A Fire in the Shell: Circle of Nine Trilogy 3

by Josephine Pennicott

  ‘Do you like homemade fruit cake?’ she asked Anthony and Matt, who nodded. ‘They’re good to me, though,’ she said. ‘That’s where I sent the email to you from. I was staving with them over the weekend. The bows love their computers and were teaching me email. Children know everything these days, don’t they?’

  Veronica smiled at the anticipation on Anthony and Matt’s faces as the tray became more heaped with slices of cakes and biscuits. ‘Still, I’ll always miss Wendy. A shocking thing. You never expect to outlive your children. I still feel her around me, however. Just like I feel Freddy.’

  She smiled brightly as she passed around mugs of steaming hot chocolate and indicated the milk jug and a small dish heaped with marshmallows.

  ‘Emily, I’m very interested in anything you could tell me about unusual happenings in the mountains,’ Veronica said. She named a figure they would pay, well below what she was prepared to go up to, watching Emily’s eyes widen.

  ‘I need the money,’ Emily confessed. ‘There are some repairs needed on this house and I’d like to get a small statue done for Freddy’s grave.’

  Veronica avoided looking at Matt and Anthony afraid they would make her laugh. ‘We all could do with money,’ she said, thinking over all the people she had managed to convince to talk over the years with Australia Tonight’s chequebook. ‘Do you mind if I ask you a few questions while the boys set up?’ she asked.

  ‘No, I just hope I don’t break your cameras,’ Emily said. ‘Come on boys, eat up, you need all your strength.’

  ‘You said in your email you sent to me that there have been strange deaths and mysterious disappearances,’ Veronica prompted.

  ‘Yes, it’s common knowledge up here. People are talking about it, there’s gossip, but no one wants to be the one to go outside the mountains. They don’t want people to think they’re crazy.’

  ‘People go missing all the time. What makes the local disappearances so mysterious?’ Veronica said. She was beginning to feel slightly uneasy about the too bright way that Emily was looking at her.

  ‘Well, you already know about Jackson. Poor little fellow, though there always was a dark stain hanging over that family. Officially it was savage dogs, but there are those who would disagree with that. Before him, a couple of young girls went missing from the school and before they died they had both been seen with the witches from Light Vision.’

  ‘What do you mean by the witches? Do you know for sure they are practising witches?’ Veronica’s throat began to feel dry, she took another sip of her hot chocolate, feeling her muscles relax at the sweet taste.

  Emily shot her an amused look. ‘We call them witches, but they really have no claim to the name. But they are practising the magical arts up there. They have a leader. Ishran, he calls himself. You only have to look at him to see he is not from this world. Oh, I know how they are getting through.’

  Veronica suddenly had the wary realisation she was humouring a mad person. She glanced over at Matt and Anthony and was astonished to see they were looking peacefully into the fire. Pepe had reappeared and was now sitting on Matt’s lap, looking with feline slyness at Veronica. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. ‘I am afraid you are losing me,’ she said. ‘What world is he from?’ Oh God, she’s madder than I thought.

  ‘No, dear, I’m not mad.’ Emily bent over and reached for the poker to stoke up the fire. Matt and Anthony didn’t react. ‘I have no idea of what world he is from. No doubt Wendy would have known, she knew a lot about those sorts of things. Not that it did her much good. But I can assure you he’s not from this world. The others who live with him are. Oh, they’re a pretty motley bunch. I grant you. None of them has any real power, except for one young man. But at least the “so-called witches” have the sense not to touch the mural. I will give them that. He knew if he interfered with it, that would mean the end of his kind coming through. And they wouldn’t want that. More cake, dear? You haven’t touched anything. I suppose you television girls are all watching your weight.’

  Veronica’s eyelids felt as if she had to fight to keep them open. She looked over at Matt and Anthony, who still hadn’t stirred from their reflective contemplation of the fire.

  ‘They don’t have to watch their weight, do they? Nice and safe behind their cameras. They’re both big boys,’ Emily said with a small smile.

  ‘Who are you?’ Veronica asked. ‘Did you put something in our drinks?’

  ‘Only a few herbs,’ Emily said. ‘You don’t like it? Please, take another sip.’

  Veronica looked at it, but even if she had wanted to she wouldn’t have been able to put her arm out. She felt totally paralysed. Horror flooded through every cell of her body.

  ‘Tell her about the coven,’ the cat said from Matt’s lap. Veronica looked at it in shock.

  ‘Be quiet, Wendy!’ Emily snapped. ‘I’ll get to it in time!’

  There was the sound of a bee buzzing in the cosy room. When Veronica focused on Emily again she saw with disbelief that the woman in front of her had begun to grow feathers over her face.

  ‘Who are you?’ she said again. She had never felt so afraid in her life. Her heart seemed to be beating so fast she was sure she could have a heart attack at any moment.

  ‘I am known by many names,’ Emily smiled. ‘The locals know me as Emily Robson, but the one they think I am died a long time ago. Once they knew me in these parts as Johanna Develle.’

  ‘You’re talking too much! A loose tongue leaks power!’ the cat snapped.

  ‘But Johanna died!’ Veronica said. Her heartbeat was now so loud that sweat had broken out all over her body. Oh my God, I am going to die of fear in this kitchen!

  Emily held out the mug to her. ‘Take another sip,’ she said. ‘It will help with the fear.’ She forced a little of the sweet dark liquid down Veronica’s throat and instantly some of the horror seemed to subside. ‘Poor child,’ she said running a hand over her hair. ‘When your life ends today, what point was there to any of it? What part of it did you enjoy? Who will miss you? Not the viewers of Australia Tonight.’ She laughed.

  ‘The coven!’ the cat hissed. More feathers had appeared over Emily Robson’s body. She was beginning to turn into a bird, Veronica thought. The fear she had been feeling had now become a tangible mass in front of her, heavy and dark green with a face and hands, slowly drifting from Veronica’s sight.

  ‘There are those who would aim to close the doorway between worlds,’ Emily said, her watchful eyes were growing smaller, more beady and birdlike by the second. ‘They are very evil people. They wish other dimensions to remain ignorant of each other, thereby ensuring they maintain more power. Phillip, one of the dark magicians I speak of, is on his way to try to close the door. He must be stopped, of course. Don’t you agree?’

  She paused to stroke the cat on its head, causing it to purr loudly. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you, my dear,’ she said to Veronica. ‘I revealed a tiny part of the truth in the hope of offering you bait to come here, but not the entire truth. You see, I’ve seen many things in the mountains you wouldn’t believe. Some of them I’ve been doing myself.’

  The bird woman sat back in her chair, watching Veronica as if impressed by her own cleverness, then she calmly helped herself to a slice of cake. Tiny horns had pushed up from her head, she was now entirely covered in feathers and Veronica could see that she was an owl. Emily Robson had become a vaguely human-shaped owl. There was a faint hope lingering in Veronica that a hallucinogen in the hot drink had caused this impression.

  ‘I was killed when I became too complacent,’ the owl woman continued. ‘Phillip had warned me of the dangers of trusting the shadow beings that were slipping through. I believed them to be like lines from a myth, a song. But no, they are far more dangerous than that. Imagine if your darkest dreams had the power to kill. They came seeking blood, wishing to destroy life. I misjudged their intelligence and I paid the price. Solumbi — ever heard of them
in your travels? — came through the portal and made me their prey. I realised I could never be so careless again. There was only one person I could trust in the world at that time, and that was my niece, Emma. I knew we shared the same gift, although her powers were underdeveloped. If she had boned her mind, she could have crushed stone, could have built stars. I arranged for her to come to these mountains so she could become a caretaker to the house, but she also was more intelligent than I had given credit for. Or more foolish. Anyway, she discovered the doorway between worlds.’

  Anthony had slumped over, and Veronica wondered if he was still breathing. The sound of the bees had intensified. The feathers of the owl looked as if they were soaked in honey.

  ‘Emma died, although not by my hand,’ the thing in front of her continued. Her nose had now become a beak. ‘A creature of the unknown realms came to the house, Ishran. I thought then the mural that disguised the portal would be safe. What better person to guard it than a being that uses it for crossing? However, the wind has spoken and warned me that the original coven of which I was part has returned to close the portal. I can never let that happen, can I, Wendy?’ she addressed the last question to the cat.

  ‘Wendy had a small group of friends who practised witchcraft. They solved some of the mystery of the house, although they didn’t know the full truth. Only poor Wendy learnt enough, to necessitate my arranging her death.’

  ‘My story doesn’t interest her, old fool!’ the cat said. ‘She is terrified of her own impending death.’

  ‘Of course she is,’ the owl woman said. ‘Who among the mortals are not, if they know the hour and manner of their death? I have seen many over the years weep, some lose control of their bodily functions, and others stumble uncaring to their deaths, protected by shock. What a bittersweet pain it must be when you realise you have wasted so many years, so many days, so many precious hours of life. You will taste life never as sweetly as when you stand before the face of death.’

  ‘Don’t kill me,’ Veronica said. She no longer cared about looking a fool if this was some elaborate joke. She felt tears well up in her eyes, and told herself they were due to the frustration of not being able to move.

  ‘I’m not a monster,’ the owl said. ‘I don’t do the killing, but I help the ones who need to kill to continue to cross. I make an offering to the guardians of the land.’

  ‘She does the killing,’ the cat said to the fire.

  The owl woman stood up, bent over Veronica and examined her pupils, and nodded as if satisfied. Then she rummaged through Veronica’s bag until she found her mobile phone.

  ‘How do you work this?’ she wondered. ‘If you want your friends to live, then give me instructions.’

  After Veronica complied, Emily asked for the telephone number of her boss. When Veronica attempted to lie, she held out her hand, which was now covered in feathers. ‘Don’t take me for a fool,’ she said. ‘You are a girl with little scruples, but don’t you want your friends to live? One of these overweight, untidy young men has a family, I believe?’

  Veronica gave her the number and then watched in disbelief as the thing in front of her punched it into the mobile. Of course she couldn’t get through to Stuart, he was in a meeting as always, but she did reach Coral, his secretary.

  ‘Hi Coral, it’s Veronica,’ the owl woman said in a perfect imitation of Veronica’s voice. ‘Yep, cancel the Blue Mountains, there’s nothing doing up here. We’ve decided to can it and head back. Yes, I know Stuart will be furious but the kid’s under sedation and nobody is talking. The place is crawling with media. Yeah, well deliver this message to Stuart from me. I quit. I’m sick of being given shit jobs while he gives all the best jobs to Lisa just because he’s screwing her. What’s that? Yeah, well I don’t like your attitude either. Just tell Stuart I called. I’m not coming into work again. I don’t give a shit if I’m letting down Australia Tonight. Yes, well same to you, Coral. Go fuck yourself!’

  It was the speech Veronica would have loved to have delivered but would never have done. I will never work again, she thought in horrified awe. That conversation would get around the station in seconds, even if Coral wasn’t one of the worst gossips on staff.

  The being put the mobile back into her bag and smiled. ‘I’m giving you a gift,’ she said. ‘To be offered in sacrifice to the gods in this day and age is a rare privilege indeed.’

  Veronica screamed, but after one piercing note, she found her voice had dried up in her throat. The owl being in front of her was slowly materialising back into Emily Robson.

  ‘Now, where is my coat?’ she said, looking around. ‘Wendy, is it twilight yet?’

  The cat put up its face and sniffed. ‘Close enough,’ it said.

  ‘Why me?’ Veronica asked. ‘Why not them?’ Now it had come to this, she realised her urge to live was so strong she would much prefer this madwoman to take the men as an offering instead.

  Emily Robson’s eyes twinkled in amusement. ‘I select the honoured ones carefully,’ she said. ‘Ideally, they should have few friends, not be close to family and not be a terribly likeable person. You fit the criteria.’

  ‘But you can’t get away with this! You’re totally off your head! It’s murder! For Christ sake! It’s murder!’

  ‘Oh no, my dear, that is where your residual Christian principles are mistaken.’ Emily moved towards Veronica, smiling. ‘Human sacrifice is not murder.’

  She waved her hand in front of her face and muttered a word that Veronica couldn’t hear. The numbing paralysis had left Veronica and she could move her arms and legs, but she felt totally drained of energy, physically incapable of making a move.

  ‘Now, where did we put it?’ Emily hunted about in drawers and in floral plastic shopping bags. Veronica looked over at Matt and Anthony, willing them to wake up. If anything they seemed more deeply asleep than before, and they had also gone a nasty grey colour.

  ‘There it is!’ Emily had located a long leash that looked like a dog’s. ‘Now, don’t go worrying about them. They’ll enjoy a lovely long sleep and when they wake up they’ll be surprised to find themselves in the car. Then they’ll get a phone call from you explaining why you abandoned them in the mountains. They’ll think you an odd fish, but they do anyway. There’ll be complaints about the three of you missing the editing deadline, letting the team down and so forth. The ripples will subside, and a week later it will be as if you never existed. Until they find your body.’

  ‘Take them instead of me,’ Veronica pleaded. ‘I don’t want to die. You have two for one there.’ She felt a cord go around her neck and Emily tugged on it.

  ‘Come on!’ the old woman urged. ‘Let’s get moving. They’re waiting to receive their gift. It’s twilight. The old ones have greater freedom to move at dawn and twilight.’

  Veronica was led on the leash from the cosy kitchen. ‘You know what to do, Wendy,’ Emily said.

  The cat had already jumped on the chair Veronica had vacated. Its large, other-worldly eyes held no expression as Veronica was led from the room.

  The air outside was fresh and cold. Several hours had passed since the television crew had entered the house. Darkness was gathering. She is old and feeble. I should be able to fight her off. Veronica’s mind knew that, but her limbs refused to obey her instructions.

  ‘Don’t even try,’ Emily said. She jerked the lead. ‘Look at that glorious moon! Tonight it’s nearly full!’ The smell of pine and the other odours of the bush reached Veronica. And something else. Something much darker. Familiar, yet unknown. She moaned and struggled again.

  ‘Come on, they won’t come here. We have to go further into the bush for them. But they’re waiting.’ Veronica’s heart seemed to stop as she watched Emily materialise back into the owl form. Emily smiled, as if enjoying Veronica’s fear. From the shadowy dark regions of the bush came a chilling cry. The sound turned Veronica’s blood to ice.

  ‘The banshee,’ the owl woman said. ‘She is mourning your death, honou
ring you. How privileged you are, my Ice Maiden, on this special night. The banshee weeps for you. They don’t cry for too many these days. At least not in this world.’

  The wail came again and Veronica felt the leash tug sharply. They walked deeper into the bush, which stood waiting for them, filled with its nocturnal shadows and mystery. There was a movement between the trees and a faint sound that filled Veronica with more horror than she would have believed possible after what she had already been through. Then the unexpected, terrible sound of a blowing horn pierced the air.

  ‘Do you hear it?’ the owl woman breathed, releasing Veronica from the chain and pushing her away. ‘Here they come, they have smelt you, the Wild Hunt is on the move!’ She danced wildly for a second, and her arms held up to the full moon became two enormous wings. The horn sounded again, and the night moved to claim Veronica.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Death comes like a hungry mother with no distinction between rich and poor.

  The Goddess rejoices to see her dreaming children awake in the Underworld, realising that they live.

  Death comes like the oil of rose (scent of ecstasy)

  Death comes silently. Smiling like rain, like thunder under her veils.

  Hungry for her child, to bring her sleepers home.

  — FAIAN BURIAL SONG

  News travelled quickly in Eronth. This was largely due to the messenger birds which were renowned and treasured for their gossiping qualities. The tragedy of Mary, Rosedark and Ano’s burnings was never fated to remain a secret for long. Indeed, before the coals had ceased to smoulder on the bonfires, the messenger birds had taken to the skies and flown to the four corners of Eronth with the news. To the Eronthites who had not witnessed the Lightcaster, and who failed to understand the pervasive charm a fully grown, well-fed specimen could exert, the news came as an utter shock. Throughout Eronth, even among the geriatric Azephim in the Outerezt of the Wastelands, there was wild speculation about the state of the Faiaites’ mental balance that would cause them to take such a drastic step as to burn their own High Priestess, her long-time Janusite colleague and an apprentice who had the burning shell in her forehead.