The Viking's Apprentice

by Kevin McLeod

  Chapter 2

  Morning arrived, and for the first time since Christmas Peter was up and out of bed before his alarm. Too excited to sleep he busied himself getting showered and dressed. Jake did not seem to share this enthusiasm and remained fast asleep under the duvet at the bottom of the bed.

  Mrs Collins was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. The smell of cooking drifting through the house finally persuaded Jake to get up. Peter was heading down the stairs when Jake shot past hot on the trail of bacon.

  ‘Morning mum, where’s dad?’ Peter asked.

  ‘Morning sweetheart your dad’s out in the back garden. Goodness knows what he’s doing out there so early.’

  Peter wandered over to the back door, letting Jake out as he went, searching for his dad. Jake found him first, inside the garage, busy looking for something.

  ‘Dad, breakfast is almost ready.' Peter said. His dad looked up and gave Peter a smile.

  ‘I’ll be right in, was just looking for something that your Granddad asked for. I’m not sure why he wants it, but he was insistent. Ah ha, here it is.’

  Mr Collins took out an old, very large, suitcase from under one of the tables along the side of the garage. The suitcase had Granddad's address on it and was locked with a padlock.

  ‘Make sure he gets this will you?’

  ‘Sure dad, what’s inside it?’

  ‘I don’t know, but your Granddad asked me to look it out. You can tell me what’s in it when you find out.’

  ‘It’s a deal,’ said Peter as Jake barked and left the garage in pursuit of more tasty things in the kitchen.

  After breakfast, they packed the car with Peter's case, supplies for Jake and the case for Granddad. A few minutes later George and his mother arrived. George was smaller than Peter with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was freckle free and always wore jeans. No matter what the weather you would only see him out of his jeans when he was in his school uniform or pyjamas.

  Mr Collins helped move bags from the Taylor’s car. The parents talked while the boys played with Jake. They tormented the poor dog with a tennis ball the way young boys do. They were playing a game of Jack Russell in the middle that Jake just could not win.

  ‘Time to go, boys,' Mrs Collins shouted.

  ‘George, do you remember what we talked about?’ Mrs Taylor asked giving her son a serious look.

  ‘Yes mum, don’t worry I’ll behave,’ George replied with the hint of a smile on his lips.

  ‘Peter. Remember to keep Jake under control, and don’t tire out your Granddad,’ Peter’s dad said.

  ‘I promise dad; we'll have a great time and make sure Granddad's okay.'

  After George was half hugged to death by his mother, they got into the car with Mrs Collins and set out on the journey to meet Granddad.

  The boys spent the journey time playing Nintendo and bugging Mrs Collins to change the CD to music they had heard of. Mrs Collins just smiled and kept her music on, safe in the knowledge that in a few years the boys would love Bob Dylan. Didn't everyone eventually? Jake spent the journey asleep in his dog crate.

  They arrived in the small town of Laderidge where they would meet Granddad, and the boys and Jake would continue on their journey. Granddad was already there standing next to his car in the public car park. He was dressed, as always, in one of his many green tweed suits with a slightly faded brown hat. He saw them and waved and pointed for Mrs Collins to park next to him. Granddad was tall with silvery white hair and matching eyebrows. His eyes were light blue; identical to Peter's.

  ‘Hello, boys, ready for two weeks of adventure?' Granddad asked, ruffling Peter's hair, and reaching out to shake George's hand.

  ‘Can't wait to get there and show George the house,' said Peter with a huge smile on his face. Jake barked from inside his crate, and Mrs Collins came round the car, hugged her dad and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  With Jake and the bags moved to Granddad’s car it was time to set off for the Cove. Peter hugged his mum while getting a quiet final reminder not to tire out Granddad, and several kisses on the cheek. Mrs Collins hugged her dad and waved them off from the car park. She always had a tear in her eye when her boy went off these first two weeks in summer. Some things never got easier.

  As soon as they were on the road, Granddad began to tell George the stories about the Cove, and the legends that surrounded it.

  ‘First-time visitors can be forgiven for thinking the Cove is just a small sleepy village with nothing much to offer and nothing to do.'

  ‘Those people would be wrong. There is more to the Cove than meets the eye, that much you will see for yourself.’

  ‘What’s been happening lately Granddad?’ asked Peter.

  ‘Well, we have new neighbours for a start. Three sisters moved in next door, all very nice but keep themselves to themselves.’

  ‘Apparently there were a group of amateur explorers who were heading for the Cove, but they've vanished. No trace of them or their cars. They were all booked to stay at the Inn but didn't show up, strange business.'

  ‘They found another fossil in the woods, near the cove, huge this time. They think it might be a dragon.’

  George and Peter exchanged bemused glances at this news. If Granddad was joking, he gave nothing away.

  ‘Oh yes, they do say that in times gone by many dragons used to live in the woods, and in the vast caverns that are all around the Cove. Brave knights would come from all over to fight them. Many would lose, but for those few who killed a dragon, they were guaranteed immortality. Or so the story goes,' Granddad said looking at George, giving him a little nod of his head.

  They drove in silence for a while and eventually the woods that surrounded one side of Campbell’s Cove came into view. The road went through the middle of the woods, and when you were in there it was a little easier to believe the stories that Granddad had been telling. The trees blocked out nearly all the light and shadows danced everywhere. It was certainly not a place you would like to break down George thought to himself. He stared into the trees and was sure he could see many strange shapes moving and following the car, just behind the tree line. Much to his relief, the darkness began to fade, and the car passed safely through the woods, and over the brow of a hill. There, in front of them, was Campbell's Cove. The sea looked enormous, spreading out from the edge of the land as far as the eye could see. In comparison, the Cove itself looked like the smallest town in the world to George.

  They drove down the main street which was almost the only street in the village. There was one shop that also served as the post office. The news board outside the shop read ‘Eggs go missing on several farms.’ The boys looked at each other and laughed. There was only one bus stop outside the village hall, and across the road stood the Inn. The main road was narrow with a small bridge half way down which, when you crossed the road, much to George's amazement, got even narrower. There were houses in this part of the village; several small streets of five or six homes. All of which looked very much alike from the outside. Granddad turned off the main road and headed up a long sloping hill. There in front of them sat a row of four magnificent mansions. Each house was more impressive than the one before it.

  ‘This one is ours,’ Granddad said happily, as he looked at George, keen to see his reaction to the house.

  They drove up to the house, and George's jaw dropped, sending Peter into fits of laughter. The large gates stood open revealing a sweeping driveway, and at its top the biggest house George had ever seen. The mansion had so many windows it seemed impossible to count. The lawn was larger than five football pitches, and the trees that lined the edges looked like they had been plucked straight from the woods. As the car neared the house, George spotted two red squirrels playing chase on one of the trees, and a rabbit running across the lawn. The squirrels stopped as the car drove by, lifting their heads as if to say hello. The rabbit was joined by two friends who also watched the car, then bounded off down the lawn. Jake st
arted to bark, eager to get out and let the chase begin with the rabbits and squirrels, which he had never managed to catch. If truth be known, he probably never would.

  The car finally reached the light coloured gravel parking area, and everyone got out. George stood looking up at the house even more impressed with the size now that he was standing next to it. He turned, looking down the lawn, and could see a boy and girl coming up the drive on their bikes. They rang their bells, shouting Peter’s name, waving as they got closer.

  ‘It's Charlotte and James,’ Peter said. ‘They live down the road, and they come with me when I go exploring. They’re my best friends in the Cove.’

  Granddad busied himself emptying the car, putting the cases and bags up next to the impressive double front doors. Jake was finally let out of his cage and darted off down the lawn looking for rabbits to chase.

  Charlotte and James dropped their bikes down beside the car and came over to say hello to Peter, and be introduced to George.

  James had blonde hair with blue eyes, and his sister had long light brown hair and bright green eyes with freckles on her nose.

  ‘Hi, George I'm Charlotte, pleased to meet you.'

  George tried to speak, opening his mouth to say hi or anything at all but no sound came out. His jaw dropped for the second time that day, and butterflies danced in his stomach. Charlotte was beautiful, and George had a hard time talking to beautiful girls.

  ‘H-i-i,’ he managed to stutter, going redder by the second.

  Before the situation could get any more embarrassing, Granddad saved the day, announcing it was time for George to go on the grand tour.

  Jake was oblivious to the embarrassment currently being suffered by George as he hunted, without success, for rabbits around the lawn. Suddenly he froze. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and a low growl began deep in his belly. Slowly he backed away then turned, running at full speed back to his master.

  It viewed the scene at the entrance to the mansion house and wondered who the visitors were. The dog was getting closer and closer. Just for fun it jumped from the tree, silent and unseen by the humans, and landed only feet from the dog. The dog sensed the danger and ran. It would have a closer look at the new arrivals later, but for now, it had work to do, work that couldn't wait. Silently it rose up into the air and moved away.