by Garth Nix
‘She had a brain scan this afternoon,’ Susan reported. ‘They’re waiting for the results. It’s perfectly routine, so you don’t need to worry about it. Just go get changed and then we’ll eat, okay?’
‘Have you spoken to Dad?’ asked Jack.
‘I tried calling him while I was in the hospital. He didn’t pick up, but then he called an hour ago. I could hardly hear him, but I think he got the message about Grandma before the phone dropped out. I have no idea where he is – the middle of nowhere, probably. Now, go! You’re dripping all over the floor.’
Jack bit his tongue to stop himself from telling her that Hector wasn’t on the other side of the world, but practically on Portland’s doorstep. Only the message on the phone stopped him: Don’t tell your mother. Whatever was going on, it was strictly Warden business.
By the time the twins were dried and warm in fresh clothes, the vegetables were even gloopier and their anxieties hardly quelled. Jaide barely tasted her mother’s cooking, which was probably for the best, and Jack did little more than push his food around the plate.
‘Tell me what you did with Tara today,’ Susan said in an attempt to bring them out of their thoughts.
‘We went to the Rourke Estate,’ said Jaide, but instead of distracting her, the topic only made her think of her father again. She kept one hand on her jeans pocket at all times. The phone their father had given them was an old-fashioned model that sent text messages and took calls but unfortunately did little else. Jack had worked out how to turn it to vibrate, and the twins were taking turns keeping it in their pockets.
‘I was talking to Doctor Peters in the hospital,’ said Susan. ‘He told me people only knew that something had happened to Young Master Rourke when his animals started showing up in town.’
‘Why was he called Young Master Rourke?’ asked Jack.
‘Mister Rourke was his father, so he was “Young Master” even when he was old. That’s what everyone called them, anyway.’
‘Did you ever meet him?’ asked Jaide.
‘No, but your grandfather did. He serviced the clocks on the estate while he was alive.’
Jack’s ears pricked up. They knew very little about Grandma X’s husband. ‘Dad’s dad?’
Susan nodded, but had nothing else to add. He had died years before Hector and Susan had met. ‘There’s a Rourke Road. I guess that’s named after either Mister or Young Master Rourke. The swamp, too, and the park.’
‘How did he die?’ asked Jack.
‘Doctor Peters said he had a heart attack. Although there were some suspicious circumstances. Apparently the lodge, where they found him, had been turned inside out. Officer Haigh said it looked like a break-in, but nothing obvious had been taken.’
‘Why weren’t you called out?’ Jaide asked.
‘Because I wasn’t on duty. Besides, a ground crew could get there easily enough.’
‘Could you have done anything if you were there?’
‘I don’t think so, Jaide. He was an old man. There was nothing anyone could’ve done.’
With a soft thud, Ari, a ginger tomcat who frequently put in an appearance at mealtimes, jumped through the open kitchen window. His whiskers twitched as he surveyed the meal from the vantage point of the windowsill.
‘I disagree,’ he said. ‘Something needs to be done immediately. All the noise on the old man’s estate has scared the mice away.’
‘Always hungry,’ said Susan, almost as though she could hear what Ari was saying. ‘Don’t feed him, Jack. You’ll only encourage him.’
Ari looked less than impressed by the broccoli Jack had surreptitiously offered him. Turning up his nose, the cat looked pointedly at the chicken, but Susan shooed him away.
Ari jumped down and sat at Jaide’s feet, rubbing his head against her ankle. Jaide put her hand on the phone for the thousandth time. It felt just like an inert lump of plastic. Mobile phones were very unreliable in Grandma X’s home, losing reception and power for no reason. What if their father was calling at that very second but couldn’t get through?
‘Have they found the person who drove Grandma off the road yet?’ Jack asked.
‘No, but I promise you they’re looking,’ Susan said. ‘In a small town like this, nobody gets away with anything for long.’
Across the table, Jaide jumped as though Ari had bitten her on the leg. She stared at Jack wide-eyed for an instant, then jumped again.
‘Can I be excused?’ she asked.
Without waiting for an answer, she ran from the table. Jack fought the impulse to run after her. It was hard, since he knew that the only reason Jaide would act like that was if the phone was ringing. If only he had had it at that moment. He might be the one talking their father, hearing his voice in his ear.
He was so distracted thinking about the call that he ate two whole pieces of broccoli without having to be asked, all the while watching the door for Jaide’s return.
A minute later she peered around the kitchen doorway, her eyes bright and the phone safely tucked behind her back. She jerked her head, indicating that he should join her.
‘Can I be excused, too?’ he asked.
‘What’s going on with you two?’ Susan said as Jack hurried from the table. ‘I’ll start dessert without you if you take too long!’
Jack held his breath until he and Jaide were up in their room, well out of earshot.
‘It’s him,’ she whispered, taking the phone out of her pocket and putting it on speaker so they could both hear.
‘I’m back,’ she said. ‘And I have Jack with me.’
‘Hello, Dad,’ said Jack.
‘Hello, son,’ came the familiar voice over the phone. Hector Shield was almost inaudible, thanks to a roaring noise in the background that Jack realised was more heavy rain. ‘I’m sorry it took me so long to get through to you. The house makes it very difficult . . .’
His voice disappeared under the drumbeat of the rain for a second. When it came back, he was still speaking.
‘. . . must all be very frustrating to you, but you surely understand by now why I can’t come any closer.’
‘Our Gifts,’ said Jack, hoping his wouldn’t suddenly go crazy and ruin everything.
‘. . . saw what happened today at the estate. With your grandmother incapacitated, your Gifts are even more dangerous than usual . . . can’t set foot in Portland without risking a disaster.’
The twins understood but couldn’t help but be disappointed.
‘Do you know how Grandma is doing?’ asked Jaide. ‘Mum tells us not to worry—’
‘But she would say that,’ put in Jack. ‘Can you tell us what’s really going on?’
‘I know as much as you do,’ said Hector. ‘. . . waiting for the results of the scan . . .’
The twins leaned closer to the phone, straining for every word.
‘. . . called me just before she was hit by that van . . . was on the way to retrieve a powerful artefact, hidden from The Evil long ago . . .’
Hector’s voice was lost again. He sounded as if he was talking in front of a waterfall.
‘Dad, speak up!’ said Jaide into the phone, as loud as she dared.
‘Did The Evil cause the crash?’ asked Jack, the thought sending gooseflesh spreading in a wave up his arms.
‘. . . not possible . . . wards still intact . . . no danger to her or to you . . .’
Jaide breathed a sigh of relief. That was one less thing to worry about. But it was still odd, the accident happening just as Grandma X was on such a mission.
‘She was planning to meet me afterwards,’ Hector Shield said. His voice was a bit clearer now, as if he’d found somewhere out of the rain. ‘. . . near where I saw you at the Rourke Estate, where the artefact was hidden. Is hidden. It must still be there, since she didn’t make it that far. It’s critical we find the artefact quickly, before it’s sold off and lost forever . . . might even fall into The Evil’s hands . . . I’ve searched every inch of the estate outside the
wards and it’s not there . . . must be inside the castle, inside the wards . . .’
Once again a roaring, gushing sound drowned out his voice. The twins looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thought.
‘We could help you, Dad!’ exclaimed Jaide. It wasn’t the same as being with him, but it was close. ‘There’s nothing stopping us from going back.’
‘I was going to ask Custer . . .’
‘He’s busy minding the wards for Grandma,’ said Jack.
‘Or a Warden from out of town . . .’
‘Why, Dad?’ Jaide persisted. ‘We’re right here – and we were right there on the estate today. If we’d known, we could’ve looked for you then!’
‘I’m not sure,’ their father said, but they could tell he was thinking about it. ‘The artefact is very powerful. It could be dangerous in the hands of a troubletwister.’
‘We’ll be very careful,’ Jaide promised. ‘Please let us help.’
‘Please,’ Jack added. ‘I know we can do it.’
The noise of the rain redoubled, smothering their father’s voice. They could still hear him, speaking slowly and firmly, as though fighting to be heard, but his words were unrecognisable.
‘Stupid house,’ said Jaide, staring up at the ceiling and shaking her fist. ‘Let him through! It’s not going to do any harm, just talking to him!’
As though the house heard her, the rushing noise faded, and the words become clear.
‘All right, but . . . call later, hard to talk now . . . ask the Compendium.’
‘What do we ask it?’ Jack leaned close to the phone to hear as best as he could.
‘The Card of Translocation . . . but remember, be careful!’
With that final word, the call cut out completely, and Hector Shield was gone.
The twins sat staring at the phone for a long minute, considering everything their father had told them.
‘The Card of Translocation,’ said Jaide, rolling the words around her mouth as though that might tell her what they meant. What did Translocation mean? What kind of card? And why was it hidden at the Rourke Estate?
‘It doesn’t sound like much,’ said Jack. ‘What’s so special about a card?’
‘Is there someone else up here?’ asked Ari from the door to their room.
Jack snatched up the phone and shoved it deep into his pocket. Their father may have given it to them, but not with their mother’s or grandmother’s permission.
‘No,’ he said. ‘We’re just, uh, talking about homework.’
The cat narrowed his eyes for a moment. ‘I thought I heard someone else.’
‘You couldn’t have,’ Jack insisted, ‘because there’s no one else here.’
Ari’s eyes closed down to menacing slits, as if he was stalking a mouse. Jack and Jaide shifted uncomfortably, even though they weren’t lying to him. They were the only people in the house apart from him and their mother.
‘You’re sure you didn’t hear anything?’ asked Ari.
Jack and Jaide slowly shook their heads.
‘Ah, well.’ Ari’s eyes opened wider and he yawned, revealing every one of his very sharp teeth. ‘Perhaps I imagined it.’
‘You must have, I guess,’ said Jaide weakly.
‘But I have been hearing an odd voice all evening,’ mused the cat. ‘Hard to pinpoint . . .’
Ari suddenly shook his head once, then shook it a second time more violently, as if he was trying to dislodge something from his ear.
‘Have you seen Kleo, by any chance?’ he asked.
Kleopatra was the second of Grandma X’s Warden Companions, a Russian blue who was also Protector of the Portland ‘catdom’.
‘I haven’t seen her since yesterday,’ said Jaide, only realising that fact as she said the words. Kleo was normally close at hand, keeping an eye on the troubletwisters in case they got into trouble.
‘Sorry,’ said Jack.
With a worried look, Ari thanked them and padded from the room.
‘Oh,’ he added at the top of the stairs. ‘There’s chocolate pudding.’
‘Homemade or from the shop?’ asked Jack.
‘The shop. And if you’re not there in a minute, your mother’s going to give it all to me.’
The twins bolted past the cat to the kitchen, where Susan had just served up two bowlfuls of Jack’s favourite dessert and was in the process of adding dollops of thick, farm-fresh cream to both. She placed a smaller bowl on the floor for Ari, with a wink at the twins as though to say, ‘Don’t tell your grandmother.’
Even as they ate, thoughts of their father, mysterious cards, and their mission were far from forgotten. They couldn’t raise any of those subjects, but Young Master Rourke, who had a mysterious Warden artefact hidden somewhere on his estate, was still fair game.
‘He can’t have been completely isolated up there, can he?’ said Jaide. ‘Surely he had friends, family, the occasional visitor . . .’
‘There was a groundskeeper, I believe,’ said Susan. ‘But no one else. He was an only child who never married and didn’t leave any heirs. Sorting out what happens to his estate will be a terrible exercise, I’m sure.’
‘I wonder what he did all day?’ asked Jack, thinking of how easily a single card could get lost among so much stuff.
‘I guess he read his books,’ she said. ‘He was a great collector, apparently, and his library was very extensive.’
‘Wasn’t he lonely?’ asked Jaide.
‘Some people like the quiet, Jaide. Remember, your grandmother was alone until we came to live with her. Apart from the cats, of course.’
She reached down to pat Ari, who had finished his pudding and looked up hopefully for more.
‘It’s funny,’ she said, more to herself than her children. ‘I thought it’d be quiet here, but there always seems to be something going on. Giant storms, trains coming off the rails, rich old men dying, car crashes.’ She shook herself and smiled brightly. ‘Well, at least it’s not boring. Now, when you’ve finished, I believe it’s your turn to do the dishes.’
‘It’s always our turn to clean up,’ said Jaide.
‘That’s because you’re so good at it.’
Jack and Jaide polished off the last of their dessert and reluctantly took the dishes to the sink, where after a short argument Jack washed and Jaide dried. Susan wandered off to another room to do her own thing on the computer, Ari hopped back out the window, and the twins were able to whisper between themselves.
‘How are we going to get at the Compendium?’ asked Jack.
‘Later, when she’s asleep. I’ll set the alarm on the phone.’ Jaide blew soapy foam off the back of a plate. ‘I’m more worried about how we get back into the estate. I mean, we can’t keep going with Tara’s dad, can we?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Jack. ‘Maybe we can. Besides, there might be another way. Remember what Mum said about Young Master Rourke and his books?’
‘He collected them. So?’
‘Rodeo Dave said that he was going back to the estate to catalogue the collection for the . . . what do you call them? Not executioners.’
‘Executors. Of course! We’ll ask tomorrow.’
The twins finished the dishes and the rest of their chores, and went to bed satisfied that they had at least the beginning of a plan.
CHAPTER FOUR
Forgotten Things
AN EAR-SPLITTING BEEPING WOKE JACK at two a.m. He lurched bolt upright in bed, heart pounding. He had turned the phone’s volume up high because he hadn’t wanted to sleep through the alarm. Now the whole house would be woken up for sure! How could he have known it would be so loud?
The beeping appeared to have stopped, however, and only slowly did he realise that it had only seemed loud to him. As well as turning the volume up, he had put it under his pillow next to his right ear. Once his head was off the pillow, he could hardly hear it at all.
The flashing screen was bright to his eyes, enhanced by his Gift. He switched the a
larm off and slipped out of bed, tiptoeing across the room to wake up Jaide. It took him two attempts, and even when her eyes were open he suspected she was still mostly asleep.
‘Is the Monster back?’ she asked blearily.
‘No, that was last time. And it wasn’t a monster, anyway, remember? It was the Living Ward.’
‘Oh, right.’ She slowly put the pieces together. The four wards of Portland came in different ‘flavours’, memorialised in a poem every troubletwister was taught:
SOMETHING GROWING
SOMETHING READ
SOMETHING LIVING
SOMEONE DEAD
The first time The Evil had attacked, it had been through the ‘something read’ ward, formerly a brass sign on top of Portland’s lighthouse. The twins had made some romantic graffiti their parents had written the new ward, and The Evil had been repelled. But a part of The Evil had been caught inside the boundary established by the wards, and it had attacked the Living Ward next. This was an axolotl that had mutated into a hideous creature Portland’s citizens had occasionally glimpsed, thinking it a monster. When the giant axolotl was killed, the new Living Ward became Rennie, a woman who had once been absorbed by The Evil but who had managed to free herself, though she was horribly injured. Now she lived in the attic above Rodeo Dave’s bookshop, recuperating and doing whatever it was the Living Ward was supposed to do, which the twins suspected was basically just staying alive.
The Evil had been quiet since then, and there had been no signs of it stirring. The weathervane on top of Grandma X’s house had only pointed in the direction of the wind for weeks now, and none of the other magical items that she had deployed showed any signs of activity.
Jaide got out of bed and put on her father’s old dressing-gown. Even though there was a slight risk that it might interfere with her Gift, since anything a Warden interacted with for a long time absorbed a little of their powers, Grandma X had admitted that the chance in this case was very slight and had allowed her to keep it.