21 Cemetery Road

by R Stoneman

OH, WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE.

  Liz led Felix down to the cellar with Penelope following. The rest of us stayed well back with our torches and followed at a safe distance. In the dim light, Felix walked over and inspected Thor's Circle of Art with its half-burned candles.

  "Very neat, but now, the well."

  Liz pointed to the corner but stayed where she was. I, along with Thor and Gordon slowly and casually drifted into Thor's old Circle of Art. It might be deactivated but gave us a small sense of safety. Bringing up the mortal remains of a sorcerer was not a task to be taken lightly. Felix seemed unconcerned as Penelope began to spin a web around and over the well's mouth in the corner, throwing out strands and fixing them carefully against the stone wall in neat rows. I found it mesmerising, but Felix broke the spell.

  "This might take some time, how about we go upstairs while we wait?"

  "Great," said Thor, who hadn't taken his eyes of the giant arachnid, "I'll make some tea," he said and hurried up the steps. We followed and settled around the kitchen table while Thor made tea. Our nervousness must have been evident to Felix because he rapt on the table to get our attention.

  "Now everyone listen; Penelope won't bite you; she's magical and intelligent. We're a team working under licence from the Dark Council. I know they are called dark, but they're not. If it wasn't for them, the gods know what would happen in these troubled times. They rein in the rogues who would use their magic for self-gain or harm others and hunt down and destroy the Necromancers and similar black cults. Whether you like it or not, you operate under their shelter. We are tolerated by the Mundanes as long as we don't get too in their face."

  "Okay, I get your point," said Thor serving the tea, "but it's not just the Dark Council or your spider ‒ it's that none of us is experienced in fending off powerful attacks by Necromancers and whatever else was outside our door just now. We've only just graduated.” Felix pointed at Gordon with his teaspoon.

  "He managed very well, and I'm sure you all could if things go Eris shaped." Gordon grinned and leaned forwards.

  "To be honest, I didn't know before if I could do it. But I called, and Tapio answered. I think if push came to shove, we all would cope."

  "I think," said Liz, "when those bones come up, we'll find out soon enough."

  "Cheer up everybody," said Felix, rising quickly and slapping the table top. "Time to sort out our little problem with the last mortal remains of Albertus Grammaticus and to set Trevor free."

  Back down in the cellar, we saw the corner above the well mouth now tented with glittering silken strands catching the light from our torches and Penelope crouching in the centre of her web.

  "Now what?" asked Thor. I think we all felt nervous about being in the centre of a theurgical battle and well out of our depth.

  "All of you just stay in the circle." I lit the candles again, and Thor recast the circle with his staff.

  "What about you?" called out Liz as Felix walked over to the well.

  "Oh, I'll be fine."

  He seemed very confident, but I had a feeling that there was more to Felix than met the eye. He nodded to the spider, which dropped suddenly out of sight. Liz gasped, but Felix chuckled.

  "Don't worry, she's spinning a thread stronger than a steel cable, and it's unbreakable."

  "I'm getting a headache," said Liz, her face pale and pinched.

  "Me too," said Gordon rubbing his forehead. A strange external pressure bore down on us like the feeling of an approaching thunderstorm. Liz brushed against Gordon and cried out as a spark jumped from her finger to his sweater. I saw Gordon and Liz's hair begin to lift until they resembled pompoms. My head tingled, and I guessed my hair was the same. Something didn't want to move from down there.

  "Felix, what's happening to us?" Liz called out, but he seemed unconcerned and gave us a small wave as he stood at the mouth of the well, staring down into its dark depths. Reaching out, he plucked the strand that held Penelope and waited with his fingers on the thread, then turned to us with a happy smile.

  "She's on her way up with something, won't be long now." Meanwhile, the pressure inside the circle increased. "You might find a bit of turbulence; it's okay; it won't kill you."

  I felt like throwing up as my ears sang, and my stomach did flip-flops.

  "Can you do anything, Will?" asked Liz.

  I pulled out my little Rowan wand from my sleeve and concentrated.

  "You are from the Rowan tree in our garden. Your roots go deep into the earth; your head is in the air. Outside is the quiet night. Send us your cool night air."

  I asked this over and over again crouched, cradling the wand in my hands, visualising the air blowing around and through the tree out in the dark at the same time blowing through the wand in my hands. I lost count of how many times I chanted the mantra but stopped when nudged by Gordon.

  "Best stop now mate or we'll freeze to death." I looked down at my little wand where tiny green shoots sprouted, as around us a cold, clean breeze circled.

  "Thanks, Will, that was a perfect invocation," said Liz.

  Thor was about to say something when he stopped dead, his mouth open. We looked to see the spider climbing back up the thread carry a large web wrapped shape about five foot long with her back legs. Felix pulled the form from Penelope and swung it over onto the flagstones away from the well. Penelope jumped on to the stone floor and started pulling the binding threads around the object with her mandibles. Slowly a shape emerged. First a thin, skeletal hand, a long bony leg and eventually the whole body of a mummified form wrapped in rags. Penelope retreated to the centre of the web and watched as around the cadavers brown, shrivelled head, a small pink glowing bubble bobbed and circled.

  "That must be Trevor," whispered Liz.

  "Libero, libero," the reedy voice echoed around the cellar, "libero, libero."

  "What's he shouting?" asked Gordon.

  "Freedom, freedom," said Thor tight-lipped, "but I'm afraid he isn't, not yet anyway."

  "Why? asked Liz.

  "Because several things have to happen: one he is still bound to the bones of Albertus, two: once he is free of the binding he will either be returned to the earth or bound into a one year's apprentice as a familiar."

  We watched as Felix knelt and cupping his hands around the glow, lifted it to eye level. I didn't hear what he was murmuring, but the light brightened then dimmed. Felix looked down at body then turned to us.

  "There's a problem. First, this is or was the body of a young woman and to be brutally frank, her bones have all the magical power of a brick."

  "What?" we all said together.

  "What has Trevor been bound to all these years?" asked Liz.

  "Why did Albertus do this?" asked Thor.

  "Was she murdered," asked Gordon, "then thrown down?"

  "I can't say, but since these are not the bones of Albertus Grammaticus, it seems that all the efforts of the Necromancers to get them have all been in vain. It looks like Albertus faked his death and vanished, and there is this." He reached down into the sad bundle of bones and rags and held up what looked like a small ball of fur and twigs. "This was a cat once, probably sacrificed; it was a particularly powerful, dark and nasty evil working."

  "Do you mean that a young girl and a cat were sacrificed so that evil bastard could pull a vanishing trick?"

  "Yes, and leaving Trevor down in the pit, believing that he was bound to the bones of Albertus." An anguished wail echoed around the cellar.

  "But is he?" asked Thor.

  "No, but he is bound to these bones of the girl and the cat."

  "Felix, can you separate him from his binding?" asked Liz.

  "Yes, quickly, because the deception means he is bound to the bones of a girl and a cat, not a sorcerer.

  "Good," I said, "but I have a feeling there's going to be a 'but' coming up."

  "Yes, there has to be another sacrifice."

  "Oh no," whispered Liz while Gordon shook his head.

  "It's go
ing to be about blood, isn't it?"

  "Yes, but there is a sacrifice when an unwilling person is murdered for power or selfish ends and the other exact opposite is where something is given willingly and with love."

  I thought it very unlikely that any of us would give up our lives. He must have seen our expressions.

  "No, no," Felix laughed. "It's only a small drop of blood; Trevor has to be bound to that person or as a power he will dissolve into his constituent parts and return to the earth. He still has to take on the mantle of mortality. It has always been about blood, and blood is life, life is blood. Only then he can become a familiar and walk the earth and work with you. Who will do this?"

  There was silence from us all as we thought about it. Then I had an idea that might work that would stop any arguments about who was the more worthy of a familiar and who believed they could do a better job. There was always the chance that Trevor wouldn't take to whoever chose him.

  "Felix, ask him to choose, and if that person is willing, we'll all stand by his decision."

  Everyone nodded.

  "A wise move."

  Again the pink bubble rose up from the dead bodies and moved over and circled us outside the ring of art.

  I choose the woman, said Trevor hovering in front of Liz. She tried to stop my abuse from the angry one. If she is willing, I will serve her as I served my master.

  "For a year and a day, then you are free to go where you will," said Felix. "Liz, you have to lead the circle for this to work."

  I saw Liz flinch; this was against all the standard rules of magic and very dangerous.

  "On the plus side," said Felix with a broad smile. "I have to point out that the two candles behind you went out while you stopped keeping an eye on them. So, you see, if I had ill intent, you would all be dead by now." Thor groaned and buried his face in his hands. "No harm will come to you, the power you call Trevor seeks his freedom more than anything in all the worlds and to harm you would mean many years alone in the dark again or extinction."

  I think the revelation of our sloppy circle casting was hitting us hard.

  "Okay," said Liz in a shaky voice. "This has to be done; this darkness must end here and now."

  With her head held high, she stepped out between the last of the low burning candles and walked over to Felix, who held out his hand to her. He took her trembling hand, flicked her index finger and took his hand away. She watched as a small bead of blood formed on the tip.

  "Drop the blood on that which once was a cat and another on Trevor." Liz knelt and let a small drop of blood drip onto the dusty fur of the cat then onto Trevor hovering over the head of the cat.

  "That's it," said Felix.

  "That's it? asked Liz.

  "Oh yes, for you anyway. Now I use the dead cat's morphic field to shape our new familiar."

  "A morphic field, what's that?"

  "All consciousness has a form, and every form creates an energy resonance within and around it. Resonance is what generates and shapes a morphic field." Felix knelt and held the glowing bubble over the cat and began to murmur. Moving his hands and staring at the dead cat he started to knead Trevor's luminous form in his hands like clay, pulling out, stretching and pushing back until it was a roughly glowing cat shape, then he dropped it onto the sad ball of fur and bones. "I think you should turn away now or put your hands over your eyes," he said.

  We all turned away as a burst of blinding white light lit up the cellar, and even through closed eyes, I knew it would have blinded me had I looked. When I was sure it was safe, I turned back to see a black cat stretched out beside a small pile of smoking ash. Liz walked over and knelt beside the cat then looked up at Felix.

  "This is Trevor?"

  "Yes."

  "A familiar?"

  "Indeed and now, Penelope and I must go."

  "What do I do?" asked Liz. "I mean, what can Trevor do?"

  "He'll let you know." He crouched and stroked the cat. "Wake up cat, time to start your new life. He is bound to you, Liz, and when you call him, he must attend you." He turned and looked at us. "I'll take away the body of the girl and see that the remains are treated with respect."

  "Well, I for one, am glad it's all over," said Gordon. "There's no need for the Necromancers to concern themselves with us now."

  I thought of something that would mean more worry but kept my mouth shut; things were complicated enough already. Liz walked back to us with the cat in her arms then looked back at Felix, helping Penelope wrap up the girl's body.

  "Thank you, Felix and Penelope; I'll take good care of him."

  "You had better," said the cat, "and I hate the name of Trevor."

  Liz dropped him in surprise.

  "Ouch, be careful. I've just been born."

  "You can talk."

  "Seeing I was a power without form, and I mean a form without legs, it's going to take me a while to learn how to walk."

  "You speak excellent English," said Thor, staring down at the cat in astonishment.

  "Old Albertus was a college professor at Cambridge, and as a power, I had to understand what he wanted, so yes, I can talk."

  "Would you like some milk?" asked Liz as she stroked his head.

  "What's milk?"

  I looked over to where Felix and Penelope had finished winding the frail girl's body in a shroud of spider silk.

  "I think," I said to myself, "things are getting very interesting."

  WHEN WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE

  We left the cellar with Thor casting a rueful look at the now burned out blue candles. In a way, I thought, it was a lesson well learned; if it happened again, we might not be so lucky. Penelope clambered back up the stairs and climbed into her crate, barely fitting into it. She rolled into a tight ball, and we managed to get the lid on. Gordon and I carried it back into the van, staggering under its weight. Felix followed carefully holding the silk wrapped mummy in his arms and put her alongside the container. We shook hands then stood back and watched as he drove away.

  "Well," said Gordon. "That's the end. Fini. Now I can sleep better knowing it's all over."

  Which was when we heard the clanging of bells and the flashing blue lights of approaching police cars.

  "You were saying, Gordon?" asked Liz.

  "I told you that someone would have heard that racket and reported it."

  "I think we should go in and wait and see what happens," he said with a deep sigh.

  We gathered in the front parlour and waited. Liz got up and peeped through the curtains every few minutes.

  The only one of us that seemed unconcerned was Trevor, curled up on the back of the sofa, purring.

  "They seem to be knocking on every house along the road,” said Liz peering through the curtains. They're bound to knock here."

  "I was looking forward to getting back to 'Grimoire' tomorrow," said Thor. "There's a new consignment of old books coming in, and I believe several palimpsests. If we get pulled in for questioning, that's a day gone."

  "I've got a businessman heading to Finland for a big meeting with the government for overseas development and export," said Gordon. "He's going to get the full session ‒ it pays the bills."

  All of us had the jitters and the events of the evening hadn't helped — time to rouse the troops.

  "Look, everyone," I said, "just because we're getting a visit from the police doesn't mean we are guilty of anything."

  "As long as we can persuade them of that fact," said Liz. "It's pretty obvious that we're Magicals and I'm damned sure there won't be any in that lot questioning their way down the houses towards us. You know how Mundanes get nervous around us."

  "Liz," said Thor, "can you spin a confidence spell at short notice?"

  I knew that confidence spells needed to be carefully balanced. If it went wrong, you would either end up totally over the top and careless of any dangers social or physical or the reverse, timid and depressed. Mucking about with emotions needed careful handling. We all knew the spell as
it’s standard textbook stuff, but few try it. Magicals are usually pretty confident to start with. But, I thought, not tonight. I sensed panic in the air.

  “A confidence spell, Thor? Not in so short a time, sorry."

  "Gordon?"

  "Sorry guys, it takes me a while to build up steam. I'm more into aggression and attack."

  "Will?"

  "I can try, but I need a prop, what is there here I can use?"

  "There's the dressing up box we used on Halloween," said Liz.

  "Maybe we can use Trevor?" said Gordon. Trevor opened his eyes, gave Gordon a baleful glare and hissed. "Maybe not," said Gordon quickly.

  Liz rummaged around in the dressing up box and came up with Gordon's shaman bones, two rubber Halloween bats and her plastic wand. It was a child's toy, about one foot long, made for little girls to play with. With a small battery in the handle, the pink plastic star on the tip lit up and flickered when waved.

  "That'll do. Please give me the wand," I said.

  Liz was deep into the box pulling out yards of the imitation spider web.

  "Help yourself," Liz said.

  "No, you have to give it to me willingly else the spell won't work."

  "Why?" asked Thor.

  "Because it belongs to Liz and anything taken, either by accident, or stolen, or even with the spoken consent of the owner won't work."

  Liz picked up the wand and with a puzzled expression handed it to me.

  "Thanks," I said and tried to think of a way to use it. I was all too aware that I didn't have long to work it out. The Mundane police could be here at any time. "Okay, stand close to me."

  I took a deep breath and focused on that part of the mind that drives all magic and chanted under my breath.

  "This is a wand."

  "A wand is a thing of power."

  "This wand I hold has a battery."

  "A battery is a thing of power."

  "Therefore, this wand is powerful."

  Even as I intoned these words, the plastic star lit up, not this time with a flashing pink light but a steady bright blue glow. I held it up over us we stood close together as it lit our faces in a strange eldritch glow.

  "In this light all here are infused with confidence ‒ we are sure, we fear nothing. Those that question us will not worry us. In the name of Serenosamos so mote it be."