by M S C Barnes
“I’ve told you Seb, you can share them with me. That is part of my role; I am your Weaver. Let me weave the memories together so they blend more and the bad visions are tempered by the good. Why won’t you share?” Alice sounded annoyed.
“Because they come so quickly; by the time I realise I need your help, it is over.” Seb looked up at the frustrated face of his twin.
Nat placed a hand on his arm. “That’s not it, Seb.”
He felt a surge of guilt. Nat could read him so well. He stood up, turning his back on them both, embarrassed at having been caught out. The real truth was that if he let Alice in, let him see the upset and revulsion he felt, he feared that Alice would, in turn, share these visions with Nat and, more than anything, he couldn’t bear for that to happen.
“What’s the truth then, Seb?” Alice zoomed up and round to float in front of him. “You don’t trust me to do my job?” Alice leant in closer, his voice crackling like dry leaves. “You don’t trust me, Seb and you have to. I find it so insulting.”
Seb couldn’t see a way out. Alice, being Seb’s Dryad twin, was able to communicate directly with his mind. He could ‘talk’ to him in his head and Seb, in turn, could ‘talk’ back, without actually uttering the words. And by opening his mind to Alice, Seb could also share the images he saw with him and his feelings.
Alice could communicate silently with all the members of Seb’s group — but because Nat was the Sensor, the one whose role, among other things, was to bring peace to Seb’s mind, he could also share the images Seb saw, his thoughts and his feelings and emotions, with her. Though Alice had told him on many occasions that whatever Seb shared with him would never be passed to anyone else without Seb agreeing to it, Seb still found himself worrying that Alice, realising how badly these images affected him, would share them with Nat, hoping she could help him. So he didn’t dare let Alice in. He knew he should trust his twin, but fear of hurting and upsetting Nat prevented him. He broke eye contact with Alice and stared at his feet.
“Your relationship with Alice is the most important thing, Seb. Why do you not let him help you?” Nat stood and a sudden strong gust of wind pushed her towards the cliff edge.
Before Seb had registered her danger she was tipping backwards. She struggled to lean forward but another gust of wind forced her out over the edge and she stifled a scream as she fell. Seb grabbed at her but his fingers found thin air. Just as she toppled off the cliff, Alice whizzed over and caught her in his arms. She clung to him and he laughed.
“Would I let you fall?” Carrying her now, floating feet above the ground, he zoomed across and placed her on the other side of Seb, a good five yards from the precipice. Nat giggled with relief. “You just have to trust me,” Alice said to her and then turned to stare at Seb as if trying to make his point.
“Seb,” Nat stopped giggling. “You look as white as the cliffs.”
Seb tried to smile. “Are you okay?” he said.
“She’s fine, Seb.” Alice stared at him. “Trust me!” Crossing his arms, he stuck his chin out.
“I need coffee,” Seb mumbled, as the panic he had felt subsided. It was a strange thing but over the last months he had found himself drinking coffee at every opportunity. He had never been one for hot drinks but, since his confirmation as Custodian, he had developed a taste for it.
“You always need a coffee.” Nat nudged him. “Lead the way then.”
Seb opened his left hand. He gazed at the pattern of silver lines enmeshed in the skin, one vertical line with two parallel, horizontal lines connecting to it on the left side at ninety degrees. This was the mark that singled him out as a Custodian, the mark he used to harness the powers Nature had given him. Now he tilted his hand to capture the light of the sun, hidden behind a blanket of white clouds, and reflected it onto the gorse bushes. The door appeared. It would, Seb knew, lead to wherever he envisaged it leading when he revealed it, provided he had a need to go there, so, making his way to it, he grasped the doorknob. Giving a push, he stepped through the opening, followed by Nat and Alice.
They emerged in a vast, domed room, in the centre of which was a fire pit circled by cushioned bench seats. Seb and his group had become accustomed to meeting in this place, The Pytt, which was an underground hideaway situated below a picturesque cottage in the middle of the woodland that surrounded their upper school. It was traditionally the ‘home’ of the most senior Custodian. Its previous occupier, Heath, was one of the two age-old souls who had met his demise at Seb’s hand. And now Aelfric Duir, who had been mentored by Heath, should have become its resident-Custodian.
Aelfric, however, had not moved in. Seb knew why. Heath had not only been Aelfric’s mentor, he had been his friend. For over 200 years they had worked side-by-side, but in the end Heath had betrayed Aelfric. Conspiring in secret with the banished soul of his own Dryad twin, Braddock, Heath had tried to enable Braddock to take over Seb’s Custodian host body. And in order to achieve that end, Heath had been willing to destroy Aelfric. That betrayal, and Heath’s ultimate banishment, by Seb, to the Soul Drop, had left its scars. Aelfric never outwardly showed the hurt and disillusionment Seb knew he must feel, but he had refused to take up residence in The Pytt.
On the far side of the roaring fire, chatting quietly, were two members of Aelfric’s group, the West twins, a pair of dwarves whose characters could not be more different. Trudy West was Aelfric’s Guardian; feisty, fearless and devoted to him. She rarely smiled and frequently shouted, mostly at Zach, Seb’s best friend and his own Guardian. Greg West, however, was the Sensor of Aelfric’s group. He was gentle, enthusiastic and full of humour.
As Seb, Nat and Alice entered the room the twins turned. Trudy frowned when she saw the door vanish and realised Aelfric had not come with them.
“Where is Aelfric?” she demanded.
“He went somewhere with Dierne,” Nat answered for Seb who had blushed.
The other members of Seb’s group were sitting on the cushioned bench seats around the fire and all now stared at him.
Aiden, his Guide, jumped up and trotted over.
“How’d it go?” he asked. In the light from the fire, the freckles in his eager face sparkled silver.
This whole adventure had started with a change in the birthmark on Seb’s palm. At the time it was simply a plain brown stain, in the shape of an oak leaf, through which ran the network of lines in a darker brown. One night, these lines changed colour, turning green.
The next morning Aiden found an oak leaf, which he caught as it fell from a tree outside their school gates. Within the leaf was the same design as the lines on Seb’s palm, only these lines were silver. An incident at lunch time had led to sunlight shining from those lines onto Seb’s palm and turning Seb’s birthmark silver, thus beginning the process of his becoming the new Custodian. Afterwards, the leaf had disintegrated but the particles had flown into Aiden’s face and turned all his freckles silver.
As those freckles twinkled, he stared hopefully at Seb, his brown hair a ruffled mess and his pudgy cheeks flushed red. Looking from Seb to Nat and then Alice, Aiden slumped. “Oh, not well then.”
“Where is Aelfric?” Trudy demanded again and strode towards Seb.
“Trudy ...” her brother cautioned.
“Again Seb?” Seb’s sister, Scarlet, the Seer of his group, now leapt up from her seat and dashed over, arriving at the same time as the fuming Trudy. “Really, again? You left it to Aelfric to do again?” Scarlet shoved him on his shoulder.
“Scarlet,” Nat said quietly, “that doesn’t help.”
“Nothing helps.” Scarlet scowled at Seb. “Every time, Seb? It can’t be that bad. You need to just get on with it!”
Seb ignored his sister, more concerned about avoiding eye contact with Trudy West who, standing a foot in front of him, was clenching her fists and glaring at him.
“I tell you what, I’ll make some coffee and we can all calm down and have a chat about this.” Greg West spread his hands
and gave them a broad smile, trying to diffuse the tension.
“Open the door, Seb,” Trudy ordered. “Open it to Aelfric!”
“Trudy,” Greg stopped smiling. “He hasn’t called for you! He will be fine.”
Trudy span, her frizzy hair brushing against Seb’s chin. “Greg, if I am not wrong, Seb let Aelfric deal with the last trespassing soul and now he has gone straight on to deal with another. It has been this way for months now and you can see it is taking its toll; Aelfric is exhausted!”
“Hey, oh shouty one!” Zach, Seb’s long-time school friend, got up from his seat, laughing. His tightly curled black hair caught the oranges and reds from the fire. “Not so loud, you’ll wake the beastie.” As he said the words a humongous wolf, who had been slumbering behind the bench seats, snorted and lifted its head. “It’s okay Cue, go back to sleep.” Zach patted the wolf then crossed the room and stood in front of Trudy who now transferred her anger onto him.
“You will not interfere Zach,” she shouted louder. “Aelfric is suffering because Seb is not learning.”
Seb’s mood got lower. Trudy was voicing what they were all thinking. For centuries Aelfric had worked in company with Heath, and it was apparent that the two Custodians mostly took it in turns to read the souls, thereby giving each other respite. Since Heath’s banishment and Seb’s confirmation, Seb had not been pulling his weight. His inability to deal with the even the fairest souls meant Aelfric was pretty much doing it all.
“And we’re all suffering because you’re shouting.” Zach was still laughing. Seb was eternally amazed at how cheeky Zach was to his mentor. He had mastered the art of shrugging off every cross word Trudy threw at him, laughing his way through the storm until she calmed down. She stood, rocking forward on the balls of her feet, glaring up at him.
“Seb, open the door mate.” Zach smiled at Trudy. “I’m with the pit-bull here. We should go and make sure Aelfric’s okay. After all these centuries doing this job he might not have thought to call us if he’s in trouble. I’m sure he won’t be insulted if we just check up on him ...”
Instantly Trudy’s shoulders sagged and her eyes dropped to the floor. She tucked a strand of frizzy hair behind her ear, straightened her purple-black tunic and then turned to Seb. As she opened her mouth to speak, the door appeared behind him and Aelfric walked through it, followed by Dierne.
Trudy rushed to Aelfric. “Are you okay?”
“Fine thanks Trudy. It’s all good.” Aelfric smiled down at her and then walked towards the fire. “I could do with a coffee though.”
As he passed, Seb saw Dierne shake his head slightly at Trudy. Dierne, as Alice could with Seb’s group, could communicate silently with Aelfric and his group and Seb, noting the spark of anger in the look Trudy gave him before following Aelfric, wondered what Dierne had said to her.
“Seb, I bet you could do with a coffee too.” Aelfric called him over to the fire as he lifted a coffee pot and placed it on a metal plate that was attached to a pole, which he then swung out to sit above the licking flames.
Nat gave Seb’s hand a reassuring squeeze and then walked with him to sit by the fire. No-one discussed the recent conversation and Seb sat staring at the flames feeling guilty and isolated.
Time to Learn
Sitting in his maths lesson half an hour later Seb’s mind kept wandering, revisiting the dreadful visions from that last soul reading.
Mrs Tilbrook, the maths teacher, squeezed her large frame between the tables to stand over him.
“Master Thomas.” Seb, hearing his name, snapped his head up. “You appear to have a faulty pen.” Mrs Tilbrook took her wire-rimmed glasses off and tapped his book with a chubby finger. “It hasn’t made a single mark on your book.”
There was a snort from behind Seb and Clarissa, a snooty girl who had taken an instant dislike to him at the start of term murmured, “It’s a faulty brain, not his pen.”
Mrs Tilbrook twisted awkwardly, given the small space her huge body was occupying, and stared at Clarissa. “Miss Stone, your brain, it would appear then, is only marginally less faulty.” A few students nearby chuckled until Clarissa threw a hateful glare at them. “Is anything the matter Master Thomas? I must say,” Mrs Tilbrook put her glasses back on and eyed him closely, “you do look very pale.”
Seb shook his head. “I’m fine, Miss. Sorry. I just don’t really get what we were asked to do,” he lied.
“Ah.” Mrs Tilbrook frowned. “A lack of comprehension on your part suggests poor teaching on my part does it not?” She crossed her arms and stood more upright, causing the boy behind her to lean forward or face having her huge backside perch on his shoulder.
Seb didn’t know what to say. Actually, the topic they were studying was easy. He just hadn’t been able to concentrate. However, under the angry scrutiny of the teacher he suddenly found concentration wasn’t an issue. “I just have a headache,” he lied again.
“Okay, to the sick room with you then.” Mrs Tilbrook’s face brightened. “I knew it couldn’t be my teaching methods.” She smiled and pushed her glasses up her nose then squeezed out of the gap and returned to the front of the class. “Miss Stone, I trust my instruction was sufficiently effective to enable you to get your brain and your pen working again?”
Clarissa looked at the teacher, stunned, then gave a quick nod before transferring her gaze to Seb and mouthing: “I really hate you.”
Seb ignored her. He didn’t want to go to the sick room where he would simply dwell more on his feelings of uselessness and so he remained seated. Picking up his pen he began writing.
“Master Thomas, to the sick room with you,” Mrs Tilbrook insisted.
“Actually, Miss, I feel fine now.” Seb tried to sound cheerful.
“Mmm.” The teacher frowned. “Then crack on please.”
Seb felt a slight breeze and heard a rustling sound. Alice appeared in front of him. He tried not to react and kept looking down at his exercise book.
“Cheer up Seb.” Alice sat cross-legged in the air. “It’s only maths.” Confident that no-one else other than Zach, Scarlet, Nat and Aiden could see or hear him Alice spoke out loud.
Seb, however, answered in his mind.
“I don’t want to talk Alice, if that’s why you’re here.” As he stared at his maths book his palm began throbbing. “You know it’s never-ending.” He put his pen down and pressed his right thumb against his left palm. Alice noting the movement leant in towards him.
“Another one for Aelfric then?”
Aelfric Duir was not only Seb’s mentor, he was Head Teacher of Seb’s upper school and the rest of his Custodian group were all teachers at the school. Aelfric insisted that Seb, Scarlet and their friends continued with their education which meant that, during the school day, other than lunch or break times, Seb was not permitted to leave and deal with any trespassing souls; Aelfric took care of those. This was part of the reason Trudy and others in his group were becoming increasingly annoyed at Seb for not pulling his weight when he could.
Still rubbing his palm Seb shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“No, Seb. But that’s all the more reason why you should be working properly outside lessons and school hours,” Alice’s voice rustled. Zach, who sat opposite Seb, looked up at Alice. He must have said something in private to him because Alice huffed and then shot off in a blur of green, disappearing, like a ghost, through the classroom ceiling. Zach looked across at Seb and winked.
Forcing himself to squash out the memories of lunch time, Seb applied himself to the simple maths tasks he had been set. Before long he had finished and Mrs Tilbrook gave him a satisfied nod as she collected his book.
“Superb teaching on my part then Master Thomas?” She grinned happily at him. He smiled back trying to ignore Alice — who had reappeared behind her shoulder — and the continued throbbing in his palm.
It was unusual for that feeling to last so long. It was over fifteen minutes now. Mostly Seb would f
eel it and then, within a minute or two, it was gone.
“Is everything all right with Aelfric?” he asked Alice silently.
“He called for Trudy and The Caretaker ten minutes ago,” Alice responded aloud. There was the sound of chair legs scraping across the floor as Zach, hearing Alice’s words, jerked to a standing position.
Trudy was Aelfric’s Guardian and had been mentored herself by The Caretaker, Heath’s Guardian. If Aelfric had called for their assistance it meant he was dealing with something more than a simple trespassing soul. It was more than likely a soul that had taken over an animal host — a gytrash — and one that had decided to resist, or even attack, the Custodian. In itself that was not so unusual. The fact that Aelfric had called for the Guardians so long ago was, and suggested they were having difficulties.
Seb felt his mouth go dry.
“Something wrong Master Orwell?” Mrs Tilbrook addressed Zach who was now standing, fists clenched, looking as though he wanted to run out of the room. Aiden was looking across too, a worried expression on his face.
“He has asked for you all,” Alice said, looking at Zach, then Aiden and the girls who sat nearby.
“Master Orwell?” Mrs Tilbrook repeated.
“I er, I need the toilet Miss,” Zach said shrugging. “Quite badly actually.” He grinned.
“Very well,” Mrs Tilbrook said with a sigh. “But if you haven’t finished your work by the end of the lesson you’ll be coming back at lunchtime tomorrow.”
Aiden stood, putting his hand up as Zach dashed for the door which suddenly flew open and Dominic White, an aged, sombre teacher, who was the Guide in Aelfric’s group, entered.
Mrs Tilbrook raised her eyebrows at him as he stood, dithering in the doorway, saying nothing.
“Mr White?” She looked amused rather than annoyed at his intrusion.
He coughed and then spoke, “Mr Duir has asked me to fetch some of your students, Mrs Tilbrook.”