Beyond Platform 13

by Sibéal Pounder

Lina tried not to laugh as the waiter choked back a gasp and walked off, his face almost identical to someone who had just been dunked in a sewer.

  ‘This is how we eat on the Island of Mist,’ Odge whispered to Lina, as she came up for air.

  Lina wasn’t sure whether to believe Odge or not.

  ‘No, I’m messing with you!’ Odge said with a snort. ‘I just wanted to put my face in a cake. I highly recommend it, every once in a while. It’s relaxing.’

  ‘But not in public,’ Lina said, noticing people were staring.

  ‘The more public, the better,’ Odge said with a cakey wink. ‘I mean, has your face really been smooshed in a cake if no one is there to see it?’

  Lina bit into the Sachertorte – a delicious soft chocolate sponge with apricot jam – and cast her eye around the room. A grand piano sat unattended in the corner as diners tucked into cakes and laughed merrily. She wondered if her parents were worried, and if she’d made a terrible mistake. It seemed the hag thought she was some sort of superhero who was going to save her island. Or maybe that had been another one of Odge’s jokes. Yes – perhaps that wasn’t what she meant at all. She stuffed more cake in her mouth, stuffing the worry down with it.

  ‘I forgot to ask your name!’ Odge cried. ‘Or do you prefer the mistmaker master? I could understand that; it is more formal.’

  ‘Lina is fine,’ Lina said, gulping down the cake.

  ‘Well, you can call me Odge. That’s what everyone calls me, apart from Ben. He tends to call me Gribs.’

  They sat in awkward silence once more.

  ‘So, do you like living in the human world, Lina?’ Odge asked.

  ‘I like Vienna,’ Lina said, which was true. ‘It’s full of beauty and music. They say everyone in Vienna gets dunked in opera.’ She took a big swig of her milk.

  ‘I have an aunt who lives in London,’ Odge said, playing with her napkin. ‘She’s the only one in our family who lives in the human world. She’s my favourite relative, and she’s excellent at balding people.’

  Odge’s suitcase shuffled forward.

  ‘What’s in your suitcase?’ Lina asked nervously, gripping the arms of her chair.

  ‘It’s Ray,’ Odge whispered, leaning so far forward her bobbed hair dipped into the milk. She glanced around her and then, when assured the coast was clear, slowly unbuckled the case. ‘Ben and I named him after someone we knew many years ago. He’s Ben’s pet, really, but I like to think we share him.’

  She pulled out a fluffy white bundle with saucer-sized eyes. It was shaking nervously.

  Lina stared at the little thing in disbelief. It looked just like her magical-being backpack, only smaller and a lot more alive.

  ‘Can I hold him?’ Lina asked excitedly.

  Odge winked and sneakily passed him under the table. Lina could feel his soft fur between her fingers. He felt silky and tense like a rabbit, but his belly was rounded and solid like a bird’s.

  ‘Now, the plan,’ Odge said.

  Lina pulled the tablecloth further over the creature to keep him cosy. He seemed perfectly happy on her lap, peeking out at the other diners.

  ‘Hans is bringing the fernseed so we can travel through the gump undetected,’ Odge explained. ‘I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that, with everything going on, our bringing you to the Island must remain a secret.’

  Lina gulped down some torte, feeling it slide uneasily into her knotted stomach. ‘Um, what exactly is it you need me to do?’

  ‘Use your expertise, of course,’ Odge said, patting the suitcase.

  ‘And my expertise is … making bags?’ Lina guessed.

  Milk shot from Odge’s nose as she rolled back on her chair in a fit of giggles. ‘Oh, you’re so funny! And modest.’

  Just then, a woman in a ball gown glided into the room and took a seat at the piano to much applause.

  ‘Oh no,’ Odge said, whipping the creature from Lina’s grasp and trying to coax him into the case. He didn’t seem to want to go back in.

  The woman in the ball gown began plucking the keys of the piano before launching into a song that Lina recognized as Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21. It was one of her favourites.

  Odge buckled up the case quickly, but it was too late – mist began to seep from the seams, coating Odge’s hands until they, and most of the table, were under a cloud.

  ‘The music has set him off,’ Odge said in a panic. ‘And he hasn’t been producing mist on the Island no matter how much music we play. There’s more mist than usual – he must have a backlog!’

  ‘Well, we should go,’ Lina whispered urgently.

  Odge nodded, grabbing what was left of both slices of chocolate torte and stuffing them in her pockets.

  ‘Is that smoke?’ a woman cried from a nearby table. ‘Smoking is not allowed in here.’

  ‘Oh dear – I lit my pipe without thinking,’ Odge said in a deep voice.

  ‘She doesn’t have a pipe!’ a man cried. ‘She has a smoking suitcase!’

  People started to scream.

  Odge made for the door. Lina followed, stumbling around tables and knocking over teacups just to keep up with her. The mist grew thicker. The music grew louder.

  ‘Oh no,’ Lina heard Odge groan, just as a gigantic furry thing burst from the case and bobbed along to the song in the foyer.

  ‘Didn’t I tell you in my letter weird things were happening to the mistmakers?’ Odge said, gesturing at an oversized Ray. ‘I’ve never seen this before. He’s absolutely massive!’

  ‘So it’s called a mistmaker,’ Lina breathed, staring at it in awe.

  ‘BEAR!’ someone roared.

  ‘FUR MONSTER!’ yelled another.

  ‘Don’t panic,’ Odge said, trying to push Ray towards the lifts. ‘We need to get him upstairs, undetected.’

  Bit late for that, Lina thought as the mistmaker continued to grow until he was more than twice her height.

  They reached the lifts just as Magdelena appeared with a pop.

  ‘Odge Gribble! As our hero hag, this is not the kind of incompetent display of obvious magic I expect from you!’ Magdelena turned her attention to Lina. ‘Well, can’t you do something? You are the mistmaker expert, after all?’

  Lina stared blankly at the little ghost rat, trying to ignore the sounds of screams and smashing plates down the corridor. ‘Me? Oh no, you see, I’ve been trying to tell Odge—’

  ‘Yes … quickly – what do you advise?’ Magdelena asked, her voice a mix of fear and frustration.

  ‘Err … get the pianist to stop playing?’ Lina guessed. ‘It was the music that set him off. He’ll almost certainly shrink back if it stops.’

  Magdelena scuttled off towards the piano, claws out, while Lina and Odge tried to push the mistmaker into the lift.

  ‘We just need to get to the fourth floor,’ Odge said, panting.

  There was a high-pitched squeal from the pianist, and the music suddenly cut out.

  Lina coughed as the mist began to clear. They looked up hopefully at Ray, but he wasn’t showing any signs of shrinking.

  ‘WHAT IS THAT THING?’ a man cried, dropping his shopping.

  ‘It’s … MY FURRY UNCLE!’ Odge yelled, unconvincingly. ‘HE’S SO HAPPY TO BE HERE THAT HE’S COMBUSTING WITH EXCITEMENT!’ She turned to Lina. ‘Can human uncles do that? That’s believable, isn’t it?’

  ‘Now what?’ Magdelena snapped as she reappeared at their feet and put her claws away. ‘The pianist is cowering in the corner. There’s chocolate torte smeared on the walls …’

  Lina saw Odge lick her lips at the thought.

  ‘The humans are getting more than a bit suspicious!’ Magdelena finished.

  Odge and Lina quickly pushed Ray into the lift and squeezed in behind him. Odge hit the button for floor four.

  ‘They’ll just think it was a performance piece, or something,’ Odge said to Lina. ‘Or my furry uncle. I’d believe that if I were a human. He’s furry, and I think he has the face of an uncle.’r />
  Magdelena clutched her pearls as the lift doors closed. ‘You, Odge Gribble, are worse than Mariella Crockit and Mrs Pruddle combined!’

  The fourth floor was where the gump was hidden, in the Hansel and Gretel suite. The magical creatures had done their utmost to keep the humans from exiting the lift on that floor. Hundreds of STOP! CLEANING IN PROGRESS signs peppered the hallway, and mops lay criss-crossed all over the floor like a broom-cupboard forest.

  Ray bounded right through them, snapping at their handles as he went.

  Magdelena jumped on to Lina’s shoulder. ‘Every nine years when the gump opens, the hags hire out the whole fourth floor. I task myself with keeping them in order.’

  A naked hag covered in rainbow-coloured boils catapulted herself down the hallway and into the lift.

  ‘STOP TRYING TO USE THE SPA, MRS PRUDDLE!’ Magdelena roared as she leaped from Lina’s shoulder and scuttled fast towards the rebellious hag.

  Lina kept on down the corridor, trying to keep up with Odge. She pushed brooms out of the way and stepped over buckets. They stopped at the Hansel and Gretel suite.

  ‘Hans should be here any minute,’ Odge said, standing tall, though Lina could detect a drop of worry in her voice.

  They didn’t have to wait long; it was only moments before the door to the Hansel and Gretel suite flew open and a long line of trolls marched out, many of them crying.

  Odge bowed her head respectfully, and Lina did the same.

  ‘Why are they crying?’ Lina asked.

  ‘Wouldn’t you, if you were told to leave your home forever? The harpies seized power the night the gump opened, knowing that it only opens every nine years for nine days. That gave them nine days to rid the Island of all the creatures they decided didn’t belong there any more.’ Odge sighed. ‘It’s all truly awful. And, of course, harpies hate humans most of all, so we’ll have to sneak you in.’

  Lina nodded. ‘Actually – about that. I wanted to tell you something—’

  ‘Oh, I think I see Hans!’ Odge said, standing on her tiptoes to get a better view inside the suite.

  Magical creatures continued to spill out of the door: wizards riding floating trunks, witches with armfuls of potion bottles and hats, a two-headed mermaid in a cauldron, and creatures Lina didn’t even know the names of – but Odge informed her were banshees, nuckelavees and sky yelpers – and five gorgeously sweet-smelling flower fairies.

  ‘IS ME!’ came a booming voice.

  ‘AND THERE HE IS!’ Odge cheered.

  Lina looked up to see an ogre with a mustard-yellow beard and toothy grin bounding towards them, a gigantic ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy line-up. He smelled a lot like cheese. He thrust his scrunched-up fist in Odge’s face, unfurling his fingers to reveal a small bottle.

  ‘Hans!’ Odge said, jumping up high to hug the giant round his shoulders. ‘You’re my hero.’

  ‘Is nothing – nothing at all,’ Hans said, blushing.

  ‘This is the mistmaker expert,’ Odge said. ‘Her name is Lina.’

  Hans beamed at Lina before shifting his gaze to the mistmaker.

  He gasped. ‘RAY IS SO BIG! WHAT ’APPEN TO ’IM?’

  ‘Mozart,’ Odge explained. ‘He’s fine … If my theory is correct, I suspect he’ll shrink back when we return to Mist.’

  Hans pointed slowly at Odge, then Ray, then Lina, then himself, as if counting. He knitted his eyebrows together and said, ‘No.’

  Odge looked up. ‘No what, Hans?’

  ‘The fernseed. I stay.’

  Odge stared at the bottle. ‘Oh no, this is a problem. Ray is so big that we don’t have enough to cover him and you and Hans. Hags are allowed on the Island still, so I can walk straight in, but no humans or ogres. And they hate mistmakers, which I just can’t believe, given the mistmakers are the ones who make the mist to keep our island protected. They don’t think they need them! I can’t mess this up – we need to figure out a solution to this fernseed problem.’

  ‘I’ll stay,’ Lina said, realizing she was in over her head. ‘And I’ll stay because I’m not—’

  ‘You’re the most important one, Lina!’ Odge interrupted. ‘You are a must. But then so is Ray. He can’t look after himself, so we can’t leave him. Plus all the humans downstairs think he’s a furry uncle, and I just don’t think he’ll be able to keep that facade up on his own.’

  ‘Please,’ Hans said with a sweet smile. ‘I see parents in Vienna; tell them about the cheeses.’

  ‘Hans owns an incredibly successful cheese shop in the Mist mountains called Hans-ome Cheeses,’ Odge explained to Lina. ‘As the mistmaker expert, you’ll get first pick of the smelliest ones.’

  ‘But I’m not—’ Lina tried again, but Hans wailed before she could finish.

  ‘IS GONE! Harpies got to the mountain.’

  Lina could see Odge’s eye twitch. ‘Yes, I’m sorry – I almost forgot. Well, Hans … it was the best cheese shop on Mist, and it will be again before the gump closes. I’ll get it back from the harpies – I promise you I will.’

  Hans put his hands on his hips proudly as Lina smiled at him. She liked Hans a lot, and the thought of leaving him behind was making her sad – and she’d only known him for two minutes.

  ‘Hans,’ Odge managed to squeak, tears running down her cheeks, ‘I will fix everything, and then you can come home.’

  ‘Why can’t Hans just walk back through the gump?’ Lina asked. ‘Why do we have to be hidden?’

  Odge sighed. ‘Ogres are being evicted, along with everyone else. Now Hans has exited the Island, there is no going back. Not until we save Mist and stop the harpies. And they’ll never let Ray in looking like that. The plan was that Hans would walk through the gump, pretending to be leaving the Island of Mist forever, but then he’d meet us here, we’d cover him and you in fernseed and sneak you back through. But now there’s not enough because Ray is inconveniently the size of Hans!’

  Ray blinked at them with his unfathomably huge saucer eyes.

  ‘There’s only one thing for it,’ Odge said, uncorking the bottle and smearing fernseed hastily on Lina’s feet before she could stop her. It was gloopy, like thick mustard, and peppered with prickly seeds that scratched her skin. A warm feeling crept slowly up her legs. It felt like being dipped in sun-drenched sand.

  Odge leaned so close to Lina their noses were practically touching. ‘How do you feel?’

  ‘Heavy,’ Lina said as she looked down and saw her legs disappear. Her stomach felt heavy too, weighed down by what was happening – Odge had wasted the fernseed on her, an ordinary human girl, not a mistmaker expert.

  ‘And now you’re hidden,’ Odge said, smearing the remaining paste over Ray’s paws.

  Lina watched in amazement as the magic worked its way up his body quickly, erasing him until only the very fluffy tip of his head was visible.

  They all waited for it to vanish, but it didn’t.

  ‘Oh no,’ Hans said, covering his mouth with his hands. ‘I see ’im.’

  Odge pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘And we’re completely out of fernseed?’

  Hans nodded vigorously.

  Odge groaned just as a harpy flew past. Lina had never seen anything like it – a hideous beast that looked to be a tall, spindly falcon with the face of a furious human. She wore a horrible hat that looked like a pigeon had exploded up there and smelled of rotten intestines. She clasped her handbag tightly in her talons and hissed ‘yuck’ as she passed Hans.

  ‘Don’t yuck, my friend!’ Lina shouted angrily. The words charged out before she had time to stop them, and she instantly regretted it.

  The harpy screeched to a halt and snapped her head round. ‘Who said that?’

  Lina froze in fear, forgetting for a second that she was invisible.

  ‘Said what?’ Odge replied with a gulp. ‘I love your hat, by the way. It’s so … dead.’

  The harpy didn’t take her eyes off them as she let herself into the Hansel and Gretel suit
e.

  ‘Wait,’ Odge said to the harpy. ‘You look familiar – aren’t you Miss Jones, one of the important harpies? What are you doing in Vienna?’

  ‘You’re mistaken,’ the harpy snapped, slamming the door behind her.

  ‘Never talk to the harpies, Lina,’ Odge warned once she had gone. ‘Even when you’re invisible. They have always been sinister creatures, but, now that they have power, they don’t need to hide it or ever consider they might be wrong. Our world is a dark place on the surface now, not just in hidden corners.’

  Lina gulped.

  ‘Now,’ Odge said brightly, ‘we need to figure out a way to hide the fluffy tip of Ray’s head, or we’re never going to get home. And we have to get back.’

  Lina wanted desperately to help. ‘I have an idea,’ she said. ‘How bendy is Ray?’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE GUMP

  Inside the Hansel and Gretel suite was a room unlike anything Lina could have imagined. She had expected a normal hotel room – a bed, a dresser, a little bathroom – but it was nothing like that at all. For starters, it was narrow and impossibly long. Longer than the whole hotel. Benches lined the sides, many of them empty, and pillows spilt from the coat cupboard. The bathroom, presumably once a place for brushing your teeth and washing your hair, was a swirling vortex filled with stars, its entrance guarded by a sweating harpy with a handbag.

  ‘The gump,’ Lina whispered, mesmerized by the beauty of it.

  ‘Take a pillow!’ the harpy snapped at Odge.

  She obliged, plucking a plump pillow from the cupboard. Lina noticed each pillow had a number scrawled on it in what looked like lumpy toothpaste. She followed behind as Odge made her way to a seat, very carefully, while an almost-invisible Ray crouched close behind her, making it look like the fluffy part of his head was Odge’s hat.

  ‘You can’t go through before your number is called,’ Odge muttered out of the corner of her mouth to an invisible Lina. ‘New evil harpy rules. It shouldn’t be too long a wait, given there’s hardly anyone here – only a few types of magical creature are allowed through the gump now. The harpies believe the Island is theirs and they should control who lives there. They claim that hundreds of years ago harpies were there first. Seems a strange argument to me. Imagine someone racing into this room from the past and saying, “I sat in that chair you’re sitting in first, hundreds of years ago, and so you have to move”. And I’d say, “But I’m here, sitting in this chair now, and it doesn’t belong to you or me, plus you’re hundreds of years old, and so this all seems kind of irrelevant”.’