Accidental Archaeologist

by Kathryn Wells

  Vey looked at him and then at Hamlet, stroking his beard thoughtfully. 'What an interesting idea,' he said at last. 'Assuming that you would like to?' he asked Hamlet.

  Hamlet swallowed. 'Well, I…I've always wanted to be able to use magic,' he said, accidentally biting his tongue. 'I know I wasn't born a wizard, but Thordric said potions work from the magic of the ingredients, not the wizard making them.'

  'They do; or at least a vast majority do,' Vey said. He paused. 'Yes, I think this is a very good idea. Perhaps we should ask others if they wish to learn potion making too.'

  Chapter Twenty Six: A Surprise for Hamlet

  The next morning, all the wizards onboard the fleet of the Ships of Kal helped to return the people of Neathin Valley back down to the ground.

  It was much quicker than it had been getting them aboard, for, after their last group magic attempt, Vey decided it was stable enough to use on a regular basis. Despite her hints of wanting to go back to Jard Town with them to visit Lizzie, Morweena was one of the first to be lowered down.

  High up as they were, everyone aboard still heard her shriek when she discovered the state of her house, despite the fact that Vey had explained to everyone that he personally would help out in the repair of the whole of Valley Edge.

  The Watchem Watchems had come out on deck to watch all the goings on, having been given free run of the ship by Vey. As they were nervous around that many people, most of them had returned to being bushes. None of the people waiting to be lowered down could quite work out why there were so many plants on board and so edged around them nervously. However, some of the Watchem Watchems were overcome with curiosity and couldn't help but shuffle along behind the people that were most wary, so Thordric had to deal with a few cases of people trying to climb the main mast in an attempt to get away from them.

  After all that had happened, he found that he was enjoying doing such trivial things and, once or twice, he forgot to tell the Watchem Watchems that chasing people around was not good for the safety of everyone else.

  As soon as all the people were back on the ground, Vey, Thordric and the other wizards lowered all the horses and other animals down as well, aside from Coleson who would remain on The Jardine until Thordric was back in Jard Town.

  Finally, with Hamlet and Kal staying behind to rest some more, all of the wizards spread across the fleet descended down to Valley Edge themselves to assess the damage and see what they could do to help.

  Naturally, Thordric and Vey were caught by Morweena the moment they stepped on the ground and were dragged into what remained of her house.

  The hallway had been completely demolished, as had most of the lounge, so the only way to enter was through the kitchen, which had survived with the exception of missing one wall. Upstairs had fared no better, having collapsed completely, with all the books that Thordric had shrunk having returned to normal size, due to the power of the forest's magic, and were spilling down what remained of the staircase.

  'Well, we've certainly got a lot of work to do,' Vey said, standing outside and assessing all of the damage at once. 'We need to raise the foundations first; the walls and ceilings of all the rooms downstairs. After that we should have a firm base to fix the second floor and the roof.'

  Thordric nodded and went around to the side, directly outside the lounge.

  'On my mark,' Vey said as Thordric stood ready. 'Now!'

  Using magic on both sides, they heaved the bricks of the lounge back up into position to form the walls. Wetting the mortar that was already on them so that the bricks stuck together once more, they then heated it so that it would dry out. They stood back a moment, seeing whether it would hold. It did.

  Feeling encouraged, they did the same throughout the house. Within thirty minutes, the outside had been fully rebuilt. Now all they had to do was fix the inside and decorate, though, as Morweena kindly pointed out, the decorating should be Thordric's task as per the arrangement she had made in letting him stay there.

  Vey, wanting to help the other wizards fix the rest of Valley Edge, clapped Thordric on the back rather cheerfully and left it to him.

  'Don't forget about the mural you promised me,' Morweena said sweetly. Thordric remembered promising no such thing, but he did it anyway.

  After decorating the bedrooms and the lounge in the most outrageous of colours as per her instruction, he found a blank space in the kitchen. It wasn't very big, but she seemed happy with the location and so he started to paint.

  Focusing on a single spot on the wall, he thought of painting the outline of one of the houses. Colour spread out in lines just as he pictured it and, now that he was warmed up enough, the whole of Valley Edge began to take shape. However, instead of how it had been before the forest had overtaken it, Thordric decided that he would paint the trees in too, rising high into the sky.

  Finally, he painted in the Ships of Kal, floating in to rescue the people. When he was done, he stepped back to admire his handiwork. He grinned; it looked just how it did in his memory.

  Just then Morweena came in and, with her, was Tome, though to Thordric's surprise he wasn't using any disguise at all.

  'Thordric, would you believe that this gentleman is called Tome as well?' she said, but then stopped, her eyes locked on the mural. Her necklaces all jangled about her neck as she bounced up to it for a closer look. 'I see what dear Lizzie was talking about; this is marvellous!'

  Thordric wasn't listening. Instead he was looking at Tome, who was staring back at him looking slightly confused.

  'I was told that you might be able to help me,' Tome said, shifting uncomfortably. 'You see, I seem to have suffered a memory lapse and have no idea who I am other than my name.'

  Thordric frowned at him, unsure of whether he was lying. 'Wait here for a moment,' he said, deciding that Vey would be able to tell.

  Dashing out of the house, he found Vey helping to rebuild Mr Henders' house just around the corner. He saw that Mr Henders himself and his brother Grale were helping too, being slowly instructed by Vey on where to focus their magic.

  Vey saw him and turned, apologising to the others and telling them to keep at it.

  'What is it, Thordric?' he asked as Thordric led him back to Morweena's.

  'Tome has just turned up. He said he's lost his memory and has no idea who he is,' Thordric explained.

  Vey raised his eyebrows. 'Interesting.'

  They went inside to where Morweena and Tome were still standing, looking at the mural. Vey saw it too and gave Thordric a nod of approval.

  'Very nice, you've captured it perfectly,' he said, before turning to Tome. 'I understand that you've lost your memory, sir.'

  'Indeed, Mr…?' Tome said, eyeing Vey up.

  'Vey,' Vey replied. 'High Wizard of the Wizard Council.' He looked at Tome closely, inspecting his eyes in particular. 'Well, I don't think he's lying,' he said to Thordric.

  Thordric blinked. 'Really? How can you tell?'

  'Aside from his lack of reason to, his eyes seem rather glazed and unfocused,' Vey replied.

  'And you can tell from that?' Thordric asked.

  'No; we've just had a wizard named Yim turn up saying the exact same thing, though he wasn't even sure which part of the country he was in.'

  'Yim turned into a tree too,' Thordric told him.

  'I thought so. I suspect this memory loss is just a temporary after effect. Both of them are much older than the other victims, so I suppose it stands to reason that they wouldn't come out of it quite so easily.'

  Tome stared at them both, though Morweena seemed to have forgotten they were there. 'Are you both telling me that I was a tree?' he asked, his already white beard seeming to go even whiter.

  'Indeed, sir,' Vey replied. 'But I'm afraid explanations will have to wait until Valley Edge has been fully repaired. 'For now you can go with Thordric here back to our ship. Thordric, if you would?'

  Thordric grinned at him and took Tome to The Jardine, where he found an empty cabin and locke
d him in it. Memory loss or not, Tome would still be questioned by Vey and the Inspector once they got back to Jard Town.

  Seeing as Vey had sent him back too, Thordric made his way to 'The Rookery' to check up on Hamlet. However, once he opened the door he found that Lily, her brother Kal and all the Watchem Watchems were piled into the room with Hamlet squashed in the corner.

  'What's going on here?' he asked, edging his way in. The Watchem Watchems gurgled and tried to climb up his robes.

  'Kal was just explaining how he managed to get to the magic underground,' Hamlet said, his voice somewhat strained from being squashed in place by everyone else.

  Kal, who was perched on Thordric's bed next to Lily, blushed. 'I watched the archaeologists uncover those pyramid things and saw that they were the same shape as those two slots in the ground. I guessed they were some kind of keys and when I put them in after everyone else had gone, the slab opened up,' he said, rather pompously, as Thordric raised his eyebrows. 'So I went down there and found that ball of floating twigs. I could feel that strange magic coming from it and I spent all night trying to harness it. Then the next morning, after I realised that those idiots must have taken the pyramids out again and trapped me inside, I gave up and threw every bit of magic at it that I could. After that I don't remember anything until I saw you down there.'

  Thordric sighed, hoping that Kal wouldn't try anything so idiotic while he was teaching him.

  The Jardine sailed into Jard Town a few days later, after Valley Edge had been completely rebuilt and the Watchem Watchems returned to the Watchem Woods.

  As the mooring lines were tied to the docks and the boarding platform set into place, Thordric saw his mother and the Inspector waiting for him, holding his two sisters. Lizzie was there too, watching the ship with a soft smile on her lips.

  Vey had told her that they would be arriving, using his long distance communicator, and she had obviously let the others know. As Thordric waved to them, Hamlet came up beside him and sighed. 'My mother's down there too,' he said, pointing to a woman clothed from neck to toe in stiff, formal clothing. Next to her was a tall, wide man with short grey hair and a goatee beard. He had a look of distaste on his face as he glanced up and saw Hamlet.

  'Who is that next to her?' Thordric asked, taking an instant dislike to the man.

  'That's my professor. I doubt he expected me back so soon,' Hamlet replied.

  Thordric looked at him, remembering that he'd said he thought his professor had designs on his mother. 'What are you going to do now?' he asked.

  Hamlet shrugged. 'Now that I'm back, I'll be graduating in a few weeks. After that, I'm not sure.'

  They got ready to disembark. Lily, who had decided to stay on the ship with her father to see her brother safely to Jard town, ran to Thordric and pulled on his sleeve. Before he could say anything however, she simply thrust an apple in his hand and ran off again.

  He stared after her, seeing Kal, Tome and Vey come out of the Captain's cabin and make their way down the platform to the docks below. Mr Henders; now with his hand and back normal again thanks to Vey's magic; and his brother, Grale, also came out from the cabin and followed them down.

  Shrugging, Thordric and Hamlet disembarked as well, parting once they reached the docks to meet up with their families.

  Just as he picked up his sisters and let them tug at his hair and beard, Thordric saw Hamlet's mother scolding him on his appearance, which admittedly was much less well kempt than it had been when Thordric had first met him. He saw Hamlet look at the ground, slowly reddening as his professor decided to berate him too.

  Thordric scowled at them, but caught Lizzie watching him curiously.

  'There seems to be something troubling you, boy,' she said, a smile playing along her lips. 'Why don't you give the twins to me and see if you can sort it out.'

  He blinked at her, but then caught her meaning and grinned.

  Handing her the twins, he went over to Vey, who was just discussing Tome with the Inspector. He interrupted, apologising, and asked Vey for a word.

  Vey stepped aside, a questioning look on his face. Thordric quickly explained his idea and the look changed to one of approval, and the High Wizard sent him off with an encouraging wave.

  Hamlet was just leaving with his mother and the professor when Thordric caught up with them.

  'Who in Spell's name are you?' the professor asked, obviously missing the Council's symbol on Thordric's robes.

  'I am Wizard Thordric of the Council, sir,' he replied formally. 'I have come to speak with your student here.'

  'You want something of Hamlet?' Hamlet's mother said, her voice as stiff as her clothing.

  'Yes, ma'am. It seems that the Wizard Council is in need of assistance in a certain matter,' Thordric said.

  'What matter?' the professor said, while Hamlet looked at him speechlessly.

  'There are certain documents in our library that contain details of ancient magical objects. Unfortunately, none of our wizards have the time nor the expertise to uncover such things, so High Wizard Vey has requested Hamlet's help in the matter,' Thordric said. 'He was invaluable to us in helping clear up the disaster in Neathin Valley. I'm afraid everything has already been decided. Hamlet will come with us. We have already allocated a room for him and shall be collecting the rest of his belongings in the morning.'

  Everyone stared at him.

  'Hamlet, if you would kindly come with High Wizard Vey and me back to the Council, we shall brief you on everything,' he continued, rather enjoying himself.

  'I…certainly, Wizard Thordric,' Hamlet replied, before saying goodbye to his mother and the professor, who, Thordric noticed, were gaping slightly.

  They walked away, back to where Vey and Thordric's family still stood.

  'What you said just now,' Hamlet began. 'Was it true?'

  Thordric grinned. 'Mostly,' he said. 'Besides, it got you away from them, didn't it?'

  Hamlet smiled. Perhaps his future wouldn't be so bad after all.

  About the Author

  Kathryn Wells is a writer of fantasy, children's fiction, short stories and poetry.

  As a child, she found her passion for the written word, and even though she had many other interests growing up, writing was always the one she would return to.

  Her favourite authors are Diana Wynne Jones, Suzanne Collins, Jonathan Stroud, Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, J K Rowling and David Eddings, to name but a few.

  http://www.kathrynwells.co.uk

  Dear reader,

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