The Witch and the Bottle of Djinn (The Seaforth Chronicles Book 4)

by B. J. Smash

  “They were right behind us,” Drumm said, straining to see through the mist.

  We all listened and soon my aunts could be heard hooting and hollering. Farther down the beach, Gypsy-Queen landed. The spotted mare grinded its front hooves into the sand and her white main flew out to the side. Aunt Cora leaned forward and pulled at the reigns so that the horse slowed. Her disheveled hair flew about her shoulders and her eyes were wild with anticipation.

  Right behind them, Wynter landed and Aunt Clover held tightly to Ladriant’s waist. He had been a real trooper and remained in a good mood the entire trip. I couldn’t say that I would have done the same if she were on my horse. My Aunt Clover hadn’t stopped talking the whole time and no one got any sleep. She had only left Merribay once in her entire life and that had been on a vacation to Cancun. Other than that, she’d never gone anywhere and she had been over-the-top excited to be with us on the way to Hy Brasil. I couldn’t complain. I was happy that she came along and I suppose that I hadn’t minded the constant chatter.

  The horses galloped down the beach to greet us and Solstice spun around and headed for the narrow trail that lead to Maximus’.

  “He’s glad to be here, isn’t he?” Aunt Cora said, patting Gypsy-Queen on the neck.

  “Yes. He receives sugar cubes from Minimus,” I said dourly, knowing what she was about to say next, but it was too late. I’d already said it.

  “He is a sugar cube,” Aunt Cora said sweetly.

  “Oh Lord,” I said, rolling my eyes. I felt Drumm’s body tremble and I knew he was holding back laughter. While Aunt Clover had talked incessantly, Aunt Cora would relate everything back to Minimus and how wonderful he could be. Her cloying sweetness made me want to vomit. Don’t get me wrong…I couldn’t be happier for my aunts, but listening to them could be a tedious affair, and I was rather tired.

  The higher we traveled, the narrower the rocky path became. The branches leaned in on us and wet leaves slapped our faces as we made our way through. The trail steepened and became craggier, with big rocks and slippery surfaces. Solstice continued without any problems at all. He set the pace for the other two horses.

  Cutting the silence, Aunt Cora took it upon herself to tell the legend of Hy Brasil. I never tired of hearing it and so I listened carefully.

  “Hy Brasil…” she started, “is an ancient island that holds many secrets. It is overseen by the Great Wizard Maximus and his trusted side-kick and brother, Minimus.” She paused to giggle, which made Aunt Clover chuckle.

  “Continue…please…” I said, but she brought a curve to my own lips as well. She couldn’t even say his name without a reaction.

  She straightened in her saddle and said with more authority, “The island is said to remain unseen but for one day, every seven years. Those that are inland can see the island and many have tried to reach the sandy shores, rowing their boats day after day, hour after hour, with nothing to show for it. The island eludes them each and every time. Just when it seemed like you could bring your boat ashore, it would disappear.” She took the time to look around at everyone, making eye contact. She flung her arm out in a dramatic way and she sounded like a tour guide. “People have died trying to reach the island. It is said that there have been a few who have made it ashore, but have left with no knowledge of what is really here.”

  Her voice changed back to normal. “I heard that a guy thought he saw giant black rabbits here that walked upright. But ya know…that was just Minimus erasing their memories and planting new ones. He felt so bad about it once that he gave one guy a bag of gold coins.”

  Drumm didn’t bother to contain his laughter and even Ladriant’s shoulders shook with mirth.

  Aunt Cora cleared her throat a few times and continued, “Hy Brasil is rumored to be the home base of alien technology.” She stopped short when a branch whacked her in the face. “Phooey,” she spit.

  “Cora…is it? Is it the home base to alien technology?” Aunt Clover couldn’t wait for an answer.

  Aunt Cora remained silent for a moment. “I’m going to let you decide that for yourself.”

  I peered over my shoulder to find that my aunt had an impish grin on her face. Behind her, Aunt Clover peeked around Ladriant and her eyes were like cannon balls. He also, appeared mystified as he gazed around the woods.

  “It won’t take them long to figure it out,” I whispered into Drumm’s ear.

  “Aye,” Drumm agreed.

  While I couldn’t even begin to know everything about the island, I did know that it was mystical and mysterious. They even had their own banshee named Alice. I shivered at the thought of that. Nothing freaked me out more than ghosts and banshees. The funny thing is, Maximus didn’t really believe in ghosts. Yet, I think he just liked to tease us. In reality, I think he believed in their existence. You never could tell with Maximus.

  Aunt Cora must have read my mind and the next thing out of her mouth was, “If you’re out alone at night, watch out for Alice.”

  “Who is Alice?” Aunt Clover asked.

  “Our banshee from Ireland. She jumped from a cliff years ago. We don’t know how or why she came to Hy Brasil, but she’s here.”

  My aunt didn’t even bother to comment. She was like me in that aspect and ghosts freaked her out. Ladriant didn’t say a word and I don’t think he cared either way. He continued to scan the woods and I had to wonder if he was sensing something. We continued to climb the path and a short while later he said, “There is a big animal here.”

  “Huh?” Aunt Clover said.

  Just then, the trumpeting sound of an elephant filled the woods. Wynter stopped in his tracks and neighed. Solstice and Gypsy-Queen kept going. They had already met the elephant before.

  “Oh that’s just Soi Dow. She’s a sweetheart,” I said.

  Ladriant tapped the horse’s flanks and spoke some strange words in his ear. This calmed Wynter and they proceeded to climb the trail.

  Those were all the secrets that I knew about the place. Except for the Seelie Fae who liked to play hurling down in the field late at night. I’m certain there were many other things about the island that I didn’t know about. Almost as if my thoughts needed confirming, something strange happened.

  Darkness crept in at a fast rate and soon all that could be seen were shadows. Even with my elven eyesight, things appeared darker than normal. We were rounding the bend, and were almost to Maximus’ house, when a small creature ran across the path. Whatever it was, it had bright lime green streaks on its body.

  “Yikes!” I squealed. Solstice reared back and pawed at the air. I wrapped my arms around Drumm’s chest and squeezed tightly while he calmed the horse.

  “What was that? There are lots of spooks out here at night!” Aunt Clover observed.

  “That was just Hemingway,” Aunt Cora sighed. “He likes people to know he’s here. He won’t bother you if you’re with someone, but he might try to talk your ear off when you’re alone. I know that firsthand.”

  “He was like…two feet tall!” I said, knowing that he wasn’t human and with his bright streaks, he wasn’t a leprechaun either.

  “Yeah, he’s just ah…visiting. Don’t worry about it,” Aunt Cora said.

  “Visiting from where? Ireland?” Aunt Clover asked.

  “Ah…yeah…let’s just go with that for an answer,” Aunt Cora replied. Changing the subject she said cheerily, “We’re almost there.”

  After a few more winding turns, and a straightaway, we came into a clearing. Before us stood the quaint little white house of Maximus, or rather, as he likes to call it his “summer house.” A car could fit inside the chimney flue and I always wondered how the structure remained intact under its weight.

  I expected to see Minimus waiting for us in the front yard. He had always been there to greet Drumm and I in the past. He liked to walk Solstice to the barn or set him free in the fields with the other wild horses, and I expected him to be ecstatic that his wonderful Aunt Cora had returned. But tonight, he wasn
’t there and soon Maximus peaked out the front door. As soon he cracked the door open, Kepler the pig shoved it with his nose, and it slipped out of Maximus’ hand and banged the side of the house. The large black pig trotted out to greet us. He was overly excited like a kid on Christmas. He squealed, circled the horses and sniffed at their feet to see where they’d been.

  It was like the sun came out when the door opened and the lights spilled onto the grassy lawn. I squinted to see Maximus as he walked toward us. He waved while he puffed on the end of a cigar. The thick, rich bourbony smell of smoke wafted in the air. He tossed it to the ground and crushed the tip.

  “Hello, lassie!” he called out to me. “It’s about time you arrived!”

  Aunt Cora dismounted right away. “Where is Minumus? I thought he’d be here to greet me…I mean…us.”

  “He’s up in the observatory, dear Cora,” Maximus said.

  Aunt Cora grunted with disapproval, but then beamed a smile for Maximus.

  He turned to look at me and Drumm and his eyes crinkled as he strained to see us. Two sets of glasses hung in the pocket of his Hawaiian shirt. He reached up, grabbed a pair and donned them on his nose. After blinking a few times, he said, “There you are.”

  The hair on his head was nearly all silver, but his moustache and goatee were mostly red with streaks of grey, and his eyes were the color of green olives. He always wore a Hawaiian shirt and cut off sweatpants; I’d never seen him in anything else. Maximus didn’t abide by the traditional wizard’s attire. On this evening, his shirt was red with a border of parrots and palm trees.

  I dismounted first and Drumm followed. “Come on in! Make yourselves at home.” I leaned over to give him a half-hug and Drumm shook his hand.

  “I’ll run the horses to pasture,” Drumm said.

  “That would be nice. Minimus hasn’t made an appearance all night. He’s had his nose stuck in a book of translations.”

  Aunt Clover and Ladriant dismounted Wynter. “Oh! My legs! They are so sore.” Aunt Clover bent up and down trying to stretch her body.

  “Uh…that’s my Aunt Clover. Did Izadora tell you that she was coming?” I asked, hoping that he already knew.

  “Of course! She’s about to play a big part on your trip,” Maximus winked.

  I sure wish I knew what was going on. I was getting antsy and while I liked surprises, I didn’t like waiting.

  Aunt Clover stepped in front of Ladriant. “Nice to meet you, sir.” She held out a shaky hand and Maximus shook it. I knew she felt intimidated in his presence, but it wouldn’t take her long to realize that he was not only the greatest wizard of all, but he was also the calmest, nicest and altogether wisest.

  “Clover Seaforth. It is my pleasure indeed,” Maximus nodded.

  Ladriant shifted from foot to foot. The big bad warrior was downright nervous, but Maximus had to tilt his head up to see Ladriant. “We finally meet. I’ve heard tell of your bravery. Ivy’s mother has nothing but good to say about you. Come on in the house and take a load off your feet.”

  Ladriant shook Maximus’ extended hand, and said, “It is a great honor to meet you, sir.”

  After the pleasantries were exchanged, we all headed into the house. Kepler sniffed Ladriant’s leg as he walked. After grunting and shuffling about him for several seconds, he decided to move on to someone else.

  In all the commotion, I hadn’t noticed him before, but there was a strange man standing in the doorway. When Aunt Cora saw him, she stumbled. He reached forward to steady her.

  Once we were all in the house, Ladriant, Aunt Clover and I seated ourselves around the kitchen table, and the strange man sat by the fire.

  Something smelled awesome. As I sniffed the air, Maximus brought a plate rounded over with doughnuts from the kitchen. “My homemade pumpkin doughnuts, “he said.

  “Yum.” I grabbed one right away and took big bite.

  Aunt Cora immediately went to work cleaning up stray papers, tidying the adjoining kitchen and picking up broken eyeglasses from the floor – Maximus tended to break his spectacles and toss them in random spots. But she kept glancing at the strange man who seated himself by the fire. She would look at him, and then to Aunt Clover.

  “This here is John.” Maximus smoothed his beard. It had grown a couple of inches since I’d last seen him.

  “Hello,” John said.

  Aunt Clover tee-heed, and said, “Nice to meet you.”

  After that introduction, I knew something was up. Aunt Clover hadn’t stopped staring at him since we walked through the door. Observing him more closely, I realized that he fit the same description that Aunt Clover had talked about before.

  He had a long face, a mustache, a goatee that grew into a beard, and the beard was braided. When he turned his face just right, I noticed the crescent shaped scar on his right cheek. To top it off, he wore a few beaded ropes around his neck, a loose white shirt, tight brown well-worn suede pants, and tall black boots that folded over at the tops. Now…I’m no expert on what pirates wear…but to me this guy looked like a pirate. I wonder if he had an eye patch and a hat with a black feather?

  “Oh boy,” I whispered.

  “John was just about to head back to his boat. He’s spent the day visiting me,” Maximus said.

  Two small sacks were lined up along the wall beside Maximus’ desk. The long brown neck from a bottle escaped the top.

  “I must head out. The crew will wonder what’s happened to me.” John got up and stood by my aunt, and said, “It was nice to meet some of Maximus’ friends.”

  “You want a drink, Clover?” Aunt Cora called out from the kitchen.

  Aunt Clover didn’t answer. Instead she shot John a bedazzling smile. He returned it.

  Out of nowhere, loud thudding footsteps sounded from beyond the wall by the fireplace. Simultaneously—everyone except Maximus—seemed to inhale sharply at the commotion.

  Another loud thudding and Minimus barreled out of the door next to the desk. His overly skinny frame stood panting as he leaned his hand on the doorframe. His blond hair clung to his forehead with static. He’d finally let his bowl cut grow out. I was impressed. This had to have been a request made by my aunt. He looked manlier this way.

  “Hurry!” Minimus called out. He wore the same garb as usual: dress pants, a white dress shirt, and suspenders that held his pants up too far. Only this time…he had cob webs attached to his shirt sleeve. The old tunnel housed plenty of spiders.

  Aunt Cora ran over to greet him and pecked him on the cheek. He paused to beam her an adoring smile, and gave her a peck on the cheek. Right after that, he was back to business.

  “Maximus. They must hurry. The door had opened.”

  Just then, Drumm walked in the front door carrying our measly bags. “What’s going on?”

  “Maximus! The time to go is now!” Minimus said.

  “Alright, alright, alright! Sorry folks, it appears that it’s already time to go!” Maximus said, and he waved at John. “See you around, lad.”

  John saluted him and scanned our crowd. His eyes landed on Aunt Clover, “Have a nice trip. Wherever you’re going.”

  “Oh…you’ll be crossing paths again sometime,” Maximus said.

  “Good-bye, Johnnie,” Aunt Clover said. Her hand flew to her lips, “Oops.” Aunt Cora gave her a wicked look, but seemed to cover it up by giggling shortly afterwards.

  “Johnnie?” John said, squinting his eyes. “There has only been one woman to call me that. Well, two. My mother and…someone else.”

  “Oh…ah…you just look like a Johnnie. Bye now,” Aunt Clover hopped out of her seat and walked toward Minimus.

  John continued to stand by the door as Minimus herded all of us toward the secret passageway. Maximus and Kepler stayed behind momentarily to usher John out the front door, but soon they fell in behind us.

  Kepler grunted and squealed with excitement. Even the pig knew something was about to happen!

  Minimus held a lantern in one hand and
my Aunt Cora’s hand in the other. He fled down the stone stairs and through a long stone hallway. The rest of us followed closely behind. I went first, then Ladriant and then Drumm and Aunt Clover. I knew dang well Drumm would make Ladriant go first.

  A few times Minimus called out, “Watch your heads!”

  We all ran as swiftly as possible, watching Minimus’ blond head bob up and down as he led the way. At one point the rock ceiling hung lower and we had to crawl through a narrow passage. It was dark, and dank, and the air smelled stale. After that, we were running up more stone steps. Now and then, there would be a hollowed out cavern in the stone walls—like a cellar or something—and it would smell of musty potatoes.

  The stones beneath my feet were like frozen ice-cubes. I had decided to bring along elven slippers, but they were packed away in my bag. I wished that I had put them on for this little journey through the bowels of Hy Brasil.

  Soon, Minimus stopped in front of a rickety wooden doorway and chanted some words. The door flung open and we were in a dark part of the castle. Perhaps it was the dungeon? It smelled like I would imagine a dungeon would smell. Moldy, rotting, rancid pumpkins.

  Anyway, we ran up a winding stone staircase with grey stone walls and the occasional tapestry. I would have liked to admire the many colored tapestries, but there was no time. “Hurry!” he called again over his shoulder.

  Finally, after the next set of steps, we stood before another wooden door, but it was massive. It arched at the top and could have fit ten people through at once. The brass knocker was a lion’s head and his eyes were rubies. Minimus lifted his hand and flipped the knocker three times. He dropped it and lifted it again another four, “tap, tap, tap, tap,” and it echoed off the stone walls behind us.

  The door opened with an obnoxiously loud squeak; the hinges were in dire need of some oil.

  But who could think about such things now? Before us lay the most technologically advanced room that Drumm, myself, Ladriant or Aunt Clover, had ever seen. I was certain of it. I didn’t even have to ask them.

  In the corner stood three seven foot tall cylinders, almost as round as they were tall. They were covered from head to toe in frost, and they hissed and whistled continuously. I had to wonder what their purpose could be. I just assumed they had to be cooling units of some sort.