by R Stoneman
We all trooped into the sitting room and arranged ourselves on the battered couches and chairs scattered around the room. I couldn’t guess what the others thought, but I was worried. Our little group seemed to be getting a lot of unwelcome attention.
“Mr Shield, if you would be so good as to walk the house, you know, the usual thing.” Mr Shield was the polar opposite of Mr Mace; tall and bony with a prominent Adam's apple and a beaky nose above the thin line of his mouth He bobbed his head, smiled and left the sitting room.
“What’s he going to do?” asked Thor, but Mrs Tilling said nothing. We sat and waited until Mr Mace came back, holding a furious yowling and hissing Trevor at arm’s length.
“He tried to escape,” said Mr Shields, calmly. Trevor struggled free and jumped into Liz's arms.
“So that’s Trevor,” said Mrs Tilling. “A truly unique familiar. Elizabeth, is he always as bad-tempered like this?”
“No, not really, no,” Liz said.
“I was asleep, and this man grabbed me. Of course, I’m angry,” Trevor said and hissed.
Liz stroked him until he relaxed and settled down.
“Apart from the familiar,” said Mr Shields. "There are traces of magical workings. I sensed a powerful calling down in the hall last night.” All eyes went to Gordon. “And chaos magic, but nothing dark.”
All eyes went to me.
“Good,” said Mrs Tilling as she settled back in the overstuffed armchair. “We told you Ms Black had vanished. We know that Felix removed the bones of the young girl and left you last night. He said you had a little trouble.”
I recounted how Gordon summoned Tapio and the routing of the Necromancers. Mrs Tilling turned to Gordon and smiled.
“Well done for someone so young, both of you, a Chaos magician and a Shaman, quite a team and very effective, congratulations.” Gordon nodded and blushed as she turned to me.
“A little Chaos magic?"
“Well, Felix told us the police would soon visit us, and I thought it would be a good idea to give our confidence a boost with a spell.”
“Which one?” asked Mr Mace.
“Sorry, what?"
“I asked,” said Mr Mace slowly and deliberately. “Which spell?”
“I don’t know.”
I was beginning to dislike Mr Mace.
“You don’t know? I can’t believe that.”
I looked across at Mrs Tilling, who seemed to be enjoying the questioning.
“I’m a Chaos Magician,” I said quietly.
“Amateur.”
“If you expect me to lose my temper and do something silly, forget it. You may be with the Dark Council, but you are still a rude and arrogant person.” I heard the prolonged intake of breath from Liz and the slight increase in the size of Gordon. What I didn’t expect was a smile from Mrs Tilling.
“I told you so,” she said. “Control and stability.” Liz was quicker than the rest of us.
“That was a test, wasn’t it?”
"Yes, dear," said Mrs Tilling. "And our young Chaos Magician handled it very well. The problems with Chaos Magicians is they can be, well, in a word chaotic, and unravel if stressed. We thought if after so much stress from the attacks, he could still keep cool, he would be one to keep an eye on."
Mr Shield nodded.
“Indeed, we could use fine upstanding magicians to replace—” Mrs Tilling cut him short with a quick movement of her hand.
“Enough chit chat. This house and you four seem to be the nexus of a lot of intermittent interference on the magical spectrum.” Gordon raised his hand.
“What’s a nexus?”
“It means a link, a place where things join.”
I wasn’t listening, the words Mr Shield had been about to utter after ‘replace’ worried me, why did they need to replace Magicals. What happened to them?
“You mentioned interference,” said Liz. “How can we interfere with the magical spectrum?”
“As a Magical, you must know that everything living or otherwise is connected. It is possible with a simple spell to see the lines of power spreading around over and through the world. But, we in the Council see that any line getting close to this house is occasionally distorted, rather like iron filings near a magnet. It warps any delicate around magical work around London while it’s happening.”
“But none of us has that kind of power,” said Liz. “We’ve only just graduated and got our licence to practise, and we all know that the bones of Albertus are not here, so what could cause this.” Shield’s head swung around like a snake about to strike.
“Do not interrupt Mrs Tilling, girl.”
Liz sank back in her chair, her face pale. On her lap, Trevor regarded Shield with narrowed emerald eyes; Mrs Tilling seemed oblivious to the interruption and carried on.
“Something in this house happened when you all moved in. We, of the Council, want to know what and how this happened. I am sure if we moved you out, it would stop, but we don’t want that.” Mr Mace and Mr Shield dutifully shook their heads.” What we want to know is this: what is so powerful that it can bend time and the lines of magic in this location.”
Time, it bends time as well I thought. Interesting.
“Can we move out?” asked Thor.
“No,” said Mr Mace and smiled, or at least the corners of his mouth moved a fraction. “No, you have to stay.”
Liz opened her mouth to protest, caught Thor’s warning shake of the head and stopped.
“We need food. It was Thor's turn to get in the groceries,” I said, "and we all need to keep working.”
“You misunderstand me,” said Mrs Tilling. “Of course you must continue as usual, but we need a report at the end of each day. Someone from the Council will be popping in now and then to check things are going smoothly. One thing you have to do is this: each spell must be logged in with the time and place. If there is an anomaly, we'll try and match it to your logbook.” She rose abruptly. “Well, that’s all for now; thank you all for volunteering to help us.”
She left the house, followed by the two men. I watched from the front steps as they marched to the car without a backward glance and drove off. Inside, we all sat, quietly mulling over what had just happened. Trevor curled up in a furry ball at Liz’s feet purring.
An idea slid into my mind like a poisoned snake; I felt sick.
“Bait,” I said.
“What bait?” Liz asked.
“What he’s trying to say,” said Thor. “Is that we are the bait.”
“There’s something that wasn’t mentioned,” I said. “The one big thing that should have come up in the conversation.” Gordon looked at me and shrugged.
“Sorry, not a clue, especially as no one said anything about whatever it wasn’t. If you see what I mean?”
“Necromancers,” said Thor. “He’s right."
“I have a horrible feeling that the Necromancers now know they were duped,” said Liz, “and Ms Black paid the price.”
“How could they know?” asked Gordon. “Seeing as no one knew that the bones Felix took weren’t Albert’s.”
“The Council is a vast organisation,” I said. “None of us would be surprised if a few people in there want to get their hands on the bones or turned out to be friendly with the Necromancers.” Thor cleared his throat; we waited.
“It seems to me that something powerful is distorting the lines of magic and it’s in this house. Trevor is powerful, but not strong enough to do this, and we certainly are not. There is the only thing I can think of, and that the bones of Albert Grammaticus are nearby.”
“And they know it,” said Liz.
“The Dark Council is taking a chance, leaving us to do their dirty work. What if we find them and decide to keep them?" said Thor. “Think of the power.”
“It’s too dangerous. We'll be killed or worse," said Liz.” None of us knows how to use the bones anyway.”
“I do,” said Trevor and stretched.
A HUNTING WE WI
LL GO.
Everyone stared at Trevor.
"What?” said Liz.
“How?” said Thor. Gordon seemed lost for words and just stared at Trevor.
“Very well, oh mystic moggy,” I said. "How is it that you know how to deal with a sorcerous force that could tear us apart if it went wrong?”
“Old Albertus did the same to his enemies bones after he killed them. He used me to help him work his will and steal their power. Not a nice man, no; but powerful.”
“It seems to me,” said Thor. “the Necromancers and the Dark Council know that Albert’s bits and pieces are around here disrupting their workings."
“But not ours,” said Liz. Thor shrugged and threw up his hands.
“But we’ve searched the house and grounds and so have the Dark Council.”
“Um,” said Gordon. “Is it possible for something to be here and not here until we call it up?”
“Like the doors?” said Liz.
“How about we go through the doors now before we have to start keeping a record of our work," I said. “The bones might be there, and we haven’t explored that area?”
"No, thanks," said Gordon. "I have to get ready for my client; he'll be here soon."
“I have to leave for work at Grimoires,” said Thor. “I don’t think there will be any trouble when I explain we had a visit from the Dark Council.”
“And I have a stack of enchanted cards to make and charge with spells. I’m way behind,” said Liz rising. “Time we got back to normal.” Gordon snorted then changed it into a cough when she glared at him.
"Okay, then, I will. I don't like the Dark Council when they poke their nose into our lives. If we can find those damned bones, it will mean everyone will lose their interest in us, and we can get on with our lives."
I waited for someone to change their mind. They didn’t.
“Okay, I’m off,” I said. "Wish me luck.”
I stood and sat down again as the room swung around me.
“I don’t know about you, but I have a problem breathing,” said Gordon.
“It is a bit stuffy; I’ll open a window a bit to let some fresh air in.” Thor tried, but the sash window refused to budge.
“It’s an old building,” said Liz.” It’s bound to happen. I'll try the other window.”
As much as she tried, it wouldn’t move.
“Listen,” said Thor. “It’s not just Gordon. “I’m having the same problem – tightness of the chest. We’re under attack and have to get out of this room. There should be enough air outside this room.”
“Trevor,” asked Liz. "What’s happening?”
“Wait here; I’ll have a look.” He stood then flopped down. "My cat body needs air to function, sorry. We’re being suffocated.”
Gordon stood, picked up Liz's large, rose quartz crystal and hurled it at the window. The glass shattered, leaving a gaping hole. We all expected some fresh air to blow in, but nothing happened. By now, my labouring lungs began to burn. I staggered to the door and tried to open it, but it stayed firmly closed. I knew we had only a few minutes left to live, and the Necromancers would be able to gain access easily without any opposition from us.
"What’s wrong with the door?” someone called.
Door, door, door door, boomed through my brain, and I remembered the gentle breeze through the windows over the city of silver and glass. My sight became clouded and with a struggle to get the words out, I called out the spell for the enchanted door. It appeared, solid and real in the wall next to the smashed window. I tried to reach it and fell over, each breath a struggle. I heard a door open and felt someone drag me through into a place where I could breathe. A body landed beside me, then another. Trevor appeared next to my head, panting and angry. A door slammed somewhere with a bang.
“Well,” said Gordon.” I don’t know where we are, but it ain’t half bad, seeing as we are all alive.” I rolled over and looked at him, leaning against a wall, breathing deeply.
“Gordon, what happened?"
“Wait,” he said. He took a deep breath and spoke the words of closing, and the door faded to a shabby green wall.
“When the door appeared, I dragged you all through it, then shut it. Simple really.”
“You saved our lives, Gordon,” said Liz.
“That’s what friends are for, but, where are we?”
“Not sure but I think for now we are safe.” Thor rolled over and shakily propped himself against the wall of the passage. “This looks like the same place that we saw in your room Gordon, even though it was from the sitting room with its three windows and doors.
"Could be,” I said and looked down through the window where a cool breeze fluttered the curtains. With my hands gripping the sill, I leaned out. “I know we are on the ground floor in our house, but we seem to be a mile or so up in the air.”
As before, the shiny city glittered in the sunshine, glass and silver columns stretched upwards to a perfectly blue sky. The others gathered around me, and we just stood, spellbound and gazed at the perfection.
“Okay,” said Trevor, jumping up onto the window sill. “I’ve seen this place before.”
He seemed blithely unworried sat with his tail waving over a considerable drop.
“You?” said Liz.
“Well, yes and in a way no.”
“What? “said Gordon, “that doesn’t make sense.”
“Neither does a Seraphim changing a bunch of old cat bones into a handsome and intelligent animal like me.”
“Seraphim?” said Liz eyes widening, “Felix was a Seraphim?”
“Oops.”
“I thought there was more to Felix than met the eye,” I said. “We all know that there are other kinds in the world: gnomes, fairies, ghosts and those Powers, seen and unseen, but I didn’t know about those beings. How did you find this out, Trevor?” Trevor jumped up and walked backwards and forwards on the window ledge, his tail held high.
“It was when he was forming me. It’s difficult to miss the obvious signs when an angelic form is moulding you. You’re not supposed to know; it would panic the Mundanes if they were to find out.”
“We’re not Mundanes,” said Gordon. “You said, you know where we are, so, where are we?”
"I know what it is but not where it is. Until you found the doors, I never knew what old Albertus was up to; he used my power to create this place that seems to be neither here nor there, a sort of in-between place. I don't know why, though, he was an odd bird. It was not in my nature as a Power to question or know, as a slave, he commanded, I did what I could."
"Can we go back, Trevor?" asked Liz.
“Not sure, but one thing I am sure of, that attack wasn’t the Necromancers – not their style. The smell usually gives it away.”
“Who then?” asked Thor.
“Might be Ms Black,” said Thor. “She wanted those bones and was prepared to kill for them."
“But she vanished, and there was blood,” said Liz.
“Yeah, but whose?” asked Gordon.” I can get blood easy enough, anybody can, no probs. That would make it look like it was hers.”
“Maybe the Dark Council,” said Liz, then stopped. “No, they want us alive and kicking as bait. Hell, I can’t think of anyone else.”
“Well, if we’re stuck here for a bit,” said Thor, “I vote we explore and look in these two rooms; there may be a way out from our house, maybe into the garden.”
“Or into that beautiful city down there,” said Liz, contemplating the streets miles below.
Thor walked over to the nearest door and grasped the handle, turned and looked at us. “Ready?” We stood behind him and watched as he slowly pushed the door open.
“Oh, wow,” said Thor. The room was as big as our sitting room and furnished with Victorian furniture. Opposite the door where we stood a large bay window looked out over a small lawn with iron railings to a sunlit leafy avenue. A man and woman walked past, she holding a dainty parasol and wearing a pink crinol
ine and he wearing a pale grey frock coat and top hat.
“It’s our sitting room,” said Liz, “like it must have been when the house was built.”
Dappled sunlight came through the lace-curtained bay window glowing on the mahogany furniture arranged on a luxurious Persian carpet. We all entered cautiously and looked around. Trevor followed Liz in, his tail twitching, cautious and alert. In the distance, we heard the clatter of horses' hooves and watched an elegant glass-sided black hearse with purple plumes pulled by two horses roll past the window, closely followed by several black carriages. On the opposite side of the road, I saw a newly built sizeable Victorian building. I wondered if all this was an illusion or reality. Were we in the past or just seeing what had happened years ago?
“Trevor, is this real?”
“I’m not sure what's real around here any more. This is a carpet under my paw; it smells and feels like a carpet too. I think the best thing is to stay alert and treat everything as genuine.”
"I’m going look in the kitchen,” said Liz. “I always wondered what it would look like back then.”
“I think we should all stick together,” said Thor, “until we know for sure what this is.” With a toss of her hair, Liz left the room and entered the hallway.
“Guys, you must see this; it’s beautiful.”
We followed her out and saw what she'd discovered. Patterns of coloured light were streaming
from the stained glass fanlight over the door, falling on the elaborate designs of the floor tiles. Paintings in gold frames hung on the walls, and a grandfather clock ticked solemnly in the corner next to the carpeted stairs.
“I could really get to like living here,” said Gordon, turning around and peering up the stairs. “I wonder what my room looks like?”
“Fine,” said Thor. “But where is here?”
“I'm going to the kitchen,” said Liz, “I bet it’s got some exciting Victorian stuff.” She ran down the passage and opened the kitchen door. "Oh.”
We all heard the disappointment in her voice.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Come and see the kitchen.”
The kitchen window overlooked the same cemetery, but it was now green and tidy with a few headstones and mausoleums. Outside, over the garden wall, the dignified funeral carriage corsage rolled along a wide lane into the distance between the young trees. This room appeared the same shape, but nothing like the warm and inviting kitchen I remembered. Bare wood floors and plain green painted plaster walls lined with unpainted deal cupboards below the Belfast sink was all we could see. I turned and looked back up the passage to the beautiful and elegant hall furnishings, then back to the cold, bleak kitchen. I looked around for Trevor, but he had disappeared.