by M S C Barnes
I had to leave to settle Adam with Cousin Sarah so he said he would stay.” She shook her head, amazed.
“Anyway, we can’t all possibly fit at Cousin Sarah’s house; it’s far too small. The fire brigade say it isn’t safe for us to go back to our house and the insurance will take a while to provide temporary accommodation.”
So where were they going to stay? Seb didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
“Well, Mr Duir has been amazing. Apparently there is an old annexe at the school,” Seb once more glanced over to Scarlet whose eyes were riveted on his, “and he says you two can stay there. It’s so convenient. Some of the staff live there so you won’t be alone.” She looked from Seb to Scarlet. “Would that be okay, because I’m not going to force you to stay there? I will miss you but Cousin Sarah’s house is so small …”
Seb wanted to shout: No, that’s not okay!
“Mum, of course it’s okay. Me and Seb will be fine, won’t we Seb.” Scarlet said.
He frowned at her. Aware his mum was now turning to check with him, his conscience got the better of him. He knew it would be one less concern for her, but living at the school! All the same, he nodded and his mum gave him a big hug.
“Thank goodness for that. I just think it will work for everyone.” She smiled.
Work for who? Seb thought.
The Annexe
Their mum left for a dash to the local superstore. Promising to come back first thing with clothes for them she gave them a hug and rushed out.
Mr Duir had never come into the hospital room. The one glimpse of him was all Seb had got.
“What do you think started the fire?” Scarlet said as soon as they were alone.
Seb shrugged. House fires happened all the time, didn’t they? Who knew what caused any of them? He closed his eyes.
“I wonder what time they turn the lights out,” he mumbled.
“Seb, your hand was throbbing … just before the fire.”
He tried to ignore her. “I need sleep.”
“You’ve been sleeping for nearly twenty-four hours,” she said, astounded. “I just wonder if Alice was right, about the sign. Where is he anyway?”
Seb opened his eyes. He hadn’t even thought about Alice. He was momentarily concerned … fires and trees don’t mix. As if waiting for them to notice his absence, Alice swooped down through the ceiling.
“You called?” He smiled.
I didn’t! Seb thought, then Scarlet answered, “Yes, I was worried about you.”
“You care, that’s nice,” he beamed and perched on her bed.
“That was all very scary, Seb, no?” He rustled.
Seb hadn’t had time to be scared; he had simply woken up in hospital.
“Did you see what happened?” he asked.
“Well I saw you both fall to the floor. Aelfric ran up the stairs and he and Mr White took you through a door to the garden.”
Seb was a bit confused. “From the bedroom? That was risky, taking us back downstairs.”
“No, Seb. A door … in the wardrobe.”
“That is so fantastic!” Scarlet was sitting up, eyes wide. “Can they open these doors anywhere?”
Seb was starting to wonder that too.
“No.” Alice zoomed over to the vital signs monitor. “Has to be through wood, plant, water, places of sacred worth – like fairy rings or certain sacred stone – anywhere that has something like that around.”
He tapped the monitor. “So you are both staying here for the night?”
Scarlet nodded. “And then we’re going to stay in an annexe at the school. Apparently we can’t go back to our house.”
“No, you should see it, just a charred shell. The fire was ferocious. It didn’t spread to next door, though.” Alice hopped onto Seb’s bed. “Your birthmark Seb, it was throbbing just before the fire?” he asked.
Seb ignored him, shutting his eyes again.
“I asked him that too. Was it a warning?” Scarlet asked.
“Seb, just before the fire …” Alice pressed.
“It was just a house fire,” Seb said slowly.
“Have you heard of salamanders?” Alice asked. “Salamanders, Seb – fire spirits.”
Seb gave in. “You’re not going to let me sleep, are you?”
Alice grinned, then looked serious. “Seb, salamanders are fire elemental creatures.”
“I thought they were lizards,” Seb muttered.
“No, elemental salamanders. They’re the projection of the thoughts of a soul through a fire.” Alice paused.
Seb tried to understand what he was saying. “So our house fire was started by someone’s mind?”
“No, a soul’s thoughts,” Alice explained.
“So not a person alive?” Scarlet was catching on.
“I think souls in a living host can do it too, if they are aware enough,” Alice said.
“So now not only do we have to watch out for big black dogs or cats with glowing red eyes, but fires as well?” Seb rubbed his eyes.
“What about water, air?” Scarlet leapt ahead.
“Yes, if they are clever enough some souls can use those too – in the form of winds, storms, tidal waves – but they would have to be really strong ancient souls to do that…” his rippling voice trailed off.
“So are these souls after us?” Seb’s voice was far more timid than he had wanted it to be.
“I don’t know about souls, maybe just one soul. I really don’t know. We should ask Dierne, Aelfric …”
“Can you,” Seb sat upright, “talk to them in your mind?”
“I don’t need to,” Alice answered and as he did the door opened and Mr Duir walked in, still wearing his charred suit, accompanied by Miss Angel. They each carried a set of clothes and handed them to Scarlet and Seb.
“Get dressed; we leave in five minutes.” Mr Duir removed the oxygen mask from Seb’s face and turned to Alice. “Go to Heath’s. Dierne is waiting.”
Alice vanished.
Once dressed, Seb and Scarlet were escorted past the unstaffed ward reception desk and out to a waiting car. Clambering in, Seb gave in to the coughing fit he had been suppressing since he had stepped into the open air. Unable to stop coughing and recalling his mum’s words, he became concerned that his lungs were swelling up. Mr Duir, closing his own car door, reached back and placed a hand on Seb’s shoulder. Instantly the coughing stopped and Seb breathed deeply, the tightness in his chest gone.
Ten minutes later Mr Duir was manoeuvring the car past the main school gate and along a track that ran through the woodland beside the old school building. The world around them darkened as they went deeper into the woods, then suddenly a cheerful little bungalow appeared in a clearing, a plume of white smoke curling out of a chimney in its thatched roof. It looked how Seb imagined the one in Goldilocks and the Three Bears would look.
They entered via a porch into a large living room where big comfy sofas faced an open fireplace. A huge tapestry hung on the back wall and heavy curtains framed the windows.
Seb came to a stop as he saw the roaring fire, its flames leaping from a pile of logs inside the charred brick alcove.
“It is safe, Seb.” Mr Duir nudged him forward to follow Miss Angel and Scarlet into a long, wide back hallway. Lifting the wrought-iron latch on the first door Miss Angel revealed a spiral staircase which she started up, inviting them to follow.
The stairs moaned and creaked with their weight as they climbed two half-circle spirals to a narrow landing. As they walked, flamers ignited ahead of them. What could have been a brooding, dim space was bright and welcoming and Seb felt a little thrill of excitement at the thought of living here.
On either side of the landing was a door.
“These will be your rooms; Seb, you are to the right, Scarlet, to the left,” Miss Angel said, then went back downstairs.
Leaving Scarlet to explore her room, Mr Duir led Seb into his room. Seb’s jaw dropped as he entered – i
t was beautiful. To his left the golden evening light flooded through a dormer window. Three beds, all covered in blue and white bed linen which matched the curtains, faced the door. Another door beside a run of wardrobes on the right led to the bathroom. Opposite the beds was a packed bookshelf and some massive beanbag seats. The whole feel of the room was bright and nautical.
Mr Duir closed the latch.
“Seb, it is as well you have come to stay here.” Seb tried to read the expression in his eyes; he couldn’t. “Tomorrow we will take you to meet a friend. For tonight you will be safe and so will Scarlet.”
“What about the fire?” Thoughts of demon salamander souls reaching out with fireballs filled Seb’s head.
“Mm, the fire. What do you remember?”
“Nothing. I couldn’t breathe then I woke up in hospital.”
“And before that?”
“We were talking, then— ” he realised Mr Duir’s point. “My palm, my birthmark was throbbing and then, well, I couldn’t breathe and that was it.”
Mr Duir didn’t speak.
“Alice said that might be a sign …”
“Yes.” Mr Duir walked over to stare out of the window. Dusk was falling rapidly, the golden hues of sunset spreading colour across the white floorboards. “That is precisely what it is.” He didn’t turn round. “And you have to learn to interpret it. It informs of good and warns of danger.”
“Not much warning if it happens instantly before something bad – how am I supposed to react in time?”
The Head turned, his body thrown into shadow. “With time you will notice it sooner, you will become more attuned. For now it is my role to read the signs, to protect you.”
“Is that why you came to our house? Did you know the fire was going to happen?”
“Not