Professor Ronald put a paw across his chest and took a deep bow.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Robbie said with a smile, “now, where would you like to eat? Perhaps you’d prefer the table to the floor?”
“Young man, the table would be delightful. Eating off the floor is so uncivilised,” Professor Ronald responded, and then after a slight hesitation asked, “Tell me, do you not find it unusual that you are talking to a cat? I’ve come to expect a certain amount of… surprise from my young students when I first speak to them. “
“I’m never surprised by anything,” said Robbie as he walked to the kitchen table with a plate in each hand.
“No, with your extraordinary gift, I dare say you are not often surprised,” said Professor Ronald, hopping up into the chair beside Robbie’s.
“Let us enjoy this delicious lunch, and then perhaps we could go outside and have a discussion away from a certain pair of ears.” Professor Ronald looked suspiciously at Miss Potter.
“Miss Potter never pays attention to anyone, you could sit beside her and sing the national anthem and she’d just blink and keep doing whatever she’s doing on her phone,” said Robbie.
“Still,” whispered Professor Ronald, “I never trust an adult who has no manners.”
Miss Potter laughed at something on her phone, a high, snorting laugh, and then stretched out her feet on the couch, kicking the cushions off as she got comfortable.
“I see,” said Robbie, and the two of them finished their lunch in silence.
When the empty dishes were put away, Robbie and Professor Ronald attempted to go outside, but Miss Potter had become cranky and irritable and she wouldn’t let Robbie outside to play. Robbie tried to go upstairs, but Miss Potter declared that the foul-smelling flea-ridden cat would not be let up to the bedrooms, and she persisted in this manner until Robbie gave up and sat on the floor in front the couch with a puzzle.
Professor Ronald saw that he would not get a chance to talk to his young student while Miss Potter was supervising him, so he stretched out beside Robbie and watched as he fitted one puzzle piece to another, his little face serious and contemplative.
After a while, Robbie looked at Professor Ronald and said “the girls are coming home now,” and the Professor jumped up to the windowsill to watch.
“What did you say to me?” asked Miss Potter, looking at Robbie.
“Only that Ava and Anja are on their way home from school,” repeated Robbie, cleaning up the puzzle pieces.
“That’s no reason to interrupt me when I’m on my phone. When they get home from school, they’ll come in the door, and then I’ll know they’re here, won’t I?” said Miss Potter irritably, without looking up from her phone.
Robbie put the puzzle box away and joined Professor Ronald at the window.
“They’ll be here in a minute,” Robbie said to the Professor.
As you may suspect, Robbie was correct.
Chapter Four
A
va and Anja always sat together on the school bus. Anja liked the aisle, because she could talk to all her friends at once, and Ava liked the window, because she liked to look out at the world and think about her life.
At the present moment, Ava was lost in her thoughts, but just as the bus turned onto Juniper Street, Ava glanced at the grey house and saw the old woman standing at the front door, her walkway lined with crows pecking the concrete and scuffing the ground with their feet. The crows looked up with their beady eyes as the bus passed. The old woman looked up too, as if she had been waiting for the bus.
Mr. George, the bus driver, drove on and Ava stood up to get a better view.
“Ava Smith! Sit down when the bus is moving!” bellowed Mr. George from the front.
But Ava didn’t sit. The old woman was now waking down her driveway, and Ava turned to watch out the back window as the old woman reached the sidewalk.
“AVA SMITH! DO NOT STAND WHEN THE BUS IS MOVING!” yelled Mr. George.
Anja looked at her sister with concern and motioned for her to sit down.
“Come back here! We’re almost home!” Anja demanded in a whisper.
Mr. George put his foot on the brakes and the bus came to a halt, and Ava fell into the lap of one of the other students.
“You look like you saw a ghost,” said a red-haired boy with a smirk.
Ava coughed at him, righted herself, and went back to her seat to get her backpack. She could see out the window that the old woman was walking faster and faster, her cane barely touching the ground now, and Ava wanted to get off the bus and into her house before the old woman had a chance to catch up.
Ava pulled the backpack from her seat and ran down the steps of the bus without saying goodbye to Mr. George. Anja looked at her sister and sighed.
“Anja,” said Mr. George as she descended the bus stairs, “tell Ava to remember the bus safety rules for tomorrow.”
Mr. George watched Anja go down the stairs and when he saw both the girls had made it to their front door, he closed the doors of the bus and rolled down the street.
The old woman had arrived before Anja had even gotten off the bus. Anja stood beside her sister while Ava and the old woman argued.
“I’m only here to bring you some more cookies,” the old woman said.
“No.” said Ava flatly. “We don’t like cookies and you can’t come here.”
“Oh yes we do like cookies,” came a voice from the other side of the door. Miss Potter opened it wide and smiled, her shiny pink lips stretching out her face like melted plastic.
“Snoopy Miss Potter,” mumbled Ava before turning back to the old woman and saying, “She doesn’t live here, she can’t let you in.”
“Excuse me, young lady,” snapped Miss Potter, coming outside and pushing Ava out of the way. “I am in charge here. You will not be rude to this lovely old lady. She can come inside if I say so.”
Anja saw Robbie peeking out the window, and she slipped past Ava to join him and watch this strange argument from inside the house.
Miss Potter stood beside the old woman and put one arm around her. “Did you say you brought food?”
“Yes,” croaked the old woman, her eyes never leaving Ava’s, “and I only came here to be a good neighbour. I thought you children might like a homemade snack.”
“DON’T EAT IT! DON’T TAKE THE SNACK! ESPECIALLY IF IT’S A POISON APPLE!” yelled Robbie from the window.
“A poison apple! Good grief. What is wrong with you!” yelled Miss Potter.
“Nothing’s wrong with him,” said Ava. She went to the front door and stretched out her arms so that she touched the doorframe on either side of her.
“We don’t want snacks or visitors! You cannot come in!” she cried.
Miss Potter started forward, pulling the old woman with her as she moved.
“Now you listen to me, young lady,” Miss Potter said in a low growl, pushing Ava aside as she made her way back into the house, “I’ll be telling your father about…”
Suddenly, there was a loud POP! and Miss Potter turned to see that the old woman, who she’d been meaning to bring into the living room, was stuck in the front entryway, just inside the doorframe where Ava had been standing. She looked as if she’d just run right into a glass window – her face was squished flat, like she was up against an invisible wall.
Ava gasped, and Anja and Robbie came running around the corner to see.
The children all stared as Miss Potter went back outside, where she looked up and down and all around the old woman, who was still stuck in the empty doorway.
She began muttering to herself about minimum wage and mediocre homemade cookies, and then, determined to show the children who was the real adult and who made the decisions around the house, she took a deep breath, put her hands on either side of the old woman’s bottom, and tried to shove the old woman in the door.
“She’s crazy,” whispered Anja to Robbie.
“Which one?” whispered Rob
bie to Anja.
Miss Potter pushed as hard as she could, but the old woman didn’t budge.
“Try pulling her out of the house, not pushing her in to it,” said Ava to Miss Potter.
Miss Potter clenched her fists together, narrowed her eyes, and gave the old woman one last shove. The old woman was stuck.
Miss Potter stepped back. Her hair was a mess. Two of her nails were broken. She was missing a shoe – how had that happened! – and she was pretty sure the cookies had been crushed to bits. She was very irritated.
Miss Potter looked at Ava, standing and watching her from inside the house. Oh, how she hated children.
Miss Potter did the only thing left to do. She took a handful of the old woman’s white hair and pulled, and the old woman slowly started to come out of the invisible force field within the door. It was like peeling a piece of paper off of something sticky. The old woman came unstuck very slowly, and with a schlep sound that made Miss Potter shiver.
Ava watched as Miss Potter struggled to get the old woman out, and once she was free of whatever she’d been stuck to, Ava stuck out her hand to see if she could feel what the strange barrier had been. But she felt nothing.
She was incredibly curious, but one look at the angry Miss Potter and the strange old woman told her it was dangerous to remain standing there.
Suddenly, Ava heard a voice from behind her.
“My dears, please join me upstairs for a meeting,” said Professor Ronald. “Perhaps in Ava’s room would be best.” Then, with a swish of his tail, he made his way to the living room, and disappeared up the stairs.
“The cat talks,” said Robbie.
“How delightful!” cried Anja, following Professor Ronald up the stairs.
Ava looked at Robbie.
“Don’t worry, he’s been talking to me all day. He’s a Professor!” Robbie assured Ava cheerfully.
“And by the way, he doesn’t like tuna. He likes sandwiches,” said Robbie, as he turned and followed Professor Ronald up the stairs.
Ava could hear Miss Potter complaining, and she thought it best not to stand in her way, so Ava ran through the house and up the stairs, following her siblings and their talking cat, wondering if she’d hit her head when she fell on the bus.
In her bedroom, Ava found Anja and Robbie discussing the old woman.
“That old woman is no friend to you,” Professor Ronald said, quite seriously.
“I know she’s a witch,” Anja was saying, “but why did she get stuck in the invisible force field?”
Ava wanted to roll her eyes. It was just like Anja to see magic everywhere and accept unusual happenings without a critical eye. But it seemed that lately, more often than not, unusual things were occurring, things so strange that magic seemed to be the only explanation.
“My dear, this house has been covered with a protection spell. No magical being can enter, unless they have been invited in. And there is only one with the authority to invite another inside, and that person is Ava,” said Professor Ronald, turning towards the door where Ava was standing.
Ava was shocked by this news. She left the doorframe and went to sit on her bed beside Anja.
“Excuse me, but if you’re a talking cat, and this house is being protected by a spell, and there’s a witch outside with our crazy babysitter – I mean, this does sound ridiculous to all of you, does it not? What is going on here?” Ava asked as politely as she could manage.
“I can explain this to you, certainly,” replied Professor Ronald, twirling his whisker moustache, “And though much should be said, for the moment I’ll be brief.”
All the children sat criss-cross on the bed, staring at the Professor, who was perched on Ava’s desk. After a moment, he spoke, and this is what the Professor said:
There is another world besides the one you live in. It is a magical world, full of witches and wizards. But many years ago, a war broke out, a great war, between Magical and non-magicals, which we call the Logicals. To save the Magical world, a great spell was placed on the door that separates this world from that world. It is a powerful spell, which can be broken by no one. But…” the Professor paused and looked at Ava.
Then he said: “There is an ancient prophecy, which says:
‘The day shall pass when The Gatekeeper,
Holder of The Golden Key,
Shall unlock the door,
and all shall be free.”
The children all looked at the Professor with wide eyes. They were silent.
“You, Ava, are that Gatekeeper. And the witch, Wraithlana, will do anything to get that key. We must not let her take the key from you. We must unlock that door.” Professor Ronald finished.
“Father will never let us go,” replied Ava.
“Ahh, leave your father to me. I know someone who may be able to convince him,” said the Professor.
Suddenly, there was a noise at the top of the stairs.
“Going somewhere?” snarled Miss Potter from the door. The children didn’t answer so she continued,
“Oh yes, I’ve heard all about your little plans. Go to the door. Steal a key. Start a war. Don’t tell father.” Miss Potter gestured wildly as she spoke.
“That isn’t what was said at all,” said Robbie, and Miss Potter reached out and smacked him on the head.
“Don’t you dare talk back to me, you little brat,” Miss Potter growled, “I’ve just peeled your neighbour out of your invisible front door. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH.”
“Don’t you dare touch Robbie again!” yelled Anja, jumping up from the bed with her hands curled into fists. “And don’t you dare speak to him in that manner! You are the most uncivilized, uncaring woman I have ever had the displeasure of knowing!” the more she shouted, the darker the room grew.
“Get out,” said Ava to Miss Potter. “Get out of our house.”
“Get out – get out” said Miss Potter, mimicking Ava in a high pitched voice. “Oh believe me, I’m leaving. And your father will hear about everything.” She whirled around and thumped down the stairs, turning at the last to shout back up to Ava’s room, “AND I QUIT!”
Ava sighed. “Father will be home soon,” she said, anticipating trouble.
“Father is here now,” said Robbie, and a moment later all three children heard the garage door opening.
“Should we go down there, or wait for Miss Potter to speak to him first?” asked Ava.
“Let Miss Potter pounce on him. Whatever she says, she’ll sound crazy, and we’ll be justified in asking her to leave.” Anja replied, still angry.
“Well, let’s listen at the top of the stairs, anyway,” said Robbie, and the girls agreed. They crept to the top of the stairs and crouched in a huddle, straining to hear voices.
But Mr. Smith never came into the house.
“I suppose they’re in the garage talking,” said Ava after five minutes had passed, but when another five minutes had gone by and there was still no sign or sound of the adults downstairs, the children all began to wonder what was happening.
“I will volunteer to go downstairs and assess the situation,” said Professor Ronald, his voice coming from amongst the group of children. They nodded, and Professor Ronald crept noiselessly down the stairs on his four paws.
He soon reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking quite alarmed.
“Children! Come!” he beckoned, and then added, “It’s urgent!”
The children didn’t need to be told twice. They all stood up in a rush and clambered down the stairs.
When the children reached the living room, they saw the strange sight that had caused Professor Ronald to be upset.
Floating in mid-air was a flaming scroll, wisps of smoke curling from the burning edges, and in the middle, written in a treacherous red ink, were these words:
I have taken your father.
I will trade you his life for the key.
Meet me at the door in the
Enchanted Forest.
If you do not,
he will perish.
Ava read the words aloud, and as soon as she had finished reading the scroll burst and a hundred charred pieces of parchment floated through the air and down to the ground.
“I’m sure there’s no need to tell you who wrote this,” Professor Ronald whispered, a grave look upon his face.
“What are we going to do?” Ava asked, and Anja began to wail.
“We must go to the door in the Enchanted Forest!” Professor Ronald announced, attempting to be heard over Anja’s cries. “Although I daresay it’s quite a journey.”
“We can’t get to the Enchanted Forest,” Robbie shouted, his hands over his ears to drown out Anja’s crying, “We can’t go anywhere. We don’t have an adult.”
Professor Ronald sat up straight.
“Young man! Quite right! We must have an adult – a human adult – if we are to travel!” Professor Ronald turned around and faced the clock, still hanging on the fireplace mantle.
“There,” said the Professor, “is your adult.”
Chapter Five
T
he room was dark, and the smell of the burnt scroll hung in the air. The children turned, one by one, towards the fireplace, to look where Professor Ronald was looking. He seemed to be looking at the clock, which hung from the wall.
“The clock??” asked Ava, as surprised as you might imagine she would be.
The clock, as if in response to Ava’s incredulity, began to laugh, and then it started to rattle and clack against the wall. In an instant it had jumped off the nail that had for many years kept it in place. Anja ceased crying, and Robbie reached out his little hand to hold Ava’s.
They watched with amazement as the clock rolled across the fireplace mantle and flung itself off the end, landing on the living room carpet closest to where Ava was standing.
“A magical clock,” Ava said, mostly to herself. “I guess I should have known.”The others watched, transfixed. Even Professor Ronald seemed taken aback.
The clock rolled into the center of the room, where it whirled and hummed and spun in floundering, lopsided circles between the children, and then at once there was a woosh sound and there in front of them stood a very tall and well-dressed man, wearing a fine suit and holding in his hand a long onyx-colored cane.
The Adventures of Ava Smith: The Secret of the Enchanted Forest Page 3