by Victor Kloss
“Is there anything else I can help you with, Master Wistletop?” the little gnome asked politely, but with a subtle edge that suggested it was time for him to move on.
“No, thank you,” Joshua said. “You have done more than enough. Thank you for holding on to the key for so long.”
The gnome gave a little bow. “No problem at all, Master Wistletop. At Akrim's Vintage Antiques, we are known for our trust and honesty. And I have to be honest, your great-great-grandfather paid us well for the privilege of storing it.”
“It was well spent,” Joshua said.
The gnome gave another bow. “Thank you, once again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to deal with my other customers.”
Akrim turned towards Ben, who was the closest. Ben acted instinctively, swiftly but casually picking up a small eagle statue and earnestly examining it.
“Ben!” Joshua said, his voice full of surprise and not a small amount of suspicion. “What are you doing here?”
Ben turned, still holding the eagle, and gave a casual wave. “Oh, hey, Josh. It’s Natalie's mum's birthday soon, so we're just looking for gifts. Nat heard good things about this place, so we thought we'd give it a try.”
Ben spoke loud enough so that Charlie and Natalie would hear his story.
“Hey, Joshua,” Natalie said brightly, stepping out from between the shelves, and walking up to an increasingly surprised Joshua. “I didn't know you liked this place. Do you come here often?”
The question was perfect. It put Joshua, who had been looking at them suspiciously, straight onto the defensive.
“Sometimes,” Joshua said. “It's one of my mother's favourite antique shops.”
“Oh, cool,” Natalie said, giving Joshua one of her dazzling smiles. “Are you looking for anything in particular? I see you're still empty-handed.”
Joshua had slipped the key into his pocket the moment he had spotted Ben. But, unlike Ben, he wasn't quite as adept at coming up with stories, and faltered – the gaze from Natalie probably didn't help.
“Er, no,” Joshua said. “I'm still looking actually. I think I'll try upstairs. I hope you find something nice for your mum.”
“Thanks,” Natalie said.
Joshua ignored Ben and Charlie completely and wandered up the stairs, disappearing out of sight.
“Can I help anyone?” Akrim asked.
Ben thought fast. “Yes – Charlie, you said you wanted some advice on something, right?”
“Er, yes,” Charlie said, looking flustered and trying quite clearly to indicate to Ben with rather unsubtle hand motions that he had no idea what to say.
Ben ignored his protests and turned to Natalie. “Stay with Charlie, unless you hear noises or if it sounds like Joshua is losing it; then I may need your help.”
“You don't want me to come up with you?” Natalie asked.
Ben had seriously considered it. Joshua would certainly be less inclined to blow him off with Natalie there.
“No,” Ben said. “This is between our families. But I may need you, if things get out of hand.”
Natalie looked dubious, but she didn't protest, and went over to help a relieved Charlie, who was already struggling to deal with the store owner.
Ben turned and headed slowly up the stairs. He touched his spellshooter for reassurance. He shouldn't need it, and it would be mad to use it in an antique shop, but you never knew with Joshua.
The top floor was different to the bottom. There were no shelves; instead the room was filled with display tables, upon which were antiques, arranged in such a manner that each had plenty of room to breathe. It almost reminded Ben of how an Apple store might have looked hundreds of years ago. Instead of everything being pristine white, here the tables were made with vintage wood that fit perfectly with the antiques themselves.
Along the walls were old paintings and maps, and it was a map that Joshua was staring at, near the back of the room. He turned the moment Ben hit the top stair. Unless Joshua had suddenly become very good at hiding his emotions, Ben didn't detect any surprise upon his arrival.
“I knew you were here because of me,” Joshua said quietly, turning back to the map.
“How did you know that?” Ben asked with genuine interest.
“My father,” Joshua replied. He said no more and Ben didn't push him, despite his curiosity. It was vital to stay on track, and not go off on a tangent.
“Do you know why I'm here?” Ben asked, moving forwards slowly. He wanted to be close enough to have a proper conversation without having to shout across the room. At the same time, he didn't want to scare Joshua off.
“I know.” Joshua turned away from the map to face Ben.
Ben was taken aback by how tired Joshua looked. There were rings under his bloodshot eyes, and his normally stylish, blond hair looked unkempt.
“So – do you want to start talking or shall I?” Ben asked. He stopped a good ten feet from Joshua, feeling that he needed the space. As it was, Joshua made his first glance towards the stairs, before turning back to Ben.
“What did my father tell you?” Joshua asked.
Ben knew it was a stalling tactic, but this was as talkative as Ben had seen Josh in a long time and he didn't want to upset what he had. So he quickly recited the salient points in Arnold's briefing.
Joshua listened with genuine interest, though Ben was certain he already knew all of it.
“He's mostly right,” Joshua said. “My uncle Barry was the bad guy. I have re-watched the memory a dozen times. He tried to kill Greg.” Joshua then showed his first sign of anger, his face seeming to darken. “But I am equally sure your dad could have avoided killing him. Greg was far better at combat than Barry, and could have simply disarmed him.”
Ben had to work a little to keep his voice neutral. “Maybe, but you said yourself that Barry was the bad guy.”
“He was,” Joshua said in a raised voice. He took a deep breath, and continued in a slightly calmer manner. “But that doesn't mean he had to kill him. He could have taken him in.”
Ben knew arguing the point would be pointless, and would probably result in Joshua's anger getting progressively worse, so he moved on.
“Do you know why Barry was there in the first place? Do you know what their original argument was about?”
Ben knew immediately he had hit onto something. Joshua seemed to physically recoil at the question. For a moment, Ben thought Joshua was going to make a move for the stairs.
“Barry wanted something from Greg,” Joshua said, his voice suddenly going so soft that Ben struggled to hear.
Joshua paused and stared at some item on the table. Ben tried not to hop on either foot, so eager was he for Joshua to continue. Instead he counted inside his head – he made it to thirty before Joshua looked up again.
“He wanted something,” Joshua repeated. “Something important and powerful. Not for himself, but for the evil that had seduced him – the dark elves.”
It was only by some miracle that Ben managed to stay calm, though he could feel his arms vibrating by his sides, and every nerve inside his body seemed to be tingling.
“What did he want?” Ben asked, aware that his voice was shaking slightly.
Joshua closed his eyes for a moment, and gave a subtle shake of the head. “That, I cannot tell you.”
“What?” Ben said, unable to contain the sudden intensity in his voice. “You cannot or you won't?”
The question seemed to genuinely fluster Joshua. “I won't, and I'm not certain I can.”
Ben had managed to keep relatively calm up till now, but for Joshua to suddenly shut down was too much to bear. He stepped forwards with obvious intent.
“Joshua, this is important.”
“I know how important it is,” Joshua replied, matching Ben's sudden increase in intensity.
“Then tell me,” Ben said, clenching his fists.
Joshua seemed to be seriously considering the matter,
but he didn't speak.
“Okay,” Ben said, taking a breath. “At least tell me if you know where the thing that Barry was looking for is.”
Joshua immediately shook his head. “That I definitely cannot tell you, and it is none of your business.”
Ben's eyebrows shot up even faster than his rising anger, which was quickly coming to a boil. He wanted desperately to tell Joshua how important the item they were searching for was, but he couldn't.
“Look, Joshua, I need to find this thing. It's far more important than you realise, trust me,” Ben said. It wasn't difficult thrusting all his conviction and belief into his words, as they were perfectly true.
But Joshua was unmoved. “This is something I need to do myself.” He took a step back and, all of a sudden, drew his spellshooter.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ben said, loudly this time.
Ben heard someone come flying up the stairs. “Joshua – don't be silly! You can't fire that in here.”
Joshua gave Natalie the merest of glances, then turned back to Ben.
“It's just not possible,” Joshua said, his voice suddenly soft. “It cannot be. It's not meant to be.”
And with that, Joshua lifted his spellshooter, and fired a spell into his chest.
He disappeared in a flash.
— Chapter Ten —
A Nasty Surprise
“Damn it!”
“I make that the tenth time you've said that, and we only left the shop five minutes ago,” Charlie said.
Ben held up a clenched fist. “I was so close to finding where the sword is.”
“You don't know that for sure,” Natalie said.
“No, but at the very least, we might have got another lead,” Ben said, his voice still bubbling with anger. He set a quick pace, on the off-chance that Joshua had teleported back to the Institute.
“I wish I'd heard the conversation myself,” Charlie said in a thinly veiled accusation aimed at Ben. “I'd have a much better understanding of the whole thing. Instead, I had to keep Akrim entertained, pretending that I was considering paying nine hundred pounds for some incredibly boring rock.”
“I don't understand why Joshua thinks he has to do this himself,” Natalie said. “Frankly, I'm not even sure what it is he's trying to do. And I really don't understand his last statement, about how 'it cannot be’ and 'it’s not meant to be’.”
“Gibberish,” Ben said. “There's no other explanation.”
He missed the dubious expression exchanged between Charlie and Natalie, but neither felt the urge to correct him, especially as they hadn't been there for the full exchange.
To nobody's surprise, Joshua wasn't anywhere to be found at the Institute. Ben was half-tempted to go to his house to see if by some chance he had gone home.
“He'd never be at home,” Charlie said. “Not if he's trying to get away; it would be ridiculous. He'd know that's the only place we'd look.”
Ben reluctantly agreed. There was nothing for it but to get back to their apprenticeship and keep their eyes open for any sign of Joshua. After some persistence, Ben managed to get hold of Arnold again, and told him a slightly vague version of what had happened, and that Joshua had disappeared on them. Arnold promised to let them know the minute he turned up.
The rest of Wednesday passed without any sign of Joshua. Thursday and Friday came and went and Joshua remained absent from the Institute. Ben didn't often feel like tearing his hair out, but by 5pm on Friday, he came close to doing so.
“He'll turn up,” Natalie said. “He can't stay away forever.”
Ben let out a deep breath he hadn't realised he'd inhaled. “I know. And you know what? The more I think about the conversation I had with him, the more I realise that I jumped to conclusions in my desperation for answers. It just all seemed to fit. The dark elves seducing Barry, and having him try to get a powerful artefact that we know they want and my dad has. Everything fits, and yet I can't be sure until I speak to Joshua.”
“Well, at least we've got something to do to take our minds off it tomorrow,” Charlie said with a slightly ironic smile.
“Oh yes, I'm looking forward to that – I've always wanted to do metal detecting!” Natalie said with sudden enthusiasm.
Ben's sour mood faded without much effort, as it so often did. “I'm not sure what we'll find, but it will be a laugh.”
“I bet your grandma has buried lots of things over the years,” Charlie said. “I wouldn't be surprised if there were dead things under there, though she would have stripped them of precious objects first, of course.”
“What time shall we meet?” Natalie asked.
“I'm picking the detectors up at 10am, so any time after that,” Ben said.
The idea of metal detecting that Saturday morning was the catalyst for helping Ben forget about Joshua. He managed to kick his legs back, splash out on some fish and chips, and watch a movie, before heading to bed. His last thought was of his grandma, and what she was going to make of his friends coming round and metal detecting all over her garden. She wasn't going to sit there quietly, that was for sure.
*
Saturday morning dawned cold and fresh. Winter was fast approaching, and there was a crisp frost covering the back garden that the sun eventually dismissed. Ben loved winter – some people hated the cold, but it made Ben feel alive. Then there was all the football that was played and, on top of which, Christmas gave the place a certain atmosphere you just didn't find in any other season. Christmas with his grandma barely counted, but he still enjoyed recalling the more pleasant ones with his parents.
Getting the detectors was a bit of a chore, but he had plenty of time and made it home well before ten o'clock. He was just setting them up and testing each of them, when he heard a friendly voice.
“Hello, Ben!” Abigail said.
Ben wiped his hand on a cloth, and went to greet his friends. All three were walking together, decked out in winter clothes. Charlie had gone full-on, with a hat and scarf. The two girls both had their hair down, forsaking hats. Natalie and Abigail were smiling, but their pleasant auras didn't seem to extend to Charlie, who was looking at Ben's house with some concern.
“Is She Who Shall Not Be Named home?” Charlie asked.
Ben grinned. “Not yet; she's gone to a friend’s.”
“She has friends? I don't believe it. Have you seen these so-called friends? If not, I rather think she's popped down to hell to have a chat with her minions.”
“Either way, she'll be back within the hour, so you can ask her yourself.”
“Terrific.”
“Are you finished?” Natalie asked Charlie with a half-hearted reproachful frown.
“Yeah, sorry. You haven't met her properly, though. You'll see what I mean.”
“I'll judge that for myself. Now, before we get started, we need to resolve something very important. We need some hot drinks. What does everyone want? Tea, coffee or hot chocolate?”
Ben had made sure the kitchen was clean and that they had hot drink supplies, under specific instructions from Natalie the night before.
“Do you need a hand?” Ben asked.
“Oh no, Abigail's already agreed to help. You two get started; we'll join you in a few minutes,” Natalie said.
The two girls promptly disappeared into the kitchen.
“Do you think they'll end up doing any actual metal detecting?” Charlie said, as the girls left.
“Don't know,” Ben said. “But I'm happy I only hired out two detectors. Come on, let's get these babies started.”
It took them a little time to work out how to work the detectors, despite the instructions from the man at the shop, but they were soon up and running. The garden wasn't exactly big, but it had several tricky spots to reach, obscured by trees and bushes. Ben was determined to go everywhere thoroughly, by covering over the whole garden twice, once with each detector, just in case one was stronger than the other.
<
br /> It seemed like they had barely started when the girls came out with the drinks plus a tin of biscuits. They took a quick break, Ben enjoying his hot tea and good company under the clear blue sky. The girls had a go with the detectors – they weren't as fast, but then they weren't exactly in a rush. Ben predicted that even if they went over the whole area twice, it wasn't going to take them more than a couple of hours.
“What the bloody hell is going on here?” a harsh voice said.
Grandma Anne's voice was so screechy it sounded like a bird squawking.
“Uh oh,” Charlie said, looking with growing panic at the approaching lady. “Ben, she's here. Do something.”
The four of them left the detectors where they were and walked back to the house – Charlie most reluctantly. Grandma Anne was standing on the patio, staring at them with a mixture of shock and outrage – a combination only she could pull off.
To Ben, Grandma Anne hadn't changed one bit since he was young. Her white, permed hair was a little thinner perhaps, and there were a few more wrinkles, but those steely grey eyes looked as hard as ever, and the disapproving frown was something he had lived with all his life. Even her cane, with its silver tip, had been with her for as long as Ben could remember.
“Hi, Grandma,” Ben said with a smile.
“Don't call me grandma,” Anne snapped, poking him in the knee with her cane. Ben strongly suspected she didn't actually need the cane; she just carried it as a weapon. “Why are you using those things on my garden?”
“It's just for fun,” Natalie said, knocking off one of her dazzling smiles.
“Was I talking to you?” Anne said sharply. “If I want your opinion, ditzy, I'll ask for it.”
Ben thought he saw a subtle upturning of the lips from Charlie, as he worked to suppress a smile, though he disguised it well with a disapproving frown.