Griffin of Darkwood

by Becky Citra

  “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about it, Dad,” said Thom.

  “It’s okay. A beam fell on me and I lost the use of my legs, Will, but at least I was spared my life. Twenty-four men died.”

  “Other bad things have happened too,” said Thom. “Right, Dad?”

  “There's stories of a dam breaking and washing away fifty homes in the seventeen hundreds, an epidemic of smallpox in the eighteen hundreds, a Linley who went insane seventy-five years ago and terrorized the village.” John sighed. “And other stories too. People always blame the castle and the griffin. But none of that means that there's a curse.”

  “That’s why the bus driver, Purvis Sneed, said we should stay away,” said Will. “No one wants us in the castle! People are afraid of another disaster.”

  “Don’t worry about Purvis Sneed,” said John. “Most of us are pleased to see the castle lived in again. You mustn’t pay attention to what people say.”

  “That’s what Vespera Moonstone said when we were on the bus. But it’s really scaring me.”

  “Griffins are a figment of our imaginations,” said John firmly. “The castle is just what it appears to be – an old ruin. I’m delighted that your aunt has bought it. It’s time we got rid of these superstitions.”

  But Will saw a shadow pass over John’s face. He’s just trying to make me feel better, he thought uneasily. He does believe in the griffin’s curse.

  Capter Fifteen

  Shadow Alley

  Will and Thom left the flat and walked to the bookstore. When they got to the square, Peaches trotted past them carrying a big black umbrella. Vespera Moonstone was going out the door of Ex Libris just as they went in.

  “Favian and I were finalizing some of the details for my poetry reading,” she said. “We’re thinking of serving cream puffs with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. People will come if there’s free food.”

  “Cream puffs!” said Thom. “They’re in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. They have a fancy French name but it means cream puffs! I’ve been dying to try them. I’ll make them for your reading!”

  “Splendid,” said Vespera.

  Favian was on his knees, unpacking a new shipment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

  “I’ve thought of two palindromes for you,” said Will. “Dad and did. I know they’re pretty lame but –”

  “It’s a start,” said Favian. “It’s much harder than you’d think. I had an inspiration last night. Was it a cat I saw? I might enter it in the next contest.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” asked Thom.

  Will was explaining palindromes to him when Thud! behind a tower of books, a volume hit the floor. A faint voice said, “Whoops.”

  Will and Thom spun around. The girl dressed all in black with long red hair and huge round glasses appeared around a corner. Will’s eyes narrowed. Her again! It gave him the creeps how she kept popping up wherever he was.

  “Are you on your way now, Madeleine?” said Favian. The girl mumbled something under her breath and fled.

  “That was Madeleine de Luca,” said Thom. “She’s really weird.” He frowned. “I hope she’s not spying on us!”

  “Why would she?” asked Will. “What’s the matter with her?”

  “I dunno. I told you, she’s weird. She’s home-schooled, and she’s kind of snobby. Emma can’t stand her.”

  They each found a book. Thom plopped into the saggy armchair, which had been moved to another corner of the shop. Will sat on the floor and leaned against the arm. He glanced up once into a pair of round green eyes peering at them between two piles of books. He instantly recognized Harry Potter’s house elf. “Thom,” he said in a low voice. “Look.”

  “What?” said Thom. “I don’t see anything.”

  The face vanished. “Never mind,” said Will.

  “Dobby’s here too,” he told Favian on their way out.

  “Excellent,” said Favian.

  Rain was spitting on the cobblestones of the square as they started up Black Penny Road. Brakes squealed in front of them and Mr. Cherry’s pink van pulled over at the entrance to Shadow Alley. Will yanked Thom back into a doorway. Mr. Cherry got out of the van and slunk off down the alley.

  “Let’s follow him and see where he’s going,” said Will.

  Thom chewed his lip. “I don’t know –”

  “We can always take off if we have to. Come on!”

  Will strode into the gloomy alley and, with a sigh, Thom followed him.

  It was as dark as night in Shadow Alley. Inky shadows filled the nooks and corners. Only a narrow strip of grey sky was visible between the tall soot-blackened buildings. Three scrawny alley cats were fighting over a discarded fish head and a dog, missing a front leg, limped past without giving the cats a glance.

  “I’m picking up a lot of bad feelings in this alley,” moaned Thom. “In my whole life I’ve never come in here. Now I know why.”

  His heart thudding, Will squinted through the gloom for any sign of Mr. Cherry. The alley was so narrow that in places you could almost touch the buildings on both sides. Low doors were set back in the grimy brick walls. Some of the windows had iron grills across them or wooden shutters nailed tight.

  Shadow Alley would be perfect in a story, he thought. He turned and glanced back over his shoulder. The Muses were there, but very faint, like ghosts. They’re getting weaker, he thought hopefully.

  The alley climbed steeply. The rain had turned into a cold steady drizzle, and the slippery black cobblestones gleamed. A dark figure disappeared around a dim corner in front of them. Mr. Cherry. Will grabbed Thom’s arm.

  They waited for a few minutes and then crept around the corner. Mr. Cherry was gone. They were standing in front of a low curved door with a chipped tile above it that said P. Sneed.

  “P. Sneed,” whispered Will. “That must be Purvis, the bus driver.”

  “Mr. Cherry’s gone inside,” said Thom. “Let’s get outta here.”

  Suddenly two long thin arms shot out of a dark recess beside the door. One bony white hand grabbed Thom’s collar and the other grabbed Will’s jacket.

  They twisted and turned, trying to break away.

  “Help!” yelled Thom. “Somebody save us!”

  “No one will hear you in Shadow Alley,” a voice hissed. “Unless perhaps it’s a rat!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Brussels Sprouts and Liver!

  “Snooping again!” growled Mr. Cherry.

  “We’re looking for Peaches,” stammered Will. It was all he could think of. “He ran up here somewhere.” He tried not to look at Mr. Cherry, but he couldn’t help it. The man’s eyes were eerily hypnotic.

  “Never saw him. But good riddance. A lot of things go into Shadow Alley and don’t come out.”

  “I’ve lived in this village all my life and I’ve never heard that,” said Thom. He gave a desperate wrench and twisted out of Mr. Cherry’s grasp. “Run!” he yelled.

  Will delivered a swift kick to Mr. Cherry’s shin. Curses exploded from the man and Will broke free. As he and Thom raced away, Mr. Cherry shouted, “Next time you DIE!”

  Will and Thom were gasping when they got back to Black Penny Road.

  “I thought we were goners,” moaned Thom, shaking raindrops out of his messy hair.

  “He must have been going to visit Purvis Sneed,” said Will, remembering the conversation he had heard in the Cherrys sitting room. “The Cherrys are looking for something. It’s got to do with the secret passageway. I think Purvis Sneed is helping them. The girl, Hannah, knew about it too. But what could it be?”

  Thom shuddered. “Let’s go. We’re having Apple Charlotte! I made it this morning.”

  “Okay.” Will had no desire to run into Mr. Cherry again today.

  Will made the pb and j sandwiches while Thom boiled a mixture of apricot jam, sugar and a splash of his dad’s dark rum to make sauce for the Apple Charlotte. Then he took a tray covered with tinfoil from the freezer and st
uck his head into the living room. “Shepherd’s pie okay?”

  “Wonderful,” said John.

  Thom took off the foil and popped the tray in the oven. “Emma’s mum, Star, makes frozen meals for Dad. She brings them over every Sunday. There’s pork chops and liver and onions and beef stew left for this week.”

  They ate at the kitchen table. Thom had baked the Apple Charlotte in a round tin with a hole in the middle. “It’s called a mold," he said. “I haven’t used a mold before. When I flip it over on a plate, the Apple Charlotte will fall out. At least that’s the plan.”

  When it was time to flip the mold, Will held his breath. The Apple Charlotte didn't budge. Thom tapped the bottom of the pan and peered underneath to see what was happening.

  “Bang it harder,” suggested John.

  Thom whacked the bottom of the pan with a knife. “It’s stuck,” he said. He consulted his Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which was propped up against a canister of flour, open to the Apple Charlotte page. “Oh, no! I forgot the butter.”

  “We’ll eat it out of the pan,” said John.

  They each had three huge helpings, scraping up the stuck bits. When they were finished, they pushed the dishes to the side and played gin rummy.

  When it was time for Will to go, Thom said, “I’m going to make cream puffs tonight. I’m practising for Vespera’s poetry reading. You can have some for breakfast tomorrow. You’re gonna come, aren’t you?”

  Will promised. When he got outside, shiny puddles lay in all the dips in the road. In one puddle shone the reflections of glittering stars. He tilted his head back and gazed up at the sky. It was like a black blanket with not even one twinkling star. He took another look at the reflection in the puddle. The stars winked at him.

  There’s magic everywhere, he thought. You just have to keep your eyes open for it. He looked in every puddle the rest of the way but saw nothing so splendid again.

  Ke-ke-ke-ke. The sparrowhawks circled the tower, screeching, as he entered the castle through the stone archway. In the entrance hall, the door to a closet where the phone was kept was partly closed. From inside the closet, Aunt Mauve shrieked, “Pepperoni, pineapple, double cheese…What do you mean, you don’t deliver? How can you be a pizza parlour and not deliver?”

  She slammed the phone down and emerged from the closet. She was wearing her coat, the wool scarf and three pairs of wool socks. Mrs. Cherry appeared from nowhere, her shoes making no sound on the stone floor. “Was there something wrong with the liver and Brussels sprouts I served for dinner, Madame?”

  Aunt Mauve quivered under Mrs. Cherry’s icy eyes. “Wha…no…nothing…” she mumbled.

  “Why on earth would you phone a pizza parlour at this time of night?” persisted Mrs. Cherry. “Is there a problem?”

  “It was a wrong number, that’s all.”

  Aunt Mauve sidled past Will. “What are you staring at?” She disappeared down a dark corridor.

  “She won’t get back to the Red Chamber that way,” said Mrs. Cherry. “It leads to a deserted part of the castle.”

  For the first time ever, Will saw Mrs. Cherry smile. With a stomach satisfyingly full of scrumptious Apple Charlotte, he shot up to his tower.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Crystal Ball

  The next morning, as Will was leaving the castle, a bell rang from the dining room. With a heavy sigh, he turned around and went to see what Aunt Mauve wanted.

  She was hunched over one end of the long table, attempting to eat with mittens. A watery poached egg quivered in a bowl, and the chewed remnants of burnt toast were scattered about.

  “Good morning,” she said. In spite of the dreadful meal, she sounded cheerful, and Will was instantly suspicious. He stared at a pile of letters on the table beside the poached egg. His aunt swept them into her lap.

  “Is that the post?” Will asked. “Where did it come from?”

  “Mr. Cherry brought it up from the village. It’s the only useful thing he’s done since we got here.”

  “Is there anything for me?” Will hadn’t totally given up on Mr. Barnaby yet.

  “Who would write to you?”

  Will didn’t believe her. He glimpsed the end of a long white envelope peeking out of the pile. It looked just like the white envelope that had come to Aunt Mauve’s house in the city.

  Aunt Mauve pushed her chair closer to the table. A colourful brochure dropped to the floor and Will grabbed it. “Fun in the Sun Cruises,” he read. “Who’s that for?”

  “None of your beeswax!” crowed Aunt Mauve.

  She picked up a big brass bell and rang it vigorously. “What’s the point of having servants if they don’t serve?”

  “I’ll go. What is it you want?” Will wanted to ask Mr. Cherry if any of the letters were for him.

  “Tell Mrs. Cherry I insist on a new breakfast at once,” said Aunt Mauve boldly. “Something I can eat this time. And I want the fire lit in the Red Chamber. It’s always freezing in there!”

  Will passed Cookie in the narrow passageway. He was muttering, “Spoiled! I put in too much salt!”

  “Never mind,” said Will. “It’s not the end of the world.”

  Will almost lost his nerve at the kitchen door. He could hear voices. Good. Mr. Cherry wouldn’t hurt him if there were other people around. And he had to find out about the post. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

  He found Mr. Cherry and Mrs. Cherry sitting at the kitchen table. A fire crackled and snapped in the big stone fireplace. They had a guest – Purvis Sneed. He eyed Will gloomily. Plates with the remains of bacon, eggs, sausages and fried potatoes were pushed to one side. They were playing poker.

  “What do you want?” asked Mrs. Cherry.

  “Were any of the letters addressed to me?” asked Will.

  Mrs. Cherry slapped her cards on the table and fixed her mean eyes on him. “Are you accusing Mr. Cherry of reading someone else’s letters?”

  “No! I just thought he might have noticed the envelope.”

  “I’m not a snoop,” Mr. Cherry barked. “Unlike some people I know.”

  Purvis Sneed leered at Will. Bits of bacon protruded from between his teeth.

  Will tried one more time. “It would have said Barnaby Book Publishers on the envelope. If it did, you should have given it to me.”

  Dead silence met his words.

  “Oh, forget it,” he sighed.

  On his way out of the castle, Will took the shadowy corridor past the dungeon door. He tried the heavy door, but it was locked. Would he ever have a chance to go down there again?

  < • >

  Will had walked all the way to Thom’s building when he remembered that Aunt Mauve had asked him to order a new breakfast. “Serves her right!” he said with a grin.

  He found Thom in the kitchen, surrounded by dirty dishes.

  “Disaster!” said Thom. “The cream puffs. Hard as rocks. Even Peaches wouldn’t want one. I've had to throw them all away. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm running out of time!”

  They filled up on pb and j sandwiches instead. Thom looked worried. “Are you getting sick of peanut butter?”

  “Not yet,” lied Will.

  Then they went to Emma’s house, a converted apple barn at the edge of the village. Emma and Peaches were on the grass in front of the house. Peaches had a piece of yellow rope tied to his collar and Emma hung onto the other end about ten steps away. “Peaches, come!” she said.

  Peaches sat down.

  “COME!” Emma tugged on the rope, and Peaches slithered on his bottom toward her.

  “Peaches, DOWN!”

  The dog flopped onto his tummy with a huge sigh.

  Emma’s mouth dropped open. “Hey! Did you see that? He did it!”

  Will and Thom cheered and Emma gave Peaches a crisp from the bag she’d been munching from. Peaches swallowed it in one bite, gave a huge bark and sprang to his feet.

  “STAY!” cried Emma, grabbing the end of the
rope, but Peaches galloped across the grass, leapt over a low stone wall and disappeared.

  They sat on the grass and ate the rest of the crisps and then Emma said, “Come on inside.”

  The barn still had a sweet cidery smell from the apples, which had been stored in it long ago. Huge black timbers crossed the ceiling and a balcony ran right around the large open room. Toys were scattered everywhere and drums throbbed from an upstairs room.

  Emma’s mother, Star, was feeding a baby at a high chair. “Welcome to Sparrowhawk,” she said.

  There were Storms everywhere. Will counted one, two, three…seven children. The drums stopped and a teen-aged boy with dreadlocks rattled down the stairs and out the door, grabbing a piece of toast on the way. It was Lukas from The Winking Cat. He slammed the door behind him.

  From the corner of the room, a raspy voice demanded, “Bring the boy to me at once, Emma.”

  Will looked around in surprise. A tiny woman sat behind a large wooden loom. Two sharp eyes peered at him. Her snowy white hair stood out like a halo around her wrinkled face.

  “This is my great-grandmother,” said Emma. “Granny Storm, this is Will.”

  “The boy from the castle. You remind me of someone, but I can’t think who. It’s your chin. Come up to my room so we can talk in private.”

  Will stiffened. The old woman looked strange and he didn’t especially want to be alone with her.

  “You’ve had some troubled times,” Granny Storm added. “I see a dark aura around you. You’re going to need a lot of courage in the days ahead.”

  “You’ll give him the willies!” said Star. “You mustn’t let Granny Storm scare you, Will.”

  “It’s better to be prepared,” muttered the tiny woman. “Will and I will go upstairs now. No one is to disturb us.”

  “You’d better go,” said Emma. “She won’t give up.”

  Granny Storm glared at her great-granddaughter and said, “Come with me.”

  Will followed Granny Storm up a wide flight of stairs to the balcony and then up another narrower steep flight of stairs that ended at a little door. When he walked through the door, he gasped. Light flickered from a dozen tall blue candles. The room was a hexagon. Magnificent tapestries hung on the walls, teeming with gleaming knights on charging horses, ladies and lords, deer, rabbits, pheasants, a leaping leopard and a prancing unicorn.