by D. A. Nelson
“You must let us out,” Shona said before Morag could get a word in. She stood close to the guard, staring at him intently. There was only one word for her manner toward him and that was “intimidating.”
“Can’t,” he replied testily.
“You can,” she said, eyes glaring. “As Marnoch Mor’s Special Chief Constable, I order you to open the gates!”
“I can’t!” he said again, this time a little more forcefully. He glared back at her.
“If you don’t then I will!” growled the dragon. She dug her claws into the thick wood and tried to prize the gates open, but they did not move. Then, as her astonished friends watched, the angry dragon pushed the guard out of the way and punched at the multicolored buttons on the control panel. Still the gates stayed closed.
“Just a minute!” protested the angry guard. “Get away from there.”
“Look, why can’t you open the gate?” Morag asked.
“Marnoch Mor has been shut down,” he said. “All of us are locked in. And that means no one goes in and no one goes out. That’s the way it is!”
“What do you mean ‘locked in’?” snarled the dragon, turning on him. Her scaly brow was almost touching his. The guard ignored her and appealed to Morag. “Miss, please ask your dragon to remove herself. I’m just carrying out orders from higher up.”
Morag glared at Shona, and with a nod of her head indicated for her to join Bertie and Aldiss. Turning back to the guard, she said in her most reasonable voice, “Sorry about that. Now, why has Marnoch Mor been shut down?”
“If someone interferes with the Eye, the security system goes into defense mode. It locks the gates and seals the invisible dome above us to keep out any villain who is trying to get in. And keep in any villain who is trying to get out! No one can open them again except for Mr. Montgomery. The last time it happened was when the Eye of Lornish was stolen.”
“That’s all very reassuring,” squawked Bertie from the side. “But the Eye of Lornish hasn’t moved. Look—it’s where it should be.”
Morag turned round, and there, standing above all other buildings—and still in its place on a huge spike on top of the clock tower of the Town Hall—was the bright Eye of Lornish. As she watched, its normally steady light flickered like a candle about to go out. In her short time in Marnoch Mor, Morag had never known it to do anything but dazzle like a star. It had certainly never failed before, not even for a second. This was worrying.
“It’s Montgomery …,” she whispered, remembering what Henry had told her earlier about the pair being linked.
“Eh?” asked the guard.
“Oh, nothing,” she replied. “Thanks for your help anyway.”
She turned to the others. “Bertie, how did you and Aldiss get out before?” she asked.
“Before?” The bird looked puzzled.
“When I first met you. You and Aldiss were trying to find the Eye of Lornish, but you came up through a tunnel into my basement by mistake. How did you get out of Marnoch Mor then?”
The dodo looked at the rat and they both shook their heads. “Aldiss and I took the Underground as far as possible, then tried to find our way along the old tunnels,” said Bertie. “But someone got confused.…”
“The Underground is the last thing to close after an emergency shutdown to let in any approaching trains,” Henry piped up.
“And Montgomery was still here to keep everything going for a while after the Eye was stolen,” added Aldiss.
“Do you think the Underground will still be running this time?” Morag asked.
“If it is, we can’t have much time left before it shuts down too,” said Shona.
“Well,” said Morag, “there’s only one way to find out. Let’s go.”
6
As news of the lockdown spread, the streets of Marnoch Mor filled with witches, kelpies and all manner of strange animals. They streamed like a swarm of bees to the town square, where they hoped someone would tell them what was going on. Morag, Bertie, Aldiss and Shona were swept along on the tide of anxiety and fear.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The ground began to shake and shudder. Buildings rocked and buckled, chimneys toppled and slates fell from roofs like leaves from a tree. The people screamed and ran for cover as a large jagged crack tore up the middle of the street. As the rumbling grew louder and the shaking more violent, the crack raced toward Morag, Shona, Bertie and Aldiss like a plow tearing through soil, spitting up cobblestones along its way. Barely able to stand, the horrified friends could only watch.
Then the rumbling stopped as abruptly as it had begun. The crack was halted and the earth was still. An eerie silence fell as everyone waited. Minutes passed and no one moved.
“I think it’s safe,” Morag whispered to Bertie, who was standing closest to her. The dodo, wide-eyed with fear, could only nod dumbly.
“We have to get to the station before another quake hits,” Shona said abruptly, causing Aldiss to squeak in fright. “Everyone climb on my back. It’ll be quicker if I carry you all there.”
“Good idea,” agreed Henry.
As Shona squatted, Morag climbed on first, followed by the dodo and the rat. The dragon heaved herself to her feet and began to walk. She allowed herself a few moments to get used to the additional weight of her friends; then, spurred on by the dread of another tremor, she began to run. Morag and the others held on for dear life.
Everywhere they went they ran into more townsfolk emerging from doorways. Initially, they seemed stunned by what had just happened, and were walking around dazed, staring at the vast chasm in the road. An oppressive sense of urgency hung in the air, an underlying panic fueled by the rising dust from fallen masonry. Nymphs and dryads began to talk and cry, dwarfs to shout and fairies to wring their hands as they all hurried to the town square. Soon unicorns, elves, witches and wizards joined them as they strode to the only place they knew they might find an answer: Marnoch Mor Town Hall.
Shona weaved between them, careful not to knock anyone over as she rushed to the station. However fast she wanted to go, it became clear she would have to slow down. For, as she sped round the corner onto Breck Street, she ran straight into a huge crowd, all coming the other way.
Shona searched for a way through, but the square was so tightly packed it was difficult to see how they could go on. Morag slipped from the dragon’s back and squeezed in front, determined to push ahead.
Small for her age, Morag found it difficult to force a path through the crowd. At first, nobody seemed to hear her shouting “Excuse me!” at the top of her voice, but she pressed on and gradually she and her friends made their way to the center of the throng. Despite the squash, Morag found that if she stretched up on her tiptoes she could just make out the familiar shapes of the fountains and the statue of Colm Breck on its plinth. In the distance, at the far end of the square, the huge half-moon window of the Central Station rose above the crowds.
“Keep going,” urged Henry as Morag stopped to allow a family of unicorns to squeeze past. “We must get to the station.”
“I’m doing my best. It’s not easy, you know,” she replied tartly. “It’s going to take a bit of time to get through.”
“Did you say you’re going to the station?” a voice said behind her.
She turned to see a red-haired female dwarf carrying an axe staring up at her.
“Yes, we need to get there as soon as possible.”
“No point in doing that,” the little woman said. “The trains aren’t running. It’s like the rest of this place: shut down for no reason.”
Morag was just about to open her mouth to reply when a loud crackle of electricity and a deafening buzz swept above the gasping crowd. She covered her ears and gritted her teeth and was almost at the point where she thought she could take no more when it suddenly stopped.
“What was that?” she asked, but the dwarf had disappeared.
“The Eye of Lornish,” Shona said. “It is failing.”
> They looked up at the Town Hall’s clock tower. At the top the Eye of Lornish was wavering and flickering … and going out. There were several screams, some dryads fainted and the centaurs reared in fright.
“My subjects!” a voice boomed over the hysteria. “Please be calm. Panicking will only make matters worse.”
Morag peered over the pointed hats of the wizards in front of her. Although she could not see much, she could make out the glittering brilliance of a silver crown against the sandstone.
“It’s the Queen,” she said to the others. “Come on, if we push forward we might be able to reach her and tell her what’s happened. Surely she’ll know how we can get out of here?”
As Her Majesty continued to try to calm her subjects, Morag and the others made their way toward the steps. Shoving, squeezing and jostling, they fought their way through, ignoring loud tuts and bad-tempered grumblings.
Queen Flora was standing on the top of the stairs, her small, slim body framed by the huge doors of the Town Hall behind her. Older than she looked, Flora was known for her quiet wisdom and was a trusted and beloved leader.
Surrounded by guards holding back the crowd, the Queen did not at first hear or see Morag and her friends, despite their doing everything they could to attract her attention. They waved, they shouted and Shona held Morag up in the air, but the Queen barely looked their way. Focusing on reassuring her people, she continued to talk. Nothing the friends did alerted her to their presence.
“We’re getting nowhere,” said Morag suddenly. “We need to try something else.”
“What are you planning?” asked Henry. He gleamed brightly around her neck.
“Watch this,” she replied.
Morag waited for her chance. The Queen was responding to a question from an angry cyclops and all eyes, including the guards’, were on him. Now Morag could move. She threw herself onto her hands and knees and crawled between many pairs of legs, human-like and animal, to get to the front. Checking that the nearest guard was still distracted, she scuttled forward and scrambled between his legs too. She jumped to her feet, and ran to the Queen.
“Your Majesty, I need to speak to you!” she said, tugging the Queen’s sleeve. Flora instinctively pulled back, surprised at first, then puzzled. The guards leapt to defend her, but she held up a hand to stop them. She smiled when she saw the worried girl in the red duffle coat before her.
“Don’t I recognize you?”
“Morag MacTavish, Your Majesty,” the girl replied.
The Queen was startled. “Ah, yes. You were involved in the return of the Eye from the Isle of Murst, weren’t you?”
“I’m a friend of Montgomery’s. I need to talk to you. He’s in desperate trouble.”
“Montgomery in trouble?” said the Queen. “I find that hard to believe.” She looked down and saw Henry. “What are you doing with his medallion? Where is Montgomery?”
“Please, Your Majesty, you must believe me,” the girl continued breathlessly. “Montgomery is in danger!”
“She speaks the truth,” Henry said.
Fear passed momentarily over the face of the Queen before she regained her composure. “Are you with anyone?” she asked, looking behind Morag. Morag nodded and indicated Shona, Bertie and Aldiss. The Queen immediately instructed the guard to let them through. “Come!” she said, ushering them up the steps.
“We’ve no time, Your Majesty,” Morag told her. “You need to get us out of Marnoch Mor. We think we know where Montgomery has been taken, but we can’t go after him.”
“The borders around Marnoch Mor have been closed for a good reason, young lady. In any case, what would you expect me to do?”
“You’re the Queen; you’re a descendent of the town’s founders, so you know Marnoch Mor as well as Montgomery. You must know of a way out. You’re our only hope.”
“This is an impossible situation. I could be putting you in terrible danger by telling you this …,” began the Queen. She paused for a moment. “But yes, there is a way,” she muttered. “It’s been closed for a very long time. I’m not even sure you will be able to get through.”
“Please tell me,” said Morag.
“It’ll be dangerous. That thing, well, it has a life of its own.…”
Morag grabbed the Queen’s arms and looked into her eyes. “Montgomery needs us. If we don’t get to him in time there’s no saying what they’ll do to him.”
“Go to Central Station,” said the Queen, having decided to trust Morag. “There’s a photo booth.…”
And that was as far as she got. A piercing scream from the crowd made the Queen turn and gasp. There was a horrible, clawing smell of sulfur in the air. Morag thought she had recognized it earlier. She craned her neck to see what the Queen was looking at and was horrified to see a tornado sweeping over the heads of a group of panicking witches. It darkened and swelled, its winds whirling and whipping, moaning loudly as it went.
“It’s coming for us!” Aldiss squeaked, and hid behind Bertie.
“What is that?” asked the Queen.
“It’s the same thing that took Montgomery,” replied Morag. “And it’s heading this way. Come on, run!”
The whirlwind lunged at the Queen, who stood as if mesmerized, just as Montgomery had been. The swirling winds lashed her hair and dress.
“Run! Now!” screamed Morag, tugging the Queen’s arm. Flora came to her senses and she and Morag leapt up the steps, throwing themselves against the Town Hall doors. They pounded on the hard wood, screaming to be let in, but the doors remained closed. Morag turned and stared as the roaring vortex closed in on them. Something long and narrow was pointing up from inside. It looked like … it was … a dart gun! It was being aimed at Morag and Queen Flora. Eyes wide with fear, Morag could only watch as there was a loud puff and something shot toward Flora.
“Watch out!” Morag yelled as she spun to push the Queen out of the way, but it was too late. The tiny arrow hit its target, its green feathers vivid against the pale white of the Queen’s neck. With a sigh, the monarch’s eyes closed and she crumpled to the ground.
“Queen Flora!” Morag screamed, rushing to kneel beside her. “Wake up! Please wake up!”
Overhead, the tornado gave out a terrible roar, and as quickly as it had arrived it swirled away to nothing.
Shona, Bertie and Aldiss ran forward. Flora’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled, but no words came from her dying lips, which had already begun to turn a ghastly shade of blue. She gave Morag a final pleading look before closing her eyes for the last time. The girl, sobbing loudly, knew instantly that the Queen of Marnoch Mor was dead. Numb with shock, she could only look to her friends for confirmation of what had just happened.
Their faces said it all. Shona, Bertie and Aldiss were horrified. And they weren’t the only ones. The news spread through the crowd in urgent whispers. “The Queen has fallen.… That human girl is with her.…”
“What happened?” asked a guard, checking for a pulse. He hadn’t been close enough to see the dart fly from the whirlwind.
“A blow gun,” Morag said quietly. “It came from the wind. A dart killed her straightaway. She didn’t even have a chance to move.”
“Where did it hit her?” he asked.
“What do you mean? The dart’s still there. Look!”
But when the guard examined the Queen’s neck, there was no sign of the poisonous arrow. “I can’t see anything.”
“I saw it!” Morag cried. She turned to her friends. “You all saw it, right?”
Bertie looked worried, Aldiss shook his head and Shona said nothing.
“We ran in the other direction,” Bertie said. “We thought we could hide round the back of the building. I personally didn’t see what happened to the Queen.”
“Me neither,” Aldiss confessed.
Shona merely shook her head. “Sorry, Morag.”
“The whirlwind killed her … with a … with a … dart,” the girl stammered, confused. “I saw it!”
Shona put a big arm around Morag’s shoulders. “I’m sure you did,” she said kindly, “but there’s no sign of it now. Come on, there’s nothing we can do for the Queen, but we can still try to rescue Montgomery.” She helped Morag to her feet.
“And where do you think you’re taking her?” the guard asked, lowering his pike. Aldiss drew back and hid behind Shona. “This is a crime scene and this little human is our only suspect. She’s not going anywhere.”
The dragon narrowed her yellow eyes and bared her teeth in a low, rumbling growl. “Listen,” she snarled, “I am the Special Chief Constable and I order you to get out of our way.”
The guard, unperturbed by the large angry dragon, stayed put. “Her Majesty Queen Flora has just been assassinated,” he said. “And whether you are the Special Chief Constable or not, you are not going to help our only suspect escape!”
“Morag would never harm anyone,” Bertie stated. “Would you, Morag?”
“Of course she wouldn’t,” Aldiss piped up. “The only person she’s ever killed is Devlish.”
Bertie covered his face with his wing in despair. There was a murmur as the information passed through the crowd. “The Queen is dead,” they said. “They’ve caught her killer. It was that girl who killed Devlish on Murst, the one they let in from the human world—she’s the murderer. She conjured up the winds to hide her while she killed our beloved Queen Flora. Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!”
Dazed, Morag looked around her. She couldn’t believe that anyone thought she had assassinated the Queen. I didn’t do it, she wanted to scream, I didn’t do it, but no words would come. She felt the pressure of Shona’s claw on her shoulder as the dragon gently pushed her forward toward the guard, who was brandishing his ceremonial pike in their direction.
“Get out of our way!” the dragon snapped.
“Halt!” the guard said. “In the name of our late Queen, I command you to stop!” His cries caught the attention of his fellow soldiers, who immediately fell in beside him. They too lowered their weapons, ready for a fight.