over there you can see the people coming to destroy it,’ Benjamin said.
‘Where? Oh … there.’
Even Miranda stopped her terrified mumblings to look. Far to the northwest and beyond the river, the Haunted Forest lay like a black smear on the land, except for one lighter swath that ran from the foothills almost to the water’s edge.
‘Tell me that’s not…’
Benjamin nodded. ‘They’re cutting their way through. I wondered how the Baggers would get here.’ He looked around at the others. ‘There’s still a chance. We can hold them at the river.’
Wilhelm gave a bitter laugh. ‘Right. With our army of three. Who wants to stand in the middle?’
38
THE LIGHTHOUSE
Despite a few scares, the Fallenwoodsmen brought them back to the ground without harm, and even though Fallenwood invited them to stay for lunch, Benjamin told him about what they had seen and insisted they be on their way. Fallenwood wished he could have been of more help, but with the threat of rain, he was sorry he couldn’t offer them an escort to the edge of the woods. He did fill their pockets with food, however, and wish them good luck.
None of them spoke until they were out of the woods and up on the high lands near the cliff. Then, when the distant grey of the Haunted Forest came back into view beyond the river valley, they stopped for a council meeting.
‘Okay, what now?’ Wilhelm said. ‘I’d guess we’re twenty miles from the school, or twenty from that river. We have no transport, so it’s a hard day’s walk. If they’re already at the river, then we’ll get to the school at the same time they will, which means there’ll be no warning.’
Miranda nodded. ‘Or, we head out to cut off the Dark Man’s army and we somehow make a stand while one of us goes to warn the school.’
‘Hmm. You’re a channeler and I’m a weaver, so perhaps we can do something. Benjamin should go to the school.’
‘No.’ Benjamin shook his head. ‘They’ve got my brother. And I’m a summoner. I can call on much more power than either of you.’
‘Power you don’t know how to use,’ Miranda said. ‘At best, you’ll make an unholy mess while destroying yourself. Great idea.’ She punched him on the arm. ‘And at worst, nothing at all will happen and you’ll just look like an idiot.’
‘Well, what do you suggest? How can we warn the school in time?’
‘There’s an old watchtower a couple of hours’ walk north of us,’ Wilhelm said. ‘I saw it when we were on that hideous stick platform. It might have a radio or some kind of signaling device.’
Benjamin nodded. ‘It’s the best plan we’ve got.’
‘But still not much of a plan,’ Miranda muttered.
‘Well…’
She looked ready to punch him again, but held her hands stiffly by her sides instead. Around her, the grass gave an artificial tremble. ‘Let’s get going,’ she said through gritted teeth, then turned to march north along the coast path.
‘She’s got spirit,’ Wilhelm whispered as he and Benjamin started after her. ‘I like that.’
‘Spirit’s what we’re going to need against that ghoul army and those Baggers,’ Benjamin said. ‘It might not be enough, though.’
By midmorning, the tower had come into sight—a stone structure as tall as a couple of houses stood on end, pointed like a needle with a thicker top part that had an outdoor walkway, and with its eroded paintwork and large cracks in the walls looked in about as good a repair as the botanical society.
‘That’s not a tower, that’s a lighthouse,’ Miranda said as they crested the last rise before the headland on which the whitewashed building stood.
‘What do I know?’ Wilhelm said. ‘I grew up in the city.’
‘It’s for guiding ships,’ Benjamin said. ‘I wonder when it was built.’
‘One way to find out. Hurry up.’ Miranda marched off into the lead again. Wilhelm, who was sweating despite the chilly sea wind, gave Benjamin a tired glance.
‘I hope it has seats inside,’ he said.
‘Come on.’ Benjamin gave him a pat on the shoulder for luck. ‘Hopefully, she’ll have found a kettle and put it on.’
A little stony path led to a door around the back. Miranda had already gone inside, though Wilhelm hung back, looking a little sheepish.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Just a bad feeling, that’s all. You go first.’
‘Thanks.’
Benjamin called out for Miranda as he pushed the door open to reveal a dark lobby with cracked tiles and chipped paint. Though there was no sign of the girl, a staircase in one corner wound up around the walls, pausing at a landing on each loop. Benjamin followed it with his eyes as it twisted up to the high ceiling.
‘What’s that?’
Wilhelm looked at him.
‘What?’
‘That thing hanging from the ceiling. It looks like a giant spider’s nest.’
Wilhelm took a couple of steps back toward the door. ‘No way. I draw the line at giant spiders.’
‘Wait! It’s moving. It’s … Miranda?’
The bag jerked. ‘Help!’ came a muffled cry.
‘She’s caught in a trap.’ Wilhelm pointed at a lever on the wall by the stairs, one that neither had noticed before. A rope led up to a pulley system occasionally visible behind the jerking bag. ‘Someone maybe left it here to catch animals. Let’s go cut her down.’
They dashed up the stairs. Despite the ordeals over the last few days, Benjamin still hadn’t quite adjusted to heights, and his head spun as they wound up and up.
Wilhelm, smaller and lighter, had run on ahead, and as Benjamin reached a midway landing, Wilhelm pulled up a crusty blind to reveal a window overlooking the sea. Light flooded in, its glow revealing a brown sack hanging from a chain with something shifting about inside it.
‘Miranda!’ Benjamin shouted again.
‘Get me out!’
‘It’s attached to the wall,’ Wilhelm said. ‘I saw a lever. Shall I go back down and release it?’
‘No!’ screamed Miranda. ‘Do you want to kill me, you idiot?’
‘We have to cut her free,’ Benjamin said. But just as he started to look around for something to cut with, voices floated up from the floor below.
‘Sir! We’ve caught something!’
‘What is it?’
‘Look, sir!’
A group of kids from the school rushed into the lighthouse, and Benjamin groaned. He recognised several, and among them was Godfrey’s friend, Snout. But it was the burly shape coming sideways through the door that made his heart race.
Captain Roche looked up. Even in the gloom on the lighthouse floor, the shock on his unnaturally wide face was apparent. He flicked a wall switch, and the inside of the lighthouse lit up in dazzling white light.
‘Well, well, well. Forrest. Jacobs. And let me guess: Ms Butterworth is currently messing about in our animal trap. Would one of you clowns like to tell me first, what the hell you’re doing here, and secondly, where the hell you’ve been?’
39
MUTINY
‘Yes sir,’ Wilhelm said. ‘I will gladly go and wait outside with the others. As I just explained, I had nothing to do with anything. It was all Benjamin and Miranda. I just want to go back to the school and finish my homework.’
‘You little sneak,’ Miranda snapped.
‘Go on then, boy,’ Captain Roche said. ‘Don’t think you’re getting off with no cleans, though. It takes more than a little butt kissing to get out of this one.’
Wilhelm gave the captain a sweet smile and ran off outside to where the other students waited in a group. Benjamin stared after him. Had Wilhelm really gone turncoat or was he just trying to avoid a lengthy spell in the Locker Room? Beside him, Miranda glowered at the floor.
‘And you, Forrest,’ Captain Roche said. ‘What’s this rubbish about an army?’
‘I’m not making it up. If you go up to the top of the lighthouse and take a look, you can see for yourself.’
Captain Roche turned his imposing gaze from one to the other. ‘I was up there a short while ago, and all I saw was the Haunted Forest. Lots of unpleasant trees. No one likes to go in there unless they have to, do they?’
‘There’s an army of ghouls and other nasty things coming to destroy the school! You have to warn the other teachers!’
Captain Roche planted his huge hands on his hips. ‘You know what happens to kids who don’t follow the rules,’ he said, ‘if all the cleans down in the Locker Room don’t make any difference?’
Benjamin sighed. ‘No, sir, I don’t.’
‘Two choices: you get cast out to the Haunted Forest, or you get set adrift on the ocean and you take your chances. You like either of those options, Forrest? Both can be arranged.’
‘How can you be so cruel?’ Miranda shouted.
Captain Roche just shook his head. ‘You think that’s cruel, Butterworth? You’ve been here, what, three months? I told Loane there had to be a better choice for prefect, but the fool wouldn’t listen. And you, Forrest, not even a month yet, is it? You don’t understand the sacrifice so many have made so you could grow up here in safety. We can’t send you back to where you came from; we don’t know how. We could let you wander until something nasty comes up out of the ground to swallow you. Instead, we try to give you a life, but for the safety of everyone, there are rules to follow.’
‘And one of them is that there is no magic, is that right?’
Captain Roche scowled at Benjamin. ‘Don’t you speak such a dirty word in my presence, boy. I’d have the hide flogged off of your back if it was my choice, but as it is, I’ll have to settle for five thousand cleans. I hope you have a comfortable sleeping bag.’
Benjamin exchanged glances with Miranda. Arguing with the captain was useless. ‘Okay, sir, you can take us back,’ he said. ‘I’ll do a million cleans, if that’s what it takes, but just go up to the top of the lighthouse and tell me what you see. It’s important.’
‘I told you, I saw nothing but lies and bad children playing petulant games.’
‘It’s not a game!’
‘Your little cohort, Jacobs, has already accepted his punishment, why won’t you?’ Captain Roche looked from one to the other. ‘You’re making fools out of yourselves.’
‘You have to go and look!’
Captain Roche ignored him. ‘And you, Butterworth? Are you willing to accept your folly and return to the school, or do I have to take matters into my own hands and declare you both outcasts from this moment forth?’
Miranda glanced at Benjamin. She’s making it my decision, he thought. And they were wasting time. Getting back to the school was paramount, even if they had to go in manacles and stocks.
He gave her a short nod.
‘Yes.’ She let out a long sigh of feigned defeat. ‘I have a good sleeping bag. Captain, sir.’
‘Good. Let’s get going, then.’
Captain Roche lumbered toward the door, with Benjamin and Miranda following behind. As they went outside, the other pupils fell silent. Where they had been standing in a group, they now moved out into a semi-circle around the entrance, offering no way through. Only a brave few glanced at Captain Roche, but as he stopped and stared, they all reached out and joined hands. Wilhelm, far from the self-made outsider he had always been before, stood in the middle with the others fanned out around him.
‘What’s this?’ Captain Roche said.
Wilhelm stepped forward and glanced at Snout, who stood on the edge of the line to Wilhelm’s right. ‘Tell him, Simon,’ he said.
Snout took a step forward. He looked about to cry. ‘Godfrey showed me how to do it. I didn’t know what it meant, or what I was doing, but…’
He lifted his hands in front of him, palms down. The air shimmered and, like a veil covering the lower part of his body, the ground lost its distinction, turning into a wash of colours, becoming fluid, like a bowl of mixed paints. Slowly at first, and then with increasing speed, the colours swirled into a whirlpool out of which something spindly and grey but with an orange hue began to climb.
‘Enough!’ cried Captain Roche, lifting one huge hand and the whirlpool of colour exploded with an electrical crackle. Snout jumped back with a look of shock. The air cleared, the ground became solid, and the creature, whatever it was, was gone.
Gasps came from the other pupils. Captain Roche glared at them in turn, as if daring any of them to mention what they had just seen. Snout, sniveling, shrank back into the ranks, his gaze on the ground. Others appeared unsure of where to look. Only Wilhelm looked defiant.
‘You’re a channeler, sir. There’s no use in denying it.’
‘I don’t—’
‘We all just witnessed you banish the ghoul Simon here had summoned. Can you explain it in any other way?’
‘You will pay for this humiliation,’ the captain growled. ‘You’ll clean until your hands are raw.’
‘Everyone saw it,’ Wilhelm continued. ‘And Simon’s not the only one who can do something he can’t understand. Miranda and Benjamin can. Billy here, and Alina. And what of the others who are weavers, like me? They might not even know it. It’s time you stopped hiding this magic from us and started teaching us how to use it, so we can protect both ourselves and the school.’
Captain Roche sighed, and his huge head swung from side to side. ‘It was for your own safety,’ he said slowly, turning to look at all of them. ‘Few can draw on the power unless they know what it is they’re drawing and how to do it. And the loss of a few is worth the survival of the many.
’
Benjamin glanced at Wilhelm, and his friend gave a little wink, which made Benjamin smile. ‘Are you prepared to believe us yet?’ he asked Captain Roche. ‘About the Dark Man’s army?’
The captain turned to him, and something in his eyes suggested that, correct or not, Benjamin and his friend would still be punished for their insolence, but he gave a slow nod.
‘We will return to the school with haste, and there we will decide what needs to be done.’
As the captain led the boys toward a machine that looked like a horse trailer with the front halves of two robotic horses sticking out of one end, Benjamin and Miranda closed ranks around Wilhelm.
‘I guess I need to start trusting you,’ Benjamin said. ‘I don’t know how you got the other boys on your side, but that was awesome.’
‘I knew I could convince them. I didn’t expect Snout to be able to call a ghoul, though. That’s a bit worrying.’
Miranda punched him on the arm. ‘That was to say sorry,’ she said, ‘for calling you a sneak. You had me convinced.’
‘Um, thanks.’
‘Welcome.’ Miranda took hold of one of Wilhelm’s arms and one of Benjamin’s and quickened her pace, pulling them toward the robotic horse-trailer. ‘Round one to us,’ she said. ‘Hopefully, the other teachers will be easier to convince.’
‘Uh-oh,’ Benjamin said, looking up.
‘What?’
He held out his other hand and a little drop of water landed on his palm. ‘It’s starting to rain.’
40
DRESSING DOWN
Mrs. Martin made them chamomile tea in the lobby while Captain Roche went off to confer with the other teachers. Benjamin had to admit, it felt good to be back. Not quite homely, but within the confines of the warm walls and with a comfortable leather seat underneath him, it was certainly close.
As she brought the tray out and set it down onto a low coffee table, Mrs. Martin said in a quiet voice, ‘My sister’s name is Margerie. I’m Madeline. Endinfinium took me but left her. I often wondered what happened to her. We were identical.’