Alfie Tanner

and the White Circle

L. J. HODGSON

Copyright © 2014 L. J. Hodgson. All rights reserved.

Cover: Copyright © 2014 L.J. Hodgson

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

For enquiries, please contact: thewhitecircle@coriarium.co.uk

www.coriarium.co.uk

For dad, who I miss every day.

And for mum, with whom every day I cherish.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

The School Trip

CHAPTER TWO

The Book With No Name

CHAPTER THREE

The Castles Secret

CHAPTER FOUR

The Tally Room

CHAPTER FIVE

A Family Friend

CHAPTER SIX

The Mermaids Whisper

CHAPTER SEVEN

Grave Danger

CHAPTER EIGHT

Asset Square

CHAPTER NINE

The Wizall

CHAPTER TEN

Lesson 1: SCRAM

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Home Sweet Home

CHAPTER TWELVE

Gigans Valley

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Sunken Pearl

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Copper Pot

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

the White Circle

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Coriarium

CHAPTER ONE

The School Trip

Standing alone on the doorstep of her two-bedroom terraced council home; the mauve door ajar behind her, the goosebumps on Nanny Tanner’s arm were not due to the cold. Clasping a solitary bottle of milk with both hands, she gazed thoughtfully into the clear blue March sky. Occasionally, and somewhat eagerly, she would glance down to stare at the people that walked beyond the neatly trimmed hedge at the foot of the front garden, almost as though she were waiting for someone.

Nanny Tanner had a gentle face, shoulder length grey wavy hair and she looked much younger than her fifty three years. She wore a full-length, light grey dress which was emblazoned with oriental lilies and which was covered by a long navy blue cardigan, which had pockets. Nanny would always wear something with pockets, claiming that they were always handy, because you just never quite knew when pockets may be needed.

Being the normally cheerful person she was, Nanny could most days be heard whistling, humming, and sometimes even singing. On occasion, she would play small tricks on her twin eleven-year-old grandchildren Alfie and Rosie, whom she had looked after since birth. Nothing too serious, of course, just little things like moving items around just so that she could see their confused faces when they were obviously thinking along the lines of - Now where did that go? - when something went missing, or - I don’t remember putting that there - once they had found what they had been looking for.

This day, however, was not a cheerful day, and Nanny did not wear the frequent smile that the twins had grown to know. Instead, she wore the look of someone who was quite troubled and bore a somewhat doleful, almost sorrowful, expression. She was in no mood for whistling, humming, or singing, and tricks were the furthest thing from her mind. Glancing slowly to her left, and then her right, she took a deep breath, exhaled heavily and turned to go inside. Closing the blue framed glass door of number six behind her, Nanny headed down through the hallway to the kitchen. She glanced up the stairs to her left as she passed, as she could hear the twins rummaging around in their bedrooms as they got ready for school. The twins each had a bedroom of their own, and because their home only had two bedrooms, it meant that Nanny would sleep downstairs in the living room, on a sofa bed. Whilst it wasn't the most comfortable of places for her to sleep, she was more than happy with the arrangement, as she thought it only right that the twins should each have a room of their own. Nanny always took great pleasure in putting the needs of the twins before her own.

Entering the pastel green coloured kitchen, Nanny passed the twins lunch boxes which sat side by side on the mahogany worktop to her left; next to the cooker and below the microwave, just as they would on any school morning. Each lunch box contained the usual items you may expect to see - three crusty ham rolls wrapped in silver foil, an apple, a bag of crisps, a small bag of chocolate and a miniature can of Pepsi.

But this was no ordinary school morning, as this morning would be the very last time that Nanny would see her grandchildren for a very long time, if at all. Today was the 20th, the day of a rare school trip to the local castle, and, unbeknown to the twins, it was also the day that would see them begin a journey that would stretch far beyond the castle walls. This was a journey that their grandmother had long been aware of, but one she had hoped would not have been necessary. Over the years she had toyed with the idea of telling them all about the magical land of their birth, and of that which awaited them, but because they were unable to learn anything, and were unable to leave until this very day, she decided against it; thoughtfully opting to allow them to live out a normal, and worry free, childhood.

Nanny washed her hands in the sink, and with a square of towelling that she tore from a roll on the wall to her left, she wiped them. Taking a step back, she then opened the cutlery drawer and took out two very unusual items. These items would be parting gifts that would help them along their way. The first was a black onyx heptagon with a large grey coloured ‘N’ engraved into its centre. The same seven sided shape as a fifty pence piece, though it was considerably larger than the coin, being palm sized and with a depth of around an inch. The second object was a small, clear glass, pear-shaped bottle. It looked similar to a small perfume tester, although this bottle had a cork top instead of a spray. The bottle appeared empty, except for what appeared to be two small teardrop shapes which sat side by side close to the bottle’s neck.

Nanny sighed as she meticulously placed the heptagon into the box on her left, and then the bottle in the box on her right. Placing the lids of each box on tight, she picked them up and headed back through the hallway to the bottom of the stairs. Once there, she cleared her throat, looked up, and called to the twins.

‘Come on you two, if you don’t get a move on, you’ll be late for school. You’ll miss the trip.’

Alfie and Rosie were not late at all, in fact, they had plenty of time. Their Nan would always call them a little earlier than she needed to, merely to ensure that they wouldn’t ever be late. The twins were fully aware of this little ploy, of course, but both were happy to go along with it just the same, as neither liked to be late anyway, because they actually enjoyed school, well, most of it.

‘Just coming, Nan,’ was Alfie’s cry.

‘Me too,’ shouted Rosie.

Within moments, Alfie and Rosie appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in their navy blue school uniforms, complete with green and blue striped tie. Hurrying down, they jostled with each other on every step, both eager to be the first to reach the bottom, which naturally caused their grandmother some concern.

‘Now, now, settle down,’ she said, with a reasonably stern tone. ‘You’ll both do yourself a mischief coming down the stairs like that.’

Alfie and Rosie immediately adhered, and would answer in unison as they calmly walked down the last of them.

‘Sorry, Nan.’

It wasn’t the first time the twins had said something at exactly the same time, it was actually something they did it quite a lot. Simultaneous speech is a trait often shared in twins, identical or otherwise, and Alfie and Rosie were no exception to the rule. They would often ‘Jinx’ each other and would sometimes make the other wait for hours before saying their name to release them from the jinx.

Alfie and Rosie Tanner were not identical twins; in fact, they didn’t look much like each other at all, as Alfie had brown eyes with reasonably short brown hair, whereas Rosie had shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. Their only real similarity was their height and even then Alfie was ever so slightly taller by about an inch, or so. But whilst the twins didn’t look much alike, they did both possess the same good qualities that their Nan had tried to instil into them throughout their growth. Both were courteous, polite, honest, generous, and extremely thoughtful children; their grandmother’s philosophies being that it didn’t cost anything to be polite and helpful, and that had always stuck with them. Nanny would often smile with immense pride whenever she saw one or both spare a thought for others less fortunate than themselves. The twins always jumped at the chance to help anyone who needed it, in any way they could, if of course they were able to.

Not that Alfie and Rosie were better off or more spoilt than others, far from it. If either wanted or needed anything, they would ask their Nan, and if she could afford to get it for them, then she would, but if she couldn’t, then they would just have to go without. More often than not they would have to go without, as their Nan was far from wealthy, having to work three cleaning jobs just to be able to support them all. Both fully understood money didn’t grow on trees and so they would never pester her incessantly for anything, regardless of how much they wanted it; both fully aware that she would always do her very best for them.

Alfie and Rosie, like most children of their age, would have their cheeky moments. They knew not to make a habit of being cheeky, especially to their grandmother, as they desperately loved and respected her. She had not only been their grandmother and the only person that had taken care of them, but they very much considered her to be their best friend. She was someone who they were always able to share their worries with, someone who was always there to help and guide them, the best way she knew how. The twins had never known their parents, they knew of no uncles, aunties nor cousins. The only family they had ever known was their grandmother. Over the years, they had of course inquired about family, especially their parents, but whenever they did there was always something that their grandmother needed to do at that precise moment in time in order to avoid answering. This frustrated them both immensly because they really wanted to know more, but they had reached a point where they thought that there must be a reason why she’d never answer them and so both decided that it was probably best just not to ask. The last time Alfie had asked, Nanny was busy scrubbing the doorstep and had clearly forgotten herself when she replied with 'Oh, they were very special people. Very special indeed'. Upon realising her error, she got up and wandered off to do something else. This led Alfie to believe that his parents had passed and that maybe talking about family upset her too much.  Upsetting their nan was the last thing that either of them wanted to do, so they would ask no more. It is said that you do not miss that which you have never known, and in certain respects this was true of Alfie and Rosie, having not known their parents. Though, whilst true, it didn't serve to stop them from occasionally feeling a tad envious of the other children who did have parents, even if it were just a single parent. Still, regardless of this parental void, they had their grandmother, and each other, so as long as this remained the case, then they would at least always have a firm sense of family. Unbeknown to the twins, Nanny's reason for not answering them was not because it upset her, although it did, but because had she answered that one particular question, then she was absolutely certain that there would be a thousand more, especially given the twins magical background.

Rosie had been born just three minutes before Alfie on the 22nd of September, and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she was Alfie’s ‘Big' Sister. She would often tease him about being the eldest, using it as an excuse to let him know that he should listen to what she told him. Alfie didn’t listen, of course, well, not all of the time anyway, but he always led Rosie to believe that he had.

Nanny smiled warmly as she handed the twins their lunch boxes, which they  both gratefully accepted before immediately putting them away into their small backpacks. Once happy they were safely put away, Nanny’s attention turned to Alfie’s appearance, as not only was his school tie crooked, but half of his shirt was un-tucked and laying over his trousers. She moved toward him to adjust them.

‘Look at the state of you, Alfie. You can’t go to school looking like that,’ she said, straightening his tie.

‘Sorry, Nan,’ he replied, proceeding to tuck his shirt into his trousers. ‘I was in a rush because I couldn’t find my rough book, and you know I can’t go to school without that.’

‘You did manage to find it though?’ she asked, with a degree of concern, putting the finishing touches on his tie.

‘Yes, I did,’ he replied, a relieved expression upon his face. ‘It was actually in the side pocket, which is very odd, you know, because I never, ever, put it in there.’

‘Well, as long as you have it, that is what matters,’ his Nan replied, with what appeared to be an expression of relief. ‘Your whole world is in that book, Alfie.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ he replied, nodding in full agreement.

His Nan was right. Alfie’s whole world was in that book, but not in the way that he thought. It wasn’t actually a school rough book at all, well, not in the regular sense, as it was actually an A4 sketch pad. But because everything he did in it was always a rough version, he decided to call it his rough book. Alfie’s main talent was his drawing, and he had often been told how good he was. However, his drawings only really turned out well when he was interested in what he drew. If he drew just for the sake of it then the result would invariably turn out to be quite bad indeed. Alfie would use the rough book for other things, of course, like practicing his handwriting, writing down ideas, or just jotting notes down,; pretty much anything and everything. He would use it so often, that he would go through at least one every couple of weeks.

‘So, are you both looking forward to seeing the castle?’ she asked, to which they both responded with a nod and a smile. ‘I think you shall enjoy it, and soon you shall know more than you do this day.’

With her words, Nanny placed each of her hands into the pockets of her cardigan. She pulled out two items and displayed one in each of her open palms. They were two small boxes, about the same size as a ring box, and each was wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper with stars on them.

‘Are they for us?’ asked Rosie.

‘Indeed they are,’ she smiled warmly.

Everyone loves to receive gifts, of course, but Alfie was a little curious as to why she would be giving them gifts today. It wasn’t their birthday or anything, and they both had treat enough, what with the impending trip to the local castle. He was also concerned with the cost of the gifts, knowing that his Nan didn’t have much money, and he didn’t like to think that she’d spent it all on random presents for them.

‘I don’t mean to be rude Nan, but what are they for?’ he asked, with furrowed brow.

‘Must there be a reason for me to give my two favourite people a small gift?’ she answered chirpily, knowing full well why Alfie was asking. ‘Besides, they are quite old. I’ve had them for a long time. But now, they will be of more use to you than me.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Alfie smiled contently, happy that she hadn’t spent all her money, and now, beginning to look forward to seeing what was in the boxes.

‘But, before you take them, I must ask something of you,’ she said, with a degree of seriousness, closing her hands as she pulled them away.

‘Of course Nan, what is it?’ Rosie asked.

‘Although these gifts are very old, they are very special,’ she said. ‘I’d like you both to promise me that you will not open them until after the school trip.’

The twins were baffled by their grandmother’s request, though they could both see that she was being quite serious, as the expression she wore was the very same that she would always wear when she was being very serious.

‘Will you promise me this?’ she asked, anticipating their answer.

‘Of course, Nan,’ was Alfie’s immediate reply.

‘I promise,’ added Rosie.

Nanny nodded happily. If there was one thing she was absolutely certain of, it was that the twins would always keep their word. A promise was a promise in the Tanner household, and a promise would always be honoured. She knew that they would inevitably be curious as to what was inside, especially given that she’d said they were ‘special’, but she trusted them implicitly.

‘Here you are then,’ she said, returning her arms and opening her hands. ‘Ensure they are kept safe.’

Excitedly, the twins took the presents from their Nan’s hands, thanking her as they took them. Alfie gave his a sneaky little shake, so as to try and guess what was inside, but it didn’t make a sound.

Alfie and Rosie pushed their arms right down into their backpacks, to ensure that their gift was near the bottom so as not to lose them, but not at the very bottom as they would be likely to get squashed, or even broken. They stood up, swung their backpacks gently over their shoulders, and with their Nan’s lead, they headed for the front door. She opened the door and allowed them through, before following them out. After taking a deep breath of morning air, Alfie and Rosie turned to face their Nan, as they would always give her a farewell kiss on the cheek before they would leave for school.

Alfie gave a little shudder when she kissed him because he felt the solitary tiny hair that she had on her chin brush his cheek and it really tickled. As he went to move away, she took a firm hold of his face with both of her hands, and with her serious look, she stared directly into his eyes and whispered.

‘Be brave, Alfie.’

Alfie frowned slightly, as his Nan had never said anything like that to him before, and he didn’t understand why she would today. She would on occasion tell him to be good, or to have fun, but never anything like, to be brave. ‘Why would she say something like that today?’ he thought.

‘We’re only going to the castle, Nan,’ he replied.

‘Yes, yes, I know, but – well - be brave anyway,’ she said, easing her hands from his face.

His Grandmother knew full well that Alfie wouldn’t take what she’d said seriously, but she also knew that her words would stay with him. Shaking his head slightly, Alfie took a step back to allow Rosie her goodbye kiss. Nanny placed both of her hands on Rosie’s shoulders, and kissed her on the cheek, but instead of releasing her, she pulled her a little closer, and whispered into her ear.

‘Take good care of your brother, Rosie,’ she whispered. ‘And remember, it is always good to follow your first instinct.’

Rosie gently pulled away from her Nan, and much like Alfie, she was more than a little bemused at what she had just been told. But, not wanting to offend her, she smiled.

‘Of course I will, grandma.’

‘Good.’ Nanny replied, seemingly pleased, although her voice sounded slightly choked as she continued. ‘Now then, you two, off you go.’

With her words the twins smiled, said goodbye and ambled up the garden path, closing the gate behind them. Both waved and smiled at their grandmother, before turning and heading for school. Nanny stood waving, seemingly absorbing each movement they made as they walked. Although she had appeared joyful to the twins, inside, she felt many emotions, none of which were of joy.

‘I so hope to see you both again very soon,’ she said softly to herself, knowing that the two beautiful, caring, and thoughtful children, that she was so proud of, would not be coming home.

The twins contently walked to school without the slightest inclination that this would be the last time that they would see their Nan. With North Primary only being three doors down from their house, their walk wasn’t a long one. Upon reaching the corner of the large school wall, Alfie turned and waved to his Nan one last time. Waving back, Nanny Tanner let out a sigh of discontentment at having to watch her grandchildren turn away, for what very well could be the last time. She could literally feel her heart breaking as she watched them disappear from sight. She stared at that corner of the wall for a good while before she took once last look around and headed inside.

The twins didn’t say anything to each other until they had turned into the school gates, as both were a little confused by their grandmother’s quite odd behaviour.

‘Was it just me, or was Nan acting a little bit strange this morning?’ Alfie asked.

‘I thought that.’ Rosie replied. ‘She told me that it’s always good to follow my first instinct.’

‘That’s nothing, she told me to be brave. What am I supposed to be brave about? We’re only going to the castle.’

Rosie thought for a moment. ‘You don’t think she’s -’

‘I don’t think she’s what?’ Alfie quizzed.

‘Well, you know how when people get older they start to go a bit, well, strange. You don’t think Nan is going that way do you?’

‘Blimey, I hope not,’ answered a now concerned Alfie, his eyebrows raised.

‘Me neither,’ said Rosie, dismissing even the notion. ‘Oh, it’s probably nothing. She’s probably just having a funny half hour that’s all.’

Alfie nodded, but as they continued, both he and Rosie were obviously concerned that their Nan may indeed be going senile, with each wondering what they would do if she actually were. Alfie didn’t like the thought of his Nan being unwell, so he used the topic of the gifts she’d given them to divert their attention from it.

‘So, what do you think are in the presents she gave us?’

‘Who knows?’ Rosie replied. ‘But we did promise not to open them until after the trip, so I don’t think we should open them until then.’

‘Oh, I don’t want to open them.’ Alfie stressed. ‘I just can’t help wondering what they are that’s all, because she said they were ‘special’ presents.’

‘Well, we’ll find out soon enough, I suppose,’ said Rosie ‘Anyway, I actually quite like having something to look forward to.’

Alfie thought before he responded. ‘Yeah, I suppose I do too really.’

A brief feeling of excitement ran through each of them thinking about the presents, and what may be inside, as they walked around the side of the school building, past the school’s entrance, and into the playground that sat behind it.

The North primary school playground was large and was mostly laid with concrete, with white and yellow markings outlining a netball court, tennis courts and a rounders pitch. A group of girls played netball, another group hopscotch, and there were many groups of twos and threes scattered throughout, that were just talking, playing games or simply messing around. A basketball hoop hung on a wall to the playground’s right. Next to that on the wall, to its right, was a painted outline of goal posts. Beyond in the far right corner was a grassed area just large enough to hold the school football pitch, where a group of boys were playing in one of the goals. The grass they played on was every bit as green as it would be on a professional football pitch, and so it had obviously been well kept by the school caretaker.

There seemed to be a very good atmosphere at North primary today, with many of the pupils clearly excited to be going on the school trip. School trips didn’t happen all that often due to the school's limited budget, so today’s trip to the castle was indeed something to be excited about.

The twins hadn’t been in the playground long when Rosie’s best friend Emma came running up to them. Emma Runwald was a very pretty girl, who always looked extremely fresh faced, was very well presented, and had the most adorable warming smile. Emma was exactly the same height as Rosie and was born just seven days after her. She had long brown hair which fell a little way past her shoulders and was worn up on its left side, held in place by a hair clip; today’s clip was of a small white flower.

Emma and Rosie had been best friends since nursery school and had so much in common. Sometimes in life you meet people that you just can’t help but get on well with, and Emma was someone with whom Rosie instantly clicked from the very first moment they’d met. They had very similar personalities, shared the same love of music; especially 80’s music. Both loved to dress up, loved to shop, and both simply adored animals; especially rabbits. Rosie didn’t have a rabbit, but Emma had a doe called Guzuntight. Emma looked overwhelmed with excitement as she dropped her backpack, which was identical to Rosie’s, to the ground.

‘She’s had them Rosie, she’s had them!’ she said joyfully, her face beaming from ear to ear.

‘Oh, that’s brilliant Em, how many?’

Emma’s glanced shyly at Alfie before answering.

‘Hi, Alfie,’ she said, her head tilting down in a shy manner.

‘Hi, Emma,’ he replied, in oddly the same shy manner that she had asked the question.

Alfie and Emma were quite fond of each other though neither had the courage to admit it. They would normally be fine in each other’s company, but every now and then they had bouts of shyness, which often happened when they hadn’t seen each other for a while.

‘EMMA! How many?’ Rosie asked firmly.

‘Oh. Sorry. Four, she had four,’ she answered, her enthusiasm returning at quick speed. ‘They’re all just so adorable.’

‘Four? Wow, one more than you had hoped for.’ Rosie answered, overwhelmingly happy for her. ‘That’s fantastic Em!’

‘Isn’t it just?’ Emma replied, as chuffed as she could be. ‘Do you still want one?’

‘I’d love one if it’s still okay.’ Rosie answered, with a smile and a nod.

‘Of course, it’s still okay, silly.’ Emma chirpily stressed. ‘They can’t be separated from their mother too soon of course, but when they are allowed, you can take your favourite home.’

‘What are you two going on about?’ asked Alfie, feeling a little left out of the conversation.

‘Emma’s rabbit Guzuntight had four kittens last night.’ Rosie explained.

‘Oh, okay.’ Alfie answered. ‘Hang on, kittens? What’s a rabbit doing having kittens?’

‘Baby rabbit’s are called kittens. Surely you knew that?’ Rosie chuckled.

‘No, I didn’t, no,’ he answered, turning down the corners of his mouth and shaking his head lightly. ‘Well, you learn something new every day I suppose. Congratulations, Emma.’

‘Thanks,’ she answered, with the biggest and proudest of smiles.

‘Why did you call your rabbit Guzuntight then?’ he asked. ‘That’s a bit of an odd name for a rabbit isn’t it?’

‘Well, because she sneezes a lot.’ Emma answered.

‘Oh, right, then that would make sense, I suppose,’ he smiled. Emma returned the smile.

Alfie then began to scour the playground in an attempt to see his best friend Billy Shaw, leaving the girls to chat. Whilst he still looked, he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t see Billy, as Billy never got to school before Alfie. In fact, he rarely got to school before anyone.

‘So what’s new with you Rosie?’ Emma inquired.

‘Not much really.’ Rosie answered somberly. ‘Oh, except for Nan giving us both a present this morning.’

‘Oh really, what was it?’

‘Oh, we don’t know yet, she made us promise not to open them until after the school trip.’ Rosie explained.

‘Why after? That’s a bit weird isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, it is a little.’ Rosie confirmed, but not wanting to make her grandmother appear eccentric, she quickly diverted the conversation.

‘So, I’m quite excited about the castle, are you?’

‘Yes, yes I am.’ Emma replied, with a joyful tone. ‘It’ll be the first time I’ve ever been. I’ve always wanted to go, but never have. Mum told me that there is so much to see. Have you ever been?’

‘I think so, I don’t know. We have, haven’t we Alfie?’ she answered, glancing down at her brother for confirmation, who was busy checking to make sure his gift was still where he’d put it.

‘I know I haven’t,’ he answered, rising to his feet, and then pulling a piece of thread off his blazer that had caught his eye. ‘I don’t ever remembering visiting a castle, so if you’ve been, I must have been ill or something.’

No sooner had the words left Alfie’s mouth, when he felt a huge shove in his back that sent him tumbling forward at great speed. He tried desperately to regain some balance to stay on his feet, but he couldn’t, and fell down hard on the concrete. Luckily he had managed to put his hands out in front of him, and so was able to stop his face from hitting the ground. His hands and his left knee took the brunt of the fall.

‘Oh, my stars!’ cried Emma, as both she and Rosie ran to Alfie.

‘Are you alright?’ Rosie asked, clearly very concerned.

‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll live,’ he replied, clambering to his feet and brushing himself down.

‘Well, if it isn’t Alfie Tanner,’ said a menacing voice. ‘Did you fall over little Alfie Tanner? Aw, did you hurt yourself?’

‘Oh, shut up Benson!’ Alfie snapped angrily.

‘Charlie Benson,’ said Rosie knowingly, ‘I might have known it was you.’

There, standing as bold as brass, with his invariable menacing look, was the school bully Charlie Benson. His ‘Gang’, of three blonde haired kids standing behind him, who were all pointing and laughing at Alfie.

Charlie was one of the youngest in the year but was very much the tallest, standing quite a bit taller than the average boy of ten. He was a plump, scruffy looking kid, who would hit you and steal your dinner money just as soon as look at you. He had short dark and scruffy, almost curly hair, wore his tie just dangling loose around his neck like a scarf, and wore trousers that were far too long for him, so much so that they stretched over the back of his shoes, and would drag on the floor, leaving the heels with ragged looking strands.

Charlie’s gang were no smarter in appearance. Adrian Baker, Nick Grimms and Paul Roper, all had the same shoulder length un-brushed blonde hair; all were roughly as tall as one another, and were so similar from a distance that they could barely be told apart. Their faces, however, were entirely different. Nick Grimms had the largest of noses, which had a slight hook shape to it, that didn’t flatter its size at all. Adrian Baker had a large birthmark on his chin which was shaped a little bit like a duck. Paul Roper, however, was the exception, as there was nothing particularly extraordinary about him, although he did have a slight stammer when he spoke, which his supposed ‘Friends’ all made fun of. None of Charlie’s gang really liked Charlie or each other too much, they really only followed him around so they wouldn’t be picked on themselves, thinking that it was much better to be with the bully than be bullied by them.

‘Yeah, it’s me,’ Charlie said sarcastically, walking toward them, his gang close behind. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

‘Why don’t you just go away and leave us alone?’ Rosie snapped.

‘And why don’t you make me Rosie Tanner?’ Charlie replied, stopping and puffing his chest out, as if to emphasise just how tough he was.

‘Oh, that would be just like you wouldn’t it?’ said Rosie sarcastically. ‘I wouldn’t put it past you to hit a girl.’

Charlie smirked. ‘Nah, I wouldn’t hit a girl, especially one that was going to be my girlfriend soon.’

‘HA! IN YOUR DREAMS, CHARLIE!’ Rosie scoffed. ‘I wouldn’t be your girlfriend if you paid me.’

Rosie’s words had made Charlie’s minions, Adrian, Nick and Paul, snigger. They all covered their mouths so as not to laugh out loud, but Charlie had already heard them and had swiftly turned to stare menacingly at them, focusing his immediate attention on Adrian Baker.

‘What are you laughing at Conk?’ he angrily snapped, before slapping him around the head.

‘Nothing Charlie,’ replied Adrian, pulling his neck inward so as not to be hit again.

Charlie then focused his attention on Paul Roper, looking down at him angrily.

‘And you, you think it’s funny too, do you Stutter?’

‘N–n−no Ch–Ch–Charlie,’ stammered Paul.

‘You better not.’ Charlie sneered, slapping him around the head.

‘Oh come on, let’s just leave them to it,’ urged Emma.

Rosie shook her head and simply raised her eyebrows at Charlie’s idiotic behaviour. This kind of behaviour was not out of character for Charlie Benson, as this was what he was like most of the time.

‘With pleasure,’ said Rosie.

Rosie, Emma and Alfie strolled away, leaving Charlie to continue being an idiot to his gang. They headed over to the playing field where the boys were playing football, in readiness for the school bell. As they walked, Alfie brushed down his clothes and was checking to see if he had ruined any of them.

‘Oh great,’ he sighed.

‘What’s wrong?’ Rosie asked.

‘I’ve got a hole in my trousers. LOOK,’ was his frustrated reply.

Alfie pointed to a reasonably large hole in the left knee of his trousers, poking his finger into it, and rolling it around, as if to emphasise how big the hole was. His knee had gone quite white, with a few spots of blood on it, where it had grazed. Alfie didn’t seem particularly bothered by the condition of his knee, he much more concerned with the hole.

‘One day I’m going to get that Benson back you know,’ he said. ‘That’s the second pair of trousers he’s made me get a hole in.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about him, Alfie.’ Emma replied. ‘Bullies always get their comeuppance in the end.’

‘Then let’s hope he does,’ he said, staring over at Charlie, who was still bullying his own gang.

Alfie continued to play with his newly formed hole, attempting very much in vain to repair the damage, when the school bell started ringing.

Looking over, they saw the familiar sight of Mr. Barley walking toward them, ringing the playground bell as he would most mornings. The bell indicated that school was starting, informing everyone to get to their classes for registration. But today was a school trip day for year 6, so today, having finished ringing the bell, Mr. Barley yelled in a loud clear voice.

‘Year 6. Registration will be taken in the playground for you this morning. Do NOT go inside. Please assume the usual positions, as you would for the fire bell.’

Mr. Barley repeated this a couple of times though he didn’t need to tell year 6 this, as this was always the procedure when there was a school trip. Although it had been some time since the last trip, so it was highly possible that some may have forgotten.

Mr. Barley was one of the oldest teachers at the school. He had a quite wrinkly, but very friendly face. He also had a bald head, but for a few hairs that sprouted through randomly, with quite a good bit of grey hair on the sides. He was Alfie’s favourite teacher by far, and Alfie would always look forward to his classes.

Mr. Barley was someone who loved his job as a teacher. He would do all he could to not only help the children learn, but to help them learn in a fun way. He’d always thought that if the pupils were having fun whilst they learnt, then they would be more likely to absorb the things he’d taught them. He wasn’t wrong either, as everyone loved Mr. Barley, and most would hang onto his every word when he spoke.

Being versatile Mr. Barley taught a host of subjects, but his areas of expertise were history and sports, predominantly in charge of the school football and rounders teams. Mr. Barley also had a quite remarkable hobby, in that he would take old tatty looking stones and polish them to make them look like new; resulting in making them almost look like jewels. He would sell the polished stones at the school fete for much less than the beauty and time he’d spent on each deserved. Sometimes, he would even just give the stones away, especially if he saw that someone really liked them, or if he knew that they were unable to afford to buy them. He enjoyed his stone polishing hobby immensely and sharing them was just reward for his efforts. Alfie simply loved the stones and had accumulated quite a few of them over the years, some of which he’d bought for pennies, and some that Mr. Barley had given him because he had seen the look on Alfie’s face when he showed them to him.

As all the other years headed to their classes, year 6 assumed the position they normally would for a school trip, or a fire bell, which was on the playing field facing the school in three lines. Each line was represented by the house they were in. North Primary had three houses, Abbeygate, Priory and Castle. Alfie and Rosie were both in Castle whilst Emma was in Abbeygate.

‘See you on the coach, Rosie,’ said Emma, easing over to the Abbeygate line.

‘Okay, save me a seat,’ she answered. Emma nodded.

Whilst standing in the Castle house line in front of Rosie, Alfie again looked for his best friend Billy, who would have been in the Priory line. He still couldn’t see him as he still hadn’t arrived. Alfie and Billy Shaw had been best friends ever since they’d met, when Billy came to the school a year after Alfie and Rosie.

Billy was the youngest of the four having been born on the 12th of November. He was a jovial character, who always looked to make light of everything, especially when he was nervous. He would often crack a joke, or come out with some witty comment. This wasn’t always a good thing though, as sometimes his comment would be at the wrong moment, or at the wrong person, and he would often be reprimanded by teachers, and sometimes, even sent to the headmaster for being sarcastic or cheeky, or just because he had disrupted the class.

Billy had helped Alfie to come out of his shell quite a bit over the years. He had always been a reasonably quiet boy, but since they’d become friends, Alfie had become much more talkative, and carefree, and like Billy, would make the occasional smart, or witty, comment. Alfie wasn’t nearly as quick witted, or as sharp as Billy, but he did try, and at times they could both be very funny indeed. The one thing that always made Alfie laugh, was how Billy would often come out with a bizarre phrase, or saying, something that was clearly pinched from his father, who was a Londoner judging by the things Billy would come out with. Although, half the time Billy didn’t even know what the phrases meant, he just used them in the same context as he’d witnessed his father use them.

Being late for school wasn’t a strange occurrence for Billy, not by any means, as he was late for school almost on a daily basis. In fact, he was late so often, that he’d accrued the nickname, Keeper, in reference to him being a bad timekeeper.

‘He’s not here yet then?’ Rosie asked.

‘No. Not yet.’ Alfie replied, still looking just to be sure. ‘I hope he makes it today, though because he was looking forward to this. Of all the days to be late, I didn’t think he’d be late today.’

‘Can I have everyone’s attention please?’ cried Mr. Barley, in a deep, firm voice.

Mr. Barley stood in front of the three house lines and had been joined by two female teachers. Miss Cook, a reasonably young teacher with long brown hair, and Mrs West, who was much older, with grey hair styled in a bun, and who wore the biggest spectacles ever. No-one had heard Mr. Barley, as they were all too busy talking and being excited about the trip, so this time he would make sure that he would be heard.

‘BE QUIET!’ he bellowed.

Mr Barley’s voice was so loud that he instantly grabbed year 6’s attention, had them falling to an immediate silence and facing the front in regimental fashion.

‘Good,’ he said. ‘When I call out your name, I’d like you all to answer ‘Here’ in a loud, clear voice.’

Mr Barley cleared his throat and then proceeded to go through the register, calling out the names of the pupils in alphabetical order, with each answering ‘Here’ at the top of their voice when their name had been called. A loud whisper called from the Priory house line, which was next to Castle.

‘Oi, Tanner.’

Both Alfie and Rosie turned around to see who had called. A little way back in the Priory line, leaning out slightly so you could see his head and one of his shoulders, was Charlie Benson. He stared directly and menacingly at Alfie.

‘I’m going to get you later Tanner,’ he sneered.

By this point, Alfie was getting pretty annoyed at all of the constant bullying and was at the point where he felt he just couldn’t take any more.

‘Oh, you are, are you?’ he grinned, continuing in an uncaring tone and pointing to his own face. ‘Does this face look like it cares, Benson? Do your worst.’

‘Ooh, look who’s the tough boy now.’ Charlie sarcastically replied. ‘We’ll see just how tough you are later, Tanner.’

‘Yeah, yeah. I’ll look forward to it.’ Alfie replied, before turning his back, which frustrated the bully immensely.

Slightly shaking, due to both nerves and anger, Alfie couldn’t quite believe that he’d just confronted Charlie, and that he;d given him another excuse to be bullied by him. But after so much bullying, Alfie had become extremely frustrated and tired, and was of course still upset about the hole in the knee of his trousers, knowing that his Nan would have to either fix it, or buy him a new pair, which he knew she probably wouldn’t be able to afford.

‘Just ignore him,’ said Rosie.

‘Yeah, I am,’ he replied.

Mr. Barley continued to call out everyone’s name from the register, and then he came to Billy’s name.

‘Billy Shaw,’ he called.

There was no reply, so Mr. Barley looked up and raised his voice.

‘BILLY SHAW.’ He paused briefly in the hope of a response. ‘No? No Billy today then?’

At that very moment, a faint voice could be heard at a distance from behind the teachers.

‘I’M HERE SIR. I’M HERE,’ was the cry.

A voice called out from one of the lines. ‘Here he is, late as usual.’

Mr. Barley, Miss Cook and Mrs West, all turned to see what the commotion was. They were greeted by the sight of Billy Shaw running frantically, and quite awkwardly, toward them. Billy stumbled as he ran due to attempting to do up his school tie, and also because his favourite Arsenal bag constantly banged into his legs, due to it repeatedly slipping off his shoulder as he ran.

‘Sor ─ Sor ─ Sorry I’m late,’ he panted.

Billy was extremely out of breath as he stood in front of the teachers, so much so that he was barely able to talk. The fringe, and sides of his shoulder length, dark, scruffy, brown hair, stuck to his face as he was so hot and sweaty, and the corner of his brown eyes still had little bits of sleep around them, which he brushed away as he tried to explain why he was late.

‘My dog ─ got out ─ and, I ─, I ─ couldn’t catch him.’

‘Well, you’re here now, Billy, that’s the important thing. Now go and join your house.’ Mr. Barley replied, shaking his head in disbelief at Billy’s excuse, and constant lateness. But Mr. Barley liked Billy, so he still managed to give a wry smile.

A still out of breath, Billy, then made his way to the back of the Priory line. Mr. Barley continued to call out the register. As he called out the remaining names, the school coach drove into the playground, and it was greeted with a huge cheer from the pupils. Mr. Barley shouted firmly once more.

‘HUSH NOW!’ he said. ‘If I don’t get this register finished, no-one will be going anywhere.’

His words silenced everyone instantly, all desperate for him to finish so that they could leave for the castle. The coach drove to the left of the playground, and the onlooking year 6 watched as it parked.

‘Juliette Willis?’

‘Here!’ was the cry from the Abbeygate line.

‘Zoe Zuckerman?’

‘Here!’ also from Abbeygate, but from much further back.

Mr Barley closed the registration book and passed it to Miss Cook. Placing his pen into the top pocket of his brown suit jacket he addressed year 6.

‘Right then. I would like Abbeygate to make their way onto the coach in single file. Then I’d like Priory to follow behind the last person, with Castle following in the same orderly fashion behind the last person in Priory. I do not want anyone pushing. There is plenty of room for everyone, so there’s no need for a mass rush.’

Heeding his firm words, Abbeygate headed to the bus in single file, with Priory and then Castle following in the same orderly manner.

CHAPTER TWO

The Book With No Name

The driver of the coach was a scruffy looking fellow, with long greasy hair and very few teeth. He sat facing forward and looking out of the windscreen as Alfie got on. He then turned and grinned at Alfie, but his grin soon turned into a quite menacing look. Alfie instinctively smiled at the driver, though he couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable with his quite shabby appearance and his now strange expression. He eased past him awkwardly, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible. Looking up the coach, Alfie spotted Billy instantly. He was almost halfway up on the right of the coach, sat next to the window, and was holding onto the back of the seat in front of him. He waved furiously at Alfie, with a large grin on his face, and so Alfie eagerly made his way up the coach to join his best friend. Just as he was about to sit down, he noticed Emma, just two seats back. They exchanged an awkward smile before Alfie plonked himself down next to Billy.

‘Late again, then Keeper,’ he said. ‘Are you ever on time?’‘I don’t think so,’ beamed Billy, shaking his head.

‘So what was it this time? A large albatross steal your shoe or something?’ Alfie quipped.

‘Nah, I was up most of the night reading a really good book, and I didn’t get to sleep until about 3 o’clock,’ he explained. ‘I had so much trouble waking up this morning I can tell you. I’m still a bit tired now if I’m honest.’

Alfie stared at Billy blankly.

‘3 o’clock? That must have been some book,’ he said. ‘I know I couldn’t stay up until three in the morning reading, I’d never be able to keep my eyes open. What was this book about then?’

‘Oh, it was brilliant, Alfie.’ Billy answered, with so much excitement he could barely get the words out. ‘It had all these really great characters, and it had dragons, giants, big sea creatures, and lots of magic. It had –.’

Billy paused briefly, squinting as he thought.

‘It had what?’ Alfie asked eagerly.

‘Well, I was going to say it had everything, which it did, except – well −.’

‘Except what?’ Alfie frustratingly quizzed.

‘Except for an ending,’ he answered, with a somewhat furrowed brow.

Alfie responded with a not dissimilar look. ‘What do you mean it didn’t have an ending? Every book has an ending.’

‘Actually, that’s just it, there wasn’t really an ending,’ said Billy. ‘I did think it was a little bit odd at the time, but because I was so tired and relieved that I’d actually finished it, I didn’t even worry about there not being one. It is a bit weird now that I think about it though.’

‘I’m not sure I want to read a book that doesn’t have an ending Billy, what would be the point?’ Alfie laughed.

‘Oh, you have to read it.’ Billy urged. ‘It’s excellent, even without an ending. It’s written a bit like a diary, and you can almost feel yourself travelling with the writer.’

‘Okay, well, I don’t suppose there’d be any harm in it. What’s this book called then?’

‘Oh, it doesn’t have a name.’ Billy replied nonchalantly.

‘What?’ Alfie questioned. ‘Okay, so first the book has no ending, and now it doesn’t even have a name? Are you sure it’s actually a book Billy?’

‘Of course, it’s a book,’ laughed Billy.

‘So, do you want to tell me how I’m supposed to find a book that doesn’t have a name then?’

‘You don’t need to buy it, I have it right here, hold on.’ Billy replied, rummaging through his bag, before soon producing the book.

‘It’s a bit tatty,’ he said, handing it to Alfie.

‘Blimey, isn’t it just?’ he said, taking hold of it, and then reaching into the inside pocket of his school blazer to get his reading glasses.

Alfie’s glasses were not very fashionable at all, and were not too dissimilar to a pair that legendary actor Sir Michael Caine would have worn in his early days. But whilst they may not have been fashionable by today’s standards, Alfie liked them, and when he put them on, they actually quite suited him. Now that he was able to see clearly, he inspected the book further.

The book looked very old, and as Billy had stated, it had no title. The book had a black cover, and the top right corner was rounded. The only thing on the front was a heptagon shape that had the letter ‘N’ in the very middle, which looked as though it had been scratched on rather than printed. Alfie flicked through the pages briefly, which were old, worn, and were a quite yellowish in colour.

‘Cheers, I’ll give that a read,’ said Alfie, taking off his glasses and putting them away.

Leaning forward to put the book into his backpack, Alfie was caught a little bit by surprise when everybody on the coach roared with cheer. They were all ecstatic because the coach had started to move and they were now on their way to the castle.

Mr Barley, who was sitting at the front of the coach, glanced up to the back. He spotted Charlie Benson messing about, and it appeared that he was jumping on top of one of the pupils.

‘BENSON!’ he bellowed. ‘Come down here this instant! You can come and sit pride of place next to me.’

Charlie didn’t look happy at all and muttered something under his breath as he made his way toward the front of the coach. Alfie was still rummaging around in his backpack as Charlie passed. He just couldn’t help himself.

‘That’s it Charlie, you be a good boy and go sit with teacher,’ he quipped.

His comment instantly made Billy laugh, but Charlie obviously didn’t find it funny at all, because he swiftly turned around and with a face like thunder, began to make his way back to Alfie.

‘BENSON! I won’t tell you again,’ shouted Mr. Barley.

After giving Alfie the evilest of looks, which Alfie returned with a sneer of his nose, Charlie reluctantly turned and headed to the front of the coach to sit with Mr. Barley.

‘Blimey, that was a bit dangerous wasn’t it?’ said Billy, quite shocked at Alfie’s behaviour, having never seen him like that before. ‘You do know Charlie’s going to sort you out now don’t you?’

Alfie laughed at Billy’s choice of words. ‘Sort me out?’

‘Yeah, you know, get you.’

‘It’s alright, Billy. I’m not worried about him.’

‘You’re not?’ said Billy. ‘Blimey, I would be. I wouldn’t want Charlie Benson knocking me into next week.’

‘But I thought you wanted to be a time traveller,’ said Alfie, looking up.

‘Not that sort of a time traveller thanks,’ said Billy, with a raised brow.

Alfie glanced up again, shrugged his shoulders, and continued to rummage through his backpack, checking again to see if his gift was still there. It was, and so he then produced his lunch box.

‘I’m starving,’ he said, placing the box on his lap. ‘I skipped breakfast this morning.’

Alfie opened it, took out a silver foiled roll for himself, and then offered the lunch box to Billy.

‘Do you want a ham roll?’

‘Yeah, not arf. Ta.’ Billy replied enthusiastically, staring hungrily into the lunch box, before taking out one of the two ham rolls that remained. ‘I didn’t have any breakfast either, and because I was late, I rushed out without picking up my lunch. I don’t even have any money to buy anything. Well, I’ve got 78p, but that won’t get me far.’

As Billy took the roll something in the box caught his eye.

‘What’s that then?’ he enquired, pointing at the heptagon shaped object.

Alfie glanced into the box. ‘Well, Billy, they’re what we call minstrels,’ he said, turning back and smiling. ‘You really didn’t get much sleep last night, did you?’

‘No. Not the minstrels, you doughnut. I know what minstrels are.’ Billy replied, pointing to the small piece of heptagon that was showing from underneath them. ‘The black thingy under the minstrels, look.’

Alfie moved the packet of minstrels to one side to reveal the heptagon shaped object that his grandmother had put in.

‘What on earth is this?’ he asked, picking it up.

‘No idea,’ said Billy, noticing something. ‘Hang on, isn’t that? Yeah, it is. Alfie, get the book out.’

‘What book?’ Alfie quizzed, unsure of what book Billy was on about.

‘Blimey.’ Billy sighed. ‘The book I just gave you, of course. And hand me that black thingy for a sec.’

Alfie handed the heptagon to Billy and then reached into his backpack to get the book. He placed the book on his lap, and once again, got his reading glasses from his blazer pocket. As he was putting them on, Billy snatched the book from his lap and held it side by side with the heptagon.

‘There, you see. It is. I thought it was,’ said an excited Billy.

‘It was what?’ asked Alfie.

‘The same shape, look,’ said Billy. ‘This thing is identical to the shape on the book, and it even has the same letter. Are you sure that YOU got enough sleep last night?’

Billy placed the heptagon shape on top of the carved one on the books cover, and it fitted perfectly. A fit so precise, that it was almost as though someone had traced around it.

‘See.’

‘Oh yeah,’ said Alfie, a slight look of amazement upon his face.

‘What are the chances of that?’ Billy asked, handing them both back to Alfie. ‘And I wonder what that letter N means?’

‘That is pretty odd.’ Alfie responded, holding the book and the heptagon side by side.

He then placed the book back down on his lap, so that he could take a closer look at the stone heptagon. He scratched it with his fingernail to try and work out what it was made of. He then turned it over.

‘Look Billy, there’s an ‘O’ on the other side.’

‘An N and an O, spelling the word ‘NO’,’ said Billy. ‘Spooky dooky.’

‘Or it could be ‘ON’.’ Alfie reasoned.

‘Yes, it could be, but that’s not quite as spooky is it? So shall we just go with NO?’ Billy winked at his best friend with a mischievous grin.

‘NO, it is then.’ Alfie agreed, giving a gentle shrug and grinning back.

Alfie continued to inspect the stone heptagon for a while, occasionally running his forefinger over the grooved lettering on either side. He was totally flummoxed as to what this strange thing could be, but even more so, at how it could have found its way into his lunch box.

Shrugging his shoulders once more, he put the heptagon into the top pocket of his blazer, took his glasses off and put those away, then finally put the book back into his backpack. Once everything was in its rightful place and he was settled, he unwrapped his ham roll from its aluminium foil and began to eat it. Billy was already tucking into his and was merrily chomping away.

‘You know.’ Billy muffled, placing a large portion of the roll to the side of his cheek. ‘This roll is REALLY good.’

‘My Nan makes them.’ Alfie replied. ‘I love them.’

Billy nodded his head in total agreement.

‘Hmm,’ he muttered. ‘It doesn’t taste like a normal ham roll though. It’s got a kind of nice tangy taste.’

‘Yeah, Nan puts some seasoning in them, or something,’ said Alfie. ‘It makes them taste much better I think.’

‘Hmm,’ said Billy, nodding in agreement.

Both then sat quietly eating, with Billy occasionally looking out of the coach window. Behind them, Rosie and Emma were at the tail end of their conversation, about boys.

‘There has to be someone you like.’ Rosie asked. ‘What about Gavin Henderson?’

‘Ooh no!’ said Emma, screwing up her face. ‘Gavin always smells of garlic. It’s really awful. I think he may be afraid of vampires or something.’

Rosie looked at Emma and let out a little snigger, which prompted Emma to follow suit by also letting out a snigger of her own. The more they looked and sniggered at each other the funnier they seemed to find it, and before they knew it they were both in a fit of laughter. Their laughter had soon become quite loud, and a lot of the kids on the coach began to look at them, which somehow seemed to make it even funnier; especially when they heard Gavin Henderson shout something to his friend that was sitting opposite him a little further up. Hearing the girls and being the inquisitive chap he was, Billy turned around in his seat so that he was on his knees facing the girls.

‘Come on then, what are you two laughing at?’ he asked, before placing the last of the roll into his mouth.

It took Rosie a while to respond because she was laughing so much.

‘Oh, nothing!’ she replied, before bursting into another fit of laughter.

The more Rosie laughed the more Emma laughed, and soon, tears began to stream down both of their faces. Alfie turned around in his seat, and with his half eaten roll in hand, he positioned himself on his knees facing the girls, just like Billy. He smiled as he looked at them both laughing hard; their eyes red from all the tears.

‘Come on, tell us. What’s so funny?’ Billy urged.

‘Nothing.’ Rosie answered, in a high-pitched voice, barely able to actually get the words out she was laughing so much. ‘It wasn’t even fangy anyway. Funny! It wasn’t even funny.’

Rosie’s response made Emma laugh out so loud that everyone on the coach turned to look at her, Gavin Henderson included, but she was laughing too much to care. Shaking his head, Billy turned to Alfie and raised his eyebrows in a pitiful way.

‘Girls, I’ll never understand them,’ he puffed, and then turning around and sitting back down to face the front.

‘Me neither.’ Alfie agreed, as he also turned around, directly after he’d taken a quick, almost adoring glance at Emma.

‘Oh,’ said Billy, realising something. He reached down into his bag and produced a green mesh bag filled with china marbles. ‘I got these are for you.’

‘What are these?’ Alfie asked, taking the bag.

‘They’re giant spiders Alfie, be careful, they bite,’ was Billy’s swift response, seemingly, to get his best friend back for the earlier minstrels gag.

‘Very funny,’ said Alfie. ‘Of course I know they’re marbles, but why are you giving them to me?’

‘The other day you said you thought you were losing your marbles, so I got you some replacements.’

‘That’s not quite what I meant by that phrase, though, Billy.’

‘I know.’ Billy smiled. ‘Nah, I picked a whole bunch up at that cheap shop in town and thought you might like a bag.’

‘Oh, right,’ said Alfie. ‘Thanks for that.’

Billy nodded his head once to acknowledge Alfie’s gratitude. Alfie had just begun to put the marbles away, when there was another loud cheer from everyone on the coach. Billy looked out of the window to see that they were passing through the castle gates.

‘We’re here, then,’ he said. ‘I hope it’s as good as people say it is.’

‘I’m sure it will be,’ said Alfie, leaning over Billy to get a good look himself.

The coach came to a brief halt, and then began to reverse. The noise of the coach’s reversing lights barely audible with all the noise and cheers everyone was making. Mr. Barley stood up at the front of the coach, and in a loud, clear voice, he addressed year 6.

‘Settle down everyone,’ he said, waving his arms up and down. ‘QUIET!’

Mr Barley waited briefly for the noise to subside. He placed a hand on the top of the seats either side of the coach aisle and continued.

‘I want us all to stay together on this trip. I don’t want any of you wandering off and getting yourselves lost. It’s a very big castle and it would be easy, so please make sure that you stay together at all times. Is that clear?’

The coach came to a halt, and year 6’s attention was more focused on the castle than it was Mr. Barley. A slight rumbling and a staggered ‘Yes, sir,’ was their response.

‘I said. IS THAT CLEAR?’

‘YES, SIR’ said all but a few of year 6, this time much louder, and with much more enthusiasm.

‘That’s more like it,’ said Mr. Barley before continuing. ‘If someone should actually be silly enough to get themselves lost, and they cannot find the rest of the group, I suggest that they are back at the coach by 2:30pm at the very latest. Is that also clear?’

Year 6 responded with another loud ‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good. Now then, start making your way off in an ORDERLY fashion,’ he said, making his way down the steps of the coach, so that he was first off, and could be outside to count them as they got off.

Everyone stood up, gathered their belongings and made their way off the coach. Charlie Benson’s gang came from the back of the coach and were pushing through everyone, knocking a few kids over as they made their way down to meet up with Charlie. Alfie turned and raised his eyebrows at his best friend as the gang passed them. Alfie and Billy then made their way down the coach, down the few steps, and onto the gravel ground. They both looked up at the castle.

‘WOW!’ gasped Alfie. ‘It’s much bigger than I thought it would be.’

‘Blimey, that is BIG.’ Billy agreed. ‘Now I know what Mr. Barley was going on about now, someone could get seriously lost in there.’

The castle truly was a magnificent sight, with its hundred feet high walls, two hundred foot width, its arched windows, decorative stone cladding, rounded, protruding towers on each of its corners, and its long, permanently lowered drawbridge, that crossed the large watery moat below. The four floored castle was over a thousand years old and had been erected using a mixture of different types of stone and burgundy coloured roman roof tiles; the mixture of colours merely adding to its character and magnificence. Oddly, a lone sycamore tree sat at the very top of the left tower, and legend would have it that when the tree died, the castle itself would fall.

Still looking around in awe, Alfie and Billy made their way over to the left of the grounds main gate, where Mr. Barley had assembled year 6. They were soon joined by the girls. Rosie and Emma’s faces were still quite red, and their eyes looked a little bloodshot from all of their laughter, and although Billy had dismissed it earlier, he was still curious.

‘Now that you two have calmed down a bit, what were you laughing at?’

‘I told you Billy, it was nothing.’ Rosie answered, before turning and smiling at Emma.

‘Don’t!’ Emma said, with a grin and a shake of the head. ‘You’ll start me off again.’

Mr. Barley had finished briefing Miss Cook and Mrs West, and once more would address year 6.

‘Okay, remember everyone, stay together. If you do manage to lose the rest of the group, look for a castle guard, and they will help you to rejoin us. If you are unable to find a guard, remember to be here at the coach no later than 2:30pm,’ he said. ‘BUT, I do not expect ANY of you to wander off. Do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes, sir,’ they grumbled.

‘Good, then follow me,’ he said, leading an excited Year 6 over the castle drawbridge, to its arched entrance.

CHAPTER THREE

The Castles Secret

Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma made their way over the drawbridge. They had only taken a few steps when Alfie and Rosie both stopped dead in their tracks.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Emma, placing her hand on Rosie’s elbow.

Rosie and Alfie looked at each other, and both appeared to be a little startled. A quite strange sensation had run through their entire bodies, which immediately gave them both goosebumps. This was a feeling unlike any they had ever experienced.

‘Did you feel that too?’ Rosie asked.

Alfie raised his eyebrows and nodded. ‘Uh-huh.’

‘I didn’t feel anything,’ said Billy. ‘Did you Emma?’

‘No.’ Emma replied, with a slight shake of her head.

‘What sort of feeling was it?’ asked Billy.

‘I don’t know.’ Alfie replied as he lifted his sleeve to see the tiny hairs on his arms sticking up.

‘Well, what did it feel like?’ asked Billy.

‘It’s hard to describe really,’ said Alfie, whose face now bore a deep frown, as he tried to think of a way of describing it. ‘It was a bit like. Well. You know that cold shiver feeling that you get when you feel as though someone had just walked over your grave?’

‘Yeah,’

‘Well, it was a bit like that, except… Well. It wasn’t a cold shiver. It actually felt quite warm. It was quite nice actually. Is that what you felt Rosie?’

‘That’s exactly what I felt,’ she answered. ‘It was really weird.’

Billy gave Emma an odd look as if to suggest both Alfie and Rosie were going mad.

‘I’ll tell you what is weird. You two are weird,’ he said, easing toward the castle’s main gate. ‘Come on, I want to have a look around this place.’

Alfie glanced at Rosie, and then at the castle. Continuing, he muttered to himself as he walked. ‘This is turning into a really strange day.’

Mr. Barley was inside the castle authorising access for everyone, so all of year 6 had to wait to enter. The long queue stretched halfway along the drawbridge, and with everyone passing them when they had stopped, Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma were now at the tail end. Billy could see that Alfie was a little troubled by what had just happened, so he tried to take his mind off of it by discussing their favourite game, rounders.

‘So when’s our next game then?’

‘Not until next Friday.’ Alfie replied, quickly becoming quite enthusiastic. ‘We’ve got St George’s. They’re top of the league, so that’ll be a hard one. We only just beat them by one run last year.’

Alfie was the captain of the school rounders team and played first base, Billy was backstop, which was another reason why he had earned his nickname Keeper. The school rounders team were actually very good, proving so by winning the area final the previous year.

Whilst no-one actually owned a rounders bat and would use the ones provided by the school, Alfie would always choose the one that no-one else ever wanted. The one he chose was much thinner than all of the others and was much, much heavier. Alfie was a big hitter of the ball, which was helped by the fact that when he’d connect with it, it would travel even further than it would have had he have hit it with a lighter bat. The ball was much harder to hit, of course, but Alfie didn’t seem to find it a problem, as when he did connect well with it, with the added fact that he was quite a fast runner, it nearly always got his team a rounder.

‘Oh, I remember that game,’ said Billy, his eyes lighting up. ‘That was the game where I was on fourth base and I pretended to throw the ball to the bowler. The boy on third tried to get a sneaky run, but because I still had the ball in my hand, I stumped him out?’

‘Yeah, that’s the one.’ Alfie smiled. ‘That was a close game, and a really good move by you. Without that we might have lost.’

‘Yeah, that was a pretty snazzy move by me,’ said a smug looking Billy. ‘Even if I do say so myself.’

‘Why do boys have to be so boring?’ said, a largely unimpressed Rosie.

‘They’re not boring,’ said Emma, glancing at Alfie with a faint smile. ‘I quite like rounders actually.’

‘Hey Em, you’re supposed to be on my side.’ Rosie snapped jokingly.

‘I am on your side’ Emma laughed. ‘But, well...’

‘I’ll have you know, rounders is a very skilful game, Rosie Tanner.’ Billy interrupted. ‘You only don’t like it because you can’t play it.’

‘Don’t be silly Billy, of course, I can play rounders. Everyone can play rounders,’ she laughed. ‘It’s just that I prefer Netball that’s all.’

‘Oh yeah, of course, you do.’ Billy teased, with a sarcastic nod and a look of contempt.

Whilst Rosie and Billy continued their friendly little bicker, Alfie glanced toward the front of the drawbridge and was immediately greeted with the sight of the coach driver, who was staring at him. He was wearing a long trench coat and had his hands in its pockets. His feet shoulder length apart and he bore the very same menacing look that he’d given Alfie earlier. Alfie didn’t know where to put his face, as he didn’t want to be rude by looking away quickly. It wasn’t until the driver grinned at him that he felt impelled to turn away. Alfie was quite relieved as the queue then began to move.

‘Here we go then,’ he said, placing his hand on Billy’s shoulder.

‘Finally,’ added an exasperated Billy.

Beyond the castle’s carpeted entrance was a narrow hallway. On the hallway’s right was a tall black cast iron fence with a cast iron gate; beyond was a stone spiral stairwell that led down to the castle dungeons. Further up, on the left, was a cashier’s desk, where there sat a blonde haired woman wearing a light blue jacket with the emblem of the castle on the breast pocket; behind her stood a tall guard in a dark blue uniform. Upon entry, the woman would hand everyone a reasonably thick guide book, which contained detailed descriptions of the items in the castle. Miss Cook and Mrs. West monitored all of the pupils as they passed, whilst Mr. Barley led those with their guidebook into the heart of the castle.

Upon entering the main floor, Alfie, Rosie, Emma and Billy couldn’t help but be mightily impressed with the sight that greeted them. They gazed around the castles high walls, almost unable to believe their very own eyes.

‘Wow,’ gasped Emma.

The main floor of the castle was indeed a sight, and it was positively enormous. They thought the castle looked big from the outside, but it actually appeared as though it were even bigger on the inside. A sea of glass cases, boasting hundreds of years of old relics, scattered the floor, with many more hung on the high walls, in rows, which almost reached the ceiling. Inside the cases were a variety of large shields and old weaponry. A large sign hung under each artefact that depicted its year and was accompanied by a unique item number. A more detailed description of each artefact was given in the guidebook everyone was given upon entering, simply by finding the corresponding number. The artefacts on the floor and the walls were a sight to behold, but most amazing of all was the castles mural ceiling, which was beautifully coloured; with wonderfully detailed paintings covering its entirety. In fact, the ceiling was not dissimilar to the Sistine Chapel, except the castle’s ceiling depicted many events throughout British history.

Either side of the main floor was a large staircase, which led to the floors above. Whilst the staircases were both very sturdy, and quite safe, both were made to look very old indeed, and looked as though they could have fallen to bits at any moment if anyone breathed on them, much less walked up or down them. Alfie seemed especially impressed with the armoured mannequins that stood at the foot of each staircase; a Roman Legion at the foot of the left and a Spartan warrior at the foot of the right.

‘Oh my stars, there is so much to see,’ said an excited Emma, mystified as to what she should inspect first. She grabbed hold of Rosie’s arm. ‘Do you think we will have enough time to see it all?’

Rosie didn’t respond at first, in fact, she hadn’t said a word since entering. She had become so fixated with the ceiling, that she’d only just felt Emma grab her arm.

‘Sorry, Em? What did you say?’ was Rosie’s despondent response, her eyes firmly fixated on the ceiling.

‘I asked if you thought we’d have enough time to see everything.’

‘Er, I don’t know. I reckon so,’

Emma was a little puzzled by Rosie’s lacklustre response, though, would dismiss it, and join her best friend in looking up at the mural.

‘It’s pretty isn’t it?’

‘You know Em, I think I may have been here before,’ said Rosie.

‘Oh have you really?’ Emma sighed. ‘Oh well.’

Emma was quite disappointed that Rosie had already been to the castle, as she’d hoped that they could have experienced the wonders of it for the very first time together.

‘I don’t remember the castle or anything in it, but I’ve definitely seen that ceiling before, or at least I’ve…’ Rosie paused.

Emma looked at her best friend curiously. ‘At least you’ve what?’

‘At least I’ve… Well… seen her before.’ Rosie answered, pointing up.

Amongst the hundreds of different scenes depicted, Rosie was pointing toward to one of a woman, a woman that looked really quite magical indeed. The woman wore a blood red dress with a grandad style collar and with a V-shaped neckline that lay open. Around the woman's neck lay a small circular pendant. Her long black hair bore a thin, blood red coloured streak which ran from the root to the tip. The woman’s upturned right arm pointed forward with a partially clawed hand, and hovering a short distance above her palm, were four glowing balls of different colour. The balls, roughly the size of ping pong balls, appeared to have a host of much brighter, but much smaller, white lights running through them, each of which that left a faint, misty, motion trail as they moved within. Emma scanned the ceiling, desperately trying to find a woman amongst the many paintings in the area that Rosie was pointing.

‘The woman in the red dress?’ she quizzed.

‘Yes.’ Rosie answered.

‘What do you mean you’ve seen her before? That painting must be hundreds of years old,’ said Emma. ‘You may have seen someone that looks just like her, but you couldn’t have seen that actual woman before, obviously. Unless you have been here before.’

Rosie took her eyes away from the ceiling and gave Emma a relatively blank stare. She then placed her hand to the neck of her blouse, reached inside and pulled out a chain with a circular shaped pendant hanging from it.

‘Then how do you explain this?’ she asked.

The pendant Rosie produced was identical to the pendant the woman in the painting was wearing. A relatively thick, hollow ring, which looked to be made of silver, or similar, had what appeared to be a host of strange symbols engraved on its surface. Inside the ring were two silver half moon shapes that sat back to back. A small red gemstone connected them at their centre, whilst the tips of the moons connected to the outer ring to hold them in place.

‘Oh, you’re always wearing that, but what does that have to do with the woman?’ Emma asked.

‘Look at the necklace the woman is wearing Em.’

Emma glanced back up to the ceiling, and immediately saw that the pendant the woman was wearing was identical to Rosie’s, in every way.

‘Oh, I didn’t notice that,’ she expressed, pausing, and then reasoning. ‘But that is an old painting, so there have probably been loads of those necklaces made since it was painted.’

‘Yeah, I guess so,’ replied Rosie, slightly resigned. ‘But I still think that I’ve seen that woman before.’

‘You couldn’t have, Rosie,’ said Emma. ‘And anyway, that woman is holding magical balls. So, are you trying to tell me that you’ve actually met a witch?’

Rosie thought for a moment, and then realised that she must have been to the castle before or had seen a picture of the woman in a book or something. Emma’s witch comment seemed to have brought her straight back down to reality. She sighed before answering.

‘You’re right Em. I think I’d probably have remembered if I’d ever met a witch.’

Mr. Barley’s voice interrupted the girl’s conversation; again he would demand the attention of the pupils.

‘Listen up everyone,’ he said. ‘We’re going to be looking at everything in the castle one floor at a time. Please feel free to disperse, and look at the things that interest you, but no wandering off. I shall let you all know when it’s time to move on.’

‘Okay, let’s go,’ said Billy, eager to see everything in double quick time, to ensure that he didn’t miss anything.

Together they made their way around the main floor, looking at all of the old and wonderful items that had been collected over hundreds and even thousands of years. Amongst the wonderful pieces of history, some of which that were extremely well preserved, given their age, included Celtic Cunobelin gold coins, dating back to 20 A.D, Roman weaponry, and armour, which dated back to 30 B.C, and an ancient cauldron, that dated back to 1100 B.C. The hours seemed to whizz by as they took everything in, and soon they would find themselves on the fourth, and final, floor.

As they were inspecting artefacts near the Boudiccan revolt display, something had caught Rosie’s eye. She walked over to a glass case, had a good look around inside, and before long called over to the others.

‘Hey you lot, come and have a look at this.’

Alfie, Billy and Emma wandered over to join her to take a look. Inside the glass case sat a large rectangular wooden box, complete with the decayed remains of someone still inside. It was a coffin. The bones inside looked very old, but they were remarkably well preserved, except for around the chest area, which appeared to be completely missing. At the base of the coffin, just outside of it, lay five triangular shapes, of different colour and size. Each of the triangles had markings though the markings were far too faint to be able to tell what they were. One of them looked as though it may have had some kind of circular shape on it, along with what appeared to be two small dots a little higher up and to the right of the circle, but it was very hard to make out. A label below the triangles read:

These triangular shaped objects, made of copper and silver, were found inside the coffin displayed. Their purpose is unknown.

‘Is that Mr. Barley having an afternoon kip?’ Billy joked. ‘How did he manage to get in there?’

‘Billy! That’s wicked.’ Alfie laughed. ‘Besides, Mr. Barley looks much older than that.’

Billy’s response was to give a little chuckle through his nose and give a couple of nods of his head. Rosie was especially intrigued by the person in the wooden coffin, and so read aloud the description which lay below it.

‘This coffin was found on the banks of Urquhart Castle, Inverness, Scotland. Inside, are the remains of a young man estimated to be at least 5,000 years old, dating back to around 3,000 B.C. Extraordinarily, the body was missing its entire rib cage when found, and the bones suggest that the ribs may have been removed by a large impact. The marking on the head of the coffin is this item’s only marking, and to date, has not been verified or explained.’

‘Blimey,’ said Billy. ‘How spooky is that?’

‘Isn’t it just?’ replied Emma. 'I wonder who he is, or was.’

‘Let’s have a look at this marking then shall we,’ said a bullish Billy, moving around to the top of the glass case. ‘I bet I know what it is.’

But when Billy saw the marking, his face became quite pale. Stone faced, with his eyes fixated on the marking he called to Alfie.

‘Alfie, I think you’re going to want to see this.’

‘What is it?’Alfie asked, walking over.

‘Look.’ Billy answered, using his head to point.

Alfie was also taken by surprise when he saw what the marking was. His face didn’t go pale like Billy’s, had but it certainly caught him off guard.

‘It can’t be,’ he said, quickly taking out his glasses, putting them on, and then moving closer for a better look.

There, on the head of the coffin was a heptagon, the very same shape that was on the book that Billy had given Alfie, and the object he’d found in his lunch box. The symbol was extremely faint due to its age, but it was clearly a heptagon. The heptagon had a slight mark in the middle of it though it was hard to see if it was any kind of a letter.

‘What is it with that shape Billy?’ Alfie asked.

Billy looked at Alfie, raised his eyebrows, and shrugged his shoulders.

‘No idea. Coincidence?’

‘That’s a lot of coincidence for one day, don’t you think?’

‘Yeah, I suppose.’ Billy answered, with a couple of nods of his head. ‘Well, I think it’s safe to say that that thing you have, actually says ‘NO’ now, and not ‘ON’. Don’t you? Spooky.’

Rosie glanced over to the boys and was about to head over to see what all the fuss was about, when she felt an arm around her shoulder. She turned her head quickly to see whose arm it was, knowing full well that it couldn’t be Emma’s because she was in full view.

‘So how’s my new girlfriend enjoying the castle?’ said a smug Charlie Benson.

‘GET OFF ME!’ Rosie demanded, struggling to break free of Charlie’s firm hold.

‘Alright, calm down. There’s no need to be like that, is there?’ he laughed, moving his arm around further and increasing the strength of his hold.

‘YES THERE IS! GET OFF ME BENSON!’ Rosie demanded once more, doing all she could to break free.

Alfie looked through the glass case, swiftly took off his glasses and put them away. With his blood boiling, he immediately rushed over to help his sister. Charlie could see that Alfie was angry, but it didn’t bother him in the slightest, in fact, he quite liked it.

‘YOU HEARD HER BENSON. GET OFF!’ Alfie demanded.

‘Oh yeah? And who’s going to make me then Tanner? You?’ Charlie responded, with a disturbing look of aggression.

‘You bet I am.’ Alfie replied, shaking because he was so angry.

Those were the exact words Charlie was hoping to hear. He instantly released Rosie to focus his attention on an agitated and extremely fed up Alfie. Now that she was free, Rosie moved over to Emma, but by moving, she revealed Charlie’s three henchmen standing a little distance behind him, and they had begun to make their way to their leader’s side. Alfie hadn’t seen them at all, as Rosie was in the way, and so now he became extremely concerned. A one on one fight was one thing; a four on one fight left him with no chance. His angry shake now became a quite nervous one. Charlie on the other hand was full of confidence and looked like a boy possessed.

‘I haven’t forgotten what you said earlier about doing my worst, Tanner,’ he said chillingly, as he strutted toward Alfie. ‘So now you’re going to find out exactly what my worst is.’

Alfie's hands were clammy and his lip trembled, but he wasn’t going to have Charlie’s hands all over his sister. He decided that now was as good a time as any to stand up to the school bully. Besides, he thought that if he actually did manage to beat Charlie, then his gang probably wouldn’t jump in, as they would hardly likely to want to mess with him given that he’d just beaten their leader, or at least he hoped that would be the case. Charlie approached, and Alfie tried to get in first by throwing the first punch, unleashing a right hook. But Alfie wasn’t a fighter and Charlie saw the punch coming a mile away, easily blocking it with his arm. Charlie swiftly grabbed hold of Alfie by the lapels of his school blazer. With a firm grip and his gang stood grinning, Charlie lifted Alfie up onto tip toe.

It didn’t take a genius to realise that Alfie had bitten off way more than he could chew. Charlie’s grip on his blazer was so strong that he could barely move, and the tightness in which he was being held was actually hurting him. In vain, he made one more valiant attempt to hit Charlie, but because Charlie’s elbows were raised, and because his clothes were so tight, he only managed to hit him on his side, and with no real force.

Charlie had had quite enough of this and threw Alfie hard up against the glass case by his lapels. He threw him so hard up against the glass, it was a wonder the glass didn’t shatter. Catching a glimpse of the decayed body in the coffin behind Alfie, Charlie smiled.

‘You see that skeleton Tanner? That’s what you’re going to look like when I’m finished with you.’

Alfie struggled to break free, but he just couldn’t, Charlie was way too strong, and the bully just laughed at his weak attempts.

‘You’ve had two punches, now it’s my turn to have two punches,’ said Charlie. ‘But, the good news for you Tanner… is that I’m only going to need one.’

Charlie moved his hands closer together so that he could hold both of Alfie’s lapels with one hand. With a facial expression that looked as though it bore an age of hate, he pulled back his left arm; his fist tightly clenched in readiness to punch Alfie.

‘Are you ready to see the middle of next week, Tanner?’ he asked, waving his fist around behind him, teasing Alfie. ‘Look out, here it comes.’

Alfie looked mightily worried as he waited for what would definitely be the hardest punch he’d ever been hit with in his life. He turned his face to the side.

‘NO YOU DON’T BENSON!’ shouted Billy, jumping quickly from behind the glass case.

Before Charlie had any idea what was going on, Billy landed a huge punch square on his jaw. The punch was so hard, that not only did it knock Charlie flying backward onto the floor, but it was also very close to knocking him out completely. The sound that the punch made when it connected was so loud, that it could be heard from the other side of the castle floor, as everyone had seemed to have had heard it, and were looking over to see what was happening.

Grimms, Baker and Roper rushed to Charlie’s aid as he sat awkwardly on his side, dazed and rubbing his chin. Alfie was shocked at what he had just seen Billy do and was clearly concerned.

‘They’re going to murder us when he gets up, you know that right?’ he said.

‘Yeah, I know,’ nodded Billy, as he shook his right hand loosely whilst grimacing, due to nearly breaking his hand.

‘What are we going to do?’ Alfie asked, seeing that Charlie was beginning to come around.

‘The only thing we can do at a time like this I suppose.’ Billy answered.

‘Oh yeah, what’s that?’ Alfie quizzed.

‘RUN.’ Billy snapped. ‘Come on!’

Without a second thought, Billy had turned and ran off, which caught Alfie totally off guard, so much so that he didn’t really know what to do for the best. On instinct, he darted over to Rosie and grabbed hold of her wrist.

‘COME ON!’ he urged, pulling hard on his sister’s arm.

In turn, Rosie instinctively grabbed hold of Emma’s wrist, and together they all ran to catch up to Billy. Charlie Benson was still on the floor a little dazed, but seeing Alfie and the girls run off, he found the strength to shout at his gang.

‘What are you waiting for? GET THEM!’

Not needing to be told twice, Grimms, Baker and Roper began the chase after Billy, Alfie and the girls. Still rubbing his chin, and with the effects of Billy’s punch subsiding, Charlie got to his feet and also joined the chase.

Billy was a fairly quick runner, but because the castle was so busy he kept bumping into people, which slowed him down considerably. Having to avoid castle visitors was one thing, but he also had to make sure not to run into the glass cases that held the artefacts, what with them not being laid out in any particular order. Alfie and the girls had made it to the stairs and ran speedily down them to the third floor; catching a glimpse of the back of Billy as he cornered the bottom of them. Charlie’s henchmen were closing in, nearly having reached the top of the stairs; their leader not far behind. Charlie and his gang had decided to run straight into people rather than trying to go around them, and were happily knocking into anyone who got in their way, doing all they could to try and catch up.

‘GRIMMS! BAKER! ROPER! STOP THIS INSTANT!’ was Mr. Barley’s stern cry, noticing the boys from the other side of the room. ‘AND YOU, BENSON!’

Mr. Barley’s demand fell on deaf ears, as clearly nothing was going to stop Charlie and his minions from having their revenge on Billy and Alfie.

‘FASTER.’ Emma shouted, having turned to see Grimms just reach the top of the stairs. ‘THEY’RE CATCHING UP!’

The chase continued, with Billy, Alfie, Rosie and Emma constantly bumping into people, even though they were doing their utmost to avoid them, but with there being so many, it was practically impossible. Charlie and his gang continued to run through anyone that stood in their way, and there were many cries of ‘Oi!’ and ‘Watch it!’ which they completely ignored.

As Billy tried to avoid an old man with a young boy, he ran straight into a burly gentleman, and somehow the strap on his bag got caught. The strap snapped clean off his shoulder and dropped at the man’s feet. Noticing that he no longer had his bag, Billy quickly turned and made an attempt to retrieve it, but just as he was reaching for it, Alfie ran straight into him, which made him fall backward onto his behind. Having been pushed back further from the bag, he wondered if he should get up and make another attempt at getting it, but the girl’s were right behind Alfie and were heading toward him so he decided against it, as they would probably have knocked him over too.

‘Come on Billy.’ Alfie urged.

Billy looked at his bag briefly and quickly resigned himself to losing it. Still, there wasn’t much in it anyway, he thought, mainly just school stuff, and he wasn’t going to risk getting a beating for some silly school stuff, even if it was his favourite bag. He decided to continue without it.

With each passing moment Charlie’s gang gained ground, although, whilst Charlie had initially caught up to them, he had once again fallen behind a little, due to not being particularly fit, and a little overweight. Alfie and the others had made it to the steps that led to the second floor, though their lead was now minimal. Emma screamed.

‘THEY’RE GOING TO CATCH US!’

Emma was still acting as lookout, given that she was the one trailing, as they turned to run down the last set of stairs to the main floor. She placed her hand on the banister to steady herself, but the very moment she did she felt someone grab her arm.

Looking up, she saw Nick Grimms precariously hanging over the banister, which made her shriek and quickly pull her arm away. She managed to free herself. The force of Emma’s pull, aided by Grimm’s precarious position over the banister, made him completely lose his balance. He fell forward, over the banister, and after having completed a full somersault landed heavily on the steps, just a few from the top. Luckily for Grimms, he had landed firmly on his backside, and it just looked as though he was just sitting down having a rest on the steps. Within seconds, Baker and Roper had reached the top of the stairs, and as they made their way down Baker stopped to help Grimms, whilst Roper continued the chase.

‘Are you alright?’ Baker asked.

‘Yeah,’ said Grimms, getting up and rubbing his now very sore backside.

Charlie came puffing around the corner. He, Baker and Grimms continued together behind a determined Roper.

Standing in the middle of the main floor, Billy and Alfie frantically looked for a way to go. Rosie had finally let go of Emma’s arm, allowing her to be able to rub her shoulder, which was now quite sore, due to Rosie almost pulling it out of its socket on more than one occasion.

‘This way,’ urged Billy.

Billy had decided to follow the signs for the exit, as he figured they would have a much better chance of escaping if they were outside the castle, but as they ran toward the main gate, the trailing Emma screamed once more.

‘ALFIE!’

Alfie and Rosie both stopped and turned to see what had happened. Paul Roper had caught up with Emma and was tugging away at her backpack, pulling her around by it as she struggled vigorously to get away. Without a second thought, and a host of protective emotions, Alfie quickly ran to help her. Fortunately, as Emma struggled to break free, she had turned Roper side on, which gave Alfie a clear path toward him. With everything he had, Alfie barged straight into him. Roper’s grip on Emma’s backpack was firm, but it wasn’t firm enough to be able to stop him being knocked completely off his feet, onto his backside, and sent flying across the highly polished castle floor. Emma fell to her knees.

‘Are you alright?’ Alfie asked, helping her up.

‘I think so,’ she answered, with a somewhat adoring look.

Not wanting to hang around, they quickly ran to catch up to Billy and Rosie, who were nearing the narrow hallway that led out of the castle. Grimms and Baker weren’t too far behind, having just reached the still sitting Roper, but they didn’t stop for him, and instead just ran around him as he clambered to his feet, determined to catch up. Charlie puffed along behind them.

‘Oh no.’ Billy gasped, as he and Rosie closed in on the main gate at the end of the narrow hallway. ‘It’s only shut!’

The castle’s huge arched wooden door was indeed locked, which left them with absolutely nowhere to go. Out of breath, Billy conceded defeat, raised his arms up, before allowing them to drop and slap against his outer thighs.

‘Oh, well, that’s that, then. There’s nowhere to go,’ he said. ‘Benson is going to slap me silly.’

‘Why would they close it?’ said Rosie.

‘Who knows?’ he answered.

A slightly out of breath Alfie and Emma joined them, but they too could see that the gate was closed. Alfie ground to a halt and placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath, also resigning himself to there being nowhere to go. Charlie’s gang neared the narrow hallway.

‘HOLD IT RIGHT THERE YOU LOT.’ yelled the castle guard that had stood behind the cashier earlier, who was now on the main floor. ‘No running in the castle. WALK.’

This gave a very tired Charlie some much needed time to catch up with his gang. It also gave Alfie and the others a little more time, of course. Not that it would help them much. Charlie, his face like thunder, caught up, and then led his gang menacingly toward them. Alfie and Billy stood in front of the girls preparing for the inevitable fight that was to come, both were extremely nervous, as neither of them actually liked to fight, but they would, of course, have to defend themselves.

‘I’ll take Charlie, you take the other three,’ said Billy.

‘This is no time for jokes, Billy,’ said Alfie.

‘Who’s joking?’ smiled Billy.

‘This way Tanner,’ said a voice from their right.

They immediately turned to see none other than the coach driver. He stood at the top of the spiral steps, holding open the cast iron gate that led to the dungeon. Rosie reacted quickly, and without thought headed through. Alfie followed as Charlie approached the hallway, almost out of sight of the security guard. As Alfie passed through the gate, the coach driver quickly grabbed hold of him, pulled him through sharply, and then slammed the gate shut behind him.

‘Not you,’ said the driver adamantly, sternly shaking his head at Billy and Emma.

‘What?’ said Billy, in total disbelief. ‘You can’t leave us here. They’re going to kill us.’

‘No concern of mine,’ replied the driver as he shook his head.

‘What are you doing, let them through.’ Alfie demanded, trying to move past the driver to try and open the gate.

‘They cannot come,’ he stressed, waving his arm to suggest they carry on down the spiral stairwell. ‘You must go.’

‘And you must be joking.’ Alfie stood firm. ‘We’re not going anywhere without them.’

‘If they can’t come with us then let us out,’ added a defiant Rosie.

The coach driver looked bemused at what he’d heard. He had just saved them both, why would they care about the others?

Alfie was stern. ‘You heard her, let them through, or let us out.’

Emma was in a state of real panic as Charlie and his gang drew ever nearer. ‘Hurry, they’re coming.’

Not sure of what he should do, the coach driver felt that he was left with little choice but to open the gate, and so he did just that.

‘Then quickly, but this is not the way of it,’ he said, clearly quite fed up.

Billy and then Emma quickly passed through the gate and the driver immediately slammed it shut behind them. He pushed his way past Emma and then the others on the narrow spiral stairs, forcing them all to lean against the wall. Once he had passed, they followed single file down the stone steps. But, with Emma still close to the gate and needing the others to move on before she could, she had only taken a couple of small steps. Suddenly, she was yanked back hard against the iron gate. Charlie had managed to quickly put his arm through, and had grabbed hold of her hair, she couldn’t move.

‘OW – LET ME GO!’ she screamed.

‘No way,’ said Charlie, with gritted teeth. ‘Shaw. Tanner. Get back out here NOW.’

Alfie turned, and once again, without thought, barged past Billy to help Emma. He did all he could to release Charlie’s tight grip. He repeatedly punched the arm that he held her hair with, occasionally having to pull back just so that Charlie couldn’t hit him with his free arm. But he was getting nowhere because Charlie’s grip was far too tight. To make matters worse, Charlie’s gang had joined in and were all hitting Alfie through the bars. He avoided as many punches as he could, but a few managed to get through, and one caught him cleanly on the side of the head. He winced when it had, so it had clearly hurt him.

‘There is no time,’ said a frustrated coach driver. Waving his arm upward toward Charlie, he called. ‘Relargh.’

Charlie and his faithful trio were immediately thrown backwards and high up against the stone wall. A clump of Emma’s hair draped over Charlie’s clenched fist as he and his gang, fell hard to the ground.

‘OW!’ Emma shrieked, feeling the pain of her hair being ripped out from its root as she fell forward into Alfie’s arms.

Catching Emma made Alfie lose a little balance, and so they both fell onto Billy. It was a good thing that Billy had stood firm, and was prepared for such an eventuality, or else they would all have surely fallen down the stairwell, and probably taken Rosie with them. Alfie and Emma’s faces were just a couple of inches apart. They looked into each other’s eyes, before, with a little embarrassment, adjusted themselves on the stairwell.

‘Come,’ ordered the coach driver.

They were all grateful that the coach driver had helped them, but wondered why he had, and more so, how he’d managed to throw Charlie and the others against the wall like he had. But, knowing what was awaiting them if they were to go back, they reluctantly decided to follow him down the spiralling stairwell. A distraught Emma rubbed the back of her head to soothe her pain and to check that she hadn’t lost too much hair. At the bottom of the stairs was a small archway that led through to a darkened passage with old stone walls and jagged, uneven bricks.

‘This way,’ mumbled the driver, heading through to the heart of the dungeon. ‘Oh dear, oh dear.’

Rosie turned to look at Alfie and raised her eyebrows as if to ask him if he thought it was okay to follow. Alfie looked toward where the driver had gone, and although he had made him feel a little eerie earlier, he felt like it was safe to go, so he nodded. After all, he had just helped them.

The air was musky in the dark, uncomfortably cold, dungeon, with the only light coming from dim runway style spotlights at the foot of the constant wall to their right. On their left was a string of small dark rooms that were once used as cells for prisoners with a four brick thick wall that divided each cell. Alfie thought about all the prisoners of war that would have been held there hundreds of years ago, and could only imagine just how horrible it would have been.

‘I would NOT have liked to have been a prisoner down here,’ he said.

Rosie raised her eyebrows. ‘A prisoner down here? I don’t particularly like being here now.’

‘Yeah, it’s spooky alright,’ added Emma, before cautiously whispering to Rosie. ‘Why are we following this man?’

Rosie shrugged, as if to suggest she didn’t really know, but felt that as they were all together they would be okay, even though the driver not two minutes ago had thrown Charlie and his minions hard against a wall, without being anywhere near them. All she cared about right now was that they were away from Charlie, and being down there had to be better than being up there with him. Besides, Alfie had thought it was okay, and he always seemed to have an instinct of knowing if there was something not quite right about a person.

‘Actually, I quite like it down here.’ Billy joked, trying to ease the obvious tension. ‘How much do you think they charge for bed and breakfast?’

Emma looked shocked. ‘Surely you wouldn’t…’

‘We are here,’ the driver interrupted, stepping over a chain with a small sign which read ‘Do Not Enter’ into the very last cell.

Alfie made his way to the front and held his arm out, urging the others to stop and to not step over the chain.

‘What do you mean we are here?’ he asked. ‘There is nothing here.’

‘The door is here,’ the driver answered. ‘The one you must enter.’

But there was no door. With the exception of a large, long block of stone in the right corner, which looked as though it could have been used as a stone bed, the cell looked just like all the others they’d passed. The driver walked over and sat down on the stone.

‘I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I don’t see a door,’ enquired Alfie, looking around for one. ‘Anyway, I don’t think we want to be going through any doors down here.’

Even though she felt she knew the answer, Rosie had to ask the question that had been going through everyone’s mind as they had followed; especially after what they had seen the driver do to Charlie and the others.

‘You’re not going to try and hurt us are you?’

‘Do not fear Tanner’s. There will be no harm from me,’ the driver replied, pointing to his right, at the wall. ‘There is your door.’

They all looked to where the driver was pointing, and to their astonishment, the wall directly in front of them now contained an archway; an archway with a smoky blue haze that ran through it, and which was surrounded by a thin but extremely bright white light.

‘Tanner’s may now enter,’ said the driver.

‘You want us to walk through a stone wall with a trick smoky light?’ questioned Alfie. ‘Are you mad?’

‘I am a little, yes. It is needed for this task,’ the driver quipped, proceeding to lift his foot to inspect his shoe, which appeared to have a stone or something similar, lodged in it.

Billy stepped over the chain toward the archway. ‘Alfie’s right, it’s just a trick light.’

Billy waved his hand in front of the light to see if it would reflect on his hand, whilst looking around to see where it could be coming from. He was sure it was some kind of projector or something, as it had to be some sort of trick.

‘Move away this moment,’ the driver demanded, rising to his feet. ‘This door is not meant for Shaw’s.’

‘What do you mean it’s not meant for Shaw’s? It’s only a trick light.’ Billy questioned, placing his hand closer to the wall. ‘There’s noth -’

The very moment Billy's hand had touched the wall, he disappeared, haven fallen straight through the wall into the archway. The driver immediately placed his hands to his head.

‘Oh my, oh dear!’ he gasped. ‘Not meant to be. NOT meant to be.’

Flabbergasted, Alfie, Rosie and Emma looked over at the driver, at the doorway, and then back at the driver. They were amazed, but more so, confused at what they had just witnessed.

‘What have you done with Billy?’ Rosie demanded, in a firm, high pitched tone.

The driver didn’t respond, but instead, paced in front of the stone bed and mumbled to himself. ‘Oh, my. Oh, dear.’

Alfie jumped over the chain and went to see what had happened to Billy. He gently placed his hand on the wall where Billy had. The very moment he did, he too disappeared into it. Rosie quickly turned to a very worried looking Emma.

‘We have to go after them.’

‘You are joking?’ Emma responded nervously. ‘Rosie, they both just fell through a wall.’

‘We have to Emma, Alfie’s in there.’ Rosie begged, stepping over the chain and urging Emma to follow. A reluctant Emma cagily stepped over the chain.

‘She must not go,’ demanded the driver, moving in front of them to block their way. ‘Shaw should not have gone, and she must not go.’

‘Yes, I think he’s right, I think it best if I stay here.’ Emma wholeheartedly agreed.

‘There’s no way I’m leaving you here on your own Em.’ Rosie replied.

The driver stood firm, with his arms crossed, in front of the archway. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake and let Emma pass as he had Billy. Rosie took hold of Emma’s hand. She looked at her with worried eyes.

‘Emma. Alfie and Billy could be in trouble, we have to go after them,’ she urged, trying desperately to convince her best friend.

Emma thought for a moment before she answered. Alfie had twice come to her rescue today, so she thought it was the least she could do to go after him, just to make sure he was okay. Not only that, she thought that if Rosie went through it, then she would be left all alone with the creepy driver.

‘Oh, alright then,’ she sighed. ‘But I just want you to know that I don’t really want to, I’m only going for you and Alfie.’

‘And Billy, of course,’ said Rosie, contentedly letting go of Emma’s hand.

‘Well, yes, of course, Billy too.’ Emma nodded.

Rosie gave Emma a condensed smile and a little nod, before turning and walking toward the archway. Emma stayed close behind.

‘SHE MUST NOT GO!’ demanded a now scary looking driver.

‘Oh look,’ said Rosie, pointing to the stone bed. ‘I think you’ve left something on there, look. You should probably go get that before someone steals it.’

The driver turned his head to glance at the stone bed. ‘I see no item.’

‘There is, look, someone will steal that if you’re not careful.’ Rosie sounded very convincing, and once again pointed to the stone.

Intrigued but standing firm, the driver lifted his head to take a better look, but he still couldn’t see anything. He looked back at the girls.

‘Stay here,’ he said, before walking over to the stone to see what was there.

The very moment he had turned his back Rosie nodded her head quickly at Emma.

‘I told you there is no item,’ said the smug driver, turning back to the girls.

But Rosie and Emma had both passed through the archway whilst he was busy looking for something that wasn’t ever there. He threw his arms frustratingly into the air.

‘Oh my, oh dear. Oh my, oh dear,’ he repeated, shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips.

Extremely frustrated, the driver ambled over to the stone bed and sat down. He put his head in his hands and shook his head repeatedly inside them. Rosie and Emma meanwhile, had found themselves in a place so dark, that they could barely see their hands in front of their faces.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Tally Room

‘Can you see anything, Em?’

‘I can't see anything,’ replied Emma. ‘Rosie. I’m really scared. What is this place?’

Rosie reached out and brushed Emma’s arm, which inevitably made Emma shriek.

‘Oh, my stars. That is you, isn’t it?’ she said.

‘Yeah, that’s just me.’ Rosie confirmed, easing her arm down to take hold of Emma’s hand. ‘I just want to make sure that we don’t lose each other in here, that’s all.’

‘Oh, okay. Phew!’ said a very relieved Emma.

‘ALFIE. BILLY. Where are you?’ called Rosie.

‘We’re here,’ was the extremely faint reply.

The voice they heard was so faint that the girls couldn’t quite tell if it was Alfie’s or Billy’s, or even it was any of them at all. Rosie glanced in the direction where she thought the voice had come from and spotted a faint, but quite large, blue light.

‘Look Em, there’s light,’ she said, guiding her arm in its direction.

‘I can’t see anything,’ answered a now very worried Emma.

‘It’s okay, I’ll lead the way, just don’t let go, okay?’ said Rosie, placing her arm around Emma’s shoulder to help guide her.

‘Don’t you worry, I won’t,’ said Emma. ‘Was that Alfie’s voice?’

‘I don’t know. I think it might have been Billy’s.’

As they neared the blue light, they saw that it was similar to the one they had just walked through to get where they were, so they were hopeful it would lead to the boys. Once they had reached the now clearly outlined archway, they passed through, and found themselves in a slightly better lit, but still darkened, heptagonal shaped room, where Alfie and Billy were busy looking around.

‘I didn’t think you were this close. We could barely hear you,’ said Rosie. Emma simply sighed with relief at being out of the darkness, and because Alfie was okay, of course.

‘I know.’ Alfie replied. ‘I had trouble hearing Billy. I think this room may be sound proofed or something.’

No-one had noticed that the room was heptagonal in shape, but it wouldn’t have been hard to work out, as on each side was a darkened blue coloured archway, surrounded by a thick black glass frame, with tally marks at the top of each. All but for one, the archway they’d just come through, which had a dash like symbol. In the very heart of the extremely dark green and smoke ceilinged room, standing approximately four feet tall, and four feet wide, was a black heptagon plinth. But they were too interested in the archways to have paid any attention to it.

‘What do you think the lines at the top are?’ Alfie asked, standing in front of archway number four.

‘No idea. Numbers I suppose,’ replied Billy. ‘I’m more interested in the one without the lines. Why hasn’t that got lines?’

‘I think you could be right about them being numbers Billy. A bit like when you keep score with chalk. Although, thinking about it, they might not be because door five has a line under the four marks instead of through them, and door six has a line above and below the marks.’ Alfie pondered.

‘Are we stuck here then?’ asked an increasingly worried Emma. ‘We are, aren’t we?’

‘I hope not,’ said Billy. ‘I’m sure that these doors must go somewhere.’

‘Shall we try and go through one?’ Alfie asked.

‘And how are we supposed to do that?’ Billy replied, continuing to inspect them. ‘They don’t have handles.’

‘I don’t know. Walk through them like we did just now to get here I suppose.’ Alfie reasoned. ‘It’s got to be worth a try hasn’t it?’

‘Yeah, but which one do we go through?’ Billy replied. ‘Why don’t we just go back through the one that brought us in here?’

Emma, still standing near the archway they had entered, instinctively turned to it. She then held her hand up, a short way from it.

‘Shall I try it?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, give it a go Em, we’ll follow you if you disappear,’ confirmed Billy.

Emma slowly placed her hand on the light, but her hand just lay flat against it. ‘No, it doesn’t work.’

‘Oh well,’ said Billy, raising his eyebrows. ‘Perhaps they have to glow to work.’

Meanwhile, Rosie had walked over to inspect the heptagon plinth, and soon became quite enthusiastic.

‘Perhaps this is some sort of control panel or something.’

‘You know, I was so caught up that I didn’t even notice that?’ said Alfie, walking over to his sister.

‘Blimey, me neither,’ said Billy.

Once at the plinth, Alfie immediately noticed its shape, and also, that there was a much smaller grooved heptagon that was roughly the same size as the heptagon he had, and the one on the book Billy had given him.

‘Billy, come and take a look at this,’ he said.

Billy strolled over to take a look, as did Emma, not wanting to be left out of any discovery.

‘What’s that then?’ Billy asked.

‘Look,’ said Alfie.

‘Not again,’ said Billy, shaking his head. ‘How many times in one day is that thing going to pop up?’

‘What are you talking about?’ asked a somewhat bemused Rosie.

‘We’ve seen that shape a lot today.’ Alfie answered. ‘It was on Billy’s book, on the coffin in the castle, and...’ Alfie paused for a moment, and then produced the heptagon from his top pocket. ‘I found this in my lunch box.’

‘That’s a heptagon, you know, the same shape as a fifty pence piece,’ said Emma. ‘It’s not a money box or something, is it?’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Alfie, checking to make sure it didn’t have a coin slot

‘Can I see that for a minute?’ asked Rosie.

Alfie passed the heptagon to sister, and she inquisitively inspected it.

‘What’s it for then?’

‘How do I know, I found it in my lunch box,’ replied Alfie.

Rosie flipped the heptagon over. ‘What do these letters mean?’

‘No, idea.’ Alfie answered. ‘I told you, the first time I saw it was this morning, on the coach.’

‘It’s really quite strange, I wonder what it could be,’ said Rosie, continuing to flip the heptagon.

‘Can I see?’ asked Emma, wanting to be involved.

‘Sure.’ Rosie replied, leaning over the platform to hand the heptagon to Emma.

Emma reached to take it, but just as Rosie was about to hand it to her, the heptagon flew fiercely out of Rosie’s hand, and onto the grooved heptagon in the middle of the platform. It was a perfect fit.

‘Careful,’ snapped Alfie.

‘It wasn’t me.’ Rosie snapped back. ‘It just flew out of my hand.’

As the twins glared at each other, the heptagon threw out an extremely bright blue, glowing ball of light, which hovered about a foot above it. This of course startled them all, forcing them to all take a step back.

‘WHOA. HELLO!’ Billy gasped.

The ball of light then stretched vertically, quickly flashed, before leaving a faint, smoke filled, holographic face. The face had eyes, eyebrows, a nose, and a mouth but was void of ears or hair; which made it look similar to a porcelain mask. The face looked directly at Alfie, and then turned to Rosie. Startled, Alfie and Rosie each took another step back.

‘Alfred Tanner. Rosemary Tanner, welcome,’ said the face.

‘Okay,’ said a startled Billy. ‘Does anyone want to tell me how the face thingy knows your names?’

The hologram turned to face Billy. ‘William Shaw? How is it that you are here? You should not be here.’

‘Er - Er - Well - Um.’

Billy being completely speechless was a very rare occurrence indeed, but the face had taken him so totally by surprise that he just didn’t know what to say. He was curious as to how the face knew Alfie and Rosie’s names, but he was positively dumbfounded that it actually knew his. The hologram swiftly turned to face Emma.

‘And neither should you Emmaline Runwald.’

Emma was so shocked that she could barely breathe, much less speak. She quickly moved to stand behind Billy.

‘These are our friends,’ said Alfie, trying to explain. ‘We were running from Charlie Benson, and the driver of our coach led us down here.’

‘Gilswott, I might have known,’ replied the hologram. ‘Charles Benson is indeed troublesome.’

‘Gilswott?’ questioned Alfie. ‘And how do you know Charlie? How do you know any of our names?’

‘Gilswott is a door runner, and not a very good one it would seem. He was only supposed to bring you Alfie, and your sister,’ replied the hologram. ‘I know the name of every soul.’

‘Can I ask what a door runner is? And why just me and Rosie? I don’t understand.’

‘All will be revealed in good time, Alfred.’ The face replied. ‘Once you have reached your paths beginning, you shall be met. Your questions will be answered, I am sure. But as of this moment, you may remove your key, and will stand with Rosemary by the door with no tally.’

‘What about Billy and Emma?’ Alfie questioned.

‘William and Emmaline must remain. They may not travel with you.’

‘Why can’t they go?’ Alfie enquired. ‘What will happen to them if they stay here?’

‘Far too many questions,’ answered the face. ‘Questions that I would suggest are not of your concern Alfred.’

‘What do you mean not of my concern?’ Alfie snapped. ‘I’m sorry Mr. Face, but we’re not going ANYWHERE without them.’

The hologram paused for a moment. Its eyebrows twisted, as though it were thinking.

‘As you wish it,’ conceded the face. ‘Their fate will lie with you.’

Emma peered over Billy’s shoulder, and then spoke in a very soft voice. ‘Fate?’

The face didn’t respond to Emma’s short question, instead it continued. ‘Alfred. Remove your key, and take your position. Do not stand too close, and it is important that you relax, as a relaxed transition is a pleasant one.’

Alfie assumed the face was referring to the heptagon when he mentioned key, so he leant over and took it. Still quite puzzled as he placed it back into his top pocket, he led the way to the door with no tally, quickly assuming, that tally, was probably what the numbers on the doors were called. Upon getting to the door and standing just a few feet in front of it, Billy turned to Alfie.

‘Well then, this is a bit of a pickle, and no mistake.’

‘Yeah, it is.’ Alfie replied. ‘If only we knew what kind of pickle though, hey Billy?’

‘Hmm,’ replied a nodding Billy. ‘Thanks for sticking up for me and Emma though, not that it’ll do much good though since we’re all about to die.’

‘That’s what friends are for isn’t it?’ Alfie replied, of course hoping Billy wasn’t right about dying. ‘Besides, I owe you one for standing up to Benson before. I still can’t believe you did that.’

‘You can’t believe I did that? I can’t believe I did that!’ said Billy. ‘I hate to fight, but I really didn’t know what else to do.’

‘Stay beside me Em.’ Rosie whispered.

‘Don’t worry, I intend to,’ she whispered back.

Standing in front of the door with no tally, Alfie turned toward the hologram face.

‘What do we do now? There’s no handle.’

‘Now you begin,’ replied the hologram.

‘Begin what?’

Alfie was getting a little frustrated with all the cryptic phrases, but no sooner had he asked the question, then the face faded to nothing and had gone. Alfie looked on for a while, thinking that it may return, but it didn’t. He turned back to face Billy, giving him a look of concern. Billy simply shrugged.

‘Oh, well, Alfie,’ he said. ‘It’s been nice knowing you mate.’

At that very moment, a deep humming sound came from within the archway. The sound grew louder, and higher pitched with every passing second, as though it was getting closer. They were all extremely worried as they anxiously stood waiting for, well, who knows what? Beads of sweat appeared on Rosie’s, Emma’s, and Billy’s brow, and Alfie’s hands sweated profusely.

‘Oh, I don’t like this,’ cried Emma, grabbing hold of Rosie’s arm tightly, and clinging to it for dear life.

Louder and louder the humming grew. The louder it got, the more anxious they became, thinking that it may even blow up. And then without warning, they were all slowly lifted off their feet and were all suspended in the air, about two feet from the ground. Emma caught so by surprise that she had to let go of Rosie’s arm.

‘What the..?’ Billy cried.

‘Okay, I REALLY don’t like this,’ said Emma.

‘It’s okay Em, we’ll be okay,’ said Rosie, trying to ease Emma’s fears, but filled with many of her own.

Their torso’s were oddly then pulled forward, though their arms, heads and legs stayed exactly where they were, leaving their bodies completely arched, with heads tilted back and forcing them to stare at the ceiling.

‘SHAW!’

Upon hearing his name, Billy did all he could to tilt his head back even further to see who had called it. He could just about see what he thought looked like Charlie Benson, but how could it be?

Billy tried to work out how Charlie had managed to find them, when thousands of thin illuminated white lights flew out of the archway and embedded themselves onto every part of his, and the others, bodies; their heads, their legs, their arms, everywhere. Their entire front halves were aglow with hundreds of thousands of thin bright white lights. And just as suddenly as the lights had hit them, they were pulled at great speed through the archway. The holographic face immediately re-appeared, but this time it looked angry, and spoke with a venomous tone, and with quite some volume.

‘LEAVE THIS PLACE CHARLIE BENSON, YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!’

Grimms, Baker and Roper emerged from door seven to join their leader. The archways humming noise could still be heard, but it was fading. Charlie took no notice of the face’s demand and ran swiftly to the archway, with his gang right behind him. Before they had a chance to reach it, they too were elevated into the air and covered in thin white lights just as Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma had been. But the lights were not nearly as bright as they had been for them, and soon Charlie and his minions all began to scream. With every second that passed, their faces became tighter, and their screams grew louder. It was as though they were all in excruciating pain. The deafening echoes of their screams chillingly filling the room. With their backs arched, and their faces tight with pain, they too were speedily pulled into the archway. The lights, the noise, and the closed eyed, disapprovingly faced hologram, all faded to nothing.

CHAPTER FIVE

A Family Friend

Mere moments had passed when the humming noise returned, but this time it began with a loud crash; as loud as it had been when they had all been pulled through. Just as quickly as Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma had disappeared, they reappeared. This time, however, they were not facing the archway as they had been, but instead were slumped forward, floating with their backs to the archway, with the thin bright lights behind them.

The noise quietened, their bodies straightened, and then they all dropped to the floor. They landed feet first, but because they were not prepared for the suddenness of the drop, they all fell down onto their knees, or their sides. Alfie clutched his chest as they got to their feet.

‘Well, I can’t say I’ve ever felt pain like that before,’ he grimaced.

‘No, that was not good.’ Billy agreed, rubbing his neck.

Alfie glanced to Rosie, and seeing that she didn’t look particularly well, with her face as pale as he’d ever seen, he was a little concerned.

‘Are you alright?’

Rosie looked to be quite disillusioned and was looking around as though she didn’t quite know where she was, seemingly trying to get her bearings.

‘I think so,’ she replied. ‘I feel dizzy though. And a bit sick.’

‘What about you Emma? Are you alright?’ Alfie asked.

‘Oh, I’m great thanks.’ Emma chirpily replied. ‘I quite enjoyed that actually. It was fun.’

‘FUN? FUN? How can you say that was fun?’ Billy crowed, giving Emma the weirdest of look, before continuing in a sarcastic tone. ‘Unless of course you think fun is the worst pain EVER. And you actually enjoy feeling like you’ve been stabbed with a million knives all at the same time.’

‘Is that what you felt?’ Emma asked, quite mystified. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah,’ said Billy. ‘Worst pain I’ve ever felt.’

‘That’s very weird because I felt great,’ said Emma. ‘It was a bit like I was excited, but then, really calm, all at the same time.’

Billy was bewildered. ‘How is that even possible?’

‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘Did you relax like the face thingy said?’

‘Relax? Are you nuts? We were floating in the air and then dragged through a funny door, Emma,’ he replied sarcastically. ‘How were we supposed to relax?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Emma. ‘I just tried to relax like the face told us to, and I felt brilliant.’

‘Maybe that’s it.’ Alfie jumped in. ‘Maybe if you don’t relax it hurts more?’

Alfie, Emma and Billy were so busy bickering about what had just happened that they were too busy to notice that they were in the very same room as the one they’d just left. Rosie, however, had now regained her bearings and had noticed that it was the same. She scoured the room just to be sure.

‘Why are we in the same place?’ she asked. ‘It doesn’t look like we actually went anywhere.’

Her words quickly grabbed the others attention, which had them all scouring their surroundings.

‘She’s right, you know.’ Alfie confirmed. ‘We’re in exactly the same place.’

‘It can’t be. We must’ve gone somewhere.’ said Billy, his eyes wandering around to see if he could spot a difference. ‘Please don’t tell me I went through all that for nothing.’

‘Try that heptagon thingy again, Alfie,’ said Emma. ‘See if you can get that face to come back.’

‘Good idea Em.’

Alfie took out the heptagon and walked over to the plinth. He placed it onto the grooved outline, exactly as it had been before the face had appeared. They all stood waiting in anticipation, but nothing happened.

‘Are you sure it’s in right?’ Rosie asked.

‘I don’t know. The last time it flew out of your hand, remember?’

‘Oh yeah,’ said Rosie, realising. ‘Maybe you have to hold that thing over it then.’

Alfie listened to his sister, picked up the heptagon, and held it over the middle of the plinth, but still nothing.

‘No. It’s definitely not working,’ he conceded.

‘What if you turn it over?’ said Emma.

Alfie thought he’d give it a try and turned the heptagon over, but still nothing. Billy was still scanning the room, and something just didn’t seem quite right to him. It wasn’t long before he realised just what it was.

‘Ah ha!’ he said jubilantly. ‘Okay, so this is definitely a different room.’

‘It is?’ asked a surprised Alfie. ‘What makes you say that then because it looks the same to me?’

‘Ah, that’s what they want you to think, but just look at the doors,’ said Billy.

Alfie glanced over at the doors but didn’t see anything different about any of them.

‘Nope, they’re still the same,’ he said. ‘And who are ‘they’ Billy?’

‘They? Oh, no-one, that’s just an expression.’ Billy answered, before going on to explain his findings. ‘The first door, look, it has a number one on it. There wasn’t a number on that door when we left.’

‘Of course it didn’t.’ Alfie responded, a look of realisation upon his face. ‘How did I miss that? Especially as that was the one we stood in front of. Well spotted Keeper.’

Now aware that the room they stood in was different, they looked to see if there were any other differences so that they could maybe find a way out. Emma did a double take of the archway that had led them into the first room. She noticed that it now had a dark green smoky light.

‘Didn’t the doorway we came in have a blue light before?’ she quizzed.

‘Yes Em, it did. Well spotted.’ Billy answered excitedly, walking over to it. ‘What do you think, should we try it? Green is for go, so maybe this is the way out.’

‘It’s worth a try I suppose.’ Alfie replied, walking over to join him.

Billy put his hand up in preparation to touch the green smoky light.

‘STOP!’ Alfie screamed, making Billy almost jump out of his skin.

‘Oh blimey. What?’ Billy asked with concern, snapping his hand quickly back from the archway. ‘What’s wrong?’

Alfie placed his hand on Billy’s shoulder.

‘If this isn’t the way out, and we never see you again because it blows you into a million pieces, well, I just wanted to say that it’s been nice knowing you Keeper,’ he grinned.

‘Well, that’s just hilarious Alfie Tanner.’ Billy responded sarcastically, before giving him a simpered smile. ‘Aren’t you the funny one?’

‘Oh come on, you’d have done the same.’ Alfie replied, still grinning.

‘Actually, yeah, I would have.’ Billy chuckled. ‘But now you’ve got me all nervous.’

‘Seriously though, good luck,’ said Alfie, patting his friend on the shoulder. ‘We’ll be right behind you.’

‘Thanks.’ Billy replied, nervously raising his arm and placing his hand to the archway’s green light. He turned to take one last look at Alfie, Rosie and finally Emma, before moving his hand closer. ‘Well, here goes nothing.’

Closing his eyes Billy placed his hand on the light, and in a flash he had gone. Alfie turned to look at the girls.

‘Well, wherever this leads, we have to go through it now. Are you both ready?’

‘As I ever will be,’ replied Rosie.

‘Me too,’ said Emma, seemingly happy, as she was getting to quite like going through these doorways.

Together they turned sideways on and all raised their hands to the green mist. The moment that they touched it they were all pulled straight through, as Billy had been. Within moments they found themselves outside, sand beneath their feet. They were on a strip of beach, where Billy stood with hands on hips.

‘Took you long enough,’ he smiled.

The slightly arced strip of beach was no more than twenty feet wide but stretched as far as the eye could see. To their right was a vast, rough, ocean, and to their left was a large cove of long brown and seemingly dead grass. Much further up the beach, beyond the dead grass, stood a large green wood with trees that were as tall as they had ever seen. Behind them, with the green archway that had led them there emblazed upon it, was an enormous grey mountain. The mountain stretched to their right, in an arc, and disappeared behind the wood that lay much further up the beach.

The sky was overcast, and a slight cooling breeze rustled through the trees. Rosie looked behind her, to the green archway, and could see that it was beginning to fade.

‘Look, the door’s vanishing.’

Anxiously, they watched as the archway faded completely into the mountain. They were all fully aware that there was now no going back, certainly not that way at least. They all just stood staring at the mountain, wondering how they were going to get home. Billy did what he did best and looked for the positives of the situation.

‘Well, at least we’re outside, that’s something I suppose,’ he said, turning and looking the length of the beach. ‘No idea where, though. But I’m pretty sure it’s not Clacton.’

‘Where do you think we are Alfie?’ Rosie asked.

‘Absolutely no idea,’ he replied. ‘But we’re not going to find out by just standing here are we? Come on, let’s go take a look.’

Alfie led, as they walked down the strip of beach toward the trees. Emma occasionally glanced back in the faint hope that the archway may return.

‘So where’s this person that’s supposed to meet us then?’ Billy asked.

‘Well, they’re not here, are they?’ Alfie answered. ‘Maybe we didn’t go through the right door.’

‘We must have,’ said Billy. ‘There wasn’t any other way out was there? Or was there?’

‘I don’t think so. Not unless we had to go through one of the numbered ones.’ Alfie replied. ‘There isn’t anyone here, so perhaps we did have to go through one of them.’

‘Or the spooky face thingy lied?’ said Billy, pulling a scary, but quite amusing face.

‘It didn’t lie about relaxing through the doorway though, so I don’t see why it would lie about this?’ Emma chipped in.

‘Oh, well, I don’t know.’ Billy sighed. ‘All I know is that I don’t see anyone here.’

‘Maybe we just have to wait for them?’ said Rosie.

‘Yeah, maybe,’ said Billy. ‘I just wish I knew where here was, that’s all.’

‘I think we all do, Billy,’ said Alfie.

Alfie then began to look for anything that may give them some indication of where they may be, but there didn’t seem to be anything obvious, just the high walls of the mountains, the enormous wood, the long grassed clearing, and the vast sea. They could literally be anywhere, except for Clacton, of course.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve got any more of those rolls left Alfie?’ Billy asked. ‘I ain’t half hungry.’

‘Yeah, I’ve got one left.’ Alfie answered, pulling his backpack from his shoulder and then taking out his lunch box. He removed the lid and offered it to Billy.

‘Oh, you really have only got one left,’ said a disappointed Billy, peeking inside. ‘Don’t worry about it then, you’ll need that.’

‘It’s okay, you can have it,’ said Alfie, urging the lunch box forward.

Billy raised his arm and shook his head as if to suggest that he didn’t want it. ‘No, no, you keep it.’

‘You can have one of mine, Billy,’ said Rosie, removing her backpack from her shoulder.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘I only ever eat two anyway. I always tell Nan I can only eat two, but she always makes me three.’

‘I’m hungry too,’ said Emma. ‘Shall we all just have lunch now then, while we work out where we are?’

‘Sounds good to me Em,’ Rosie agreed. ‘We may as well, whilst we wait for, well, whoever it is we’re waiting for, if of course they ever decide to show up.’

Emma sat down on the beach facing the huge rough ocean and opened her lunch box. She took out half of a triangular shaped cheese and tomato sandwich. Rosie opened her lunch box, took out a ham roll and offered it to a grinning Billy.

He gave Rosie a cheeky wink as he took it. ‘Thanking you kindly.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ Rosie smiled, somewhat enigmatically.

Alfie, Rosie and Billy joined Emma, and together, they sat staring out into the vast open sea. Billy and Rosie removed the silver foils and tucked into their roll's. Emma had already taken a bite from the corner of her sandwich and was sitting holding it with both hands as she cast her eyes over the sea. Just as she was about to take her second bite, she stopped; her sandwich just inches away from her mouth. She thought she had seen an extremely large, hump liked, slimy thing rise above the water, and then ease back into it. Once it had gone, she turned her head quickly to Rosie.

‘What was that?’

Rosie swallowed her mouthful and replied. ‘What was what?’

‘Were you not looking? I just saw something out there, and it was massive,’ said Emma, pointing to where she had seen it.

‘No, I wasn’t.’

Emma turned to the boys. ‘Did any of you two see it?’

‘No, I didn’t Em, what was it?’ answered Alfie, whilst Billy just stood shaking his head, as he chomped merrily away on his roll.

‘I don’t know what it was, but it was easily as big as a whale, if not bigger,’ she answered.

‘It might have been a whale Em, but then, I didn’t think whales came in this close,’ said Alfie. ‘Maybe it was just a really big wave or something. Sometimes the eyes play tricks, and sometimes, big waves look like something else.’

‘Yeah, maybe.’ Emma conceded, thinking that it probably was just a big wave. ‘A lot of weird stuff has happened today, so you’re probably right. I’m probably just seeing things.’

Holding her sandwich to her lips once more, Emma paused. She scanned the sea before taking a bite, just to make absolutely certain that there wasn’t anything there. Billy seemed to be enjoying his second ham roll of the day.

‘Hey Alfie, if we ever get out of here, wherever here is, I’ll happily accept an invitation to come round yours for tea again,’ he said, cheekily. ‘I’d completely forgotten how good your Nan’s food tastes.’

Alfie smirked at Billy’s cheek at inviting himself for tea. ‘Consider yourself invited Billy. You’re always welcome, you know that. Just wait until you’ve tasted Nan’s apple pie. You’re going to love it.’

Billy licked his lips. ‘Hmm, apple pie.’

Rosie had finished her first roll and reached to get her second. As she took hold of it, she caught a glimpse of the tiny bottle that her grandmother had put there. Inquisitively, she picked it up and inspected it.

‘What is this?’

‘Oh, that’s a nice bottle,’ said Emma. ‘Is it perfume?’

‘It looks like it, but it’s not mine. I’ve never seen this before.’ Rosie replied, looking inside her lunch box in wonder. ‘How did this manage to find its way into my lunch box?’

‘Quick, Emma,’ said Billy. ‘Give me something from your lunch box, because every time someone gives me food, they seem to get a mystery gift.’

‘I have this if you want it?’ Emma replied naively, holding up a two-fingered Kit-Kat.

Billy smiled. ‘Emma, I was only joking.’

‘Oh,’ said Emma softly, feeling a little silly for not realising that he was joking. After all, almost everything that came out of Billy’s mouth was a joke, so she might have known.

‘I think it’s empty, except for these two drops floating near the top,’ said Rosie, shaking the bottle lightly. ‘How do they float at the top like that? Wonder what they are.’

‘Maybe it’s full and they’re just a couple of air bubbles?’ said Alfie.

‘Hmm, could be. But then, don’t air bubbles normally go to the very top?’ Rosie replied, holding it up to the light. ‘Oh, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell.’

Rosie continued to inspect the bottle, with Alfie and Billy grinning at the faces she pulled as she did so. Something else had caught Emma’s eye.

‘Okay, so, please tell me I’m not seeing things again,’ she said, her eyes gazing the length of the beach. ‘You all see that, right?’

Alfie glanced at Emma and then to where she was facing. He couldn’t see anything at first, but then, he too could see something coming up the beach. Although, whatever it was looked some distance away, and was very blurry.

‘You’re not seeing things Emma, I see it too.’

‘Oh good, I’m not going mad then,’ she replied, quite relieved.

‘Is that - Is that a ghost?’ Rosie looked a little concerned.

‘Oh great, that’s all we need. Ghosts.’ Billy sighed.

What they were looking at certainly looked like a ghost, but as the blur drew nearer it became a little clearer. It appeared to be the figure of a person, but whatever it was, it was heading straight for them. And oddly, the nearer it got, the calmer the ocean became.

‘I do NOT like the look of that,’ said Emma.

‘Me either,’ said Rosie.

‘That makes three of us,’ said Billy. ‘I think now might be a good time for us to leave. What do you think?’

‘Leave?’ Alfie quizzed. ‘Where would we go? We don’t even know where we are. And anyway, we’re surrounded by a huge wall.’

Regardless of Alfie’s logic, Billy, Rosie and Emma stood up, picked up their belongings and headed back toward the mountain wall, where the archway once was. A move that was all a little pointless, of course, because unless they were to jump into the sea, they had now managed to corner themselves. Alfie, however, did the opposite and was actually heading toward the apparition. When Rosie turned, and saw what her brother was doing, she called out to him with a raised voice.

‘ALFIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’

Alfie glanced to his side briefly and held his arm up to acknowledge that he had heard, but he did not appear concerned.

‘It’s alright, I’ll be okay,’ he called back.

Of course Alfie didn’t know he would be okay at all, but for some reason he felt drawn to the ghostly figure. The closer he got, the clearer the figure became, and the less he felt afraid.

‘He’s got to be mad,’ said Billy. ‘There’s a ghost coming up the beach, and he’s going to meet it.’

‘Oh, he’s definitely mad.’ Emma agreed whilst Rosie looked on anxiously.

Alfie was now able to make out that it was most definitely a person heading toward him. A person dressed in a violet coloured hooded robe, and who appeared to be completely surrounded by a smoky white light. The gradient glowing light around the figure was an aura, which would explain its ghost-like appearance. Alfie stopped and waited on the edge of the long brown grass as the figure slowly approached. Stopping just a few feet from him, they raised its arms to remove the hood. As they did so, Alfie noticed that the person had small hands with long violet coloured fingernails, and upon the removal of their hood, they revealed shoulder length hair of the exact same violet colour. The figure raised its head. Stood before Alfie was a very beautiful woman. A woman who had the greenest of eyes, long captivating eyelashes, and the clearest, smoothest, toned skin, that did not have even the slightest hint of a blemish or wrinkle. Alfie thought the woman looked quite friendly, but he obviously couldn't be sure, so he remained cautious.

‘Alfred Tanner,’ greeted the woman, with a soft, knowing voice. With her aura seemingly fading, the woman curtsied. ‘This honour is mine to embrace.’

‘Yes, I am Alfred,’ he replied, responding with a bow. ‘Pleased to meet you.’

‘I know of you very well, Alfred. I have been waiting for you for some time,’ she said, fully aware of Alfie’s cautiousness. ‘Please. There is no need to be afraid, for I mean you no harm. This you can trust.’

'You have?'

'Indeed,' said the woman, before turning her head to the side, toward Rosie, Emma and Billy. ‘You may call your sister and your friends to join us. They also need not be afraid.’

Alfie tilted his head slightly as he looked at the beautiful woman. An overwhelming feeling of trust ran through him, and with total belief of her, he called to the others.

‘It’s okay,’ he bellowed, his right hand waving toward himself as if to urge the others to join him.

‘Do you think we should go?’ asked Emma.

‘I actually think it’ll be okay,’ replied Rosie. ‘She doesn’t look like she’s going to hurt us because she just curtsied to Alfie.’

‘Agreed,’ said Billy. ‘That’s probably the person that was supposed to meet us anyway. I say we go and have a gander.’

Alfie continued to talk to the mysterious woman as the others made their way toward them.

‘Are you a ghost?’

‘No Alfred, I am not a ghost,’ the woman replied, in her naturally soft spoken voice, and smiling warmly at his question. ‘Please forgive that I was not here to greet you upon your arrival. I was unfortunately detained by an unexpected matter of importance.’

‘Oh, that’s okay, we haven’t been here that long,’ he replied. ‘Can you tell me where we are?’

‘You are where you should not have left,’ she replied.

Rosie, Billy and Emma approached. Alfie’s face bore a look of bewilderment in response to the woman’s answer. Billy stood beside Alfie, with Rosie and Emma beside him.

‘A good day to you all,’ the woman curtsied. ‘Rosemary, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, as is the unexpected pleasure of the meeting of you both, William and Emmaline.’

‘A pleasure to meet you also,’ said Rosie, responding with a curtsy of her own.

‘Hello,’ said Emma, also curtsying. ‘You are very pretty.’

‘Thank you, Emmaline,’ smiled the woman. ‘Those are kind words.’

‘Please to meet you, ma’am,’ said Billy, who then also curtsied.

The woman smiled, and Alfie raised his eyebrows, shaking his head at his best friend. Billy had curtsied instead of bowing as a gentleman would, so Alfie slapped him gently the arm.

‘What?’ snapped Billy, having absolutely no idea what it was he had done wrong.

The woman then waved her right arm outward from left to right. ‘You must all be tired, please rest.’

Looking to where she had waved, there was now a small rickety looking wooden bench with four legs, and an uneven seat.

‘Where did that come from?’ asked Emma, pointing to the bench. ‘That wasn’t there just now. Was it?’

The others paid no attention and proceeded to sit down, eager to know about this mysterious woman. Alfie and Billy sat in the middle, with Rosie sitting on the far end next to Alfie. They were soon joined by a puzzled Emma, who was still wondering how the bench had got there. She took a seat on the near end, next to Billy.

‘I am sure you must have many questions, and so, I shall answer your first. I am called Eve, and I am your greeter,’ said the woman. ‘William, Emmaline, you should not be here. I will ensure that you are returned home safely.’

Emma was pleased, and very relieved, to know that she would be going home. Billy, however, seemed a little disappointed and couldn’t help but ask.

‘What is this place then? And why shouldn’t Emma and I be here?’ he asked, his arms slightly raised, his palms turned upward. ‘Oh. And how is it that everyone seems to know our names?’

‘This is not your path William. The journey that follows is for Alfred and Rosemary.’ Eve answered. ‘Door runners, Keeps and Greeters know your name because they know everyone’s name.’

‘Oh, okay. ‘Billy nodded acceptingly. ‘Actually, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but could you just call me Billy? I only ever get called William when I’ve done something wrong.’

Alfie turned to give Billy a somewhat dirty look. Alfie had heard Eve’s mention of an impending journey, but because of Billy’s rudeness, he totally omitted it. Even though Billy had said that he didn’t mean to be rude, being rude was exactly what he had just been.

‘Please accept my deepest apologies, Billy.’ Eve responded. ‘Is this true of you all?’

‘Actually, I do prefer to be called, Alfie.’ Alfie confirmed. ‘And I’m pretty sure the girls prefer to be called Rosie and Emma, but I don’t think it really matters if you use our full names. Well, except to Billy, of course.’

Alfie shook his head disapprovingly. And now, Billy was feeling quite awkward for correcting a stranger on what he preferred to be called.

‘I understand,’ said Eve. ‘Many prefer to use masked names, and so I shall call you by your chosen.’

Rosie was also feeling a little uncomfortable at Billy correcting Eve, even though Eve said it was okay. She quickly looked to change the subject.

‘You said you were a Greeter Eve, can I ask what a Greeter is?’

‘Of course you may ask Rosie. A Greeter is one who is chosen to meet another at the request of a dear friend.’

‘Oh, okay,’ said Rosie, instantly wondering who that someone could have been. ‘So who was it that asked you to meet us today?’

‘Your father.’ Eve replied.

From the very moment the words had left Eve’s mouth, Rosie and Alfie’s ears pricked up, and their response was in unison.

‘Our father?’

‘Your father indeed,’ she replied, glancing them a wry smile.

‘But we don’t have a father,’ explained Alfie. ‘We’ve never had a father.’

Both Alfie and Rosie sat with intensity, eagerly awaiting the next words that would come from Eve’s lips, each as open-eyed as the other in anticipation.

‘A father you once had, though it is my sadness to tell that he is no longer with us,’ she replied with a broken voice, glancing briefly at the floor. ‘He was lost some time ago, on the very journey that awaits you both, though your mother lives.’

Alfie and Rosie were completely gobsmacked by Eve’s answer. Billy and Emma just looked at each other, not quite understanding what was going on. Desperate to know more, Alfie proceeded to unleash a barrage of questions; any that came to mind.

‘Wait! What?’ he asked. ‘Our father has only just died and our mother is alive? What journey? Where is our mother? Why isn’t she here to meet us?’

‘You have your father’s manner, Alfie.’ Eve answered calmly. ‘The answer to many of your questions may lie within the journal you carry.’

‘Journal?’ he quizzed.

‘The journal that your father sent to you,’ replied Eve.

‘But I didn’t get a journal,’ he confirmed, frustrated that he hadn’t.

‘You did not?’ she enquired, with a quite puzzled look upon her face. ‘A messenger was to deliver it directly to you. Hex the incompetence of Jinley.’

‘Alfie, what about that book with the shape on it that I gave you?’ said Billy. ‘That’s a bit like a diary, journally type thing.’

Excitedly, Alfie dug through his backpack, and soon produced the book. He raised it up, with the heptagon on the cover, to show Eve.

‘I have this,’ he said, hopeful.

‘That is your father’s journal.’ Eve responded, her voice rising slightly from her normal soft tone. ‘How did this come to be in your possession, Billy?’

‘I didn’t’ nick it or anything,’ Billy quickly answered. A little concerned that Eve may have thought him a thief. ‘I found it in an old book shop last week, when I went shopping with my mum. I only just gave it to Alfie this morning.’

‘Then we must thank the stars that it found you, Billy,’ said Eve. ‘You have done well.’

‘No problem.’ Billy replied, his fear soon turning to pride, for being useful.

‘A message from your father lies within,’ said Eve.

Alfie immediately pulled his reading glasses from the inside pocket of his blazer. Shaking slightly, in nervous anticipation of what his father might have to say, he frantically flicked through the pages of the journal. Rosie moved closer, peering over so that she could also see. However, only the first few pages of the journal would actually turn, whilst the others bizarrely seemed to have been stuck together. He was unable to find the message.

‘Are you sure there is a message in here?’ Alfie asked, still frantically looking for it. ‘I can’t see it anywhere.’

‘Alfie,’ Eve responded calmingly.

Alfie ceased flicking through the few pages and looked up sorrowfully at Eve. When she had felt he had calmed, she instructed him.

‘Close the journal, and slowly turn its cover.’

Still shaking, Alfie did as she said, but all he could see were two empty pages staring at him, the inside of the journal’s cover, and a blank page to its right.

‘There really isn’t anything here Eve, just empty pages,’ he said, dejectedly.

‘The foot of the page,’ said Eve.

Alfie took a closer look at the bottom of the pages. He didn’t see anything at first and was just about to give up, when, on the inside cover, he noticed a very faint, barely readable three letter word. It wasn’t particularly large and he could easily have been missed it if he hadn't been looking for it. The faint word read ‘A.R.T’.

‘Is this it?’ he asked, ‘Is that the message? A.R.T?’

‘No, that is not the message,’ smiled Eve. ‘Those are to inform you that there is a message for you. You need now to run your finger over each letter to see that which is written.’

Alfie’s glasses had managed to slip down his nose due to looking down, so he quickly pushed them back up. Everyone was fixated on the journal, all peering at the page as Alfie slowly ran his index finger over the letters one by one. Once he had finished, he pulled his hand away, but nothing happened.

‘It didn’t work,’ said Alfie, looking up at Eve.

‘Patience,’ she replied.

But the last thing Alfie had was patience, being desperate to have some kind of contact from the father he’d never known. He looked back down at the open book in anticipation. The moment he did, the initials flashed a bright orange colour before fading to nothing. An extra page then flipped over from the inside cover to the journal’s right, revealing the message. A plethora of emotions ran through the twins as Alfie prepared to read his father’s words for the very first time. He cleared his throat and read the message aloud.

My dearest Alfred, my dearest Rosemary,

Sadly, your eyes upon this message does mean that I have failed to reunite with your mother, and that these once beautiful lands are all but lost.

A dangerous journey now awaits you. A path that may never see you return to the home you have grown to know and to those you have grown to love.

The journal that you hold within your hands does tell of my path and it shall serve to help and to guide you, though should your path be broken from which that is written it will help you not. It was my deepest wish to spare you both from this path, but I must now ask this of you.

I love and miss you my children.

Arterian

Barely able to control his emotions, and doing all he could to hold back the tears, Alfie glanced up at Eve, only to see a solitary tear fall from her left eye, roll down her cheek, and then resting upon her lips. She did not wipe the tear away but addressed Alfie in her soft-spoken manner.

‘Do you wish to return home?’

‘NO!’Alfie and Rosie answered together, with Rosie practically screaming the word, as the tears streamed down her face.

‘You wish to continue?’ Eve asked, astounded by their immediate response. ‘You have read your father’s words. The journey is a dangerous one, and that which awaits you is more than you have ever known, or shall ever know.’

Alfie was adamant. ‘Yes, we want to go.’

‘How could we possibly let down our father and abandon our mother when she needs us most?’ Rosie jumped in; with an immediate sense of loyalty to the parents she had never met. ‘I just couldn’t live with myself if I did that.’

‘Thank you.’ Eve sighed, before closing her eyes briefly and letting out a sigh, in what seemed to be a very relieved manner. ‘You know not of my gratitude.’

‘That settles it then, we go,’ said Alfie. ‘Do we have to leave now? Which way do we go?’

Eve smiled, impressed with Alfie and Rosie’s obvious bravery, not to mention Alfie’s urgency. Though, what had overwhelmingly impressed Eve was that neither Alfie nor Rosie even asked who or what, they needed to free their mother from, and just said that they would go, without a care of what they may face.

‘Tanner’s true,’ she said, and then smiling. ‘There are things we must discuss before you begin, and there is something I must give to you.’

As Eve walked over to Alfie, from the inside of her robe she produced a long reasonably thin box. She handed it to him.

‘Your father requested that I present you with this.’

‘What’s in it?’ he replied, gently taking the box. ‘Shall I open it now?’

‘I do not know of its contents,’ she replied. ‘It may be best opened when you have rested.’

Alfie nodded his head, thinking that now was probably not the right time. He placed the box safely into his backpack as Eve returned to her original position, with her back to the large ocean. Billy and Emma had respectfully remained silent throughout, almost as though they were not even there, but Billy was curious.

‘Eve. Are you telling me that the things in that book have ACTUALLY happened?’

‘They are of truth,’ she confirmed.

Billy rested his hand on Alfie’s arm. ‘Alfie, remember, I’ve read that book,’ he said, with some degree of concern. ‘There are things in there that would scare the life out of anyone, even Charlie Benson. And if what’s in there is all real, then you really don’t want to go on any journey like that, trust me.’

‘I don’t care how scary it is Billy. I have to do this.’ Alfie nonchalantly replied. ‘Our dad has gone, but we could get to see our mother for the first time ever. Surely you must understand that? Wouldn’t you do the same if you were in my shoes?’

Billy thought for a moment.

‘Actually, yeah, I suppose I would if it were my parents,’ he paused for a moment. ‘Okay, fair enough.’

A frown had appeared on Eve’s face, her head tilted slightly to its side. She stared at Billy.

‘You have read Arterian’s journal Billy?’

‘Yes, I have. Last night,’ he replied. ‘I didn’t go to sleep until really late just so that I could finish it.’

‘Then you must accompany Alfie and Rosie,’ she said. ‘If anything should happen to the journal or should it become lost, you may be able to help them.’

‘Er, I don’t think so,’ he defended. ‘If all that really is real, then I’d rather not face all that if you don’t mind. Alfie can read the book, and then he will know as much as me. Besides, I’ve probably forgotten most of it by now anyway, I don’t have a very good memory.’

‘You do not understand.’ Eve explained. ‘The journal cannot be read in just one land, only the pages it releases can be read in each of the six. Alfie, please may you show Billy.’

Alfie handed the journal over, and Billy tried to flick through its pages. Sure enough, as he had seen earlier, the first few pages would turn, but the remaining pages were firmly stuck together.

‘You see? You will have knowledge that Alfie and Rosie may not, and may in need of,’ she explained.

‘You don’t have to Billy. It’s okay, we’ll manage.’ Alfie expressed, before turning to Eve. ‘Please don’t force him Eve. It’s not fair to ask him.’

Eve instantly clasped her hands together.

‘My apologies, Billy,’ she sorrowfully expressed. ‘I did not mean to offend. Nor was it my intention to make you feel that you should do something you did not wish to do.’

‘Oh, that’s alright, there’s no need to apologise. You were only trying to help.’ Billy replied. Oddly, however, as he was answering, he’d felt a sudden surge of loyalty to Alfie. ‘Actually, thinking about it. I could help couldn’t I?’

Billy placed his hand on Alfie’s shoulder, seemingly swaying in his decision.

‘I know you’d probably come with me if it was me that had to go wouldn’t you?’ he said. Alfie nodded. ‘Oh, go on then, count me in.’

Alfie looked a little concerned for his best friend, but he was really pleased that he’d had a change of heart.

‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘I don’t want you to feel like you have to.’

‘I suggest you be quiet before I change my mind young man.’ Billy replied in a very posh voice, finishing off with a grin. ‘Someone’s got to look after you, haven’t they? I suppose it might as well be me.’

Alfie smiled at Billy’s response and was truly overwhelmed by his loyalty. His smile eased, and his face fell into a more serious look.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered. Billy gave a cheeky wink.

‘I have faith in you all,’ said a smiling Eve.

Emma was at this point feeling quite isolated, and if the truth be known, somewhat lonely. If Billy’s words and expressions, were anything to go by, then this was a journey that would scare the life out of her, and she knew it. After all, Emma was just a normal eleven-year-old girl who liked rabbits and pop music, a girl who was happy with her creature comforts and security, but Billy’s loyalty to Alfie had moved her. Rosie was her deepest best friend, and she knew that if the roles were reversed that Rosie would go with her, and would happily tackle whatever they were to face together. Not only did Emma also now feel an overwhelming sense of loyalty to her best friend, but she also had butterflies in her stomach at the thought of maybe never seeing Alfie again.

‘Is no-one going to ask me if I want to go then?’ she said, unable to believe she’d actually just said those words.

Rosie leant over and looked at Emma, a little shocked. She then turned her head back, thought for a moment, got up, and walked past the boys to her best friend. Rosie took hold of Emma’s hand and bent to her knees before her. She looked deep into Emma’s eyes.

‘Go home, Emma,’ she said calmly. ‘I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to you. Go home to your family, and to Guzentight.’

But Emma was quite adamant. ‘And I could never forgive myself if something happened to you. Who knows, I might be able to help too. I know I don’t know as much as Billy, but I may be able to help somehow,’ she sincerely answered. ‘I’m really scared Rosie, you know I am, but I want to go with you, really I do.’

Rosie beamed to the point of tears. She immediately rose to her feet to give her best friend the biggest of hugs.

‘I think it’s safe to say we’re all going then,’ said Billy.

Eve was totally dumbfounded by the love, loyalty and bravery on display before her. She smiled as Rosie plonked her backpack down and urged Billy and Alfie to nudge up, so that she could sit beside Emma.

Alfie mind had wandered off in all directions, unable to really grasp, or understand all that was going on. He had a thousand and one questions, but just didn’t know which to ask first, until he finally settled on the biggest questions of them all.

‘Eve, what are our parents even doing here? And just so that I know, why is it up to us to go?’

Eve smiled before answering. ‘This is the place of your birth Alfie, and the journey is one only a Tanner can fulfil.’

‘We were born here?’ Rosie jumped in. ‘So then why have we been living somewhere else with our Nan?’

‘The decision was for your protection so that you would be here this day should it be needed.’ Eve answered, but not wanting to go into detail, she would ask a question of her own. ‘Did your grandmother present you with gifts this day?’

‘Yes, she did.’ Rosie nodded, with thoughts of what she had just been told echoing through her mind.

‘Now is a good time for them to be opened,’ said Eve.

Alfie had picked up on that Eve had said ‘this day’ the very moment she had said it. Most people would say ‘today’ and ‘this day’ was something he’d only ever heard his grandmother say. However, he soon dismissed it, as the mere thought of finding out what was inside the gifts excited him. He looked at his big sister for approval.

Rosie nodded. ‘I think the school trip is definitely over now, don’t you?’

Together, the twins reached down into their backpacks and pulled out their gifts. Holding his gift in his hand, Alfie waited eagerly for Rosie to open hers. After carefully removing the blue wrapping paper, she revealed a small white box.

‘What did you get?’ he asked, raising his head to peer over.

‘Hold on, give me a chance.’ Rosie jokingly snapped.

She took the lid off of the small box, briefly peered at its contents, and then held it out to for everyone to see. The box contained two blue oval pills.

‘Two sweets? Nan gave you two sweets?’ Alfie laughed.

‘Those are ‘Fillers’ Alfie, pills of magic,’ said Eve, proceeding to explain their purpose. ‘Once eaten, the taker will no longer know of hunger, or of thirst for one year. The taker may still eat and drink for taste, but there would be no need.’

‘Really? So if I took one of these right now, I wouldn’t feel hungry or be thirsty for a whole year?’ Rosie asked.

‘Indeed.’ Eve replied. ‘But there are only two, and you are now of four, so you must use them wisely. Do not try to break them, for Fillers must not be broken. If they are, they will lose their magic and will become of no use.’

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the front page?’ interrupted Billy. ‘Magic is real too?’

‘Indeed, Billy.’ Eve answered. ‘This you must know, you have read Arterian’s journal.’

‘Well, yeah, I read the book, and I know you said the other stuff was real, but I didn’t really think the magic stuff was,’ he replied.

‘It is all of truth, Billy.’ Eve confirmed.

Billy didn’t really seem to be able to absorb Eve’s words, and was still very disbelieving. He felt that he needed to see some magic before being convinced that it was indeed real. So, being Billy, he thought he would just come right out with it.

‘Do you know how to do magic Eve? Can you show us some?’

Without further ado, fully aware of why Billy was asking, Eve raised her right arm high above her head, twisted her hand so that it was facing her, and proceeded to move it down over her elegant frame, finishing by waving across her knee. As Eve’s had moved her hand over herself, her hair changed to a bright gold colour, as did her robe and her fingernails. Eve’s eyes, however, remained their same captivating green.

‘Wow,’ they all gasped, completely gobsmacked at witnessing their first ever real magic.

‘That is SO cool,’ said a severely impressed Emma. And for the second time today, Billy was lost for words.

Eve gave a gentle nod of her head. ‘And your gift Alfie?’

Alfie didn’t need much persuading to unwrap his gift and swiftly unwrapped it. Inside his small white box was a small dark wooden cube, which looked just like a die, except for one thing. It had no dots.

‘It’s just a cube,’ he said, holding it up between his thumb and forefinger.

‘Much more than a cube,’ said Eve. ‘If you would all like to gather closer, I shall show you its value.’

Almost desperate to know what the blank die would do, they all got up and took the few steps to join Eve, standing just over an arm’s length away from her.

‘Alfie, would you please throw your gift into the air above you.’ Eve instructed.

Alfie glanced at Eve, then the cube, and then, without thought, threw it high into the air above him. They all watched the cube as it flew upward, with no-one able to take their eyes away, in fear of missing something. The cube had reached its peak, and so began to fall. Alfie squinted as the cube fell directly above him, expecting it to hit him in the face. But then it all went very dark.

Almost instantly, two long lines of candles lit up either side of where they stood, which revealed a long rectangular shaped room. They were inside a windowless log cabin, and the candles midway up on either wall lit it up very nicely.

Directly in front of them, in the heart of the room were two long white sofas that faced one another. They were separated by a long brown and white chequered table, which sat on a cream coloured rug. Beyond, at the far wall, was a stone fireplace, that burned a normal, bright red and orange flame. Inside the fireplace, near the top, were three reasonably thin metal bars which were embedded into the stone either side; one bar below two much thinner bars together, forming a triangular shape. Each of the small bars had three metal S-shaped hooks, in readiness for other pots to be hung. A small brown pot hung on the left side of one of the upper bars, whilst a large pot hung from the bottom bar to its right.

Either side of the fireplace stood a tall wall, each with three empty shelves. Either side of the fireplace shelves was a door, both of which that were closed. It was a quaint dwelling, which looked and felt, very cosy indeed.

But whilst everything in the room was picturesque, what had really caught everyone’s eye was the ceiling. It was a dark, night blue, in colour, and there were stars all over it. Not painted stars as they might have expected, but actual stars. Stars that glistened as though they were looking at them in the actual sky. Alfie and Rosie, both excited by the ceiling, spoke together.

‘Amazing.’

‘Yeah, it is,’ confirmed Billy. ‘We have our very own den, and it is THE BUSINESS.’

The girls turned their heads toward each other and smiled.

‘This will be your home for when there is nowhere for you to lie. It shall keep you safe from dangers, and Tics,’ explained Eve. ‘But you must use it sparingly.’

‘Why, does its magic run out?’ Alfie asked.

‘Quite the opposite, Alfie,’ she replied. ‘This home has extremely powerful magic. The longer you are here, the easier it will be for you to be found. So please use it only when you must.’

Emma looked a little concerned. ‘Is someone looking for us then?’

‘Not at this time, but they will should you use this home too often, or for too long,’ she replied. ‘You must always try to shelter elsewhere, and only use this when it is most needed.’

Alfie thought of something, but before he could ask his question Billy jumped in.

‘Okay, so what happens if we’re not close together when it’s thrown into the air? Could we end up under a sofa or something?’

‘No, Billy.’ Eve answered. ‘You only need to be close. By being close, you shall always be brought to this position.’

‘Okay, good,’ he said, quite relieved, as he was having visions of having to wrestle a sofa, or, that he may even end up standing in the fire.

‘How do we actually leave when we want to?’ Alfie asked, getting his question in before Billy beat him to it again.

‘By opening the door behind you, by its handle,’ replied Eve, turning and pointing with her arm to a brass doorknob.

‘Okay, cool.’ Alfie replied. ‘And do we all have to leave at the same time? What happens if only one of us wants to leave?’

‘You may all leave as and when you wish. Those who wish to leave only need to stand in the circle in which you now stand.’ Eve replied. ‘The last to leave will obtain the cube. To leave together, you must all stand as one, inside the circle. This you may now try.’

They hadn’t noticed, but marked on the wooden floor where they stood, was a relatively large, but quite faint, circle. Alfie followed Eve’s instruction and reached forward to turn the brass doorknob. Upon turning it, they immediately found themselves back on the beach, with the wooden cube firmly in Alfie’s hand.

‘Keep this safe Alfie, as you will surely need this magic.’ Eve instructed.

‘I will,’ he replied, placing it in his top pocket with the heptagon for safe keeping.

‘That is one hell of a dotless dice,’ beamed Billy.

Eve, then asked Alfie for his reading glasses. Though not understanding why she would want or need them, he trusted her, so he took them out and handed them to her. With glasses in hand, Eve held out her arm, before, unceremoniously crushing them. Alfie’s glasses completely disintegrated into dust before his very eyes; tiny particles of dust fell either side of her clenched fist. She then opened her hand to reveal an empty palm. Alfie couldn’t believe his eyes, and now, with no glasses, he was going to have trouble seeing out of them too.

‘OH NO! What have you done?’ he protested, looking at the floor, in vain, for any remains. This of course frustrated him immensely, and certainly made him wish that he hadn’t given them to her. ‘I really needed those Eve. I can’t read without those.’

‘Do not be troubled, for you will not need those here,’ replied a calm Eve.

‘I won’t?’ he asked, but in his head, he was thinking ‘Er, yes, I will’.

‘No. For now it is time for you to perform some magic.’

‘Oh, okay,’ he responded, with the thought ‘Magical glasses. Alright, that might be cool’ running through his mind.

‘Kindly position your hand like so.’

Eve placed her thumb and forefinger on the bridge of her nose, level with her eyes; a position similar to how someone with a headache would hold theirs. Alfie copied with his right hand, his left hand clinging tightly to his father’s journal.

‘Now you must close your eyes, and then you must separate your fingers over the eyes cover,’ she said, demonstrating. ‘As you do this, speak these words, ‘Prout Novus’.

Alfie closed his eyes and proceeded to separate his fingers as Eve had instructed; his thumb over his right eye, his index finger over his left.

‘Prout Novus,’ he said.

‘Now you may open them,’ said Eve.

Alfie removed his hand from his face and slowly opened his eyes. Blinking a couple of times, he took a look around. He didn’t feel any different, nor did he notice any change in his vision and he had followed Eve’s instruction exactly how she had given them. He couldn’t help but feel a little sceptical, becoming increasingly concerned that the spell didn’t work, and that he would no longer be able to read anything clearly without his glasses.

‘I don’t think it worked,’ he shrugged. ‘I don’t feel any different.’

Eve simply smiled, before glancing down at his father’s journal. Catching on quickly Alfie raised the journal, flipped the front cover, and proceeded to read his father’s words. He was flabbergasted.

‘That’s INCREDIBLE!’ he said, with much excitement, not to mention relief. ‘I can read this easily now.’

Not overly impressed, Billy just shrugged and sneered at this particular magic. Whilst he thought it was good that Alfie was now able to see without his glasses, and that he had managed to do this with just his fingers and a couple of words, his uncle had undergone laser eye surgery a short while back, so for him, this magic wasn’t anything he hadn’t known about before.

‘May I now see your key?’ Eve asked. ‘I must show you its use.’

Elated at having brand new eyes, Alfie reached into his top pocket and produced the heptagon. He held it out to Eve, but she didn’t take it.

‘Rest it in your open palm,’ she instructed. ‘Ensure that the N faces the sky.’

Alfie did as he was instructed. Almost immediately, the large letter N reduced in size, and swiftly moved to the bottom of the heptagon, toward him.

‘What’s happening?’ he asked.

‘This side of the key is a compass to these lands. Whichever way it points, that way is north, and you must always try to take this path’ she explained. Sometimes you may be unable to because of obstacles or another path may beckon, but you must use this to return to the northern path when you are able. Now you may turn it to its other side.’

Alfie flipped the heptagon over. Once more, almost immediately, the letter O grew larger, and soon disappeared outside of the heptagon, leaving what appeared to be an overhead landscaped map of the area. The heptagon displayed the beach, the ocean, the mountain, the cove and the trees. Everything around him was in view. He moved the heptagon around a little, and sure enough the landscape inside moved with him.

‘This will help you find shelter, or that of which you search,’ said Eve. ‘Though you may only see that which is close.’

‘Blimey,’ he said, looking at the others, very excited that he now had a James Bond like gadget.

Because Alfie had found the heptagon in his lunch box, Rosie wondered if the perfume bottle that she’d found in hers was in some way magical.

‘Eve. I found this. Do you know what it is?’

Eve looked extremely surprised at seeing the perfume shaped bottle Rosie held out in her open hand.

‘I thought this magic was lost,’ she said, the tone of her voice suggesting that she was actually a little excited to see the bottle. ‘Rosie. What you now hold in your hand is the magic of Efil. Was this your grandmother’s gift?’

‘It was in my lunch box, so I suppose it must be, yes,’ she replied. ‘Can I ask what it’s for?’

‘Efil is the most powerful and most valuable magic that these lands have known. Each of those drops has the power to save the taker from death should it be used within one of your hours of their passing. By placing one of those drops into the mouth, it will return their life, and it will be as though they had not passed. But each drop MUST be used before the hour, for if it is used after this time, an evil lies within.’ Eve paused before continuing. ‘You must take good care of this magic Rosie, and you must use it wisely.’

‘Wow, so I can save someone’s life with each of these drops? That’s SO cool.’ Rosie was overwhelmed that she held such power, so much so that she got goose bumps just looking at the bottle. ‘I promise to take very good care of this, Eve.’

‘Show this magic to no-one.’ Eve added. ‘Many will happily end you to possess it.’

‘I won’t. I promise.’ Rosie responded, with an eager nod.

Without further ado, she bent down and then placed the bottle safely into her backpack. She wrapped it in the scarf that she always kept in there in case she was ever cold, to ensure the bottle wouldn’t smash. With all these amazing magical things going on, Billy was desperate to know if he was able to perform some.

‘Can we all do magic then, Eve, or is it only Alfie and Rosie that can?’ he hopefully asked.

‘Let us see.’ Eve teased. ‘You shall need a change of clothing for a long journey, especially you Alfie, with that hole upon your knee.’

Alfie looked down at the hole, tugging at his trousers. ‘Yeah, I suppose I do.’

‘I shall show you all, the change,’ she said.

Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma had seen more than enough magic already, but all were more than happy, and eager, to see some more, especially now, as they were all about to perform some.

‘Just as you have seen, I wish you to all hold your arm above your head, with the palm of your hand to your face.’ Eve explained, holding her hand up. Everyone copied her stance. ‘Think of the clothing you wish to wear. Let it be warm, let it be of comfort and choose a cloth that will allow you to easily move. Think of this, and of nothing else. When you are ready, lower your arm over your frame and finish upon the knee, as such.’

‘Wait!’ said Billy.

‘Yes, Billy?’ Eve asked.

Emma was not best pleased and frowned at Billy, for disrupting her when she was about to perform her first ever magic.

‘Can we wear whatever we want?’ he asked.

‘Yes, you may wear whatever you wish. Though, that which you choose shall not bear symbolic terms from your world.’

‘Cool, okay then, let’s go,’ said a very enthusiastic Billy.

All four were now standing with their arm in the air, and their palms facing them. Each thought of nothing but the clothes they wished to wear.

‘You may proceed,’ guided Eve, demonstrating once more by changing her orange attire for a sky blue ensemble.

Copying her action, they all lowered their arms over their bodies and finished at the knee. Upon finishing the motion, their bodies gave off a host of tiny, dull sparkles, and their school uniforms had now transformed into the clothes that they had been thinking of.

Everyone chose to wear simple clothes, and with basic colours. Alfie opted for regular blue jeans, a white long sleeved T-shirt and a short tanned suede jacket, complete with dark brown, heavy duty, moccasins. Because Rosie and Emma had similar taste, they both chose similar attire for their lower half. Both opted to wear similar dark brown boots and light brown corduroy trousers; though Rosie’s trousers were a couple of shades darker. For their upper halves Rosie had gone for a long-sleeved white T-shirt, and finished her look with a dark brown jacket, whilst Emma opted for a long-sleeved khaki T-shirt and a not so thick khaki coloured jacket.

‘So, SO cool,’ said an excited Billy.

Alfie turned to see what Billy had chosen to wear. He exhaled heavily, and with a grin as wide as his face upon seeing Billy’s choice, he slowly shook his head at his best friend.

‘Oh trust you.’

‘What?’ Billy replied, slightly confused by Alfie’s reaction.

Billy hadn’t chosen similar clothes to the others. Instead, he had gone for a cream coloured v-necked shirt, black trousers; which had a red stripe running down the outside of each leg, and a pair of black boots. He finished his look with a black vest type jacket, which had four large flapped pockets on the front; two on either side.

‘You can’t be serious Billy? Han Solo?’ quizzed Alfie, unable to stop himself from chuckling through his nose. ‘We’re all wearing normal clothes, and you’re standing there dressed as Han Solo?’

‘Well, Eve did say we could wear what we liked didn’t she? And I’ve always wanted to wear this, It’s the business,’ he said, wiping some fluff from his shoulder. ‘I don’t see a problem personally.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma turned to smile at each other. Still smiling, they turned back to Billy. He didn’t even notice the expression on their faces, as he was far too busy admiring his new look.

‘So, SO cool!’ he said.

Still shaking his head at his best friend, Alfie had a thought. ‘Eve, how is it possible that we can do magic without a wand?’

‘A wand is not needed to perform self-magic, Alfie. A wand is only needed when used on others, objects, or for alchemy,’ she explained. ‘Magic comes from within, and a wands purpose is purely to channel the power, which is why wood is best used.’

They listened eagerly as she continued.

‘If you become learned in the advanced ways, it may be that you will have no use for a wand at all, though few souls are strong enough to never need one, especially in these darkened days.’ Eve paused briefly. ‘Your path shall reveal your strength.’

Alfie just couldn’t believe that they were talking about magic and wands so openly, as though it was real. But it was real. It wasn’t so long ago that they were in a castle on a school trip being chased by Charlie Benson. He thought to himself how helpful it could have been if he’d have known magic then?

‘So now that you are of understanding, let us see if we can possess you all a wand, shall we?’ said Eve.

Raising her right arm with open palm, Eve pointed her hand toward the woods to her right and called. ‘Woods of this land and magic beyond, of four, may I humbly receive your wand?’

Again, they all looked to where Eve had directed her arm and saw a disturbance in the trees. It was a light rustle to begin with, but it wasn’t long before the trees were moving quite furiously. The more furious they became, the louder the rustling sound, which was accompanied by what appeared to be extremely loud whispers from within, almost as if somehow the trees were talking to each other. They couldn’t hear what was being said, but it definitely sounded like they were talking.

Alfie caught a glimpse of something fly from the trees at great speed and into Eve’s open palm. She closed her hand, and a brief shiny white light shone around what he could see were four sticks that poked out from of either side.

‘Unbelievable,’ he said, which made the others turn and look him, and then at Eve.

Eve then held out her arm toward them and opened her hand to reveal the four wands. Three of the wands were dark brown in colour, and the other was a much lighter wood and had no visible grain, suggesting that it may have been made of maple or a similar wood. With a base diameter of around one and a half inches, each wand tapered their length, of around nine inches or so, into a point. Oddly, one of the darker wands appeared to have a sprig sticking out of it; a small twig with a solitary bright green leaf at the end, about two inches from the top.

‘May you each please hold out your hand?’ Eve requested.

They did not need asking twice. Without a single thought, they raised their arms and held out their open palms. Excited was not the word.

‘Socius.’ Eve uttered softly.

The four wands then flew swiftly from Eve’s hand, and straight into the hands of the four young travellers, which made them all gasp. They each held their new wands up to inspect them.

Emma’s wand appeared just slightly thinner than the others, even though it wasn’t. Billy got the one with the leafy sprig. He didn’t like to ask why his was the only wand with a sprig on it, and appeared as though it was unfinished, because he actually quite liked that it did, as it made his just that little bit different. Alfie received the lighter coloured wand, and both he and Rosie noticed that theirs appeared as though they were also not quite complete, with each wand having a three inch, oblong shaped, hollow strip at the base. Assuming that, for whatever reason, the groove was supposed to be there, they thought no more of it.

‘I’m now officially a wizard,’ said Billy, proudly waving around his branch like wand.

‘And I’m a witch,’ said Emma, copying Billy’s every move.

‘There is much more to being a wizard or a witch, than possessing a wand my friends.’ Eve corrected. ‘Everyone must learn to walk before they can run, and magic is no different. You must learn the ways of magic in order to be able to perform it, and well. For this, you shall need a good teacher.’

‘Where do we find a teacher?’ Rosie asked.

Eve smiled. ‘You may try looking upon Alfie’s shoulder.’

They eagerly looked, and on Alfie’s shoulder was sat a red squirrel; a rare, but quite ordinary red squirrel, with a bright white stomach and pointy wispy-haired ears. Alfie was of course startled as he turned his head to glance at it, but he soon calmed, as quite bizarrely, it appeared as though the squirrel was saying something to him.

‘Er, it’s a pleasure to meet you too,’ he replied, quite taken aback by a talking squirrel.

‘The squirrel?’ questioned Billy. ‘A squirrel is going to teach us magic? That’s just nuts.’

‘Not only will he teach you magic Billy, but he will teach you good magic.’ Eve replied. ‘Professor Inglebaum is the finest.’

Professor Inglebaum then appeared to speak to Alfie once again.

‘Oh, I agree,’ said Alfie, looking over at Billy, before giving a little chuckle.

‘Is he speaking to you?’ Billy asked. ‘What did he say? I didn’t hear what he said.’

Eve interrupted. ‘You will not Billy. You may only hear the professor when he talks directly to you, or when he decides to address you all. He alone decides who should hear him.’

‘Oh, right. So what did he say Alfie?’

‘I can’t possibly tell you that, Billy.’ Alfie answered with a furrowed brow, and a little smugness. ‘If he had wanted you to know what he said, he’d have let you hear him wouldn’t he?’

Alfie grinned at his best friend as Eve spoke.

‘My friends, we must now all be on our way. The night draws and I must take my leave.’

‘Oh, okay,’ said Rosie, a little disappointed. ‘Which way should we go?’

‘I shall walk with you to your path,’ she answered.

Waving her arm to suggest they follow, Eve slowly headed down the beach from where she had come, toward the trees. The young travellers quickly picked up their belongings and joined her, with Professor Inglebaum still sat firmly on Alfie’s shoulder. A short distance up the beach, Eve stopped and pointed with her arms to a break in the trees.

‘This is the path you must take. It is a path of green, of which you can trust,’ she said. ‘On the other side of the wood there is a tavern, where you may rest. Alfie, you must not forget to read your father’s journal, there is much to learn.’

‘I won’t forget,’ he replied. ‘I’ll read it just as soon as I can.’

‘Good. Now I must bid you all a farewell.

‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Eve,’ he said. ‘Thank you so much for your help.’

‘Yes, thank you, Eve.’ Rosie added.

‘The gratitude is mine.’ Eve responded warmly, her hands clasped. ‘I thank you all.’

‘Will we see you again?’ Alfie asked.

‘One day you shall Alfie, of this I can promise,’ she answered, before once more curtsying to them all.

Alfie bowed to Eve, whilst Rosie, Emma and Billy all curtsied. Alfie again hit Billy on the arm, and again Billy looked confused and gave Alfie a funny look.

Eve smiled warmly, turned, and then began to walk down the beach.

‘Goodbye,’ said Alfie and Rosie together, sad that the closest person they knew to their father was leaving.

Emma raised her voice a little. ‘It was good to meet you, Eve.’

‘Yes, pleased to meet you Eve. Be lucky,’ said Billy, a little louder, as if in competition with Emma.

Eve didn’t turn but continued to walk down the small strip of beach; her aura growing stronger as they looked on. Soon she would turn into the same blur as they had seen when she had arrived, and before long, she faded into the short distance, disappearing before their very eyes.

‘I guess we should go then,’ said Billy.

They all agreed with a nod of the head and made their way to the break in the trees, to the path that awaited them. Before entering the wood, Alfie turned one last time, in order look to where Eve had disappeared. He couldn’t see her, of course, as she had long gone, so he turned back and headed up the narrow path into the heart of the green wood behind the others.

~ ~ ~

Charlie Benson lay unconscious with his face flat on a black shiny surface. Baker, Grimms and Roper were all stood facing him, expressionless. Charlie slowly opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times to gain focus. He was quite clearly in some pain as he got up because he began to rub his head whilst screwing up his face.

‘What was THAT?’

Baker, Grimms and Roper didn’t answer but just stood with their faces bearing the most fearful of looks; each of them looking straight through Charlie as though he wasn’t even there.

Charlie was angry that none of them had answered him. ‘I said, WHAT was THAT?’

Roper then tried to answer, but his lip quivered uncontrollably. ‘Ch-Ch-Charlie. B-b-behind y-you.’

‘Oh, stop stammering you idiot.’ Charlie snapped, wondering what his three stooges all looked so stupid for.

He then turned, and within an instant, his face turned to stone. Four very tall, faceless hooded figures in long white robes stood before them. The hooded figure’s robes hung loosely open, revealing a grey stripe which ran down the middle of their bodies, from their neck to lower torso. They had hands and feet, but all four figures hovered menacingly in front of Charlie and his gang.

Petrified, Charlie and his minions all just stood silent, seemingly unable to move. Adrian Baker was so distraught, that he had actually begun to wet himself, and a puddle soon formed around his left shoe. The four ghostly figures then moved toward them. Everyone, other than Paul Roper screamed. Paul just stood shaking uncontrollably with his heart pounding furiously. He was so petrified that he couldn’t have managed a sound even if he wanted to.

‘NOOOO!’ they screamed, all raising their arms in front of their faces to protect themselves. Their legs became weak and would buckle at the knee, as the figures drew nearer. Then, a blinding flash of white light engulfed the room. Soon the light would fade and would reveal that Charlie Benson and his gang had gone.

CHAPTER SIX

The Mermaids Whisper

Walking through the green wood, on a path only wide enough to support two side by side, they headed for the tavern. Rosie and Emma walked in front of the boys, with Professor Inglebaum still firmly planted on Alfie’s shoulder. Visibility was quite poor, given that the tall trees had blocked out quite a lot of what was left of the daylight, so they could only see a few feet ahead of them, which made the wood appear quite spooky indeed.

No-one had said a word since Eve’s departure as they were all too busy inspecting their new wands. Rosie, Emma and Billy were waving theirs around to get a good feel of them, whereas Alfie just stared at his, wondering what the hollow groove in it was for. Owls would occasionally hoot as they headed toward the tavern, which, of course, is nothing unusual in a wood. But then Billy heard what sounded like a distant voice to his left.

‘Hello. Good luck,’ it said.

Billy was a little freaked by this and frantically looked around. He was not expecting there to be anyone else in the wood.

‘There’s someone else in here,’ he said. ‘I just heard someone say hello.’

‘I didn’t hear anything,’ said Alfie, speaking with a hint of sarcasm as he looked around. ‘And if they said hello Billy, then I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to worry about. It was probably an owl or something, they sound a bit like they’re saying hello sometimes.’

Billy returned Alfie’s sarcasm with an equally sarcastic, and defensive, remark of his own.

‘It wasn’t an owl. I think I know what an owl sounds like thanks.’

A few more steps and Billy heard the voice again, but this time the voice was quite a bit deeper, and sounded much closer.

‘Hello. Good luck.’

‘See, there it is again,’ said Billy, stopping in his tracks. ‘You must have heard that one. Surely?’

Alfie nodded. ‘Actually, yes, I heard that one.’

‘I heard it too, Billy,’ said Emma, turning around.

Billy felt somewhat relieved that he wasn’t the only one to have heard the voice, but it didn’t make him feel any better for hearing it.

‘See, there’s definitely someone else in here,’ he said, his eyes darting around to see if he could see who it was. But, unless whoever it was was very close, he wouldn’t be able to see them, or anything else for that matter, as the woods were much too dark.

Professor Inglebaum spoke to Alfie, which again made him laugh. The professor hadn’t said anything particularly funny, but because of the worried expression on Billy’s face, his words were quite amusing to Alfie. With his voice slightly raised Alfie called into the trees.

‘Hello. Thank you,’ he said, before looking at Billy and smiling.

‘Why are you answering it?’ asked a frustrated Billy, having not noticed the professor talk. ‘And what, may I ask, is so funny?’

‘There’s nothing to worry about Billy. It’s the trees.’

‘I know it’s in the trees, but where in the trees?’ Billy snapped. ‘Do you know who’s in here then?’

‘No Billy, you’re not getting it.’ Alfie replied before going on to. ‘It’s not IN the trees. It IS the trees.’

‘Do what? It IS the trees? You’re right, I’m not getting it.’ Billy replied. ‘What do you mean it IS the trees?’

‘The trees that gave us our wands are saying hello to us and are wishing us well. The wands we have are a part of them remember.’ Alfie explained. ‘They feel honoured to have been chosen to provide us with them. They’re just being friendly and wishing us well.’

‘Really?’ questioned a disbelieving Billy. ‘Talking trees? That’s barking.’

‘Ha ha, that’s not funny, Billy,’ said Alfie, his heading shaking in contempt at Billy’s pun. Billy gave Alfie a knowing smile.

The professor did then speak to Alfie once more. Once he had finished, Alfie would explain.

‘Okay, the professor says that it’s not actually the trees talking at all, though what they’re saying is from them. Apparently, they’re using Dwellers to convey their thoughts, whatever a Dweller is.

Unbeknown to them all, each of the green trees were homes to Dweller’s, a tiny creature that were blue and yellow in colour and which had small ears that stuck out, a pig like nose and a tongue that would always droop from out of their mouths.

‘Ah, see,’ said Billy. ‘I told you trees couldn’t talk.’

‘No, but they can think, clearly.’ Alfie replied. ‘So, we should be polite, say hello back, and thank them.’

Billy wasn’t quite sure what to do as he felt a little silly talking to a tree, but when he heard a third say ‘Hello. Good luck,’ he responded within an instant.

‘Hello. Thank you.’

The girls had heard Alfie’s explanation, so Rosie also decided to also respond.

‘Hello, and thank you very much.’

Emma, however, decided to wait before she would answer, as they had only heard three calls and there were four wands. Had she of answered before the fourth tree had spoken, who would have been left to thank the fourth tree? But it wasn’t until they could see an opening of light, as they neared the end of the wood that the fourth and final tree called.

‘Hello. Good luck.’

‘Hello and thank you very, very much,’ said Emma.

The trees then began to shake. Not violent as they had before, but instead with a much gentler motion; their leaves providing a soothing, almost therapeutic, rustling sound. The professor spoke once more and Alfie relayed his words.

‘They’re now thanking us for our courteousness.’

‘Oh, that’s nice,’ said Emma, before realising. ‘Hang on, no-one answered the first tree. I hope it doesn’t think that we were being rude.’

‘Don’t worry, Em, the professor answered that one for us.’

‘Oh, he did? Oh, good. Thaks professor.’

The professor then answered so only Emma could hear. ‘You’re most welcome.’

A little further on, and upon exiting the green wood, they could see that the tavern was just a short walk up ahead on their left. Emma stopped and turned to listen to the soothing sound of the leaves rustling briefly, totally unaware that the others had continued without her.

‘They’re so nice, I like those trees.’

‘Come on, Emma.’ Rosie urged.

Emma looked back and then around. Realising that she was on her own and talking to herself, she quickly turned back to the trees and said goodbye to them, before quickly rushing off to join the others.

‘The Mermaids Whisper,’ said Alfie, gazing at the writing above a picture positioned above the arched door at the centre of the tavern.

Below the writing was an image of a mermaid. Her bottom half submerged in dark blue water, with her upper above it on an almost clear blue sky backdrop. The mermaid was holding a cupped hand to her mouth, as though she were whispering.

The Mermaids Whisper was a very long tavern that had two floors. It was made of white stone, and sported a large thatched roof with two large stone chimneys that sat quite some distance apart upon it. Either side of the main door were sixteen windows, eight on the lower floor, and eight on the upper, all of which that had wooden shutters. All of the upper floor window shutters were closed, but the lower windows were opened and flat to the wall. Being the curious person that he was, Billy walked over to have a sneaky peek inside. As he was trying to get a good look he managed to bang his head on the glass.

‘I think you’ll find that that is the door, Billy,’ said Alfie sarcastically, pointing to it.

‘Yeah, funny,’ said Billy, rubbing his head as he walked back over to them, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

‘I suppose we better go in then,’ said Rosie.

‘Yep,’ confirmed Alfie.

Alfie led the way and when they reached the door he opened it by its cast iron circled handle and entered. Everyone followed him in, with Billy still rubbing his head. Directly in front of them sat a large bar that was as tall as they were and which stretched about twenty feet in length. The bar was actually an old tree that had had its branches trimmed. The side of the large log had been trimmed and flattened, to form a surface that could hold drinks and food. Directly in front of the bar, stood four rickety looking bar stools. Stools that so rickety that it was a wonder they could actually stand on their own much less when people sat on them. Behind the bar was a collection of shelves which held an assortment of strange looking wooden and clay bottles, all of which had corks sticking half out of them. Between the shelves, at the very centre of the bar, was a doorway and hallway which headed through to the back of the tavern.

Either side of the bar was an alcove that was a mirror image of the other. Each had a fireplace in the centre, a door to the far side; which oddly had not one, but two doorknobs that sat side by side midway up, and out of view facing the bar was a doorway with stairs which led to the second floor. Each fire burned at full strength and produced the periodic sound of crackling wood. The strange thing about these particular fires was that they were not red with hints of orange as they would expect, but they both burned black with hints of blue. The tavern was warm, so they were clearly working, but the young travellers were quite taken aback by their odd colour.

The tavern had no decorations or pictures, on the walls, just a whole bunch of thickly lit candles, which gave the tavern a magnificently warm glow. Scattered around were wooden tables of varying size, which were all just very large, and very old, tree stumps that were carved at the base, so that whoever sat at them was able to get their legs underneath. Each table was accompanied by three small stools; also tree stumps, though much smaller, of course.

As they stood admiring this weird, but quite wonderful place, a heavily built man with a shaved head and neatly trimmed beard emerged from the doorway behind the bar. The six foot tall man wore a light brown cloth shirt that draped over his dark brown trousers, and which was held tight around his waist by a thick rope belt. The barman stretched his arms just over shoulder length apart and laid his hands on the bar.

‘Good evening Inglebaum,’ he said, with a soft-spoken Scottish accent; not penetrating as his huge frame might suggest. ‘The usual is it?’

Professor Inglebaum nodded his tiny head and twitched his whiskers, and then the barman turned to grab a bottle. Immediately the professor ran down from Alfie’s shoulder, across the floor, up one of the rickety bar stools; which made it rock slightly, and then he hopped up onto the bar.

The barman placed the bottle he’d retrieved firmly down onto the bar, before reaching under to get a small thimble and placing it in front of the professor. The barman then picked up the bottle, pulled its cork out with his teeth, and filled the thimble.

Professor Inglebaum grabbed the full to the brim thimble with both hands, and taking great care not to spill a drop he placed it to his whiskered mouth, gulped down its entire contents and then placed it back down onto the bar. Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma were still standing near the door, not knowing what to do, or where to go, as the barman refilled the thimble.

‘Do ya intend ta stand there all eve then?’ the barman asked. ‘Sit yourselves down, ya making the place look untidy.’

‘Oh, um, okay. Is it okay to sit over here then?’ Alfie asked nervously, pointing to a table to his left.

‘Sit where ya please,’ replied the barman.

With the barman’s approval, they made their way to the table that Alfie had pointed at. Billy pulled a stool from one of the other tables and they all tried to get comfortable. Alfie sat facing the door with his back to the fire. Rosie sat to his right, Emma opposite him and Billy to his left. They each placed their wands on the table in front of them.

‘I’ll deal with yous lot in a wee bit,’ called the barman.

Everyone except for Rosie, who was busy inspecting her wand, glanced over to Professor Inglebaum and the barman, who were in conversation. Alfie and Billy tried nosily to listen, but they could only hear what the barman was saying, the professor obviously didn’t want them to hear him.

‘It is?’ asked the barman. ‘But he’s only a wee thing, nae meat on him at all. I’ve eaten bigger mushrooms.’

The barman then paused and listened to what the professor had to say. Alfie and Billy looked at each other, both wondering which one of them they were talking about. Billy pointed to Alfie, nodded his head and squinted slightly as if to suggest it was him the barman was referring to.

‘Well, maybe it’ll turn out ta be a good thing. They may be fine together,’ claimed the barman.

The barman then edged a little closer to the professor and they continued their chat in a whisper, leaving Alfie and Billy unable to hear any of what was being said. At this point, Emma had become quite mesmerised by the fire and its strange colours. She wasn’t quite sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her again.

‘Am I colour blind, or does that fire look quite odd?’

‘You’re not colour blind, Emma,’ confirmed Billy. ‘It’s like that because it’s burning wood from the black and blue trees.’

‘Black and blue trees?’ Emma asked inquisitively. ‘What do you mean black and blue trees? Everyone knows that trees are green.’

‘Ah, that’s where you’re wrong young lady.’ Billy answered, before going on to explain. ‘I read about it in that book. Here there are green, red, black and blue woods. Just the leaves, of course, because all trees have brown trunks, as you know. But whilst they’re brown, they burn different colours. So, burn a black tree get black fire, a blue tree blue fire. They can’t get red wood, and no-one will burn wood from the green because green trees are friendly, so they burn the black and blue wood. Simple.’

‘Oh, okay. I did wonder what Eve meant when she said we’d be safe in the green trees,’ she replied. ‘I didn’t know there were other colours.’

‘Well, now you know,’ said Billy. ‘Oh, and I should say that we should never walk through black or blue woods because there are dangerous things in those, or so the book says. And forget about going through a red wood. No-one who has ever entered a red wood has ever come out.’

Rosie glanced at Alfie before confronting Billy.

‘Why didn’t you tell us all this earlier Billy?’ she asked. ‘And why were you so worried when we walked through the trees if you knew the green ones were safe?’

‘Because we’ve only just got here, and you didn’t ask,’ replied Billy defensively. ‘And yeah, I knew the trees were friendly, but I didn’t know if there was anything else in them that weren’t. I don’t know everything you know. Besides, there is a lot in that book, and a lot to remember.’

‘It might be an idea for you to tell us these kinds of things when you remember them though, Billy.’ Alfie chipped in. ‘Especially the dangerous stuff. It could turn out to be important.’

‘Sure, no problem,’ he replied. ‘If I remember anything else, I’ll definitely tell you.’

Having finished his chat with the professor, the barmen stood up straight.

‘Right, ya are. I shall take care of em,’ he said, before heading over to their table.

The barman walked straight to Alfie and stood beside him.

‘So it’s you then is it?’ he asked, towering over Alfie, and making him feel a little intimidated.

Alfie looked up and nervously replied. ‘Sorry. What is me?’

Alfie could see Billy in the corner of his eye. He was nodding his head as if to say ‘See, I told you he was talking about you.’

‘That’s taking the journey, of course,’ replied the barman.

‘Er, well, yes. We all are.’ Alfie replied.

‘Then yous lot are much braver than I, that’s what I be saying,’ the barman answered, pausing briefly. ‘Oh, sorry, excuse the manners. Argyle’s the name and welcome to the Mermaids Whisper. What is it that I can get yous brave folk?’

Alfie doubted very much that he was braver than this giant of a man, but he wasn’t going to argue with him. Instead, he decided to just introduce everyone.

‘Hello, Argyle. I’m Alfie and - ’

‘There’s nae need ta tell me ya name, Alfie.’ Argyle replied. ‘Your name precedes you my friend.’

‘It does?’ Alfie questioned.

‘Aye, it does. As does your sister’s,’ said Argyle, looking over at Rosie.

Alfie still couldn’t get to grips with the fact that everyone seemed to know them, but he brushed it aside and introduced his friends.

‘Okay then, well, that’s Billy, my best friend. And that there is Emma, my – erm, well, Rosie’s best friend.’

When Alfie had stumbled as he’d introduced Emma, she held her breath in anticipation of what he was going to say. She thought that he was actually going to introduce her as his girlfriend for a brief moment.

‘Pleased to meet yous,’ smiled Argyle. ‘Now then, what shall ya be havin?’

‘What do you have kind sir?’ Billy cheekily asked.

‘Just the broth today. You shall each have one of those.’ Argyle answered quickly. ‘I meant for drinks. You’ll not be wanting the mead I know. So there be apple, carrot, plum and grape, or cabbage splash. Or ya can be having water, of course.’

‘Er, four broths’ it is then?’ Billy replied, looking at the others for approval, which he received with a nod from each. ‘What is the mead?’

‘Ya, dinnae know what the mead is?’ asked Argyle.

‘No, sorry I don’t,’ stumbled Billy.

‘The mead is a brew, a man’s drink. It’ll make ya feel all warm and tingly.’ Argyle smiled cheekily. ‘There be a honey, apple or plum mead. I wouldnae try tha berry mead just tha now though. That be a new mead, and not proper tested.’

Rosie leant over slightly, nudged Billy and spoke softly. ‘I think mead is like beer or something Billy, you won’t want one of those.’

‘Is it really? Cool.’ Billy held his hand up and displayed four fingers. ‘Four of the mead’s then please my good man. I shall take a honey.’

‘Er, I don’t want mead,’ said Rosie.

‘Why not?’ Billy asked, looking somewhat disappointed.

‘Just a water for me please,’ said Rosie, ignoring Billy, and looking up at Argyle.

‘Me too,’ said Alfie.

‘Water for me too please,’ said Emma.

Emma actually wanted the apple splash, but because the others had ordered water, she thought it easier to just go along with them. Billy wondered if he was doing the right thing ordering mead, especially now as he was the only one who was going to try it.

‘So, that be four broth's, three waters, and a honey mead. Right ya are,’ said Argyle, heading back to the bar, and then through the door behind it.

Professor Inglebaum ran across the top of the bar, jumped through the air onto their table, and then sat down in the heart of it. His action was quite unexpected, and so startled them all a little.

‘I’m feeling a little tired, so I shall need to get some rest,’ he said. ‘Argyle will take good care of you, and I shall see you all on the morn.’

The professor’s voice wasn’t squeaky, or as high pitched, as Billy, Rosie and Emma had expected. Instead, he spoke in a very soft, reasonably deep, and very well spoken manner.

‘Hey, professor,’ said Billy. ‘I heard you.’

Rosie and Emma glanced at each other and nodded. They had also heard him.

‘The professor obviously wants you to hear him, Billy,’ said Alfie.

‘Indeed,’ the professor confirmed.

Before heading off for his rest, the professor moved a little closer to Alfie, sat in front of him, and spoke to just him briefly. Once he had finished, he ran back across the table, jumped up onto the bar, and then disappeared behind it.

Professor Inglebaum slept inside a specially carved area on the inside of the bar. He had a little bed made up of straw and a small blanket. He very much enjoyed sleeping inside the bar, though wasn’t sure why, other than he’d always felt comfortable there. Argyle’s movement had never once bothered him either, because the professor could sleep through anything when he was tired.

‘Dream good little one,’ said Argyle, emerging from the doorway carrying four cups on a wooden tray and seeing that the professor preparing for his nap.

Argyle walked over, placed the tray down on the table and wiped his hands down his front. The quite old looking cups on the tray were made of clay, and were shaped like ancient wine cups or goblets.

‘There you go, three of tha waters, and the mead for the wee man,’ he said, before placing the cups on the table and picking up the wooden tray. ‘Ya grub will be here soon enough.’

‘Thanks,’ they all replied.

Argyle slid one of the cups over to Billy, to ensure he’d received his ordered mead. ‘Enjoy.’

All but Alfie went for their drinks and raised their cups to their mouths. Billy gave his an odd look, as he wasn’t expecting an old clay cup, but a glass. He didn’t mind either way, he just found it odd.

‘I wouldn’t drink that just yet if I were you,’ said Alfie.

Everyone froze, withdrew their cups from their mouths and immediately placed them back down on the table. Alfie obviously knew something they didn’t, and they weren’t going to drink anything before they knew what that was.

‘Not you Billy, yours should be okay,’ he said.

But Billy took no notice, not daring touch his drink until Alfie had explained.

‘What’s wrong with them`?’ asked Rosie, raising her eyebrows. ‘Are they poisoned?’

‘Oh, nothing like that.’ Alfie replied. ‘The professor told me that the water comes straight from the spring. It isn’t as clean as the water we’re used to, and so it may not be very good for us. But he did tell me of a spell that will purify it. I’ll show you.’

Alfie gathered Rosie and Emma’s cups, and with all three cups now together in front of him, he held his open hand about two inches over them. As the others looked on eagerly he performed the spell.

‘Purifico,’ he said softly.

Within moments, many tiny fragments rose slowly from the cups and into Alfie’s hand. Once he’d finished, he closed his hand into a fist, moved it away from the cups, and then held it about an inch above the table, near the table’s edge. Turning his hand sideways so it faced with thumb up, he slowly opened it to allow the dirt to fall and created a small mound on the table. He brushed the dirt onto the floor and then slapped his hands together a couple of times to the side, in order to remove any remaining dirt.

‘Oh wow,’ said a very surprised Emma. ‘We almost drank that.’

‘Yeah, but it should be safe now.’ Alfie replied, sliding Rosie and Emma their cups.

‘What about mine?’ Billy asked, looking inside his once more, as he screwed up his face. ‘Is there dirt in this?’

‘No. It’s only in the water Billy, so yours will be alright.’ Alfie replied. ‘The professor didn’t say anything about mead being dirty.’

Whilst the others took a sip of their clean water, Billy continued to look into his, swirling it around as he looked for any signs of dirt.

‘Hmm, that’s quite nice,’ said Alfie.

‘Oh, that is nice.’ Emma agreed. ‘It’s got a bit of a tang to it. I like it.’

Emma was quite pleased that she’d ordered the water now, as it was quite refreshing, and tasted much nicer than she thought it would, considering she’d always thought water to be quite boring. Rosie also liked it, and like Emma noticed the tang. She continued to sip hers in order to try and work out what it tasted like.

Still cautious, Billy continued searching inside his cup for dirt. He sniffed it to see if he could smell anything, but it didn’t smell of anything untoward, just a little bit like honey, as he would expect.

Alfie smiled. ‘Oh, just drink it, will you?’

Billy glanced to Alfie, and then back at the mead. Slowly placing the cup to his lips, he took a cautious sip, his very first taste of honey mead.

‘Ooh, I like that,’ he said, smacking his lips together to get a better taste. ‘There’s a bit of an aftertaste, but that’s not bad. Not bad at all.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma smiled, but before any of them could say anything, Billy put the cup to his mouth and began to wolf down the mead.

‘Steady on, Billy,’ said Rosie.

Billy took no notice, and once he’d finished his brew, he let out a large sigh.

‘Nice. It doesn’t taste that much like honey though. Well, a bit I suppose,’ he said, finishing his sentence with an almighty burp.

‘Oh, that’s disgusting Billy!’ Emma laughed.

‘What?’ he said, with a wry smile. ‘Better out than in, that’s what my dad always says.’

‘Grub’s up,’ said Argyle, emerging from the doorway carrying four steaming bowls of broth, one in each hand, and two balanced on his right arm.

He walked over and carefully placed the bowls down in the middle of the table. He then grabbed four very basic looking wooden spoons from his back pocket and laid them next to the bowls.

‘Enjoy,’ he said, with a wink and a little smile.

As Argyle went to walk away, he stopped suddenly, having noticed that Billy had completely finished his honey mead.

‘Ah, a wee bit of a drinker then is ya?’ he said. ‘Would ya like another?’

‘Yes, please, if that’s okay.’ Billy replied, with some enthusiasm.

‘Nay problem. I’ll get it for ya after I close the shutters,’ he said. ‘I didnae realise the eve had fallen so quick.’

Each grabbed a bowl and spoon and tucked into their steaming broth, blowing on every spoonful before they ate it. Argyle made his way over to the far side of the tavern to close the shutters, and it wasn’t long before he came back to close the shutters near them.

Alfie glanced up from the table and saw that Argyle, quite bizarrely, was closing the shutters from the inside, and not the outside. Given that the shutters were outside of the tavern, and he hadn’t opened a window, Alfie wondered how was it that he was putting his arms right through the glass to shut them.

‘Er, Argyle?’ he quizzed. ‘How can you close those from the inside?’

Argyle looked over. ‘I dinnae get ya meaning.’

‘With the window being there, I mean,’ said Alfie. ‘Billy banged his head on that just before we came in.’

‘Windoh ya say? What be a windoh?’ asked Argyle, repeating what Alfie had said in the way that he had heard it.

‘What do you mean?’ Alfie asked ‘The glass and frame are windows.’

‘Glass in a daylighter? Dinnae be silly, Alfie.’ Argyle laughed. ‘If there were glass in the daylighter ya’d burn the place down to the ground. Everyone knows what happens when sunlight shines through the glass. And anyway, ya would nae be able to see tha outside if ya put glass in a daylighter. It’d be misty.’

They were getting nowhere fast, as each of them were answering the others question with a question. Alfie took it upon himself to walk over to the window and take a look for himself. He placed his hand on the glass, and sure enough, he could feel the wood of the now closed shutter. ‘How is that possible?’ he thought. Billy had banged his head on what he thought was a window, and it definitely wasn’t the shutters, because they were open then.

‘Here look,’ said Alfie, a little puzzled. ‘When Billy tried to look through the window from outside, he hit his head on it, but there’s nothing here now.’

‘Oh, the outside blocker ya mean? Ya call that a windoh do ya?’ Argyle responded, realising. ‘A Daylighter stops what’s on the outside from coming inside, all but for the sun. Ya can go straight through them if you’re on the inside. It’d be a good thing if there was an inside blocker, especially with all the wood I need to use to heat the Whisper.’

‘We have those where we come from, they’re called windows.’ Alfie explained. ‘They keep the heat in and the cold out, or at least they’re supposed to.’

Argyle looked at Alfie blankly. He then pulled his head back, as though Alfie had just performed some kind of magic, and tilted his head in a puzzled manner.

‘Ya be saying that a windoh with a blocker for both sides has the glass?’ Argyle paused briefly. Just as Alfie was about to answer, a look of realisation came upon his face. ‘Och, ya making fun of old Argyle. I see now. Tis a good fun ya did there, Alfie.’

Argyle grinned and then swiftly headed over to the bar to fetch Billy’s honey mead. Alfie followed.

‘I wasn’t making fun of you Argyle, honest,’ he explained. ‘I’ll show you a window one day if I can.’

‘Och aye, that I’d like to see,’ said Argyle, a constant beam on his face as he pottered about behind the bar. Alfie looked back over to the daylighter.

‘Is everything here magical then Argyle?’ he asked. ‘It seems to be.’

‘It used to be, aye,’ he replied.

‘Used to be?’ Alfie quizzed.

‘As I said, it used to be. Before him, that is,’ said Argyle, whilst pouring liquid into a cup and then slowly waving his hand over it.

Alfie was now very curious. ‘Before who?’

‘Oh, ya dinnae know of him just yet, do ya?’ Argyle replied, picking up Billy’s mead and walking over to the table. ‘But I’m not the one to be telling ya, that’s best left to who know more than I. Inglebaum will tell ya of him.’

Argyle placed the cup in front of Billy, winked at him and returned to the bar. Alfie was curious to know who this ‘him’ was, but for the moment, he was more concerned that Billy may be having a little too much mead. He didn’t want to, and felt uncomfortable doing so, but he felt he had to confront Argyle.

‘Argyle, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but can you not give Billy any more of those?’ he said gently. ‘He’s only eleven and shouldn’t really have honey mead. The last thing we need is for Billy to get drunk.’

‘Och, dinnae worry yaself Alfie, that’s nae the mead.’ Argyle smiled.

‘It isn’t?’ Alfie frowned.

‘Och no, I’d nae give honey mead to a wee bairn now, would I?’ Argyle scoffed.

‘Er, no, I suppose not.’ Alfie replied, shaking his head. ‘So then what did you give him?’

‘Just the water, with a wee honey spell.’ Argyle replied. ‘I give it ta all the weans who want a taste of a man’s drink. It keeps them happy. I dinnae like it myself, but they seem ta.’

Alfie smirked at the thought of Billy thinking that he was being manly by drinking honey mead, when in fact it was just water with a honey tasting spell.

‘That’s funny,’ he grinned.

‘You’d better be getting that broth down ya, Alfie,’ said Argyle. ‘It’ll be getting cold.’

Alfie nodded and headed back over to the table. The others were nearing the end of their broth when Alfie sat down, with each scraping what was left in their bowl. Billy had finished his first, and after placing the spoon in the bowl, he pushed it to the middle of the table. He then let out an almighty burp.

‘Oh Billy, I’ve never known anything like it,’ said Emma, looking both shocked, and somewhat amused. ‘You’re so full of wind.’

Billy response was a simple, satisfied grin. He rubbed his stomach. ‘That was handsome.’

Billy’s words almost made Alfie spit out his mouthful of broth. He quickly swallowed and then laughed.

‘Handsome?’ he asked, chuckling through his nose. ‘What do you mean it was ‘handsome’?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. My dad says it all the time when he’s enjoyed something.’

Billy felt slightly embarrassed and so masked it by quickly picking up his honey mead and wolfing it down, just as he had the first.

‘You so make me laugh, Billy.’ Alfie smiled, shaking his head as he scooped up another spoonful of broth.

The door to the tavern then opened slowly, creaking as it did, and a man in a long black hooded cloak entered. The man turned his head to glance to his right, and then turned it to his left. Upon seeing them, he stared directly at the four young travellers briefly, before continuing to the bar. Placing one hand upon the bar, the unshaven man turned and stared at them once more whilst he waited to be served. Argyle broke the man’s glare.

‘What shall it be?’

The hooded man replied in a slow, deep tone. ‘Mazer.’

‘Indeed.’ Argyle jovially replied, placing a large cup on the bar, before turning to grab a bottle of mead. He turned back to face the man and began to pour. ‘I’d ask ya ta kindly remove tha hood. I’ve told ya before, there be no hoods in the Whisper.’

Reluctantly, the man swiped down his hood with his left arm. Upon doing so, he revealed long, brown scraggy and greasy looking hair. Hair so greasy, that it looked like it hadn’t been washed in months.

‘That’ll be a grudge,’ said Argyle, sliding the mazer of mead toward him.

The man slapped a small brown shiny triangle on the bar and pushed it forward to Argyle with his finger. He then picked up his drink, walked to the opposite side of the tavern and sat in the corner with his head down. Alfie had finished his broth, and so Rosie collected everyone’s bowls and spoons. She took them to the end of the bar.

‘Ya didnae have ta do that, Rosie,’ said Argyle. ‘I would have collected those.’

‘Oh, that’s okay,’ she replied. ‘That was really nice. Can I ask what was in it?’

‘It was broth,’ replied Argyle, not knowing what she meant.

‘No, I mean, what ingredients were in the broth?’

‘Och, the same as is in any other. All but for Gram’s secret ingredient.’

A frown fell upon Rosie’s face. ‘What is a Grams?’

‘Grams be my better half, or so she would have ya believe. She be upstairs resting just now,’ he replied. ‘But I cannae be telling ya her secret ingredient, or else it wouldnae be a secret now, would it?’

Not wanting to pry or appear rude, Rosie would ask no more questions. Besides, she felt a little foolish that she had thought Grams was some kind of herb, and not that she was Argyle’s wife.

‘Of course not,’ she smiled. ‘Well, whatever the secret ingredient was, it works. Can you thank her for me? And tell her that I thought the broth was lovely.’

‘I shall be letting her know.’ Argyle smiled, picking up the dirty bowls and spoons. ‘That’ll make her day chipper.’

Argyle then turned and headed through to the back of the tavern, whilst Rosie headed back to the table to sit with the others.

‘I wonder what happened to Charlie Benson,’ said Billy.

Billy’s face looked quite pale, and he didn’t look very well at all. Alfie had noticed that he looked a little off colour but discarded it, thinking that it may have been a trick of the light or something. Besides, Billy surely would have said something if he didn’t feel well.

‘He’s probably at home now watching CBeebies?’ Alfie joked.

‘I don’t think so, Alfie.’ Billy replied. ‘Charlie was in that room with the face thingy. I saw him.’

‘Charlie Benson was in that room?’ Emma butted in.

‘Yeah. You must have heard him shout my name just before we went through.’

‘I didn’t hear anything.’ Emma replied.

‘Nor me,’ said Rosie.

‘Actually, I did hear something,’ said Alfie. ‘But I just thought it was just one of you.’

‘It was definitely Charlie,’ said Billy. ‘He’s probably stuck there like we were until that face thingy told us what to do.’

‘Or maybe the face thingy told him what to do, and he came through like we did,’ said Alfie.

‘He couldn’t have,’ said Rosie. ‘He didn’t have a key.’

‘What I want to know is how he got past the coach driver,’ said Emma.

‘That’s a point,’ said Alfie, furrowing his brow.

Rosie had a look of concern. ‘Are you feeling alright, Billy? You really don’t look well at all.’

‘No Billy, you don’t.’ Emma confirmed.

Billy’s face had certainly become much paler, so much so, that it had now begun to look as though it had turned a sky blue colour. And if that wasn’t bad enough, extremely loud rumbling noises began coming from his stomach.

‘Actually, I think I need the toilet,’ he said, getting up rather quickly.

‘I think that’s the toilet,’ said Alfie, turning and pointing to the door to the left of the fire.

Billy immediately ran to the door. Not knowing which doorknob to use, he instinctively grabbed hold of the one on the right, pulled the door toward him and rushed inside.

‘Oh my goodness,’ said Emma.

‘I told him that he shouldn’t have that mead,’ said a smug Rosie.

‘It wasn’t mead,’ said Alfie.

‘Wasn’t it?’ Rosie quizzed. ‘What was it then?’

‘Just water and a honey tasting spell.’

‘Well, no wonder he’s not feeling well, especially after seeing the muck you took out of our water,’ said Emma.

‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Alfie.

A mixture of loud crashing noises came from behind the door. Suddenly it flew open, slammed against the wall, and Billy came running out. Holding his stomach with both hands, he was now sweating profusely, so much so, that his hair looked damp and had stuck firmly to his face; he really did not look at all well.

‘That’s not a toilet, that’s a broom cupboard,’ he screeched, frantically looking around for where to go.

Having returned to the bar, Argyle had witnessed the commotion, along with Billy’s anguish. ‘Tis the door Billy, but ya must use the left doorknob. Pull the door to ya right.’

‘What?’ Billy was now quite frantic and clearly in some pain, doubling over as he held his stomach.

‘Tha very same door ya went to, but choose the handle on the left, and pull it ta the right.’ Argyle instructed.

Billy quickly ran back to the door which was now closed, probably due to it slamming against the wall and bouncing back. He quickly grabbed the handle on the left, pulled hard to his right, rushed inside and shut the door quickly behind him.

‘I hope he’s alright, but how cool is that? A door that opens both ways, and has two different rooms?’ said Emma.

‘It is Em, but I don’t think Billy was too impressed by it.’ Alfie chuckled, which brought a wicked smile to Emma and Rosie’s face.

Billy seemed to take an age in the toilet. Alfie, Rosie and Emma sat silently twiddling their fingers waiting. Emma would occasionally pick up her wand and inspect it, unable to believe that the stick of wood in front of her was actually a real wand. Rosie just stared at the door.

‘Okay, I’m worried now. He’s been in there too long,’ said Rosie.

‘Yes, he has.’ Emma agreed, putting her wand down and also staring at the door. ‘You don’t think there’s something seriously wrong with him, do you?’

‘Nah, he’ll be alright, it’s just an upset tummy,’ said Alfie, content that Billy would survive, given that the professor had told him what might happen if they drank the water. ‘Shall we open dad’s box while we’re waiting? I’ve been dying to know what’s inside.’

‘Oh, I’d completely forgotten about the box,’ said Rosie. ‘How could I have forgotten about that?’

‘Quite a lot has happened, Rosie,’ reasoned Emma. ‘I forgot about it too.’

‘Come on then, let’s see what’s in it,’ said Rosie, clearly every bit as excited as Alfie was to know what was inside.

Alfie reached down to his backpack to get the box and then placed it on the table in front of him. He glanced at Rosie briefly, and then tried to open it. But opening the box proved to be trickier than he thought, because there was no latch, nor anything on the box that looked like it may be the way to open it. It was sealed tight. Rosie became a little impatient as Alfie continued to fiddle with it.

‘Well open it then!’

‘I can’t,’ was his frustrated reply, whilst still anxiously turning the box around to look for a way.

‘What do you mean you can’t?’ Rosie asked. ‘Isn’t there a latch or a lock, or something?’

‘No, there’s nothing. Look!’ Alfie snapped, sliding it to his sister.

Rosie examined the box, but she couldn’t see a way of opening it either. Not to be deterred, she picked it up and looked around it much more thoroughly, even its base, but still there was no obvious way.

‘Maybe it needs magic to open?’ Emma suggested.

‘Maybe,’ replied Rosie, before turning to her brother. ‘Did Eve give you a spell that would open this?’

‘I don’t think so,’ he replied. ‘Can you remember her saying anything? You were both there.’

‘No, I don’t think so either,’ Emma replied, casting her mind back to try and remember.

‘Well then, there’s got to be a way,’ said Rosie, again looking around the box.

‘Let’s have another look.’ Alfie urged, placing his hand on the table.

‘Hang on a minute,’ she said, pulling it closer, disgruntled at not being able to find the solution.

Alfie impatiently sat and stared at Rosie who, with furrowed brow, continued to search. It wasn’t long before his patience began to wear thin.

‘Come on, let me have another look,’ he said in a firm tone.

‘HOLD ON!’ Rosie snapped, moving the box even further out of Alfie’s reach.

Alfie puffed and became very fidgety because Rosie hogging the box was typical of her. Because she was the eldest, if there was a problem to be solved you can be sure she would do everything she could to solve it before letting anyone else try. Alfie would normally just leave her to it, but today had been an emotional day, and today he wasn’t going to. He stood up, reached over and quickly grabbed hold of the box with both hands. Rosie, however, had seen his attempt and also took a firm hold, which resulted in the twins pulling the box to and fro.

‘Let me see it!’ Alfie demanded, pulling it toward him.

‘In a minute!’ replied Rosie, pulling it back.

‘Would you two please calm down?’ interrupted Emma. ‘You’re like a couple of – well - kids.’

Emma’s words were enough to make both Alfie and Rosie realise that they were being very silly indeed. There was no rush to open the box, and as long as they could actually work out how to get it open, it really didn’t matter who opened it. They gave each other an apologetic look, and, still holding the box, they whispered sorry to each other. The very moment they had said the word, the box made a loud clicking noise. They each looked down at it, and then at each other.

‘Well, I think you’ve figured out how it opens,’ said Emma. ‘Just be nice to each other.’

Rosie nodded and took her hands away to allow her brother to take hold of it. Alfie smiled warmly at his sister and then eased back onto his stool, placing the box directly in front of him once more. Just as he was preparing to open it, the lid slowly opened all on its own. It opened like most boxes do, with the lid rising from front to back.

Alfie, Rosie and Emma all looked at each other. All at once, they eased off their stools and leant forward to peer inside. Inside the box were five items; two bracelets, a small black cloth bag, tied with black string, and two white oblong shaped pieces of wood, about three inches in length. Alfie’s eager expression dropped very quickly to a disappointed one at seeing the contents.

Rosie noticed. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Oh, nothing.’

‘Come on, what is it?’

Alfie wore a look of dejection. ‘I was just hoping there’d be another message from dad in there, that’s all.’

‘Yeah, me too. But we have heard from him today haven’t we?’ said Rosie comfortingly. ‘And besides, you have his journal. I’m sure there’s enough for you to read in there.’

‘Yeah, I suppose,’ he replied, still quite forlorn.

Emma attempted to ease Alfie’s disappointment by showing an interest to the contents of the box.

‘Ooh, they look nice. May I?’ she asked, pointing at the bracelets.

‘Of course,’ he replied.

Emma placed her hand inside and pulled out the two round shiny bracelets. She passed one to Rosie.

‘Oh, that’s lovely,’ said Rosie, gently taking it.

The perfectly round bracelets were indeed lovely, not to mention unusual. Each was made up of four different coloured arced stones, with each arc blending seamlessly with the next, to form its circular shape, whilst bearing no visible signs of a join whatsoever. Whoever had made these bracelets was a very highly skilled person indeed. One of the quarters was cream in colour, another white − with little bits of grey. The third was a kind of metallic blue / green mixed colour, and the fourth was relatively clear, almost like glass, but with what looked like a light grey mist running through it.

Whilst both the bracelets were clearly made of the highest quality, each was different from the other; though only slightly. The colours were the same, but the markings on the stones were different; which of course made sense, as it is almost impossible to find two identical stones.

Rosie slid the bracelet that she held onto her wrist and it fitted perfectly. Emma then tried to put her bracelet on, but it wouldn’t fit. She was completely unable to get the bracelet over her knuckles, although there seemed to be more than enough room. No matter what she did, even after trying quite hard to force it on, the bracelet just would not go on.

She frowned. ‘Mine won’t fit.’

‘What do you mean it won’t fit?’ Rosie quizzed.

‘I can’t get it past my knuckles, look.’ Emma replied, trying once more to force the bracelet on; but still no joy.

Emma was dumbfounded as to why the bracelet wouldn’t fit, as she never had a bracelet that didn’t fit before; it looked large enough to be able to fit. On closer inspection, she noticed something on the inside of it. Pulling it closer, she focused her eyes, and, adjusted the bracelet in the light so that she was able to see it more clearly. What she’d seen was an inscription engraved. It simply read: ‘Alfred’.

‘This is yours, Alfie,’ said Emma.

‘How do you know that?’ he asked.

‘Because your name is inside it.’

‘My name?’ Alfie replied. ‘It can’t be mine. If it doesn’t fit you, it’s hardly going to fit me now is it? My hands are a little bit bigger than yours.’

‘I don’t know. Here, take a look,’ she said, passing him the bracelet.

Alfie gently took hold of it and put it on his left wrist; the wrist he kept his watch on. The bracelet went on easily.

‘Well that’s bizarre,’ he said.

Rosie took her bracelet off to look at the inside of hers, and sure enough ‘Rosemary’ had been engraved.

‘This one has my name engraved inside it,’ she said.

‘They must only fit the people whose names are on them,’ said Emma, quite disappointed that she didn’t have a bracelet to wear because she really liked the look of them.

Alfie sat playing with his for a while. He slowly eased it off and then put it back on again. He slid it off again, and again he put it back on.

‘Are you going mad?’ asked Rosie.

Alfie paid no attention to his sister and just carried on putting the bracelet on, and then off, on, and then off.

‘ALFIE!’ Rosie said quite loud, instantly grabbing his attention and forcing him to look up.

‘What?’

‘What are you doing?’ she laughed. ‘Are you going to wear that, or not?’

‘Oh, right,’ he replied. ‘Well, yeah. It’s just that when I put it on, my watch stops.’

‘It does? Really?’ asked Emma.

‘Yeah. And when I take it off it starts again. Look.’

Emma watched as Alfie demonstrated. Sure enough, whenever he put the bracelet on, the second hand of his watch would stop, and when he took it off it started again.

‘They must be magnetic, or something?’ she said.

Not wanting to have a watch that didn’t work, Alfie opted to wear the bracelet on his right wrist. He glanced quickly at his watch to make sure it was working, and it was, so he was happy with that solution. Alfie then reached in to pull out one of the oblong shaped pieces of wood. It crossed his mind how the shape looked very similar to the hollow groove that he had noticed in his wand earlier. Instinctively, he picked up his wand with his other hand and attempted to place the piece of wood into its groove; it was a perfect fit. Suddenly, the wand flashed a variety of pastel colours, starting at the base and finishing at the tip. It was like a bright multi-coloured aura moved through it. Alfie was naturally startled at first, and he almost dropped the wand, but then he felt a warm, calming, feeling soar over him. Once the colours had faded, Alfie looked at where he had placed the piece of wood and saw that there was no sign of where the groove once was. The long piece of wood had seemingly blended into it, as though it had completed his wand.

Rosie and Emma were in awe of what they had just seen. Rosie immediately reached for the other piece and then placed it into her wands hollow groove. The very same thing happened to her wand as it had to Alfie’s, with it flashing a variety of pastel colours from base to tip and giving her the same warm and calming feeling. Rosie’s wand was now also complete.

‘Oh, my stars. That is so, so cool,’ said Emma, beaming from ear to ear.

Alfie and Rosie couldn’t help but smile as they fiddled with their new wands for a while. They waved them around in the hope that they may do something, but they didn’t. Rosie soon grew tired of waiting, so she focused her attention back on the box.

‘What’s in the bag Alfie?’

‘Let’s have a look then, shall we?’ he replied, putting his wand down.

Alfie took hold of the small bag and placed it in front of him. After untying the string from around the neck, he took the bag in his palm and poured its contents onto the table. Out of the bag fell a number of triangles, along with two white discs the size of a two pound coin. One of the white discs had rolled toward Emma, so she quickly slapped her hand down on the table to stop it rolling onto the floor. Lifting her hand, she revealed that the disc had a triangle shaped hole. She slid it back over to the others disc and triangles.

Alfie thought that the triangles looked very much like the triangles they had seen next to the coffin in the castle earlier. They were the same size, had the same rounded edges, and were similar in colour; though these were clearly much newer than those in the castle, with extremely clear markings.

At the centre of each of the triangles was a large three-quarter circle, which was broken at the top. At the top right of the circle, on its outer, were four dots, which were evenly spaced out along the circle’s edge. On the reverse of the triangles, there were different markings. A straight line ran down the very middle, with another wavy line running across the line, a little way from the top, making it look like a fancy letter T. Near the bottom of the line was what looked like a squashed circle, and in between the wavy line and the circle, to the right of the straight line, were four dots; similar to those on the front though aligned much neater.

Alfie counted the triangles as he separated them in order of size and colour. There were 36 small copper coloured triangles; that were about the size of a twenty pence piece, 20 silver triangles; a little bit smaller than a fifty pence piece, 1 large silver triangle; which was slightly larger than a two pound coin, and finally, 1 small gold triangle; the same size as a five pence piece. Not forgetting the two plain white discs.

‘What do you think they are for?’ asked a curious Alfie.

‘Well, if they were round I would have said that they were coins.’ Emma replied, taking the cloth bag from the table and fiddling with it.

‘Actually Emma, I think you’re right. They do feel like coins,’ said Alfie. ‘But then, triangular shaped coins would be a bit weird, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yeah, it would.’ Emma agreed.

‘Whatever they are, let’s just hope there’s not a coffin nearby,’ added Rosie, taking hold of one of the triangles to look at.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Grave Danger

As Rosie placed the triangle down, the door that Billy had gone through finally opened, and out he stepped. Adjusting his belt, he looked much healthier, and also very relieved.

‘Phew, I’m glad that’s over,’ he sighed. ‘One thing’s for sure, I won’t be having any of that mead stuff again. I can tell you that for nothing.’

‘We were beginning to worry about you, Billy,’ said Rosie.

‘No need to worry about me Rosemary Tanner.’ Billy responded, acting all smug as he adjusted his clothing, doing all he could to mask the fact that he still felt a little unwell and could quite easily turn and go back into the toilet at any time. ‘It’ll take more than a couple of drinks to keep Billy Shaw down.’

‘Glad to hear it.’ Rosie smiled.

‘Come on then,’ he said. ‘What have I missed?’

‘Oh, not much, just a couple of bracelets and some triangular coins,’ answered Rosie.

‘Triangular coins? Don’t be daft.’ Billy laughed, sitting back down and running both of his hands through his hair to tidy it and remove it from his face.

‘I hope you’ve washed those.’ Alfie joked, looking at Billy’s hands. His comment swiftly followed by a broad smile.

Billy laughed in response. ‘That’s funny mister.’

‘Hang on, what’s this?’ said Emma, pulling a small scroll of paper from the cloth bag she’d been playing with.

‘That’s what we like to call paper Em,’ said Billy.

‘Er, thanks Billy, but I think I know what paper is,’ she sighed, passing the scroll to Alfie; thinking that if it was the message he had hoped for, that he should be the one to read it.

Alfie opened the scroll and read it aloud.

‘The youngest must be the one to end him.’

‘End who?’ asked Rosie.

‘I don’t know. Whoever has our mother, I suppose,’ he answered.

‘You maybe should have asked Eve who was holding your mum, Alfie,’ said Billy, forcing both Alfie and Rosie to realise that they hadn’t even thought of that.

As they continued to chat, the dark hooded stranger that had been sitting on the other side of the tavern rose to his feet. He placed his hood over his head and began to walk slowly toward the door. Standing behind the bar, Argyle had noticed the stranger reach into his cloak, which gave him a strong feeling of unease. Acting upon this feeling, Argyle came out from behind the bar, and then placed his huge frame between the stranger and Alfie’s table. The hooded man stopped in his tracks just short of the tavern door and stared at Argyle sternly. Instead of turning for the door, the stranger just grinned. He then took one step toward Argyle. Argyle knew something what was about to happen wasn’t going to be good, so he stood firm and puffed out his huge chest.

‘Nae ya don’t. If ya want ta be getting to the weans, yer gonna have ta get through me first.’

The dark stranger said nothing as the four young travellers had begun to wonder what was going on. Instead, he pulled his wand out of his cloak and waved it toward Argyle in a swirly motion. A big blue ball of light formed at the tip of the wand, and an immense cracking noise sounded as he released the spell toward Argyle.

The ball of light hit Argyle square in the chest. The force of it knocked Argyle completely off his feet, sent him flying high over Alfie’s table and smashed him hard against the wall. Argyle slumped to the ground, completely knocked out. Alfie and the others had to quickly move out of the way to avoid being hit and watched in horror as Argyle hit the wall so hard, that an enormous dent was left in it. The hooded man stood admiring his work.

Now they were scared, they were very scared, so much so that they didn't quite know what to do. If he could do that to Argyle, then what chance would they have? Following Alfie's lead, they all got up from their chairs and swiftly moved to the back wall where Argyle had fallen. Billy was the only one to have grabbed his wand from the table when they got up, and so he pointed it at the dark stranger. He began to wave it around, doing all he could to try and cast a spell.

‘Destroy!’ he said. ‘Vanish!’

Billy tried in vain to cast any kind of spell to stop the stranger, and unable to think of anything else, he blurted out something quite random.

‘Chocolate sausage!’

But nothing happened, except for one small spark circling around the tip of the wand, which quickly faded. The hooded man let out a small but evil laugh as the four travellers stood shaking. With the slightest flick of his wand, the stranger knocked Billy’s wand out of his hand and sent it hurtling across the tavern.

‘This is NOT going to end well,’ said Billy, in a quite broken voice.

The stranger then pointed his wand at them and just as he was about to cast another spell there was a huge flash of white light and an even bigger cracking sound than before. The hooded stranger was then sent crashing through the closed door of the tavern, totally destroying it as he smashed through its thick wood. Sitting on the bar, with a wand no bigger than a matchstick firmly in his paw, was professor Inglebaum. He turned to Alfie and the others.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘Er, no, thanks to you, professor,’ replied a very relieved Alfie, still shaking a little.

‘Good.’

The professor then jumped down from the bar, over the debris left by what was once the door, and ran outside to confront the stranger. With wand in hand, the professor frantically looked in all directions, but the man was nowhere to be seen. He sat for a short while and uttered a resounding ‘Hmm’, before heading back inside the tavern.

Back inside, the professor ran and jumped onto a stool, and then onto Alfie’s table. He saw they were all tending to Argyle. Argyle had hit the wall as hard as anyone could hit a wall, and they were all very concerned.

‘Argyle! Argyle!’ Alfie urged, nudging him.

Argyle was completely unresponsive.

‘Slap his face,’ urged Billy.

‘I’m not going to slap his face Billy!’ Alfie responded.

‘Billy is right, slap his face,’ said the professor.

Alfie looked up at the professor. ‘Really?’

‘Indeed,’ the professor confirmed.

‘Well, okay.’

Alfie bent to his knee and gently slapped Argyle around the face, but didn’t slap him very hard at all. In fact, it was probably as weak a slap as has ever been administered.

‘Harder than that,’ said Billy, ‘Look, like this.’

Billy nudged Alfie out of the way, bent down and slapped Argyle really hard a couple of times on his face. Argyle still didn’t respond.

‘I think he’s dead,’ said Billy.

‘Och nae, he’s not dead. Stand aside, this’ll wake him,’ said a woman with a Scottish accent from behind them.

They turned to see quite a tall and quite large lady, with shoulder length brown, partially greying, hair holding a wooden bucket. The woman wore a long brown cloth dress with long white arms.

‘Come now weans, mind the way,’ she urged.

They did as requested and allowed the woman through. The woman proceeded to throw a bucket of very cold water straight over Argyle’s face. Argyle’s eyes instantly opened, before vigorously shaking his head, due to the shock of the cold water.

‘Och, woman, what have I told ya about that?’ he said, quite disgruntled, before stumbling to his feet.

‘Ah, be quiet ya daft old man,’ replied the woman. ‘If ya dinnae want the water, dinnae be sleeping when ya shouldnae be sleeping.’

‘I was nae sleeping ya daft old woman. I was knocked cold,’ he said, pulling his sodden tunic away from his chest.

‘And now ya be wet cold through, ya old fool,’ she replied.

Rosie instantly knew who this woman was. It was Argyle’s wife, Gram.

‘Pleased to meet you Gram,’ she said.

‘Och, it’s a pleasure ta meet ya as well,’ smiled Gram.

‘Thank you for the broth, it was lovely.’ Rosie complimented.

‘Ah, so ya were the one ta like the broth was ya?’ said a smiling Gram. But before Rosie had a chance to answer, she continued. ‘Thank you for those lully words. It’s an old recipe, handed ta me by my mam. It’s her ya should be thanking, but ya cannae just now, as she lies calm. I’ll accept the gratitude for her.’

Rosie didn’t know what to make of Gram’s words, so she just smiled brightly at her.

‘Well, I cannae be standing around here all the day, I must do ma work. Good to meet ya all,’ said Gram, before abruptly turning, walking behind the bar, with empty bucket in hand.

‘You too,’ replied Rosie and Alfie in unison.

Billy and Emma put their arms up to acknowledge Gram, but she had turned her back so wasn’t able to see, and was soon heading through the doorway. Alfie was really quite concerned for Argyle, as he’d hit the wall very hard indeed.

‘Are you alright Argyle?’

‘Aye, dinnae worry yaself about me Alfie. I’ll be fine.’ Argyle replied.

Argyle was okay, but the moment he looked up and saw the huge dent in the wall he became very concerned.

‘Och no,’ he said, rubbing his head, before turning to walk to the bar.

Alfie and the others went back to their table and all sat down to reflect upon what had just happened. Argyle then noticed the doorway, without the door.

‘Och no!’ he said dejected. ‘What happened ta ma door?’

‘I’m afraid that is my blame, Argyle,’ the professor confessed.

‘Oh, it is? Oh well, dinnae worry yourself, professor,’ he replied. ‘It’ll cost a wee fortune to fix though. I’m gonna be needing ta sell a few mazer's ta cover that charge.’

‘Oh, well, we can’t have that now, can we?’ said the professor, now sat with his tiny wand raised.

‘Emandandum,’ he said, waving his wand at the door.

A faint yellow light shone from his wand, and then the many broken pieces of the door all immediately merged back together, perfectly, like a big jigsaw puzzle being put back together in quick time. It was as good as new. Not finished, the professor then drew his attention to the wall.

‘Emandandum,’ he said once more.

The wall magically pulled itself inward, and like the door, it instantly repaired itself; leaving no trace whatsoever of a dent or even a crack. Argyle seemed to be very relieved at having both his door and wall back to its old self.

‘Och thank ya professor, that’s very kind,’ he said. ‘That’s saved me a worry I can say, along with a few grudge.’

‘The very least I could do,’ the professor responded. ‘This blame was not yours to bear.’

‘I’ve never trusted that stranger ya know,’ said Argyle, shaking his head.

‘Has he visited before Argyle?’ asked the professor. ‘I do not recall seeing him before.’

‘Och aye,’ replied Argyle, pouring himself a ‘pick me up’ cup of mead. ‘He’s been coming in every eve for a while now. He gets the mead, stays a wee while and then leaves. Disnae speak to nae one either’

The professor was deep in thought. Argyle looked over to Alfie’s table.

‘And you weans might want ta put them traders away. He may nae be the only one after em,’ he called, before turning back to the professor. ‘Every eve I’ve had ta ask him to remove his hood, but he didnae seem ta like ta do it. He definitely didnae wish folk to know his face.’

‘He wouldn’t Argyle, and I do not believe that he was after the traders,’ said the professor.

Argyle tilted his head in curiosity, thought for a moment, and then answered. ‘The boy?’

‘No,’ was the professor’s response. ‘The girl.’

Alfie, Rosie and Billy were still reflecting on what had just happened. Emma, however, had been listening to the professor and Argyle. The professor hadn’t masked his words to others so she had heard everything.

‘Me?’ she asked, quite concerned.

Her question had Alfie, Rosie and Billy looking up to take notice.

‘No Emma, he was here for Rosie,’ the professor replied, before continuing to explain. ‘He will be what we call a Peeper, a hunter of witches. And if a Peeper is searching for you, then it would mean that someone knew that you were here, or you were expected. That can be only one.’

‘Who would be looking for me?’ asked Rosie, now nervously intrigued.

‘Grave,’ answered the professor.

Alfie looked worried, as he of course felt naturally very protective of his sister. Placing his hand over hers as it lay on the table, he looked directly at Professor Inglebaum.

‘Who’s Grave?’

‘Grave is he who has bound your mother,’ he answered. ‘I shall tell of him on the morrow, it is much too late for tales this eve. The peeper shall not return, as it will take him some time to reach his path’s end. You shall be safe this night.’

Alfie now knew who it was that he had to end, and whilst he was determined to see it through, it very much concerned him. He knew nothing about this Grave, and his name alone sent shivers down his spine. Not wanting to upset the professor by quizzing him further, he took his word that he would learn all he needed to know tomorrow.

‘Okay, professor,’ he said.

‘Enough excitement for this day,’ said the professor, giving a slight yawn and a little stretch. ‘I should like to finish the rest that I enjoyed earlier, so if you would all be so kind as to excuse me.’

Professor Inglebaum then jumped behind the bar to finish his rest. All this talk of the Peeper being after Rosie had made her very anxious indeed.

‘What have we let ourselves in for?’ she mumbled.

‘We’ll be alright.’ Alfie said comfortingly, gently placing his hand on his sister’s arm.

His comforting touch didn’t do a great deal to help ease her worries though. Alfie was of course equally as worried as his sister, but he could see the despair on her face and refused to let his own concerns show.

‘I didn’t know we had to fight someone. Especially someone with a name like, Grave.’ Emma sighed.

‘Me either Em,’ said Alfie, drawing his lips together and shaking his head.

‘Grave schmave,’ said Billy. ‘And just so everyone knows, I wasn’t scared back then, you know, with that peeper fella. A bit nervous, maybe, but not scared like you lot were.’

Rosie and Emma looked at Billy knowingly, both raising their eyebrows and smiling sarcastically. Alfie simply breathed sharply through his nose.

‘No, of course you weren’t, Billy,’ he said. ‘I could tell that when you tried to cast your chocolate sausage spell. Chocolate sausage? What was that all about?’

Alfie sniggered, with Rosie and Emma soon joining him. This was just what they needed to help change the quite tense atmosphere to a now very much subdued, and more pleasant, one. Billy saw the funny side.

‘Yeah, I know,’ he laughed. ‘I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I just said whatever came into my head.’

‘And the first thing that came into your head was a chocolate sausage.’ Alfie questioned, still chuckling.

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Billy answered, now feeling a little foolish, and wishing he’d said something different.

‘I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never been more scared in my life,’ said Emma. ‘Did you see how hard Argyle hit the wall?’

‘You weren’t alone Em, we were all scared,’ said Alfie. ‘You’d have to be pretty foolish not be.’

‘Billy wasn’t scared though,’ said Emma.

Alfie nodded his head toward Billy and grinned. ‘Proving my point.’

‘You know I was joking, right, Emma.’ Billy defended, still recovering from the chocolate sausage embarrassment. ‘I was as scared as you were.’

‘Oh, I know you were, Billy,’ she grinned.

Argyle, with the aid of his ‘pick me up’ mead, had recovered quite well from being thrown against the wall and had strolled up behind Billy.

‘Will anyone be wanting anything else?’ he asked.

‘What the −?’ Billy gasped, grabbing his chest and almost jumping out of his skin, having not heard Argyle coming. ‘Please don’t do that Argyle. You scared the life out of me.’

‘Apologies, Billy,’ said Argyle.’ I didnae mean ta startle ya.’

‘You didn’t?’ Billy snapped jovially. ‘Well, I wouldn’t want to be there when you actually did want to startle someone.’

‘Ya think I’m scary?’ Argyle smiled. ‘Ya should see Gram when she’s mad. Ya’d know all about scary then, let me tell ya.’

Alfie wore a little grin at seeing Billy jump like he did, but he was still curious about the triangles which lay on the table, and so he decided to ask Argyle about them. He had heard Argyle when he said to put the traders away, and he assumed that’s what the triangles were.

‘Argyle. You say that these are traders? What do traders do then?’

‘Aye, they be traders, Alfie,’ replied Argyle. ‘Ya trade with those.’

Alfie looked puzzled. ‘Oh, like trading coins you mean? Money?’

‘What be munny coins?’ asked Argyle, repeating the word exactly as he’d heard it.

‘It’s what you buy or trade things with.’

‘Aye, then munny coins they be.’ Argyle confirmed, walking around the table toward him.

‘See, I told you they were coins,’ said Emma, feeling pretty pleased with herself that she’d guessed right.

Alfie passed Emma a knowing smile before moving his stool over slightly so that Argyle could get to the table. Argyle slid one of the copper coloured triangles toward Alfie. Something that he would do the same for each coin as he explained them.

‘This wee one here be a grudge. This one here be a trink,’ he said, pointing to the smaller of the silver triangles. ‘And this trader be a Wedge,’ he continued, pointing to the larger silver trader.

Argyle paused briefly a strange look upon his face. He then picked up the small gold trader and stared at it.

‘Now then, this wean be a Bloat,’ he said. ‘Only ever seen one of these before in all my days, so ya be sure ta take good care of this one.’

‘What’s so special about a Bloat then?’ Billy asked.

‘I shall tell ya what’s special about a Bloat, Billy,’ answered Argyle. ‘Bloat’s are the worth of all the traders. It’d take me a few moons, and the trade of many mazers ta get one of these.’

‘Alfie, you’re a millionaire.’ Billy joked.

‘Er, I hardly think so,’ he replied.

‘A million air?’ Argyle looked puzzled.

‘Oh, nothing. Billy was just joking.’ Alfie answered, turning his head and looking up at the barman. ‘So, these little copper traders, why are they called grudge?’

‘I dinnae know Alfie, that’s just what they be called.’ Argyle replied. ‘But I can tell ya that nae-one likes ta part on a grudge.’

Emma’s eyes lit up, due to being reminded of the phrase ‘You should never part on a grudge’, but she didn’t quite get its relevance to coins.

‘What about these two white ones, are they special?’ asked Alfie.

‘They be for getting ya passage across the waters.’ Argyle answered. ‘You’ll surely be needing those on ya travels.’

‘Cool. I like boats,’ said Billy.

‘Okay. So then we know that the Bloat is worth a lot, but what about these others? What kind of things can I get for these?’

‘Och, well, the grudge will get you a mazer of mead or a wee bit of food,’ Argyle replied. ‘There be twenty grudges to a trink, ten trinks to a wedge, and a hundred wedge to a bloat. So now ya see why a Bloat is a rare trader.’

‘I do yes, thanks,’ said Alfie, glancing down at all the traders, and appreciative of Argyle’s guidance.

‘One more wee word of advice for ya, Alfie.’

Alfie looked up, eager to receive as much advice as he could be given. Argyle placed his large hand on Alfie’s shoulder.

‘Dinnae keep all those traders in one place. Spread em amongst ya selves,’ he said. ‘That way, if ya were ta lose any, ya shall still have some ta trade.’

‘That’s a very good idea. I’ll definitely do that.’ Alfie replied.

Alfie then scooped up the traders and put them back into the little money sack for safe keeping, until such time as they decided to divide them.

All this talk about money, or rather traders, along with watching Alfie putting the coins away, had triggered a thought for Rosie. They’d all had food and drink, and they hadn’t actually paid for any of it.

‘Alfie, don’t put them all away,’ she said, which made him stop. ‘How many traders do we owe you for what we’ve had Argyle?’

‘Och, dinnae be silly, Rosie,’ he replied. ‘Ya be guests. A guest disnae pay at tha Whisper.’

Rosie felt a little uncomfortable at being given free food and drink, especially since they now had all this money, and Argyle did just risk his own life to save them.

‘Are you sure?’ she asked.

‘Aye. Ya keep ya traders for trading at Asset Square.’

‘Asset Square?’

‘Aye, ya will be trading there on the morn. You’ll be needing things for ya travels.’ Argyle answered. ‘And ya will need ta be awake bright and early, so if nae one wants anything else, I shall show ya all ta your quarters.’

Alfie looked around at everyone as he continued to put the remaining traders away. ‘Does anyone want anything? I don’t.’

‘No,’ replied both Rosie and Emma.

‘No fear, not after what I’ve been through tonight, thanks.’ Billy added.

‘I think we’re all good, thank you, Argyle,’ said Alfie.

‘Right, ya are. If ya would all like ta grab your things, ya can come with me.’

‘Ooh, my wand,’ cried Billy, realising that he hadn’t retrieved it from when the Peeper had knocked it out of his hand. He immediately went to get it.

The others grabbed their backpacks and followed Argyle. He led them up the stairway at the side of the alcove, with Billy following once he’d got his wand. The stairway they went up had three small steps before it then turned a sharp left to more steps. It was quite a narrow stairway and so Argyle had some trouble getting up them, being as large as he was. He had to walk up them almost sideways on because if he walked up in the normal way he would surely have got stuck, it was that narrow. The stairway wasn’t very well lit either, and it was a little difficult to see with no candles to light the way. There was a dim light that shone from both the bottom and the top, but not enough to be able to see where they were going.

At the top of the stairs was a small area with a large white candle that sat burning on a table. A few steps beyond the table was a corridor that ran the length of the tavern. Argyle led them down the left side of the corridor, where they passed three doors on their left, three on the right. Argyle stopped at the fourth and final door on the left. He turned the wooden doorknob and pushed the door open though he didn’t enter, instead, he just stood to the side, to allow them access to their room for the night.

‘Here ya go,’ he said. ‘This’ll be where ya shall rest.’

Everyone walked into the room. It was quite a basic room, with four single beds; two on either side, a single rug on the wooden floor, and at the far end, was a window with its shutters closed. The four beds had brown covers and were nicely made. At the foot of each of the beds was a folded cream coloured nightgown. Above each of the beds, just a few feet above the pillows, was a reasonably long shelf that held two burning candles; one at each end. The room they were in may have been a basic room, but it really was quite cosy.

‘If ya need anything just call,’ said Argyle.

Alfie looked up and gave him a little smile. ‘Thank you, Argyle.’

Argyle nodded as Rosie, Billy and Emma also thanked their new landlord.

‘Have a good night’s rest. I shall be waking ya all bright and early,’ said Argyle, before leaning through, grabbing the doorknob and then closing the door.

As soon as the door had closed, they all decided to choose a bed. Alfie and Billy took the two beds to the right of the room, with Alfie choosing the furthest, nearest the window. Rosie and Emma took the beds on the left, with Rosie also taking the furthest. All but Billy put their backpacks beside their beds; instead, he just jumped straight onto his bed and stretched out.

‘Blimey, this is comfortable,’ he said. ‘It didn’t look it was going to be, but it really is.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma all sat down on their beds and had a little bounce to test them out. All agreed that they were indeed much more comfortable than they had looked.

‘Well, what a day this has been,’ said Alfie, sat at the end of his bed and puffing out his cheeks.

‘Hasn’t it just?’ Rosie agreed.

‘What an adventure though,’ said Emma. ‘A very scary one, but I don’t suppose it would be an adventure if it wasn’t scary, would it?’

Emma was still quite apprehensive, but she couldn’t hide the fact that although she was scared, she was actually kind of enjoying herself. The excitement of everything that had happened had seemed to have suppressed her fear slightly, apart from the recent run in with the Peeper, of course.

‘The adventure hasn’t even started yet Emma. But it beats watching children’s TV and being in bed by eight o’clock.’ Billy joked.

‘It’s funny you should say that, Billy,’ said Alfie, looking at his watch.

‘Why?’ Billy asked.

‘Well, because it’s eight o’clock now and where are you, in bed?’ he laughed, tilting his arm to show Billy the time.

‘Ah yes, but I’m not actually IN bed am I? I’m just sitting ON the bed.’ Billy retaliated.

‘Actually, we should probably all get some sleep.’ Rosie interrupted. ‘I don’t know what time Argyle will wake us in the morning, but he did say it was going to be early. We should all get some sleep just in case his early is super early.’

‘I agree,’ said Emma. ‘If today is anything to go by, we don’t want to be tired tomorrow.’

‘Are you all mad?’ asked an astonished Billy. ‘There’s not an adult in sight and you want to go to bed? We can stay up all night if we want.’

‘You can, Billy,’ said Alfie, grabbing for the nightgown. ‘But I’m going to have an early night.’

Rosie and Emma followed Alfie’s lead and reached for their nightgowns.

‘Where do we change?’ Emma asked, looking around to see if there was anywhere.

‘Under the covers I suppose.’ Rosie answered.

‘Oh, okay.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma all got under the covers to change into their nightgowns, throwing their clothes on the floor beside them as they took them off.

‘You lot are no fun,’ said a disgruntled Billy, resigned to doing the same.

Once they had finished changing, they stayed where they were, adjusted their pillows and sat up against the wall. Emma looked at Rosie.

‘Do you think we’ll learn more magic tomorrow?’ she asked, with an enthusiastic tone.

‘Probably Em. I don’t know,’ she replied.

‘I hope so, I like magic.’

Alfie piped in. ‘I’m going to do some magic right now Em.’

‘You are?’

‘Yeah, watch. Now you see me,’ he said, before lying down with the cover right up to his chin. ‘Now you don’t. Goodnight all.’

‘You’re going to sleep? Right now?’ asked Billy.

‘Once I’ve finished reading this I am.’ Alfie replied, holding his father’s journal aloft.

‘Well, I am going to sleep because I’m really tired,’ said Rosie.

‘Me too,’ said Emma.

Rosie and Emma each laid down in their beds and tried to get comfortable. Billy just sat up, looking at them all in turn. Shaking his head, he raised his arms and let them fall down onto the bed.

‘Oh well, if you can’t beat them,’ he conceded.

Billy then lifted himself up, blew out his candles, and then got under the covers. Billy was the only one to blow out his candles, as Rosie and Emma were too tired to, and Alfie needed his so that he could read.

‘Alfie?’ asked Rosie, her blanket tucked up under her chin.

‘Yeah?’ replied a reasonably unresponsive Alfie, due to trying to read.

‘Can you let me know if dad mentions me?’

‘Of course I will,’ he replied.

‘Er, hello. Do you two mind? ‘I’m trying to get some sleep over here.’ Billy joked. ‘How am I supposed to sleep with all of this racket going on?’

‘Ooh, sorry.’ Rosie apologised, sarcastically.

‘So you should be.’ Billy laughed.

‘Goodnight all,’ said Emma.

‘Night,’ replied both Rosie and Billy.

‘Would you lot PLEASE go to sleep?’ said a frustrated Alfie.

Not another peep was to be heard from any of them, and it wasn’t long before all but Alfie had fallen asleep. The day had certainly tired them out. The only sound that could be heard now was the sound of Alfie turning a page as he eagerly read his father’s journal. All the candles had gone out, except for those either side of Alfie’s bed. Candles in the Mermaids Whisper would distinguish when someone had fallen asleep, unless, of course, they were blown out first. They would relight the moment they woke, if, of course, it was still dark, which was handy if any of them wanted to go to the toilet in the night.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Asset Square

With her back to the window facing the door, Rosie gradually opened her eyes. It must have been early because Argyle hadn’t called them yet, and Billy was still snoring; rather loudly. It took a few moments for her to realise where she was, and when she had, she knew that the window shutters must have been open, as it was much brighter than it had been when she’d gone to bed. She sat up and turned to look.

Sitting alone, on the rather large windowsill on his own, was Alfie. He was fully dressed, and his left leg dangled back and forth as he gazed out at the front of the tavern. He looked over a large meadow that seemed to stretch for miles; with the green wood to its right. Some way in the meadow’s distance, a horse and its foal were happily and quite freely jumping around. Alfie couldn’t take his eyes away from them and smiled warmly as he watched them play without a care in the world. Rosie eased out of bed, rubbing her eyes in order to get the sleep from them, she walked over to her brother and stood beside him.

‘How did you get the shutters open?’

‘They opened by themselves when the sun came up,’ he replied, glancing at her briefly.

‘That’s odd,’ she said, taking a brief moment to gaze out of the window. She smiled at the horse and foal. ‘Have you had any sleep?’

‘Some,’ he replied.

From his short, sharp responses, Rosie could tell that her brother was troubled, as short, sharp responses had always been Alfie’s telltale sign that he was worried about something.

‘What’s wrong Alfie?’

‘Nothing,’ he responded quickly, quite unconvincingly and without turning to face her.

‘Come on, I know you’re worried about something,’ she probed. ‘What is it?’

Alfie turned to look at his sister. He paused briefly before answering.

‘I’m not sure we can do this, Rosie,’ he said, dejectedly. ‘I’m not sure I can do this.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, it’s not like I’m a powerful wizard or anything is it?’ he responded. ‘Come on, look at me, I’m just a kid. We’re all just kids.’

‘Yes, we are all just kids,’ she agreed. ‘But what does being a kid have to do with anything?’

Closing his eyes briefly and releasing a mild huff through his nose, Alfie turned to look back out of the window.

‘Alfie?’ Rosie snapped.

Alfie took a little while before turning back to look at his sister. And when he did, he let out a heavy sigh.

‘Look. I read dad’s journal last night.’

‘And?’ Rosie asked.

‘In it, he said that he’d never seen a wizard with as much power as Grave possessed. Apparently, loads of wizards have tried to beat him, and all have failed miserably. Not one of them has even come close,’ he explained, looking her square in the eye. ‘Powerful wizards couldn’t beat him Rosie, not kids like us that have absolutely no idea how to even do magic. What chance do we really have against someone like that? Even dad couldn’t even beat him.’

Rosie didn’t know how to respond, because she knew her brother was right. Defeating Grave did seem an impossible task. She diverted her eyes and paused for a moment; in order to gather her thoughts. Alfie turned back to watch the horse and her foal, who were still playing happily playing on the meadow. Rosie didn’t have any answers, so all she could do, was try to use reason.

‘You know, I also remember that game of rounders you played against St George’s,’ she said.

Rosie had caught Alfie totally by surprise with her answer. He turned to her with a look of complete bafflement upon his face.

‘How does a game of rounders have anything to do with what’s happening now?’ he puffed. ‘Besides, you weren’t even at that game.’

‘No. I wasn’t at the game. But I do remember exactly how you were before it. You were certain that you couldn’t beat them. They were top of the league you said, they were much better than you, and you didn’t stand a chance of beating them, you said.’

‘Okay, so I didn’t think we’d beat them,’ he replied. ‘What’s your point?’

‘My point is that you won that game, didn’t you?’

‘Yeah, and?’ he responded, still baffled as to what she was going on about.

‘So, if you didn’t play that game, then you wouldn’t have won it, would you?’ she replied. ‘But you did play it, and you did win.’

Alfie then realised what his sister was getting at.

‘Yeah, yeah, I know. If I don’t try I will never know. I can do anything I put my mind to, etc, etc,’ he answered. ‘Blimey, you sound just like Nan.’

Rosie’s response was very matter of fact. ‘Exactly!’

‘This is completely different though Rosie. This isn’t a game,’ he explained. ‘I REALLY don’t think I can beat someone like that, no matter how hard I try.’

‘Then you’re the only one that doesn’t,’ his sister puffed.

‘What do you mean?’ Alfie asked.

‘I think you can beat him, dad thinks you can beat him, and Eve thinks you can beat him,’ she replied. ‘And I’m pretty sure Billy and Emma would be on their way home right now if they didn’t think you could beat him.’

‘They still might go home. And actually, it might be a good idea if they did. At least they’ll be safe. They didn’t know about him before last night, and didn’t really know what they’d let themselves in for.’ Alfie responded. He then turned toward to gaze thoughtfully out of the window once more. ‘Do you really think I stand a chance?’

‘We only just got here yesterday, remember. I’m pretty sure the professor will teach you all you need to beat him, and teach us all we need to know to help you, because we will be there when you have to face him,’ she answered, smiling at him when he had turned his head toward her. ‘So, yes, I do think you stand a chance.’

‘I do too, Alfie,’ said a voice from behind Rosie. ‘So I’m not going home.’

Alfie and Rosie both turned to see Emma standing rubbing her eyes and yawning. She had woken soon after Rosie, and though she had tried to get back to sleep, she couldn’t because of Billy’s snoring.

‘Sorry, did we wake you?’ Rosie asked.

‘Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t you,’ she answered. ‘It was Billy’s snoring. He’s so loud.’

Billy’s snoring was certainly loud enough to wake the heaviest of sleepers. And if his snore wasn’t enough to wake someone up, then the extremely loud, not to mention regular, popping noise he made in between, certainly was.

‘You really think I can beat him Emma?’ Alfie asked, clearly needing more reassurance.

‘You’re very smart, Alfie,’ she answered, still rubbing her left eye. ‘Rosie’s right, you know. We’ve only just got here, and the professor is bound to teach you what you need to know so that you can beat him. I actually think that Grave is the one that should be worried.’

Emma’s words instantly brought a smile to Alfie’s face, and were exactly what he needed to hear. Not only did he feel much more hopeful, but he was also quite touched that Rosie and Emma had as much faith in him as they did. A few words of encouragement were just what he needed to gain some confidence.

‘Thank you, Em, really,’ he smiled. ‘Thank you, both.’

‘You’re welcome,’ said Emma, as the door to the room opened, creaking quite eerily as it did.

There stood Argyle, holding two wooden buckets in his left hand. He reached down to lift up two more buckets with his right.

‘Ah, ya be awake,’ he said, upon entering. ‘What is that dreadful noise?’

Argyle looked to where the noise was coming from and saw that it was Billy.

‘Oh, that’s Billy. He snores,’ replied Emma.

‘Aye, doesn’t he just?’ replied Argyle. ‘Well, let’s just see what we can do about that. And, seeing as all of ya are awake, he can have yours too.’

‘Have our what?’ Alfie asked.

Argyle didn’t answer. Instead, he simply walked up to the side of Billy’s bed and carefully placed the buckets down. He then poured the contents of three of the buckets into the fourth. Once finished, he picked up the now full to the brim fourth bucket and proceeded to throw its entire contents, of freezing cold water, straight over the snoring Billy.

Billy jumped straight up, startled. He swiftly looked around the room to see what was going on. Alfie, Rosie and Emma stood staring, all with open mouths.

‘What the−−?’ he yelled.

Billy’s hair, nightgown, and all of the bed sheets were drenched. Drips of water dropped rapidly from his nose.

‘It’s time to be getting up now, Billy.’ Argyle smiled.

It took him a little while to get his bearings, but Billy then remembered where he was. He immediately snapped.

‘What did you do that for Argyle?’ he snarled, staring at him quite angrily. ‘You could have just called me, you know.’

‘That’s how ya get woken in the Mermaids Whisper, Billy,’ replied Argyle, picking up the empty buckets, turning, and then heading for the door. ‘Right, see ya all out the front as soon as ya be ready. Dinnae forget ya things.’

Argyle then left the room, and with empty buckets in hand, he closed the door behind him.

‘WATER way to be woken up,’ Alfie joked, instigating Rosie and Emma to chuckle at his little quip.

‘Oh, that’s just hilarious!’ said a stone-faced Billy, clearly unable to see the funny side so early in the morning.

Billy got up out of bed and stood beside it. Soaked through to the bone, he picked at his clothes in order to separate them from his body.

‘I’m really glad I was awake now,’ said Emma. ‘I would not have liked to have been woken up like that.’

‘Me either.’ Rosie agreed.

Alfie picked up the nightgown that he’d barely used, along with his backpack, and then walked over to Billy.

‘Here, dry yourself with this,’ he said, passing him the nightgown.

‘Thanks,’ said Billy, taking hold of it and promptly drying himself; starting with his hair.

‘I’m going to go downstairs, so I’ll see you all in a bit,’ said Alfie.

‘Okay,’ said Rosie.

Putting his backpack over his shoulder, Alfie made his way downstairs to the front of the Mermaids Whisper, leaving the others to get ready. No-one was downstairs when Alfie had got there, but the front door was wide open, so he made his way outside. Once outside, Alfie was greeted with the sight of Argyle and Gram sitting on a horse-drawn cart; complete with spokeless wheels. The cart had two horses, one black, and the other brown. It was a beautiful morning, and the sun shined nice and bright, but because it was still early, it wasn’t particularly warm. A wonderful fresh smell filled the air, but Alfie wasn’t quite sure what the smell was, although, he did think that it smelt a little like his Nan’s favourite perfume, jasmine.

‘Ah, wee Alfie, in ya get.’ Argyle greeted chirpily.

On the back of the cart were two large and sturdy wooden blocks, one either side, which formed a seating area big enough for three people on each. Alfie climbed on and sat himself down on the block on the left side, directly behind Gram, who was in a very cheerful mood this morning. She turned to her side to speak.

‘How are ya this fine morning Alfie?’

‘I’m fine, thank you. You?’ he replied.

‘Och, I’m braw, thank ya dear. Excited too, I dinnae mind ta tell ya,’ she replied. ‘I do so enjoy a trip to the Square. It’s good ta be free of the tavern once in a wee while.’

‘Is the professor not coming with us then?’ he asked.

‘Inglebaum is already at the square,’ replied Argyle. ‘He’d have been there a wee while now.’

‘He’s already there?’ said Alfie, a little shocked to learn this. ‘Blimey, he must have got up really early this morning.’

‘Aye, ya could be saying that,’ said Argyle, slowly nodding.

‘Were ya comfortable enough in your quarters Alfie?’ Gram asked. ‘Did ya manage ta sleep well?’

‘Yes, I did, thanks,’ he replied, avoiding telling her that he had hardly slept, for fear of offending her. ‘The beds were very comfortable.’

‘Aye, that’ll be tha goose feathers,’ said Gram, giving a knowing nod.

Argyle felt that whilst Alfie was being very polite, he seemed to look a little despondent. This worried him a little.

‘Are ya troubled Alfie?’

‘Something was troubling me, yeah, but I’m fine now thanks, Argyle.’

‘Dinnae worry yaself none Alfie. Inglebaum will take good care of ya,’ said Argyle, almost sensing that Alfie was worried about what had happened last night, and also what lie ahead.

‘Yeah, I know he will.’ Alfie smiled politely.

Whilst he waited for the others, Alfie scanned his surroundings. There wasn’t a great deal to see, what with The Mermaids Whisper taking up most of the view behind him, and the vast green wood to his right. The meadow he had been looking at from his window was directly in front of him, but he could no longer see the horse and her foal. They were probably still there, of course, but they were quite a distance away before, and he was much higher up then. To his left, in front of the cart, was the long dirt road that led to Asset Square. He stood up to see how far it went, but the path bent to the left behind the tavern, and so he just sat back down.

‘There’ll be plenty ta see when we get there Alfie, that I can promise,’ said Argyle.

Rosie and Emma emerged from the front of the tavern with their backpacks draped over their shoulder. Alfie turned.

‘Where’s Billy?’ he asked.

‘He’s just coming.’ Rosie replied before she and Emma got up onto the cart and sat opposite Alfie. ‘Ah jasmine, smells just like Nan.’

‘Oh, it is jasmine then,’ said Alfie. ‘I thought it was.’

Moments later, Billy emerged from the tavern looking quite despondent. He closed the door behind him.

‘Hop on wee, Billy,’ said Argyle chirpily.

Billy got up and sat next to Alfie without saying a word. Being quiet was not something Billy would do often, so there was clearly something wrong.

‘Good morning wee’uns,’ said Gram, turning round briefly to face them.

Rosie, Billy and Emma acknowledged Gram with a cheerful ‘Good morning’.

‘Right, that’ll be us ready then. Off to the Square,’ said Argyle, shaking the reigns in order to let the horses know to walk on.

Alfie knew Billy being quiet was almost certainly something to do with being woken up the way that he had. But, he knew Billy wouldn’t be grumpy for long, as it just wasn’t in his nature. Alfie thought he would help him along.

‘Are you alright Han?’ he said, nudging him to try and cheer him up.

‘I’m alright.’ Billy responded, with a wry smile at Alfie’s reference. ‘I’m just still a little shocked at being woken up with that freezing cold water, that’s all. It was SO cold.’

Upon hearing Billy, Argyle began to feel guilty, so he immediately offered a heartfelt apology.

‘Apologies to ya Billy, I didnae mean ta upset ya,’ he said sincerely. ‘I maybe should have told ya how ya get woken.’

‘Oh, don’t worry Argyle; I’ll be alright in a minute.’ Billy assured. ‘It was just a bit of a shock that’s all.’

‘Och, ya got me feeling not so good now,’ said a sorrowful looking Argyle. ‘Is there anything I can do ta make it up ta ya, wee Billy?’

Billy sat and pondered for a moment.

‘Well,’ he said, with a high degree of seriousness. ‘You could grow your hair really long, follow me around all day and growl now and then because I am in need of a wookiee.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma burst into a fit of giggles. Not just for what Billy had said, but also the seriousness in which he’d said it. Argyle politely joined in, though hadn’t the slightest idea what he was laughing at.

‘What be a wooky?’ he asked.

Argyle’s question was much too much for everyone and so they erupted. Gram had turned herself around to the back of the cart, and just by seeing them laughing, she couldn’t help but join in, especially as it was clearly Argyle they were laughing at.

‘Oh, nothing.’ Billy replied, barely able to say the words due to laughing so much.

‘Och, I see. Ya making fun of old Argyle aren’t ya wee Billy?’ said Argyle. ‘Go right ahead. Ya have the right to a jape.’

It took a little while for the laughter to subside, but a good laugh was just what Billy needed to perk him up, and to also help ensure that everyone else was in a very jolly mood as they embarked on the journey to Asset Square.

Having been on the road for a good while, their merry chat had subsided and the mood had now become quite a sombre one, with only Billy piping up from time to time with an ‘Are we there yet?’. Each of them were now merely absorbing the sight of the many meadows that engulfed them. A clear, jubilantly coloured rainbow had formed in the distance ahead, which was quite odd as there hadn’t been any rain. Upon seeing it, Gram promptly nudged Argyle. Both he and Gram then raised their arms high into the air with their hands spread wide, before both then placed their hands upon their chests, as though they were acknowledging the rainbow. Alfie noticed this and looked up ahead between them, thinking that they’d probably both seen someone they knew, but there was no-one there, just the rainbow. He thought it a little odd, but decided to pay no more attention to it, thinking that, for whatever reason, it was probably just something they always did.

A little further up the road on their left, they approached a large, calm lake. Three fishermen, all of whom that were dressed in green, sat reasonably close together on the bank. Alfie turned further round in his seat and watched as they fished. He wondered why they were sitting so close, given that the lake was quite large and with there being plenty of room for them to spread out, but he assumed that they probably wanted to chat as they fished.

The three men were quite different in size and look. The fisherman on the left was a very tall man with thick silver hair, on the right was a slightly larger built man with curly brown hair, and in the middle a much smaller man with neatly brushed dark brown, almost black hair, who was sporting a moustache. They were happily chatting away and would occasionally cast and re-cast their quite basic rods. The fishermen in the middle, then spotted the cart, and immediately stood to his feet. With the broadest of smiles, he raised his arm, waved at Alfie before giving him a thumbs-up. His two friends instantly followed suit when they had seen him. Alfie responded with a wave, and thumbs-up, of his own, quite taken with how wondrously happy the three men seemed to be as they passed. The fishermen all then sat back down and continued to fish, whilst Alfie continued to watch them until they were pretty much out of sight.

‘How nice were they?’ said Alfie.

‘How nice were who?’ Billy replied.

‘Those fisherman back there.’

‘What fisherman? I didn’t see any fisherman,’ said Billy, which made Alfie give a little frown, wondering how it was possible that Billy hadn’t seen them.

‘Alfie, have ya managed to share the traders yet.’ Argyle interrupted.

‘Oh, no I haven’t,’ he replied. ‘I had better do that now.’

Alfie grabbed hold of his backpack and pulled out his father’s box. He had no trouble unlocking it this time, as after it had initially been opened, the box would now open without magic. Placing the box beside him, he opened the bag and tipped some coins into his hand.

‘Right, okay, so there are thirty-six grudge, so that makes nine of those each, and five each of the trinks, because I’m pretty sure that there were twenty of those,’ he said, occasionally tipping the bag and counting out the coins, and then passing the correct number to each of the others.

‘I better keep the rest in the bag,’ he said, putting his share of coins in his trouser pocket.

‘Are we allowed to spend these then?’ asked Emma, as Alfie tied up the bag, placed it back in the box, and then put the box away.

‘Yes, of course,’ Alfie confirmed. ‘Try not to spend them all though, just in case we need some for later.’

‘We’ll definitely need to get some food if we’re going to be travelling,’ said Rosie.

‘Yes. Food. We definitely need to get food.’ Billy agreed. ‘I’m peckish now actually.’

‘You’re always peckish, Billy.’ Alfie joked.

‘Well, I’m a growing lad, aren’t I?’ said Billy. ‘And I’m only peckish because we haven’t eaten since last night.’

‘I think we know where one of those blue pills Nan gave us is going to end up, don’t we Alfie?’ Rosie joked. ‘Shall we just give it to him now and save time?’

‘Yeah, might as well.’

‘Nah, it’s alright, I’m not THAT hungry. Well, not yet anyway.’ said Billy, holding his stomach. ‘Nothing a good breakfast won’t fix.’

Gram nudged Argyle quite hard in his side with her elbow.

‘Och, woman, what did ya want to be doing that for?’ he snapped.

‘Ya see, you daft old fool, I told ya we should have eaten before we left.’

‘Aye, we coulda, but I thought it’d be better if we got some food at the square.’ Argyle replied.

‘Ya didnae want to spoil ya chestnuts ya mean.’ Gram puffed whilst raising her eyebrows.

‘Och, but I love me chestnuts,’ said a smiling, not to mention a most excited, Argyle.

Billy glanced at Alfie in a manner that suggested that he thought chestnuts were an odd thing to eat for breakfast. Alfie responded with a shrug of his shoulders. Rosie and Emma were oblivious to the talk of chestnuts, as they both had turned to their side and were far too busy looking at the beautiful scenery. Both were very much in awe of the shadows that were being gloriously cast over the endless rows of meadows, from the few large clouds that were in the sky. It was indeed an extremely picturesque sight.

‘So pretty isn’t it Em?’ Rosie sighed.

‘It’s beautiful.’

Alfie nudged Billy and pointed at the girls. ‘What are you two looking at?’

‘Oh nothing, just taking in the view,’ replied Rosie.

‘Aye, it’s a sight.’ Argyle jumped in.

‘It is,’ replied Rosie. ‘I just love how the clouds cast the shadows over the fields. I’ve never actually seen that before.’

‘They’re just clouds,’ said Billy.

‘I know they’re just clouds, Billy.’ Rosie replied. ‘But don’t you think the shadows look nice as they go by?’

‘They look alright, I suppose.’ Billy answered though largely unimpressed.

A large dark shadow then covered the cart. Initially, they all thought that it was just one of the large clouds and that it would soon pass. How wrong they were.

From directly above them there came a piercing screech, which was accompanied by a thunderous clap. Everyone, except for Argyle and Gram, immediately covered their ears. Argyle and Gram’s looked up briefly, and quite undisturbed, returned to look forward. Rosie and Emma both screamed when they saw what was above them, with Emma’s scream being so loud, that the noise she generated was almost as loud as the screech that preceded it. With her hands still covering her ears, she instantly ducked down into a ball and got as low as she possibly could. Some would say that this was a quite natural reaction because hovering no more than forty or fifty feet above them, flapping its wings furiously, was a positively enormous and immensely ferocious looking, dragon.

Scarlet in colour, and covered in scales from head to tail that appeared to be alive; judging by their seemingly independent flapping. The dragon had a long, thin, neck, and enormous head; with small pointed ears. Its wings were maybe two or even three, times the size of the cart. And with the sun shining through its heavily veined skin, they would appear pink in colour. The dragon's eighty feet scaled tail, with a sword like spike at its end, periodically swished violently in the sky; with each swish causing a fierce, whipping like sound. With extremely large razor sharp teeth, the dragon was completed by two long white horns that looked like elephant tusks protruding from its lower jaw. This dragon was enough to scare even the bravest of souls.

Alfie and Rosie sat as still as stone, mesmerised by the sight of this huge creature hovering above them, unable to believe the sound it was making. Emma, still crouched, occasionally looked up, in the hope that there would be a time when it had gone. Billy looked a little startled and a little surprised, but he showed none of the emotions that you might expect, given what was directly above him.

‘Blimey, they’re much bigger than I thought they’d be,’ he said, removing his hands from his ears, and looking up in awe. ‘They’re much noisier too.’

No sooner had Billy finished what he’d said than the dragon gave a piercing screech, withdrew from the cart and flew away at great speed in the direction they were heading. Billy’s words had dumbfounded Alfie, who was now able to move now that the dragon had gone.

‘WHAT?’ he snapped. ‘You knew there were dragons and you didn’t think to tell us?’

‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? Oops!’ Billy grinned. ‘You don’t have to be worried though, they won’t harm us.’

‘Won’t harm us?’ Alfie snapped again. ‘Did you not see the size of that thing?’

‘Billy speaks true. Ya dinnae need to worry about tha dragons, Alfie.’ Argyle interrupted, before explaining. ‘Dragons will nae set foot on the ground in these parts, so they’ll nae harm ya. As long as ya remain on the land they’ll leave ya alone. That wee beastie was just being curious is all. Curious creatures are dragons.’

‘Okay, I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m not all that keen on dragons.’ Rosie chipped in.

‘Oh my goodness, I’m so glad it’s gone,’ said a very relieved, and now perspiring Emma, having emerged from her cocoon; her heart still pounding furiously. ‘I’ve never seen anything so big in all my life. I thought we were going to be eaten, or worse still, cremated.’

‘You’re going to need to start telling us everything you know, Billy,’ said Alfie. ‘That’s the second time we’ve not known about something. One day something like that will kill us and we won’t even know about it.’

‘Yeah, sorry,’ replied Billy quite apologetically. He sat thinking about what else there was. ‘Giants, I know there are giants.’

‘Giants?’ Alfie answered, shaking his head. ‘What have we got ourselves into? Okay, we so need to make sure we steer clear of those.’

‘Oh, and something called the four or something, that was mentioned a lot,’ said Billy. ‘Actually, I did tell you all this Alfie, on the coach on the way to the castle.’

Before Alfie could respond, having actually remembered Billy telling him some things, but not exactly remembering what they were, Gram swiftly interrupted with a manner of joy and excitement. Clasping her hands together, she then clapped a couple of times.

‘We’re almost there.’

Gram’s words took their mind off of what they were talking about and all but Emma eagerly looked ahead of the cart, her shocked face, still recovering from the recent encounter, just glaring at Billy and at his mention of giants. Alfie peered in between Gram and Argyle, whilst Rosie and Billy leaned over the side to see. Billy was a little too eager to get a peek, and very nearly fell over the side of the cart.

‘Whoa,’ he said, regaining his balance.

All that was in front of them was a mass of thick mist, which was extremely wide and stretched almost across the entire landscape. But oddly, the mist wasn’t as high as it might be expected, as there was plenty of clear sky visible above it. It couldn’t have been more than about forty feet high, maybe slightly less, which was a little odd.

‘I don’t see anything, just a whole bunch of fog,’ said a confused Alfie.

‘Nae, ya’ll not see nothing yet, Alfie,’ said Argyle, as Emma moved to join Rosie. ‘We must first get through tha mist before we can get to the square.’

‘Is that meant to be there then?’ Billy asked inquisitively. ‘What’s it for?’

‘I couldnae tell ya young Billy. The square has always had a mist around it.’

‘Ya daft old fool, ya know what the mist is for,’ said Gram.

‘I do?’ asked Argyle, with furrowed brow. ‘What be it for?’

‘Och,’ said a frustrated Gram, shaking her head at her husband. ‘It’s there ta remove the mask from anyone who enters Billy, so that they will appear just as they should appear.’

‘Aye, she’s right ya know, Billy,’ confirmed Argyle, tooting and shaking his head at himself in realisation.

‘Mask?’ Alfie asked.

‘Aye. Spells to make ya look like someone, or something else, Alfie,’ said Gram.

‘There you go Billy, there’s hope for you yet.’ Alfie joked, insinuating that Billy should change the way he looked.

‘Oh, very funny,’ Billy replied. ‘Actually, you might want to use a masking spell on your jokes Alfie. Maybe you could make them funny.’

Alfie chuckled at Billy’s swift answer and felt well and truly put in his place.

‘Okay, you beat me,’ he said. ‘Good comeback Keeper.’

Billy smiled, feeling mightily proud of himself that he’d thought of something so good, and so quickly. Rosie looked at Emma, raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes.

‘Boys,’ she sighed.

The cart then entered the vast mist and visibility was extremely poor. The mist was so thick that they could just about see each other, much less anything else. The good news, however, was that it didn’t last very long at all. They had only been going through it for twenty seconds or so, before it began to fade, and they were once again greeted with brilliant sunshine, along with their very first sighting of a distant Asset Square.

‘There she be,’ said Argyle, his voice expressing clear excitement.

Straight ahead, about three or four hundred yards ahead were two extremely large, and extremely long, white stone walls, that led to a point and seemed to stretch back forever. Two stone figures guarded an archway situated in the middle where the walls met. A queue with many people stood by it, waiting to gain entrance. Hoards of people were also heading to the square on the many dirt roads that led to it. On carts, on horses and even on foot, and all of them dressed in an assortment of coloured clothing, with a fair number dressed in cloaks and robes, even on this increasingly hot summer’s day. It seemed that Asset Square was a very popular place indeed.

Alfie couldn’t help but be impressed by the number of horses and carts that had already parked. There were so many, that it looked a like a giant car boot sale, but with horses and carts instead of cars.

‘Try and get yourself a wee bit closer this time Argyle.’ Gram urged. ‘Last we were here it took an age ta get back ta the cart and be on our way.’

‘If I’ve told ya once, I’ve told ya a hundred times woman, I can only settle the cart where I’m guided ta settle the cart.’ Argyle frustratingly replied.

‘Och I know,’ Gram acknowledged. ‘But try and get a wee bit closer this time would ya?’

‘Did ya not hear me woman? I can only go where I’m told ta go.’

‘Och, well then just give the man a grudge will ya, that’ll see us a wee bit closer?’ Gram puffed.

Argyle turned and gave his wife a look of total astonishment. ‘I’m giving nae-one a grudge ta settle the cart woman.’

‘Och, then ya can prepare your own food on this eve. I’ll be far too tired if I have ta walk a while,’ replied Gram, knowing full well that Argyle would certainly not be cooking, because he didn’t know how to.

A positively disgruntled Argyle puffed out his cheeks and let out a big sigh. ‘Och alright. I shall give the man the grudge.’

Gram gave a wry smile, before turning to wink at Alfie and the others, who thought the bickering between Argyle and Gram to be quite amusing. No-one said anything of course, but their smiles were enough to suggest they did.

Upon reaching the parking area, a little way in front of them was a man wearing what looked like a large sleeveless brown sack, with a length of rope tied around his waist. He was the attendant.

‘To the end,’ he commanded, pointing to his right, and then looking behind Argyle to the next cart.

Argyle pulled forward a little but stopped level with the attendant and wiggled his finger at him, as if to summon him over. The attendant strolled up to the cart, looked up at Argyle and spoke in a voice not too dissimilar to a cockney.

‘What can I do for ya, mucker?’ he asked.

Argyle’s response was a very polite one. ‘Is there anyway ya can see yaself ta be letting us settle a wee bit closer this day my good man?’

‘Nah, you’re gonna have to go down to the end,’ he replied. ‘We’re very busy today, as you can see.’

‘Might ya still be busy if this wee grudge found its way into ya palm?’ Argyle asked, holding a grudge between his thumb and forefinger, and then lowering it toward him.

The attendant then began to act quite shifty. He cagily looked to his left, and then his right. He eased up to Argyle, looked left and right once more, snatched the grudge and walked away. Just as Argyle was about to say something to him for stealing his grudge, the attendant turned sideways on and raised his left arm in a beckoning manner.

‘This way,’ he said.

Argyle flapped his reigns gently and slowly followed the man. With a large grin on her face, Gram nudged Argyle with her elbow.

‘Ya see, I knew it’d work,’ she said smugly.

‘Aye, o’course it worked,’ replied a grumpy Argyle. ‘It worked with my chestnut grudge.’

‘Och, for goodness sake ya old fool, I’ll trade for ya chestnuts.’ Gram sighed.

Gram’s words cheered Argyle up no end, over the moon that they were going to be able to park closer to Asset Square, and it wasn’t going to cost him a thing.

They followed the attendant to the very front, not very far from the entrance. The attendant then ushered them into a large space, to which Argyle led the cart, stopping when reaching a large pole that stuck out of the ground; with a hole at the top, so that the horses could be tied. Argyle swiftly got out of the cart, tied the horses, and then walked around to Gram’s side to help her down. Only Alfie had noticed that they had stopped, as the others were distracted by the enormous hundred feet, or more, high white walls that stood before them. So he picked up his backpack and brushed past Billy, who would shift from side to side just so that he could look past him.

‘Come on then,’ said Argyle. ‘Ma belly be wanting its chestnuts.’

Rosie, Billy and Emma heard Argyle and came to the realisation that they had stopped. Excited by what lay on the other side of these walls, they eagerly made their way off the cart.

‘Do we need to bring our bags?’ Emma asked.

‘Aye, best take them with ya.’ Argyle confirmed.

Emma and Rosie grabbed their backpacks, and together they all made their way to the main entrance; joining the tail end of quite a long queue of people. Rosie and Emma were very excited indeed. After all, they loved to go shopping, and this place looked so big, that they knew there must be hundreds of things that they’d want to buy inside. The queue moved rather slowly, with just a few periodic steps at a time. Billy overheard the voice of the attendant that had led their cart, so turned and saw him talking to another attendant.

‘Yeah, he gave me a grudge to settle at the front,’ he said.

‘You got a grudge for a good settle? Lully!’ replied the other attendant. ‘Just think of all the traders we’d get if everyone gave us a grudge to place their carts.’

Billy found their conversation to be slightly amusing, not to mention quite astounded. Had these two never heard of a car park?

The crowd began to move a little faster, and they were soon near the massive guarded archway that led into the square. The faceless hooded stone figures either side of the archway were finely crafted, and indeed, breathtakingly enormous. They were far bigger than they had appeared from a distance, with both standing over half the size of the walls, at around fifty or so feet. Each had their hands tucked into the opposing sleeve like a monk would do in his habit, and without faces, the statues looked quite spooky, even in the glorious sunshine. Emma was captivated.

‘They’re so big and so detailed,’ she said, suitably impressed.

The queue then began to flow, and walking between the statues, they passed through a short tunnel that led to the square. Once through Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma all just stopped dead in their tracks to absorb the magnificence of Asset Square. A couple of people directly behind them were none too happy that they’d just stopped suddenly, and gave the odd mumble of ‘Well, that’s a silly place to stop’, and, ’Watch it’, but they were oblivious to their comments.

‘Come along weans,’ said Argyle, who had continued walking, and was standing with Gram just a few feet ahead. ‘You dinnae want ta be standing there and upsetting folk.’

Slowly they walked toward Argyle and Gram, who then led them to the edge of the grass out of the way of the incoming crowd. There were still people brushing past them, but not nearly as many.

‘Well, here ya are then, what do ya think of her?’ asked Gram.

‘It’s - it’s - absolutely amazing,’ replied Alfie, casting his eyes around the square to try and take it all in. Rosie, Emma and Billy did the same but were far too flabbergasted to respond to the question.

Asset Square truly was a sight to behold. With an enormous green triangular area positioned in the very centre; that must have easily been the size of thirty or maybe even forty, football pitches, and which was surrounded by three dirt paths, that ran the length of each of the three huge white walls. Stretched the length of each path were hundreds of stalls which sold all manner of things to the thousands that were there. Men, women and children strolled around the square wearing a variety of dress, of different colours. Many people held woven baskets that were filled with the things they’d bought, some had longer baskets strapped to their backs, whilst others carried nothing at all. The sound of many of the stall owners could be heard above the murmurings of the crowd; doing all they could to advertise their goods. Alfie had never seen so many people all in one place before, though had noticed, that there weren’t many people near the stalls on the wall directly opposite. Given the amount of people that were there, it seemed a little strange to him that they didn’t spread out a little more, instead of just bunching together on just the two walls.

In the very heart of Asset Square, upon the grass, was a large rectangular shaped stone plinth. It stood about six feet high, twenty feet in length, and was surrounded by a thin two foot wide circular moat, that was filled with the bluest of water. Not one person was within a couple of hundred feet of the circle, so it obviously wasn’t an area where people were allowed. Or maybe no-one wanted to go near it, for sat on top of the plinth lay an enormous griffin; a wondrous winged creature, with the body of a lion, and the head and wings of a large bird. A quite magnificent looking creature, which was coloured a host of different shades of brown, with hints of purple on its huge wings. The griffin contently just lay merrily preening itself, paying absolutely no attention to the noise that the many people made around it. Occasionally it would raise its wings to clean underneath, with its beak, and very occasionally, it would it look up and gaze around the square, presumably to ensure that everything was in order.

‘Look at the size of that bird.’ Billy gasped.

‘Ha, that’s nae a bird, Billy.’ Argyle laughed. ‘That there be a griffin.’

‘Bird, Griffin, call it what you like. All I want to know is, is it dangerous?’

‘Aye, it be. Griffins are fierce creatures ta all but those known to it. Ya never want ta get too close ta one of those, Billy.’

‘Don’t worry, I don’t intend to.’ Billy answered.

‘What’s it doing here?’ Alfie asked.

‘It protects the square, Alfie,’ said Argyle. ‘Visit any Asset Square and ya will find a griffin guarding it.’

‘Any Asset Square? How many are there then?’ Rosie jumped in.

‘Six, of course. One in each of the lands. And they all trade’s chestnut,’ replied Argyle, unable to get the thought of a chestnut breakfast out of his head.

‘Can we get a closer look at it Argyle?’ Alfie asked politely.

‘Behave yourself,’ said Billy. ‘Didn’t you just hear what the man just said?’

‘Yes, I did. But I’d still like to get as close as we can to it,’ answered Alfie.

‘Aye. We can get a good distance from it’ he replied. ‘But for the now, let’s first get a closer look at some chestnuts, and then later we’ll get a closer look. Do ya like that idea Alfie?’

Alfie smiled at Argyle’s constant yearning for chestnuts and so happily forfeited his urgency to inspect the protector of the square.

‘Yes Argyle, I like that idea,’ he chuckled.

‘Gram. How about ya take the girls and go for some woman trading? I’ll take the boys, and we’ll do some man trading,’ said Argyle. ‘Ron’s in a wee while?’

‘Grand idea, Argyle,’ replied Gram, before passing Argyle the grudge that she had earlier promised to give him for his chestnuts. ‘Here ya go. We girls will get the things we need much quicker with nae men ta bother us that’s for sure.’

‘That’s lully, thank you dear,’ said a smiling Argyle.

‘Don’t you think it’s a better idea if we all stick together?’ Emma urged.

‘Och, dinnae worry yaself Emma, we’ll be fine,’ said Gram. ‘There’s nae safer place than the square.’

Alfie looked over at Rosie and mouthed the words ‘Will you be alright?’ Rosie pulled her lips inward and nodded a couple of times quickly, to suggest that she would.

‘Now then, time for the chestnuts,’ said Argyle in a happy tone, as he placed his chestnut grudge in his pocket. ‘Come along with Argyle boys, let’s go be seeing Chester.’

Argyle headed to the right, with Alfie and Billy close behind, and the girls headed off in the opposite direction. Alfie and Rosie had always stayed together in large places like this before, purely because their grandmother had always told them to, as it was safer, so he couldn’t help but be slightly concerned. He glanced back to his sister, but her back was to him, for she was already on her way with Emma and Gram.

The square being extremely busy meant that they had to make their way through quite a few people, but because of Argyle’s huge frame, people seemed to go around them more often than passing through them. This suited Alfie just fine, as he wasn’t particularly keen on places where there was an overcrowding of people because he would often get bumped. The very first stall they came to, against the high white wall, was Chester’s Chestnuts. Inside the wooden stall, Chester’s chestnuts sat on a deep metal plate, and the air was filled with their lovely, and very strong, nutty smell.

‘Ooh, they do smell nice,’ said Billy.

‘Don’t they just?’ Alfie agreed.

‘Just ya wait until ya get tha taste,’ said Argyle, with the boys quickly warming to the idea of a chestnut breakfast. ‘Chester trades the finest.’

Chester, who was serving a customer, was a very small and very old man. He was so small, that he could barely see over the metal dish to scoop the chestnuts. He had long grey wisps of uneven length hair, which hung over his ears, and which was in real need of a good cut. Chester sweated heavily, what with constantly being near the hot steaming chestnuts, and with the day warming considerably. Argyle, Alfie and Billy stood waiting to be served, and it wasn’t long before Chester spotted Argyle.

‘Ah, there he be, my finest customer’ said a pleased looking Chester, in a croaky West Country accent.

‘Good morn Chester. How ya be this day?’ Argyle greeted.

‘Very well Argyle, but much too hot as usual.’ Chester replied, wiping the sweat from his brow with his forearm. ‘And you?’

‘Och, I be braw.’ Argyle replied, waving his arm toward Alfie and Billy. ‘I’ve a couple of extra customers for ya today. Wee friends of mine. Introduce yaself boys.’

Billy glanced up at Argyle, and then at Chester, before introducing himself.

‘Hello Mr Chester, I’m Billy Shaw,’ he said, holding his hand up to give him a slight wave.

‘A good day to you Billyshaw,’ replied Chester, with a curious look. He thought that Billy's whole name was just one name and he had never heard that name before. Chester then looked toward Alfie. ‘And who might you be, young man?’

‘Oh - erm - Hello, Chester, I’m Alfie. Alfie Tanner,’ he replied, also holding his hand up to give a slight wave, just as Billy had.

Chester paused for a moment, bearing a quite bizarre look of bewilderment upon his face. He stared at Alfie thoughtfully for a while, before turning to Argyle.

‘The boy makes fun, Argyle?’ he asked.

‘He disnae,’ replied Argyle, smiling knowingly.

Chester seemed to be extremely puzzled. ‘But I thought -?’

‘It’s the way of it.’ Argyle nodded.

A huge grin immediately appeared on Chester’s face.

‘It is a pleasure to meet you Alfie I’m sure,’ he said, nodding his head low, almost as if to bow. In fact, he’d lowered his head so far that he almost went out of sight behind the stall.

‘I’ll be having the usual, please Chester,’ said Argyle. ‘And a leaf for the boys.’

‘Indeed,’ said Chester enthusiastically, before ducking behind the stall, and then quickly producing quite a large green leaf.

Chester cupped the leaf in his rather tiny left hand, and with his right, he took a half shell of coconut, scooped up some chestnuts from the tray to his left, and placed them on the leaf. He then placed the coconut shell down, doubled the steaming leaf over, before holding it at the side of the stall for Alfie to take. Once Alfie had taken them, Chester repeated the process and held out a steaming leaf for Billy to take; which he did.

Neither Alfie nor Billy wanted to try the chestnuts until Argyle had got his, as there was a large amount of steam seeping from the leaves. Neither knew if there was a specific way to eat them or not, and they wanted to make sure that they didn’t burn their mouths.

Chester bent down, out of view, behind the stall for a moment. He then emerged with a leaf that was three times the size of the leaves he had just given Alfie and Billy. It was so large, that he had to lay it down by its ends into a specially adapted holder on the stall. Chester placed three large scoops of chestnuts onto the leaf, before folding the leaf. He precariously picked up the leaf, and carefully; and most awkwardly, handed it to Argyle.

Alfie and Billy stood looking at Argyle, still waiting to see how chestnuts should be eaten, but because Argyle’s leaf was much bigger than theirs, he thought that they were giving him a look to suggest that he was greedy.

‘Och?’ he said, moving away from the stall. ‘I’m much bigger than the pair of ya together. The bigger ya are, the more chestnuts ya be needing.’

‘Oh, we didn’t think you were being greedy.’ Alfie replied, realising that this what their look may have implied. ‘We were just waiting to see how you eat them that’s all. We’ve never had chestnuts before.’

‘Och, ya havenae had the chestnuts?’ Argyle responded, before explaining. ‘The secret with the chestnut, is ta put them in ya mouth and to crunch away quickly. Here, I’ll show ya.’

The boys watched as Argyle opened his leaf, grabbed a handful of chestnuts, and threw them into his mouth. He began to crunch them rapidly, and after a short while he swallowed.

‘Ah. Now, them are chestnuts,’ he said, with a look of immense satisfaction.

Alfie and Billy glanced at each other, and then together, they opened their leaves. A huge waft of steam soared from inside their leaves, which caught them a little by surprise. Just as they were about to copy Argyle’s chestnut eating style, Chester interrupted.

‘I shouldn’t eat them like, Argyle,’ he urged.

‘Really? Why not?’ asked Alfie.

‘Because only Argyle eats them that way,’ he replied. ‘The best way to eat a chestnut so that you don’t burn the tongue, is to peel them, and then to blow on them. When they’ve cooled little, they’ll be good for the eating.’

‘Peel tha chestnut? Why would ya want ta peel the chestnut?’ interrupted a confused Argyle. ‘All the goodness is in the cover. Aye, they burn the tongue a wee bit, but that’s the good part.’

Sensibly, they both decided to take Chester’s advice, and not use Argyle’s way of eating, as neither wanted to burn their mouth. They each took a chestnut, peeled the thin layer off with their teeth, blew on them a few times, and then put them into their mouths, Because they were still quite hot, they juggled them around in their mouths for a while. They puffed as they crunched, and then they swallowed.

‘Hmm, I like chestnuts,’ said Billy. ‘Blimey, they are hot though, aren’t they? How can you put so many in your mouth Argyle? If I did that I wouldn’t be able to speak for a week.’

‘How I’ve always eaten them.’ Argyle responded. ‘Still tha best way if ya ask me.’

Alfie had finished his first ever chestnut, and although it seemed a bit of a chore to eat, he really quite liked it.

‘Ere, Billy,’ he said.

‘What?’ Billy answered, moving his chestnuts around in his leaf, and grabbing another.

‘These chestnuts are handsome aren’t they?’

‘Yeah, they are.’ Billy replied, oblivious to Alfie’s joke and eating another.

‘Well, best we make the move, or we’ll never get ta see it all,’ said Argyle. ‘Chester, what be the trade?’

‘No trade this day Argyle. A gift.’ Chester replied, with a nod.

‘A gift? Are ya sure?’ questioned Argyle, looking mightily surprised.

Chester nodded. ‘I do have a question for you. If you please.’

Argyle was over the moon at getting free chestnuts, and so, was more than happy to answer a question.

‘Ask it,’ he responded, grabbing another handful of chestnuts and putting them into his mouth.

‘Are you sure he’s a..., well..., you know?’

Argyle knew Chester’s question before he had even finished asking it. Still chomping away, he instantly nodded. Chester had the look of a man deep in thought.

‘So, he’s going to −,’ he asked.

Argyle finished off his mouthful and would once more interrupt. Again, knowing the question before it had been asked.

‘Aye, it does,’ he said, with a broad smile.

Chester looked positively overwhelmed and smiled heart-warmingly at Alfie. Whilst Argyle was over the moon at being given free chestnuts, he was eager to move on to the rest of the square.

‘Right, ya are then Chester. We shall be away. Much ta see,’ he said. ‘Grand ta see ya. Thank ya for the chestnuts.’

Chester reacted as though he felt he was holding them up, whilst Alfie and Billy just looked puzzled at the recent exchange of words, each wondering what it could be about.

‘Yes, yes, of course.’ said Chester, almost urging them to go. ‘Enjoy the square.’

‘Come on then boys, let’s go do the trade,’ said Argyle sternly.

Argyle gave Chester one last nod, and then walked away. With their leaves in hand, the boys would follow, but not before courteously saying goodbye.

‘Bye Chester. Thanks,’ said Billy. ‘Be lucky.’

‘See ya Chester,’ added Alfie. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you. And thank you for the chestnuts.’

‘Farewell.’ Chester replied, still smiling. ‘The honour was mine this day. Truly.’

With a quick smile, the boys turned and caught up to the happy, chestnut chomping, Argyle. Alfie needed some answers.

‘Argyle?’

‘Hmm,’ mumbled Argyle as he turned, and chomping away on a fresh mouthful.

‘What was that all about? You know, with Chester?’ he asked. ‘Am I what? And what am I going to do?’

Argyle stopped, turned to Alfie and quickly finished his mouthful. ‘Och, he just wanted to know if ya were a Tanner true.’

A woman walking by then stopped to look at Argyle and Alfie. She stood thinking for a moment before shaking her head. She knew that she must have misheard what Argyle had said because she knew that it was impossible for Alfie to be a Tanner. And so, with a discarding look upon her face, she carried on about her business. Argyle nonchalantly turned and continued to walk. Alfie quickly followed.

‘But what is it that Chester thinks I am supposed to do?’ Alfie asked.

‘He wanted ta know if ya were going ta save the magic.’ Argyle replied. ‘I told him that ya were.’

Argyle’s answer really had Alfie thinking. How was he supposed to save magic? And another thing, he didn’t remember promising to.

‘Argyle,’ he said quite awkwardly. ‘You do know the reason we’re all here is to save my mother, don’t you?’

Argyle stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and then slowly dropped to bended knee before Alfie. With a quite solemn look upon his face he looked him directly in the eyes. This startled Alfie a little bit, as he wasn’t quite sure what Argyle was going to do, thinking that he may have somehow upset him with his answer. Even Billy took a small step back because Argyle didn’t look particularly happy. But, the big man would speak softly.

‘I know why ya here Alfie, but there’s something ya dinnae understand.’ Argyle’s voice would then become even softer. ‘If ya save your mother, ya will save the magic.’

Argyle continued to stare into Alfie’s eyes for a short while before giving him a wink, a pat on the shoulder and then standing to his feet.

‘Right then. If ya boys see anything ya like, be sure to take a look,’ said Argyle, looking around. ‘Och, sticks,’ he chirped, heading over to a fruit stall on his left.

Alfie was thinking deeply as Billy eased up beside him and placed his arm on his shoulder.

‘Don’t worry Alfie, you’re about to become a hero,’ he said comfortingly.

Alfie turned his head toward Billy, appearing to be a little worried.

‘So now everyone is relying on me to save magic. What if I can’t?’

‘Then you’ll probably be dead, and you won’t have to worry about what they think, will you?’ Billy answered casually, before removing his arm and nonchalantly walking over to join Argyle.

‘Oh, well, that’s just great! Cheers Billy,’ said Alfie, looking at his best friend as he walked away.

Alfie then looked to the skies and sighed before walking to join Billy and Argyle at the fruit stall. The stall was a fruit stall and one as regular as any other. It had a large selection of fruits, which included apples, cherries, berries, lemons, plums and pears. But strangely, it had no bananas, oranges or grapes, which they thought was quite odd for a fruit stall. One item, however, had caught both Alfie and Billy’s immediate attention, and they wondered what on earth they could be. They would soon know, as Argyle was about to order exactly what it was they were staring at from the female fruit seller.

‘Twelve sticks please,’ he said.

‘Certainly,’ she replied, and then turning to walk over toward an area situated in the bottom left corner of the stall.

The boys couldn’t take their eyes away. Sticks? Under a small sign which read ‘Four for the grudge’, was a huge grid of small green squares, with what looked to be stems coming from them. The woman counted them, eased out a dozen, and then handed them to Argyle.

‘Three,’ she said.

Argyle put his hand in his pocket, produced three grudge and handed them over. ‘There ya go.’

‘Pleasure,’ said the woman. ‘Return soon.’

Billy couldn’t stop staring at the strange fruit. ‘What kind of fruit is that then?’

Argyle looked at Billy quite strange. ‘What’s wrong Billy? Ya never saw an apple stick before?’

Sure enough, what the woman had handed Argyle were apples. Not regular round apples, but long rectangular sticks of apple. The sticks were massive, at around ten to twelve inches in length, and they all fitted nicely together in a block.

‘Er, no, I can’t say I have,’ replied Billy, raising his eyebrows at Alfie.

Alfie returned Billy’s look with a smile. Who had ever seen or even heard of a rectangular apple? They literally couldn’t believe that what they were looking at were really apples.

‘Here ya go, give one a try,’ said Argyle, handing them one each, before placing the remaining ten into the inside pocket of his jacket.

They each just stared at it. Their hands were now full, with one hand holding hot chestnuts, and in the other an apple stick.

‘Pass me them chestnuts,’ said Argyle, extending his hand out. ‘Ya will need both hands to enjoy the apple stick.’

The boys handed Argyle their chestnut leaves. Because Argyle’s hands were so large, he comfortably held both leaves in just one of them. After one more glance at each other, the boys decided to tackle the strange fruit. They held an end in each hand like they would if they were about to eat corn on the cob, and each took a bite.

‘Wow! These really are apples,’ said Alfie, chewing away.

‘Of course they be apples.’ Argyle grinned.

With Argyle looking on and smiling, Alfie and Billy tore into the new fruit. In next to no time they had devoured the entire ten to twelve inches of apple stick, leaving just the long core.

‘They’re amazing,’ said Billy. ‘They taste just like regular apples, but somehow, they are actually much nicer.’

‘Ya cannae beat an apple stick for tha fruit.’ Argyle agreed. ‘Go on will ya, finish it.’

‘What do you mean? I have finished.’ Billy replied, looking around for a bin to put the core into.

‘Of course ya havenae finished. Ya left the good bit,’ said Argyle, referring to the core.

‘I’m not going to eat the core.’ Billy laughed.

‘Nor me.’ Alfie agreed.

‘Are ya not?’ Argyle asked quite bemused. ‘Well, if ya dinnae want em, give em here.’

Alfie and Billy happily passed their apple stick core's over. Argyle grasped them with his left hand, whilst holding out the boy’s chestnuts with his right; which they then took. He then happily munched on one of the apple stick cores, eating it as you would a stick of celery. The only thing he’d left was the stem, which he tidily placed into his side pocket.

‘Come on then, more ta see,’ he said, leading the boys away, and preparing to tuck into the second core.

CHAPTER NINE

The Wizall

The next couple of hours was spent visiting various stalls in the square, most of which that sold all manners of food, such as bread, meat, fish, oats, fruit, vegetables, and of course nuts. Most of the stall holders called out what they were selling to encourage sales, though because the square was so busy, they probably didn’t need to.

A vast majority of the stalls had their names carved into a piece of wood attached to the top of their stall, whilst others just had the name of what they were selling; some stalls didn’t even bother with a sign. A stall aptly named ‘Quilby’s’ sold quills, inks and parchments, another called ‘Sweepers’ sold brushes, and there was another called ‘Skins’, which looked as though it sold nothing but potato skins. Alfie thought it a little peculiar, that whilst the vast amount of people in the square wore a variety of clothes of different colours, the many clothing stalls seemed to be displaying nothing but colourless ones. They each had a nice selection of different styles, but all of their garments were a boring, light tanned, wheat colour. Further on they passed a stall selling herbs and spices, and beside that, was a stall that sold oil and ochre; whatever ochre was.

Alfie and Billy both thought the stalls were pretty good, chuckling when they saw one called ‘Two Nic’s’, which sold tunics, and ‘Bloomers’, that sold flowers. But whilst they liked all the stalls, they hadn’t actually bought anything, as there was nothing that they really wanted or thought they needed. Not one of them seemed to sell anything to do with magic, which was really what they were both hoping to see.

‘Is there nowhere where we can buy magical things Argyle?’ Alfie asked.

‘Aye, we’re just getting ta those,’ he replied.

‘We are? Cool.’ Alfie replied excitedly. Billy’s eyes lit right up.

‘As soon as we pass the taxer, we’ll be on the Wizard’s Wall, or as it be better known, the Wizall,’ said Argyle.

‘You have a tax man?’ Billy chirped. ‘My dad hates those.’

‘Me and ya dad would get on lully, Billy.’ Argyle joked. ‘Nae-one likes a taxer. Ya give them all ya grudge, and dinnae ever seem ta be getting anything for it. Each of the squares has two taxer's, one in each of the corners. It’s a good thing that the gate is in the other corner, or there would be three of em.’

Billy’s ears pricked up. ‘Hang on a minute!’

Whilst it was obvious to see, and he had noticed it when he entered, Asset Square was triangular in shape, and not square as its name suggested. He’d thought earlier that that there had to be another wall somewhere, but there wasn’t.

‘This place IS actually shaped like a triangle then?’ he questioned. ‘So why is it called Asset Square?’

‘I was just thinking that,’ said Alfie.

‘Ya know, I couldnae tell ya Billy. I cannae really say I’ve thought about it afore.’ Argyle pondered, looking around as he scratched his head in wonder. ‘But you’re right, it is a triangle. I’m sure there be good reason, but for the Bloat, I couldnae tell ya what it is.’

‘Weird,’ said Billy, looking around, shaking his head.

A man who dangled a metal rod of about ten inches in length on a small loop of rope passed them as they continued toward the Wizard’s Wall. He hit the vertical rod with a much smaller one, making a chiming noise. Alfie thought he’d counted the man hit it eleven times.

‘What’s that all about Argyle?’ he asked.

‘That be the timer Alfie. He be letting us know the slice is eleven.’

‘Slice?’

‘Aye, there be twenty-five ta each day,’ said Argyle. ‘Did ya not have slices where ya stayed Alfie?’

‘Er, no. We have hours,’ said Alfie. ‘And there’s only twenty-four hours in our day.’

‘Twenty-four of the hours ya say? Argyle gave a funny look. ‘A strange place ya stayed there, Alfie.’

Alfie nodded politely and was contemplating showing Argyle his watch, but since that only went up to twelve, he thought it may confuse him even more. Alfie was left wondering why slices were used instead of hours here, and why there were twenty-five of them in a day. As he pondered, they came upon a large group of people, all gathered in the corner in a disorderly queue. Every one of them looking positively glum. Alfie and Billy could see people counting out their traders, grumbling as they did. The boys soon realised that these people were all queuing to pay their taxes.

‘Do you have to pay tax today Argyle?’ Billy asked.

‘Och no,’ he replied, shaking his head. ‘That’s the good of keeping a tavern Billy. Taxer's like ta come and collect the tax when ya have a tavern. They think they will be getting a free mazer. I’ve had my wee visit this moon, and there was no mazer from me. I dinnae think the taxer was best pleased, but if ya want a mazer, ya pay for tha mazer, whoever ya be.’

Walking through the large crowd, Alfie caught a glimpse of the taxer. He couldn’t see him too clearly because people were in the way and the taxer’s head was down because he was writing. But he did notice that he had what looked like a Mohican haircut, with no hair at the sides of his head at all, but plenty running down the middle. He also seemed to have strange long floppy ears, but Alfie figured that what he was seeing could well be a trick of the light. Either side of the taxer, a few feet in front of him, stood two large figures in hooded cream robes. Both figures held a long pole and didn’t look too dissimilar to the stone figures at the entrance to the square, though, because they had their heads bowed, he couldn’t see if they had faces. The figures kept their poles crossed and would only open them to allow someone to go through when the taxer was ready for them.

As soon as they managed to weave through the extremely large crowd, Argyle waved his arm in front of him.

‘Here ya are then boys, the Wizall,’ he said proudly.

Alfie and Billy’s faces lit up when they looked ahead to see the many stalls, awash with magical items. The Wizall was the only wall in the square to only have stalls on one side, and the boys felt a mixture of both curiousness and excitement as they scanned it. Alfie was actually very happy that there were no stalls to their left, as this meant that he could occasionally look over to the griffin, because for some reason, he felt quite drawn to the magical creature. And because, the hustle and bustle of the other wall had taken its toll on Alfie and Billy, and they were both a little relieved that they no longer had to watch where they were going now, with barely anyone around. After spending all morning trying to avoid people, they now had more room than they knew what to do with. But whilst Alfie enjoyed the room, the severe lack of people had puzzled him, as he was sure that everyone would have been really interested in buying magical things. He just couldn’t understand why the Wizall was so vacant.

As they walked, Alfie noticed a couple of things which set the stalls apart from those on the other wall. The first being, that each of the stalls were actually embedded in the wall, and not just in front of it; which he thought was great for when it rained. The second, being that the signs were actually written in large letters on the wall above the stalls, and in bright neon colours. And quite bizarrely, the signs seemed to move around with you wherever you stood; ensuring that the signs could always be clearly seen.

‘Why is there hardly anyone here Argyle?’ he asked, glancing at the few people that wandered.

‘Sadly, the magic is dying, Alfie,’ he explained. ‘Since Grave’s rule, many have had ta give it up.’

‘Why would anyone want to give up magic?’ asked Alfie, shaking his head, unable to understand. Surely no-one would give up magic when it was such a cool thing to be able to do.

‘When he took the rule, his law became that people could only use magic to a level. Those with magic are allowed everyday magic, but nay more than the second level.’ Argyle replied. ‘If ya go against the rule, the Four will come for ya. Ya dinnae want ta get a visit from the Four, that be true.’

‘The Four?’ Alfie asked, remembering Billy mention something about them on the way to the square.

‘Aye, if the Four come for ya, they give ya four choices, and ya must choose one.’

‘Oh, I know this,’ said Billy enthusiastically. ‘The first choice is a quick death, the second is to go to the man, the third is to be denounced, humiliated and stripped of mind, and the fourth is to go to the white circle. That’s right isn’t it Argyle?’

‘Indeed it is Billy. Aren’t ya a clever wee one?’ Argyle confirmed quite impressed. ‘Nae choice is good. Most choose the second, because at least then ya will live, and live with mind. But whatever ya choice may be, ya are stripped of the magic.’

‘So there are no good choices,’ gasped Alfie, quite taken aback. ‘Blimey, that’s awful.’

‘Aye Alfie, it is.’

‘Actually, what happens if you refuse to choose any of them,’ asked Billy.

‘Och, ya cannae,’ replied Argyle. ‘If you dinnae choose, the Four will choose for ya. And, for good measure, they also pass the blame onto one of ya family too, and they have ta choose. When the Four come for ya, it’s the end for ya.’

‘That’s just plain nasty,’ said Billy, screwing up his face.

‘Aye,’ replied Argyle, with a firm tone and a nod of his head.

Alfie and Billy knew that Grave was evil, but the Four sounded even worse if that were at all possible. Both were desperate to ensure they steered well clear of them.

‘What is the white circle Argyle?’ Alfie asked.

‘That be Grave’s entertainment, Alfie,’ he replied. ‘Ya live sure enough aye, and you have a fighting chance, but ya dinnae live long. In all my time, I’ve never known a soul to have ever lived ta leave the White Circle.’

‘Well, if do they come for us, I don’t suppose we have much choice but to go for option two then.’

‘Ya dinnae, wee Alfie.’ Argyle replied. ‘Nae, ya dinnae.’

‘If it was me, I’d only learn up to the second level of magic, and make sure I didn’t learn anymore,’ said Billy.

‘Folk thought the same as ya do Billy, but they were still visited. Many folk were taken, or they just disappeared, even though they’d thought they’d only learned the second level,’ he explained. ‘It came ta be that nae-one was sure what the second level was, so many decided that it would just be safer without the magic at all.’

‘What level of magic are you on then?’ Billy asked.

‘The first for me and Gram.’ he answered. ‘We traded a level one book from ‘Wordies’ and that’s as much magic as we care ta learn. We wouldn’t wanna give it up altogether, as we wouldnae be without it. Once ya give up the magic, it’s gone, ya cannae get it back. So, best ta just stay with level one was our thought.’

‘That’s probably a better idea actually.’ Billy nodded, though feeling a little disappointed, as he had hoped to have learned as much as he could.

‘I wonder why Grave won’t let people learn magic above level two.' said Alfie.

‘I dinnae know Alfie, maybe he’s afraid that if he lets folk practice stronger magic, that they may try and remove him from his rule. Who can say?’ said Argyle.

‘He's a proper wrong'un that Grave fella.’ Billy scoffed.

Argyle immediately unleashed a deep laugh, as he thought that Billy had said fool, instead of fella.

‘Come,’ he said, putting his hand on each of Alfie and Billy’s shoulders. ‘Enough talk of Grave. Let us see if there’s anything good that takes ya fancy.’

Together they strolled along the Wizall. They passed a number of stalls that sold things like wands, cauldron’s and plant roots. Alfie smiled when they passed ‘Winny’s Wands’ because he thought the name to be quite amusing. They hadn’t actually bought anything though, as neither had seen anything that really grabbed their attention, but Argyle was about to introduce them to something they’d surely like.

‘Ah, here’ll be something that’ll be of use,’ said Argyle, walking over to a stall called ‘Deepers’.

Laid out neatly, row upon row, Deepers displayed hundreds of strips of cloth in varying sizes and colours. A long haired man sporting a long beard and dressed in a dark green three-quarter length coat stood to the side.

‘I don’t think we need cloth Argyle.’ Alfie scoffed.

‘Not ordinary cloth, sir, but a deeper if you will,’ said the long-haired man chirpily, as he stepped toward Alfie.

‘What’s a deeper then?’ Alfie asked.

‘Allow me to show you,’ replied the man, patting down his coat with both hands. ‘Upon my coat are no lumps and bumps as you can see.’

The man then flapped open the left side of his coat, to reveal many of the same strips that were on the stall; all neatly attached to the inside, and which ran both horizontally and vertically. He then slipped his hand inside one of the larger horizontal deeper’s and pulled out a long, thick, log of wood. The log must have been four or five feet in length, and so there was no possible way that it wouldn’t have shown in his coat. Yet when the man had patted it down beforehand, there were no lumps at all.

‘Whoa!’ Alfie’s eyes widened. ‘How did you do that?’

‘Blimey,’ said Billy. ‘That’s a bit nifty.’

Alfie and Billy were more than suitably impressed, but then, from the very same deeper, the man then pulled out a large round rock; one so large that he had trouble holding it due to its weight.

‘Well, that’s me proper impressed,’ said a bedazzled Billy. ‘Although, I think my dad’s friend had a couple of those.’

‘He did?’ asked a puzzled Alfie.

‘Yeah. He said he knew a bloke with deep pockets. He unfortunately had short arms too, or so my dad said.’

Alfie thought for a moment. ‘I think you’ll find that deep pockets and short arms is a well known phrase, Billy.’

‘It is? I didn’t know that.’

‘Yeah, something to do with not being generous, or something.’

‘Blimey, it is true, you do learn something new every day.’

‘Perhaps you would like to try a deeper?’ the man interrupted. ‘You never know what you might find.’

‘Okay,’ replied an excited Alfie.

The bearded man took a step forward, and this time he opened the right side of his coat, before offering it to Alfie with a nod of his head. This side of his coat had many more deepers than were on the other side, so Alfie had plenty of choice.

‘Choose if you will,’ he said.

Alfie deliberated for a moment, as there were so many, but then he opted for a medium length, purple deeper. He placed his hand inside. He couldn’t feel anything at first, so, he placed it in a little further until he could. He then felt what appeared to be like the collar of a shirt. Taking a firm hold, he pulled, and out of the deeper Alfie produced a long purple cloak.

‘Do you see its beauty?’ asked the man. ‘You may put anything in a deeper. It shall hold it with no lumps, bumps, or extra weight.’

‘We HAVE to get one of those, Alfie,’ said Billy.

‘I knew ya’d like 'em. Got one myself,’ said Argyle, opening the left side of his jacket to display a quite large green deeper; where he’d no doubt placed the apple sticks he’d bought earlier.

‘I’ll say.’ Alfie agreed, handing the purple cloak back to the man.

‘Come,’ smiled the seller, ushering them to his huge selection. ’Which do you prefer?’

‘Hold on a minute. How much are they?’ said Alfie, assuming that something that cool would cost a fortune.

The seller gave Alfie a blank stare. So, catching on quick, Alfie reworded his question.

‘What’s the trade?’

‘Ah. They be four grudge a piece. Five for the big,’ he replied.

‘Would ya like ta be trying that again wee man,’ said Argyle firmly, his face sporting a quite stern expression. ‘They may be children, but I’m nae child.’

‘Ahem - yes - sir. Certainly, sir,’ replied the now nervous seller. ‘Two grudge. Th - they be two grudge a piece, and three for the big.’

‘That’s the way of it,’ said Argyle, slowly nodding his head as he gave the seller a knowing look.

Alfie browsed through the hundreds of deeper’s on display. ‘Any idea which one we should get Billy?’

‘I think the real question is which four we should get?’ he answered. ‘I think Rosie and Emma would definitely want one, and I should probably get one, you know, just in case. I’ll take a red one I think.’

‘You’re right, we should all have one really,’ Alfie agreed. ‘Shall we get three of the regular sized ones and one of the big ones? We might need a big one. You know, in case we have to carry something big and awkward.’

‘Good thinking Batman.’ Billy agreed.

‘I’ll have three of those red ones and that large black one please,’ said Alfie.

‘Bat man? Can ya speak to the bats Alfie?’ asked a naive Argyle.

Alfie turned and smiled. ‘No Argyle, it’s just something we say at home when someone has a good idea.’

‘Oh, right ya are,’ said Argyle. ‘It might have come in useful if ya could talk ta the bats though.’

‘There you are,’ said the seller, handing Alfie his selection of deeper's. ‘The trade be nine grudge.’

Alfie pulled all of his traders from his pocket. He didn’t want to give the seller his entire nine grudge, so he passed him a trink, and soon received his eleven grudge change.

‘How do we actually attach these?’ he asked. ‘Do you put them on, or do we have to?’

‘Just place the deeper where you want it to be, and it will stay,’ he replied. ‘It doesn’t matter which way. Deeper’s work every way. If you have the trouble, bring them back and I shall give trade for a good one.’

‘Oh, okay, thanks,’ said Alfie. ‘Billy, I’ll put these in my bag for now. We can sort them out later.’

‘Okey dokey,’ said Billy, his answer resulting in Argyle giving him a quite funny look.

Alfie placed the deeper’s into one of the side pockets of his backpack. After zipping it up, he stood up, and then swung the backpack back over his shoulder.

‘Right, okay, what else can we get?’ he excitedly asked.

‘Plenty to trade on the Wizall Alfie,’ replied Argyle, as they continued.

The next stall they passed sold cauldrons; one of many they had passed without thought.

‘Actually Argyle, are we going to need a cauldron?’ Alfie asked.

‘Ya will need a cauldron aye, but we’ll get ya one from Ron’s. Ron’s has the best cauldrons,’ answered Argyle, inadvertently glancing over to the woman at the cauldron stall.

The woman did not look best pleased by what she had heard, and promptly gave Argyle a filthy look. Argyle immediately felt very embarrassed that she had heard him and so quickly looked away. A small boy and his father passed them as they continued, with the boy unable to take his eyes away from Alfie’s shoes. Once he’d had a good look, the small boy stopped briefly, waved his hand down over his sandal-like footwear, and changed them to a pair identical to Alfie’s. The boy looked immensely pleased, and constantly admired his new shoes as he and his father continued on their way.

A little way ahead was a small commotion, and a small crowd had gathered. Alfie, Billy and Argyle all wondered what was going on, and without saying a word to each other, they all headed toward the crowd to investigate. This diversion made them completely miss two stalls; one selling herbs, the other cloaks, neither of which they particularly needed.

‘Gather all, gather all,’ was the cry from the heart of the crowd.

Alfie and Billy were, of course, much smaller than the adults in the crowd, so couldn’t really see much. Argyle tapped a couple of people on the shoulder.

‘Excuse me, little ones need ta see.’

Graciously, the people moved aside to allow the boys to pass through. After squeezing past a few more people, they had managed to make their way to the very front. Two men stood before them, one holding a broomstick.

‘Welcome all,’ said the man with the broomstick, before holding it aloft.

‘What I have here is no ordinary sweeper. Oh no,’ he said. ‘This here is a very special sweeper indeed. Because this sweeper will enable those who wish it - to FLY!’

A swift groan came from the crowd, with a couple of people walking away; their faces largely unimpressed by the man’s claim. Even Argyle raised his eyebrows and tooted.

‘Wait. Wait,’ urged the man. ‘Allow me to show you its magic.’

With an unsteady hand, the man pulled out a small corked bottle from his trouser pocket and flicked the cork out with his thumb. He placed the bottle to his mouth and swallowed its contents, before throwing the empty bottle to his friend. The man then placed one leg over the broomstick, and before long he was zooming up into the sky. He didn’t go particularly high to begin with, seemingly having trouble to control it, but once he had got to grips with the broomstick, he flew much higher, though he didn’t seem to be going very fast at all. He had fled off quickly enough sure, but once he was in the air, it actually looked like he was going quite slow; sluggish even.

Quite a few people seemed to be reasonably impressed with what they were seeing, especially Alfie, who appeared mesmerised by the sight. Others remained unmoved and just whispered to each other.

It was all going very well for the man until he began to have a serious problem controlling the broomstick. The broomstick seemed to have developed a mind of its own, and soon he was being thrown around quite violently, and trying desperately to hold on. He flew straight up high, and then straight back down, from side to side, and then in many completely different directions at random. Eventually, the broomstick came to an abrupt halt high above the crowd. But then the man sitting astride it fell to one side, and, losing any grip he had with his legs, was left dangling and holding on to the broomstick for dear life. This had obviously happened before, because his friend was prepared and immediately cast a spell, which brought the man and the broomstick slowly to the ground.

‘Pipple!’ was the cry from one female onlooker, whose comment was immediately followed by walking away.

The man was feeling very foolish indeed though desperately tried to cover up his embarrassment by playing down the fact that he’d completely lost all control.

‘Yes, there are one or two tiny problems, but I am sure that you will agree, this flying sweeper is fine magic indeed. Who wishes to trade?’

‘It doesn’t work proper,’ said a gentleman to Alfie’s right. ‘Even if it did, how would we avoid the dragons? No-one wants to be dragon food.’

‘If you trade a sweeper this day, I shall provide a gift potion that shall make you invisible to dragons,’ the man replied.

‘For how long?’ shouted another from the crowd.

‘A quarter slice.’

‘What good is a quarter slice? You couldn’t go far in that time, even if it did work proper,’ said the man. ‘And then we’d have to buy more potions whenever used it.’

‘He’s right, you know,’ said another.

Largely unimpressed, the crowd, then dispersed, with some mumbling, some laughing, and others just looking up to the sky and rolling their eyes in disapproval.

‘It’ll never happen. Folk in the skies on sweepers indeed,’ said a woman, turning her nose up and abruptly going about her business.

Slumping down to the ground, the man just sat on the floor beside the broomstick, thoroughly dejected and totally disheartened. His friend and partner eased over to him and comfortingly patted him on the shoulder.

‘A bit silly that sweeper thingy. It disnae work proper,’ said Argyle.

Alfie felt quite sorry for the man being humiliated like that, and so walked over to him.

‘Don’t give up,’ he said encouragingly.

‘It seemed like a good idea,’ replied the man, with head bowed and running his fingers through his hair.

‘It is a good idea,’ said Alfie. ‘It’s a wonderful idea.’

The man raised his head to look up, intrigued as to who was providing him with support. A distinct look of hope appeared on the man’s face at seeing this small boy showing faith.

‘Do you think so?’ he questioned.

‘I do, yes.’ Alfie replied. ‘You should stick with it, I’m sure you’ll get it to work one day, and then everyone will want one. Remember, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.’

The man immediately got to his feet, his face now aglow and his mood totally changed.

’Try, try and try again,’ he said, rubbing his chin. ‘Those are very good words. You know, I shall. I shall try again. Thank you very much indeed young man.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ Alfie replied, giving a nod whilst tightening his lips and raising his eyebrows.

‘Come Wilbur. Let us make this sweeper work proper. May your day be a fine one young man,’ he said, winking at Alfie.

‘And yours.’ Alfie replied with a brief smile.

With that, the man picked up the failed broomstick and walked away with his friend. As the men were leaving, Argyle and Billy joined Alfie.

‘That was a good thing what ya did there, Alfie,’ said Argyle proudly.

‘I felt a bit sorry for him actually.’ Alfie replied, running his fingers through his hair, as the man had done. ‘If you believe in something, you should always try and make it work, even if you fail a couple of times. You should at least make sure you’ve tried everything you can before giving up.’

‘Old words from young lips,’ said Argyle, suitably impressed with Alfie’s outlook.

‘Besides, I’ve a good feeling he’ll get it to work one day.’ Alfie added.

‘We shall be able to fly on sweepers?’ said Argyle, turning and looking to see if he could still see the two men. ‘I might be needing ta get myself one of those then.’

‘Alfred,’ called a voice, from a little further up the Wizard’s Wall.

Alfie, Billy and Argyle immediately turned to see who had called, thinking that it may be the girls, but it wasn’t. A middle aged woman, wearing a long orange gown stood near a stall with ‘Dea’s’ written above it. She beckoned Alfie over with her finger.

‘Who’s that Argyle?’ asked Alfie. ‘How would she know my name?’

‘Only one way to find out,’ said Argyle, heading straight for the woman, with Alfie and Billy following close behind.

‘How do ya know of the boy?’ Argyle asked firmly.

‘Do not fear. No harm meant,’ replied the woman. ‘I am familiar with the band and its stones.’

Alfie thought she probably meant the bracelet his dad had given him, so he raised his sleeve to show it.

‘That’s a bit nifty,’ said Billy. ‘Where did you get that?’

Billy hadn’t been there when Alfie had put the bracelet on, as he was busy being ill, but he did remember Emma mentioning something about two bracelets.

‘It was in my dad’s box,’ he replied. ‘Me and Rosie both got one.’

‘Oh, right,’ said Billy.

Dea’s stall seemed to be much larger than all of the other stalls on the Wizall. She sold stones, and she sold lots of them, in all manner of shapes, sizes and colours, all separated into compartments. There were small stones, big stones, stone bracelets, necklaces, small boxes, and an assortment of other stone items. She had A LOT of stones.

‘You recognise this?’ Alfie asked. ‘But how could you?’

‘Because it was I that forged band at the request of your father,’ she replied, immediately grabbing Alfie’s undivided attention.

‘You knew my father?’ he asked excitedly.

‘Not to friend with I’m afraid,’ she replied. ‘I met him only once. But I never fail to recognise stones, especially those made by my hand.’

‘So you actually made this then?’

‘I did Alfred.’ Dea replied. ‘And it was I that placed your name within.’

‘Does it do anything?’ he asked, assuming that because it was made on the Wizall, it had to do something magical.

‘It protects and enhances the wearer.’ Dea replied. ‘Each of the stones on your band serves its own task. The four you wear are Labradorite, Merlinite, Jade and Quartz.’

‘Protect me, and enhances me? From what?’ he asked, holding onto the bracelet with his left hand.

Dea moved forward and took hold of the bracelet with her thumb and forefinger. Moving it around his wrist, she pointed to each stone in turn to explain them.

‘Labradorite has many powers. It supplies energy, increases intuition and disperses negativity. Merlinite, here, serves to enhance the wearer’s vision, memory and creativity. The Jade stone induces harmony and shall help to focus your energy and concentration. And this stone is quartz. This will enhance your inner qualities, absorb and enhance energy. Quartz is the binder of the bracelet, as it enhances the powers of the other stones. Each of these stones holds many more purposes, including aiding travelling to the first. Each was chosen with great care by your father.’

‘Oh right, okay, thanks,’ Alfie replied, looking at the bracelet and trying hard to absorb everything that Dea had said.

‘Your father asked for two. Where is Rosemary?’ she asked.

‘Oh, she’s here,’ he replied. ‘Well, not right here, but she’s in the square.’

‘Does she wear the band?’

‘Yes, she does,’ he answered, before realising that he couldn’t be totally sure if she was still wearing it. ‘At least, I think she is.’

‘This is good.’ Dea nodded. ‘If you continue to wear them, they shall aid you in your growth.’

‘Yes, I will,’ he said. ‘So, did my father say anything else?’

‘He did not. He simply asked for the bracelets,’ she answered. ‘Upon giving them to him, he went his way. With some urgency, if I recall.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Alfie said gratefully, but with some disappointed. He was just about to turn away, when he had a thought. ‘Actually. Would it be possible to get two more of these, with the exact same stones?’

‘You may.’ Dea replied. ‘Who shall wear them?’

‘One is for William here,’ he said, pointing at Billy with his thumb. ‘The other is for our friend Emmaline.’

‘One moment,’ said Dea, raising her index finger briefly.

Dea then walked the few steps back to her stall and proceeded to choose four rounded shaped stones from their compartments. Holding them in her cupped hands, she shook them briefly, before placing them to her mouth. With her lips resting on the knuckles of her thumbs, she whispered something. She then blew into her hand twice, which resulted in her making a sound similar to that of an owl hooting. Finally, she lowered her still cupped hands and held them out in front of her; her right hand now on top of her left. Upon removing her right hand, she revealed a perfectly formed bracelet. Taking the bracelet with her right hand, she ran the little finger of her left along the inside, before passing it to Billy.

‘Thank you,’ he said, taking it. He looked at it briefly and then put it on his left wrist, amazed that the woman had made it with just four regular stones, and with just her hands.

Dea repeated the process and handed the second bracelet to Alfie.

‘Thank you very much,’ he said, taking it gently, and then looking to see Emma’s freshly engraved name. ‘How many grudge is that? Or will I need a trink?’

‘The trade is four grudge,’ she smiled.

Happy with the price, Alfie pulled his traders from his pocket and counted four grudge into Dea’s cupped hand. As he handed her the last triangular coin, his little finger brushed her palm, and he felt a very slight shock; much like an electric shock people sometimes get when they touch others. He looked up at her to see if she also felt it. Dea immediately stared directly into Alfie’s eyes, and then grabbed hold of his wrist. Before he knew what was going on, and before he had a chance to pull his hand away, she had turned his palm face up. Cupping the grudges he had just given her, she placed the traders back into his hand.

‘What are you doing?’ he asked, astounded by the woman’s strength.

‘There will be no trade,’ she replied.

‘There won’t?’ he asked.

No,’ said Dea. ‘Instead may I ask something of you?’

‘Er, yeah, okay,’ he replied, with a somewhat bemused look.

‘If you should meet with a girl that wears a band on each of her wrists on your path, will you promise to help her?’ she asked, a degree of concern upon her face in anticipation of his answer.

Alfie was naturally intrigued by Dea’s request, but being the gentleman he was, and with the added bonus of saving four grudge, he readily agreed. He knew he probably would have helped the girl anyway, especially if she was in trouble.

‘If I can. Yes, of course I will,’ he answered.

‘Then this has been a wondrous trade,’ said Dea, clasping her hands together and pointing them forward. Delighted.

‘Can I ask what she looks like,’ he asked. ‘You know, so that I know it’s definitely her?’

‘The bands will reveal her to you.’ Dea answered.

Alfie didn’t quite understand why Dea didn’t describe the girl, thinking that it would have been a lot easier if she had, but he was a boy of his word, and he would make sure to look out for a girl with two bracelets.

‘Thank you for the bands Dea, but we really must be going now,’ he said. ‘It was very nice to meet you though, and I will look out for the girl.’

‘The joy was mine to have,’ she replied. ‘Thank you. I know you shall.’

Alfie nodded appreciatively and strolled away, with Billy and Argyle following. Argyle didn’t quite know how Alfie had managed to get away with getting a gift as much as four grudge. The most he had ever seen given as a gift was two grudge.

‘She’s a strange one,’ he said.

‘A little bit I suppose, but she seemed nice enough.’ Alfie replied. ‘She seemed very worried about the girl.’

‘Well, you dinnae have ta worry Alfie,’ said Argyle. ‘Ya just saved trading yaself four grudge.’

‘Yes, I did. But I’ve a sneaky feeling that what I’ve just agreed to is going to cost me much more than that,’ he replied.

‘Why the words Alfie?’ Argyle asked with a curious frown.

‘Oh, no reason,’ he replied nonchalantly. ‘Just a feeling, that’s all.’

Strolling along the wall, they browsed many of the various magical stalls. Billy then spotted an empty area, where the wall was completely flush, and without a stall. In the vacant area, about five feet from the ground, was a black hole. On the ground below the hole, slightly to its left, was a small wooden block. To the right of the hole was a wooden speaker’s podium with a sign above it, which read: Book of Words. A large book lay open on the podium, and above it, at the very top, were four grey feathered quills, all of which that stood vertical, suggesting that they were sitting in a small pot at the very top. Just as Billy was about to ask what the area was all about, he was distracted by something else that had caught his eye.

‘There are the girls, look,’ he said, seeing Rosie and Emma in the not too far distance.

Rosie, Emma and Gram were not much more than a stone’s throw away, but were busy looking at a stall, and were far too distracted to notice the boys.

‘Only a few more until we reach Ron’s,’ said Argyle. ‘If ya need anything else ya should be getting it now.’

The next few stalls sold things like robes, plant roots and wands, and not needing any of those, they simply skipped them. But then they came across a stall that had an array of various brightly coloured bottles, which were all lined up in endless rows, and surrounded by what appeared to be black sponge. Pansy’s Potions.

‘Here we go, the good stuff,’ said an excited Billy.

It certainly was the good stuff too, with thousands of magical potions, in finger sized, labelled, corked bottles, all separated into square sections as to their purpose. Pansy’s stall was by far the most colourful in the whole of the square.

Many of Pansy’s potions had very amusing names too. In the ‘Be Well’ section was a potion called Spot Shot; a spot removal potion, another bottle labelled Skinny Minny, which was for weight loss. There was a potion to make you taller, one to cut your hair, and there was even one called Wishy Washy, a potion which would wash you with your clothes still on. Alfie laughed when he saw a potion called Love Shove; a love potion, in the ‘Trickery’ section.

‘I’m going to need to get one of those Wishy Washy’s,’ he said. ‘I really could do with a wash.’

‘I’ve already had a wash this morning, thanks to Argyle.’ Billy quipped.

Argyle smiled awkwardly, but he appeared quite amused by Billy’s directness.

‘Actually, I should get a few of them for all of us,’ said Alfie.

‘Yeah, nothing worse than being smelly,’ said Billy, browsing through the many sections.

Billy then became very excited as he browsed through a section called ‘Level Two Potions’.

‘Alfie look,’ he said.

Alfie scanned the section Billy pointed at. He saw many cool sounding potions, such as Double Trouble; a duplicating potion, Blink Away: an invisibility potion, Cool Rule; a freeze potion, Forget Me Not; a memory loss potion, Crafty Cover; a masking potion, Winky Winks; a sleeping potion, Slick and Quick; a speed potion, Agreed Indeed; a persuasion potion, along with a potion for strength called Lift Gift, to name but a few. But Alfie had totally failed to look at the one potion Billy was pointing his finger right at, one called Time Chime, which was a potion that would allow the user to go back in time one chime. Billy had always been fascinated by time travel, and so this potion really excited him.

‘I’ve gotta get one of these,’ he said, picking up the bottle.

‘Do you think it really works?’ said Alfie.

‘I don’t know, but I’ve just got to give it a go.’

Argyle interrupted when he spotted one of the potions. ‘I tried that persuasion potion on Gram once.’

‘Really?’ said Billy. ‘What did you try and persuade her to do?’

‘Och, it was more what I tried to persuade her not ta do.’ he explained. ‘She wanted me ta do a whole bunch of chores all in only one day. So many I wouldnae have been able ta move after if I did them all. So, I slipped that potion into her drink and persuaded her ta let me out of doing them that day.’

‘Did it work?’ Alfie asked, intrigued to know the answer.

‘Och aye, it worked alright.’ Argyle replied. ‘But there was one tiny wee problem.’

‘Really, what was that?’ asked Billy.

‘Well, I didnae do the chores that day right enough, but she just asked me ta do them the next day once the potion had worn,’ he answered. ‘I couldnae move for a week after I’d finished all the chores.’

The boys gave a little chuckle, and still with a smile on his face, Alfie turned to Pansy. Pansy had a friendly face, and oddly enough, looked a little bit like Alfie’s Nan; though she was much younger, and didn’t have any grey hair.

‘Hello, Pansy. What is the trade for these potions?’ he asked.

‘A good day to you.’ Pansy replied. ‘Each is two grudge.’

‘Okay, so what if I’d like to trade for more than one. Say, if I wanted to trade a good few of them?’

‘How many would you like to trade?’ Pansy quizzed.

‘I don’t know exactly, err...’ Alfie replied, having not thought that far ahead. ‘Twenty? Thirty, maybe?’ he glanced over at Billy for approval. Billy eagerly nodded.

‘I may allow twenty-two for two trinks. If you have them,’ she said.

‘That be a good trade,’ said Argyle.

Twenty-two potions for two silver coins sounded like a very good deal to Alfie too, until he realised, that technically he was only getting two extra for free. He thought he would try his luck and see if he could try to haggle for a few more.

‘How about twenty-five for two trinks?’ he asked, with a cheeky grin and cunning gaze.

Pansy paused for a moment, captivated by Alfie’s cunning gaze.

‘You may have your twenty-five,’ she answered, smiling at his cheek.

‘Cool, thanks,’ said Alfie, handing Pansy two trinks, which she graciously took. ‘Billy, choose the ones you want.’

Billy headed straight for the Time Chime before randomly picking up a few of the others. Alfie, meanwhile, grabbed eight of the Wishy Washy potions, as he had no idea how long they’d be in this strange place and he wanted to make sure he didn’t feel grubby. He then selected some others, quite at random.

‘How many have you got Keeper?’

‘Nine.’ Billy replied.

Alfie had picked up fifteen, so would choose one more. He opted for a green potion called Tricky Talk, which had only caught his eye because it had two skinny bottles stuck side by side, looking almost like it was two potions in one. The boys had their twenty-five potions.

‘Give me those, Billy. I’ll put them all my bag for now,’ he said.

‘Yeah, we can sort em out later.’ Billy replied, passing Alfie his potions. ‘I’ll hang onto this one though. If that’s alright?’

‘What one, the time potion?’

‘Yeah.’ Billy replied.

‘Yeah, you hold onto that one.’

Alfie put the potions away, zipped up the pocket and placed the backpack carefully over his shoulder, taking extra care this time so as not to risk breaking any of the potions.

‘Thank you very much, Pansy,’ he said.

‘See you again.’ Pansy answered, before turning away, and then looking as though she was beginning to pack her stall away. She had obviously done all the business she had needed to do for the day.

Continuing, Argyle seemed to be most impressed with Alfie’s trading abilities.

‘Ya got the knack of a trade wee Alfie. I’ve nae seen a better one.’ he beamed. ‘Nae-one gives that good a trade.’

‘Well, if you don’t ask, you don’t get, right?’ Alfie smiled.

‘Ya sure are at home in the square, Alfie.’ Argyle nodded approvingly.

Ron’s cauldron’s was now just a short distance away, so they headed straight for it. There was nothing else they wanted or needed, anyway, or at least not that they knew of, and the couple of stalls they passed on the way were selling things they had already seen. As soon as they reached Ron’s, Argyle began chatting merrily with the old grey haired, and well-presented man, as though they were old friends. They were having quite a chat about their lives, with plenty of laughter. This gave Alfie and Billy a chance to talk before the girls arrived, and so they moved away from the chatting pair.

‘I don’t know about you Billy, but this is the most bizarre place I’ve ever been,’ said Alfie.

‘Yeah, me too.’ Billy nodded. ‘I still can’t say I’m looking forward to what’s coming, but I do like this place. I like this place a lot.’

‘Do you think it’ll really be that bad?’

‘The journey?’ he quizzed. ‘Oh yeah, it’s going to be really bad.’

‘Oh great. Thanks for that Keeper.’ Alfie puffed.

Alfie knew the journey ahead wasn’t going to be any kind of picnic, but he was kind of hoping that Billy would say that it would be alright, even if it was just so that he didn’t have to worry quite so much.

‘What?’ Billy looked puzzled.

‘Well, you could have at least said it wasn’t going to be that bad. And that we’d get through it,’ he laughed.

‘Well, I could have, but then I’d have been lying, wouldn’t I?’ Billy smiled.

Alfie reluctantly nodded his reply. ‘Yeah, I suppose.’

The boys each looked over at the griffin in the middle of the square. It was doing exactly the same as it had been when they had first arrived; lying, preening itself, and occasionally looking around to see what was going on.

‘It’s a weird looking thing isn’t it?’ said Billy.

‘Yeah, it is,’ said Alfie. ‘Fascinating though.’

‘What do you think he’s guarding then?’ Billy asked.

Alfie turned to Billy. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Hello you two,’ interrupted a voice from behind them.

The boys immediately turned to see Rosie and Emma stood smiling at them. Gram wasn’t with them, as she had joined Argyle in having a good old natter with Ron. Alfie looked really pleased, and also quite relieved, to see his sister. He was pleased to see Emma too, of course, but as it was kind of strange for him to visit somewhere like Asset Square without Rosie, given that they had always done things like that together.

‘Good to see you didn’t get lost then,’ he said. ‘What did you get?

‘Oh, we got loads of things, didn’t we Em?’ said Rosie, turning to Emma.

‘Yes, we did,’ she agreed. ‘And we got plenty of food because we had a bet that you boys wouldn’t get any.’

Alfie and Billy looked at each other, with both immediately providing a look of guilt. Neither had even thought about buying food, especially since they weren’t hungry after the chestnuts and apple sticks.

‘Oops,’ said Billy.

‘See, I told you!’ Rosie smirked.

The girls teased the boys for a while and everyone was extremely chirpy. They all simply loved Asset Square and would have happily walked around it again if they could. Alfie told the girls all about the man with the broomstick, and also the taxer, as they chatted about their day. Emma said that they had also seen a taxer, and a leafless tree which was covered with sparrows. As they chatted, Argyle and Gram strolled up to join them.

‘There ya go,’ said Argyle, handing Alfie a small black cauldron.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

‘Tis a cauldron silly,’ smiled Gram.

Emma chuckled at Gram’s snappy answer.

‘Oh, I know it’s a cauldron,’ he said. ‘I just wondered why you were giving it to me.’

‘It’s mine and the grumpy ones wee gift ta ya all,’ said Gram. ‘Something ta help ya remember us by.’

Gram’s words had Argyle immediately raising his eyebrows and thinking, ‘I’m nae grumpy’.

‘You’re not leaving are you?’ Alfie looked concerned, as did the others.

‘Nae just yet, Alfie,’ said Argyle. ‘I have a promise ta keep first remember?’

‘You do?’

‘Aye, I do,’ he replied. ‘If ya recall, I promised ta take ya closer to the griffin? So then, let’s be going ta see the wee beastie.’

Eagerly, they headed with Argyle and Gram to the middle of the square to get a closer look at the griffin. It would take a little while to get to it, as although they were cutting straight across the green, smoothly cut grass, the square was very big.

Once more, Billy was curious. ‘Argyle, can I ask you something?’

‘Of course ya can. What be it?’

‘That hole in the wall and that bookof words, what are those all about?’

‘All about? I dinnae get ya meaning, Billy.

‘What are they for?’

‘Och, I see now,’ responded Argyle. ‘Well, that hole in the wall is where ya give up the magic, Billy.’

‘It is?’ quizzed Billy, his brow furrowed. ‘What happens there, then? You just put your magic into the wall?’

‘Och, no, Billy,’ chuckled Argyle. ‘If ya prepared to give up tha magic, then ya just place your head inside the hole and it’ll be removed from ya.’

‘Blimey, I don’t like the thought of putting my head in a dark hole in the wall, even if I were to want to give up magic.’

‘Dinnae worry yaself, wee one. It be quite safe and disnnae but a short while.’

‘Yeah, but even so, I don’t like the thought of that,’ said Billy, shaking his head at the thought. ‘So, what about the book?’

‘The book of words?’

‘Yes.’

‘Och, that be just the place where if ya think of a new word, ya can write it down, along with the meaning of it and your name. If tha word is liked by the people and they use it, it will stay in there forever. If not, then it will be removed from within.’

‘Oh, like a dictionary, you mean?’

‘What be a dictionary?

‘Er, well, like a book of words,’ said Billy, realising.

‘Then aye, it be like a dictionary, Billy,’ confired Argyle.

Billy nodded. ‘Okay, one more thing.’

‘Aye.’

‘Why would a book of words be on the Wizall? Words aren’t magic.’

‘Ah, that’s where ya be wrong, young Billy.’

‘Really? Why?’

‘Ah, because if ya use words in the right way, Billy, they can be the most powerful magic of all.’

Billy was a little dumbfounded by Argyle’s philosophical answer, but when he actually thought about what he’d said, he smiled to himself and wholeheartedly agreed.

With Billy satisfied, having all of his questions answered, they continued. As they drew closer, Argyle would talk about how his father once took him to see the griffin when he was a small boy, and being told that as long as he didn’t breach the creatures' circle that he’d be okay. Alfie tilted his head to look up to Argyle as they walked.

‘Are you really leaving?’ he asked.

‘Nae Alfie. We’re nae leaving. It’s you that be leaving,’ he answered. ‘You’ve a path ta travel, remember?’

Alfie obviously knew that he and the others had to go, but he had hoped that it wouldn't be quite so soon. He thought that they would be going back to the Mermaids Whisper, for now at least. And he hadn’t even contemplated that Argyle wouldn’t be going with them when they did leave, as for some reason, he just assumed that he would tag along. Alfie had become really quite fond of Argyle and Gram, and he wasn’t particularly keen that they’d have to say their goodbyes so soon.

‘You don’t feel like coming along do you Argyle?’ Alfie joked.

‘I’d love ta Alfie, really I would, but it’s your path, nae mine,’ he replied.

‘I wish you could though,’ said a resigned Alfie.

‘I’d be sure ta slow ya down anyway,’ Argyle smiled. ‘I’m nae as young as I used ta be ya know.’

‘Nah, I don’t think you would slow us down one bit,’ said Alfie, in the faint hope that he might change his mind.

‘Och, ya never know Alfie. If it’s fated ta be, we will see ya again.’ Argyle comforted.

‘I do hope so,’ said Alfie, his face quite glum.

‘Och, don’t. Ya’ll have me watering the eyes,’ Argyle mumbled, which was quite an odd thing for him to say, given that his eyes were already slightly watery.

‘Are we going once we’ve seen the griffin then?’ Alfie asked.

‘We’ll take ya all ta the gate. The professor will be right there ta meet ya and take ya on ya way.’

‘Oh, okay,’ said Alfie, somewhat comforted that he’d at least be seeing the professor.

The next hundred yards or so felt quite awkward for Alfie, as he couldn’t shake the disappointment of leaving Argyle and Gram, but as they approached the griffin his immediate attention turned to it. As large and as scary as the griffin was, it really was a magnificent creature, smartly preened, with amazingly coloured brown and purple wings.

‘There he be,’ said Argyle, as they approached the water line that surrounded the creature. ‘A fine beastie, is he not?’

Before any of them had the chance to reply, the griffin turned abruptly. It looked straight at them and then let out an immense high pitched screech, which made them all take a step back with worry, even Argyle, who hadn’t acted like that when he saw the griffin all those years ago.

‘I don’t think he’s too happy,’ said a nervous Billy.

‘Okay, we’ve seen him,’ said Emma. ‘I vote we go now.’

No sooner had Emma finished her sentence then the griffin jumped down from its plinth and walked slowly toward them. Every step it took looked more menacing than the last as it approached the water line. Cautiously, they each took a couple more steps back and eased around him; ensuring to keep a good distance from the water surround.

Oddly, the griffin didn’t seem to worry about anyone other than Alfie, and was fixated directly on him. Alfie noticed, but instead of being nervous, or scared, he eased toward the giant creature, and closer to the water circle. His action resulted in the griffin letting out another loud screech. This time, however, he would also open his wings wide, and flap them quite furiously.

The people of the square had now begun to take notice, and looked on, as Alfie played dangerously with this extremely large creature. Reaching the water line, Alfie walked along it. The griffin followed his every move. Rosie was now extremely concerned.

‘Alfie that’s enough,’ she demanded.

‘It’s okay,’ he replied, raising his arm to acknowledge his sister, not taking his eyes away from the griffin for a second.

Alfie casually walked along the water line, whilst the griffin followed him from inside, periodically lowering and then tilting his head. Each of them stared directly into the others eyes, almost as though they were having a staring competition. Alfie then stopped, turned to the water line and raised his right foot; positioning it as though he was about to step over it. The griffin immediately bowed its head, stared straight at Alfie’s hanging foot and then crouched into what appeared to be an attack like position.

‘Come now Alfie, you’ve had ya fun,’ snapped a troubled Argyle. ‘Ya dinnae want ta be upsetting the beastie any more than ya already have.’

Alfie thought it best to adhere to Argyle’s words, because at that very moment, the griffin started to make an aggressive puffing sound through its beak, so he dropped his foot and eased back to join the others. The further he retreated, the calmer the griffin became, but it would still keep a firm eye on Alfie. Once the excitement was over, the people in the square all stopped staring and continued about their business.

‘I think it’s high time we take our leave,’ said Gram.

‘I think that’s a VERY good idea,’ agreed Emma.

Heading back toward the entrance of the square, Alfie would occasionally turn to look back at his staring partner. He must have looked back at least half a dozen times, only to see that the griffin hadn’t moved and was still standing staring at him, even from such a distance away. He had no idea what it was, but Alfie felt that he’d made some sort of connection with the strange creature. A good or bad connection he couldn’t say, but there was definitely some kind of connection.

‘You weren’t really going to step over the water were you?’ Billy asked.

‘No, of course not,’ said Alfie. ‘I just wanted to see what he would do, that’s all.’

‘I was gonna say.’

‘That’s not what Grandma meant when she said to be brave, Alfie,’ said a quite annoyed Rosie. Alfie just shrugged in response, though knew that this was one of the times when his sister was probably right.

Upon reaching the tunnel to the main gate, they all took one last good look around, before heading through to the front where the stone statues stood. Alfie looked around for the professor the moment they had passed through them. He’d initially thought that they were going to meet the professor in the square, but now he wasn’t even outside.

‘Where is the professor then Argyle?’ he asked.

‘Have ya tried ya shoulder?’ Argyle laughed.

Alfie glanced to his right shoulder, and once again, the professor had managed to get onto it without him feeling it.

‘I wish you would stop doing that,’ he said, with a smile.

‘Apologies,’ the professor replied. ‘We have a cart close to Argyle’s.’

‘Apparently we have a cart not far from your one, Argyle,’ said Alfie.

‘Aye, I heard.’ Argyle nodded.

They of course didn’t have far to walk, thanks to a well spent grudge, and before long, they were standing at the back of Argyle’s cart.

‘Ya be sure ya take care of each other. Do ya hear me?’ said Gram.

‘Of course we will Gram,’ said Rosie. ‘I’m so pleased that we got to meet you both.’

‘The honour has been ours wee Rosie. The meeting of you all has been a fine pleasure,’ replied a sad looking Argyle.

Alfie wanted to be polite and shake Argyle by the hand, so, with a lump in his throat at having to say goodbye, he moved forward with his arm extended. But Argyle was having none of it.

‘Och, come here,’ he said, lifting Alfie clean off of his feet, and then giving him a big hug.

Argyle’s actions took Alfie completely by surprise, not to mention the professor; who needed to jump onto Argyle’s shoulder to avoid being crushed. But Alfie felt that although he’d only known Argyle a short while, he had made a very good friend, and so was grateful for the embrace. Argyle soon, though reluctantly, placed Alfie back firmly on the ground, and the professor jumped back onto Alfie’s shoulder.

‘Apologies for nearly crushing ya there Inglebaum,’ said Argyle. ‘Emotion got the best of me, I’m afraid.’

‘Understandable,’ said the professor.

‘Come here yous lot,’ Argyle said, holding his arms open wide and bending down on one knee, inviting the others to a hug.

Rosie, Emma and Billy practically ran over to Argyle’s arms. They wrapped their arms around him with some intensity.

‘Hey now, don’t ya be forgetting about Gram,’ said a quite jealous Gram, leaning down to join the embrace. Emma flung her arm instantly around her.

‘Right yous lot, be off with ya,’ said a stern Argyle, releasing his arms.

Everyone let go and eased away, with each of them being as choked as the other. Standing up, Argyle did all he could to keep a brave face and hide his welled eyes. He gave his right eye a little wipe with the back of his wrist.

‘Good luck ta ya all,’ he said. ‘Me and Gram will be hoping ta see ya again.’

‘Bye now, my wee brave souls,’ added a tearful Gram.

A sorrowful ‘Bye,’ was the emotional response from them all. It was all they could muster, as they were all distraught at having to say goodbye to their new found friends.

As the four travellers looked on, Argyle helped Gram up onto the cart, untied the horses and then got onto the cart himself. They both turned and gave them a final wave, with Argyle giving Alfie a little wink. Argyle gave the reins a gentle flap and he and Gram were on their way. Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma stood tearfully waving goodbye, wondering if they would ever see them again. They hadn’t known them that long, but boy had the patrons of The Mermaids Whisper made an impact upon them.

‘A little further,’ said the professor.

Almost reluctantly, they turned and headed for their new cart, with every one of them turning occasionally, in order to catch a glimpse of their departing friends.

‘This one,’ said the professor, pointing out a cart that was almost identical to Argyle’s.

Alfie walked to the front of the cart in order to allow the professor to jump onto the driver’s seat, whilst the others got on the back as they had before. Knowing the professor wouldn’t be able to, Alfie walked over to the long pole, untied the two brown horses, and then headed to join the others on the back. Professor Inglebaum stopped him before he walked past.

‘Where are going Alfie?’

Alfie instantly stopped. He looked up at the professor a little mystified.

‘To sit with the others,’ he replied, wondering what the professor had meant.

‘I do not know if you have noticed Alfie, but I am a squirrel,’ said the professor. ‘How would you suggest I am to drive?’

‘Actually, that’s a point,’ he said, with the look of a boy deep in thought. ‘So who is going to drive?’

‘Up you get, Alfie,’ urged the professor.

‘Me?’ Alfie was sure the professor was joking. ‘But I don’t know how to drive a cart.’

‘Then now is a good a time to learn. Would you not agree?’

Alfie felt a strong urge of panic run through right him. He wasn’t particularly stable on a bicycle, so he hated to imagine what he would be like driving a cart. Nonetheless, he climbed aboard and sat beside the professor, before gingerly grabbing the horse’s reins, from the thin wooden pole in front of him. Rosie, Emma and Billy were busy chatting about the square, when Rosie noticed Alfie sitting on the front.

‘What are you doing up there?’ she said.

‘Driving apparently,’ he replied, without turning due to trying to focus.

‘But you don’t know how to drive.’

‘I know. But it looks like I’m about to learn.’

Alfie’s backpack was getting in his way, as was the small cauldron Argyle and Gram had given him, so he turned and passed them both to Billy.

‘Look after these for me can you?’

‘Er, home James, and, through the park,’ was Billy’s sarcastic reply, as he took hold of the backpack, and then the cauldron. ‘Although, I think it might be a little safer if we walked?’

His sarcasm didn’t impress Alfie very much at this moment, as he was already worried that he may crash. Emma said nothing and was only too pleased that it wasn’t her that had to drive.

‘Flap the reins gently,’ explained the professor.

Alfie adjusted his grip so that he had a firmer hold of the reins. Then, with a puff of his cheeks, he gently flapped them. The horses began to walk on, but they were heading directly for the wall of the square.

‘Oh no. How do I turn professor?’ he cried, panicking more than he’d ever panicked in his life.

‘Gently ease the left,’ the professor answered.

Alfie swiftly, but gently, pulled the left side of the reins, and to his relief the horses began to turn to their left.

‘Good. When they face the path true even the reins,’ urged the professor.

Alfie duly obliged, and although there was a slight hiccup with one of the cart wheels going over the edge of the grass, he eventually found the dirt road and began to follow it.

‘I’m driving, professor,’ he said ecstatically, feeling rather pleased with himself.

‘Indeed, you are. Well done,’ replied the professor. ‘Though we may wish to go a little faster if we are to get to where we are going this day.’

‘Faster?’ Alfie quizzed, doing all he could to get out of going any faster, which would increase his chances of crashing. ‘I think this is a pretty good speed.’

‘I could walk quicker,’ said Billy.

Alfie turned abruptly to give Billy a not so impressed stare.

‘What?’ Billy replied, with a cheeky grin.

‘A little harder on the reins,’ said the professor.

Alfie flapped the reins a little harder, and with the slightest of jerks, the horses responded and were soon going at quite a nice canter. NOW Alfie was driving.

‘Good. Well done,’ said the professor.

‘So, pull to the left and they go left, right?’ asked Alfie.

‘Indeed,’ the professor replied. ‘All that is left to do is to hold the reins, for the horses shall follow the path.’

Alfie was more than happy to let the horses do all of the work, although, he surprisingly became to feel quite comfortable driving. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. Soon they would reach the mist that surrounded Asset Square, and once they had passed through, Billy got the conversation going.

‘So, come on then, what did you buy?’ he asked Rosie.

‘Oh, we got loads of things,’ she replied excitedly. ‘Mostly food, but we did get some magical things too.’

‘Show me then,’ he asked inquisitively.

Rosie had a little rummage in her backpack, and then produced a small daylighter.

‘What’s that then, a picture frame?’

‘No Billy, it’s a daylighter,’ she replied, quite excited about it. ‘You know, like the windows in the Mermaids Whisper? It’s only a small one, but I thought we could use it in our home because I didn’t remember seeing any windows.’

Billy still wasn’t particularly impressed, as was evident by his straight faced expression.

‘Useful I suppose. What else did you get?’ he asked. ‘Come on, get it all out and put it in this cauldron.’

‘Okay.’ Rosie replied, determined to somehow impress Billy.

Rosie took out a number of items and placed them in the cauldron that Billy had placed in front of her. Among the items, were a selection of bottled oils, plant roots, four balls; which looked like big clear marbles, a handful of bottled potions; of which two were empty, and a bunch of books.

‘And then of course we managed to get FOOD! You know Billy, the most important thing,’ she said smugly. ‘Oh, actually that reminds me, we got you a little something.’

‘You did? Cool, what is it?’ he asked, smiling.

‘Emma, can you get Billy’s present out please?’ she asked. ‘You might have seen these Billy, but as soon as we saw them we thought of you.’

Emma went to her backpack, and with Billy eagerly looking on, she produced an apple stick. Billy was over the moon when he saw his gift.

‘An apple stick! Aw, you shouldn’t have,’ he said with a grin and a wink. ‘But I’m chuffed that you did.’

Emma was a little astonished that Billy had reacted with as much excitement as he had. He was far too excited for an apple they thought, even if it was an odd shape. She handed him the apple stick, giving him a funny look as she did so.

‘That’ll do me nicely, thanking you,’ said Billy, before swiftly taking a bite.

‘You like them then Billy?’ Rosie asked, with a smile.

‘Hmm,’ he answered, nodding his head as he munched on his apple.

Rosie gave Billy a quite odd look as he devoured the apple. She then turned and raised her eyebrows at Emma, and both smiled. This was clearly one gift they had certainly got right.

‘We got you something too, Emma,’ said Alfie, turning his head to the side, so as to talk over his shoulder.

‘Did you?’ she asked, quite shocked that the boys had bought her a gift, especially since they had managed to forget to buy food.

‘Can you give it to her Billy? It’s in my bag.’

Billy mumbled something, in what seemed like an agreeing manor. He then wedged the apple stick in his mouth, got the bracelet out of Alfie’s backpack, and handed it to Emma.

‘Here you go,’ he mumbled, through the apple stick, and then slurping it as he removed it from his mouth.

‘It’s just like Rosie’s,’ she said quite taken aback. But her faint smile soon turned to a slight frown. ‘These bracelets don’t fit me though. I tried Alfie’s on and it was too small. I think you have to have your name inside.’

‘Then it’s a good job your name is inside, isn’t it,’ said Billy, making a chomping sound as he finished off another mouthful.

Emma looked at the inside of the bracelet, and sure enough, she could see her name. Her face instantly lit up and she excitedly placed the bracelet on her wrist. It fitted perfectly, and it was very clear that she was very, very happy. She stared at as she moved her arm around to get a good feel of it.

‘Oh, thank you boys! Thank you so much,’ she said, with her voice breaking as she’d said the words.

‘You like it then?’ Alfie asked.

‘I love it Alfie. It’s brilliant. Thank you.’

‘You are very welcome, Em,’ he said.

Emma continued to play with the bracelet for a short while, before nudging Rosie and whispering to her. ‘Shall I give it to him now?’

Rosie shook her head and whispered back. ‘Not yet, wait until we stop.’

Billy had polished off his apple stick and was left with just the core. Instead of throwing it away, he decided to follow Argyle’s advice. This time he would eat it. The core tasted quite different from the outer part of the apple. It still tasted of apple, of course, but it wasn’t quite the same, having a slight bitter taste to it. Billy loved it.

‘Argyle was right about the core, Alfie,’ he said. ‘It’s delicious.’

‘You ate the core?’ Alfie asked, somewhat surprised.

‘Yeah, you should try it, it’s the best bit.’

Alfie laughed. ‘Okay, I will next time.’

Billy rubbed his hands together to remove any juice from them, before diving into the cauldron. ‘Right then, let’s have a look at what else you’ve got?’ Plants? What on Earth do we need plants for? Oils? What are they all about?’

‘Gram said we should get them,’ replied Rosie. ‘She said they were good for cooking, and other things.’

‘Cooking schmooking,’ replied Billy, not in the slightest bit interested. He wanted to see the magical items, and so took another snout inside.

‘Oh, okay, what are these?’ he said, having pulled out two of the large clear marbles, and begun to roll them around in his hand.

‘They’re Glow Balls,’ replied Rosie. ‘They light up really dark places so you can see where you’re going.’

‘Oh right, so just like a torch then,’ he scoffed, looking into the cauldron to see what else he could find. He pulled out one of the empty bottles of potions.

‘Ah, I see you found Wishy Washy then,’ he said, shaking the bottle to ensure it was empty. ‘Do they work?’

‘I’ll say they do,’ she answered. ‘They’re brilliant Billy, I feel so clean now it’s incredible. I feel like I’ve just stepped out of the shower or something. There’s two more in there, for you and Alfie. You really should try them.’

‘Yeah, we’ll give them a go later, Alfie bought loads of them.’

‘I thought he might,’ said Rosie, knowing Alfie’s constant need to be clean.

‘What are these about then?’ he asked, pulling out the books.

‘They’re books about potions, spells and magic. Oh, and there’s a recipe book. We even managed to get a level two book of magic, which I thought we could definitely use,’ she replied. ‘These books are the other things Gram said to get the plants and oils for, because you need them to make spells and stuff from them.’

‘Ah, okay,’ he said, with a nod. ‘I don’t remember seeing a book stall though Did you see one Alfie?’

‘I don’t think so, no. But then we were distracted a couple of times.’ Alfie replied. ‘Argyle did mention that he’d got a book from a place called Wordies though.’

‘That’s where we got these books,’ said Emma.

Unconcerned, Billy put the books back in the cauldron. Then, he abruptly turned, and immediately lay down on the wooden block, having decided that he was quite tired. He could lie down now that Alfie was driving, as now there was now plenty of room. He stretched right out, the entire length of the seat.

‘What are you doing Billy?’ asked Emma. ‘Aren’t you going to show us what you bought?’

‘Yeah. Later,’ he replied, resting his head on his arm, and adjusting himself to get comfortable, ‘But right now I’m gonna catch up on the sleep I missed out on this morning. Night night.’

Billy couldn’t quite get comfortable, so he turned away from the girls, and then rested his head on his other arm. Adjusting his head a few times, he shut his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

‘Oh, well, that’s just charming I must say,’ said Emma, smiling at Rosie as she shook her head.

CHAPTER TEN

Lesson 1: SCRAM

An hour had passed and Billy still lay fast asleep. On occasion, he would let out the odd, sleepy grunt, which made the girls chuckle every time he did it. The girls had spent the hour chatting about their morning at Asset Square, but had now become more concerned with their beautiful surroundings, what with there being frequent views of a variety of loose sheep, pigs and cows, along with small groups of horses and ponies that grazed carefree, in the endless rows of meadows. The girls loved horses and simply adored ponies, so both would get quite excited whenever they saw them, especially when there were foals. Along the way, they saw so many different animals, even one’s they hadn’t ever seen before. They came across a group of animals that appeared to be a cross between a lamb and a deer; tiny woollen coated animals with long antlers. Emma even thought she had heard the trumpeting of an elephant, but dismissed it with a shake of the head, thinking that it was probably an animal that just sounded like an elephant.

The girls looked up cautiously when they came across three dragons that flew high in the bright blue cloudless sky above them. Each dragon was completely different from the other in shape, colour and size, with each seeming to possess their own characteristics as they flew. A large dark green one spent most of its time gliding, only periodically flapping its wings, a slightly smaller navy blue dragon just flew around and around in circles, almost as if it didn’t know where it wanted to go, and a deep brown coloured infant dragon, would constantly swoop, like it was practicing its attack. Even after what the girls had been told by Billy and Argyle about the dragons not attacking people, they were still very unsure of them, but because they were sitting a good distance away, they couldn’t help but admire the way they each elegantly flew through the skies.

By this point, Alfie had very much got used to driving the cart and seemed to be in his element; though he was fully prepared for any instruction he may get from his squirrel friend. Professor Inglebaum hadn’t moved a muscle from where he had sat the whole time. Alfie, however, would occasionally shuffle on the wooden seat because he didn’t find it very comfortable at all. He couldn’t help thinking to himself that had he of known that he had to drive, and known that the seats would be this uncomfortable, that he would have looked to see if he could have bought a cushion or something similar, to sit on back at Asset Square.

‘Carts are not of comfort are they?’ said the professor, in a matter of fact manner.

‘You’re not wrong, professor,’ said Alfie, shuffling on the seat once again.

‘Do not be troubled, for the path is not long. We shall be stopping soon,’ said the professor.

‘Oh good, because I really could do with a break from this seat,’ said a relieved Alfie, his bottom rather numb indeed.

At that point, Alfie remembered something. He placed his hand into the side pocket of his coat and then produced a folded leaf.

‘Oh, here you are, professor,’ he said, placing the leaf in between them, before unfolding it to reveal six chestnuts.

‘Ah, chestnuts. Are these a gift?’ the professor inquired.

‘Yeah. I wasn’t sure if you’d be hungry, so I saved them just in case,’ he answered. ‘You do like chestnuts don’t you?’

‘Indeed.’ The professor replied. ‘I am a little hungry, and so you have my gratitude. Would you care to share?’

‘No, no. They’re for you.’ Alfie replied. ‘I’ve had enough chestnuts for one day.’

The professor took hold of one of the chestnuts and then returned to sit on his hind legs, facing the road ahead. Holding the chestnut with both hands, he began to nibble on it. Alfie would occasionally glance at the professor chomping away, his whiskers twitching quite furiously as he ate. Alfie had often sat with Rosie in the local park watching the squirrels as they ate; grey squirrels of course, as red squirrels were extremely rare where he lived, and he had never actually seen one of those. Whilst Rosie was the one who adored cute animals, and of course squirrels, Alfie had always found that watching them eat was not only adorable, but actually quite therapeutic. Once he’d finished his first chestnut, the professor then came out with something quite bizarre.

‘Your grandmother. Does she smile?’ he asked, taking another.

‘Yes, she does.’ Alfie answered, curious to know what had made the professor ask about her. But his question also made him think about the last time that he had seen her, and the smile she wore. An overwhelming feeling of homesickness ran over him.

‘This is good,’ said the professor.

‘The chestnut?’

‘That your grandmother smiles,' answered the professor. ‘Though, the chestnut is also good.’

‘She is quite sad sometimes,’ said Alfie. ‘She’s always happy in front of us. But some nights, when I’ve got up for a drink, I’ve seen her sitting alone without the light on. I ask her if she’s okay, and she always said that she was, but I always knew that she wasn't because her cheeks were red, and wet from crying.’

‘Perhaps she misses someone?’

‘Yeah, more than likely,’ he answered, after some thought. ‘Actually, I remember the first night I found her that way, I remember her saying that she was reliving old memories.’

‘Indeed,’ said the professor, briefly pausing from eating. He then glanced toward Alfie. ‘You miss her. I can see.’

‘Oh, you have no idea how much I do right now,’ he sighed.

‘Indeed,’ said Inglebaum. ‘Magic is a wonderful thing Alfie, but it does not always solve life’s troubles.’

‘No, I suppose not.’ Alfie replied, with a slight shake of his head.

Alfie continued to think of his Nan as they travelled, knowing that she would be beside herself with worry that they hadn’t returned home. He desperately hoped that she was okay, and his homesickness really began to kick in. A short while had passed, and not wanting to feel as sad as he did anymore, Alfie took a deep breath to pull himself together. He then looked down to see how the professor was getting on with his chestnuts. The professor hadn’t lied when he said he was hungry. He had made his way through all but one of the chestnuts, which he was now reaching for. Alfie was pleased that he had thought about saving them for him, as he himself had never liked the feeling of hunger, especially when there was no food available to suppress it. When he was sure the professor had finished and had a nice full belly, he addressed him.

‘So, where are we actually going then?’

‘Your answer lies over this brow,’ the professor replied, now using his paws to clean his whiskers.

Over the brow, in the not so far distance down a somewhat steep slope, was a huge mass of different coloured trees, which seemed to stretch for miles. On the left was a huge green wood, and on the right, directly adjacent to the green, was a red wood. From their higher ground, Alfie could see that the road they were on led right through the very middle of the different coloured woods. Having remembered what Billy had said about the dangers about the red wood, and it being forbidden to enter it, he became concerned.

‘Are we going to be alright going through there Professor?’ he quizzed. ‘We’re not going into the red wood are we?’

‘Do not fear, young Alfie,’ comforted the professor. ‘The path only passes the red. It does not enter it.’

‘Oh good,’ said Alfie, letting out a small sigh of relief, whilst brushing his forehead with the back of his hand.

As they drew nearer, Rosie had spotted that they were heading toward the red and nudged Emma. They both showed some concern, having also remembered what Billy had said about the red. Billy continued to sleep.

‘Alfie...?’

‘It’s okay.’ Alfie interrupted, knowing exactly what his sister was about to ask. ‘We’re not going into it, just beside it.’

‘Oh, okay,’ she replied, turning to Emma and giving a comforting smile.

Rosie held onto Emma’s arm as they travelled the path between the green and red, and both were very pleased indeed to be sitting on the side of the cart where the green trees were.

Alfie noticed that the green wood looked very much like the one they had walked through the night before, although, because it was much brighter, he was able to see quite a bit further into it. The red wood, however, looked quite different indeed. Firstly, he couldn’t see past the first couple rows, and secondly, not to mention somewhat bizarrely, there appeared to be quite a lot of light red mist hovering at the foot of the trees; that floated slowly, and spookily through them. He sat thinking to himself that even if it wasn’t forbidden to enter a red wood, he wouldn’t want to go into them anyway because everything about them just seemed somehow wrong.

A few minutes had passed, with Rosie and Emma seemingly unable to take their eyes away from the red, almost as though they expected something to jump out and attack them. Rosie was so convinced that something would, that she had one hand tucked into the inside of her jacket, and held on to her wand. Not that she knew how to use it of course, but she would certainly give it a go if anything did jump out, as any protection was better than nothing.

Rosie’s grip on her wand tightened when she heard a noise similar to a deep, ghostly howl, come from within the red. The horses didn’t seem to like the sound either, as both seemed very startled by it, as was displayed by swaying their heads and huffing through their noses.

‘Ow!’ cried Emma. Rosie had not only tightened her grip on her wand but had also grabbed and squeezed Emma’s forearm upon hearing it.

‘Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?’ said a very apologetic Rosie, taking her hand away.

‘A little bit, yeah. But I’ll live,’ replied Emma. ‘I’m more worried about that noise. What do you think it could be?’

‘I don’t know, but whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.’ Rosie replied.

‘It doesn’t look good either!’ Emma shrieked, immediately grabbing Rosie’s forearm, upon spotting a sole silhouette figure in the red.

‘Ow!’ cried Rosie. But because Emma had grabbed her forearm she hadn’t really felt anything, and had cried out merely out of instinct.

A tall, skinny, and tailed silhouette began to follow the cart from within the red. The silhouette appeared that of a man. A hunched man, who almost looked to be dancing due to the constant darting around he was doing; with trails of smoke following his every movement. Occasionally, he would disappear from sight for a while, and then, pop up again level with the cart. The horses clearly didn’t like the presence of this strange character either, as they continued to huff and shake their heads, along with displaying a clear disturbance in their stride.

‘Do not be troubled,’ said the professor, sensing their anxiety. ‘The guardian of the red shall not harm us. For it has been forbidden to leave its guard.’

‘Phew!’ breathed an exhaling Emma, letting go of Rosie’s arm.

‘Right. So, are we all agreed that we'll never go into a red wood?’ asked Rosie.

‘Agreed,’ said Emma sharply.

‘Alfie?’ asked Rosie.

‘Yes, yes, no going into the red,’ he replied, turning to the professor. ‘Why is he following us? Does he think we’re going to go in there?’

The professor sat perfectly still as he answered. ‘It follows your wands Alfie. It can feel the power of the green.’

‘Are green wands more powerful than red wands then?’ Alfie asked.

‘Indeed they are, in the right hands,’ the professor answered.

Alfie was about to ask the professor what he meant by ‘In the right hands’, when he spotted a fork in the road ahead. So instead, he sought advice.

‘Which way do I go professor?’

‘Left,’ he replied, which had Alfie tighten his grip on the reins, preparing to make the turn.

‘He’s still following us you know,’ said Emma.

Only Rosie seemed to take notice of Emma, acknowledging her by resting her hand on her arm. Billy was hardly likely to respond, as he was still out for the count. He was clearly in a very deep sleep, as he’d now taken to snoring loudly. The cart soon approached the fork, and sure enough, Alfie guided the horses left. Rosie and Emma were both more than relieved to be moving away from the red, and the spooky silhouette guardian.

The road ahead opened up wide, and they now had green wood either side of them. Birds could now be heard singing, which they hadn’t heard before turning left into the green. The road before had no such wondrous sound, but it hadn’t really dawned on anyone until they had heard their song.

‘Oh my, I love how the birds sing,’ said a jubilant Emma, looking up around her. ‘Doesn’t it sound wonderful Rosie?’

‘Sorry? What?’ asked a distracted Rosie.

Rosie hadn’t taken her eyes away from the guardian of the red, who could still just be seen. It was standing perfectly still, with its arms raised, and its hands rested on a tree either side, as though it was peering through and staring at them as they moved further away.

‘I asked if you thought the birds sounded nice,’ repeated Emma.

Rosie took her attention away from the guardian and took a moment to listen.

‘They sound wonderful, Em,’ she answered looking up into the trees, to see if she could spot any.

Although now safely amongst the green, they had travelled quite some distance since Inglebaum had said that there wasn’t far to go. Alfie was keen to know what the professor’s estimation of ‘not far’ was.

‘Are we almost there professor?’

‘Almost,’ he replied.

The sound of the birds singing was obviously soothing to Billy, as he had stopped snoring. However, instead of snoring, he had begun to talk, or rather mumble. The girls couldn’t make out anything he had said, as he was still on his side facing away from them. Until, completely out of the blue, Billy shouted something quite random in a loud clear voice.

‘Fish cakes? But I don’t even like fish cakes!’

His blurt had caught everyone totally by surprise, and they couldn’t help but laugh at it, and in the authoritative tone in which he’d said it. Even the professor managed a squeaky snigger.

‘Where on earth did that come from?’ said Alfie, barely able to get his words out.

‘Who knows?’ replied Rosie, with a broad smile. ‘But why doesn’t it surprise me that it was about food?’

‘Pull the reins,’ urged the professor.

Alfie was still chuckling at Billy’s sudden outburst, so he hadn’t heard the professor’s instruction.

‘The reins, Alfie,’ he urged once more.

Alfie had heard this time, and it was with some panic that pulled on the reins to bring the horses to an abrupt halt. Both horses let out a disgruntled sound at being manhandled with such urgency.

‘We arrive,’ said the professor.

Alfie looked beyond the professor. He saw a clearing in the trees that was covered in long brown grass around two feet in height. At the far side, in the middle of the clearing, was a solitary cylinder shaped stone that was maybe twice the grass’s height. Alfie couldn’t quite understand why they had stopped there but was in no doubt that professor Inglebaum would enlighten him.

‘Bring your wands,’ said the professor.

Alfie tied up the reins, and once they had all checked to make sure they all had their wands, Alfie and the girls got off the cart. With the cart still, and with no-one on it, Billy had oddly begun to muster. It wasn’t the smoothest of journeys, so they were all amazed at how he had managed to sleep all the time they bumped along. But what amazed them even more, was that now, when there was no movement at all, he wakes. Billy sat upright, stretched out his arms and yawned. He took a quick look around to see Alfie, Rosie and Emma stood at the rear of the cart.

‘What’s going on here then?’ he yawned. ‘Where’s everyone going?’

‘Join us and you shall see, Billy,’ said the professor, before jumping to the ground. ‘Ensure that you bring your wand.’

Billy sleepily checked for his wand, and then slowly stepped down to join the others.

‘Follow me to the stone,’ said the professor, rushing into the long grass.

They couldn’t see the professor now, of course, because the height of the grass was more than tall enough to be able to hide him. Instead, they just followed the trail of grass that he disturbed as he ran through, which was heading toward the cylindrical stone.

‘Good kip then, Keeper?’ Alfie asked a still stretching Billy.

‘Yeah, not bad thanks.’ Billy yawned. ‘How was the driving lesson?’

‘Not as bad as I thought it was going to be, to be honest.’

Billy smacked his lips as they walked, which suggested that he either had a dry mouth or he was hungry. This gave Rosie an idea, and so she tapped Emma’s leg with her arm. When she had her attention, she winked at her.

‘I’m quite hungry. Are you Em?’

Emma didn’t know what she was up to, but considering Rosie had winked, she was quite happy to play along.

‘Er, yes. I am a little bit hungry,’ she replied.

‘Ah, food,’ interrupted Billy. ‘I could do with some food right about now.’

‘Ooh, you know what I would really, really like right now Em?’ Rosie asked.

Emma quickly cottoned on to where Rosie was going, and so her reply came with a little snigger.

‘No Rosie, tell me. What would you like?’

Rosie answered with a slightly raised voice. ‘Fish cakes. I would really, really, love some fish cakes.’

Billy stopped dead in his tracks and sneered at Rosie. ‘Oh, I can’t stand fish cakes. You don’t really like those do you?’

Rosie did all she could to not laugh, which was not easy, especially as Alfie and Emma had already begun to. If saying fish cakes randomly in his sleep wasn’t enough to have made them laugh, then Billy’s face after Rosie had said that she wanted them was sure to.

‘What?’ Billy curiously asked with a smile. ‘What are we laughing at?’

‘Nothing, Billy,’ Alfie chuckled. ‘Forget it.’

‘Okay, can someone please tell me why it is that whenever someone laughs around here, they always seem to be laughing at nothing?’ he asked, shaking his head.

‘It’s nothing really,’ said Alfie. ‘It’s just that while you were sleeping just now, you practically shouted out that you didn’t like fish cakes.’

‘No, I didn’t.’ Billy frowned. ‘Did I?’

‘Yes, you did, and it was really quite loud,’ said a smiling Emma. ‘And very funny.’

Billy felt a little embarrassed, as he wasn’t aware that he talked in his sleep. But even he managed to see the funny side and gave a little smile, albeit an awkward one. Making fun of Billy had completely distracted them, and so they’d lost the professor’s trail. The grass was no longer moving, and they were still some distance from the stone.

‘Oh, Oh, I think we’ve lost him,’ said Alfie, glancing around.

‘Well, he said to follow him to the stone, so why don’t we just go to the stone.’ Rosie reasoned. ‘He can’t be too far away.’

‘I guess not,’ said Alfie.

Using Rosie’s reason, they continued toward the stone. Upon reaching it, there was still no sign of the professor. They stood looking around to see if they could see any movement in the grass, but it stayed perfectly still, until...

‘There he is,’ cried Emma, pointing to an area of grass about thirty feet away.

‘I see him,’ said Alfie.

The professor seemed to be going around in a large circle, and he was doing it in quick time too.

‘What’s he up to then?’ Billy asked.

‘I couldn’t tell ya.’ Alfie replied.

Their eyes were glued to the professor’s trail as he ran, but once again they lost him. Unbeknown to them, the professor had completed his circle.

‘Oh, oh, he’s done another runner,’ said Billy.

Just then, inside the newly formed circle where they stood, which had an annulus of thirty feet, the grass began to sway. However, the grass outside of the circle remained perfectly still. Looking down at their feet, they were quite taken back by what happened next. The once long brown grass quickly began to retract into the ground, and then changed to a deep green colour. The grass stopped retracting once it had reached about an inch or so long, and left the once overgrown area with grass as green, and as perfect, as the finest of lawns. Alfie bent down to run his hand over it.

‘Wow!’ said Billy. ‘Now that’s what I call a lawn mower.’

Professor Inglebaum then ran from the very edge of the circle and stopped just a short distance from them.

‘Neat trick, professor,’ said a suitably impressed Alfie.

‘We must not have you train in the long grass now, must we?’ he replied.

‘Is that why we’re here then, to train?’ asked Alfie, feeling a rush of excitement flow through him.

‘Indeed,’ he replied. ‘Behind you is the Educatio stone. The training stone.’

They turned to inspect the Educatio, which no-one thought looked particularly special. It was just an old stone that wasn’t even as tall as them and was only about a foot or so wide.

‘Each of you must place one hand on top of the Educatio,’ instructed the professor.

Positioning themselves around the stone, they each glanced at each other before placing a hand on its flat surface.

‘From where you stand, turn and walk to the edge of the training circle. At its edge, turn once more to face the stone and take five steps forward. Then, prepare your wands.’

Without a questionable word, they each did as they had been instructed. As they moved into position, the professor scaled up the Educatio and sat directly on top of it. All four stood with wands in hand, facing the stone, and each other. Alfie stood opposite Emma, Rosie opposite Billy. The professor continued.

‘You must treat your wand as though it is a part of you, a sixth finger that you would not wish to lose. Embrace it, relax with it, and, above all, show it the utmost respect. A wizard’s wand is a wizard’s best friend and should be treated as such.’

He paused for a brief moment in order to enable his words to be absorbed.

‘And so we begin your first. Defence.’

Billy listened as the professor spoke, the whole time thinking that it was a little strange that, although the professor was some distance away, his voice was exactly the same volume as it was when he was near them. The training circle had somehow seemed to manage to relay his words clearly.

‘Hold on a minute, professor,’ he said.

‘Yes, Billy.’

‘Before we get started, can you tell me why all magic spells are in Latin?’

Professor Ingelbaum was a little taken aback by Billy’s question. His pointed ears twisted sharply forward. ‘What do you know of Latin, Billy?’

‘Me?’ Billy huffed. ‘I don’t know anything about Latin. Blimey, I can barely manage English.’

The professor’s ears slowly back to the side upon his realisation.

‘Not all spells are spoken this way, Billy, as you will soon discover.

‘Oh, okay.’

‘Now, all prepare, for with no defence, this will be your experience.’

No sooner had the professor finished speaking, then four small green glowing balls of light shot out of the Educatio at great speed, with one heading toward each of them. Caught off guard, they were all hit directly in the chest, with a force that was enough to knock them off their feet and have them each land on their back. In a state of shock, and with extreme caution, they each grabbed their dropped wand and got up, all clutching their chests.

‘Ow,’ cried both Rosie and Emma.

‘Blimey, that was a bit harsh,’ said Billy.

‘You could have at least warned us, professor,’ said Alfie. ‘I only just saw that, let alone was able to defend it.’

‘Hence the purpose. Few will warn before they attack and their power shall be much greater,’ replied the professor. ‘Preparation is your key to defence. If you are always prepared for the unexpected, then  the unexpected will no longer be unexpected.’

Billy wasn’t going to get caught out twice and so fixated his eyes firmly on the Educatio, crouching in the same position he would be when he played backstop at rounders. With wand in hand, he was ready, just in case another ball was to fly out of it.

‘But how are we supposed to stop something that comes at us so fast?’ Rosie asked.

‘The more you practice, the easier it shall be,’ he answered. ‘Let us try once more, but this time with a much slower trainer. You shall use the Scram spell.’

Billy gave knowing nod at hearing the word ‘Scram, and in truth, he felt a little foolish asking the professor about magic spells being in Latin, when the first spell he would learn would be an English word. Professor Inglebaum withdrew his tiny wand from behind him.

‘Move your wand in this motion when the trainer approaches,’ he said, demonstrating the motion by moving his little wand from his left hip to his right side, level with his face. ‘Call Scram to deflect the spell. You may prepare.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma took a couple of practice swings, before standing prepared for another magic ball to come at them. Billy didn’t bother with a practice swing and just stood with his eyes firmly fixed on the stone, in the exact same position that he had been in for some time.

Once again, four green glowing balls flew out of the Educatio, but this time much slower as the professor had said. Alfie called Scram, managed to whack his high into the air, and watched as it dissipated. Rosie had also managed to hit hers, and sent it a reasonable distance over the surrounding trees. Emma had only just managed to deflect hers, and with very little force, so it fell just a couple of inches in front of her and disappeared into the ground. Billy, however, had completely missed his, and for some reason had decided to not use the Scram defence. He was again hit square in the chest and knocked onto his back. These trainer balls may have been slower than the first ones, but they clearly had the same force behind them, judging by the way it had bowled Billy over.

Alfie, Rosie and Emma looked at each other to see who had managed to deflect theirs. Emma was extremely pleased that she had actually managed to deflect hers at all, and felt quite proud of herself, even though she didn’t hit it far.

‘Well done Em,’ said Alfie and Rosie together quite loud, which made Emma’s face beam with delight.

Billy was getting to his feet and mumbling as they looked over at him.

‘I thought you were supposed to be good at rounders, Billy?’ Rosie teased.

‘Yeah, yeah, very funny.’ Billy responded, feeling extremely embarrassed, but doing all he could not to show it.

‘Do not worry Billy. Some take longer to learn,’ said the professor comfortingly. ‘But you must use the spell as I have instructed.’

Billy didn’t feel particularly comforted, especially not enough to hide his embarrassment. Even Emma had managed to deflect her trainer yet. He was now very determined to deflect the next one, whatever it took.

‘Again, this time a little faster,’ said the professor.

The glowing green trainers came at them once more, and this time they all managed to hit them. Billy had the sense to use the Scram spell this time and stood with a smug look on his face, giving a ‘See, I told you I could hit it’ kind of look as the ball flew high over the trees. But, if the truth be known, he was more relieved not to have been hit again.

Constantly turning on the stone plinth to watch each of them, Professor Inglebaum would periodically give instruction as they practised this lesson many more times, with the magic balls continuing to be directed at them at varying speeds. They all seemed to have got the hang of deflecting them relatively quickly as now they were hitting them every time. They even managed to deflect the extremely faster balls.

‘Good! Good!’ said an extremely pleased professor, impressed by how quickly they were learning. ‘Now you will learn direction, as if you are able to return your attacker’s spell back to them, you will be able to use their strength to your advantage. A spell returned to its creator, is returned at twice its original power. This time a spell will be released from the stone, but this time quite at random. Do all that you can to return it from whence it came using the Scramback spell. Your wand will use the same motion.’

Anxiously, yet somewhat eagerly, they stood prepared for a spell, not knowing who was going to get the first. They did not wait long for their answer, as almost immediately, the Educatio spat one at Rosie.

‘Scramback,’ she said, managing to direct the spell straight back to the stone.

‘Good, Rosie,’ said the professor.

Next it was Billy’s turn. But although he had stood prepared, the spell still caught him a little by surprise. Luckily, he still just managed to return it back to the stone.

‘Good Billy!’ said the professor, inducing Billy to smile smugly.

Alfie was next, and he would almost effortlessly return the spell with his backhand swing.

‘Good, Alfie,’ said the professor.

Knowing that it was surely her turn next, Emma’s palms sweated as she anxiously prepared for the trainer to be released.

‘Scramback!’ she said, waving her wand with a fine motion.

But although Emma had hit the spell cleanly, it hadn’t gone back to the Educatio as it should have, but instead, flew straight at Billy. Billy had no time to think about what to do, as he really wasn’t expecting a spell to come from Emma, so he instinctively tried to dive out of the way. But he was too late, for as he dived, the spell caught him on the left shoulder, which forced his entire body to twist in the air a couple of times and saw him drop side onto the ground with a huge thud. He lay motionless. Emma inhaled sharply and quickly put her hand to her mouth.

‘Oh my goodness, I’ve killed Billy!’ said Emma through her fingers.

Alfie and Rosie were as concerned as Emma was because Billy wasn’t moving at all.

‘Are you alright Billy?’ Rosie shouted.

Much to Emma’s relief, Billy began to move, albeit slowly. All the time clutching his shoulder, he struggled to his knees and then to his feet.

‘Okay, that hurt!’ he grunted, moving his arm in a circular motion to try and ease the pain. ‘Thanks for that, Emma.’

‘I’m so, so, sorry, Billy,’ she answered, as sincere as anyone could be.

‘Ah, don’t worry about it. I’ll be alright,’ he replied, screwing his face up a little due to the pain. ‘But do me a favour will you? Please don’t do that again.’

‘I’ll try not to,’ she squirmed, knowing that she couldn’t possibly promise that because she didn’t actually know how she had managed to hit him that time.

‘You are alright, aren’t you, mate?’ Alfie asked, seeing Billy’s discomfort.

‘Yeah, I’ll live,’ he replied, still moving his shoulder with a grimace.

‘Let us try again, Emma,’ said the professor. ‘Focus on where you are directing the spell, and not just on the spell itself.’

‘Oh, do I have to?’ Emma asked, wiping her hand on the thigh of her trousers to remove the perspiration. All the time worried that she may repeat her error, and this time maybe even kill someone.

‘Focus and you shall succeed,’ the professor encouraged.

Looking directly at the Educatio, Emma took a deep breath, released a huge sigh, and concentrated as hard as she had ever concentrated in her life. Her concentration wasn’t helped by noticing Billy in the corner of her eye, who was slowly ducking out of the way. A spell was then released from the stone.

‘Scramback!’ she said, swiftly waving her wand.

This time, a highly relieved Emma watched as the green ball of light flew straight back at the training stone and disappeared into it. Billy was every bit as relieved as Emma was, as he had more than enough of being hit with green balls for one day.

‘Good. Good,’ said the professor. ‘Well done, Emma.’

His words were greeted with an enormous smile and a little curtsy.

‘There shall be a time when you shall need to direct a spell elsewhere, and not to its source.’ said the professor. ‘This time I wish you to direct the trainer toward each other, using the Scramalter spell. If you wish to direct it to the one you face, then your aim shall be toward the Educatio, as you have just done.’

They looked at each other with a little concern, as they had already seen just how hard Billy had been hit, and the last thing they wanted to do was to fight with each other. What if one of them missed hitting it back and it seriously hurt them? But they didn’t have long to be concerned, for the Educatio soon released a spell, toward Alfie.

‘Scramalter!’ he said, with a backhand swish of his wand, directing the spell toward Rosie.

Rosie had no problem deflecting it and sent it Emma’s way. Emma returned it back to Rosie, and she then directed it toward the Educatio. The trainer swiftly exited and headed for Billy. Billy swiftly hit it to Alfie, who in turn returned the spell back to Billy, and he to the Educatio.

Batting the trainer to each other continued for a while, with everyone managing to deflect it very well, and with no-one getting hit. Upon the sixth time of the trainer entering the Educatio, the game ceased.

‘Wonderful!’ said the professor, delighted at how they had all caught on so quickly.

Everyone was elated because the professor’s reaction suggested that they must have been quite good. Billy’s shoulder still troubled him, but he didn’t seem to care too much, as he was learning to become a wizard, and he wasn’t doing such a bad job of it.

‘Billy, Emma. May you please return to the cart?’ asked the professor. ‘I must speak with, Alfie and Rosie.’

‘Oh. Yeah, sure,’ said Billy without question. ‘Come on then Em.’

Emma made her way over to Billy, and just before they were both about to step outside of the circle, Billy turned.

‘Are we not going to learn how to cast some spells today then?’

‘Not this day, Billy,’ the professor answered.

‘Oh, okay,’ said Billy, somewhat disappointed.

He turned back, and he and Emma walked out of the circle. Billy and Emma strolled through the long, dull grass toward the cart. Billy was a little curious as to why they were both asked to leave.

‘What do you think that’s all about then?’

‘I don’t know. Perhaps it has something to do with their parents.’ Emma suggested, not appearing to be overly concerned.

‘Yeah. Probably.’ Billy nodded. ‘I’m sure if it’s important they’ll tell us about it anyway.’

‘Of course they will,’ said Emma, noticing that Billy was again moving his arm around and rubbing his shoulder. ‘I’m really sorry about hitting you, Billy.’

‘Seriously Em, don’t worry about it. It was probably my fault anyway. I should have been ready really.’

‘How about I make it up to you by getting you an apple stick when we get back?’

‘That’s a deal Em. Because an apple stick will certainly make up for nearly killing me, won’t it?’ Billy teased with a grin.

Emma slapped Billy on the arm for his sarcastic comment.

‘Ow. I was only joking,’ he said, still smiling.

‘And that was only a little tap,’ said Emma, smiling back sarcastically.

‘So, do you think Ingles will teach them any other spells?’ Billy asked.

‘Ingles?’ laughed Emma.

‘Well, everyone has to have a nickname don’t they? It’s only fair that the professor has one too.’

‘Yeah, I suppose so,’ she nodded.

‘Don’t tell him though, will you?’ Billy’s face bore an unusual seriousness because the last thing he wanted to do was upset the professor.

‘Ha Ha, no, I won’t, don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.’

Once they had reached the cart, Billy turned to see what Alfie and Rosie were up to, but he couldn’t see them.

‘Hey, where did they go?’

Emma looked back and was shocked to see that there was no-one there. Alfie, Rosie and the professor had all gone. Even the training circle had disappeared. The Educatio was still there, but everything looked exactly the way it had when they had arrived.

‘That’s weird.’

‘That’s really weird,’ said Billy, as he got into the back of the cart.

Emma followed and they both took a seat, all the time glancing over at the area where the training circle had been. Emma couldn’t work out why they couldn’t see them, and so tried to figure it out.

‘Okay. So maybe they are still in there, but perhaps there’s some kind of masking spell that stops people from outside looking in, so they can train undisturbed,’ she said. ‘What do you think?’

‘I wouldn’t like to say. But I hope you’re right, or you’re going to have to learn how to drive a cart.’ Billy quipped.

Emma smiled at Billy and his cheekiness at assuming that she would have to drive, whilst he would obviously lie in the back, sleeping. A short while passed, with them both just staring over at the stone, in the hope that Alfie, Rosie and the professor would soon return. Because of the peace and tranquillity, Emma’s thoughts turned to home. Knowing that her parents would be worried about her, and how long she had been away. Billy, however, couldn’t stop thinking about the apple stick she’d promised him, and why it was taking so long for her to give it to him.

‘My parents are so going to kill me when I get home,’ said Emma with some concern. ‘I really wish I’d thought about asking Eve to somehow get a message to them, just so they knew where I was.’

‘Yeah, that would have been a good idea.’ Billy replied. ‘Although, my parents probably won’t even notice that I’m not there anyway. My dad certainly won’t.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘They both work a lot,’ he answered. ‘I barely get to see them these days, so they probably won’t notice me gone for a while.’

‘I’m so sorry Billy, that’s really sad.’ Emma said, with a pitying look.

‘Oh, don’t be sorry. I’m used to it by now,’ he replied.

‘What do your parents do then?’ Emma quizzed.

‘My dad works on an oil rig, so he goes away for months at a time. He’s only just gone on a six-month stay actually,’ he explained. ‘Mum’s a secondary school teacher. She gets home roughly when I do, but once she’s done her marking, cooked tea and cleaned the house, she’s normally really tired and goes to bed. What about yours, what do they do?’

‘My dad’s a lorry driver. He’s barely home either because he spends a lot of days away in other countries. My mum’s just a housewife, so I get to see way much more of mum than I do dad.’

‘Well, I suppose we should just be grateful that we actually have parents, even if we don’t see them much,’ said Billy. ‘Alfie and Rosie haven’t seen theirs at all, and it must really hard for them knowing that they’ll never even get the chance to meet their dad.’

‘Yes.’ Emma urgently agreed. ‘I can’t imagine never being able to see mine, let alone lose one of them. That would break my heart.’

All the talk of family had begun to take its toll. Emma and Billy were both now feeling extremely homesick, and both took a good few moments to think about their families. They hadn’t been here very long, but to them it felt as though their old lives were a world away. Emma broke the silence as she once more glanced over to the Educatio.

‘I wonder what it is they’re doing in there.’

‘Whatever it is, I hope it helps us through all this.’ Billy replied.

‘Yeah, me too,’ she heartily agreed. Emma then reached down into her backpack, and after pulling out an apple stick, she offered it to Billy. ‘There you go, a deal is a deal.’

‘Well, it’s about time,’ said Billy, grinning as he took the apple stick. ‘I thought you were going to Welch out.’

Using both hands, Billy took a bite, which forced him to wince a little upon moving his left arm. Emma noticed, and still felt very bad for her wayward spell.

‘You really are alright, aren’t you?’

‘Hmm, yeah course,’ he chomped. ‘It’s just a little bit sore that’s all. It’ll be alright. Have you tried one of these?’

‘No, I haven’t. Not yet,’ she answered. ‘I will though.’

‘You’re going to love them. They’re spot on.’

Emma smiled.

You know, I didn’t think I’d EVER be learning magic, did you?’ she asked.

‘Of course not,’ he replied, finishing his mouthful and preparing to take another bite. ‘I always thought it was just made up mumbo jumbo. It just goes to show you.’

‘Yes, it does. It’s really quite exciting,’ said Emma. ‘Well, I think so anyway.’

‘Me too. We’re all going to be wizards,’ he answered, and then taking another bite.

‘And witches,’ corrected Emma.

‘Hmm, yeah, and witches,’ he chomped.

‘I think I’m going to see if the horses would like apple sticks. They must be hungry,’ said Emma, getting another couple out of her backpack.

Billy nodded as Emma got down off the cart. He continued to gaze upon the grass as he finished off his apple stick, devouring the core, which had now become his favourite part. As he wiped his hands down his thighs, Rosie appeared, as if from nowhere, and was walking toward them.

‘Em. Here comes, Rosie.’

Emma turned to look as she placed the last of the apple stick into one of the horse’s mouths; the horses also loving an apple stick. She then walked to the edge of the grass and waited for her best friend, but Rosie arrived bearing a quite sombre look.

‘What’s wrong?’ Emma asked.

‘I’m okay,’ replied Rosie, with an awkward smile, placing a hand briefly on Emma’s forearm. Rosie and Emma then got onto the back of the cart.

‘So what did you do?’ Billy asked. ‘Did you learn any more spells?’

‘Oh, it was nothing like that, Billy,’ she replied. ‘Well, it was something like that, but nothing you need to worry about. Sorry that I took so long.’

‘You weren’t that long really. And you know, secrets aren’t always a good thing, Rosie.’ Billy smiled, trying to make light of her serious expression.

‘It was nothing Billy, honestly. The professor told us some stuff and taught us a couple of things that’s all,’ she explained. ‘He said that only Alfie and I would be able to do them, so you haven’t missed anything.’

It was obvious to them that Rosie wasn’t in a talking mood, so Emma and Billy didn’t bother to question her further. They all just sat in silence, waiting for Alfie, with Rosie seemingly glaring at an area of trees deep in thought.

A little more time passed before Alfie emerged with the professor on his shoulder. He walked to the front of the cart to allow the professor to jump on, and then he walked in front of the horses, stroked them as he passed, and then got up on the other side. He grabbed the reins with both hands, gave them a gentle whip and the horses moved on. Like Rosie, Alfie didn’t utter a word.

‘Are you okay mate?’ asked Billy.

Alfie glanced over his shoulder briefly to respond. ‘Yeah, yeah. I’m alright.’

Alfie, like Rosie, was clearly not in a talking mood, so Billy just thought it better to leave him be too. He was sure that Alfie would tell him what was wrong in his own good time. If he wanted him to know, of course.

Barely a word was spoken in the further hour travelled, which made for an uncomfortable atmosphere. Soon after, and without warning, the horses slowed down and ground to a halt. Alfie glanced to his side at the professor.

‘I didn’t do anything, honest,’ he said adamantly.

‘Do not worry, for we are at this journey’s end,’ assured the professor.

There didn’t seem to be anything to suggest that they had reached anywhere of significance. They were in the middle of a dirt road, with a long line of green trees that stretched for some distance either side.

‘Why have we stopped here?’ Alfie asked. ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere.’

‘The rest of this journey shall be completed on foot,’ the professor answered.

They were all a little bemused as to why they couldn’t continue on the cart, but without question, they grabbed their things and got off; with Alfie once more waiting for the professor to leap onto his shoulder. Billy approached carrying Alfie’s bag, and the cauldron that Argyle and Gram had got them. Alfie reached for them.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll carry these,’ said Billy.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah, it’s alright.’ Billy confirmed.

‘Okay then, if you insist.’

‘We’re not going to just leave the horses here in the middle of nowhere are we professor?’ asked Rosie, looking back at them.

‘Do not worry, Rosie. They will find their own way home,’ he answered.

‘Yes, but surely −,’

Rosie stopped mid-sentence, which instantly made the others turn to look at her, and then at where she was facing. Before their very eyes, the cart and both of the horses dissipated into black cinders, which dropped to within a foot of the ground. Then, just as quickly as they had fallen, they rose up and then flew off at great speed, high into the distance and then way out of sight.

‘You see, they always find their own way home,’ said Inglebaum.

Rosie turned to the others shaking her head. ‘Okay, I’m never going to get used to this place.’

The journey continued on foot, and it wasn’t too long before the road came to an abrupt end. An enormous field of grass lay before them. Beyond the field was a huge grey stone wall, that didn’t look too dissimilar to the wall they had seen on the beach. On the far right of the wall was a stone archway.

‘Is that it then professor?’ Alfie asked, looking toward the archway.

‘Indeed,’ he replied.

‘Is that what?’ asked Billy.

‘Oh, nothing,’ said Alfie.

Billy didn’t understand what was going on, so naturally assumed that it had something to do with why the professor had kept Alfie and Rosie behind. The professor spoke so only Alfie could hear.

‘I must take my leave. Do you still have your grandmother’s gift?’

‘Yes, I do, it’s in my pocket.’ Alfie replied.

‘Now is the time for it to be used,’ the professor instructed. ‘You must rest, as a long day waits.’

‘Are you going now then?’ Alfie asked.

‘Indeed,’ he answered. ‘We shall meet at Copper Pot.’

‘Copper Pot?’

‘A small village on the other side,’ he answered. ‘The path from the valley will lead you there directly.’

‘Oh, okay,’ said Alfie, with a nod.

Professor Inglebaum then addressed them all.

‘I bid you a farewell and shall see you all on the morrow,’ he said, before climbing down from Alfie’s shoulder, running down his side and then toward the trees to their right.

‘Bye, professor,’ said Alfie, Rosie and Emma.

‘Yeah, be lucky, professor,’ said Billy.

Professor Inglebaum had only just entered the wood when he suddenly stopped, He returned to them.

‘Silliness. I very nearly forgot. Ingles. This is a good name, Billy,’ he said, before turning and swiftly entering the trees, leaving Billy looking quite stunned.

‘How could he possibly know that I call him Ingles?’ he said, looking over at Emma. Emma simply shrugged her shoulders as if to suggest that she didn’t know.

‘Ingles?’ asked Alfie.

‘Yeah, that’s my nickname for him. But how could he know?’ Billy answered. ‘We were outside of the circle when I told Emma.’

‘I guess he must have really good hearing,’ suggested Rosie.

‘He likes the name though Billy, he just said he did, so that’s good isn’t it?’ said Emma.

‘Yeah, I suppose, said Billy. ‘But you clearly have to be careful what you say around that little fella.’

‘He’s a smart cookie alright,’ said Emma.

‘Yes, he is.’ Billy agreed. ‘Actually, can anyone tell me why everyone says morrow in this place? What exactly is a morrow? It’s been bugging me for ages.’

‘It just means tomorrow, Billy. ‘Rosie answered. ‘He’ll see us tomorrow.’

‘Oh, right. So then why don’t people just say tomorrow?’

‘I don’t know, Billy,’ answered Rosie. ‘It’s just what they’re used to I suppose.’

Alfie gave Rosie and Emma a wry smile and shrugged. He then stepped onto the field and headed toward the wall, to the left of the archway.

‘Come on,’ he said.

As they strolled through the field, Billy was still trying to work out how Ingles had heard him, whilst Rosie and Emma were concerned as to where they were going, especially as they weren’t actually heading for the archway, but to some distance left of it. Alfie stopped just short of the wall and took out his grandmother’s cube.

‘Okay, so, we’re going to stay here tonight,’ he said, holding up the wooden cube with his thumb and forefinger, to let them know that they were going to be spending the night in their new den. He then pointed pointing toward the archway. ‘And we’ll be going through there in the morning.’

‘What’s through there then?’ Emma asked.

‘Let’s worry about that tomorrow Em. It’s been quite a long day, and I think we all need to rest.’ Alfie replied.

‘Yeah, let’s worry about that on the morrow.’ Billy added.

Alfie grinned as he made sure that they were all together. He then threw the cube high into the air. Both Billy and Emma moved a little closer to Alfie as it went up, as they weren’t exactly sure if they were close enough. Within moments they were all stood in their small, but very cosy, wooden home; the lines of candles lighting it up magnificently.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Home Sweet Home

From the very first moment that they had seen it, they had all been looking forward to spending some time in their new home. They immediately made their way to the sofas in front of the unlit fireplace, dropped their backpacks, and plonked themselves down.

‘I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m pooped,’ said Rosie. ‘That was quite a long day.’

‘You can say that again,’ said Billy.

Rosie obliged. ‘I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m pooped. That was quite a long day.’

Billy laughed ‘I didn’t actually mean for you to repeat the whole thing.’

‘Well then don’t say it if you don’t mean it.’ Rosie responded, with a smile.

‘Why are you pooped Billy? You’ve spent most of the afternoon sleeping, and dreaming about fish cakes.’ Emma teased.

‘Oi! I’ll have you know I wasn’t sleeping,’ replied Billy. ‘I was just, well - having forty winks. That’s all.’

‘Forty winks? More like four hundred winks.’ Alfie quipped. ‘And your afternoon nap made you miss the spooky shadowy thing in the red wood.

‘We went through the red wood?’ said Billy. ‘What did I tell you about that place? And how did we manage to get out of it?’

‘Settle down. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.’ Alfie replied. ‘We didn’t actually go through it, just beside it. But there was a strange shadowy thing in there that followed us the whole time. It didn’t seem too happy.’

Billy looked quite relieved, as was shown by the little puff of the cheeks that he gave. ‘Blimey, you had me worried there for a minute. I wish I‘d gotten to see the shadowy thingy though. What was it like? Oh, and Alfie, I don’t wear knickers thank you very much.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma didn’t answer straight away, due to letting out an uncontrolled chuckle at Billy’s comment. Emma was the first to compose herself.

‘I’m not sure you would have liked to have seen it Billy. It was pretty eerie.’

‘I don’t mind a bit of eerie Em.’ Billy grinned. ‘What was it like then, this shadowy thing? I don’t remember that being in the book.’

‘Well, it was tall, skinny and followed us the whole way,’ she answered. ‘Oh, did I mention that it was eerie?’

‘Yes Em, you did.’ Billy confirmed.

‘All I know is that I was pretty glad when we turned into the green,’ said Alfie.

‘Yeah, and me,’ said Emma.

Rosie didn’t seem to be too interested in the talk of the guardian of the red. Instead, she sat staring up at the ceiling of their new home. It had a roof of course, but that looked as though it had been completely removed, what with the stars twinkling above them. Rosie really was captivated by the sight. Alfie noticed.

‘You like those stars, don’t you Rosie?’

Rosie nodded, before taking her eyes away and looking over to her brother.

‘I love them, Alfie,’ she replied. ‘I really can’t believe Nan remembered.’

‘Remembered?’ asked Alfie.

‘Oh. I once told her that I always wanted a bedroom with stars on the ceiling, and now I have them. Well, nearly, as this isn’t a bedroom, obviously,’ she smiled, and then looking back up to the stars.

‘Speaking of bedrooms.’ Billy jumped in. ‘I hope one of those doors leads to a bedroom, or we’ll have nowhere to kip. There are only two settee’s and there are four of us.’

‘Only one way to find out,’ said Alfie, getting up and heading to the door on the left of the fire. Billy was quite intrigued, so followed.

Alfie opened the door and peered in cautiously, with Billy on tiptoe peering over his shoulder to get a better look. They both entered the candle lantern lit room to see that it was indeed a bedroom. Immediately in front of them was a large chest, with three drawers, and to their right were two freshly made single beds which sat side by side. Each bed had a thick looking racing green coloured quilt and two plump pillows upon it. This room also had a night sky ceiling, which looked every bit as lovely as the living room.

‘Well, we have beds, Billy,’ said Alfie. ‘But there’s only two singles, so we’re going to have to share.’

‘Oh, top to toe? I don’t mind that. Just so long as your feet don’t smell that is.’ Billy grinned. ‘Your feet don’t smell do they Alfie?’

‘Of course my feet don’t smell.’ Alfie defended sternly. ‘Actually, I say that, but they probably do smell a bit right now.’

‘I’m not sharing with you until you’ve washed those plates then.’ Billy smirked.

‘Plates?’ Alfie quizzed.

‘Yeah, plates of meat, feet.’ Billy enlightened. ‘Didn’t you know that?’

Alfie grinned and lightly snorted twice through his nose as he shook his head. ‘No, I can’t say I did.’

‘Well, now you do,’ said Billy. ‘Come on then, what’s in those drawers?’

Alfie went to the chest and opened the top drawer. Inside was a large racing green blanket. He then opened the second drawer, and again there was another green blanket. The third drawer had two fluffy white pillows inside.

‘Just blankets and pillows,’ he said.

‘Blankets and pillows? Oh, that’s alright then. I can kip on one of the settees,’ said Billy.

Alfie laughed. ‘My feet don’t smell, Billy.’

‘What?’ Billy replied. ‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean that. It’s just that I have to sleep on our settee at home sometimes, because my dad snores so loud I can hear it through the walls and it keeps me awake, so I’m used to sleeping on them.’

‘Actually, I think I might join you,’ said Alfie. ‘That way we can let the girls have the beds, and some privacy.’

‘That’s that sorted then,’ said Billy.

‘This one’s a bathroom!’ shouted Emma, who had decided to investigate the other door with Rosie.

Alfie and Billy immediately headed over to the other room to have a look. The yellow walled bathroom wasn’t very big, but like everywhere else in the cabin, it also had a night ceiling. Directly opposite the door sat a white toilet, which didn’t appear to have a flusher. To their left, and at the very centre of the room, stood an old Victorian style white claw bath with no taps, which had a small wooden stool beside it. On the far wall was a white sink, which sat in a dark wooden block, and which oddly didn’t seem to have any taps either, just a white dish on the top right corner of it, with what appeared to be a pile of tic-tacs inside. Directly above the sink hung a large mirrored cabinet; which was closed. Beside it was a small towel rack that had two towels neatly hanging from it. The left wall was bare, as was the right, but for a full-length mirror which had two wicker baskets sat on the floor beside it. All in all, it was a relatively basic bathroom, but it did have everything they would need, other than what would seem to be the most important thing for a bathroom - water.

‘So how are we supposed to fill the bath and sink without any taps then?’ Billy asked. ‘And how are we supposed to flush the toilet with no handle?’

‘Maybe there’s a water bucket or something.’ Emma guessed. ‘And maybe we have to boil the water in the pots over the fire if we want to have a bath?’

Rosie nodded, thinking that Emma had probably guessed right. As the others scoured the room to see if there was somewhere where they could actually get some water, Rosie walked over to the large mirrored cabinet and opened it. Inside were three large coloured jars and one small one. The jar on the left contained hundreds of mauve torpedo shaped capsules, and a label that read Bath. The jar in the middle was full with small round blue pills, and a similar label that read Sink. The small jar on the right had hundreds of tiny green pills and a label that read Toilet. On the inside of the cabinet door was a small notice which read:

Two in the bath, though just one in the sink. One in the toilet, no more stink.

With curiosity getting the better of her, Rosie opened the jar that said bath, took out two of the mauve pills and placed one of them in the bath. Nothing happened, so she placed the second capsule beside it. No sooner had she taken her hand away, the two capsules cracked, and within moments the bath filled to the brim with water; with bubbles, and a wonderful smell of lavender.

‘Oh, that looks so nice,’ said Emma. ‘And it smells scrummy.’

Alfie carefully placed his fingers in the bath to feel the temperature of the water. His reaction was that of excitement. ‘It’s hot, we have a hot bath.’

Rosie turned and opened the jar that was labelled Toilet. She then took one of the blue pills and gave it to Emma. ‘Here you go Em. Try the toilet.’

Emma took the pill and walked over to the toilet. Not knowing what to do, so she just dropped it into the bowl. The toilet immediately filled with water, and then proceeded to give a big flush.

‘Okay, so this has to be the coolest bathroom EVER!’ she said, severely impressed.

‘I’ll say,’ said Rosie.

‘Well, since the bath is full, and I could do with a scrub, I would kindly ask you all to leave,’ said Billy, cheekily.

‘I was just going to say the something similar,’ said Alfie. ‘Bags I have the bath after Billy, and then you girls can have one.’

‘We don’t need one. We’ve had Wishy Washy,’ replied Rosie. ‘Shame though, because it does look really, really nice.’

‘Come on then, everybody out,’ ushered Billy.

‘That’s us told,’ said Alfie, walking out and heading back to the sofa’s with Rosie and Emma.

‘Those instant pills are so cool aren’t they?’ said Emma.

‘Aren’t they just?’ Rosie agreed. ‘I’m so looking forward to having one of those baths too. Wishy Washy is great and all that, but you can’t beat a hot bath.’

‘No, you can’t.’ said Emma.

‘Come on then Alfie, are you going to tell us what you boys bought at Asset Square?’ said Rosie.

‘Oh, right. Yeah.’

Alfie then listed off the things he and Billy had bought. The girls loved the sound of the Deepers, and they couldn’t believe just how many potions the boys had picked up when Alfie placed them all on the table.

‘That reminds me, I’m going to need these,’ he said, picking up two bottles from the table.

‘What are those then?’ Rosie asked.

‘Oh, nothing,’ he answered, putting them into the inside pocket of his jacket.

They continued to chat about all the things they had seen in Asset Square for a while, with Alfie telling them all about the man flying on the broomstick. Then, Billy came out of the bathroom, all clean, fully dressed and drying his hair with a towel.

‘Blimey, I could have gone to sleep in there it was so relaxing. I didn’t want to get out.’

‘It’s as good as it looks then?’ Rosie asked.

‘Better,’ said Billy.

‘Let’s find out shall we? My turn,’ said Alfie, getting to his feet and then passing Billy, eager to get himself clean.

‘Oh, and make sure you try one of those Toofs, they clean your teeth,’ said Billy, before sitting down on the sofa opposite Rosie and Emma.

‘Toofs?’ Alfie raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

‘Yeah. The little tic-tac things in the bowl on the sink.’ Billy answered.

‘How do you know they’re called Toofs? There was nothing on the note in the cabinet about Toofs.’

‘Because it says it on the side of the dish.’ Billy answered.

‘Oh, okay.’ Alfie shrugged. ‘Well, whatever they’re called, if they clean your teeth, then I definitely need to have one of those.’

Alfie headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Not quite believing Billy, he went straight over to the sink to take a look at the bowl. Sure enough on the side of the bowl, that said Toofs, with ‘Morn or night, teeth all bright’ written directly below it. He picked up one of the tic-tac like sweets and put it into his mouth. Straight away, as he made his way to the bath, he could feel as though his teeth were fully cleaned, but still allowed the toof to dissolve. Alfie half expected to need to empty Billy’s dirty water, but it was completely empty, bone dry, and surprisingly spotlessly clean. Surprised, he went over to the wall cabinet, took two mauve capsules from the bath jar and then placed them in. The capsules broke and filled the bath once again, complete with bubbles, and its strong smell of lavender.

Alfie took out his father’s journal and placed it on the small stool beside the bath. He then took off all his clothes and without a stitch on he placed his toe carefully into the water. It was as hot as it had been before, but not so hot that it would burn, so he got in and eased down into it. He reached over to his father’s journal and just lay there reading and relaxing, as warm as toast. Alfie had been reading for a little while, and having become so completely engrossed in the journal, he only just about took notice of a knock at the door.

‘Are you alright in there?’ called Rosie, her voice muffled.

Alfie shouted back. ‘Er, yeah. Why?’

‘Because you’ve been in there for almost two hours,’ she replied. ‘We were getting a little worried.’

‘Alright, I’ll be out in a minute,’ he called.

Alfie couldn’t believe that he had been in the bath for a whole two hours. It had only seemed around ten minutes or so. And what with the water still being every bit as hot as it was when he had got in, he was more than a little confused.

Placing his father’s journal back on the stool, he submerged into the water and rinsed his hair; without shampoo, as there wasn’t any. There wasn’t any soap either, so he just used the bubbles to wash himself down. Once finished, he got out, dried himself and got dressed. Grabbing hold of his father’s journal, he went to join the others.

‘Blimey, it’s about time,’ said Billy.

‘We thought you’d drowned or something,’ said Emma.

Alfie took a seat beside Billy, still wondering how he could have spent two hours in the bath without realising. He didn’t even notice Rosie by the fire checking over a boiling pot, or the smell that seeped from it.

‘Are you sure I was in there that long?’ he asked. ‘It only seemed like I was in there for about ten minutes. The water didn’t even get cold.’

‘Easily two hours I’d say.’ Billy replied. ‘Although it obviously wasn’t long enough, because you still smell.’

‘I think it’s these clothes,’ said Alfie. ‘I think they need washing too.’

‘Why didn’t you put them in the basket?’ Billy asked.

‘In what basket?’ Alfie frowned. ‘There’s a basket?’

‘The wicker baskets by the wall. Didn’t you see the little labels on them?’

‘I saw the baskets, but I didn’t see any labels.’

‘Yeah, there’s a small label on each.’ said Billy, before explaining. ‘You put your dirty clothes in the one labelled dirty, and they come out clean in the basket labelled clean. Simple.’

‘And how am I supposed to have known that Billy?’ Alfie questioned. ‘Come to think of it, how did you know that?’

‘Oh, I read about them in your book They really work too.’ Billy replied, raising his armpit up to Alfie’s face. ‘Go on, smell.’

Alfie obviously didn’t want to smell Billy’s armpit, so instead grabbed his arm to smell his sleeve. He was pleasantly surprised.

‘Blimey, that does smell fresh. A bit like lemon.’

Billy looked smug. ‘See, I told you. In the dirty, out the clean.’

‘Okay, I need to go do that basket thing right now, or I’ll need to have another bath,’ said Alfie, getting up.

He headed back into the bathroom to clean his clothes, and when he returned everyone were sat eating. A ceramic bowl and a silver spoon lay on the table in place for him. Hot steam oozed from the bowl, and the faint smell of cinnamon filled the air.

‘Where did this come from?’ he asked as he sat down.

‘Rosie made it,’ replied Emma, scooping a spoonful, blowing on it and then carefully eating it.

‘Did you really?’ he asked, looking over at his sister.

‘Yes, but it’s nothing special,’ she answered. ‘I just followed a recipe from one of the books. I put some ingredients in and just stirred it really. I’m surprised you didn’t smell it though, it’s been cooking for about forty minutes.’

‘I didn’t notice, no, but it does smell nice,’ he replied, looking over at the burning blue fire. ‘I didn’t even notice you’d got the fire started, how did you manage that?’

‘Fire capsules,’ said Rosie. ‘They’re in a small hole in the wall beside the fireplace. Just throw one in and it lights up.’

‘Amazing,’ he said, with a look of bemusement and shaking his head at the wonders of magic. He moved forward to the edge of his seat, pulled the steaming bowl of food toward him and began to eat.

After they had finished their meal, they spent the next hour or so talking about this new world they had found. Alfie and Billy told the girls what Argyle had told them about the Four, and the choices they would need to make if they ever faced them. The boy’s story sent chills through both Rosie and Emma as they were being told.

Once the chat had eased, Alfie suggested that he wanted to read some more of his father’s journal, and because it was too early to go to bed, they all agreed on a little reading. Billy picked up a book called Magic: The Origins, Rosie opted to read Good Grub; a recipe book, whilst Emma decided on Spells and Trickety’s: Book 1 for a while, before switching to Herbs: They’re not just plants.

‘This will make you laugh,’ said Billy a little way into his book. Everyone looked up at him. ‘According to this, only men used to do magic here. Then, one day, a woman demanded that women should also be allowed to practice it. She and a bunch of other women pestered the wizards for years, so much so, that the wizards nicknamed all the troublemakers The Wizard’s Itch. And that’s where the name Witch comes from, its short for wizard’s itch. Quite funny that, don’t you think?’

‘Really?’ gasped Rosie.

‘That’s what it says here.’ Billy answered.

‘Wizard’s itch.’ Alfie smiled. ‘I quite like that.’

‘Oh, and apparently there’s a tavern called The Wizard’s Itch too,’ he said. ‘I wonder what that’s like.’

Having read all the pages that would turn, Alfie decided to put the journal away. He was a little tired from reading anyway, so opted instead to get his rough book out from his backpack, along with a pencil. He sat for a while just doodling, until randomly glancing over at Emma. Captivated by the way her face glowed as she read, he decided he would draw her. He had begun, but for some reason he wasn’t comfortable with the way he was sitting, so he shuffled in his seat to get more comfortable. As he’d moved, the edge of something had slipped out the bottom of his rough book and was now sticking out of it. He flipped the book open using the protruding corner that stuck out to reveal, a sheet of clear plastic a little bit smaller than A4 in size. Through the clear plastic, on the left page of the now opened rough book, he could see something written. It was in his grandmother’s handwriting, and it read: ‘Alfie. The world which you know lies within this page’.

He took hold of the plastic and held it up. He took a quick scan of the dimly lit cabin, though saw nothing untoward, just everyone reading. The sheet of plastic seemed to be exactly what it looked like, just a clear piece of plastic. He didn’t know what his grandmother had meant by his whole world was in it, and since it appeared to be just what it looked like the sheet of plastic it was, he just decided to take another look tomorrow. He placed the sheet back inside his rough book, at the very front, and continued his drawing of Emma.

A couple of hours had passed before Alfie glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost ten o’clock. He closed his rough book and suggested that maybe they should all go to bed and get some rest because they all had a really big day ahead of them. Reading had made them all quite tired, so they all readily agreed. Everyone was more than happy to go to bed to get a good night’s sleep, especially Emma, who had nodded off a couple of times as Alfie was drawing her.

‘Come on then Billy, let’s go get our bedding,’ said Alfie.

Together Alfie and Billy went to the bedroom and grabbed their bedding from the drawers.

‘Bedroom’s all yours girls,’ said Billy.

The boys hadn’t told the girls that they intended to sleep on the sofas, so it was a very nice surprise for them. They looked at each other and smiled. Both then got up, said goodnight to the boys, then eagerly headed off to the bedroom, ecstatic that they were getting to sleep in what they hoped were comfortable beds. Alfie and Billy made up their beds on the sofa’s, got in and jiggled around a little to make themselves comfortable. With the fire and the candles still burning, the boys lay looking at the stars above them.

‘Are you alright Alfie?’ Billy asked.

Alfie turned his head to face Billy. ‘Yeah. Why do you ask?’

‘Well, you looked worried when you came back from magic training earlier.’

‘Oh, that was nothing, I’m fine.’ Alfie replied, a little despondently.

‘Alright then,’ said Billy.

The two boys lie silent for a few moments until Billy turned all the way onto his side to face his best friend.

‘You can talk to me you know,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but you know can, right?’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know.’ Alfie replied, not taking his eyes away from the ceiling and staring directly at the three stars that formed Orion’s belt

‘Right then,’ said Billy, turning back.

Alfie clearly didn’t want to say what had upset him, and Billy didn’t want to push. If Alfie wanted him to know, then he would tell him in his own good time. He had done all he could by letting Alfie know he was there if he was needed. Though Billy didn’t have to wait long at all, as barely a minute or so later, Alfie broke the silence in a soft voice.

‘She doesn’t know who we are.’

‘Who doesn’t?’ Billy asked.

‘Our mum. She doesn’t know who Rosie and I are.’

‘Not now she doesn’t no,’ said Billy. ‘But she will when you see her, or when you get a chance to tell her, won’t she?’

‘That’s just it though Billy, she won’t.’ Alfie answered. ‘Grave has bound her, and so now she doesn’t remember her life before him. None of it.’

‘Bound? What does that mean?’ Billy asked, sitting up.

‘He’s put a binding spell on her. It’s like - well - it forces her to do as he asks. You know, like a slave.’ Alfie replied. ‘It can’t be broken while he’s alive either, so the professor says. She’s bound to serve him for her entire life. For his entire life.’

‘But that’s why we have to kill him though, isn’t it?’

‘Well, yeah.’ Alfie answered. ‘But because the spell has made her forget us, she’ll be fighting alongside him when we face him. She’ll actually want to kill me Billy. She’ll want to kill all of us.’

‘Oh,’ said Billy, screwing his face up. ‘That’s not good then.’

‘No, it isn’t.’ Alfie sighed. ‘One of us will probably have to fight her, and then...’

‘It’s you or her,’ said Billy, finishing off his sentence.

‘Yep.’

‘Well, you know what you’ve got there then, don’t you?’ said Billy.

‘What’s that?’

‘A dilemma. That’s what you’ve got there.’

Alfie stared at Billy blankly. ‘Really? You don’t say.’

‘Alright then. So, why don’t you just kill your mum?’

Alfie couldn’t believe the words that had just come from Billy’s mouth. He immediately thought that he must have heard him wrong. Surely he didn’t just say what he thought he’d said.

‘Sorry? What?’

‘Just kill her.’ Billy confirmed. ‘It won’t matter will it?’

‘Oh Really? Do tell,’ said Alfie, extremely interested to hear why Billy had the absurd idea that it would be okay to kill his mother. He actually felt a little anger creeping in toward his supposed best friend, which was something he’d never felt before.

‘Rosie’s bottle,’ said Billy. ‘If you kill your mum, you can just use Rosie’s bottle can’t you? That’ll bring her back.’

Alfie felt an immediate sense of guilt. He should have known that Billy wouldn’t say, or do, anything to hurt him. Why would he even think that he would? In future, it was probably best if he had heard what Billy had to say before reacting and judging him wrongly.

‘I’d forgotten all about that,’ he said, with some excitement. ‘Billy, you are brilliant!’

‘You’re not wrong Alfie Tanner. You sir, are not wrong.’ Billy agreed, complete with a snigger.

Alfie chuckled at Billy’s response. He could always rely on Billy to cheer him up, and his mood had certainly picked up after he reminded him of Rosie’s bottle.

‘So, this Grave fella. Did Ingles tell you who he was then?’ Billy asked. ‘Why he’s so powerful, and all that?’

‘He told me a bit, not much though. Grave apparently turned nasty when he found some unknown magic. The magic was so powerful, that he became completely obsessed with it, and once he’d learnt all he needed to, and was strong enough, he killed his entire family and discarded his family name.’ Alfie explained. ‘Oh, and did I mention that he was my uncle?’

Billy immediately sat upright. The surprised look on his face a picture. ‘He’s your uncle?’

‘Yep.’ Alfie nodded.

‘Rubbish! How can he be your uncle?’ Billy couldn’t quite grasp what Alfie was telling him.

‘Well, he is, Billy.’ Alfie confirmed. ‘He’s my father’s brother, so that makes him a Tanner, and my uncle.’

‘Blimey Alfie, that’s bananas!’ said Billy, shaking his head. In thought, he eased to lie back down. ‘I can’t believe you have to kill your own uncle.’

‘Me neither,’ said Alfie. ‘That’s if we can manage to get past the Four first.’

Billy sat upright once more. ‘Oh, don’t tell me we have to sort that lot out as well?’

‘Yep.’

‘You have got to be joking. Why do we have to kill them as well?’

‘Because if we don’t, they’ll just bring him back.’

‘Don’t tell me they’ve got a bottle like Rosie’s too,’ said Billy.

‘No. I don’t think so at least,’ said Alfie. ‘The professor said that he gave them the power to be able to resurrect him should he ever be beaten. ’

‘Okay, so let me get this straight. Not only do we have to kill your uncle, but we have to kill the Four BEFORE we actually kill him, or they’ll just bring him back to life?’

‘Yeah, that’s pretty much it.’ Alfie answered.

‘Blimey, that’s way too much,’ said Billy, lying back down and staring at the stars.

‘Yeah, you could say that,’ said Alfie.

Billy now fully understood why Alfie had looked so withdrawn when he came back to the cart after training. He felt awful for his best friend at having to kill members of his family, and couldn’t even imagine having to do the same. But, with Billy being Billy, he would break the obvious tension.

‘Alfie, you couldn’t do me a small favour could you?’

‘Sure, what?’ Alfie asked.

‘You couldn’t give Eve a buzz and tell her I want to go home now could you?’

Alfie sat up. ‘You really want to go home?’

‘Nah, I’m just joking,’ said Billy. ‘I couldn’t leave you here on your own. You’d never cope.’

‘Oh, thanks very much,; said Alfie. ‘But you’re probably right.’

Billy smiled as Alfie thought for a moment. ‘You do know you can go home if you really want to though, don’t you?’

‘Thanks, but nah. I think I’ll stay for a bit longer,’ said Billy. ‘Besides, where would I get my apple sticks?’

Alfie chuckled. ‘Yeah, there is that.’

Billy lay pondering. ‘I can’t believe you have an uncle called Grave. What kind of a name is Grave?’

‘That’s not his real name,’ said Alfie.

‘It’s not?’

‘No. Apparently, after he killed his family and discarded his own name, no-one knew what to call him, so they just made up the name Grave. They just took the first letter of each of the five brother’s names, put them in order of their age, and came up with Grave.’ Alfie explained. ‘He doesn’t know anyone calls him that though. And they say, that if he actually heard anyone call him that, that he’d kill them.’

‘Sounds like a really nice bloke your uncle,’ said Billy.

‘Doesn’t he just?’ replied Alfie, joining his friend by lying back and staring back up at the stars.

‘Okay, so, how big is this really big day tomorrow?’ Billy asked.

‘REALLY big.’ Alfie replied, turning sideways again to look at his friend.

‘Are you going to tell me what’s big about it then?’

‘You really want to know?’

‘Yeah, go on then.’

‘I didn’t want to tell the girls because they wouldn’t have slept tonight if I had,’ said Alfie.

‘Well, go on then. Where are we going? What are we doing?’ asked a now very curious Billy.

‘When you read the journal, do you remember reading about a place called Gigans Valley?’

Billy thought for a moment, trying to recollect. ‘Gigans Valley, Gigans Valley − I think so. It rings a bell.’

‘That’s where we have to go in the morning.’

‘What do we have to go there for?’ Billy asked.

‘There’s just something I need to do. Something quite important.’

‘Like what?’

‘I just need to get something. Something that will help us later.’

‘Oh, okay,’ said Billy, thinking that they were just going to some kind of village or somewhere to pick something up.

He lay trying to remember if he’d read about Gigans Valley. The name sounded very familiar to him, so he was sure that he had. And then it came to him. Quickly he turned on his side to face Alfie.

‘GIANTS!? Oh please tell me you’re joking? We’re not seriously going through Giants Valley tomorrow are we,’ he pleaded, desperately hoping that Alfie was joking.

‘I did say it was a BIG day, Billy.’

‘Yeah, I know, but I didn’t know you meant THAT big,’ he said, with a fearful look about him. ‘I was really hoping we were going to avoid the giants.’

‘I can’t say I’m too keen on it either, Billy,’ said Alfie. ‘But we have to go through it, I’m afraid.’

‘Oh great,’ said Billy, puffing heavily and then turning to lie on his back. ‘You know I’m not going to be able to sleep now don’t you? I really wish you hadn’t told me that now.’

‘And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell the girls,’ said Alfie.

‘Just as well you didn’t.’

Alfie and Billy lay silently thinking for a while, about what they may face at Gigans Valley. Alfie then heard snoring. He turned to look and saw Billy with his mouth wide open. He was sound asleep.

‘Oh you’ll never be able to sleep now will you Billy?’ he sniggered to himself.

With the smile still on his face, Alfie thought he should also probably try to get some sleep. He turned to face the back of the sofa, adjusted himself to get comfortable, and then closed his eyes. The room was now extremely quiet, with the exception of the occasional crackle from the fireplace, and, of course, the dulcet tones of Billy’s snore.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Gigans Valley

Billy was woken by an extremely bright light. Thinking that it must be morning, and with the racing green blanket tucked firmly under his chin, he wearily opened his eyes. The light that greeted him was so shockingly bright, that he shut them again immediately and quickly pulled the covers over his head.

‘What’s going on?’ he asked, a little panicked at the extraordinarily bright light.

He heard Alfie’s voice from the far end of the room. ‘There. Is that better?’

Billy slowly eased the blanket down. Cautiously squinting, he peered over it. The bright light had gone and the room was back to the same dim light it had been when he’d gone to bed. Bleary eyed, he leant on his elbow and looked around. He saw that everyone was up and fully dressed. Emma was sitting on the end of the sofa opposite near the fire reading, and Rosie was by the fire scooping something out of the pot into a bowl. Alfie was at the far side of the room near the door.

Billy called over to Alfie. ‘What was that light all about then?’

‘It’s the lights, Billy.’ Alfie replied.

Billy yawned. ‘What lights? There ain’t no lights, just candles.’

‘Really? So what do you call this then?’ said Alfie, as he twisted a small round object on the wall. Upon turning it, every candle in the room went out, and the starry night sky ceiling changed into an extremely bright, clear blue sky.

‘Alright! Alright!’ Billy cried, grabbing for the blanket and covering his eyes again.

Alfie chuckled as he turned the round thing on the wall back again. The stars and night sky returned, and the candles re-lit from one end of the room to the other.

‘Please don’t do that again.’ Billy pleaded. ‘That is way too bright.’

‘I don’t like it either,’ said Emma.

Alfie headed back over to the sofas. ‘You really don’t like it? I think it’s excellent.’

‘I don’t particularly like it either, Alfie,’ said Rosie. ‘And since none of us seems to, shall we just keep the stars until we need it to be brighter?’

‘If that’s what everyone wants,’ said a resigned Alfie.

‘It is,’ said Emma, looking up from her book and nodding.

Conceding defeat, Alfie plonked himself down on the other end of the sofa Emma was sitting on. Billy pulled his cover away, eased out of bed and stood up. He let out an enormous yawn as he stretched his arms wide.

‘How did you make it do that then?’

‘Would you believe that it’s a dimmer switch?’ Alfie replied. ‘It turns night into day, and vice versa.’

‘I think I’d believe anything in this place.’ Billy answered, raising his eyebrows before sitting back down. ‘I gotta say though, a dimmer switch that turns the ceiling from night into day is pretty cool. It’s way too bright for me. But it’s still cool.’

Rosie then placed a bowl of hot food and a silver spoon on the table in front of Billy. ‘There you go. Eat that and then we can get going.’

She then grabbed Billy’s bedding and took it into the bedroom to put them away. As Billy reached for the bowl, he looked up at Alfie and Emma.

‘Is no-one else having any?’

‘We’ve had ours,’ replied Emma.

‘You have?’ he asked. ‘How long have you lot been up then?’

‘A couple of hours,’ said Alfie.

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’

‘We tried, Billy,’ said Emma. ‘With the daylight thingy.’

‘Well, it did wake me, didn’t it?’ Billy asked, picking up the bowl and scooping some food out with the spoon.

‘That was about the tenth time I tried though, Billy.’ Alfie laughed. ‘I was going to just nudge you, but I wanted to show you the dimmer.’

‘Or, you could have just woke me normally, and shown me that light thingy when I was awake,’ said Billy, blowing on his food.

‘I said that.’ Rosie chipped in, re-emerging from the bedroom, having finished putting Billy’s bedding away.

Alfie smiled. ‘Where’s the fun in that though?’

‘Actually, yeah, you’re right,’ said Billy nodding. ‘I probably would have done the same.’

The food on Billy’s spoon was now cool enough to eat, so he gave it a taste. The look on his face expressed definite approval as he removed the spoon from his mouth. Billy very much liked what he was eating, but because it didn’t taste like anything he’d had before, he sat trying to work out what it could be.

‘This is really nice this. What is it, porridge?’

‘Not quite Billy. It’s called ‘Plodge’,’ she replied. ‘But it is a bit like porridge I suppose, as it does have oats in it.’

‘Yeah, it’s porridge, but much crunchier,’ he said. ‘Hmm, I don’t mind a bit of crunchy porridge.’

‘It’s has chopped nuts in it too, and apple stick, and even some spices. I didn’t have any riddle root, so I had to make do without that.’

‘Riddle root?’ he asked.

‘Oh, don’t ask me.’ Rosie answered. ‘I just took the recipe from the book. It said to put riddle root in, but we don’t have any. I didn’t even see that in Asset Square.’

‘I don’t think it needs it. It’s nice the way it is,’ he said, taking another mouthful.

Rosie was pleased Billy liked his Plodge, especially as Alfie didn’t seem particularly keen. Emma and Rosie both liked theirs, so three out of four wasn’t bad, she thought. Until last night, Rosie hadn’t ever really cooked before, apart from occasionally helping her Nan out, so it was a nice feeling to know that, whilst her cooking didn’t please everyone, at least most liked it.

‘Has everyone got everything then?’ Alfie asked.

‘I have. I think,’ replied Emma.

‘Where are your backpacks?’ asked Billy.

Alfie opened the right side of his jacket to display his Deeper. He had used the larger black one.

‘We don’t need bags now Billy. We have Deeper’s. Remember?’ he replied, then pointing to Billy’s, jacket which was lying over the sofa behind him ‘I put yours in for you.’

‘I’d forgotten all about those, you know?’ said Billy, remembering and then turning to glance at his jacket. ‘Cheers big ears.’

The others stood and watched as Billy continued to eat. He would occasionally look up, knowing that they were waiting for him to finish so that they could all get going. He didn’t feel particularly comfortable about them staring, so he tipped the bowl up and promptly shovelled the Plodge into his mouth in order to finish what was left quickly.

‘Blimey Keeper, you’re hungry,’ said Alfie.

Billy was shovelling the food in so quickly that it looked like he hadn’t eaten for a week. The moment he finished, he put the spoon and the bowl and the bowl onto the table. He let out a small burp, immediately stood up, and grabbed his jacket.

‘Right then, are we ready?’ he asked, as if to suggest he was now waiting for them.

‘Er, yeah, sure,’ said Alfie, looking over to Rosie and giving her a knowing smile.

Rosie picked up Billy’s dirty crockery and turned to place them onto the top shelf of three to the right of the fireplace. The moment she took her hands away, the bowl and spoon fell through to the second shelf, and within a second they’d fallen through to the bottom shelf, separating as they fell. The now clean bowl lay on top of the three other clean ones, and the now clean spoon sat sparkling with the other three.

‘What happened there?’ Billy asked.

‘Oh, that’s the dishwasher.’ Rosie responded. ‘Just put the dirty dishes onto the top shelf and they clean themselves. And sort themselves out.’

‘Blimey, that’s a bit neat, isn’t it?’

‘It definitely beats washing them by hand,’ she answered.

‘Snazzy. Okay then, come on.’ Billy urged, walking over to the front door.

Joining him, they all stood inside the faded circle. Alfie placed his right hand on the doorknob and turned it. Within a flash they were standing outside, with only a short walk to the entrance of Gigans Valley. Alfie put the cube safely away in his jean pocket.

‘Right then, let’s go,’ he said, leading them to the small arched entrance.

‘Where are we actually going then?’ asked Rosie.

‘A place called Gigans Valley,’ he replied.

‘What’s Gigans Valley?’ asked Emma.

Alfie didn’t answer as they neared the entrance. He didn’t want to tell them what it was they were about to face, but thought he better had. It was only fair that they would at least have some preparation.

‘Okay, please don’t freak out,’ he said, his hands held up defensively.

His words, the way he said them, and the consciousness of his demeanour immediately freaked Emma out.

Rosie looked more than concerned. ‘Alright, come on, what’s in there?’

‘Just - well - err,’

Rosie was firm. ‘Come on Alfie, spit it out.’

Alfie looked toward the entrance of the valley and whispered his answer, in order to avoid eye contact. ‘Giants.’

Rosie hadn’t quite heard what he had said. ‘Sorry, did you just say ants?’

Alfie looked at his sister and answered in a normal tone. ‘No, Rosie, I said giants. Gigans Valley is giant valley.’

Rosie’s face looked a picture as she glanced over to the entrance of the valley, whilst Emma’s reaction was just to stare at Alfie with opened mouth, frozen.

‘We’re going in there and there are giants in there?’ Rosie asked. She smiled awkwardly. ‘You are joking, right?’

Alfie winced whilst shaking his head. ‘I’m afraid not.’

‘Well, then just how big are these giants?’

‘They’re MASSIVE!’ said Billy. ‘As big as a house I reckon.’

‘Billy.’ Alfie snapped. ‘You’re not helping.’

Billy had the look of a very naughty boy who had just been told off,  but he still managed a little smile.

‘I don’t suppose they’d be called giants if they were small, would they?’ Alfie answered. ‘I’m sure we’ll be alright though.’

By the look on the girl’s faces, Alfie’s words weren’t of much comfort to them. Neither of them liked the sound of having to face giants, and who could blame them?

‘Come on, we’ll be alright,’ said Billy.

‘Sorry Billy, but I’m not going in there if there are giants in there,’ said Rosie.

‘How about we just go round it Alfie?’ asked Emma, her voice trembling.

‘I wish we could Em, but we can’t.’ he replied. ‘The professor said that we have to go through it. He also said that it was unlikely to bump into them if we kept our wits about us and if we were patient.’

Oddly, knowing the professor Inglebaum had said that they had to go through Gigans Valley seemed to calm the girls down a little. They placed a lot of trust in that little squirrel,. As reluctant as they were, if he said they had to go through, then go through they would. Their decision was, of course, helped by there being only a remote chance of bumping into a giant.

‘I suppose we have to then, don’t we?’ said Rosie. ‘Em. Make sure you stay close to me.’

‘I fully intend to, don’t you worry.’ Emma replied, unable to believe she was agreeing to walk through a valley of giants.

‘Come on then, let’s do this,’ said Rosie, walking toward the archway.

Alfie was more that astonished by his sister’s immediate change of heart, as he was Emma’s. Rosie had always been a determined girl, but she seemed more determined now than he had ever seen. He liked it.

Upon reaching the arched entrance, they cautiously made their way through. They were greeted by a wide strip of grass, with towering walls either side. A few steps inside, they came to the top of seven large stone steps which led down to the valley. They all stopped to look down, and Emma became quite hopeful at the sight. She was right to be hopeful because the valley wasn’t very big at all. In fact, for a valley it was positively tiny. It could only have been about fifty feet wide and maybe forty feet long, with tall shrubs scattered throughout and a small stream to the left which ran into a dark cave. It really just looked like a big back garden, certainly not big enough to be the home of ‘massive’ giants.

‘It’s not very big is it?’ she said. ‘Perhaps the giants aren’t as big as we thought.’

‘No Emma, this is just the entrance,’ said Alfie. ‘We have to go through that cave with the stream over there to get to the actual valley.’

‘Oh,’ said Emma, her glint of hope quickly fading to nothing.

Alfie led the way and they walked down the steep steps. Billy paused before going down because it was quite warm and he was feeling hot. He swiftly pulled the deeper from the inside of his jacket and placed it on the inside of his waistcoat; rubbing his hand over it to ensure that it had stuck. When he was happy that it was firmly in place, he took off his jacket and put it into the deeper. Alfie and the others had only just reached the bottom of the large steps, so he would soon catch them up. A short walk on and they were at the entrance to the cave.

‘Just so you know. When we get to the other side, we have to make sure that we duck down and stay really low so that we don’t get seen,’ said Alfie.

Alfie’s words would only serve to add to Rosie and Emma’s anguish, though Billy didn’t seem overly concerned; certainly not as concerned as he should be anyway. Inside the cave, to its right, was a narrow pathway which ran alongside the gently running stream; luckily, they wouldn’t need to walk through the water. Alfie led the way, with Rosie behind him, Emma behind Rosie and finally Billy. Walking through, they kept close to the wall and would each run their hand along it, using it as a guide so as to make sure they didn’t fall in. The cave wasn’t very long and so it was much brighter than they thought it was going to be, with light oozing in from the other side. It couldn’t have taken much longer than a minute, or so before Alfie emerged out of the other side. He immediately ducked down and headed for a not very high, but extremely long wall, just ten feet or so away. The others followed suit and making sure not to be seen, they all sat down behind it.

‘So, this is Gigans Valley.’ Alfie whispered. ‘I’m just going to take a quick look to see if I can try and get an idea of where we have to go.’

He turned, placed both of his hands on the top of the small wall and lifted his head up slowly. He could see in the corner of his left eye that the others had the same idea, and soon they were all position with their hands on the wall, their heads peeking over. Their eyes widened at the sight, because as far as the eye could see, was what looked like a maze of red rock, with hundreds upon hundreds of tall red sandstone spires scattered throughout, and which stretched for what seemed like miles. Together they turned and sat back down.

‘It looks just like a big maze to me,’ said Billy.

‘Well, that’s not what I expected,’ said Alfie. ‘I was hoping the way we should go would be a bit more obvious really.’

‘We don’t have to go through all of that, do we?,’ said Emma. ‘It goes on for so long’

‘I’m afraid so Em,’ said Alfie.

‘First, we have to work out how to get down though, don’t we?’ Rosie asked.

‘Oh, we’re okay there, that’s the path down.’ Alfie replied, pointing to his left.

‘Okay, so we know how to get down, that’s a start,’ said Emma. ‘But did the professor tell you how to actually get past the giants?’

‘No Em, he couldn’t because he’s never been here.’ Alfie answered. ‘He’s not allowed in here, which is why he’s not with us.’

‘Why is he not allowed in here?’ Emma quizzed.

‘Well, he is allowed, but giants can smell squirrel’s a mile away, and the professor was worried that he would give us away.’ Alfie answered. ‘Giants eat squirrel’s Em. They’re like snacks for them.’

‘Oh no, they don’t do they?’ Emma didn’t like hearing that at all, being very fond of squirrels, and especially fond of the professor. ‘I can see why he wouldn’t want to come then.’

There was a brief moment of silence as they all reflected on Alfie’s words, thinking about the professor, and how awful it would be if he was to be eaten by a giant.

‘Well, if we’re going to get through this, we’ll just have to make sure we hide really well when we smell really bad B.O,’ said Billy.

Alfie glanced over at Billy. ‘What do you mean hide when we smell B.O?’

‘Giants smell bad. Like really bad B.O,’ said Billy. ‘That’s what it says in the book anyway.’

‘It does?’ Alfie quizzed, giving Billy a funny look as he didn’t remember reading that.

‘I think so. I remember that bit because I remember it made me laugh when it said something like they smelt of a man who had never washed.’ Billy replied. ‘I thought of my dad instantly because he doesn’t smell so good when he comes back from the rigs.’

‘How did I miss that?’ said Alfie, quite puzzled. He immediately reached into his deeper to get the journal. Opening it, he went straight to the pages on Gigans Valley and flicked through.

‘Hang on a minute. This is new. I didn’t even see this page last night,’ he said, turning a page one way, and then the other, in order to look at both sides. ‘You’re right, you know, Billy. It says it right here. Like a man that has never cleansed.’

‘Told you.’ Billy answered smugly.

‘Yeah, well done,’ said Alfie.

Alfie read a little further, turned a page and then suddenly stopped. He flattened the journal with his palm and looked back over at Billy.

‘Just out of curiosity Billy. Was there anything else you remember about this place?’ he asked. ‘Did you see anything else in here? Oh, I don’t know, like a map or anything?’

Billy shook his head. ‘Nope, don’t remember no map.’

‘You don’t?’ Alfie asked, holding out the journal to show Billy an entire page, covered in little dots with a jagged line running through them, indicating the path they should take.

‘Oh is that a map? I thought that was just one of those dot-to-dot game things.’ Billy replied. He then gave a squinted frown as he gazed at the opposite page. ‘What happened to all the writing?’

‘What do you mean?’ Alfie asked.

‘Pass it here,’ said Billy, holding his hand out.

Alfie leaned over to Emma to pass the book to Rosie, who then passed it to Billy. Billy screwed his face up as he flicked through the pages.

‘This doesn’t look like the same book to me.’

‘Of course it’s the same book,’ said Alfie, as he showed Billy the front cover.

‘No. I mean. It does look the same and everything, but the one I read was printed like a normal book, not with handwriting like this one is.’ Billy explained, before passing the journal over to Emma, who then handed it to Alfie. ‘That’s weird that.’

Alfie didn’t know what to make of what Billy had just said, but thought that now wasn’t the time to question it. He was just going to place his trust in the journal, and follow the path his father had laid out on the map.

‘We better get going then I suppose,’ he said. ‘Let’s just make sure we stay together okay?’

‘I don’t think there’s much chance of any of us wandering off Alfie, do you?’ said Rosie.

‘No, I guess not,’ he replied, before crouching toward to the long winding rocky path that would lead them down into the heart of Gigans Valley.

They had been following the map for some time; weaving through the tall walls, carefully looking around corners for giants as they did. Thankfully, they hadn’t seen any and were beginning to think, or indeed hope, that maybe the path on the map was going to help to avoid them altogether, and without any confrontation whatsoever.

Soon they would approach a large wall, and just as he had done numerous times before, Alfie cautiously eased his head around it. This time he would see a quite large open space, with a long steep ramp on its right that led to the top of the valley. At the back and to the left of the open space was a small cave where they needed to go, according to the map.

Seeing that it was all clear, Alfie gave the others a thumbs up and walked around the wall. He’d only taken a couple of steps when he heard a faint thumping sound. He stopped dead in his tracks and held his arms out wide so that no-one would go past him. He tilted his head, in order to carefully listen to which way the thumping noise was coming.

‘Okay, that’s definitely getting louder,’ said a concerned Emma.

Alfie thought it was getting louder too, but thought that the sound was coming from above him. He looked to the top of the ramp, but there was nothing there. He looked back down and scanned the area around him. He noticed that the dirt under his feet and the small, scattered rocks seemed to move a little more aggressively with each thump. Alfie didn’t like this at all, so he ushered the others back behind the wall, out of sight.

The thumping grew increasingly louder and had become much more frequent. It seemed pretty obvious to them all that there was a giant or at least something as large as a giant heading toward them. This made them all very anxious indeed. Emma had to put her hand over her ears, because the singular thumping had now become a mass of thumps, and had become as loud as an enormous thunderstorm, indicating that there was probably more than one giant. This lasted a little while longer, but then, all of a sudden, it just stopped. What had replaced it, was a whole lot of grunting and groaning, and even some high pitched screeching.

Although apprehensive, Alfie was desperate to see what was going on, so he moved into position to take another peek around the wall. Rosie grabbed his arm to hold him back and when he turned to see what she wanted, she shook her head to urge him to stay where he was. He wasn’t going to take any notice.

‘I just want to see,’ he whispered. ‘We have to go this way, so I have to know what’s there.’

Rosie silently sighed and gave a reluctant nod. Alfie then crept to the edge of the wall and slowly poked his head around the corner. He didn’t see anything at first, but then he would look up. He quickly pulled his head in and gingerly joined the others. Alfie looked very worried, screwing his face up as if to tell them it wasn’t good.

With what was the quietest whisper ever Rosie quizzed him. ‘Is it a giant?’

Her whisper so quiet that Alfie barely heard her, though he did just make out what she’d asked. Emma had removed her hands from her ears, and along with Billy, leaned over slightly so they could see Alfie’s answer.

‘Not one.’ Alfie whispered back, before holding up four fingers. ‘Four’.

Rosie was so startled that her eyes opened wide, her eyebrows rose high, and her mouth dropped open.

‘Four?’ she mouthed.

Alfie nodded. It was one thing to avoid one giant, but having to avoid four of them was quite something else. Still whispering, and continuing to use his hand, he explained.

‘There’s one small one, and three massive one’s. At the top of the valley.’

‘What are we gonna do then?’ whispered Billy.

‘I have no idea.’ Alfie mouthed, as he shrugged.

Before they had a chance to consider their options, the grunting, groaning, and occasional screeching, became much louder. It actually sounded like the giants were arguing amongst themselves, as the noise they made was now overwhelmingly loud, almost to the point where it was unbearable to their ears. Alfie knew he shouldn’t, but the commotion piqued his curiosity, and he just had to see what was going on, knowing that as long as he didn’t stick his head out too far, he probably wouldn’t be seen. He slowly moved back toward the edge of the wall to take another peek. Gingerly, he looked around the rock with one eye and looked up.

The giants were still standing on top of the valley, in what appeared to be clothes that a prehistoric man might wear, and it very much looked like it was the smaller of the giants that were being grunted, groaned and screeched at. The three taller giants, which were much bigger by at least five or six feet, were clearly upset with the smaller one for some reason and took it in turns to push him around. They were just little pushes at first, but then one of them pushed so hard that the smaller one lost his balance, and very nearly fell off the valley top. One after the other, they continually pushed and grunted at him, so much so that Alfie began to feel very sorry for the smaller giant. Each of the three larger giants then took it in turns to hit the small one around the head. They then began to punch him hard on the arm and on the chest, whilst hurling a tirade of aggressive grunting at him. The punching was obviously hurting the smaller giant, for he let out small sounds, almost like squeals, when he had been hit.

Then, for whatever reason, they all just stopped. Two of the largest giants just stomped away, leaving the other stood firmly in front of the now cowering smaller one. The bigger of the giants then turned slightly and looked as though he was also going to walk away like the others had. But then he turned back, and with both hands, he pushed the small giant straight off of the valley top. Alfie couldn’t bear to watch as the small giant desperately clawed to try and grab onto something as he fell backwards at an alarming rate, so he instantly pulled his head in. He looked worryingly at the others, put his hands to his ears, and nodded at them as if to suggest that they follow suit and cover theirs.

BANG! The giant hit the ground with such a violent thud that no-one could quite believe the immensity of which the ground beneath them shook. The noise the giant had made when it hit the ground was equally as powerful, and sounded like the loudest clap of thunder had gone off right next to their ears. Never in their life had they experienced a noise so violent.

Easing their hands down from their ears, they looked at each other with fear. No-one knew quite what to do next, what with knowing that there was definitely a giant around the corner, but then not knowing if it had survived the fall. Silently, they just stood looking at one another, in the hope that someone would suggest what to do. Left with little other choice, Alfie took it upon himself to chance it and take a look. The map said that was the way they needed to go, so he had to see if they could actually go that way. There hadn’t been a sound since the giant had hit the ground, and so he thought that it must have killed him. If it did, they might just be able to continue.

Once more Alfie eased to the edge of the rock and looked up to where the giants had been, just to make sure they’d gone. Fortunately, they had, so he eased his head further and further round the corner until he could see the smaller giant. He stopped briefly when he saw a large and positively filthy foot, caked in mud. Easing his head out a little further, he then saw the other foot; which was equally as filthy. He then saw a pair of brown, scraggy looking, three quarter length trousers that had one leg shorter than the other. Further up, he saw a tatty and torn V-neck brown clothed shirt. Then he saw the giant's head.

The giant lay motionless, with one of its arms flat on the ground pointing toward Alfie. Its face lay flat on the ground, its eyes firmly shut, with the bottom lip of its half-opened mouth grazing on the dusty ground. The giant had no eyebrows at all, a wart on its rather large nose, and a sparse wispy beard, and very hairy ears. Its dark brown hair, which looked as though it hadn’t been washed in a hundred years, was short and spiky on top, and long at the sides, with many strands of which that draped over the giant's nose. Alfie noticed that the giant was covered from head to toe in thick lumps of dried mud and looked positively filthy. It was on his clothes, in his hair, on his skin, and even under his long fingernails, it was everywhere.

Alfie turned around to the others. ‘I think he’s dead. Come on.’

‘Are you sure?’ asked Billy.

‘Well, he’s not moving, and his eyes are shut. So yeah, I’d say so.’

‘After you then mate,’ said Billy.

Alfie gave a gentle nod and then made his way toward the giant, and the others carefully followed. The giant didn’t smell quite so bad at this point, so no-one mentioned it, but there was a particularly musky odour that filled the air.

‘Oh my goodness,’ said Emma softly, with a high degree of fear at having caught her first glimpse of a giant.

‘Blimey, he’s a big boy,’ said a wide eyed Billy.

Cautiously they made their way toward the enormous creature, with Emma falling slightly behind, due to not wanting to get too close.

‘We have a bit of a problem,’ said Alfie, having double checked the map.

‘What’s wrong?’ Rosie asked.

‘He’s totally in our way.’

And he was, for the giant’s head lay directly in front of the opening that the map suggested they go through. There did seem to be a small gap at the very top, but it was hard to tell. And even if there was, they would have to climb over the giant and over his head to get to it.

‘You could say that we’re in a bit of a pickle then couldn’t ya?’ said Billy.

‘Yes, Billy. You could say that,’ nodded Alfie.

‘Can’t we just go up that ramp?’ Emma asked, looking to her right.

‘Seriously, if you saw the size of those other giants, you really wouldn’t be asking that.’ Alfie replied. ‘You think this one is big? Well, the others were way bigger. And besides, if we go that way, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to get back onto the same path. We may get completely lost, or even get stuck in here.’

‘Oh,’ said Emma.

‘So, then what are we going to do if we can’t get through the cave?’ Rosie asked.

‘I don’t know,’ said Alfie. ‘We just have to hope we can get over him I suppose.’

Rosie puffed out her cheeks and exhaled heavily. ‘Do we really have to crawl over him and onto his head? I can’t say I’m too keen on that idea.’

‘Well, unless you’ve got any better ideas?’ said Alfie.

‘It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice then. Over the giant it is,’ said Billy, urging Alfie with his arm. ‘Go on then Alfie, after you.’

‘Oh, thanks,’ said Alfie, raising his eyebrows, and then putting his father’s journal away.

‘You are sure he’s dead though, right?’ asked Emma, also hating the thought of having to climb over the giant, but even more so hating the thought that he might actually wake up as they did.

‘He’s not moving at all, so he must be,’ said Alfie, before heading toward the motionless giant.

Whilst they were still a fair distance away from the giant, his already quite horrid odour grew stronger, and Emma did not like it one bit.

‘Oh my goodness, that’s disgusting!’ she said, screwing her face up and quickly putting her hand to her nose to pinch it.

‘Whoa! That is REALLY bad,’ added Billy.

‘You were right Billy, they don’t smell good,’ said Rosie, also pinching her nose to stop the odour. ‘But that’s worse than anything I’ve ever smelt before.’

Billy’s voice sounded quite odd in his response, as he had also decided to pinch his nose. ‘I’ll say. That is one stinky giant.’

Rosie delved into her deeper and pulled out a small bottle of lavender. She placed a couple of drops under her nose so as to mask the smell and then passed the bottle to Emma, who did the same. She passed the bottle to Billy.

‘It’s not that bad,’ said Alfie, cautiously moving closer.

‘Not bad?’ quizzed Billy, as he smeared the lavender under his nose. ‘Your nose must be blocked if you can’t smell how bad it is.’

Alfie sniffed before answering. ‘Nope. All clear.’

‘Blimey,’ said Billy, raising his eyebrows to the girls.

Billy passed the bottle back to Rosie and she put it away. Staring at the giant’s huge face, Alfie didn’t think he looked particularly mean, well, not nearly as mean as he’d expected it to look. In fact, with his eyes shut, and the sides of his mouth turned down, Alfie thought he actually looked quite sorrowful, definitely peaceful, and, in a bizarre way, quite sweet. Maybe that’s how giants looked when they died, he thought.

They were within just ten feet of the huge creature, when suddenly its eyes opened really quickly, and extremely wide. Alfie almost jumped out of his skin and he stopped dead in his tracks. Before he even had a chance to panic, the giant’s eyelids slowly dropped, to leave his eyes half open. No-one else had noticed, but when Alfie stopped suddenly they soon would. Rosie, Emma and Billy were equally as startled as Alfie had been and swiftly took a step backward. The giant didn’t move, but his droopy eyes stared right at them.

‘Okay, that is not good,’ said a concerned Billy.

Emma eased behind Billy, and much like him, was getting ready to run if the giant was to make the slightest of movements. Rosie stared into the giant’s eyes. She noticed a clear liquid fall from his right eye, which then rolled down onto his cheek.

‘Is he crying?’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Emma. ‘Is he?’

Alfie also thought that the giant may have been crying, as his eyes did seem to be welled up. Another tear, then fell from the giant’s left eye. The tear eased its way down his over his nose and then dripped onto the dusty ground. If Alfie hadn’t felt sorry for the giant before, then he certainly was feeling sorry for him now. A crying giant? Surely giants don’t cry, he thought. Alfie seemed to lose all the fear he’d had, and slowly he moved toward the giant. But before he knew it, Rosie had eased right past him, heading to the tearful monster. The giant still hadn’t moved, and his eyelids began to droop even lower though it was clear that he was doing all he could to try and keep them open.

Alfie and Rosie now stood within touching distance of the giant, with Billy and Emma looking on anxiously. Rosie slowly placed her hand onto one of the giant’s fingers but pulled it back extremely quickly when the giant let out a little noise. It was the same kind of noise a dog would make when it cried, a muffled, high pitched, yelping sound.

She waited a while, before again carefully placing her hand on his finger. She looked into his drooping eyes. From his distance, Billy spotted that the giant seemed to be trying to lift his cheeks, and the corners of his mouth seemed to have moved from their downward position to an upward position.

‘Is he smiling?’ he asked.

‘I think he is,’ replied Emma.

They were all fixated on this huge creature’s wry smile, and drooping eyelids. But before long, the giant’s eyes had completely closed, and the giant lay dead. Rosie turned to Alfie and gave him the sorriest of looks, to which he responded by pulling his lips in and nodding, as if to say ‘I know’.

There lay this huge beast, with arms bigger than their entire bodies. A beast who would probably tear them apart and eat them if he were alive, but Rosie and Alfie actually felt very sorry for him.

‘Is he dead, then?’ Emma asked.

Rosie replied softly in a sorrowful tone. ‘Yes, Em.’

‘You do know that he would have killed us, don’t you?’ said Billy, detecting the sadness in Rosie’s voice.

Alfie looked over at Billy. ‘Probably Billy, but we don’t know that for sure do we? He might not have.’

‘He’s a giant and we’re giant food Alfie, it’s not hard to work out.’ Billy reasoned.

‘He didn’t look dangerous, though, not from what I saw anyway.’ Alfie replied. ‘He didn’t lay a finger on the other three giants, and actually looked to be more scared than anything.’

‘If it was three against one, I think I’d look pretty scared too, wouldn’t you?’ said Billy.

‘Yeah, I suppose.’ Alfie conceded.

Emma saw Rosie place her hand inside her jacket, and then produce the bottle of Efil, holding it tightly in her hand.

‘Rosie, you can’t be serious?’ she said in horror, shocked to the core that Rosie would even contemplate using the most powerful magic in the world on a giant who could end up eating them.

‘Please tell me that you’re not going to use that on him,’ said Billy.

‘Why not?’ Rosie asked.

‘Because he’ll eat us. That’s why not,’ said Billy.

‘But we still don’t know that for sure though do we?’ Alfie interrupted, having had the same thought about using the magic, even before Rosie had taken the bottle out.

‘Oh, I think we do,’ was Billy’s sarcastic response. ‘And anyway, if you use that, what are we supposed to do if one of us gets killed because you might need that other drop for your mum?’

Alfie knew that Billy was right. With only two drops, and needing to save one for their mother just in case, made the other drop invaluable. Though, oddly, Alfie wasn’t thinking about himself, or his sister, but Billy and Emma, as neither of them deserved to die helping them.

‘He’s right Rosie, we may need those,’ he said. ‘Eve said to use them sparingly, remember.’

‘I know, but who knows if any of us will die, or if we’ll actually need it for mum?’ she answered. ‘I feel like I HAVE to do this Alfie, really I do. He cried and he smiled at us, and I just know that it’s the right thing to do. We’ll still have one drop left to use.’

Alfie didn’t know how to answer his sister, so he just shrugged, to suggest that he’d leave the decision to her. He also wanted to save the huge beast, but he really wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea now. Rosie had made her decision, so pulled the cork from the bottle. Emma placed her hands to her mouth and spoke through her fingers.

‘Don’t do it, Rosie.’

Rosie didn’t respond but gazed sorrowfully over at her best friend.

‘Well, I think you’re making a big mistake,’ said Billy. ‘But it’s your bottle, and if that’s what you really want to do, then do it.’

Rosie looked at Alfie, and he nodded his approval. She then looked at Billy, who remained expressionless, before once again looking sorrowfully at Emma. From the look on her best friends face, she knew that Emma thought she was mad for even thinking of saving the giant, but Rosie just knew she had to. She slowly turned and walked into position, to within a foot of the giant’s head. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had to do, she just knew that she had to put it in the mouth.

Billy and Emma took a few steps back as Rosie stood on tiptoe, raised her arm and tilted the bottle over the giant’s mouth. Deciding to play it safe, she aimed for the tongue, which lay against his right cheek. The drop seemed to take an age to come out of the bottle, and being on tiptoe for so long, her toes were starting to hurt. When the drop finally did come out, it landed on the very tip of the giant’s tongue. This was very lucky indeed, for had she been just a couple of centimetres out, she almost certainly would have missed.

‘There. It’s done,’ she said, pulling the bottle away and corking it.

‘Oh my stars,’ gasped a panicked Emma, easing back a couple of steps.

‘Come here, Rosie,’ said Alfie. ‘Better not be too close, just in case.’

Rosie joined Alfie, and together they rejoined Billy and Emma. Alfie suggested they all move quite a bit further back, as none of them were quite sure what was going to happen. Billy gave Alfie a funny and quite disapproving look, as he had a pretty good idea what was going to happen.

‘I hope we’ve done the right thing,’ said Alfie.

‘You haven’t,’ said Billy.

‘Oh, don’t say that, Billy,’ said Rosie, anxiously looking at the giant to see if there was any movement.

Billy simply raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders, his arms held out and the palms of his hands facing upward. The giant lay still for what seemed like ages, with not even the slightest of movement.

‘I don’t think it worked,’ said Billy.

‘Are you sure you put it in his mouth?’ Alfie asked.

‘Yes. I did,’ she confirmed. ‘It landed right on the tip of his tongue. I saw it.’

‘Maybe the drops don’t work on ¬ ’

Billy was interrupted by an over excitable Emma. ‘His finger twitched! I just saw his finger twitch!’

Quickly, and quite anxiously, they stared at the giant’s hand, but there were no twitching fingers, and the giant remained motionless.

‘Are you sure you saw it twitch Em?’ asked Billy.

‘Yes, Billy.’ Emma confirmed, giving Billy a look that suggested she was sure of what she had seen this time, and that she wasn’t going mad.

Billy still doubted what Emma had thought she had seen and had put it down to nerves. But then, he saw the giant’s eyes begin to open. The giant’s eyelids lifted just a little, before dropping back down again. Then they lifted a little higher, but again they dropped. On his third attempt, the giant’s eyes were now fully open and would stay open. The giant then began to move his parts of his body, starting with his arm. The more time that passed, the more he would be able to move. The potion had taken much longer than they thought it would to take effect, but at least it was working. Only time would tell if this was a good thing or not.

Before long the giant eased up onto his knees. He then placed his hands on the ground in front of him, and slowly, not to mention cautiously, he got to his feet. The giant was positively enormous and looked way bigger standing than he had been when lying on the ground. He silently stretched out his arms, rolled his neck, and then he looked straight at them whilst rubbing his stomach. Billy didn’t like the way the giant was staring, and he really didn’t like the way he was rubbing his belly.

‘Well, we know that he’s hungry. No prizes for guessing what’s on the menu,’ he said, staring at the giant’s stomach. ‘I definitely think this might be a very good time to run.’

Billy tugged on Alfie and Rosie’s sleeves.

‘No, wait,’ said Rosie.

The giant wasn’t doing anything threatening. He was just standing there looking at them, as still as stone, like a statue. A statue dressed in the tattiest of clothes, and who had the smelliest of smells, yes, but a statue nonetheless. Rosie took one small step forward, the giant’s eyes moved slightly to focus on her.

‘I think you may want to rethink that idea, Rosie,’ said Billy, thinking her mad for even attempting to get any closer.

‘It’s okay,’ she replied, in a tone more confident than it should have been.

She then took another step forward. This time the giant tilted his head, which troubled her a little and made her briefly pause. But then, almost without a care in the world, she then took yet another step.

‘You might want to give Rosie your marbles Alfie because she’s clearly lost hers,’ said Billy.

Alfie didn’t answer, as Emma screwed her face up and turned to the side, unable to watch. Instead, he too stepped toward the giant, and soon would be standing side by side with his sister. They glanced at each other briefly before taking one further step together, all the while apprehensive, but both oddly quite calm, and strangely confident. This time, however, the giant reacted and took a huge thunderous step toward them. His action startled them both because now it meant he was just ten feet or so away. Just one more of those steps and he would have been pretty much able to just stand on them. But the giant wouldn’t take that step. Instead, he simply lowered himself down onto his knees and sat down before them with his legs crossed; just like any of them would sit in school assembly. He then dropped his hands to the ground so that his knuckles hung loosely beside him. Tilting his head, the giant once again made the sound of a dogs cry.

Billy stood completely shocked, as it was becoming increasingly clear that this humongous creature didn’t look like he was going to hurt them at all. If he had any intention of doing so, then he probably would have done so by now. Instead of being the gruesome ravenous creature of giant legend, he just acted like a child. Billy was beginning to warm to him, especially after hearing the sad puppy noise he’d made. His fear and wariness had subsided, and so he walked slowly forward to join Alfie and Rosie. Emma just couldn’t believe how close they all were. She was quite happy right where she was, thank you very much.

The twins decided that having come this far, they may as well go the whole way. Together they walked to within inches of the monstrously sized creature. They weren’t nearly as nervous as they should have been, just a little wary, with both of them ready to run should they feel there was a need to. The giant looked down at Rosie, seemingly without care, when she bravely placed her hand on one of his four fingers; she instantly noticed that he didn’t have a thumb, on either hand. The giant let out another muffled cry but made no sudden movements. He just sat looking at her and Alfie.

A now much more confident Billy took the few steps to join the twins, and he too would interact with him, by touching his fingers. After a while, the giant looked up and toward Emma; who was still as petrified as the worried look upon her face suggested. He moved ever so carefully so that Alfie, Rosie and Billy could easily move out of his way without being crushed. Each took a good few steps backward, and to the side, as the giant moved onto his hands and knees. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he crawled over to a now extremely concerned Emma. The sight of this enormous thing heading toward her sent shivers down her spine. She quickly placed her hands over her eyes, with her arms so closely together they touched at the elbow. Upon reaching, the giant lowered himself down to place his face just a couple of feet away from hers.

Emma cagily eased apart the fingers of one of her hands so as to look between them, only to be greeted with the sight of the creature’s big round eyes staring at her, which forced her to close both her eyes and her fingers again. The giant tilted his head and blinked twice, before moving one of his four fingered hands toward her. As gently as any giant possibly could, he touched Emma’s arms just above her elbows. The tip of his finger was almost as big as Emma’s arms, and even a gentle nudge forced her to topple back a couple of steps, which resulted in her letting out an almighty scream. She didn’t fall over, but it did make her take her hands away from her face. She stood totally stunned, with literally no idea of what she should do. She needn’t have worried because all the giant did was tilt his head and give one of his muffled cries.

‘I think he likes you Em,’ said Alfie. ‘You know he’s not going to hurt you, don’t you?’

Emma was actually beginning to believe that this giant smelly thing was actually friendly, though she aired on the side of caution and slowly eased around him to join the others. With his back to them, the giant got to his feet and turned. He pointed toward the opening that they needed to go through; the opening that his head had laid in front of.

‘What about you?’ Alfie called up. ‘What will you do?’

With his other hand, the giant pointed up to the top of the valley from where he had fallen. He had completely understood Alfie, and Alfie found that to be very cool indeed.

‘Come on then,’ he said to the others, before heading toward the cave.

Emma constantly looked back at the giant as she followed, watching as he made his way up the ramp very quickly, and very noisily. The cave wasn’t very long at all, and after fifteen seconds or so, they emerged out of the other side. They found themselves in a narrow opening, with a narrow path in front of them. The giant was nowhere to be seen. Alfie reached for the journal, and after double checking, they continued forward as the map suggested.

‘You know that giant understood you, don’t you?’ said Billy.

Alfie smiled. ‘He did seem to, didn’t he?’

‘Yeah, pretty cool that.’ Billy confirmed.

‘Never mind what he understood, I think he made my clothes smell when he touched me,’ said a disgruntled Emma.

Billy laughed. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘I can still smell him,’ she answered. ‘It’s awful.’

‘I don’t smell anything Em, so I don’t think it’s you,’ he said, taking a smell of Emma’s clothes. ‘I can still smell him, though, so he’s probably close by.’

‘The lavender must be wearing off,’ said Rosie. ‘Do you want some more?’

‘Maybe it hasn’t worn off,’ said Alfie. ‘Maybe one of the other giants is close by.’

‘Oh, don’t say that, Alfie,’ said Emma, still getting over the shock of coming face to face with a giant.

Emma and Rosie added another splash of lavender under their noses, but Billy didn’t bother this time. Alfie was very cautious as they walked through the narrow pathway and was constantly looking around for any danger or sign of the other giants. A little way ahead, beyond their narrow walkway, he caught glimpse of a huge bush dangling in mid air. At first he was a little spooked because he thought he could see what appeared to be a huge arm holding it. He didn’t take his eyes off the arm as they move toward it. The closer they got, the more it looked to be the arm of the friendly giant. Alfie toyed with the idea that one of the other giants may have been laying a trap, though thought that it was almost certainly their friend, because giants weren’t that smart; or at least he hoped they weren’t. Alfie smiled to himself when he was sure it was the friendly giant. That smile soon turned into a broad grin when he noticed what was dangling from the bush.

‘You’re about to get a new best friend, Billy,’ he said.

‘Huh?’ said Billy. ‘What do you mean?’

Alfie used his head and eyes to point to the bush. ‘Look.’

Billy looked to where his best friend was suggesting and immediately became excited by what he saw. For dangling from the bush, were apple sticks.

‘Hmm, I could do with a couple of those,’ he said. ‘Is that the giant holding up the bush?’

‘It is.’ Alfie answered.

As they approached, the giant popped the top of his head from around the rock, revealing his big round eyes, before quickly pulling his head in again. After a few seconds, he did the same.

‘Is he playing with us?’ Rosie asked.

Alfie chuckled. ‘I think he is.’

‘Okay, so I think I’m beginning to like that giant,’ said Billy.

‘Is that because he has apple sticks Billy?’ said a smirking Emma.

‘Well, that is one reason, obviously,’ he replied chirpily. ‘But he’s actually starting to grow on me. He’s almost cute.’

Emma’s reply was plagued with sarcasm. ‘Cute? Cute? Cute is a pony, a squirrel, or a gerbil Billy, he’s far too big and ugly to be cute.’

‘Oh, he’s not ugly. How can you say he’s ugly?’ Billy protested. ‘I think he’s cute. You know, in a lovable sort of way.’

Emma shook her head and frowned. ‘You really are a funny one, Billy.’

They were close to where the giant was hiding, and he would once more pop his head out. They all looked at him, and the dopey looking smile on his face, revealing what looked like a horrendous set of teeth. It didn’t startle them, as they all recognised him, but the state of his teeth gave them a little shock. The expression on the giants face was a picture, and they all found that to be very amusing. They approached.

‘Are they for us?’ Alfie asked, pointing to the bush.

The giant moved the apple stick bush toward them, but only Billy stepped forward to take one. Everyone else graciously declined.

‘I thank you,’ he said, snapping an apple from the bush. ‘Ooh, hold on a minute. I’ll take one for later if you don’t mind. You know, just in case.’

Billy put the first one he picked into his deeper and took a second to eat. When he knew Billy was finished, the giant pulled the bush toward him and lifted it up high. He looked around it with tilted head as if he were counting how many apple sticks there were on the bush. Then, after giving a little shrug, along with a little yelp, he stuffed the entire bush straight into his mouth, pushing in an odd apple stick that had not quite gone in and had hung out of the side. Happily, he chewed away.

‘You like your apple sticks too, I see,’ said Alfie, to which the giant responded with a small yelp.

‘There you are Billy, you have an apple stick buddy.’ Alfie joked.

‘Well, how can you not love someone who enjoys a good apple stick?’ Billy nodded. ‘He ate the core and all, bless him.’

A couple of bits of apple stick had popped out of Billy’s mouth as he’d spoken. He immediately gave Alfie an ‘Oh, I’ve just spat out my food, I hope you didn’t notice’, type look. But Alfie had seen it and smiled at him to confirm that he had. Billy just shrugged as though he didn’t care, but he actually did a little.

Billy continued to happily munch away on his apple stick as they walked, with their massive friend now walking beside them. The giant would take one small step for every four or five of theirs, so he would wait for them to get a little way ahead, and then he would take a step to catch up; shaking the ground slightly with each of his steps. Alfie, Rosie and Emma couldn’t quite believe that they were walking side by side with a giant, and would often look up at him to confirm that it was actually happening. Billy, however, seemed to be in his element, even to the point where he felt brave enough to even insult the giant.

‘You do know that you really – really – smell, don’t you?’ he said, looking up and then placing the last piece of apple stick core into his mouth.

The giant tilted his head and gave Billy a blank stare, before letting out one of his usual muffled yelps. As they continued, instead of taking his usual step after their four or five, the giant put his arm down and nudged Billy lightly from behind. Billy lost his balance and fell forward onto the dusty ground. It wasn’t a very hard fall at all, but it did startle him a little. Alfie, Rosie and Emma were as startled as Billy to begin with, but as soon as they saw that Billy was alright, along with the expression on the giants face, they found it very amusing that the giant had got Billy back for telling him that he smelt.

‘It looks like it’s not just me he understands, Billy,’ laughed Alfie.

Billy got up, brushed himself down and addressed the massive creature.

‘Now, now. There’s no need to be touchy,’ he said. ‘Come on, let’s face facts. You don’t smell good do you? What you need is a good wash.’

The giant tilted his head, took a little sniff of his underarm and then gave a light shrug as if to suggest that he couldn’t smell anything.

‘Or you could just give him a Wishy Washy,’ said Emma.

‘Now why didn’t I think of that?’ said Billy, quickly turning to Alfie. ‘Alfie, do you have one?’

‘I don’t have the potions Billy, you do,’ Alfie replied.

With a quite puzzled look, Billy put a hand into his deeper. After a little rummage, he pulled out five bottles, two of which that were Wishy Washy’s. He took hold of them both and then swiftly put the other potions back. He looked at Alfie.

‘So why do I have all the potions?’

‘Well, you are the keeper aren’t you?’ Alfie grinned.

‘Er, yeah, I suppose so.’ Billy smiled, more than happy to look after them. ‘He smells pretty bad, so I’m thinking that he’s going to need both of these. What do you think?’

‘I’d say that was a VERY good idea, Billy.’ Emma answered.

‘Absolutely,’ said Rosie.

With everyone’s backing, Billy held the two bottles of Wishy Washy out in front of him and looked up at the giant.

‘You drink these, alright?’ he said, miming the action of opening the bottle and drinking.

The giant gave a yelp and immediately bent down onto one knee. He laid his huge open hand onto the ground so that Billy could drop the bottles into it, which he promptly did.

‘Er, Billy,’ said Alfie, with a little concern.

Before Billy could answer, the giant had put his hand to his mouth, threw the potions straight in and then got to his feet.

‘You’re supposed to open them first,’ said Billy, shaking his head.

‘How was he supposed to do that?’ asked Alfie. ‘I was just going to say that his hands were way too big to open them, but he ate them before I had the chance.’

‘Oh, I didn’t think of that,’ said Billy realising. ‘Way too big. And he doesn’t have disposable thumbs.’

‘Disposable thumbs?’ Rosie quizzed. ‘You don’t mean opposable thumbs by any chance do you Billy?

‘Yeah, that’s them,’ answered Billy, without a care to his error.

The giant tilted his head slightly at feeling something strange happening to him. Then, a large lump of dried mud near his eye bounced down onto his chest and dropped to the ground. With both hands, the giant began to feel his face, aware that it felt a little different. The rest of the dirt soon began to fall from his body, and before long, the giant was standing completely surrounded by a mound of dirt that almost covered his feet; with much of the dirt having fallen out of the bottom of his tatty looking trousers. The giant was now so clean, that his hair had even gone from a very dark brown to a much lighter brown, and it actually looked fuller, shiny and really quite bouncy.

He looked down at the mound of dirt and lifted his right leg, which released a vast amount of dirt that had accumulated inside his trouser leg. He put his foot down away from the mound, then lifted his other leg to release even more dirt. Standing outside of the mound, the dirt then disintegrated into nothing, vanishing before their very eyes. The giant hadn’t seen it vanish, as he was far too busy looking at his arms, constantly twisting them whilst tilting his head. He hadn’t seen the flesh of his arms for quite some time, and now that they were spotless, he had become quite fascinated by them.

‘That was a lot of dirt,’ said Emma.

‘A few years worth, I’d say,’ said Alfie.

‘I don’t remember there being any dirt when we took that potion though.’

‘That’s probably because you haven’t gone years without a wash Em,’ replied Alfie. ‘Remember, he’s been here a while.’

‘Yes, that’s probably why then.’ Emma nodded, feeling a little foolish for not realising.

Billy had seen the potion work with his own two eyes, but he could still smell the giant. ‘I don’t think two was enough. He still whiffs a bit.’

‘That’s because his clothes haven’t been washed,’ said Rosie.

‘Ah, I’d forgotten about that.’ Billy replied. ‘I don’t suppose we’re going to find any wicker baskets around here are we? And certainly not any that are big enough for his clothes. Oh well, we’ll just have to put up with the pong I suppose.’

‘At least it’s bearable now,’ said Emma.

‘Yep, he’ll have to do,’ said Billy, as he and the others walked on. ‘Come on then whiffy.’

The giant gave a little yelp and followed in the same manner as he had before, waiting a little while and then taking a big step to join them. They soon arrived at a long straight path about twenty feet in width, which passed between two of the highest walls they’d seen in the valley. The walls were so tall that not only did they dwarf the giant, but they found themselves completely in the shade. Alfie had moved a little way ahead of them and had been scanning the walls as he walked, appearing as though he were looking for something.

‘What is he looking for?’ asked Emma.

‘I don’t know, but he seems to have found it,’ replied Rosie, seeing Alfie stop, and then place his hand up against the wall on the right.

‘Is this it then?’ asked Billy, upon reaching his best friend.

‘Yes, it is, look,’ said Alfie, pointing to a small heptagon that had been hand carved into the stone.

‘Er, are Emma and I missing something here?’ asked Rosie. ‘Is that what?’

Alfie didn’t answer, as he was busy running his hand over the wall, as though he expected to find something else.

‘Ingles asked him to do something, and this is the place he has to do it.’ Billy answered.

‘Oh, right,’ said Rosie, walking over to the wall and joining Alfie in running her hand over it. ‘Okay, so what are we looking for?’

‘I don’t actually know. Some kind of lever or something,’ he replied.

‘Have you tried pressing the symbol?’ Billy asked.

‘First thing I tried,’ replied Alfie. ‘But that’s just there to let me know that this is the right place, I think.’

‘Is there nothing in the journal?’ asked Emma.

‘Yeah, but it just says to look for a release. It doesn’t actually say what the release is.’ Alfie replied. ‘Oh, and apparently, it constantly moves.’

Emma stood back a little way and cast her eyes all over the wall whilst Alfie and Rosie continued to run their hands over it. Thinking it was a good idea, Billy joined Emma and scoured the wall himself, but none of them were able to find anything.

‘This has to be the place.’ Alfie sighed. ‘But there’s just nothing here.’

Billy watched as the giant proceeded to bend down, and place his upturned hand flat on the ground, a little way from Alfie.

‘Alfie,’ said Billy.

‘Yeah?’ Alfie questioned, still looking at the wall.

‘I think our big friend is trying to attract your attention.’

Alfie turned to see the giant on bended knee with open hand.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked, walking over to him, thinking that the giant may have hurt himself.

The giant looked at Alfie, and then diverted his eyes to his hand. Alfie shook his head to suggest he didn’t know what he meant, so the giant gave one of his familiar yelps.

‘He wants you to get on,’ said Billy.

‘Do you want me to get on?’ Alfie asked, pointing to his huge hand.

The giant yelped again as if to suggest that that was exactly what he wanted him to do, so Alfie got himself ready to get on.

‘Are you sure you want to do that?’ asked a concerned Emma.

‘Yeah, it’ll be okay,’ he grunted, attempting to get on via the base of what would be the giant’s baby finger.

Having not quite steadied himself, Alfie almost lost his balance when the giant gently lifted his hand, but luckily he steadied himself before he could fall. The giant raised his arm as high as it would go next to the wall and Alfie inspected it for a good while.

‘This can’t be the place. There’s nothing here,’ he said, giving up. ‘You may as well put me down.’

The giant didn’t answer, and nor did he put Alfie down. Instead, he did the opposite and raised Alfie up even higher, by getting as close to tiptoe as he possibly could. Feeling almost like it was a waste of time, and with the others all looking up at him, Alfie once again ran his hand over the wall, but frustratingly there still wasn’t anything.

He turned to give up, but as he did, he caught sight of what appeared to be an extremely tiny, and feint, circle near where the giant's thumb would have been, had he have had one. The fingertip-sized circle was so faint that he was extremely surprised to have actually spotted it, and thought that running his hand over the wall was a complete waste of time; as he would never have felt it. He stepped toward the circle and rising on tiptoe, he placed his index finger in the very centre of it. His immediate thought was that, surely it wouldn’t be as easy as to just pushing it like a button, but push it like a button he did. The circle acted as a button, moving inward, though only slightly, and by no more than a couple of millimetres at the most. When he had pressed it, Alfie definitely heard a kind of clicking noise. He then was caught a little by surprise when the giant instinctively, and immediately, lowered him down to the ground. Alfie eased down from his hand.

‘Have you done it?’ asked Billy.

‘I think so,’ he replied, looking at the wall. ‘Has anything happened?’

‘Nope, nothing yet,’ said Billy, also looking.

Within moments, there was a noise that sounded like two large stones scraping together. A crack appeared in the wall; a straight vertical crack that ran the entire height of it. It wasn’t a jagged crack as they might have expected, but a perfectly true, straight vertical line, which separated like the doors at a supermarket, or any shop, would. The scraping noise continued as the wall slowly opened. They all stood looking at each other inquisitively. The sun behind the opening wall allowed a tall, bright beam of sunlight to shine through onto the opposing wall, which now almost made it look like that wall was opening too. And then, the scraping sound stopped, with the wall having opened as far as it was going to. The gap only a mere three foot wide, just enough for people to walk through single file. Alfie walked forward to the gap, stood in front of it and turned to face the others.

‘You lot have to wait here.’

‘What do you mean wait here?’ asked Rosie. ‘If you’re going in there, then we’re coming with you.’

‘You can’t, Rosie.’ Alfie replied. ‘This is something I have to do alone. Dad’s journal says that only one may enter, so just wait here for me okay.’

‘Oh, I remember that,’ said Billy. ‘One may enter, two may return.’

Rosie looked concerned. ‘So are you going to get someone?’

‘Kind of,’ he answered. ‘I’ll be alright, I promise. And I’ll make sure I’m as quick as I can, so just wait here.’

Rosie reluctantly nodded, and so Alfie turned and walked directly into the opening and the brilliant sunshine. The very moment he had passed through, the scraping sound could again be heard, and the opening began to close behind him. The wall was closing much quicker than it had upon opening, and it made a deep echoing thud as it closed completely behind him.

‘That can’t be good,’ said Billy. ‘He’s stuck in a wall now.’

‘What shall we do?’ asked Emma.

‘We’ll just have to wait here until he comes out like he said, I suppose.’ Rosie puffed.

The giant sat down with his back up against the wall, Billy strolled over and sat beside him. Emma and Rosie chose to sit down against the wall opposite, with both of them staring at the area of the wall where Alfie had gone through.

‘Oh, I’d forgotten about that,’ said Billy.

Rosie looked over at Billy anxiously. ‘What?’

‘One may enter, two may return,’ said Billy. ‘I think that’s the place with the two stone statues.’

‘Is that a good or bad thing?’ Rosie asked. ‘Please tell me it’s a good thing, Billy.’

‘It’s a good thing, Rosie,’ he replied though his face suggested he was lying.

‘Are you telling the truth, Billy?’ Rosie urged.

‘No.’ Billy replied, with a shaking head and a look of guilt. Rosie’s face dropped.

‘Then why lie Billy?’ Emma asked quite angrily, concerned that Alfie had gone into a place that Billy had knowledge of.

‘She wanted me to tell her it was a good thing, so I did,’ he replied defensively.

Emma gave Billy an evil glare, tightened her lips and raised her eyebrows at him.

Rosie sighed. ‘Why didn’t you say something before he went in?’

‘I forgot,’ he replied, looking sheepishly down at the ground.

‘But you said the one may enter thing before he went in.’

‘Yeah, I remembered that,’ he answered. ‘I just forgot what it was about.’

‘Oh, great Billy. That’s just great.’ Rosie was not happy.

‘I’m sorry.’ Billy squirmed. ‘But what’s worse is, I have all the potions. Why on earth did he have to let me look after them all? He might have been alright if he’d taken them with him.’

‘Alfie took those two potions out last night, Rosie,’ said Emma. ‘Do you think this is why?’

Billy’s ears instantly pricked up. ‘What potions did he take Em?’

‘I don’t know, he didn’t tell us,’ she answered. ‘He just said he needed them.’

‘I really hope he took the one’s I’m thinking of. But then I don’t even know if he picked any of those up at Asset Square. I know I didn’t.’ Billy glanced to his side, along the wall. ‘He must have. He wouldn’t have gone in if he didn’t, would he?’

‘He might not if you had told him, Billy,’ snapped Rosie, looking away in disgust, and then looking over at the wall with worry.

Rosie really liked Billy, but not so much at this precise moment in time, and Billy knew it. He banged his hand against his head as if to knock some sense into it, hoping that it would help him to remember the important things in the future.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Sunken Pearl

Only the entrance to the long three foot wide pathway that Alfie walked into had closed, so he hadn’t been crushed when it had shut. Because he was walking directly toward the sun, he needed to raise his arm to block out the blinding light. The slim path he walked seemed to stretch for quite some way, so, to save time, he opted to run to the end of it. However, with his arm not being as steady as it would have been had he walked, the occasional flash of the bright sun beamed into his eyes. Unfortunately, one such beam came just as he had reached the end and so he had misjudged stopping slightly, and ended up inside a large rectangular shaped area, with four enormous walls surrounding him with the clear sky above. He would have needed to enter the same place, of course, but he was hoping to be able to see what he was up against before he’d actually entered, so running probably wasn’t his best idea. The moment he had entered, the walls behind began to close, and would this time close with a much larger sounding, and even more echoed thud. He just caught a last glimpse of the long path that he’d travelled before it disappeared behind the wall.

‘Oh well, there’s no going back now,’ he said aloud, before turning around to absorb his new surroundings.

The area in which he stood was a little larger than a football pitch. It was empty except for two cloaked guardian statues, one at each of the far ends. Both hooded stone guardians stared at the dusty ground below, with their hands down by their sides, each holding a stone wand. The statue to Alfie’s left held its wand in his right hand, whereas the one to his right held it in its left, making them a mirror image of each other. Alfie reached into his deeper, pulled out one of the potions he had and he held it up. The label on the bottle of orange coloured liquid read: ‘Double Trouble’.

‘I hope this works,’ he thought.

Taking the cork out of the bottle and then placing it to his lips, he poured the contents into his mouth all in one go, and then swallowed. Almost instantly, but for only a brief moment, he felt a strange tingling feeling run through his entire body. When the feeling had passed, he became very aware of a presence beside him and turned to look. As he’d expected, there beside him, stood an exact clone of himself, and now there were two Alfie Tanner’s.

Much like the statues in his new surroundings, Alfie’s double was a mirror image of himself. It was identical in every way, right down to the very last hair upon his head. Alfie raised his left arm, and at the exact same time his double raised its right. He wiggled his fingers, his double did the same, and when he dropped his arm to his side, his double copied that too. It was as though he was looking in a mirror, and whatever Alfie did, the double would copy. He positively loved having a double and instantly thought about giving him a name. He raised his eyes to the sky in thought.

‘Hmm, I think I’ll call you Henry,’ he said, with Henry saying the same at the exact same time Alfie had said it.

‘No, you’re Henry,’ said Alfie, toying with his double. ‘No, I’m not, you are.’

Alfie found disagreeing with himself to be quite amusing, and he was so completely fascinated by Henry, that he could easily have spent all day arguing with him and have him copy his every move. But he had something to do, and until he had done that, he and the others couldn’t leave the valley. Wasting no further time, Alfie turned and headed straight for the statue on the left, which had Henry heading to the statue on the right.

Standing in front of the stone statue, he bent down to look up at its face, just to see what it looked like, but it didn’t have one. The entire area where its head should have been was hollow, which he thought was actually spookier than it would have been had it had a scary face. Not to hang about, he took hold of the stone wand in the statue’s right hand, and with one hand he pulled. The wand wouldn’t budge, and so he quickly realised that he would need to pull much harder. So, this time he would use both hands and give the wand a really strong pull. With both hands clasped around the wand, he gave it a good hard tug. Unfortunately, he pulled a little too hard this time, and although he had managed to remove the wand, he fell flat on his back onto the dusty ground. At first he felt a little embarrassed for falling over, but quickly realised that there was no-one there to laugh at him, except for Henry, of course, though he was facing the other way and would have fallen over too.

Alfie got to his feet, brushed himself down and placed the stone wand into the statue’s opposite hand. He turned to make sure that Henry had also switched wand hands, which he had, of course, having copied his every move. Alfie and Henry now stood in front of the statues facing each other, and only a few moments passed when a large circular hole slowly opened up in the heart of the rectangular area. Before going to it, Alfie took a couple of steps forward and stopped. He put his right leg out, and with the toe of his shoe, he drew a line from left to right on the dusty ground in front of him. Henry copied. Bringing his leg back to his side, he raised both of his hands and clapped once, before heading over to Henry. This time, however, Henry didn’t copy him and was just stood motionless with hands clasped together. By clapping once Alfie had made Henry pause.

Bypassing the large hole in the ground, which he noticed was very blue, and very still, Alfie walked to the grooved line in the dirt that Henry had drawn. He took out his wand, bent down before it and then simply placed the wand inside the groove. He then casually stood up and walked over to the hole in the ground. Once there, he dropped to one knee, placed his hand in and wiggled his fingers. It was exactly what he expected it to be, water.

Alfie’s task was to dive into the circle of water and swim to the absolute bottom, where there was something he needed to retrieve. Inglebaum had told him that he wouldn’t be able to hold his breath long enough, as it would be far too deep, so he would need help. Help came in the form of another potion, a blue one this time, which he then retrieved from his deeper. This potion was called ‘Spair’ and would allow the taker to have extra oxygen, or ‘Spare Air’, for a short period of time. Once again, Alfie held up the potion, and tightening his lips, he gave the blue liquid a quite desperate look and really hoped that it would last long enough for him to complete his task.

Standing beside the watery circle, he kicked off his boots, took off his jacket and then laid it over them. After taking the cork out of the bottle of Spair, he placed the bottle to his lips and drank its contents, making sure that he had got every last drop. He re-corked the empty bottle and put it away in his trouser pocket. In preparation for what was to come, he took two really deep breaths; blowing his cheeks out as he exhaled. He then took one last enormous breath and dived straight into the watery hole. He opened his eyes immediately, but it was too dark to see anything, other than a red tiny glimmer of light straight ahead, situated as far from the entrance as was possible. Fortunately, that glimmer was what he needed to get, and pleased that he had spotted it straight away, he began to swim furiously toward it.

He seemed to have been swimming down toward the light for a good while, but he didn’t seem to be getting any closer to it. The good thing, was that he was still reasonably comfortable holding his breath, but he wasn’t entirely sure how long the potion would last, so he, of course, couldn’t help but be a little concerned.

Alfie swam and swam, and then swam some more, yet still the light looked no closer, and it was now that he began to worry. He knew he needed to get what was at the bottom and still leave himself enough breath to be able to swim back out. He’d already been swimming for a good while, and although it would obviously be quicker swimming up rather than down, he didn’t know how much quicker, so he made every effort to swim as hard, and as fast, as he had ever swam in his life.

After a little while, and seemingly no closer to his target, Alfie’s body jolted. He didn’t know for sure but guessed that the potion had been used up, and so now he was left to rely on his own breath. Alfie had never actually held his breath for a long time before, so he had no idea how long he could hold it, but he knew it wouldn’t be for very long, and so he was running out of time. Knowing that he would have to give everything he had if he was to get what he needed and live, that’s exactly what he did. The closer he got the larger the red light, now square in shape, became. He still felt reasonably comfortable when he felt his fingertips touch something. Reaching out with his left arm whilst continuing to swim with his right, he soon had his hand firmly on what appeared to be a small wooden chest. He lifted the lid straight away, but upon lifting it, the chest released a strong puff of air, which forced him backward. Swimming back toward it, he reached for the solitary red pearl that sat in the heart of the chest, but he was unable to reach it.

‘Come on, come on,’ he thought to himself, doing all he could to urge himself on.

Now struggling for breath, but with gritted determination, he desperately made one last valiant attempt to reach for the red pearl. Whilst this time he would get much closer, feeling it touch the fingertip of his index finger, he still didn’t have it. He was in desperate need of oxygen and he knew it, though, instead of conceding defeat and trying to make his way out, he bravely continued. Alas, he would continue in vain, for he could hold his breath no longer. He was now beginning to gasp for air, and, as a result, he began to swallow vast amounts of water. With his arm still stretched out in front of him, and his eyes wide open, staring at his target, his body began to jerk. It would jerk three times, and on the third, Alfie was left flailing in the water. He had drowned. With the shimmering light from the hole above rippling over him, he floated upward away from the pearl, and his lifeless body slowly twisted in its watery grave.

The red pearl below, then flashed the brightest of reds. Upon fading, it appeared to have discarded its red colour and had now turned a brilliant white. Within an instant, the white pearl zoomed up from the chest, lodged itself into the small of Alfie’s back, and with immense speed, pushed him upward toward the hole above. Faster and faster it pushed his arched corpse, until Alfie was thrown high out of the watery circle at speed, with vast amounts of water trailing behind him which made it look like a geyser that had just blown. Alfie’s body flipped through the air before landing hard on his side. Facing the watery circle, his right arm was stretched out in front of him and his head lay upon his shoulder.

The white pearl had stopped a short distance above the watery circle and simply hovered above it briefly. Then, it flew hard into Alfie’s chest, with an impact so hard that it forced a vast amount of water to gush out of his mouth, and force him onto his back. The pearl then flew over to his wand, which still lay in the groove in front of Henry. The pearl then embedded itself into its base.

Alfie lay with water dripping from his entire body. Whatever the pearl had done, or had tried to do, couldn’t have worked. But then, Alfie gave the weakest of coughs, which led to a series of coughs and splutters. He rolled back on his side and continued to cough and splutter, releasing more water from his lungs in the process. He desperately gasped for air, taking as many deep breaths as he possibly could as he released the water from his lungs. Alfie was extremely weak. But weak was good because weak meant that at least he had somehow survived.

Drearily, with his eyes only half open, he managed to roll onto his front and onto his hands and knees, which triggered him into a quite violent bout of coughs, with yet more water coming from his mouth and nose. Once he’d finished, he began to find it much easier to breathe, though he was disillusioned, and had little idea of where he was, or what he was doing there. After a while he remembered and still facing the ground, he opened his eyes. Immediately he became aware of a large dark shadow on the ground to his right. He turned his head to look up to see what it was casting the shadow, not that he needed to, of course, as he knew only too well what it was.

Looming over him, stood a tall grey cloaked and faceless figure. It was the very same statue that he had earlier switched wand hands with, but it was now no longer made of stone, and was instead fully alive. Both statues had come to life the very moment the pearl had left the chest, and they were now seeking to return the pearl to its rightful place, after first ending they who had attempted to steal it. Alfie turned to sit upright on the ground. He looked over to Henry, and sure enough the other statue had also come to life, and was hovering around him erratically, wand at the ready.

The cloaked figures seemed very agitated indeed though oddly neither attacked. Alfie didn’t appear to be worried by the scary figures at all, not even in the slightest. Purely because according to his father’s journal, and also the professor, he knew that until he had armed himself with a wand, or he was to perform magic, they would not attack. If he were to have even carried magic they would have attacked him, which is why Alfie gave all the potions to Billy to carry, and also why had laid his wand far from him. He didn’t know why this rule was in place, all that he really knew, was that both had to be beaten in order to be able to leave the area, and that couldn’t be done without using magic against them, so in effect, he already had his answer.

He sat for a little while, in order to get a little energy back before having to tackle these two menacing looking former statues, that continued to hover around him and Henry, and who were becoming more erratic by the second. Alfie knew that his next task was to defeat them, but for now he needed to rest. As he rested, he tried to work out how he had managed to get out of the water, and after noticing that the pearl was now aglow, and embedded into the base of his wand, he wanted to work out how that had got there.

Once he’d rested and was feeling a little better, Alfie stood up. In just his socks, he nonchalantly walked back over to the line that he had drawn in the dirt with his foot. The grey haunting figure that hovered around him, followed, circling him the whole time he walked.

Alfie took up the position he had been in before, standing in front of the line he had drawn. He took a deep breath, and this time instead of clapping once, with very little effort he slowly clapped twice, which was the command to reawaken Henry. To make sure it had worked, Alfie waved his arm, and sure enough Henry copied.

With the grey figure still circling, Alfie knelt down to the line and simulated picking up his wand. His wand wasn’t there, of course, but by pretending to pick it up, Henry would pick up his actual wand and arm himself.

The very moment Henry touched the wand, the dark grey figure circling him began to attack him furiously, bombarding him with spell after spell. But no matter how many spells it cast, it wasn’t doing the figure any good, as the spells went straight through him, as though he wasn’t there. The grey figure that had followed Alfie hovered at great speed over to join the other. It was no good hovering around Alfie because he wasn’t armed and so couldn’t be touched. Although he was simulating holding a wand, he wasn’t actually holding one, and so remained unarmed. Alfie got to his feet and watched Henry being heavily attacked by both hooded figures. He couldn’t help but think that if he hadn’t taken the Double Trouble potion, that all of those spells would have been cast at him, and there would be no way that he would have survived that kind of onslaught.

‘Time for a taste of your own medicine I think,’ he said aloud.

Still clutching his imaginary wand, Alfie began to move around, pretending to deflect their spells just so that Henry actually could. It was much harder than he thought it would be, having to judge them from a good distance away, and in mirror image. Had he have been standing in the middle of the circling figures, and if they had not been casting quite so many, the spells may have been easier to hit. However, he couldn’t risk getting too close, just in case he was randomly hit by one of them.

‘Scramback,’ he said, with Henry copying. ‘Scramback.’

Luckily, his second attempted return was successful, and Henry sent it flying back at the hooded figure, a direct hit. The very moment the spell hit the grey figure turned into a mass of grey ash, which fell rapidly to the ground and disappeared. Just one left.

The remaining grey figure seemed to be very aware that the first had fallen, as he had become much more erratic, and had begun to dart around Henry with far more urgency than it had before, almost as though more determined. The speed that it was going made it that much harder to return a spell, but after a good few attempts, Alfie, or rather Henry, did return one, and just as they had the first they defeated the second. Alfie watched with relief as the second also turned into grey ash and disappeared into the ground. Although Alfie hadn’t been in any immediate danger, trying to return spells from eighty or so yards away was quite tiring, especially given what he had earlier been through.

Almost immediately, the watery circle in the centre retracted, and once it had returned to its original dusty ground, the scraping noise of the walls could be heard. Alfie looked toward where he had entered, and thankfully the wall had opened, he now had his way out. He walked to his coat and boots, Henry copied. Before putting them on, with Henry now just ten feet or so away, he placed the imaginary wand he still held to the ground. Henry copied, and so placed the actual wand down. Alfie put on his boots and walked toward Henry, stopping just a couple of feet from him. He looked him up and down.

‘Thanks, Henry,’ he said, with a wry smile, and a little nod.

Henry of course answered with the same, and although very tempted to correct his double that his name wasn’t Henry, he resisted, as that argument could have gone on all day. Instead, he walked forward the few steps directly toward Henry. To end the Double Trouble spell, you must occupy the space of your double, so when Alfie and Henry met, hence occupying the same spot, Henry disappeared into Alfie, like a ghost.

Alfie went to retrieve his wand and as soon as he picked it up, he looked straight at its base. Sure enough, the pearl was there, and it was white. He still couldn’t quite understand how it had got there, why it had changed colour, or even how he got out of the water. All he could remember was reaching out for the pearl before everything went totally black. He resigned himself to the fact that he’d probably never know. But even so, he was feeling quite pleased that his mission had been accomplished and that he could now return to the others.

Putting his wand away, he went back to get his jacket. He carefully picked the jacket up and headed for the exit. Just as he was about to go through the long passageway, he heard an extremely loud noise behind him, a sound that was very much like a large rock hitting the ground. He turned quickly, but there was nothing, or no-one there, which he thought a little odd. Just as he turned to leave, he caught sight of a large rock, which was embedded deep into the ground a little way away. He looked up to see where it had come from, but when he saw how the rock had got there he froze. Standing at the very top of the high walls were three giants. The very same three that had bullied and had pushed their giant friend off the valley top earlier. All three were looking menacingly down at him, quietly grunting.

Rooted to the spot with his lip trembling, Alfie didn’t know what to do for the best. At first he wondered if he should just turn and run, but he didn’t want to excite them. Instead, and who knows why, he opted to show a little grace, by simply bowing to them, cautiously turning, and then walking slowly through the exit into the long path that led to Rosie and the others. Aware that they would still be watching, he continued to walk slowly up the passageway until the wall had closed behind him, assuming that it would do the same as when he’d entered. Fortunately, it did, and the very moment he heard it close he began to run, and fast, as fast as his legs would carry him. He knew that now the giants were aware that he was in the valley, that they would surely be looking for him, which meant it was going to make getting out of the valley alive practically impossible.

Whilst they waited, Rosie, Emma and Billy were being kept entertained by their new found friend.

‘Brilliant!’ said Billy, before erupting into laughter.

‘Eugh!’ said Emma.

‘I’m sorry Billy, but that’s positively disgusting,’ added Rosie.

‘No, it’s not. It’s hilarious,’ defended Billy, unable to stop himself from laughing.

Still sat where he had been earlier, the giant was now holding out one of his fingers, and what he had sitting on the end of it was not pleasant, not pleasant at all. It was a bogey the size of a beach ball.

‘Do it again Stinks! Do it again!’ Billy urged.

With his other hand, the giant placed one of his fingers up his large nostril, twirled it a little and then pulled his finger out. A loud popping noise was made as the giant pulled out yet another large bogey. Billy fell on his knees to the floor in hysterics, whereas Rosie and Emma turned away in disgust, not happy at having to look at yet another giant bogey.

‘You Stinky, are one BRILLIANT giant,’ said Billy.

The giant responded by giving a mumbled high pitch yelp, which was followed by a smile.

Rosie looked over at the wall, having barely taken her eyes off of it the whole time Alfie had been away, other than for the bogey show of course. Because he had been gone for a good while now, she was more concerned than ever.

‘What on Earth could he be doing in there?’ she said. ‘You don’t think something has happened do you Em?’

‘I’m sure he’ll be here soon,’ comforted Emma, though she too was becoming increasingly worried.

‘I hope so,’ said Rosie, her eyes not moving from the wall.

Billy was not so concerned, as he was too busy inspecting the giant bogey, totally in awe of its size. Then, they heard the familiar, and most welcome, scraping stone sound of the walls as it began to open. Rosie immediately got to her feet and rushed over, with Emma quickly following suit. Placing her hand over her eyes to shield the sun's brightness, Rosie peered down the passageway, and immediately felt an overwhelming, and quite an intense surge of relief run through her at seeing her brother heading toward them.

‘He’s coming,’ she said excitedly.

‘It’s about time,’ said Billy, getting up, brushing the tanned coloured dust off the knees of his black trousers and joining them.

Billy sidled beside Emma and they each peered over Rosie’s shoulders in anticipation, as Alfie made his way to them, both also covering their eyes to shield them from the sun. The giant was busy looking for a way to dispose of his bogies, which would result in him flicking them away with his hand.

‘He looks pooped,’ said Billy.

‘He really does.’ Emma agreed.

Alfie was tired. He stopped running and walked the last few feet them. Once he’d stepped out of the passageway, the wall behind him closed. Puffing and panting, he bent forward and laid his hands upon his knees.

‘Are you alright?’ Rosie asked, placing her arm on his back.

Alfie couldn’t catch his breath, but to acknowledge her he raised one of his arms, as if to suggest that he was, or at least that he would be. It took a few more deep breaths before he stood upright and was able to talk.

‘Blimey,’ he said.

‘You are alright aren’t you?’ Rosie asked, as Emma looked on with worry. ‘And why are your clothes damp?’

‘Ye - yeah - I’m - good,’ he puffed. ‘Oh, don’t ask.’

‘Did you get it?’ asked Billy.

‘Yeah, I got it.’

‘Excellent stuff. Right, now come and see what Stinky can do, it’s hilarious.’

‘Not now, Billy.’ Emma snapped.

Billy screwed his face up and wiggled his head at being told off. Their friendly giant had disposed of his bogies and had joined them.

‘We have to go.’ Alfie gasped. ‘We really have to go now.’

‘Why?’ asked Rosie, bearing a worried frown. ‘What happened? What was in there?’

‘Remember those three giants that pushed him off the top of the valley?’ he answered, pointing his thumb at their giant friend.

‘Yes,’ said Rosie.

‘Well, I’ve just seen them again, at least I think it was them,’ he said. ‘But what’s worse is, they’ve seen me, so I don’t think it will be too long before they come looking for us.’

Alfie’s words had Emma petrified. Her eyes opened wide, her legs became weak and panic filled her entire body. ‘Oh my stars, you are joking aren’t you?’

‘No Em, sorry, I’m not,’ he answered, shaking his head and looking at her with a never more serious face.

‘What are we going to do?’ asked Rosie.

‘I really don’t know. Look for somewhere to hide I suppose.’

The giant immediately bent down on one knee and placed his hands out on the floor, his three lower fingers closed, leaving just his index finger protruding. He gave a larger than normal yelp which made them all turn and look. He gave a further little yelp as he looked at his hands.

‘Stinky wants to carry us,’ said Billy.

‘But he’s only got one finger out,’ quizzed Emma.

‘Don’t worry, Em, I think I know what he’s up to,’ said Alfie, thinking that to avoid crushing them, and also allow them to breathe, he wanted them to stand on his second finger down so they peered over just one finger, his index finger.

Not another word was said, with them all thinking that whatever the giant’s idea, it must have been better than any they had. Assuming that he must know of somewhere where they could hide, they headed for his hands. Alfie helped Rosie climb onto his right finger, whilst Billy and a pretty reluctant Emma climbed onto his left. Before joining his sister, Alfie turned and glanced at Billy.

‘Stinky?’

‘Yeah, he didn’t like whiffy, niffy or pongo much, so we settled on, Stinky.’ Billy replied. ‘He likes it. Don’t you Stinky?’

Stinky gave a little yelp, although no-one could quite tell if this was a yelp of approval or one of disapproval.

Billy grinned at Alfie. ‘See. He loves it.’

Alfie shook his head and smiled as he climbed onto Stinky’s finger. Stinky then gently closed his index finger around them, slowly turned his hands inward. With his hands now positioned as though he was playing a game of One Potato, Two Potato, Stinky would then begin to run.

As he ran, a scream could be heard in the distance. It wasn’t the deep roar of a giant, but a much higher pitched scream, which was similar to the sound a banshee would make. Stinky knew that it was the other giants, and he was fully aware that they could be much closer than they sounded, as their screams were quite deceptive. He was clearly concerned, as upon hearing it, he stepped up his pace and was now running much faster, and much heavier. The walls shook, and the dirt on the ground jumped with every thumping stride he took.

At the end of the path, a huge wall blocked their way, so Stinky slowed. To his right was a small moss covered pond, and beyond that a clearing. Stinky waded through what turned out to be a not so deep pond, with the water only coming up to his knees. Once out, he resumed running through the clearing, with his only obstacles now being an array of stalagmites; large stone spikes that stuck out of the ground. These large pointy stones didn’t seem much of an obstacle to the giant though, as he seemed to have no problem running right through them, knocking them down with relative ease when one got in his way.

Another piercing scream filled the air, but this time Stinky knew all too well just how close it was, and which direction it had come from. He stopped briefly to look up to his right and there stood the three giants, high above them on the valley top. The giant that had pushed Stinky off the cliff earlier seemed to be the leader, standing tall with chest out proudly, whilst the other two cowered behind. He appeared to be excited at seeing Stinky and licked his lips with his long pointy tongue. He then raised his head back and screeched at the sky, before he and the others then began to run in the same direction as Stinky was heading. Stinky could have turned back, but for whatever reason he continued. Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma had looked up and caught sight of the giants, and each were as concerned as could be. Alfie and Rosie looked knowingly at each other and both feared the worst. Billy was more than a little concerned.

‘Okay Em, now I am scared,’ he said.

‘That makes two of us!’ Emma nodded, with eyebrows raised and a look of complete desperation.

Ahead of them, to the right, was a ramp which led from the top of the valley onto the ground. The three giants had just begun to run down it, with the leader a good distance in front of the other two. Stinky knew that he had to reach the bottom of that ramp before the other giants, because if they were to reach it before him, they would be able to cut him off, try to kill him again, and most definitely eat what he held in his hands.

Stinky ran as fast as he possibly could, continuing to knock over the stone spikes as though they were not even there. He was nearing the bottom of the large ramp, but the leader was still ahead, with the other two giants now a good way behind. Stinky now knew he wouldn’t be able to beat the leader, and so wanted to put as much distance between them as he could, he veered left as he ran, away from the ramp and toward the valley wall.

Billy yelled some encouragement. ‘Come on Stinks. You can do it!’

With only thirty or so feet to go before he reached the bottom, the leader jumped from the ramp and landed in a crouched position, which forced the ground to shake violently. A thunderous sound echoed through the valley and a huge dust cloud surrounded him, hiding him from view. The giant paused briefly to absorb the fall, but he soon rose up and ran swiftly out of the dust cloud. Now on level ground, and little way ahead of Stinky, he ran across the spiky ground to try and cut him off, and because Stinky was nearing the valley wall, keeping at the same pace meant he would easily be able to.

Closer and closer the leader got, and soon the giants now ran parallel. As soon as the leader was within touching distance, he lowered his body, and BANG! Using his shoulder and arm, the huge giant barged straight into Stinky, knocked him completely off his feet and sent him flying high toward the valley wall. Thinking of his four new friends before himself, Stinky made sure that he had held his arms out so as to keep them safe. Stinky slammed hard into the wall. Slabs of the valley wall fell with him, and as he dropped heavily onto the ground, they scattered all over him. Stinky let out an almighty scream.

His scream petrified them all, as they knew that for whatever reason Stinky was making that sound, it wasn't good. But, before they knew it, Stinky quickly used his elbow to get up, and again he began to run. This time, however, he ran with a limp, which slowed him down considerably. Unbeknown the them, upon landing, Stinky had fallen onto one of the spiky rocks, and it had jammed into his outer thigh. The stalagmite had broken off with the fall, so it didn’t stick out particularly far, but streams of blood trickled down his leg, and the injury clearly bothered him because he whimpered with every stride. However, Stinky was a determined giant, and his desire to keep his friends safe saw him continue to run, as best as he possibly could.

Knowing that he had his prey, the leader eased to a walk, allowing the other giants to join him. They could all see that Stinky was badly hurt and didn’t seem too concerned about chasing him anymore, fully aware that they could now catch him whenever they pleased.

The pain in his thigh had become too much, and so an extremely tired Stinky had to stop running. But slowly, he soldiered on, dragging his leg behind him, and whimpering sorrowfully with each step. The three giants continued toward them with mouths drooling, excited at knowing that it was just a matter of time before they were feasting on four little humans. Thick saliva dripped from their mouths onto the ground, some dripping onto their clothes, and with one giant even sticking out his tongue to lick his filthy lips.

As they neared, it was clear that these giants were nothing at all like Stinky. The difference in stature was obvious, but everything else about them looked different, even down to their teeth. Stinky’s teeth weren’t great by any means, but at least they were straight. The teeth on the other three were pointed, uneven, and looked razor sharp.

‘This is so not good,’ said Alfie.

‘We have to do something, Alfie,’ said Rosie.

Both Alfie and Rosie tried to reach into their deeper’s to get their wands, but because Stinky had tightened his grip slightly due to the pain he was in, they were unable to, as their jackets now laid tight against the giant’s hand. They wriggled to try and make some room, and although Alfie did manage to get his fingertips inside, he couldn’t get any further. Stinky whimpered as the three giants menacingly approached. He turned to face them all, staring right at them as though he either intended to stand up to them, or was conceding defeat. This excited the three giants, which was obvious from the expressions upon their faces. Their eyes were enlarged, their nostrils flared, and their razor sharp teeth dominated their awkward smiles.

Stinky shuffled a couple of steps to his left as the giants crept toward him. Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma heartbeats raced. Their stomachs tightened and their adrenaline soared. They just couldn’t believe that Stinky was going to stand up to all three of them, especially after what had happened to him last time he was confronted by them, and because they were still in his hands. This was a no win situation. They were fully aware that if Stinky were to punch the giants, then they would be squashed to death, but if he didn’t use his hands, he would have no chance of beating them, and they would all be giant food.

With the distance between them now down to just thirty feet or so, the giant on the leaders left broke off a stalagmite. He stared at them with mouth wide open, and showing the whites of his eyes, he banged the stalagmite repeatedly against his hand. But Stinky had other ideas, and the giant wasn’t going to get the chance to use it. Stinky hopped on his good leg a little way to his left, and within a few hops he disappeared from view. Hearing an echoed thud, the three giants all looked at each other and grunted. In fear of their prey being lost, they ran to where Stinky had disappeared, but all they found was a hole in the ground, a hole just big enough for Stinky to fit through, but with them being so much larger than him, not nearly big enough for them to. The leader fell to his knees to try and make a grab for Stinky, but all his five-fingered hand was clutching at was thin air, as his prey had dropped way further than his arm would reach. With immense frustration, he let out an almighty high pitched scream.

Stinky had dropped down into a large cave, and when Alfie and the others heard the high pitched scream of the leader they all looked up, to see his arm waving around. They saw the giant then peer into the hole, and then, he would again put his arm through to try and reach them. Much to their relief, they were way out of reach. Still limping, Stinky carried them slowly further into the cave, to an area where there was a large blanket laid out, a vast amount of tumbleweed in place of a pillow, and bushes and bushes of apple sticks. It looked very much like this was where Stinky lived, his home.

The giant lowered his hands to allow them all to jump off, forcing him to let out a distressed yelp as he bent down. He was clearly in a lot of pain. Stinky then made his way to the nearest wall and gingerly sat down against it.

‘Oh, my stars. I really thought we were all going to be eaten there,’ said Emma.

‘Me too,’ said both Alfie and Rosie.

Billy was concerned about Stinky and immediately rushed to his side. He wanted to know why Stinky had made all those distressing noises, and why he limped like as bad as he did. As soon as Billy saw just how nasty the wound was he turned his head away quickly and threw his arms over his head.

‘Oh no,’ he bellowed.

His reaction had the others joining him within an instant, and when they saw the rock embedded in Stinky’s leg, they screwed their faces up in horror. Blood poured steadily from the wound.

‘There’s got to be something we can do?’ said a panicked Billy.

‘We’ll never be able to fix that Billy, that’s far too severe for any of us,’ Rosie replied, her face bearing a pitiful expression. ‘He needs a hospital.’

‘Yeah, well, we don’t have much chance of taking him to a hospital do we?’ he said, pulling out a handful of potions and frantically wading through them, anxiously searching for any kind of healing potion that may help.

‘There might actually be something we can do,’ said Emma gingerly.

Billy looked up at her, his eyes filled with hope. ‘Really? What can we do Em?’

‘Hold on,’ she replied, reaching into her deeper.

Emma pulled out a book and skipped through its pages as Billy, Rosie and Alfie looked on patiently and concerned. They didn’t know what she was up to, but whatever it was, they hoped that there was something in that book that would be able to help their giant friend.

‘Ah, here it is!’ said Emma.

‘Can you fix it Em?’ asked Billy impatiently. ‘Please tell me you can help him.’

‘I don’t know Billy. I’ve never done this before. But I can certainly try,’ she replied. ‘Do you still have those plant roots Rosie? If so, which ones do you have?’

‘I don’t know, let me check.’ Rosie replied, before delving into her deeper. ‘I know I have some.’

Rosie pulled out all of the plant roots she had and held them in her open palms. Emma examined each root, occasionally looking into her book to make sure what they were. She picked out all of the white flowery looking ones.

‘Okay, Billy, I need you to get that thing out of his leg,’ said Emma, reaching to get her wand.

‘How am I supposed to do that? It’s bigger than me.’ Billy replied.

‘I don’t know. I suppose you’re going to have to ask Stinky to pull it out I suppose.’

Billy didn’t need telling twice and rushed closer to Stinky. By the expression on the giants face, and the sounds he was now making, it was clear that he was now in serious pain.

‘Now listen to me Stinks,’ said Billy. ‘You have to pull the rock out. Do you hear me? You have to pull it out, now.’

Wearily, Stinky moved his hand toward his leg and clasped his hand around the rock. With a firm grip and grimaced face, he quickly pulled the broken stalagmite out. There was no yelp, but instead a deep scream that echoed throughout the cave. As soon as the stalagmite had been removed, the blood began to gush out of his leg, as quickly as water pouring from a kettle. The wound wasn’t a particularly large, as only the tip of it had pierced his leg, but there was a lot of blood, and the way it gushed out suggested that he must have caught an artery.

Billy panicked at the sight. ‘Come on Emma, now what?’

Emma frantically moved to the side of Stinky in order to get a clearer view of the wound, having not expected that amount of blood. With the book lying open in her left hand, complete with plant roots inside its crease, and her wand in her right, she waved her wand in a repetitive circular motion.

‘Mora Cruor,’ she said.

A bright yellow light flashed from her wand and straight onto the giant’s wound. Within an instant, the blood had stopped gushing out and had eased to a small trickle.

‘Get him to put this on it, Billy,’ said Emma, giving him the plant roots from inside the book.

Billy didn’t need to tell the giant what to do because he understood. He lowered his hand so that Billy was able to throw the roots into it. Once he had them, he slapped his hand against his leg to cover the wound.

‘Good, okay, now move your hand away gently, Stinky.’ Emma instructed.

Stinky obliged and then slowly moved his hand away. One or two of the white roots fell to the ground, but most had stuck to the blood on and around the wound. Once more Emma would wave her wand, but this time she started high and moved her arm down in a straight line.

‘Lentus,’ she said, finishing by flicking her wand upward and slightly to the left.

This time, a sky blue sparkly light shot out of the wand and flew directly onto the wound. The moment the light had hit, it splattered like blue tack would when it was thrown at a wall. Emma’s spell had formed a gel-like texture over the roots, which held them in place, and acted like a big plaster on the giant’s leg. Emma let out a huge sigh of relief and a solitary tear fell from her left eye, induced by her fear of failing. She had never been under so much pressure in all of her life, and she was mightily relieved to have come through it. Her face now bore a look of complete shock at having perfected her first spells.

‘Emma, you are a genius,’ gasped Alfie, staring almost disbelievingly at her handy work.

‘That was incredible,’ said a smiling, not to mention very proud, Rosie.

‘I did that quite well didn’t I?’ said Emma, tilting her head shyly.

‘I’ll say,’ replied Alfie and Rosie together.

Emma was slightly embarrassed by their praise and, in truth, she was still more than a little surprised that the spells had actually worked. She just couldn’t believe that she had just performed magic with no-one’s help, and had managed to save the life of a giant in the process.

Billy was so overwhelmed he hadn’t said a word. Beaming from ear to ear, he simply walked over to Emma, threw his arms around her and gave her an almighty hug. Upon releasing her, he went over to his giant friend and placed his hand on the heel of his foot to comfort him. Stinky looked at Billy, and then at Emma, before giving her one of his usual contented yelps to thank her.

‘How did you know how to do that Em?’ Rosie asked.

‘I read it in this book last night,’ she replied. ‘It says to use Mandrake really, but you didn’t have any, so I had to use Bryony instead. Bryony is a bit like a Mandrake substitute.’ Emma paused. ‘I still can’t believe I did that Rosie. I did magic!’

‘Yes, you did Em, and you were absolutely brilliant,’ said a beaming Alfie.

Again Emma was a little embarrassed by Alfie’s comment, but she had felt a little tingle in her tummy when he’d said them, and quite liked that feeling.

‘What on Earth do we need plants for huh Billy?’ said Rosie sarcastically, referring to Billy’s comment earlier when she showed him the plants on the cart.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said, conceding that he was wrong. ‘I always knew that they’d come in handy though.’

Rosie returned Billy’s now glowing smile with a knowing look.

‘Now, what do we do?’ asked Emma. ‘Do we have to wait until the other giants have gone?’

‘I suppose so Em,’ replied Rosie, looking around the darkness of the cave.

Stinky very slowly clambered to his feet, and although Emma had done a wonderful job healing his leg, they could see it was still a little painful for him, which was quite understandable given how bad the wound was. He pointed into the darkness as if to suggest that they should all head that way.

‘Looks like we’re going right through the cave then,’ said Alfie.

‘If we have to walk through her, then we’re going to need one of these,’ said Rosie, pulling out one of the glow balls she had earlier bought at Asset Square.

They watched as Rosie placed the ball in the air with her right arm and then let go of it. Having let go, and taking her arm away, she had left the glow ball hovering in the air above her.

‘Fireflies,’ she said.

As soon as Rosie had said the word, the glow ball lit up to the strength of a hundred watt light bulb, giving them enough light to see a small area around them. But that wasn’t all the glow ball would do, for soon, thousands upon thousands of much smaller lights flew from within it, and dispersed to every corner and crevice of the cave; with one solitary light being a lot slower than the others, seemingly not knowing which way to go before it found its final resting place. Once they’d settled in their darkened corner, they then began to shine much brighter, which illuminated the cave magnificently. The sight that befell the four young travellers was breathtaking to say the least, with its vast array of stalactites hanging from the ceiling, stalagmites pointing from the ground, and the light glistening over the pools of water that scattered throughout. Rosie pulled the now not so glowing ball from the air, and together they followed Stinky as he gingerly led them through the cave.

‘Are you alright now Stinks?’ asked Billy, seeing that his friend was still in discomfort.

Stinky replied with a familiar muffled yelp. His answer pleased Billy because he knew full well that Stinky would be okay upon hearing that familiar contented sound. Billy couldn’t help but give a little grin whilst nodding his head lightly a couple of times. Alfie then slapped Billy gently on the arm.

‘Look at all those apple sticks,’ he said, pointing to the mass of bushes. ‘You two like your apple sticks don’t you?’

‘Blimey, I didn’t see all those.’ Billy replied. ‘He’s got enough, ain’t he?’

‘Yeah, he does. But being his size I suppose he needs them.’ Alfie answered. ‘How long would that lot last you? At least - ooh, about twenty minutes or so, right?’

‘Oh, I could never promise that they’d last that long.’ Billy smiled.

Stinky continued to lead the way through the long winding cave, with Alfie and the others chatting about just how big and scary the other giants were, and how they were all sure that they would be eaten. They seemed calm enough now, and, in fact, were almost jovial, which was probably down to feeling a huge sense of relief that they’d actually managed to get away.

An hour or so through the cave, they came to another hole in the ceiling above them. The hole was almost identical in size to the one that Stinky had taken them down earlier to get where they were. Stinky stopped to point to it, and gave a little yelp as if to suggest that that’s where they would be going. Not needing the lights anymore, Rosie placed the dull glow ball into the air and called once again.

‘Fireflies.’

Upon the command, the hundreds upon thousands of lights flew back into the glow ball at speed; except for one. Rosie waited for the slow light to reach the Glow Ball, and when it had returned, she plucked the glow ball from the air and placed it back into her deeper. It was much darker now, but there was still plenty enough light for them to be able to see, with the sun shining through the hole in the ground above them. A ledge lay against the wall underneath the hole which was much too high for them to be able to get onto, but it was perfect for the much larger Stinky to be able to. The giant stepped up on the ledge using his good leg and slowly eased his head up through the hole. It looked clear, with no sign of any giants anywhere, so he got back down off the ledge, bent down and then laid his open hands on the ground. Once they’d all got onto his hands, Stinky stepped back up onto the ledge, lifted them up high and pushed them all up through the hole and back into the valley; leaving his hands up high for them to be able to step off. They all took a good look around, just to make sure it was safe before climbing down from his hand. They then moved away from the hole to allow Stinky to be able to climb up and join them. Once above ground, Stinky circled them at a small distance, double checking to make sure that there were no giants close by.

Alfie began to look around in all directions. He tried to retrace the route they had taken below ground to see if he could work out which way they should go next, but he had absolutely no idea.

‘I think we’re going to need your compass thingy,’ said Billy, seeing his friend's dilemma.

‘I think we might.’ Alfie replied, reaching for the heptagon in his pocket. ‘We’re so far off track, dad’s map won’t help us now.’

Alfie held the heptagon with the ‘N’ side showing. The ‘N’ moved directly toward him, and so he turned around to look behind him. He held it out again and the ‘N’ moved straight ahead. He then turned back to Billy and gave him a funny look.

‘What’s up?’ Billy asked. ‘Isn’t it working?’

‘Oh, it’s working alright. But I’m not sure it’s going to help.’ Alfie replied.

‘Why not?’

‘Well, the snag is. I didn’t actually use this when we entered this place, so I don’t know which direction the valley actually goes. It could be east to west for all I know,’ he explained. ‘This says north is that way, but I think that’s where we’ve just come from. So, if we followed it north, it would mean we would be going back toward the other giants.’

‘I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely not going back that way then,’ said Billy.

‘Me neither,’ said Alfie

‘What about the thingy on the other side?’ Rosie asked.

Alfie turned the heptagon over to use the map, but that wasn’t of any use either, as it just had a grey hazy look to it, and moving it around didn’t seem to help much.

‘This is no good either. It’s just blank,’ said Alfie.

Billy raised his eyebrows, and then exhaled. ‘A lot of good that thing is then, hey?’

‘I wonder if I’ve broken it. It has been thrown around a bit,’ said Alfie, shaking the heptagon next to his ear to see if it rattled. It didn’t sound broken, but it was clearly of no use to them right now, so he put it away.

‘I’m sure Stinky will know which way to go,’ said Emma. ‘He does live here after all.’

‘We’ll soon see,’ said Billy, seeing that Stinky was heading back to join them. ‘Which way now Stinks?’

Stinky raised his right arm and lazily pointed. He gave a tiny yelp and ushered them to follow him.

‘Who needs a funny shaped map, or a broken compass, when you have a giant as a tour guide?’ Billy grinned, as they followed.

After a relatively short walk, with Stinky occasionally looking behind him, they came to an extremely high wall, which must have been at least four or five hundred feet high. At first it appeared to be a dead end, but then Emma noticed a stream of water that flowed into, or from, a small cave in the distance to their left. The cave looked awfully similar to the one they had walked through to enter Gigans Valley.

‘I bet we have to go through there,’ she claimed, pointing toward it, which made the others look.

‘It could be,’ said Alfie. ‘I can’t see any other way.’

‘Okay, so how does Stinky get out?’ said Billy. ‘That cave is way too small for him to get through.’

Alfie looked all around and soon came to a realisation. ‘There doesn’t look like there’s any way he can, Billy.’

Billy became quite concerned. ‘Well, we can’t just leave him here.’

‘It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice, Billy,’ said Rosie. ‘Besides, we have a really long way to go, and I’m not sure we could take him the whole way anyway.’

‘Oh, I know that’ Billy replied. ‘I just wanted to get him out of here that’s all, away from those other giants.’

‘I’m sure we’d all like that, Billy.’ Emma chipped in.

Billy frantically looked for a way, but soon he would realise that Stinky wouldn’t be able to go with them. Sadly, he made his way over to his enormous friend and stood a short distance from him. He looked up.

‘Is that the only way out Stinks?’

Stinky looked down and gave one of his muffled yelps, but this one was a little different, as this one sounded a lot sadder than his normal yelp. His forehead crinkled as his large sorrowful eyes widened, making him look like a puppy that had done just something wrong. Billy just knew what Stinky’s reaction meant, and this realisation made him drop his head and look at the ground. As bizarre as it may have seemed, Billy had made a friend of this huge, quite awkward, creature, who had fingers longer than he was tall, and in all truthfulness, didn’t smell particularly nice. Billy didn’t want to leave him there on his own, but what else could he do?

Alfie, Rosie and Emma joined Billy and stood in front of the sad looking giant, all wanting to say goodbye to their new found friend.

‘Thank you so much for all your help,’ said Alfie.

‘Thank you, Stinky,’ said Rosie.

The giant responded by taking one giant step back. He then bent to his knee, wincing as he knelt and placed one of his huge hands in the middle of his chest. Pulling it gently away, he then pointed to them all with his open four-fingered hand.

‘Oh my stars, I think I’m going to cry,’ said Emma.

It was a sad moment for them all. They may have saved Stinky’s life, but if they hadn’t of done, then Alfie certainly wouldn’t have found the white pearl, and he also wouldn’t have been able to have saved their lives in return. They each owed their lives to the other, which was cause enough to form a very strong bond between them all.

‘If we can come back we will.’ Alfie said to the giant, before looking over at Billy. ‘Isn’t that right Billy?’

Billy replied in an adamant tone. ‘Just try and stop me!’

No-one wanted to say anything, but all were all wise to the fact that one day, the other giants would probably catch up with Stinky, and would most likely kill him again, and that they wouldn’t be around to save him next time. But then Rosie had a thought.

‘Billy, what potions do you have?’ she asked as she reached into her deeper. ‘Get them out. Get them all out.’

‘Why?’ he asked with a frown of curiosity.

‘I have an idea,’ she said, bending down and then laying her potions out on the dirty ground in front of her.

Without further question, Billy took out all of the potions and placed them in the dirt in front of her. Alfie had worked out his sister's idea, and immediately joined her in sifting through each and every one of the potions. Billy and Emma looked at each other, slightly confused as to what their best friends were doing. Still on bended knee, even Stinky tilted his head in bemusement.

‘Any chance you’re going to tell us what you’re doing then?’ Billy asked.

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Alfie responded. ‘We’re looking for potions that will help him against the other giants.’

‘Ooh, I like the sound of that mister,’ said Billy, so unable to contain his excitement he fell to his knees to help.

As they were sorting through the potions, Emma decided to sift through her book of spells, just in case there was anything in there that may help, like a protection spell or something similar.

‘Okay, he can definitely use this one,’ said Billy, moving ‘Swift Lift’, a speed potion, over to a ‘Potions Stinky could use’ pile.

‘And this one,’ said Alfie, moving ‘Tower Power’ to the pile.

‘And this one,’ said Rosie. ‘Sky High’

‘What does it do?’ asked Billy.

‘Makes you grow taller.’

‘Yes, yes, that’s a good one. He could definitely use that,’ said Billy, with a smile. ‘Let’s see those giants' faces when he’s looking down on them for a change.’

Billy then pulled the potion from his pocket that he’d been holding back. He placed it in the Stinky pile.

‘What one is that?’ Alfie asked.

‘Time Chime,’ responded Billy, continuing to look through the rest of the potions.

‘But I thought you really wanted that one,’ said Alfie.

Billy looked up at his best friend. ‘I do, but he needs it more than me, doesn’t he?’

Alfie tightened his lips and nodded his head in acknowledgment to Billy’s sacrifice before answering. ‘Yes. He does. Nice one Keeper.’

After a while, they had moved quite a few of their potions over to the pile that would help their giant friend. Among them were a freeze potion, an invisibility potion, a sleeping potion, a persuasion potion and of course the speed, strength and height potions; there were two each of those.

‘I think that’ll keep him going for a good while,’ said Rosie.

Feeling a little happier, Billy scooped up the potions with both hands and stood in front of Stinky. Alfie and Rosie picked up the remaining potions to put them away.

‘If they attack you again, then you just use one of these potions, okay? They will all help you,’ he said. ‘But make sure you only use one at a time though.’

Stinky gave an understanding yelp, along with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

‘Hold your hand out then.’ Billy instructed.

Stinky opened up his enormous hand and laid it on the ground. Billy scooped up the potions, stretched over the edge of the giant’s hand and dropped all of the potions into his pal. He then jumped slightly to look just to ensure that he had them all.

‘Sorry. I can’t see anything in here that will help,’ said Emma, flicking a page back and forth in the spells book, glancing at one side and then the other.

‘Nothing at all?’ asked a disappointed Billy.

‘No Billy, sorry,’ she answered.

‘Oh well, we’ll just have to hope that these potions last him then until we get back then, won’t we?’

Emma nodded as she put her book away, intensely disappointed that she wasn’t able to help him this time.

‘We should go, Billy,’ said Alfie.

‘Yeah, I know.’

Billy reluctantly walked back toward the others but stopped just before he had reached them. He turned.

‘You take good care of yourself Stinky, you hear?’ he said. ‘Be lucky mate. And remember, just one at a time.’

Stinky answered Billy with a yelp, rose to his feet and watched as Billy turned away. The four young travellers then slowly, and somewhat reluctantly, headed toward the cave that would lead them out of Gigans Valley.

Once at the entrance of the cave, they all stopped and turned to wave at their big friendly giant, who responded with a raised arm. Stinky was positively enormous, but even he looked a small lonely figure standing all on his own. Alfie then led the way through the small tunnel. Billy was the last to go through, but just before he did, he turned to take one last look at his huge friend, who was still standing in the very same spot with his arm raised. Billy just couldn’t believe that they had to leave him behind, and emotionally distraught, he waved at Stinky one last time. Unable to bear it any longer, Billy turned and headed swiftly into the cave. If they didn’t have so far to go, and if the others didn’t need him, he knew that he would have happily stayed there with him, even if it was just to keep him company.

Much like the cave they had gone through to enter Gigans Valley, this one was also only a short walk. On the other side, they found yet a small open area with yet another high wall in front of them, a wall which was every bit as high as the first. Fortunately, this wall also had an opening, and after making their way through it, they found themselves in a similarly laid out area to that of the entrance, with the same steep steps. Silently they all made their way up to the archway at the top.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Copper Pot

Having passed through the archway, they were not greeted by a large field like there had been at the entrance to the valley, but by a slim and quite steep, winding ascending path, which led into the heart of a green forest. The boys walked side by side ahead of the girls, and Billy was unusually quiet.

‘Don’t worry, Billy. He’ll be alright,’ said Alfie. ‘And besides, when we see the professor next, I’ll ask if there’s anything he can do.’

Billy’s eyes lit up. ‘Do you think he’ll be able to help?’

‘I don’t know, but he might.’ Alfie replied. ‘I want to help Stinky as much as you do, trust me.’

Billy nodded his head knowingly. ‘Yeah, I know you do. I know it’s stupid really, you know, to feel sorry for something that big?’

‘How is that stupid?’ said Alfie, shaking his head. ‘It doesn’t matter how big someone is, if they have a good heart then they deserve all the help they can get. And Stinky does have a good heart, obviously.’

Billy smiled. ‘He does, doesn’t he?’

‘Absolutely.’ Alfie confirmed. ‘We owe him our lives.’

‘Yeah, we do. So, when are we going to see Ingles then?’

‘In a little while, I hope.’ Alfie replied.

‘Okay. Good. He should be alright until then, right?’

Alfie placed his hand on Billy’s shoulder. ‘He was there long before we got there, remember. And judging by the amount of dirt he had all over him, that was a very long time. I’m sure he’ll be alright until we find a way to get him out. And don’t forget, he has all those potions now, so they’ll keep him going for a good while.’

‘Yeah,’ said Billy thoughtfully, a wry smile upon his face. ‘Yeah, old Stinks will be alright. I just know he will.’

Alfie and Billy’s relationship was a strong one. Whilst Billy provided a majority of the humour, and a realistic outlook on life, Alfie provided an equal amount of understanding, reason and common sense. This was why they were such very good friends. Rosie and Emma had been quietly listening to the boys as they walked. They were also upset at having to leave Stinky behind, but Alfie’s words had helped to also make them feel much better, as they both knew that professor Inglebaum was sure to help, if of course he could.

‘Okay, so where are we going now?’ asked Emma.

‘To a place called Copper Pot Em.’ Alfie replied.

‘Oh, I heard you mention that yesterday, when you were talking to the professor,’ she said. ‘Is it a town or something?’

‘It’s a village, apparently.’ Alfie answered. ‘And this path should take us there. Well, at least I hope it does.’

‘Is it far,’ asked Rosie.

‘I don’t know.’ Alfie replied. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Okay, good,’ she puffed. ‘Because I don’t know how much more of this hill I can take.’

Quietly they continued up the remainder of the steep hill which twisted and turned through the green forest. Further on, Billy thought he could see the end of the steepness, as a little way up, the path seemed to stop, indicating that it may very well be the top. It was a welcome sight because he was now as tired as everyone else by this point. They had only been walking up the pathway for about ten minutes or so, but it was relentlessly steep, and so to them it seemed like it had been hours, which was not something any of them needed after their experience in Gigans Valley.

‘I think we’re near the top,’ he said.

‘Oh please tell me that’s not one of your jokes, Billy,’ said a panting Emma, her legs feeling like lead weights.

‘Nah, look. I think that’s the top up there,’ he replied.

Alfie could see that the path looked to be coming to an end. ‘I think he could be right, you know.’

‘Oh, thank the stars,’ said Rosie. ‘I’ve had quite my fill of this steep hill.’

‘You’re a poet and didn’t know it,’ panted Emma.

Rosie grinned. ‘Oh yeah.’

Soon they would reach where Billy had thought was the top of the hill, and he was right. There was no more steep hill for them to climb, and it was all downhill, and partially straight from here on in.

‘Okay, I need to stop for a minute,’ said Rosie.

‘I think we could all do with a rest,’ said Emma.

Alfie wasn’t particularly keen on stopping, as through the trees, in the near distance, he saw what looked like houses, and what appeared to be a village. He was pretty sure that it was Copper Pot, and so knew that they didn’t have too far to go.

‘Look, through there,’ he said, pointing through the trees. ‘I think that’s it. We might as well carry on.’

‘I don’t care, Alfie. I have to stop for a bit,’ said Rosie, most determined.

‘I’m with Rosie,’ said Billy, instantly sitting down on a large log of a fallen tree that was nearby. ‘I’m absolutely pooped.’

‘A few minutes won’t hurt, I suppose.’ Alfie conceded, still looking through the trees toward the village.

Rosie and Emma joined Billy and sat on the log beside him. Billy’s eyes lit up when Rosie got her lunch box from her deeper, opened it and then pulled out a can of Pepsi.

‘I hope you’re going to share that,’ he said, ogling the can.

‘Of course,’ smiled Rosie, as she pulled the ring.

‘You and Emma share that one Rosie. Billy can share mine,’ said Alfie. Who then took out his lunch box, opened it. He threw the can to Billy. ‘Here you go.’

Billy caught the can and had a huge grin on his face as he opened it. ‘You sir, are a lifesaver.’

Alfie nodded as Billy placed the can to his lips, took a couple of big swigs and then let out a noisy sigh.

‘Ahhhh, that’s the ticket,’ he said. ‘That’s wet the old whistle very nicely indeed.’

Billy held the can up high for a grinning Alfie to take, which he did after taking the few steps forward. He took a couple of small swigs and then handed the can back.

‘You can have the rest.’

‘Are you sure?’ Billy asked.

‘Yeah, I just wanted to, how do you say, wet my whistle?’ Alfie teased. ‘Just give me the can when you’ve finished, because we don’t really want to be leaving that laying around do we?’

‘No problemo,’ said Billy, before wolfing down the rest, making sure he got all that he could out of it, by holding it upturned above his mouth to get the last few drops. Once finished, he gently threw the can back to Alfie.

‘Ta,’ said Alfie, catching it and then putting it into his deeper.

A few minutes had passed without either of them saying anything. Rosie, Emma and Billy were seemingly content to just enjoy their rest. Whilst waiting, Alfie took out his heptagon to check the map. It seemed to be working again because it showed the village, which oddly seemed to be shaped like a horseshoe.

‘Right, come on then,’ he said, putting the heptagon away.

Emma got straight to her feet, but Rosie and Billy gave each other a knowing glance. They were both still a little tired, and both huffed with reluctance as they got up.

‘Oh shush,’ said Alfie, shaking his head. Rosie and Billy responded by raising their eyebrows. ‘We can have another sit down when we get there.’

Together they ambled through the remainder of the forest and nearing the edge they came to a large tree stump, which formed a small bridge over a stream. With Copper Pot directly in front of them, about a hundred yards or so away, they made their way over it and across a large clearing toward it. They headed to the right, where there was a dirt road that led into the village.

Upon entering, they were a little surprised to see that the entire village was really just one long building, an extremely large elliptic shaped building with a long thatched roof. A host of wooden doors was situated evenly around the inside, with only some of the terraced dwellings having daylighter’s. In the very heart of the dusty ground of Copper Pot, stood a stone well with a roof. The well looked just like any ordinary well, though instead of a wooden bucket hanging on the inside, a copper coloured pot hung instead. An eerie feeling came over them all, as there was absolutely no-one in sight. The only thing moving was a few small clumps of scattered tumbleweed, which blew around in the light wind.

‘It’s a ghost town,’ said Billy. ‘Ingles has only gone and told us to meet him in a ghost town.’

‘It does seem a bit quiet,’ said Alfie.

‘A bit quiet?’ replied a sarcastic Billy. ‘There’s no-one here Alfie. It’s as dead as a door knocker.’

‘Well, the professor didn’t say that anyone would be here, just that he would meet us here.’

‘Where do you think everyone went?’ quizzed Emma.

‘Maybe they’re all out working or something.’ Rosie answered.

Alfie strolled over to inspect the well. He had a quick look down, but it was far too dark to see anything, so he turned his attention to the hanging pot.

‘Do you think this is why this place is called Copper Pot then?’ he asked, tapping the pot twice with his knuckle. ‘I think this is copper. Isn’t it?’

‘No, idea.’ Billy answered. ‘Probably.’

‘So where’s the professor?’ asked Rosie.

‘Maybe we’re early,’ answered Emma.

‘He didn’t say when to meet him,’ said Alfie. ‘Maybe we were quicker than he thought we would be.’

As Emma looked around the horseshoe shaped village, she caught a glimpse of what she thought was someone’s head passing a window in one of the houses. She immediately did a double take and looked back, but the head had gone.

‘Okay, I just saw someone in that house,’ she said, a little unnerved.

Billy gave her a funny look. ‘Are you seeing things again Emma?’

‘No Billy, I’m not seeing things,’ she snapped. ‘Seriously, I just saw someone’s head go past that window.’

‘Which one?’ Alfie asked.

‘That one there,’ she answered, pointing to one of the houses to the back and left of the well.

Alfie strolled over to the house, calmly knocked on the door and waited patiently whilst looking over to the others. There was no answer. He knocked and waited again, but still there was no answer. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked back to them.

‘Well, there’s no-one in that one,’ he said. ‘Are you sure you saw someone Emma? We’re all a bit tired, so maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you.’

‘Yes, Alfie, I definitely saw someone’s head,’ she replied, frustrated that no-one ever seemed to believe her when she said she had seen something.

‘You can come out now,’ shouted Billy. ‘We know you’re in there.’

They then heard what sounded like a creak of a door coming from the front of the village. They all turned around quickly, to see that the first house on the right had its door wide open. But no-one came out, or even just stood in the doorway.

‘Okay, I think this ghost town does actually have ghosts,’ said Billy.

‘See. I told you there was someone here,’ said Emma.

‘Yes, but you sai...’

Billy’s words were interrupted by the bark of a border collie, which stood to the left of the door and in the very middle of the path that led out of the village. Its head lowered, and then it raised its upper lip to reveal its sharp teeth. It began to snarl at them aggressively.

‘I think we should probably leave, you know,’ said Alfie. ‘I don’t think this is Copper Pot.’

‘I think you’re right.’ Rosie agreed.

‘And how are we going to do that, with that ferocious dog standing in the middle of the only way out?’ asked Billy.

‘Don’t worry about him Billy, he’s just a big softie,’ said Emma.

‘You are joking, right? He doesn’t look very soft to me.’

‘Oh, he’s alright. You just leave him to me,’ said Emma, not at all fazed by the dogs’ increasingly aggressive demeanour.

She began to walk toward it at a non-threatening pace, with Alfie, Rosie and Billy following close behind. They made sure they all kept well away from the houses too, just in case another door opened and someone jumped out at them.

As they neared the dog, which did not seem to be backing down, a frail old woman, who must have been a hundred years old, if she were a day, emerged from the opened doorway. They all stopped dead in their tracks. The old woman had long grey scraggly hair, a long wispy beard, and a face as gaunt, wrinkled, and as pale as they had ever seen. She wore an old looking grey dress and held a crooked walking stick in one hand. The walking stick looked as though it was the only thing that was holding her up, because as frail as she looked, she would probably have fallen over without it.

‘Oh great, a ghost?’ whispered Billy.

‘No Billy, she’s not a ghost,’ said Rosie. ‘It’s just an old woman. And she looks - well - scared.’

The old woman took one slow step toward them. She then spoke in a very nervous croaky voice. ‘Wh - what is your name?’

Alfie took one step forward. ‘Hello. I’m Alfie, and these are my friends.’

‘Why are you here?’ she asked.

‘We’re here to meet the professor.’ Alfie answered. ‘Professor Inglebaum.’

‘Inglebaum the rabbit?’

Alfie gave the woman an extremely puzzled look. ‘No. Inglebaum the squirrel.’

‘Do you wear another name?’ asked the woman, her voice a little clearer than it had been, almost as though she were speaking with a little more confidence.

‘Do I wear another name?’ Alfie questioned, before realising what the old woman had meant. ‘Oh, right, yes. Tanner is my other name. I’m Alfie Tanner.’

The frail old woman sighed. Appearing much more relaxed, she nodded her head and at the top of her creaky voice she called.

‘The fear has passed. They mean us no harm.’

Upon her words, the people of Copper Pot began to slowly come out of their homes, from all around them. There were a lot of people. Way more than it looked like the houses could actually hold. Many of them were holding wands, though appeared to be lowering them, or putting them away. Oddly, not one of the villagers’ faces bore an expression, and it made Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma all very nervous indeed. At the top of her croaky voice, the frail old woman shouted once more.

‘Tanner.’

The response to her call was that of a loud cheer from every single one of the villagers. Their response was not something they had been expecting, and so they were again a little startled. Then, a young girl of about nine or ten, wearing a long armless blue cloth dress, approached. With shoulder length dark brown hair that fell forward onto her face, she spoke with a chirpy tone.

‘Hello Alfie Tanner, my name is, Annia,’ she said politely. ‘Please forgive our doubt, for we had to be sure of who you were. We were expecting two. Inglebaum made no mention of four.’

‘Hello, Annia,’ he answered. ‘I don’t quite understand what’s happening.’

Rosie, Billy and Emma were equally as puzzled as Alfie was, as to why all these villagers were surrounding them. They seemed to be immensely pleased to see them, as indicated by every villager wearing the hugest of smiles as they approached to greet them. The once snarling dog was now a very happy dog and was now busy licking at Emma’s hand. She crouched down to stroke him and the dog repeatedly slurped her chin.

‘Oh, he didn’t?’ Alfie asked.

‘His message made no mention of others. See,’ she said, handing Alfie a small piece of tanned coloured rolled up paper.

The message was as Annia had said it was, short and sweet. It simply read: ‘Two Tanners before suns fall’.

‘The professor’s not here yet then?’ said Alfie, handing her back the piece of paper.

‘Not at this time. But he is expected soon,’ she replied. ‘You may dwell with us until he arrives.’

‘Er, okay,’ he replied. ‘I must admit though, the old woman did scare me a little. I thought she may have been an evil witch or something.’

Annia smiled. ‘Brinil was more scared of you than you of her, of this I can ensure. She was to be the sacrifice.’

‘Sacrifice?’ Alfie asked, with furrowed brow.

‘Indeed. The old always sacrifice themselves to protect the village and its young,’ she explained.

‘Wow. That is a brave thing to do.’

‘It’s the way of things,’ she replied.

Alfie looked toward the old woman, pulled his lips inward and nodded lightly. He would do this in admiration, and recognition, of the woman’s bravery, having been sincerely impressed by her lack of selfishness to protect the others in the village. The old woman smiled at him, nodded once, and then slowly turned to return to her home.

‘Come Come,’ said Annia, ushering Alfie toward her house, which was situated on the left, just three doors up from the main entrance to the village.

Alfie turned to Rosie, Billy and Emma, who were still busy being welcomed to the village. They weren’t entirely sure of how to embrace this new found adoration, that had secretly made them feel quite special indeed.

Annia face was stern as she stood on her doorstep. She clapped her hands. ‘Come now, allow them their rest, for their journey has been long.’

Adhering to her words, the villagers eased away and allowed them a path to her home. Each villager patted them on the back as they walked. Annia stood holding the door waiting for them to enter, and once inside, she followed and then shut the door behind her.

Annia’s dimly lit house was quite a bit larger than it appeared from the outside, though it was quite a basic home, with just one room. An immediate faint smell of mint filled the air due to the many mint leaves that were strewn across the floor. Stacked high in the corner to their left were sacks of cloth which looked to contain food supplies. A little further up sat a small fireplace, that had a tallish wooden cabinet with one shelf, and a single door sat beside it. On their right, was a long and very old looking wooden table, complete with tree stumps for chairs. At the far end of the room, were a couple of large sheets of brown cloth, which hung down from the ceiling to the ground, covering the rear of the house.

‘You must all be very tired. Please rest,’ said Annia, pointing to the table as she walked toward the fire.

‘Thank you. We are a little,’ said Alfie.

Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma all took a seat, with Billy plonking himself down and letting out a huge sigh. Alfie felt it only polite that he introduce everyone.

‘Annia. This is my sister Rosie, this is Emma, and that is, Billy.’

Annia turned. ‘I bid you all the finest of welcome,’ she replied. Rosie, Emma and Billy all raised their arms in acknowledgement.

Annia then took five wooden cups from the cabinet near the fire, placing them between her left arm and body, to hold them in place. She then picked up a large wooden jug, took everything to the table and placed everything in the middle of it. Sliding the wooden jug back toward her, she waved both hands over it and cast a spell.

‘Purifico.’

Speckles of dirt then flew from the water filled jug into her hands, similar to how it had with Alfie at the Mermaids Whisper. But that wasn’t the end of her magic, for soon after, she waved her arms apart to perform a second spell that would dispense of the dirt.

‘Evanescere,’ she said, parting her hands.

Each particle of dirt, then randomly flashed a majestic green colour, and then gave off a small popping sound, before completely vanishing from the air. It was almost like a small firework display, which Annia smiled at. She picked up the jug of clean water and began to fill the cups, sliding one to each of them upon filling it.

‘You don’t like dirt either then?’ Alfie asked.

‘I do not,’ she replied. ‘It ravishes the taste of the water and serves to make me unwell. I always choose to remove it.’

Alfie glanced at Billy and chuckled. ‘It makes Billy unwell too. Doesn’t it Billy?’

‘I’ll say.’ Billy responded, screwing his face up whilst rubbing his tummy.

‘Professor Inglebaum taught me the ‘Purifico’ spell, but can I ask what that second one was?’ Alfie asked.

‘It is a vanishing spell. One that I most enjoy,’ she replied. ‘I like the green sparkles of the earth.’

‘What was it you said? Evan, Evan—’

‘Evanescere,’ she answered. ‘You must make a shhh, sound.’

‘Ah, I see,’ he said, proceeding to practice with both hands. ‘Evanescere.’

Alfie had no water to purify of course, but one solitary green sparkle did come from his hands, where he must have had a little dirt.

‘Good,’ said Annia, with a warming smile.

‘Thank you Annia, I like that spell too,’ said Alfie, returning her smile, pleased that he’d learnt something new.

Alfie repeated the word in his head a few times, just to make sure he wouldn’t forget it. Annia poured herself a cup of water, placed the jug back down on the table and joined them. Billy picked up his cup to take a sip, but after what happened to him last time, he was a little wary. Even though he’d just seen Annia purify it. Not taking any chances, he stared into the cup to see if he could see anything floating about in it. When he was happy that it was clear, he took a sip.

‘Don’t you have any parents Annia?’ Rosie asked.

‘Parents?’ Annia looked puzzled.

‘A mother and father.’ Rosie clarified.

‘Apologies,’ replied Annia. ‘Yes. They are below.’

‘There is a below?’ Rosie asked, looking at the mint leave scattered dirt ground for any signs of a basement.

‘Yes. Below is where my mother creates her life figures, or Dubbly’s as she sometimes likes them to be called.’

Before anyone could ask Annia what a life figure, or Dubbly, was, a wooden hatch at the rear of the room, just in front of the hanging sheets, opened. Annia’s mother emerged. Upon seeing them all, she called down the hatch.

‘Reign. They have arrived,’ she said, before going over to greet them.

‘Apologies. You arrive sooner than we had expected,’ she explained. ‘I am Annia’s mother, Carine. Welcome to our home.’

Carine’s hair was in the same fallen style as Annia’s, though hers was a little longer and coloured black. She wore a long light brown dress with long sleeves, which had a length of rope that was tied in a bow around her waist. There was no mistaking that this was Annia’s mother, as Annia looked very much like her.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Carine,’ said Alfie, standing up. ‘And please, there is no need to apologise.’

The others followed Alfie’s lead and stood briefly to greet Carine. Alfie then introduced everyone once more.

‘You are all most gracious. For this I give thanks,’ she said. ‘No doubt you are hungry after your journey. Will you allow me to prepare you some food?’

‘That would be great. Thanks,’ said Billy.

‘Yes, thank you,’ said Alfie and Rosie together, muffling Emma’s response of ‘Yes please.’

‘It is my blessing,’ she replied. ‘I shall fix you something this moment. Soon we shall feast.’

Carine walked back over to the wooden hatch in the floor, which she had left open, and called down to her husband once more. ‘Reign! Our guests wait.’

‘A moment,’ replied a muffled voice.

Carine then headed over to the sacks that sat in the corner to the left of the door. She cupped her arm and filled it with some ingredients, and, with what appeared to be a much larger than normal, egg. She then made her way over to the wooden cabinet near the fire, in order to prepare the meal.

Reign emerged from below, lowered the hatch, and chirpily greeting them all. Reign was a tall, ruggedly handsome chap, with medium length dark brown hair and an exquisitely neat beard. He wore a loose blue ripped v-necked cloth shirt with three-quarter length sleeves, and brown cloth trousers. Alfie made his final introductions. In Reign’s hand, he held a clay figurine, which he placed on the table before he took a seat. The wonderfully detailed figurine looked like an exact miniature of him, other than its tanned clay colour. The figurine was identical to him in every way, to the smallest of detail. The four young travellers were flabbergasted by it and were unable to take their eyes from it as Annia informed her father of everyone’s name.

‘Wow, that’s amazing! It looks exactly like you,’ gasped Emma. ‘Did you really make that Carine?’

‘I did,’ Carine answered, turning briefly to address Emma. ‘It shall be better when it is complete.’

‘It isn’t finished?’ gasped Emma. ‘Wow. It’s amazing now. I can’t even imagine how good it’ll be when you’ve finished it.’

Alfie and the others really were in awe of the incredible detail in the tiny figurine, which even had a small scar that echoed the one on Reigns neck. They looked at Reign, at the figure, and then back at Reign once more; the figurine really was flawless. Annia could see the impressed expressions on their faces as they gazed at it, but she was certain that they could be further impressed.

‘Show them father,’ she smiled.

Reign nodded, before placing two fingers upon the upper arm of the figurine.

‘You may greet our friends,’ he said.

Upon his words, the Dubbly came to life, took three steps forward and bowed to each of them in turn. Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma just couldn’t believe their eyes and watched with open mouths, occasionally glancing at each other in disbelief. They were completely speechless. Even the clothes on the small figurine swished as it moved, just as it would on a real person. It was so lifelike, that even its hair flopped forward as it bowed. Once the figurine had finished, it took three steps back to return to its original position. The look on their astonished faces really was priceless, and no-one could quite grasp what they had just seen.

‘How? What?’ said Billy. ‘How is that even possible?’

‘Carine has made these all her years. One drop of a person’s blood gives them life, and with full understanding.’ Reign replied, glancing over to his wife. ‘Only at this time has she finally made one for me.’

‘Can it do anything else?’ Billy asked impatiently.

‘Anything you would like it to.’ Reign replied. ‘I only need to touch the life figure, and ask of it what I wish it to do.’

‘Can we see something else then?’ Emma asked. ‘Can you make him sit down?’

‘Indeed.’

Reign placed his fingers upon the Dubbly’s arm once more, but this time he didn’t actually say anything. Instead, he just thought it. Low and behold, the figurine did as Emma had requested and sat down with its legs crossed. Her response was to simply place her hands together in front of her chin and give the broadest of smiles.

‘How long does it take you to make one of those Carine?’ Alfie asked.

Carine turned her head to the side as she stood with both hands holding onto a large flat steel plate over the fire.

‘Much depends on the person. Some people not so long. Others, longer,’ she replied, before turning her head back to continue cooking.

‘You can make one of those for me later, if you like, Carine,’ said Billy, cheekily.

Alfie, Rosie and Emma were a little annoyed at Billy for being so rude, but truthfully, they wondered if Carine actually would make one for him. Carine took the flat frying pan and placed it on a black iron tray, which she had earlier placed on the cabinet so as not to scorch the wood, and then turned once more.

‘If this is your wish, then I shall make a Dubbly for you once you have had your fill, Billy.’

Billy suddenly became very excited indeed. ‘Seriously, you would do that for me?’

‘The honour would be mine to possess,’ she answered.

‘Wow. That really would be so cool,’ said Billy, quite unable to believe that he was going to have a miniature version of himself. ‘Thank you so much.’

As they waited for their meal, quite a commotion had begun outside. The people of Copper Pot were now singing quite heartily, and were accompanied by what appeared to be multiple drums. It was difficult to hear what they were singing, but it appeared to be a very old style sounding song, with a folk-like sound to it. Rosie turned to look out of the window, but because it was now quite dark, all she could see was the glow of fire torches that passed the window as the villagers danced.

‘Is it someone’s birthday today?’ she asked.

‘A celebration indeed. But not of birth,’ replied Annia. ‘They rejoice your arrival.’

‘Me?’

‘Indeed. Along now with your brother,’ she replied. ‘The people have waited a long time for a Tanner to return. And now they are blessed with two. So now they have more reason to rejoice.’

Rosie looked back over to the window. Alfie sat curiously.

‘So even the people of Copper Pot know who we are?’ he asked. ‘How is it that everyone seems to know us?’

‘Arterian told us you may arrive,’ Annia answered.

Alfie’s ears pricked up immediately. ‘Our father has been here?’

‘Indeed. He said that should he fail in his task, that not all would be lost, for another Tanner lived.’ Annia explained. ‘He sat where you now sit when he spoke the words.’

Alfie immediately placed his hands on his seat. It somehow made him feel much closer to his father, being sat in the exact same seat that he had once sat. He looked around the room to absorb the very same view that his father would have had. Whilst Alfie was reflecting, Carine placed wooden plates with hot food in front of them, along with wooden spoons that she’d taken from a small white cloth pouch tied to her side. Reign picked up his Dubbly and placed it on a small square carved shelf on the wall beside him, in order to make room for his plate. Their meal appeared to be some kind of omelette, with green, orange and brown chunks scattered over them, accompanied by broken pieces of bread, which sat in a rather large woven basket in the middle of the table. Once Carine had laid everything down on the table, and everyone had their meal, she sat down to join them. True to form, Billy was first to tuck in. Slicing a piece off with his spoon, he used the fingers of his other hand to scoop it up, put the piece into his mouth and tasted it.

‘Take a crust, Billy,’ urged Reign, nudging the basket of broken bread toward him.

‘Hmm, it is an omelette,’ he said knowingly as he took Reign up on his offer and reached for some bread. ‘It’s better than a regular one though. Much tastier.’

A smile appeared on Carine’s face. ‘Arterian said that you may use words that we would not understand.’

‘He did?’ Alfie asked, breaking a piece of omelette off with his spoon, and then glancing up at her. ‘What words have we said that you don’t know?’

‘Omlet?’ she replied, repeating the word exactly as she’d heard it.

‘Oh really,’ said Alfie. ‘That’s what we call it where we come from. What do you call it then?’

‘We call this food Chegg,’ she replied. ‘But omlet is a good name.’

‘Well, it’s a chicken egg, so Chegg makes perfect sense to me.’ Emma chipped in. ‘Actually, I think I like the name better. Chegg? Yes, I like that.’

Carine beamed at Emma’s politeness, and the rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence, with only some talk of Asset Square, its stalls, and, of course, the griffin in its heart. Reign told them that he had always been curious as to what the griffin was guarding, but never dared to try and find out. Carine told the girls of a couple of good stalls to get fresh roots, whilst Annia spoke heart-warmingly of Wordies. Upon finishing their meal, Carine stood to collect the plates.

‘Was the meal of your liking?’ she asked, a little apprehensively.

Her words were swiftly followed by a very loud burp from Billy. He quickly put his clenched fist to his mouth. Blushing slightly, he looked around at everyone. ‘I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to do that.’

‘Why must you apologise Billy?’ asked Carine, proceeding to collect all of the plates and spoons. ‘A windy pop is a respectful sign of a meal enjoyed. For this expression, I thank you.’

Upon Carine’s answer, Alfie, Rosie and Emma all tried to burp, for fear of offending her if they didn’t. No-one was able to. Carine had noticed their attempts and gave her husband a knowing smile.

‘Please do not try to windy pop if you do not wish to,’ she said ‘You shall not offend.’

Feeling a little foolish, they immediately stopped trying to burp. Though they should not have felt foolish at all, for they were only trying to be polite.

‘I did enjoy it though Carine. Very much,’ said Rosie.

‘Me too.’ Alfie agreed.

‘Me three,’ said Emma.

Carine smiled and gave a single nod, before collecting the one remaining plate on the table: Billy’s. After putting his plate on top of the others, she gently placed a hand onto his shoulder.

‘Once these are cleansed, we shall create your Dubbly if this is your wish, Billy.’

Billy looked up enthusiastically. ‘Ooh, yes please.’

With a nod, Carine took the dirty crockery, headed to the back of the house and through the hanging sheets. A door could be heard opening and closing so there was obviously a back door to the house behind them. No sooner had Carine left the house, Emma unwittingly let out an extremely loud burp.

‘EMMA!’ Billy gasped, in jest.

‘Oops,’ she said, covering her mouth, and being extremely embarrassed by its volume.

Everyone laughed, even Emma, from behind her hand covered mouth. Once the laughter had subsided, Reign was interested to hear about their journey. He laid his hand gently on the table.

‘Tell me young ones. How was the path from Crowend?’ he asked. ‘Did you by chance see the golden horse?’

‘No, we didn’t, sorry.’ Alfie answered. ‘But then we didn’t come from Crowend.’

Reign wore a puzzled expression. ‘You did not? But you came from the South did you not?’

‘Ere, well yes, we did come from the south. At least I think we did. But we didn’t come from Crowend.’

‘But you must have,’ said Annia. ‘The only other way to Copper Pot from the south is through Gigans Valley, and only a fool would travel through Gigans Valley.’

‘Then I guess we are all fools.’ Alfie smiled, as they all looked knowingly at each other.

Reign was completely taken aback by Alfie’s words.

‘How do you live this day to tell the tale? Only one other has ever travelled the valley and lived, and he was a man of much experience,’ he said, referring of course to Alfie’s father Arterian. Though no-one caught on that this was who he was referring to, not even Alfie.

‘Well, we did have a bit of help from one of the giants,’ said Billy.

‘A giant helped you?’ Annia gasped. ‘This cannot be true.’

‘Yep, it’s true, and he was a true gent.’ Billy answered, before explaining. ‘Rosie saved his life, so he helped us. And then, he ended up saving our lives. We left him some potions to help him defend himself against the other giants that chased us and tried to eat us.’

‘You faced the giants of Gigans Valley and live to tell its tale. There are simply no words,’ said Reign, mightily impressed. ‘You are all truly brave.’

‘Or, as you say, fools.’ Emma jumped in.

‘You can say that again Em,’ nodded Rosie.

The sound of the back door opening and closing could be heard, and soon after, Carine emerged from behind the large hanging sheets, clean plates in hand. She headed for the cabinet by the fire, where the crockery was kept, in order to put them away.

‘Carine. Tell me which path do you think our guests travelled to arrive here?’ Reign asked.

Wiping her hands with a brown cloth, she answered. ‘Crowend of course. There is no other path.’

‘No. They travelled Gigans Valley.’

Carine’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘How is this so?’

‘A giant helped them to venture through.’ Reign answered.

‘Helped? I’ve never heard of such a thing,’ said Carine, truly as dumbfounded as her husband had been when told. ‘Why did you choose to take such a perilous path?’

‘There was something I needed to do,’ said Alfie.

Folding the cloth and laying it in the cabinet, Carine continued to look puzzled though she refused to ask what Alfie’s task was, as she didn’t want to appear nosey.

‘I shall not pry,’ she said. ‘I am just pleased that your journey was a safe one and that you live to be with us this day.’

‘Yeah, me too.’ Billy joked.

‘Ah. Billy. Now we may go create your Dubbly,’ she said.

Billy didn’t need telling twice and soon shot to his feet. Excited, he followed Carine to and down the hatch, and then down a number of stone steps. At the bottom was a small room that was nicely lit up with many candles burning. A crevice about a foot tall, surrounded the entire room, to form a long embedded shelf. There were maybe a dozen or more coloured figurines that sat on the shelf, and each was a masterpiece. Each Dubbly was so good, and highly detailed, that if any of them were human-sized, it would be hard to tell them from a real person if at all. Billy looked at each and every one as he followed Carine over to something that looked similar to a potter’s wheel, with a stool sat behind it. In front, and to the left, of the wheel marked in the dirt, was a square.

‘Into the square, young Billy,’ she asked politely. Billy happily obliged.

Carine took one of a collection of long square clay blocks from the shelf to her right and placed it on the potter’s wheel.

‘I’m sorry to make you stand after such a long, dangerous journey Billy. But I must be able to see all of you,’ she said, apologetically.

‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ he replied.

‘Soon you may rest some more,’ she smiled, picking up what looked like a pair of large wooden tweezers.

Carine looked Billy up and down, and then she proceeded to carve away at the clay block. Billy didn’t dare move because he wanted his figurine to be perfect, though his eyes did scan the shelf behind her as she worked.

‘Did you make all of those Dubbly’s then?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, not taking her eyes away from the clay.

‘They are all REALLY good.’

‘Thank you, Billy. Those are lully words.’

‘Actually, thinking about it, if you made these for people, then why are they still here?’ he asked. ‘Have they not paid you for them yet?’

‘Dubbly’s are gifts Billy. I do not accept traders for them,’ she explained. ‘Sadly, those you see are of those who are no longer with us.’

‘No longer with us?’ Billy thought for a moment. ‘Died you mean?’

‘They have passed.’ Carine replied. ‘When people leave this life, their Dubbly’s somehow managed to find their way back here. I do not know why.’

‘It’s like they’re coming home or something?’ said Billy.

‘Coming home?’ Carine repeated softly, staring at the clay. She smiled. ‘I like that Billy. I like that very much.’

Billy continued to gaze at the figurines, and one at the very end of the line really caught his eye. It was quite a bit smaller the others, and it wore a long light blue dress. He thought it was a Dubbly of a little girl at first, so he wasn’t going to say anything; as he did not want to risk talking about a dead child. But then he noticed that she had pointy ears which stuck out a little way of her long grey hair. His curiosity got the better of him.

‘I don’t want to be rude or anything, but can I ask who the small one is with the pointy ears? The one in the blue dress.’

Carine turned her head to glance at the figurine. She then turned back to look at Billy, and then continued to work on his Dubbly. Her eyes began to well.

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,’ said Billy, now feeling very bad for asking.

‘Do not be of concern Billy, it is just...’ Carine paused for a moment. ‘It is just that she was my one true friend, and also my mother’s truest friend. Her name was Ilya, and she was a wonderful, wonderful, elf.’

‘Can I ask what happened to her?’

Carine paused for a moment to gather her emotions.

‘Yes, you may,’ she answered. ‘I did not see Ilya for some time. But this wasn’t strange, as she was a busy elf. And then, one morning, I opened the door to find her figurine stood before me. Dubbly’s never return unless their partner has passed, so even though I do not know how, I know that Ilya is now gone and that my sadness remains deep.’

‘I am so, so, sorry, Carine.’ Billy frowned, wishing that he had never asked, as it had clearly upset her.

Carine could see his guilt in his eyes, and so she calmly rose from her seat and took a couple of steps over to him. She used her thumbs to correct the frown upon his face, before moving his head slowly to the side

‘You shall not wear another’s sorrow, young one,’ she whispered. ‘Sorrow is my burden to wear.’

Carine gave Billy a little smile, eased back to her wheel, and then sat back down to continue. From that point on Billy remained totally silent, thinking that he had said more than enough. He certainly didn’t want to upset Carine any more than he already had.

Upstairs, Reign and the others had been discussing a number of things, with their journey through Gigans Valley of course being amongst the many subjects. Reign had also given them a brief history of Copper Pot, and how it had accrued its name. He told them of how the village was once called Elemba, and that the wooden bucket that once hung in the well had always leaked, until one night, as the village slept, a very young wizard by the name of Mendrin tried to repair it with a spell. However, the spell backfired and turned the wooden bucket into a copper pot. But, not only did it change the bucket to a copper pot, but it also turned the young wizard’s hair the colour of copper. The following morning, as the villagers all wondered what had happened to the leaky bucket, and how it could have changed overnight, a young child pointed at the young Mendrin and said, ‘ It was copper top. He made the copper pot’. The entire village roared with laughter at the child’s outburst, and Mendrin, feeling extremely embarrassed by the village laughing at him, left that very day, and was never to return. Soon after, the villagers decided to rename the village from Elemba to Copper Pot, as a mark of respect for the boy. The story, and the way Reign had told it had amused them all, though they all felt quite sorry for Mendrin, as he was only trying to help.

‘That sounds like something Billy would do,’ said Alfie. ‘I like Copper Pot though. That’s a good name,’

‘It is a good name,’ replied Reign, lowering his eyes toward the table. ‘Mendrin was a good boy. He is much missed.’

‘Maybe he’ll come back one day,’ said Alfie.

‘We can only but hope,’ said Reign.

With all this talk of the village and with little obvious to actually do, Rosie became quite curious as to what the children did to keep themselves busy.

‘What things do you like to do Annia?’

‘I like to write upon finishing my chores,’ she said. A broad smile followed.

‘Really?’ asked Rosie, not expecting Annia’s answer. In all honesty, she didn’t know what answer she was expecting, but writing probably wouldn’t have been on her list of possibilities.

‘Indeed.’ Annia replied enthusiastically. ‘I have written some tales already, and I plan to write some more. I thought that maybe one day, that I might be able to place them all together to make a whole book.’

‘That’s a really good idea,’ said Rosie. ‘Would I be able to read one of your tales?’

‘Indeed,’ replied Annia, standing up from the table sharply and immediately walking over to behind the hanging cloth. She returned with a large brown binder made of leather and eagerly placed it in front of Rosie.

The binder looked very old and was tied with an old, hairy piece of string, so Rose took extra care to untie the string and open it. Inside were many scraps of old tanned coloured parchment that had the most exquisite penmanship. Annia’s handwriting had lots of flicks and curls and really did look quite wonderful.

‘Wow. You write so beautifully,’ she said.

Annia smiled. ‘Do you really think so?’

‘Yes. I do. I very much do.’ Rosie replied. ‘It’s amazing Annia. Much better than I could ever write.’

‘Those are very lully words.’ Annia’s smile broadened. ‘Thank you so much.’

Alfie and Emma wanted to see for themselves just how good this writing was, and so leant over the table and each took a page from the binder. They were quite flabbergasted.

‘Nicest writing I have ever seen,’ said Emma.

‘And me. It’s better than most adults.’ Alfie agreed. ‘You are very, very good, Annia.’

Annia couldn’t stop beaming at this new found adoration, whilst her father sat smothered in pride for his daughter.

‘You see Annia, did I not tell you of its pleasance?’

‘You did father,’ conceded Annia, who had never really believed her writing to be as good as her father had claimed. Though hearing the thoughts of Rosie, Alfie and Emma, she truly believed it now.

Rosie skimmed through the pages for a while, reading excerpts from the stories. She read aloud some of the titles, which included ‘The Greedy Goblin’, ‘The Pixy Prince’, and ‘A Fairy’s Tale’.

Alfie jumped in. ‘The Friendly Dragon. This one looks really good.’

‘These are wonderful Annia, really, really wonderful,’ said Rosie. ‘I would certainly trade for your book.’

Annia was overjoyed, not to mention stunned at the thought of actually trading her books. She hadn’t thought about what would happen once she had enough to fill the book, and she certainly never imagined selling it, only that she wanted to make it. And now, she felt a desperate urge to write more stories in order to reach that point.

‘Would I be able to write a tale about you?’ she asked politely. ‘Will you allow it?’

‘Of course we would allow it,’ replied Rosie. ‘I would love for you to write a story about us.’

‘Wonderful,’ she replied. ‘Then I shall begin the very moment there is ink to be used.’

Alfie’s ears instantly pricked up. ‘You have no ink?’

‘No, Alfie. Not this day. But soon I shall, and I shall begin your tale.’ Annia replied in the jolliest of manners, before glancing to the ceiling. ‘Though, I do wonder of its name.’

‘Now we can’t have a writer without ink. Can we Rosie?’ Alfie winked at his sister, reached into his deeper and pulled out his red school pencil case.

After unzipping it, he produced one of his many pens. Pens were always something Alfie had an abundance of. Whenever he visited a stationary shop, or anywhere that sold pens, he would buy more. There was no real reason for it. He was just fascinated by pens, along with other stationary. He reached over to grab a blank parchment from the binder, pulled the top off of the pen; placing it on the other end of the pen, and then wrote at the very top of the sheet. ‘Arterian’s path’.

Annia and Reign watched in amazement, overwhelmingly astonished by what they were seeing. Neither could take their eyes away from Alfie’s pen.

‘My writing isn’t as good as yours, I’m afraid,’ he said, passing the sheet to Annia.

Annia glanced down at the parchment, but was so shocked by what she had seen, that she instantly looked back at his pen, seemingly enchanted by it.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, curious as to why she had not said anything.

‘Apologies, Alfie,’ said Reign. ‘But in all our time, we have never seen such magic.’

‘You have no feather and you have no ink, but still you write,’ said Annia, positively astounded, yet dramatically captivated by Alfie’s magic.

Alfie handed Annia the pen. ‘Here, you try. Just hold it like you would a feather.’

Annia was more than a little nervous at this magic, and it was with caution that she took the pen. She held it as Alfie had suggested, and as she had just seen him hold it. Her father looked on as slowly as she cagily began to write, starting with the first letter of her name. But the very moment she had drawn the first line, she immediately lifted the pen from the parchment and looked abruptly at her father. Reign nodded, urging her to continue. Putting the pen back to paper, she continued to write. She struggled a little at first, as the pen was much thicker to hold than her usual feather, but she soon got the hang of it.

‘It is just like writing with a feather father though it does not scratch and I do not have to dip it in the ink,’ she said. ‘I adore this magic.’

‘It does have ink, but it’s inside the pen.’ Alfie replied. ‘Turn it upside down and you will see.

A little bemused Annia tilted the pen, and through the clear barrel she saw the ink slowly flowing within. Her face was a mixture of astonishment and overwhelming happiness.

‘Roll - er - ball,’ she said, noticing the writing on the side.

‘Yes, rollerball. That’s what the pen is called. Well, sort of,’ said Alfie.

‘Will the ink last forever,’ she asked excitedly.

‘Unfortunately not, no,’ he answered. ‘But it will last a good long while. Enough for quite a few tales I’d say.’

Reluctantly, and without removing her eyes from it, Annia passed the pen back to Alfie. ‘Thank you, I enjoyed this magic.’

‘No, no. The pen is yours now,’ he said, waving his hand and refusing to take it. ‘Consider it a gift. In fact, have another. A writer should never be without ink.’

Annia was beside herself, and gazed at the pen whilst Alfie reached into his pencil case to get another. She had never had such a wonderful gift, and her emotions were so intense, that tears began to run down her face.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

Reign placed his hand on Annia’s hand and nodded at Alfie, by way of thanking him for making his little girl so happy. Alfie nodded in return, but then realised that he probably should offer a little advice about the pen before giving her the second.

‘Just remember to put the top back on. Look, like this,’ he demonstrated, taking the top off and then putting it back on.

‘When you hear the clicking sound, that’s when you know the top is on properly,’ he instructed, clicking the pen top on and then off. Alfie laid the second pen on the table, whilst Annia took the top off from the pen that she had and covered the nib; making it click. She took the lid off and then placed it back on again; click. She took it off a further time and then put it back on; click. Annia smiled as she shook her head in disbelief. Amazed.

‘Wonderful,’ she whispered. ‘ So wonderful.’

‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘Now you can write all you want, and finish your book.’

Annia clutched her new found magic adoringly in both hands, as Alfie zipped up his pencil case and put it away. However, during this pleasant moment, a loud high-pitched scream came from outside. A second scream soon followed, and then a third. Reign appeared bewildered as they all looked over to the window. He had never heard a piercing scream such as this before. He rose from his seat and quickly walked over to the daylighter. Annia placed her pen down onto the table and urgently followed her father; though instead of going to the window, she went to the door. Once there, she slid a long block of wood that was sitting beside it in front of the door. She climbed on the block and then slid a very slim piece of wood from near the top of the door, before placing it into a small tube that hung on the wall to her left. The long, thin gap now acted like a peep hole, and Annia gasped with horror upon looking through it.

‘Oh no.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma became concerned, and so they got up to join Annia at the door. The long block was barely long enough for them all to stand on, but they somehow managed it and each looked through the thin gap.

‘The Four,’ whispered Annia. ‘You must remain silent, for they must not know that you are here.’

Alfie instantly recalled what Argyle had told him at Asset Square about the Four, along with the four choices everyone was given, and seeing them in their long white cloaks sent shivers down his spine. Rosie and Emma had also remembered what Alfie had told them, and each gave the other an extremely concerned glance.

To the left of the Copper Pot well, near the front of the village, the Four stood in a circle with heads bowed; with two each facing each other. The people of the village didn’t run as Alfie and the others might have expected, but instead they stood motionless. They did not run purely out of fear of what would happen should they be caught, which they knew they would be. Each of the petrified villagers wondered if the Four may be there for them, and had them all trying to remember if they had, at any time, surpassed the level of magic allowed. Whilst they had thought the rules of level two magic had been established, no-one was really quite sure if it had been, and the people of Copper Pot had lost others in the past due to discrepancies in its law.

The ghostly figure on the left, who was facing the well and was with his right side to Alfie, lowered his head. As he did, a door across the other side of the village flung wide open. Almost immediately, a young boy of six or seven came flying from within. He flew straight through the people and was then thrown to the ground in the very middle of the circle of white figures. A small book fell from inside the boys’ tiny waistcoat which was titled: Advanced Magic. The well-facing figure then raised its head. By doing so, it revealed a large crack in his face, which ran from the bottom left of his jaw to the top right of his forehead. In the creepiest and deepest of ghostly voices, he spoke.

‘Decide.’

Upon his knees, the young boy sobbed uncontrollably and kept his eyes firmly focused on the ground. Cowering and shaking severely, the boy was unable to even look at the figure, much less answer him. A woman’s scream then pierced the night air.

‘NOOO!’

The mother of the young boy had run swiftly out of her house with the utmost urgency, to the aid her child. Barging through anyone that stood in her way, she ran into the middle of the Four and grabbed hold of her son as tight as she possibly could; covering as much of his head as possible in an irrational manner in order to protect him. Though she knew that unless the Four showed mercy there was only one other way to protect him, and the Four NEVER showed mercy.

‘PLEASE! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! HE DID NOT KNOW! THE BOY DID NOT KNOW!’ she cried, darting her head around to look at each of them, as panicked as any mother could be.

Alfie and the others looked on in horror as the poor woman desperately tried in vain to save her son. The one with the crack on his face, and who appeared to be the leader, spoke in a more aggressive and demanding tone.

‘DECIDE!’

‘STOP! PLEASE! STOP!’ screamed the woman, releasing her child to get up and stand in front of him, shrieking so uncontrollably that tears poured from her eyes. ‘I WEAR HIS BLAME! I WEAR THE BOYS’ BLAME!’

But the figure appeared to have ignored her plea, for it raised its right arm, gave a small wave of its hand, and sent her hurtling to the ground, to the feet of another of the Four. It then pointed its hand to the small book that lay on the ground beside the boy, made it burst into flame and then into a cinder, at quick speed. With a summoning motion, the crack faced figure, then lifted the young boy up from the ground and floated his slumped body toward him. Soon they were face to face, just inches apart.

A tall, but not particularly wide hole opened in the Four’s face, exactly where a mouth would be if it actually had a face. The boy’s mouth also opened. A blue mist drifted from boys mouth and headed toward the mouth of the Four. As the mist passed between the two, it gradually and seamlessly changed to a blood red colour. Once the figure had absorbed the last of the mist, the boy was immediately flung hard through the air and outside of the judgement circle; where another woman from the village ran to his aid.

‘They have removed his magic,’ whispered Annia.

‘They can do that?’ Alfie whispered, with hushed breath.

‘Indeed.’

‘So what happens now?’ he asked.

‘The mother has chosen to wear her sons blame.’

‘What does that mean? Will she have to choose instead?’

‘No. If you wear someone’s blame you are given no choice,’ she whispered, gazing at the woman, her face bearing an extremely concerned look for her. ‘She must accept whatever the Four decide.’

He may have been scared, but Alfie couldn’t help but admire this brave woman for doing all that she could to protect her son. She now had absolutely no idea what was going to happen to her, which he thought was actually worse than having to choose. She could be given anything, even the first choice of instant death. Sobbing, the mother got to her feet and walked to the centre of the four scary apparitions, and with fear beyond anything she had ever known, she awaited their decision, and, of course, her fate.

A red glowing pole, then shot out of the ground beside her. The leader gave a flick of his wrist and the woman was instantly flung up against it; her arms now behind her, bound by a thin glowing red rope. Helpless, the woman turned her head toward where her sobbing son looked upon her from beyond the ghostly figures.

‘Forgive me mother!’ he screamed. ‘Please forgive me!’

His mother responded to his cries with a resounding smile, not taking her tear filled eyes away from him for one second. With her fear so intense, the woman was unable to control herself, and so a pool formed around her feet. But as petrified as the woman was, she made sure that her face showed no such fear to her son, as she did not want his final image of her to be one of sorrow. She smiled as heartily as she could for him, but also for herself, because she knew that by embracing her fate, her son would live to see the sunrise on the morrow.

And then, the pole was emblazed in a mass of red flame. At the top of her lungs, the woman’s scream chillingly filled the air. Her scream so loud that a few of the villagers immediately covered their ears, unable to bear the sound. The red flame, then flashed an even brighter red, doubled in size, and as quickly as it had begun, it ended. The woman, and the red glowing pole she had been bound to had gone. Nothing was left to be seen, no remains, no charred marks on the ground, nothing. And had it not been for the small patch of damp dirt where she had lost control of her bladder, it would have looked as though she hadn’t ever been there at all.

Alfie, Rosie and Emma were horrified by what they had just witnessed. And, if Gigans Valley hadn’t helped them realise just how serious their task was, this was sure to. Alfie’s eyes screwed up tight as his blood boiled. To say that he was angry was an understatement. He had desperately wanted to do something, but knew that he was powerless to, and he hated it. He just wasn’t strong enough to take on these four powerful figures on his own, so he had to bite his tongue and do nothing, but watch. But his anger would surprisingly ease unusually quickly, and he soon began to feel much calmer. He thought this was really odd, as he had never lost an emotion as quickly as that. He looked at the bracelet on his wrist, thinking that it may have had something to do with it. The others continued to look at the Four and waited for them to leave. But they didn’t leave and just stood right where they were.

‘There is another.’ Annia worryingly whispered.

Alfie resumed his position and looked back out. To everyone’s horror, the leader of the Four then turned just its head toward them. The cracked face of this evil hooded figure stared right at them, almost as though it knew they were there. Fearing being seen, they all ducked, with them all feeling a rush of terror run through their bodies, in the hope that they hadn’t been. After a short while, Alfie cautiously raised his head and peeked through the slit in the door to see if they were still there. To his utmost relief, the Four were not there.

‘Phew. They’ve gone. But that was way too close,’ he puffed. ‘I really thought they may have seen us there for a minute there.’

After Alfie’s confirmation that the Four had left, the others felt safe enough to look themselves, and just as Alfie had said, there was no sign of them.

‘I’ve never seen anything so evil,’ said Rosie.

‘Me either,’ agreed Emma, her lip trembling at the thought of having to ever face them.

The girls watched as the people of the village comforted each other, and Emma’s eyes glassed over as she gazed at the young boy who sobbed uncontrollably, and who would let out the occasional desperate scream for his mother.

‘They won’t come back will they Annia?’ Rosie asked.

Rosie waited for Annia’s answer, but she didn’t respond. Rosie thought it a little odd, so took her eyes away from the gap and turned to look at her, as did Alfie and Emma. They saw that Annia was no longer looking through the door onto the village but had turned completely around to face the inside of her home. They each leant back slightly to see that her face was as still as stone.

Wondering what was wrong, they each stepped down from the block of wood. What was it that she had seen that would make her so silent and statuesque? But when they had turned, they would get the shock of their lives, for standing directly in front of them inside the house, were the Four. Emma drastically gasped, as, before them, were four of the scariest white hooded figures she had ever seen; each with a grey stripe that ran down the front of their bodies from the chin. Now that they were up close, Alfie could see that their face and hands weren’t just white as they had first appeared, but they had little cracks all over them, as though they were made of stone or were somehow decomposing. And although they floated, they did actually have feet, which also looked as though they were made of stone.

All rooted to the spot, they were each as petrified as they had ever been. Their faces were now the palest of white and they each began to have trouble breathing. Who could blame them for being scared after what they had just witnessed. All that Alfie could think about was that he couldn’t be sure if he had told the others that they should choose the second option, and this worried him more than his own fate, in case they were to choose another.

‘Option 2,’ he gently mumbled. ‘Go for option 2.’

Reign then also turned, and upon seeing the Four, he immediately darted from the window to stand in front of his daughter and the others, to shield them. One of the Four then raised its arm to his shoulder in a summoning motion, which saw Reign instantly lifted off his feet and thrown straight over their heads. Reign crashed down on the floor at the back of the house, just in front of the large hanging cloths, near the hatch. He hadn’t been knocked out in the fall, but he was in obvious pain, and could barely move. As he lay there, he noticed that the hatch was slowly beginning to open. Carine and Billy must have heard him land, and were looking to see what had happened, so, instinctively, he placed his hand on the hatch and slid his body over it to stop them from coming out.

A helpless Reign watched as Alfie, Rosie, Emma and his daughter, then began to walk toward the Four. He could see that they were each trying to stop themselves, but they were unable to, as the Four were far too strong. Each of the Four then raised and held open their arms wide. The arms of their white cloaks spread like a birds wings as though they were prepared to embrace their prey. The children continued walking toward them, and as soon as they had reached them, the Four each wrapped their arms around them to absorb them completely. It was almost as though they had disappeared inside of the Four, much like Alfie’s double had done earlier in Gigans Valley.

‘NO!’ Reign screamed.

But it was too late, as the Four then turned into a mass of white smoke, and immediately flew out of the slit in the door that the children had been looking through. Reign wearily got to his feet, and as fast as he possibly could, he headed for the front door. He picked up the block of wood from in front of it and threw it easily to the side. He opened the door and rushed outside to see if he could see them, but as he’d feared, and expected, they had gone. As the people of the village watched, he fell to his knees and clasped his head with his hands.

Carine and Billy emerged from the hatch, and upon noticing that no-one was in the house, Carine looked to the open door. She caught sight of Reign outside on his knees and swiftly ran to him, with Billy following. Upon reaching him, she slid to her knees and flung her arms around her husband, completely unaware of the events that had just passed. Reign looked up with eyes as pitiful as anyone’s could have been.

‘They have taken her, Carine,’ he said. ‘They have taken, Annia.’

With a look of panic, Carine asked. ‘Who have taken them?’

‘The Four,’ he answered. ‘They have taken them all.’

Carine slumped down beside her husband, her hand left clutching the collar of his shirt, and tears beginning to stream down her forlorn face. When Billy had heard Reign mention the Four he didn’t know what, or how, to feel. All he could do was panic, having also remembered Argyle’s words. A whole manner of emotions ran through him. He just couldn’t believe that his best mate, Rosie and Emma had all been taken. His thoughts turned to the Time Chime potion that he’d given Stinky earlier, and how much he really could have done with it right at that moment. Some people from the village came to offer their sympathies to them all and placed their hands on each of their shoulders. After a while, Carine stood up in her dirt covered dress.

‘Come, my love,’ she said, urging her husband to return to their home.

Reign reluctantly stood, and with Carine’s arm still draped over him, they headed inside. Billy walked beside them. As he walked, he looked around at the other villagers, and wondered what had actually happened. He couldn’t understand why Alfie and the others would possibly have gone outside if the Four were there. Once inside, Carine urged Reign and Billy to the table and sat them down. She fetched three cups and a small jug. This jug was not full of water, but mead.

‘Here, you will need this,’ she said filling the cups, as her tears continued to roll down her cheeks, occasionally dropping from her chin.

Reign clasped both hands around the cup and stared at it blankly. Carine sat beside him and swiftly drank hers. Billy just looked at the cup, and whilst he would normally jump at the chance of having an adults drink, he was far too distraught to even contemplate having this one.

‘Where have they taken them?’ he gingerly asked.

‘I do not know, Billy,’ replied Carine.

Reign said nothing, but instead just sat staring at Annia’s writing, which still lay scattered over the table. He reached for the piece that she had written on with Alfie’s pen. He looked at the very last words she had written, her name. He laid his hand to rest upon the parchment.

‘Will the professor know where they’ve gone?’ Billy hopefully asked.

‘Let us hope that he does.’ Carine answered.

They had been sitting silently at the table for some time, when there were two light knocks at the door. Carine was still comforting Reign, and so Billy stood up and went to see who it was, thinking that it was probably a villager come to offer support. He didn’t even care if it was the Four returning for him because at least then he’d be with his friends; though he was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be knocking. He opened the door and looked around, but there was no-one there. Odd, he thought. But just as he was about to close it, he looked down and saw professor Inglebaum. Before the professor had a chance to speak, Billy beat him to it.

‘The Four have taken them, professor.’

The professor paused. ‘How did they take them Billy?’

‘I don’t know,’ he answered. ‘We were downstairs.’

The professor didn’t hang around, ran straight past Billy, and up onto the table to where Carine and Reign sat. Billy closed the door and followed.

‘How did they take them?’ he asked, with urgency.

Reign looked at the professor sorrowfully. ‘They took them into their embrace professor. Annia is with them.’

‘The White Circle,’ said the professor.

‘What’s a white circle?’ Billy asked.

‘It is where we must now go, Billy,’ the professor answered.

‘Okay,’ he answered, without question, and a slight shrug of the shoulders.

‘Reign. We shall need horses,’ said the professor.

‘Yes. Yes, of course.’

Reign somehow had immediately regained a little bit of hope once the professor had mentioned the White Circle. He immediately sprang into action, by getting up and hastily running out of the front of the house.

‘We must accompany you, professor,’ urged Carine.

‘Of course,’ said the professor.

It was only a short while before Reign returned, though this time he would come through the back door, passing through the large pieces of hanging cloth.

‘They wait, professor,’ he said.

‘Come. We have little time,’ said the professor, before running toward the back door.

Billy and Carine followed, and as Billy walked through the large hanging cloth through to the back door, he saw three beds. This is where they slept, he thought, stopping briefly to look at the beds. The low single bed to his right had quite a few feathers and empty pots of ink scattered upon it. It was Annia’s bed.

Once he’d made his way outside, Billy saw professor Inglebaum jumping off of Reign’s shoulder and onto the mane of the first of three saddleless horses that stood side by side. He thought the professor had spoken to Reign before he had jumped off, but he wasn’t sure, and not that it mattered if he had.

‘Come Billy!’ the professor urged.

Billy ran straight over to the horse, but never having ridden one before, it made him a little nervous; giving him a good idea how Alfie had felt earlier when confronted with having to drive the cart. His immediate problem, however, was that he was too small to get on such a large creature and that there was no stirrup to even try. He stood trying to work out how he would get on, when Reign just picked him up and threw him on. He lost his balance a little, but managed to steady himself, and was now sitting behind the professor.

‘Hold the mane, Billy,’ commanded the professor, which Billy then did, with both hands.

‘Go now professor. We shall follow.’ Reign urged, before slapping their horse on its behind to send them on their way.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The White Circle

Billy and the professor had been racing at speed for quite some time, when out of the blue, the horse they rode became quite distressed, began to pant heavily and proceeded to let out a string of loud nays.

‘Oh no, what’s wrong?’ asked a concerned Billy.

‘She tires, and must be traded,’ the professor answered.

Billy didn’t understand what the professor meant by traded, as it seemed rather odd that he’d be talking about selling the horse when they were in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Although concerned at the strange noises he decided not to question it. A little way on, with their horse continuing to make all manner of sounds, a second horse came from nowhere and was now running alongside them.

‘Where did that come from?’

‘We must trade,’ he replied ‘Make your way onto the other horse and I shall follow.’

Billy thought the professor was totally bonkers for wanting to change horses at the speed that they were going. It was all he could do to draw breath, much less jump from one horse to another.

‘You are joking, right?’

‘We must trade now, Billy,’ the professor urged.

Time was clearly of the essence, and although Billy was sure it was impossible, he did all he could to prepare himself to make his way from one horse to the other. Positioning himself side saddle so that he wasn’t restricted, he prepared to make the jump.

‘To the mane,’ instructed the professor.

Billy shook his head, and still disbelieving of what he was about to do. When he felt brave enough, and when he thought the horse was close enough, he jumped quite awkwardly from one horse to the other, and immediately grabbed hold of the new horses mane as the professor had instructed. Even though Billy jumped in a quite awkward manner, transferring horses was actually easier than he thought it would be, though he wouldn’t want to do it too often, in case he ever didn’t make it and fell off. Billy glanced back and saw the panting horse stopping for a well-earned rest. Positioning himself, in order to allow room for his squirrel teacher, the professor then jumped from the tired horse and straight onto Billy’s thigh with relative ease.

Billy was now mightily impressed, not because he had managed to switch horses at speed, although of course he was proud that he managed that, but because the horse that they were on had called for help and help actually came, almost immediately. Whilst impressed, he was now wondering just how far they were going, and how many more horses they would need to trade in order to get there.

‘This white circle place, is it far then?’

‘Indeed,’ the professor replied. ‘But first we must make a stop.’

‘Oh, right, where?’

‘At an old friends.’

Throughout the remainder of their journey, Billy and the professor would periodically switch horses as they had just done, with each horse calling for help when they had become tired, and with there always being another eager to take its place. There would be many horses for their journey was a long one.

‘Wake up Alfie. Alfie, wake up.’ Rosie urged.

With his face lying on the dusty ground, Alfie began to open his eyes, though only a little way. His first thought was just how much his head hurt, and how it felt as though he had just been hit over the head with a rounders bat.

Rosie shook him by the shoulder. ‘Come on. Wake up.’

Alfie blinked hard a couple of times before fully opening his eyes, and then slowly pushing himself up to sit on his side; using a nearby wall for support. The entire right side of his face was covered with a mixture of sand and white chalk from the ground, which Rosie attempted to remove with her hand.

‘Blimey. You scared me for a minute there,’ she said.

‘Alright, alright. I can do it,’ he snapped, pulling his head away and brushing his face himself. ‘What happened?’

‘The Four took us,’ she answered.

Alfie thought for a moment. ‘Oh yeah, I remember that.’

Alfie then took a look around at his surroundings, but there wasn’t much light, and with his vision still a little impaired, he couldn’t see a great deal, just shadows mainly. He placed his right hand on Rosie’s forearm.

‘So where are we now then?’

‘The White Circle.’

Alfie blinked his eyes a few more times to try and gain some focus. When he was able to see a little more clearly, he took another look around and saw that they were all sat in a poorly lit passageway, with a stone ceiling above them, with the only light coming from a line of torched flames along the curved stone walls. Looking up and down the eerily quiet passageway, he could see maybe twenty or thirty people, most of whom with their heads down and sat with their backs against the outer wall. A few others stood holding each other and looked to be very distraught. Alfie leaned over Rosie slightly, to see a worried looking Emma with her arm around Annia, who was sitting with her head between her knees.

‘Are you two okay?’ he asked.

Emma responded in a soft voice. ‘We’ve been better, Alfie.’

Alfie gave her a reassuring wink, leant back and chatted to his sister.

‘How do you know this is the White Circle then?’

‘Annia told us.’

‘Didn’t they get Billy?’ he asked, looking around.

‘He wasn’t with us. Remember? He was downstairs with Carine, so he’s probably still back at Copper Pot.’

‘Yeah, I know that, but I wasn’t sure if they’d found him after they had got us,’ he said, thankful that at least Billy managed not to get caught. ‘So what do you think this place is then, a prison?’

‘I don’t know. Probably.’

‘It feels like one,’ he said, leaning forward and looking toward Annia, who still had her head between her knees and was continuing to be comforted by Emma. ‘Annia. What is this place? What’s going to happen to us?’

Annia raised her head slowly and looked sorrowfully into Alfie’s eyes, her face soaked from many tears, and her voice filled with fear As she answered.

‘This is where people’s lives end, Alfie.’

‘The Four are going to kill us?’

Annia nodded and overwhelmed by emotion, she instantly dropped her head back between her knees. Alfie was curious to know why they hadn’t been given a choice like they were supposed to have, and were instead immediately taken to the White Circle, but he thought he’d worry more about that when they had got out, if they got out. He reached into his deeper to get his wand, but it wasn’t there.

‘Do any of you have your wand’s?’

‘No. Mine had gone too,’ replied Rosie.

‘And mine,’ added Emma.

He let out a little sigh, dropped his shoulders and sat wondering what they were going to do. He then felt someone touch his left elbow and immediately turned his head to see who it was. It was a man with his head down, which was covered by a floppy brown leather hat, so Alfie was unable to see his face.

‘They shall be returned,’ said the man.

‘They’ll give us back our wand’s?’ Alfie asked, turning his body to face him.

‘Yes. And then you shall face life’s end,’ replied the man.

‘So I hear,’ said Alfie. ‘So, other than dying, what happens here. What is this place?’

The man then raised his head slowly to reveal his face, which bore a resigned smirk.

‘We are his entertainment,’ he answered, before going on to explain. ‘Your wand’s will be returned to you because Grave enjoys allowing you to think that you stand a small chance of life. The Four will be playful. And when they tire, they shall end you. No-one leaves The Circle.’

Alfie wasn’t prepared for the answer he’d been given, and he certainly didn’t expect to be seeing Grave so soon. Oddly, however, a rush of excitement ran through his veins, purely because he thought that if Grave was here, then there was a pretty good chance that his mother would be too.

‘Grave is definitely here?’

‘He is,’ the man replied.

‘How do you know for sure?’

‘Grave is always at The Circle,’ was the man’s reply, before proceeding to burst Alfie’s bubble. ‘But you shall not see him, for he watches from beyond the three points.’

‘The three points?’

‘You shall see,’ said the man, before lowering his head back down to where it had originally been positioned.

Alfie’s excitement at seeing his mother faded, as whilst there was a high probability that she would be there, she would most likely be out of sight, with Grave, beyond the three points. He sat thinking for a while, and then pulled all the potions that he had left from his deeper. He knew that none of them were going to be of any help, because they’d given all the helpful ones to Stinky. He did think it a little strange that whoever had taken their wand’s hadn’t taken anything else, the potions, his belongings, not even the traders. He wondered if they just left you with the things they knew would be of no use.

Alfie was on the verge of asking the man something else, but before he had the chance, a bright light swept through the passageway. Alfie turned to his right, and quite some way down, he could just make out the silhouettes of four people; three adults and a child. Within moments, the four people were all yanked out of the passageway at great speed, and then the light faded.

‘And so it begins,’ said the man.

Alfie slumped back against the wall, placed his right hand on top of Rosie’s and gave it a little squeeze of comfort. She turned to look at him, but he had dropped his head, had closed his eyes and looked as though he was deep in thought. She continued to look at her brother, thinking that if this was the last time that they would be together, then she wanted to savour the moment. After a short while, with her still staring, Alfie raised his head and looked at her.

‘This is what she meant wasn’t it?’

Rosie looked puzzled. ‘What who meant?’

‘Nan. When she said to be brave,’ he replied. ‘This is what she meant, wasn’t it?’

Rosie realised that Alfie was talking about what their Nan had said to him before they had both left for school the last time they saw her.

‘It was probably for something like this.’ Rosie sighed, remembering what their Nan had said to her about looking after Alfie.

Alfie looked into Rosie’s eyes, his face bearing a quite sad expression and almost a look of resignation. With his hand still on hers, they sat looking at each other. Whilst neither had said a word, it was almost as though they were talking to one another.

‘Are you ready then?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘As I’ll ever be,’ she replied, her eyes welling up slightly.

Alfie removed his hand, and together they both got to their feet. Emma hadn’t noticed Rosie stand, as she had her eyes closed as she rested her cheek upon Annia’s head. Rosie leant down and placed her hand on her shoulder. Emma looked up swiftly whilst drawing a deep breath, as she thought that it may have been someone about to tell her that it was her turn next. She exhaled heavily with relief upon seeing that it was Rosie.

‘I want you to stay here with Annia, Em,’ said Rosie.

Emma’s face displayed an immediate look of both bewilderment and concern. ‘Why? Where are you going?’

‘Just stay here with, Annia.’ Rosie answered calmingly.

‘You’re going out there now. Aren’t you?’

Rosie nodded as she looked at her best friend with sorrowful eyes, confirming that that was exactly what she was about to do. Emma slowly lowered her head in an accepting manner. But then she looked straight back up.

‘Then I’m coming with you,’ she said, adamantly.

‘I want you to come too, Em, really I do. But someone needs to stay with Annia. Look at her, she’s petrified.’

‘I shall look after the child until it is time,’ said a frail old woman that sat to Annia’s right.

Annia raised her head, glanced at the woman, then at Emma, and finally looked up at Rosie.

‘You should be together at the end,’ she whimpered.

‘If we can come back for you, we will. I promise,’ said Rosie.

Annia smiled awkwardly, nodded, and then dropped her head back down between her knees. The old woman sitting beside her slowly slid the few inches closer to her and placed a comforting arm around her. Emma placed her hand on Annia’s head briefly before standing up. Rosie then placed her hand on Emma’s upper arm and gave her a sympathetic look.

‘You do know this isn’t going to be pleasant. Don’t you?’

‘I don’t expect it will be, no. But I’d rather be out there with you than in here, I literally hate this place,’ she replied, dusting herself down. ‘And besides, at least we’ll be able to save all of these people if we do manage to beat them.’

‘Would you like a fourth?’ asked the man that had been sitting beside Alfie.

The man hadn’t moved and was still sitting against the wall with his head down. If Alfie hadn’t recognised the man’s voice, then he probably wouldn’t have known who had asked the question.

‘A fourth,’ asked Alfie, staring at the top of his hat.

‘They will select four, and you are of three,’ the man replied. ‘Better to have four that wish to fight, than three with one that does not. Is it not?’

‘Oh, right. Well, err, yes of course.’ Alfie replied, fully aware they would need all the help they could get. ‘You really want to be our fourth?’

The man placed his hand down on the ground, rose to his feet, and then brushed himself down. ‘Indeed. I tire of the wait. Come with me.’

The man then eased past Alfie, Rosie and Emma, and led them to where the light had earlier entered, passing the Four’s intended victims along the way. The people stared as they made their way through the curved, narrow and dark passageway, unable to grasp why this man and these three small children, were jumping the queue for certain death. Alfie glanced at most of them as he passed, aware of what they were probably thinking. But even with his own fate looming, he felt sorry for all of these people, who were soon to face the same. As he looked, he did keep an eye out for the woman from Copper Pot, hoping that the burning at the stake of the Four was just an illusion, and that she may have been sent here instead, but he didn’t see her.

Stood at the opening next in line were two women and two small boys. The women shook with fear as they stood holding the boy’s faces tightly toward them, in order to hide their eyes as they waited their turn. The man with the hat ushered them aside so that he and the others could be next to be selected. They weren’t going to argue and immediately rushed to sit back on the dusty ground, relieved that they had a little more time together. The man stood ready, with his back to the opening and facing Alfie, Rosie and Emma.

‘Do we have much of a chance against them?’ Rosie asked, looking up.

‘No,’ he quickly and casually replied.

‘Okay. I really wish I hadn’t asked that now,’ she puffed.

‘I wish you hadn’t have asked that either,’ said Emma.

‘What magic do you possess?’ asked the man.

‘Not much really.’ Alfie replied. ‘Just the scram spells really, and one other.’

‘Then our fight shall not be a long one,’ he said, turning to face the wall.

It was all beginning to get rather tense, and their stomachs churned with butterflies as the time to face the Four drew near. The deadly silence of the curved passageway did not serve to help matters.

‘You do remember what the professor said, don’t you?’ Alfie asked his sister. She responded with a confident nod. ‘Good.’

The man with the hat, still facing the wall, then raised his right arm, as if to suggest for them to be quiet. ‘It is time.’

As nervous as they had ever been in their young lives, they all prepared themselves for the inevitable shining light and to be pulled swiftly out of the opening. Rosie held both her arms out to the side and gently took hold of both Emma and Alfie’s hands. They each took hold of her hand, and each gave a gentle squeeze of acknowledgment. Alfie took one last look at the line of people waiting for their turn, and caught the stare of a boy of about five, or six, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of him. He responded by winking at him. The boy immediately winked back, which made Alfie smile warmly. Then, the doorway before them opened. The bright white light engulfed him and the others, and without warning, and like those before them, they were yanked out at great speed. Once out, they all flew through the air briefly, before being thrown to the ground. Everyone other than Alfie, who had fallen onto his knees, fell on their sides.

It was immediately obvious to them all that they were in some kind of arena, as loud cheers surrounded them, and they could also sense a lot of people above and around them. Just a few feet away, and directly in front of them, were two stones that stood side by side. The stones were massive, and easily stood at least three times as tall as they were when standing. Surrounding the stones was an almost transparent red hazy mist, which looked like some kind of weird force field that stretched outward of the stones. Beyond the red mist was a long walkway that stretched for quite some distance, and which had a stream of water running along either side of its length. In the far distance, sat directly in the middle of the walkway, were two more large stones, with no mist. Alfie wondered if that was the way out, as it very much looked like it was.

Having all gotten to their feet, they turned to see what was behind them. They now stood in line, with the man in the hat to Alfie’s left, Rosie, to his right, and Emma at the far end to her right. Alfie, Rosie and Emma just couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw what surrounded them. Their hearts pounded furiously at the sight. They were indeed inside an arena, but this arena was positively enormous and much bigger than any of them could have possibly expected. It was filled with thousands of people in the thirty to forty rows that circled it. Almost every one of the crowd were staring, waving their arms, and callously jeering at their new gladiators. At the base of the arena was a dark brown wooden border that was about five feet high, and was beyond a small body of water. At the far end of the arena, in the heart of the crowd, was a large deep red coloured triangle, which was easily as high as ten rows, and was filled with the same red hazy mist that surrounded the two large stones behind them. Above the triangle at the very top of the arena sat an extremely large grey dragon, which was so still it could well have been a statue.

This arena looked as big, if not bigger than the Coliseum in Rome, though, unlike the Coliseum, it appeared to be made mostly of wood instead of stone. Bigger or not, it was certainly bigger than anything Alfie, Rosie or Emma had ever seen, or had been in, before.

‘Oh, my stars. It’s massive,’ gasped Emma, now regretting her choice to come out so soon.

Directly in front of them, about a hundred feet away, in the absolute middle of the arena, stood a large white circular monument. It was at least twenty feet high, and over a hundred feet wide, with a smaller platform on top of it that was slightly taller by a couple of feet, or so, though not nearly as wide. The monument was where Alfie and the others had been held just minutes earlier, and where many more people sat awaiting their fate. On top of the monument, standing an equal distance apart, facing outward with heads bowed to the ground, were the Four.

‘The White Circle,’ announced the man in the hat.

Once his heart had stopped pounding, Alfie scanned the area. A reasonably high bank stretched all the way around the edge of the arena, just a few feet in front of the border, and below the crowd. The same water that flowed beside the stones beyond the hazy mist, also flowed beyond the bank, like a moat that surrounded the battle area, which separated the spectators from their entertainment. A little way up to his left, he caught sight of a forearm hanging over the bank. It was clear that someone was obviously lying on the other side. Either that or it was someone’s severed arm, but he didn’t even want to imagine that.

The cheering of the crowd faded quickly, and the arena fell to a complete silence. Alfie couldn’t believe just how quiet it had become, considering the amount of people there were. It was so quiet, that he could easily have heard a pin drop. The only sound to be heard now was when Rosie whispered something to Emma.

‘Why has it gone so quiet?’ Alfie asked.

‘Every storm has its calm,’ the man replied.

Alfie nodded briefly, glanced at the Four, and then diverted his eyes toward the red misty triangle at the other end of the arena, assuming that it was more than likely the three points that the man had mentioned earlier. He had hoped that he may be able to see through it to catch a glimpse of his mother, but he couldn’t, so just to be sure, he thought he’d ask the man to confirm.

‘I take it that red triangle is the three points?’

‘Indeed.’

‘Okay. So what happens now?’

‘First, we must wait for our wand’s to be returned.’

‘And then,’ asked Rosie, peering around Alfie.

‘And then, the Four will play with us. They will attack us with spells to tempt us to fight, but you must not respond, not even to deflect their spell. When they stand before you, and the face of Grave appears on theirs, only then must you fight.’

‘Grave’s face?’ Alfie asked with a thoughtful frown.

‘Indeed. Before you are ended, the face of Grave will appear on the face of the Four. Only then will you know that they tire of their play, and only then is it the time that you must strike,’ he explained.

‘What happens if we fight before then?’

‘You will feel a pain like no other that you have felt before.’

‘But we don’t even know what Grave looks like,’ said Alfie. ‘And why would his face appear on theirs?’

‘You do not know the look of the Grave?’ the man asked, astounded, unable to understand how they couldn’t. ‘When a face appears it shall only be Grave’s. This is so that his is the last face that you see before your life is taken from you.’

Alfie wondered if there was an end to Grave’s evil, as he and the others waited for something to happen. If it wasn’t bad enough that he would take their lives, teasing them before he did so was even worse. The silence in the arena was quite deafening, and Alfie didn’t like it very much. He was nervous enough as it was, without the added tension of silence.

‘I wish Billy was here.’

‘Really?’ replied a shocked Rosie. ‘You want Billy to die too?’

‘No, no, of course not.’ Alfie quickly replied. ‘It’s just that I know he would make a joke or something, and maybe then I wouldn’t feel so nervous.’

‘We’re in a proper pickle now,’ said Emma, mimicking Billy’s voice as best she could.

Other than a few whisperings to her best friend, Emma hadn’t said a word, as she had been focusing most of her attention on the Four, but here she was saying something Billy would say, which made Alfie and Rosie look to her and smile. Alfie felt an overwhelming pride toward Emma. She had come quite a long way from the frightened girl she had been when they first arrived. He looked past Rosie to smile at her once more. As dire as this situation was, they all still had time to smile, and although they were all extremely anxious, they weren’t nearly as worried as someone should be when facing certain death.

He returned back to face forward and then there was a loud ‘Ooh,’ from the crowd. He instantly took a good look around to see what had happened, though nothing had. He turned to the man beside him to ask why the crowd had reacted like they had, and instantly spotted that the man had removed his hat and that his hair was a really bright copper. Was this what had gotten a reaction from everyone in the arena? It would seem so.

Alfie thought it a little odd that everyone had become so excited about copper coloured hair, until he looked through the crowd and realised that he couldn’t see one single red headed person in the whole of the arena. Although, whilst looking, he did spot numerous wizards in black robes scattered throughout, which looked like the Peeper they had seen in The Mermaids Whisper. The man’s copper coloured hair reminded Alfie of the tale Reign had told them earlier, about how Copper Pot had acquired its name, and so he felt that he just had to ask.

‘You wouldn’t be Mendrin by any chance would you?’

Quite taken aback, The man immediately turned and looked down at Alfie quite. Alfie seemed to have a knack of surprising him.

‘How is it that you know of my name?’ he asked.

‘We were at Copper Pot yesterday before that lot showed up and brought us here,’ replied Alfie, nodding his head toward the Four. ‘A man called Reign told us a story of how a bad spell changed a young wizard’s hair copper coloured, and that they renamed the village to Copper Pot after it happened.’

‘Elemba is known as Copper Pot?’ the man quizzed. ‘And the tale is still told?’

‘Yes, and yes. Reign also said that you were sorely missed in the village.’ Alfie replied. ‘Oh, by the way, my name is, Alfie.’

Mendrin turned his head back to face forward without saying another word. He just stood deep in thought, and it wasn’t hard to guess that he was thinking about his former village and the people of it.

Alfie stood looking at Mendrin for a little while thinking that he may say something, but when he realised he had said all he was going to, he also returned to face forward. Upon turning, he immediately caught sight of a small grey coloured bird flying toward him. He quickly moved his head back and to the side out of the way, as it looked as though the bird was going to fly straight into his face. The small grey bird, which looked very much like a sparrow, stopped within a couple of feet level with his eyes and hovered before him, frantically flapping its wings. It flew so close that Alfie could see the birds every detail. And whilst he couldn’t quite understand what it was actually doing, he was fascinated. After a few seconds, the bird just flew away, high into the air and out of sight. Alfie looked to Rosie, but she hadn’t seen the bird, as she was busy whispering to Emma, so he turned to Mendrin, who was still facing forward. He gave no indication that he had seen it either. Alfie began to wonder if the anxiety he felt about the situation had made him start to hallucinate.

‘Well, that was pretty weird,’ he said.

‘To your feet,’ said Mendrin.

‘Sorry?’ asked Alfie, not hearing him due to his concerns.

‘Your feet,’ repeated Mendrin.

Alfie heard the second time, and so looked down at his feet. It took a good scan of the ground before he then spotted a small scroll of paper, which was right in front of him about ten inches away. He bent down, picked it up, and then unravelled it to see that there was a short message inside. He read it aloud.

‘Do not fear the skies.’

Alfie looked up at the mostly clear blue sky, and then back at the scroll. He wondered who it was from, and what it could mean. Rosie tilted her head slightly toward Alfie to read it.

‘That’s from, Billy,’ she said.

‘No. That’s not Billy’s writing.’ Alfie replied, shaking his head. ‘That’s much too neat for, Billy.’

‘Then Carine, or Reign, must have written it,’ she said.

‘How could you possibly know that?’ Alfie asked, puzzled.

‘Look at how it’s written. That writing doesn’t look like the writing of a feather does it? There are no ink spots or thick lines,’ she explained. ‘That looks like a pen that we would write with Alfie. And who do we know that now has a pen like that?’

‘You know, I didn’t even notice that. Well spotted,’ said Alfie. ‘So, come on then clever clogs, what do you think it means?’

‘I have absolutely no idea,’ she answered, looking up at the sky.

And there wasn’t any time for them to guess either, for no sooner had Rosie finished her reply, then everyone in the arena immediately cheered, and began to stomp their feet with immense enthusiasm. They were so loud that it actually startled Emma.

‘Oh, now what?’ she sighed.

‘Look at the triangle Em.’ Alfie instructed. His eyes firmly fixated upon it.

The red triangle was now aglow with many bright red streaks, of what looked like a mass of electricity running through it. A tall red-cloaked, hooded figure, with an extremely long hood that covered his face, then casually walked slowly out of the very middle of the triangle. The crowd erupted and the noise was ferocious as the creepy figure walked toward the White Circle. It was Grave. The quite bizarre thing about Grave’s entrance was that there was no walkway at the back of the White Circle, yet he walked as if there were. He was literally walking on air.

In the crowd, to Grave’s left, a solitary man stood looking very defiant with his arms firmly crossed. He was the only person in the entire arena that wasn’t clapping, cheering or stomping their feet. Grave’s head remained perfectly still and faced forward the whole time that he walked, having not raised it to look at the crowd once. And still without moving it, he slowly raised his left arm in the defiant man’s direction. Immediately, the man was lifted high into the air above the crowd, to almost the very top of the arena. Although suspended, the man remained defiant by refusing to uncross his arms.

‘MURDERER!’ he shouted.

Still with his arm raised, and continuing to walk facing forward, Grave gave a flick of his wrist and the man was instantly thrown high out of the arena, like a baseball. The very moment the man had been sent flying, the grey dragon that had been sitting on top of the arena gave a loud screech, flapped its wings furiously, and then flew straight toward him. Upon reaching the man, the dragon simply plucked him from the sky with his huge claws and flew off into the distance. Grave had basically just fed the man to the dragon. Unfazed, Grave slowly lowered his arm and continued to casually walk to the White Circle; where the Four still stood with heads bowed.

The cheering and clapping of the crowd continued as though nothing had happened. There hadn’t even been the slightest of gasp, from anyone in the crowd. The reason was that it was law when Grave entered the arena, that he would be greeted with adoration, and not defiance. He was in no way going to tolerate this man’s behaviour, whatever the accusation.

‘Oh my stars,’ gasped Emma, completely dumbfounded at seeing the dragon flying high with the man’s legs dangling.

Emma had hoped that they may have stood a slight chance against the Four. But now, even if they were to actually beat them, she wondered how they could possibly defeat Grave; who was powerful enough to throw a man that distance with just a flick of his wrist.

Alfie and Rosie hadn’t taken their eyes away from Grave from the moment he walked out of the three points, only having seen the man being thrown from the corner of their eye. They were filled with hatred as they finally laid eyes on the man that had murdered their father, and who had bound, and imprisoned, their mother. Both just stared at him intensely, their faces as still as stone. Mendrin was busy looking around the arena, and with some urgency, almost as though he was looking for something or someone.

‘Something is wrong,’ he said. ‘Grave never enters until the games are done.’

Although Alfie was concentrating hard on Grave, he had heard what Mendrin had said, and so turned his head toward him; though in such a way as to still keep his eyes on Grave.

‘He doesn’t?’

‘No.’ Mendrin replied, now looking through the crowd. ‘She must be here.’

‘Who must be here?’ Alfie asked.

‘The girl Tanner.’

Alfie finally took his eyes off of Grave and diverted them toward Mendrin. He was about to tell him that the girl Tanner was actually his sister and that he himself was also a Tanner, but his attention was immediately drawn back to Grave, who had raised his arm with palm upturned, and who was now pointing toward the red triangle. Alfie became increasingly excited, as excited as he had ever been in his entire life. All his hopes were answered when a tall, thin, and positively elegant woman, wearing a long blood red dress that was identical in colour to Grave’s cloak, emerged from the three points. Once more the crowd erupted as the woman eloquently walked toward Grave. The noise of the crowd was every bit as loud as it had been when their ruler had entered, in fact, it may have been even louder.

The woman’s dress was a perfect fit, hugging to her slim frame as she walked to her master with style and grace; the hem of her dress draped slightly over her feet and flowed elegantly with every step she took. Her expressionless face was pure, with no artificial colouring whatsoever; as were her long, seemingly manicured nails. The woman's shoulder length black hair bore a thin red streak on its left side. This was the very same woman that the girls had seen earlier in the painting on the castle ceiling. It was the twins mother, Tianirra. Unable to take his eyes away, Alfie took hold of Rosie’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Both were positively captivated at laying their eyes on their mother for the very first time. Their hearts pounded. Their emotions bore a mixture of love, excitement and desperate longing.

‘Isn’t that the woman from the ceiling?’ Emma asked.

‘Yes Em, it is.’ Rosie replied. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’

‘Yes. Very.’ Emma agreed. She paused for a moment. ‘Too bad she’s going to kill us.’

‘My mum is not going to kill us Em. You’ll see.’ Rosie said firmly.

‘Is that your mum?’ Emma gasped, as Rosie smiled at the crowd embraced her mother. ‘Oh, my stars.’

The crowd once more fell into a silence, as Tianirra stood beside Grave at the centre of the higher platform; her arms loosely together in front of her, with one hand on top of the other, where she would remain until instructed otherwise. Grave then lowered the hood of his cloak, to reveal a quite ordinary-looking man with shortish black hair. His action was greeted with some whispered mumblings from the crowd, as this was the first time he had revealed his face in quite some time. Grave was really quite an ordinary looking man, and not scary looking, as Alfie and the others had undoubtedly expected. The only thing that looked remotely scary about him was a long and quite thick scar on the left side of his face, which ran from above his left eye, all the way down to below his chin; the tail end of the scar curving off slightly around his neck. It looked very nasty indeed, and however he had managed to get it, he was lucky to escape without losing an eye.

‘He doesn’t look scary at all,’ said Alfie. ‘Nothing like I imagined.’

‘Do not judge him by his look my friend,’ said Mendrin. ‘Many before you have, and they have learned regret.’

‘No, I just meant that I expected him to look a bit more, I don’t know, evil.’ Alfie explained.

‘How should evil look?’ Mendrin asked.

Alfie thought for a moment, and would very soon realise that he had absolutely no idea what evil truly looked like. All he could compare evil with, was what he had read about, or seen on television. Was that really evil, or just people’s interpretation of evil?

‘I don’t actually know,’ he answered.

‘Evil comes from within my friend. From one’s soul. It does not require a look.’ Mendrin wisely added, which had Alfie tightening his lips and nodding in agreement.

Grave casually walked around the top of the White Circle on the higher platform, around Tianirra and behind the Four. He then stopped and raised both of his arms outward. The crowd greeted his action with immense enthusiasm, and he would absorb every ounce of their forced adoration. He then lowered his arms to his side, which had the crowd falling silent once again, so as to allow their ruler to be able to address them. And address them he would, in a loud clear tone.

‘This day is a good day. For this day you will witness the end of an emotion that you all like to call...’ Grave paused for a moment before finishing, raising his voice slightly with his final word. ‘Hope.’

He would again walk around the top platform, staring at areas of the crowd as he allowed them all to absorb his words. Of course, the people had little idea what he was talking about, but it didn’t stop them from whispering to each other in order to guess. Grave grinned menacingly before continuing.

‘I know that you all whisper the tale of the hope of the lands. The saviour of magic,’ he accused, pausing once more to glance at the many bowed heads which appeared throughout the crowd. This was a bow of shame, which seemed to very much please him. ‘But at this day’s end, you shall whisper no more. For this day, this TALE, shall end. And this day, you shall all embrace my rule with your very soul.’

The crowd gasped in response, with few unable to believe his words, as that would suggest that the hope of the lands was in the arena. Everyone looked at Rosie and Emma, with almost all of them showing disbelief that it could possibly be one of them, with some shaking their heads to dismiss such thoughts. Others just stared, and wondered which one of them it could be, assuming it would be the dark-haired of the two, Emma.

‘INDEED. Your hope of hopes stands before you this day.’ Grave paused once more, before continuing in a slow dastardly tone, breaking his words as he spoke. ‘The very - last - Tanner.’

Grave then raised his arm, just as he had when entering the arena. Rosie was instantly raised off the ground. She floated just a few feet in the air, on display for everyone, which incited yet another collective gasp. Rosie’s dangling feet were level with Alfie and Emma’s head, so both tried in vain to pull her down, but they couldn’t even move her so much as an inch. Grave was in complete control of her. Mendrin looked across to Rosie, in complete awe of being so close to the very last Tanner. He was both highly honoured and excited and that he was about to fight beside her, as a worthier death there could not be.

Rosie didn’t scream or shout, and nor did she make the slightest of sounds. Not because she didn’t want to but because she couldn’t, as not only did she not have control of any of her limbs, but she didn’t even have control over her lips; her vocal chords were seemingly frozen. Grave glanced over his shoulder and gave Rosie an evil but smiling stare, which would turn into an almost gloating smile, right before he would lower his arm and turn away. Rosie instantly fell down with a bump. Alfie and Emma rushed to help her, both glad that she hadn’t been any higher, or else she may well have broken something in the fall.

‘Are you alright?’ they both asked.

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m alright,’ she replied, extremely disgruntled as she got up and stared hatefully at Grave. ‘I really wish I had my wand right now.’

Grave had returned to the middle of the White Circle, and was now standing beside a stone-faced, and motionless, Tianirra. She hadn’t moved a muscle the whole time, not even when Rosie had been suspended in the air. Grave then placed each arm on the inside of the loose sleeve of the other of his cloak. With voice raised and a single nod, he called.

‘LUGLOW!’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Coriarium

To their right, a small panel in the dark border below the crowd opened. An extremely small chubby man with a monobrow emerged, his one eyebrow spread right across his forehead the length of both of his eyes. Luglow walked across a plank of wood; which led over the moat and headed toward them. Half of this strange creature’s right ear was missing and looked as though it had been chopped or bitten, off. The pointy tip of his good ear dangled helplessly over, similar to a flop-eared rabbits, which swayed as he walked.

When he had reached Emma, her immediate thought was that this man wasn’t just small, but positively tiny, with his head only just coming up to her stomach. She also noticed that the fingers of his right hand moved quickly, and constantly, suggesting that he had some kind of nervous disposition. He touched Emma lightly on her elbow, which initially made her shy away, due to not knowing what he was going to do. He then moved on to Rosie and touched her elbow in the same manner. He did the same to Alfie, and then finally to Mendrin, before turning and walking ten, or so, steps away in front of them. He turned once more to face Mendrin, and then stretched out his small arm with its palm facing down. Almost immediately, a wand fell from his hand and to the ground. Luglow then shuffled to his left and dropped a wand in front of Alfie. He would do the same with Rosie, and then finally dropped a wand in front of Emma. Once all of the wand’s were in place, he ran, in a quite comical manner, back to the mound, over the plank bridge, and then into the small opening, which slammed shut behind him.

Emma turned to Rosie. ‘Was that a dwarf?’

‘I shouldn’t have thought so with those ears.’ Rosie replied. ‘I really don’t know what he was.’

‘So what happens now then Mendrin?’ Alfie asked.

‘We shall all take our wand.’ Mendrin answered. ‘Upon our touch, the Four shall awaken.’

Mendrin was as nervous as anyone would be when going into battle though he was still feeling overwhelmingly privileged to be facing the Four alongside the last Tanner. He was certainly more hopeful of success, and was of the mind that should he fall, he would bravely embrace his fate.

‘Come,’ he said, taking the few steps toward his wand.

Alfie, Rosie and Emma followed. At Mendrin’s side, they copied as he leant down on his left knee and rested his left arm over his wand. They looked to see if the wand’s were actually the ones that had been given to them, and much to their relief, they were. After all, whilst none of them were strong with magic, they wouldn’t want just any old random wand. Alfie was a little surprised that his was fully intact, with the pearl he’d retrieved at Gigans Valley still embedded into its base. He wondered why they hadn’t taken it, as he was almost certain that they would have. Mendrin leant forward and placed his right hand just an inch from his wand. He looked along the line and nodded to the others to do the same, which they did.

‘Until the face,’ he said, with a high degree of seriousness.

Mendrin, then grasped his wand and stood up. Alfie, Rosie and Emma took a deep breath, each picked up their wand, and together they too rose to their feet. From the very moment, the wands had been touched, each of the Four slowly, and eerily, raised their head. Mendrin hadn’t noticed before, but his brow furrowed upon seeing that each of the Four was holding a wand of their own. This was extremely odd to him, for he had been to the White Circle as a spectator on a few occasions before and he had never once seen them use a wand. He had never even heard of them using a wand, so he was baffled as to why they would be using them today? He concluded that it may be that a wand was needed in order for them to defeat a Tanner; after all, he had never witnessed a battle when a Tanner had been involved.

‘This is really going to hurt a lot isn’t it?’ Emma asked, looking along the line toward Mendrin.

‘Indeed.’ Mendrin replied, which was not the response Emma was hoping for; though the one she expected.

With their heads now raised high, the Four each took a solitary step forward and dropped to the ground, with the one at the far side floating quickly round into view to join the others. The very moment he had drawn level, he was the first to strike. Raising his arm, he unleashed a bright green spell, which seemed to pull Emma forward a little before then sending her flying to her right. She slumped in a heap to the ground at the foot of the bank, and as she fell, she banged her head on a loose rock which knocked her unconscious. The crowd cheered and clapped furiously, with many rising to their feet at being highly entertained.

Alfie instinctively ran toward Emma to help, but he had only managed to take a couple of steps, when another of the Four used the same bright green spell and threw him to the opposite side of the arena. It landed high on the bank of the moat, right near where the arm was draped over. He was a little winded though undeterred, he got to his knees. He then saw what he thought was one of the fingers of the draped hand move. He knew that the moment he got up that he would only be knocked down again, so he crawled over to take a look. Upon reaching the top of the bank, he saw a young boy, who looked seriously hurt, sprawled out on the other side. Fortunately for the boy, and quite bizarrely, he was still alive.

Rosie did not like that they were just like sitting ducks, and that they weren’t fighting back, so she started to run toward one of the Four. She raised her wand, in readiness to cast a spell.

Mendrin shouted. ‘No, Tanner!’

Reluctantly, Rosie adhered to Mendrin’s command and stopped. She lowered her wand and eased her way backward; immensely frustrated. A bright green flash came from another of the Four, and now it was Mendrin’s turn to be thrown through the air. Like Alfie, he was thrown to his left and fell to the ground just a few feet away from him. Alfie now got to his feet, and as he kept a firm eye on his attacker; waiting to be hit again, he would occasionally glance at the young boy lying over the bank.

‘Blimey Mendrin, it really does hurt doesn’t it?’

‘Indeed.’ Mendrin replied, clutching his chest and then rising to his feet.

‘He’s still alive, can we help him?’ Alfie asked, nodding his head toward the boy, and discarding his worry of the Four.

Mendrin looked at the young boy and instantly dismissed him. ‘Place your concern on yourself.’

Three of the Four who had now cast their spell and remained focused on their selected prey. Emma was beginning to come around, although her attacker was ready and waiting to knock her down again. Only Rosie was left, and for whatever reason, the remaining white figure hadn’t as yet cast a spell on her, and just simply hovered in front of her. Oddly, her attacker seemed a little reluctant to actually cast a spell. Grave saw this, shook his head, and raised his arm. Almost without control, the white figure unleashed the same bright green spell on Rosie and she was thrown backward off her feet toward the two stones; falling just inches away from them.

Each of them were hit a few more times, with each hit seeming to be more painful than the last. They did all they could to avoid the oncoming spells, but all they were really able to do was to run around and jump out of the way of them, adhering to Mendrin’s order of not even deflecting the spells until they had seen Grave’s face. The crowd cheered with passion, with each spell that made contact. The more they cheered, the more Rosie and Alfie were desperate to fight back though they somehow managed to control their urges. Both would just take each hit and get up as brazenly, and as quickly, as they could, always making their way back to the two stones where they first stood. This didn’t please Grave one bit because he wanted a show and needed to be entertained. He slowly closed his eyes, before swiftly opening them. Emma then saw Grave’s face upon her attacker.

‘SCRAMBACK!’ she yelled, which had Alfie looking over to her.

Her attacker’s spell was now no longer green but had become a bright red. Emma knocked the spell straight back brilliantly, which resulted in knocking her attacker back quite some distance. The way its body reacted suggested that it was not best pleased, and so a battle between Emma and her attacker ensued. She would mostly use the Scramback spell, but she also threw in a couple that she remembered from the spell book that she’d read. None her spells seemed to have too much of an effect on her attacker, but it bought her valuable time and helped to defend her from being hit. One of her spells actually turned her attacker into a goat, which shocked even her, until it quickly changed back. Emma was looking very good indeed and had actually seemed quite comfortable at deflecting, and casting, spells.

Mendrin had then obviously seen Grave’s face, for he too was now fighting back, and boy was Mendrin something else. Unleashing a tirade of various spells at his attacker, he looked as though he was getting the upper hand. Mendrin would also use the Scramback spell, along with spells of his own, like ‘Enervo’, ‘Pessum’ and ‘Mori’. At times, he would even use the ‘Scramalter’ spell, in order to deflect spells onto Alfie, Rosie and Emma’s attacker to help them.

Alfie finally saw Grave’s face. He was actually quite relieved, as it now meant that he was no longer a punching bag, and he was now able to fight back. Of course, Alfie’s spell count was also very limited, so he did all he could to deflect the red spells thrown at him using ‘Scramback’. Every spell thrown by the Four had been aggressive, but for reasons unknown, Alfie’s attacker seemed to be far more venomous; though Alfie still managed to deflect his spells with relative ease. Alfie always thought his rounders experience may help him one day, and it appeared that today was that day.

Alfie, Emma and Mendrin fought furiously as they ran around the White Circle deflecting and casting spells, giving it all they had. They were all doing so well that the crowd had even started to warm to them a little, and whilst they would still cheer for the Four, they weren’t nearly as loud as they had been. Grave did not look pleased at all, in fact, he looked agitated. He would mask this by brazenly walking around as he watched the many battles below him, to give the impression that he didn’t have a care in the world.

Still on her knees, Rosie hadn’t got up from the last time she had been knocked down; as it had really winded her. Her attacker hovered around her until she did manage to rise. And once she had, it moved its eerie faceless head to within a foot of hers, and she would see a face. But to her surprise, not to mention utter disbelief, it wasn’t Grave’s face that she saw.

‘It can’t be!’ she gasped.

Rosie was so shocked at what she had seen that she quickly stepped backward. Though, being shocked, had her forgetting to control her feet, and so she stumbled, and inevitably fell, on her behind to the dusty ground. Crawling hastily backwards in order to get away; with her hands behind her, she desperately tried to also get back up. All the time refusing to believe that the face she had seen could be real.

Alfie had completely misjudged returning one of the spells cast at him, and was instantly sent flying through the air. He landed hard on the top of the back, rolled over a couple of times and now lay unconscious. Emma had seen Alfie get hit and instantly panicked, what with him being hit by the spell, and also landing the way he did. She ran straight over to him to try and help, still trying to defend herself as she ran. When she had managed to reach him, she knelt straight down beside him, placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a shake. There was no response, Emma turned frantically to look for her best friend.

‘ROSIE!’ she screamed.

Still in disbelief, Rosie glanced over at Emma, thinking that she was having trouble defending herself. But then she saw that Emma was kneeling over Alfie, and her first thought was that the Four had killed her brother. At the very top of her lungs, she screamed.

‘NO!!!’

Losing all control of her emotions, and with her face bright red with venomous anger, Rosie instantly, and with immense aggression, would unleash a power that would completely surprise Emma, Mendrin, and the on looking crowd. Rosie lifted her wand up in a straight line whilst running toward Alfie’s attacker. She pulled her wand back toward her, and then swiftly pointed it forward; an action which was not too dissimilar to how a fisherman would cast his line.

‘CORIARIUM!’ she screamed.

Out of Rosie’s wand came a large stream of thick multicoloured lights, which that crossed over each other as they headed for their target. Her multicoloured spell hit Alfie’s attacker square on and sent the faceless white figure hurtling into the lower part of the arena with extreme force. It crashed hard into the border, before slumping down into the moat below. The stunned crowd hushed to a near silence. Upon witnessing Rosie’s spell, Grave moved to the edge of the White Circle. He actually looked excited by what he saw, and even managed a wry, but quite evil looking, smile.

‘CORIARIUM!’ she screamed once more, this time casting her spell at Emma’s attacker to send it high up into the crowd, not far from the two stones.

the Four seemed to be no match for Rosie’s ‘Coriarium’ spell, and still enraged, she cast the spell at Mendrin’s attacker. Mendrin looked on in disbelief, as his attacker seemed to be backing away from Rosie, almost as though it was scared of her. He had never seen, or heard, of the Four displaying fear before. His disbelief turned to amazement, not to mention thrill, as he watched his attacker hurtle high out of the arena at great speed. Rosie turned, and with grimaced face, she stared at her very own white attacker.

As she walked toward it, her left wrist with the stone bracelet began to hurt, and she began to feel herself rapidly calming. Now she was not nearly as angry as she had been when she first saw Alfie slumped on the ground. It was almost as though the bracelet was controlling her emotion. The last of the Four, oddly hovered in almost the same position it had been when it had shown its face to Rosie, seemingly resisting any urge to attack. Grave raised his arm once again, which forced his reluctant guardian to move swiftly toward Rosie and have it unleash a tirade of spells.

‘Scram, Scram, Scram, Scram, Scramback.’ Rosie responded, sending the first four spells in different directions, with the last directly back at her opponent, forcing it to have to deflect it. This gave Rosie ample time to unleash her deadly spell once more.

‘Coriarium,’ she said calmly.

The thick multicoloured light of the Coriarium spell hit, and sent the white guardian twisting violently through the air. It headed some thirty feet to the right side of the red triangle, and like the first, it would also hit the lower part of the arena hard, and fall into the moat below. She had done it. Rosie had defeated the Four, and she had done it all on her own. She looked up at Grave, and her mother.

Grave gave a loud, extremely over exaggerated, and quite an evil laugh as he paced around the top of the White Circle, which echoed throughout the entire arena. Its intention seemingly to convince everyone that he didn’t care that his guardians had been defeated.

Tianirra, who had remained elegantly motionless the whole time, with not so much as a blink, glanced briefly to her left at Rosie. Rosie had caught her mother’s glimpse but was so concerned about Alfie that she dismissed it and ran swiftly over to join Emma and Mendrin to see if he was alright. Mendrin knelt by his Alfie’s side as his head rested on Emma’s knees. Alfie’s wand lay on the ground beside him, broken clean in half; into two equal sized pieces. The oblong piece of wood given to him by his father had fallen out and lay beside the pieces.

‘Is he alright?’ asked a panicked Rosie, rapidly bending to her knees and placing a hand on his chest. ‘Please tell me he’s alive!’

‘He lives,’ responded Mendrin, his hand on Alfie’s neck. ‘He is weak, but he lives.’

Rosie puffed out her cheeks and released a huge sigh of relief. Though, with her brother in no fit state to help, she immediately came to the realisation that if Grave were to be defeated, and that their mother were to be freed, then she would have to be the one to do it.

‘Remind me to never upset you, won’t you Rosie?’ said Emma, referring to her powerful spell.

Rosie gave her friend a wry smile of acknowledgment.

‘We must free folk from the circle. And we must destroy the red of the stones,’ said Mendrin, referring to the red mist surrounding the two large stones; the way out.

‘How are we supposed to do that?’ Emma asked.

‘This I can do, but Grave must be distracted,’ he responded, glancing up at Rosie with a solemn look upon his face.

Rosie knew what his look meant, and with a nod, she began to get up. Emma quickly grabbed hold of her best friend’s arm to stop her.

‘You’re not serious?’ she asked, with a look deep with worry.

‘There’s no other way Em,’ she replied, with a resounding smile. ‘I’m going to have to face him anyway, because Alfie can’t, can he? It may as well be now. At least then I can maybe help to free the people.’

‘But you can’t beat him Rosie. You know you can’t.’

‘Maybe, maybe not, but I have to try.’

Emma knew that Rosie was right to try, of course, because now that the Four were defeated, if she were able to do the impossible and beat Grave, their task would be complete. Reluctantly she released Rosie’s arm and watched as her best friend got to her feet and casually walked over to the two stones. The crowd looked on in astonishment as she walked, with even Grave unable to help but be slightly impressed with the girl’s bravery. Once at the stones, she turned to face her father’s killer.

‘A brave soul,’ said Grave, moving to the edge. ‘You wish to try and defeat me?’

‘Yes, please.’ Rosie replied politely, and with much sarcasm.

‘So be it,’ he responded, with his face vacant of emotion.

Grave turned, and then returned to stand beside Tianirra; with his back to Rosie. He slowly angled it to his right, and then lowered it toward her shoulder, as though he were about to whisper to Tianirra. Whisper he did, with gritted teeth.

‘End her.’

Rosie’s mother raised her arm out in front of her; positioned with elbow slightly bent and her palm laying flat, as though she were about to receive something. She then arched her fingers slightly to form a claw-like position until four glowing orbs appeared in a straight vertical line. Now, looking exactly as she had in the castle painting, each of the orbs began to rotate, in both manner and colour. The longer she held her hand in this way, the faster the orbs would rotate, and the faster the colours would change.

Rosie knew that whatever spell her mother was conjuring, it certainly wasn’t a spell that she would be able to scram. And even if she was able to, she desperately didn’t want to fight with her own mother. She had to think on her feet.

‘GRAVE. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A COWARD!’

The entire crowd gasped.

‘CEASE!’ Grave commanded.

Tianirra swiftly released her claw-like position, and the rotating coloured orbs soon faded to nothing. She would then lower her arm to retake her original position, with her arms held loosely in front of her. Stood exactly where he was, with his back to Rosie, Grave briefly lowered his head before raising it again and then staring at a section of the crowd; he did not look happy. If looks could kill then the look upon Grave’s face was enough to have killed everyone in the arena. He wasn’t particularly angry that Rosie had called him a coward, but more so because the people had actually named him, especially since he had discarded his name so flippantly for very good reason. Stepping away from Tianirra, he turned to address them with arms raised.

‘You would DARE mock me?’ he angrily questioned.

Rosie naturally assumed that it was her that he was aiming his comments at, given that she had just called him a coward, and so she shouted right back at him.

‘Well, that’s what you are, isn’t it Grave? A coward.’ she teased. ‘I mean. You are getting a woman to fight your battles for you, aren’t you?’

The sound of whispers echoed throughout the arena, with many of the crowd fearing that Grave would unleash his anger upon them for naming him. Though beyond their fear, they were suitably impressed that Rosie had not only confronted Grave, but actually had the courage to call him by the name given to him. No-one would be brave enough to dare call him Grave directly to his face, knowing that it would surely be accompanied with dire repercussions.

‘Oh no,’ breathed Emma, thinking that it probably wasn’t a good idea for Rosie to antagonise him.

Whilst this had all been happening, Mendrin had sneakily made his way to the side of the White Circle and stood in readiness to try and free the people it held within. Grave continued to glare blankly at the crowd, feeling very much as though they were sniggering at him due to this small child that openly defied him. To counter-attack his humiliation, Grave held his head high and walked around the top of the White Circle with arms raised. To complete the facade, he would then give an overly exaggerated evil laugh through his gritted teeth. Each of his steps was greeted with a reluctant, but rapturous reception, with everyone fearing that if they did not show him the adoration he demanded, that they may be thrown out of the arena, or worse. Grave had completed a full circle and would once more face Rosie.

‘ENOUGH!’ he shouted upon lowering his arms, which forced the crowd to fall silent once more.

‘You cheer me, yet you wish for this - THING - to defeat me?’ he said, pointing his opened palmed hand toward Rosie. ‘And you would name me, with knowledge that I have discarded my own?’

Absolutely everyone in the arena bowed their heads to look down at the stands, with not one soul daring to look at him for fear of their lives. Grave had never addressed them like this before, and never had they seen him this angry, so they were understandably petrified as to what he may do. Grave continued as Rosie waited patiently with wand in hand, occasionally casting an eye over at Emma, who was doing all she could to drag a still unconscious Alfie further away from the White Circle and the inevitable fighting.

‘You shall all pay for your contempt,’ said Grave, pausing briefly. ‘For, as on the morrow, I shall remove magic from these lands. And those who practice its ways, will be hunted down and shall face - my - wrath.’

More whispers among the crowd, as they discussed what they were possibly going to do without magic. It would be the end of everything they had known, and their whole way of life depended on whether or not the last Tanner would succeed. They looked on with baited breath, wondering whether this would be the day that they had feared, when all of their hope would disperse into nothing but a memory. Or would it be the day that they had long waited for, the day that was to see the end of Grave and the Four’s rule. Grave was fully aware that he had struck fear into every living soul, and so now he would focus his attention on Rosie.

‘I bow to your courage little one,’ he said. ‘But enough of these games. Let us see just how powerful you are.’

Rosie stood prepared for the spell Grave would undoubtedly unleash upon her. A whole manner of emotions ran through her body, so many that she didn’t actually know how she was feeling. But, whatever it was that she felt, it wasn’t good. She had thought about casting the first spell, but with her mother beside Grave, she was afraid that she may miss Grave and hit her instead. The adrenaline began to run through Rosie’s veins upon glancing toward her mother, as she knew full well that if by some small miracle she could actually defeat Grave, then the spell would be broken, and she and Alfie could be with her, and be able to see her true self. Mendrin stood ready for when Grave, or Rosie, would administer their spell, so that he could cast a spell of his own on the White Circle, unnoticed, in order to create an opening to free the people trapped within. The crowd then inhaled sharply, as whilst staring directly at Rosie, Grave slowly raised his left arm to a similar position that Tianirra had held hers. He then placed his right arm directly above the other, resulting in two claw-like hands facing each other. Rosie stood with wand ready, and then...

‘NOW!’ was the cry from high above, right before a man-sized fireball flew down and smashed into the rear side base of the White Circle.

Grave was taken completely by surprise by the fireball but had been quick enough to move out of the way; though his urgency saw him fall to his knees. Tianirra jolted backwards due to the impact but had somehow managed to keep her balance. Mendrin had seen the fireball ball and had tried to perform a shield spell to defend against it, but because he had only just managed to, he was caught by some the force, and was thrown some distance. Luckily, he hadn’t been standing at the rear of the circle, for he surely would have been killed had he have been. Having seen the dragon, and the fireball it had spat, Emma had thought on her feet and had raised her wand. She’d swirled it vigorously above her whilst calling ‘Operio’, which created an almost invisible umbrella above her and Alfie, which she had hoped would be enough to protect them both. Fortunately, it did protect them from the debris though it didn’t stop her from feeling the immense heat of the fireball.

Rosie looked up to see a blue dragon with two long scaled tails. It wasn’t as big as the other dragons they had seen, but they watched open-mouthed as it swooped down into the arena. This however was no ordinary dragon. Not because it was smaller in size, or because it had a twin tail, but because this dragon had a rider upon its back; with that rider being none other, than Billy Shaw.

‘SORRY I’M LATE!’ he screamed, just before the dragon ascended back into the sky.

A mass panic ensued throughout the arena. The crowd screamed and fear engulfed their faces, as they rushed to get out by the nearest of the many exits scattered throughout. Peeper's brushed aside as many people as they could to make good their escape, giving no thought to any that stood in their way. They pushed anyone and everyone: men and women. They cared for none other than themselves.

The force of the fireballs impact had dislodged a tall stone at the side of the White Circle, which had created an opening just large enough for the people inside to be able to crawl out. Though no-one did come out, as they were all far too scared to.

Grave restored himself back onto his feet, and the look on his face suggested that there were going to be some serious repercussions. Seeing her chance, Rosie seized the opportunity to cast a spell at Grave, given that he was now away from her mother. She waved her wand upward and then across, drawing an imaginary letter T.

‘CORIARIUM!’

The multicoloured spell flew from her wand and straight at Grave, but although he had been looking up at the dragon, he had turned to look back at her just as she had called and was more than prepared to deflect the spell with his hand. Rosie stood with a face more sorrowful than could be imagined, as when Grave had deflected her spell, unbeknown to him, he had directed it straight at Tianirra. On impact the spell had covered her mother’s entire body with what looked like a mass of small coloured lines of electricity, before sending her flying off the White Circle, and out of sight to the dusty ground below.

Feeling a little dazed, Mendrin got up. After ensuring Grave’s attention was elsewhere, he rushed over to The Circle, climbed over some rubble that had been left by the impact of the fireball, and made his way inside. It wasn’t long before he re-emerged and was followed by a string of people eager to make good their escape. As he ushered everyone out, he urged them to stand close to the walls, out of Grave’s view, and to wait for him to be further distracted, so that he could deactivate the red mist of the two stones. As they waited, a man who stood closest to Mendrin noticed that a door had opened on the dark border near the rear of The Circle. The door opened exactly where there seemed to be a flat break in the moat, and which acted almost like a dirt drawbridge. Stood by the door was the half-eared wand dispenser Luglow, who pulled his hand toward him twice quickly, as if to urge him to make his way to him. Not knowing what to do, the man tugged on Mendrin’s sleeve to bring it to his attention. Mendrin looked over, and Luglow instantly gave him a concerned nod, to which Mendrin replied with a firm nod of his own. Mendrin, then turned and eased back from the walls of the White Circle, so as to see where Grave was. Seeing that he had his back to him, due to looking at Tianirra’s lifeless body, he turned to the people against the wall.

‘Go,’ he said, pointing toward the half-eared Fidget.

Adhering to his command, they all began to run toward Luglow, through the gap in the moat, and through the small door/ The adults had to duck or crawl to get through the tiny door, but at least they were able to get through. Luglow would constantly look up at Grave as he guided them through the door, whilst Mendrin turned his attention to helping more people out of the White Circle; with Annia being one of them. He instructed them to follow the others once they were clear.

Like Grave, Rosie was also looking at the lifeless body of her mother, in total dismay at having witnessed her being killed. Grave then took his eyes away from Tianirra, turned to face Rosie, and with squinted stare he began to walk toward her. Dropping to the ground without breaking stride, he then began to throw a mass of spells, determined to end this little upstart once and for all. Rosie did all she could to deflect the spells, and given the onslaught, she did surprisingly well. She’d even managed to move completely out of the way of one, which resulted in its hitting one of the tall stones behind her. The tall stone to her left fell to the ground with a thud, and, as a result, the red force field dispersed to nothing.

Dragon rider Billy had made a complete turn, and he and the dragon swooped down into the arena once more. Billy commanded it to unleash fireball after fireball. This time, however, in order to send down as many fireballs as it could, instead of swooping back up, the dragon hovered some way above Grave and the White Circle. With the element of surprise lost, Grave didn’t even bother to look up as they hurtled toward him. Instead, he would continue to cast spells at Rosie and would just raise his other arm up in their direction. Each fireball would either just break apart in the air or would land a good distance from him before they even had a chance to get anywhere close. Most of the larger parts had hit the White Circle, which practically demolished its shell, to the point where all that was left was its frame.

Growing increasingly tired, Grave ceased bombarding Rosie with spells, and quickly used his other arm to release a blue orb at the dragon. The orb hit the dragon square on one of its wings, which forced it to spin uncontrollably as it let out a piercing scream. Billy was unable to hold on and was thrown clean off, He flew straight into the escaping crowd below, knocking many of them over upon impact. Rosie looked on, desperately hoping that landing on the people may have somehow broken Billy’s fall. The disorientated dragon then steadied itself and would spit one last fireball at Grave. It then let out another ferociously piercing scream, and in obvious pain, it gingerly flew out of the arena; flapping its wings as fast as it was able to.

Grave deflected the fireball with ease and stood admiring his work as the dragon flew off. Seeing her chance, Rosie quickly unleashed two ‘Coriarium’ spells in quick succession. The first completely missed, as Grave wasn’t as distracted as Rosie had thought he’d be, and he had just sidestepped it, which resulted in the spell hitting the White Circle behind him. The second he casually deflected with his hand, and sent into the tail end of a panicked crowd of maybe a hundred people or more; whose bodies now lay in a heap. Oddly, once the dragon had gone, and there were no more fireballs, the people began to make their way back into the arena, with an almost need to watch their fate unfold.

Grave smirked at the destruction Rosie’s spells had caused, almost as though he was now admiring her work. But undeterred from his task, he unleashed another spell at her, this time a bright red spell with revolving green orbs that circled it. Once again Rosie managed to deflect it, but this time she didn’t catch it clean, and so her wand flew out of her hand and was sent flying over the bank toward the moat, leaving her defenceless. Rosie looked over to where her wand had landed as the crowd looked on helplessly. The last Tanner looked beaten.

Rosie’s heart pounded furiously as she desperately tried to think of something that she could do, but without her wand she had no hope. She knew running out of the arena wasn’t an option, as she wasn’t about to leave Alfie and Emma; not that she would have got very far even if she had. There was nothing to do but make a desperate attempt to get her wand though Grave knew full well what she was up to and wasn’t having any of it. Rosie had only taken a couple of steps when Grave lifted his arm. With a slight flick of his wrist, he threw her backward to the ground. Rosie had just managed to get up onto her knees, when Grave held his palm open toward her and blew upon it. Whatever magic he cast, it resulted in freezing her right where she knelt, with her being unable to move any part of her body other than her head and hands. Grave approached with a wry smile, looking as smug as anyone possibly could.

‘On your knees before me,’ he laughed. ‘How it was meant to be.’

Rosie one again felt a mixture of emotions, though none more than fear at this moment. However, in no way did she want to show him that she was afraid of him, so snapped back.

‘Maybe,’ she smiled. ‘But only because you have to force me to be.’

Grave smirked as he began to pace backward and forward in front of her. He didn’t care in the slightest if someone was willing or not, just so long as they were on their knees.

‘In all this time of waiting, I must confess that I expected more,’ he said, pitifully looking at her. He then turned and waved his left arm toward the crowd. ‘THEY expected more. Imagine their disappointment.’

‘Okay, then how about you let me go and give me back my wand? Then I can give them all much more,’ she replied, with a hateful glare.

‘Ah yes, this would please you, I know. It would also please them.’ Grave sneered, raising his arm to the crowd once more. ‘Though the last time I was to show mercy little one, THIS is how my kindness was repaid.’

Grave leant forward and pointed to the huge scar that ran down the left side of his face, pausing briefly so that Rosie could take a good look. Pulling his head back, he returned to pace before her.

‘Who gave you that then? I’d like to thank them,’ she smirked.

Grave stopped once more. Slowly turning his head toward her, he would again sneer, before answering her in a slow, venomous tone. ‘Your father.’

A beam shone across Rosie’s face, impressed with her father’s handy work. Her reaction triggered something in Grave, as could be seen by the sinister look upon his face, and the way he turned away in disgust. He paused briefly to compose himself, before turning and continuing in a tone that would become more venomous by the word.

‘You may smile at the gift of your father little one, but know this. It would be the last thing that he would ever do..’

Rosie’s beam diminished and her face immediately provided a stern stare. The adrenaline soared through her body and a huge rush of anger ran through her every being. Rosie already knew that Grave was responsible for the death of her father, of course, but hearing him gloat about it hurt her more than he could ever possibly have known. Breathing deeply through her nose she brought herself to calm, as she was desperate to not let Grave believe that he was getting to her, even though he was, he really, really was.

‘Then my father makes me proud,’ she said sarcastically, which she followed with a grin. ‘And I’ll tell you something else, shall I? Give me back my wand and I’ll happily give you another scar. This time, around - your - neck.’

‘You have Arterian’s spirit,’ laughed Grave. ‘As well the spirit your mother once had. Now she serves my will.’

‘Not anymore, she doesn’t, does she?’ Rosie snapped. ‘You killed her. You murderer!’

Grave didn’t look in the slightest bit concerned with her words and would continue with his smugness. And if his smug demeanour wasn’t enough to aggravate Rosie further, he would then add insult to injury by directing the blame at her.

‘Was it not your spell that killed your mother, little one?’ he asked, pausing so as to give Rosie time to think.

‘That was meant for you and you know it,’ she snapped, so vexed that her nails dug into the palm of her clenched fist. ‘I’m just sorry that it didn’t hit you.’

Grave merely smiled, sensing from the tone of her voice that he now had well and truly gotten to her. ‘You are much too weak and absent of knowledge to defeat me little one. Surely this you must know.’

Rosie had had more than enough of Grave’s rambling. She was fully aware that she was in a situation that she had absolutely no hope of getting out of, but she thought that if this was the day that she would die, then her last breath would be defying this revolting man.

‘Oh! Why don’t you just do what you’re going to do? You’re boring me now.’

Grave couldn’t help but chuckle at Rosie’s impertinence, and if the truth were to be known, he actually found it to be quite endearing. He stood in thought for a moment before he then slowly walked toward her. With each step he raised his arm higher, slowly lifting Rosie off the ground, with her knees still positioned as though she were kneeling, he raised her to his eye level. Standing just a couple of feet away, Grave was soon to shock her with the offer he was to make.

‘Your life need not end this day,’ he said calmly. ‘It may be that I could indeed show you mercy.’

Although Rosie was dumbfounded by his offer, she wasn’t stupid. She knew full well that if Grave was making her an offer like that, then there had to be some sort of a catch.

‘And why would you want to do that?’ she sneered. ‘What would I have to do?’

‘All you must do, is to follow my rule, and bow to my will. Do this, and you shall be as one with your mother for the Four shall return her to my side,’ he answered. ‘Walk with me to where she lay, so that all who look upon you may see.’

The thought of finally being reunited with her mother sent quivers down Rosie’s spine. Grave implanting the thought that she could actually be with her had Rosie seriously thinking about his offer. Would it really be so bad if she took him up on it, even if it were to be under his rule? After all, that was the real reason why she and Alfie were there, to find their mother and to be with her. As long as they were all together, did it really matter how? But her thoughts were extremely out of character for Rosie, as she would never normally even consider putting her own feelings before anyone else’s. She closed her eyes briefly, not liking the strange feeling of selfishness that ran through her, doing all she could to suppress it. Upon opening them, she looked straight over to Emma, who still sat with Alfie’s head in her lap, comfortingly stroking his hair. She then looked over to Mendrin, who was busy coaxing the last of the people through the small door.

‘And what about my friends, will you show them mercy too?’

‘They are of no use to me and shall meet their fate,’ he answered, his voice, and expression, void of any emotion.

Rosie paused for a moment, still doing her utmost to battle with her conscience, before tightening her lips and slowly nodding her head in agreement. Grave was more than a little surprised that she had accepted his offer so quickly, as he’d expected her to be much stronger than the weak child that was now before him. Whatever the circumstance, he was elated that she had accepted, which was evident from the broad smile that ran over his face. Rosie’s acceptance meant that not only would there now be no-one left to question his rule, but he would also now have Arterian’s final child as his trophy, along with his wife.

‘So now that I’ve agreed to your terms, are you going to let me down?’ she asked. ‘I can’t walk to my mother from up here, can I?’

‘Indeed,’ he answered, nodding his head and giving a slight flick of his hand.

Though still suspended, Rosie was now able to control her body, so she straightened her legs, and once she had, she eased to the ground. The frown and open-mouthed look of bemusement on Emma’s face was truly a sight, as she struggled to understand what Rosie was doing. Horrified, she stopped stroking Alfie’s hair; allowing her hand to rest upon his head, and painstakingly watched as Rosie walked toward the White Circle, beside Grave. Though the expression on Emma’s face was nothing compared to the bewilderment expressed on the faces of the people in the arena. Many of the men and women began to cover their mouths, whilst others threw their heads back and raised their arms in disbelief; allowing them to drop hopelessly to their sides. Most of the crowd, however, would simply just turn away, unable to watch as the last of the Tanners looked to have accepted Grave’s rule.

As Rosie and Grave ventured toward Tianirra, Grave looked up to his left and gave the crowd a devious smug smile, nodding slowly as he did so. The people just couldn’t believe it, because Rosie’s actions were not that of a Tanner. Most believed that what they were witnessing had to be cursed magic and that Grave must have somehow bound her. Absorbing the people’s defeat, Grave spread his arms wide, closed his eyes and faced the skies.

‘Where lies your doubt now father?’

Grave was so busy praising himself, and gloating to the skies of his victory, that he hadn’t noticed Rosie seizing an opportunity and dart off, running desperately toward the moat in the direction of her wand. Finishing his praise, he glanced down at her. Upon noticing her gone, he quickly looked to where she was running and became furious with her desperate attempt to escape, and her deceitfulness. Rosie had very nearly reached the bank, when Grave lifted his left arm aggressively, and once again Rosie was lifted off her feet. But instead of just raising her into the air, this time he would pull his arm inward, which sent her flying backwards at speed toward the White Circle, where she slammed onto the ground and landed within a couple of feet of it. Grave rapidly walked toward her as she desperately tried to catch her breath, having been winded in her landing. The crowd looked on with baited breath, as it would seem that hope was not all yet lost. Upon reaching her, Grave towered over her and stared down into her sorrowful, defeated, eyes.

‘You CANNOT defeat me girl,’ he said, with gritted teeth. Moving his face even closer, he would increase the venom in his voice. ‘Why - must - you - try?’

Rosie was well and truly beaten this time, and she knew it. Having just used her very last weapon, deception, and with zero chance of being able to get her wand, there was nothing that was going to save her now. But even now, at her demise, she would remain defiant.

‘Because it’s the right thing to do, that’s why,’ she sneered.

‘You would prefer life’s end than to be at one with your mother?’ he quizzed, with furrowed brow.

‘No. I prefer life’s end than to be your...’ Rosie paused briefly so as to exaggerate her final word. ‘SLAVE!’

Grave’s face dropped to one without expression. He was not going to tolerate this insolence any longer, and immediately bent down to a cowering Rosie. With his right arm, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up off her feet by the neck. With her now suspended, he walked the few steps to the White Circle, where he would then slam her hard backward into the wall. Choking, and with her feet a few inches from the ground, dangling helplessly, Rosie grabbed hold of Grave’s hand with both of hers, to desperately try and free herself from his grip, but he was much too strong. With the back of Rosie’s head firmly against the white rock, Grave moved to place his face within an inch of hers. With the slowest and spookiest of voices, he would say his final words to his foe.

‘So - be - it.’

Grave’s grip tightened around Rosie’s throat as he continued to stare menacingly into her eyes, almost as though he were looking into her very soul. Her body shook as she desperately tried to gasp for air. With her face now pouring with sweat, she knew that she was only moments away from being strangled to death. Yet, to her very last breath, she remained defiant. Her welled up eyes stood strong as she stared deep back into his.

Surprisingly Grave broke the stare, removed his hand and simply walked away. Rosie slumped to the ground like a rag doll, and whilst holding her neck, she desperately gasped for air. She looked toward Grave and watched hatefully as he took five or six slow steps, before turning back to face her. He looked to the ground, raised both of his arms in front of him and positioned his hands as he had done earlier, with two claw-like hands facing each other about a foot apart. Between them, a deep red orb of light soon began to form, and he would raise his head menacingly. The orb grew, and a noise similar to the sound of a power line could be heard; a sound not dissimilar to the one made by the door that Rosie and the others had gone through at the castle. The brighter and stronger the orb became, the louder the noise, and before long, bright streaks of white light swam speedily through and around it.

Grave looked at Rosie and smirked callously as he slowly raised his elbows and then pulled the orb inward toward his chest. He began to turn his hands over, and around the orb in a circular motion, and once he was ready to unleash the spell, he would place his hands behind it and simply push it at her. In preparation of what was to inevitably come, and unable to bear to see it coming, Rosie shuffled backward up against the wall, turned her head and raised her left arm to cover her face. She had no other option but to accept her fate, fully aware that whatever she did now was not going to help her in the slightest. All of the women in the crowd covered their eyes, unable to watch. The men simply lowered their heads.

‘OI! GRAVE!’

Grave held his position, though slowly lowered his head and turned it to look to his left, intensely angered at being interrupted in his finest hour. There sat Alfie, on one knee, and with his right arm draped over Emma; who was seemingly using every bit of her strength to hold him up. Alfie had no wand but was holding his left arm up toward Grave, with his hand spread wide; as though he were giving a high five. Grave lifted his head and frowned with curiosity upon seeing each of Alfie’s fingertips glowing. They each glowed with a different colour of red, green, blue, orange and mauve, along with a small white ball of light, about the size of a squash ball, which was situated in the palm of his hand.

‘CORIARIUM!’ Alfie screamed.

‘IMPOSSIBLE!’ Grave whispered heavily, his face portraying a mixture of both anger and disbelief.

Grave quickly tried to work out how it could be that this little boy was able to conjure a Tanner spell; being that he couldn’t possibly be a Tanner, when each of the coloured lights on Alfie’s fingertips left his hand and flew rapidly toward him. As they travelled hastily toward Grave, the multicoloured lights would entwine to create a rainbow coloured orb.

Not taking any chances, Grave quickly turned to try and cast his spell at Alfie. But before he had the chance to release it, Alfie’s spell had swept straight through his orb, forcing it to fade to nothing, and hit him square on the chest. The different colours of Alfie’s spell ran all over Grave’s body like a mass of electricity and would render him powerless. Grave looked down over his body, then at Rosie, who had emerged from her shell like position upon hearing her brother, and then finally back over to Alfie. With his hand still raised, and the white orb in his palm still in place, Alfie glared sternly at Grave, before turning the corners of his mouth upward to grin at him.

Grave then began to feel an intense pain run through his entire body, a pain so intense that it forced him to throw his head back and face the sky. The skin on his face began to bubble, and his eyes changed from their original brown to a mustard coloured yellow. He let out a chilling scream. Alfie collapsed his fingers slightly, drew his hand back, and then swiftly pushed his hand back into its original position. The white orb was then released from his palm and was a blur as it flew swiftly toward Grave. Like its coloured predecessors, the orb hit Grave firmly in the chest, but this time, with an impact so hard, that he was instantly sent hurtling backward at bottleneck speed, forcing him to be slammed hard against the lower wall of the arena. The force at which he hit the wall was so strong, that the entire arena shook, and the sound of the impact was like a hundred bolts of thunder all going off at once. Grave slumped down into the moat, and a vast waft of steam rose from the water below. Alfie’s arm immediately dropped to his side, and, devoid of energy, he slumped to the ground.

Emma desperately battled to hold him up. ‘Blimey Alfie. How did you do that?’

‘I don’t know Em,’ he replied, exhausted. ‘I really don’t know. Professor Inglebaum taught me the spell, but with a wand. I didn't know I could to it without one, but I had to try something.’

'Just as well, or we'd have lost Rosie.'

A shocked Rosie ran straight over to Alfie and Emma though constantly turned to look back at where Grave had landed a couple of times, just to make sure that he hadn’t somehow survived.

‘I think you’ve done it. I think you’ve killed him?’ she said.

‘Yeah. I think I might have.’ Alfie sighed. ‘Can you help me up Em?’

With Alfie so weak, helping him up proved to be a little difficult for Emma. But, using all of her strength, she did finally manage it. Alfie should have been jubilant at having defeated Grave, but still feeling quite tender, not to mention a little woozy, he just didn’t seem to care. His only concern right now was that of his mother.

‘Where is she Rosie?’ he asked, looking around for her.

‘I cast our spell at Grave and he deflected it onto her. I think she’s dead, Alfie,’ she answered, her voice as sombre as it could possibly be.

Alfie lowered his head and took what seemed to be an age to absorb his sister’s words until finally he looked up and scanned the arena.

‘Where is she? I can’t see her.’

Rosie pointed sheepishly to the rear of the White Circle. ‘She’s over there, behind the stones.’

‘Can you take me to her?’

With Emma as support, Alfie drearily tried to make his way to where Rosie had pointed. But with his very first step he slumped down and needed Emma to help steady him. Rosie quickly joined her best friend to help hold him up.

Sluggishly, they made their way toward their mother, and as they did, the crowd had eased back into the arena in their droves; almost filling it once more. Word had spread quickly that Grave had been defeated, and with many of the people disbelieving, they came to see for themselves if it were true. The arena looked like a bomb had hit it, with stone, rubble and wood debris scattered everywhere. The White Circle had been hit hard, and although its circular shape was still very much intact with the supporting stones still in place, much of it had been destroyed, and had left it looking a shadow of its former glory.

‘Did I see Billy on the back of a dragon?’ Alfie asked.

‘Yes. You did,’ replied an excited Emma. ‘He was excellent Alfie. He saved Rosie’s life. Actually, he probably saved ours too.’

‘Good old Billy, I knew it was a good idea that he came with us.’ Alfie gave a little smile, and with dreary eyes, he looked up to the sky to see if he could see his best friend. ‘Where is he now then? I can’t see him.’

‘Grave hit the dragon with a spell and it knocked him off.’ Rosie replied, pointing to where Billy had fallen. ‘I saw him go into the crowd just over there. I so hope he’s alright because he fell into a lot of people.’

‘Can you please go and check Emma?’ Alfie asked.

‘Yes, of course. Have you got him Rosie?’ she asked, making sure Rosie had hold of Alfie so that he didn’t fall.

‘I’ve got him, Em,’ she replied, using all her strength to hold him up; shocked at just how heavy he was when Emma had let go. ‘Oh, Em. Can you try and find my wand please? It landed over on the other side.’

‘Of course,’ she answered. ‘Actually, I think I know right where it is.’

Emma headed toward the other side of the arena to retrieve Rosie’s wand, and then hunted for a way to get up into the crowd so that she could search for Billy. Alfie and Rosie continued, walking around the remains of the White Circle. Alfie caught a glimpse of his mother’s motionless body through the stones as they passed. Whether or not he was just getting stronger or whether he’d found some strength at seeing his mother on the ground, he seemed to find a burst of energy, and their pace grew. Upon reaching their mother; whose head lay on its side with her necklace draped over her mouth, Alfie fell to his knees beside her. Rosie knelt beside him, to his right. Alfie slowly and gently stroked the hair above his mother’s ear a couple of times, before laying his hand on the side of her face.

‘Hello mum,’ he said softly.

Rosie waited a little before saying what was on her mind, to allow Alfie his moment with her. ‘She’s gone, Alfie.’

‘I know,’ he nodded, before turning his head to his sister. ‘Do you have the...?’

Alfie didn't need to ask, as Rosie was one step ahead of him and was already holding the bottle of Efil in her hand. Alfie removed his hand from his mother's face and took hold the bottle, winking at his sister as he did so.

‘It’s over Alfie. Grave and the Four are gone. And once we use this, we can all go home and be a family.’

Alfie smiled at the thought. Still holding the bottle in his right hand, he went to move his mother’s necklace away with his left. The very moment he touched the necklace, he swiftly yanked his hand away.

‘Ow!’ he said. ‘Blimey. That was weird.’

‘What happened?’ Rosie asked.

‘I got a really big shock just then, and it really hurt,’ he answered, rubbing his fingers together and blowing on them. ‘I think it just burnt me.’

Fortunately for him, he didn’t need to touch the necklace again, as when he had pulled his hand away, it had made the chain drop to below her chin, and the pendant now lay upon the ground. Gently, using his thumb to pull on her chin so as to ease open her mouth, Alfie then carefully poured the last drop from the bottle onto his mother’s tongue. The twins remained kneeling as they patiently waited for her eyes to open.

A rapturous cheer echoed around them, as it had been confirmed that Grave was indeed dead. The evil ruler of the lands had finally been defeated and was now nothing more than just a bad memory. Most of the people jumped around and hugged one another, whilst others just looked relieved or completely shocked. Many shook their heads in disbelief that he was finally gone. But whatever their reaction, they were all overwhelmed.

With the amount of noise, Alfie and Rosie couldn’t help but glance back at the people briefly though their immediate concern was of course for their mother. Then, Tianirra’s eyelids gave a little twitch, which made the twins look at each other excitedly, with both now wearing the broadest of smiles. Their mother then blinked heavily twice before finally opening her eyes. From where she lay, she looked at each of her children, giving them each both a weak smile as she did. Her weak smile would turn the twin’s already broad smile into an even broader one, and now their faces beamed from ear to ear.

‘How do you feel?’ Alfie asked.

‘Calm,’ she replied, attempting to get up.

‘Here, let us help you,’ said Alfie, grabbing his mother’s elbow.

Rosie took hold of Tianirra’s other arm, and together they helped to her feet. Oddly, their mother immediately focused her attention on the arena and placing a hand on each of her thighs, she inspected the carnage. She then turned and bowed down to face her children, smiling at them each once more. Alfie and Rosie just couldn’t believe that their mother was standing before them. Both were eager for her to say something, or better still, hug them. In fact, they didn’t really care, she could have done pretty much anything and they would have been happy. Tianirra looked at each of them in turn and would speak with the softest of voice.

‘Because you have returned my life, I shall allow yours,’ she said, in a matter of fact way, and with an almost devilish look upon her face. ‘Not this day.’

The twins wanted their mother to say or do anything, yes, but they hadn’t wanted, nor expected, what she had just said to them. Their once jubilant faces quickly turned to the faces of bewilderment. They frowned at their mother, and then at each other, almost as though they didn’t understand what she’d just said, and as if to ask the other, ‘Did she really just say that?’

Without another word, Tianirra eased upward from her lowered position. She scanned the arena once again. Adjusting her body slightly, she paused to gaze in the general direction of where Grave’s fallen body lay, as though she knew exactly where it fell.

‘Mum?’ said Alfie, in the hope of any kind of loving response.

‘Hush, child,’ she snapped, her eyes glued to her master’s position.

Her response gave Alfie an emotion worse than that of any he’d ever felt. When Tianirra finally took her eyes away, she turned her head to look down at the bemused twins. She glanced briefly at each of them, and then, without a word, she jumped up high up into the air, hovered briefly above them, and then flew straight into the three points. The twins just couldn’t believe what had just happened and could both literally feel their hearts drop at being forced to embrace this rejection, both completely unable to quite comprehend it. Neither could take their eyes away from the three points as a mixture of emotions, most of which being an intense disappointment ran through their very soul’s.

‘How is that possible Rosie?’ Alfie asked, shaking his head. ‘It’s like she had absolutely no idea who we were or didn’t care.’

‘Maybe we were too late. Eve did say to use the drop within the hour,’ she replied. ‘We’ve done everything else that has been asked of us. Surely it hasn’t been an hour already though, has it?’

‘How would I know, I was knocked out remember? It must have been.’

‘No. I know it couldn’t have been an hour.’

Rosie was right, an hour certainly hadn’t passed, and they had done everything they needed to do. They had killed the Four, and Grave, in that order, yet still their mother remained vacant of any emotion, or loving recognition. They had to have missed something, but what? Still with their eyes firmly fixed on the three points, they both tried to work out exactly what it was that they had missed. So preoccupied were they, that they hadn’t heard Emma and Billy come running up behind them.

‘Alfie. You have GOT to come and see this.’ Billy urged.

The twins both turned back to look at their friends, and whilst they had just had the disappointment of their young lives, they were extremely pleased to see that Billy was safe and sound.

‘Glad you made it Keeper,’ said Alfie. ‘See what?’

‘You’re not going to believe it,’ said Emma.

‘Believe what Em? What happened?’ asked Rosie.

‘Seriously, you just have to come and see this, and NOW!’ Billy interrupted, stepping away from them and urging them to follow.

‘Are you alright Billy?’ Alfie asked, not moving from where he stood, a little concerned with Billy’s strange behaviour.

‘Of course I’m alright. Blimey, will you two just come and look?’ he urged, waving his arm toward himself. ‘Come on.’

Alfie took one last look up at the three points, and then he and Rosie followed their friends to see what all the fuss was about. Billy moved quite quickly, and so Alfie had a little trouble keeping up, what with still being a shade tired. Billy headed to the side of the arena and stood on the bank of the moat. Rosie and Emma close behind followed him up.

Billy looked at Rosie and pointed down into the moat. ‘Look!’

Rosie gasped when she saw what Billy was pointing at, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Alfie slowly walked up the bank, and when he saw what all the excitement was about, he was instantly dismissive.

‘Nah, it can’t be,’ he said, pulling his head back and shaking it.

‘It is you know. It really is.’ Billy replied adamantly, staring at his best friend.

‘Nah, it’s a trick. It’s got to be,’ said Alfie.

‘Alfie, it is him. I’m sure of it.’ Rosie confirmed. ‘I didn’t see Grave’s face on the Four, I saw his. This was the one I fought against, and I know this is where he ended up because this is where I sent him. Besides, look at his clothes.’

In the moat floating face up, eyes closed and lifeless, lay the school bully Charlie Benson, complete in school uniform, with his school tie floating loose on the water beside him.

‘Well we can’t just leave him there,’ said Alfie, heading down the bank.

He eased himself into the water thinking that he would need to swim to Charlie, but the water wasn’t as deep as he had first thought and only came up to his chest. He waded through, grabbed the shoulder of Charlie’s blazer, and dragged him toward the bank.

Once they were close enough, Billy, Rosie and Emma all helped to pull Charlie’s body out of the water. Even with four of them they struggled because Charlie was already quite heavy, and the water in his clothes made him much heavier than he would have been had he have been dry. After quite a struggle, with Alfie having to push for all he was worth, they managed drag Charlie up and over the dusty bank, after Alfie knelt over Charlie and having learned a little first aid at swimming, he immediately began pushing up and down on Charlie’s chest before tilting Charlie's head back and giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation. Billy screwed his face up at the sight.

‘So, if Charlie Benson is here, then do you think that the others might be?’ said Emma.

‘You could be right Em. If he was one of the Four, then the others could well be too.’ Billy replied as he stood on the bank looking to see if he could see any of the others.

‘Can you two please go check while we take care of Charlie?’ Rosie asked. ‘You did you see where the others went didn’t you Em?’

‘I know where two of them are,’ replied Emma. ‘Come on, Billy.’

‘Right behind you,’ said Billy.

Emma then led Billy to where two of the Four had fallen, leaving Alfie and Rosie to try and save the life of, of all people, Charlie Benson. Rosie leant down and took hold of Charlie’s cold hand.

‘It’s not working, Rosie,’ said Alfie.

‘I don’t think it’s going to work Alfie because he didn’t drown.’ Rosie expressed. ‘I used our spell on him.’

Alfie looked up and gave her a look of concern. ‘Did you really?’

‘Yes. But only because I thought he was one of them. I really thought I’d lost you, and got quite angry, so I used our spell on all of them.’ she replied, nodding her head with a sorrowful look. ‘I’ll tell you something weird too. I actually think Charlie tried to help me.’

‘What makes you say that?’ Alfie asked.

‘Well, because he didn’t fight me at first. And even when he did, I felt as though he didn’t really want to.’

Alfie looked back down at Charlie. There lay a boy who he once detested, but now a boy he couldn’t help but feel sorry for, because he knew that there was nothing he was able to do and that his once nemesis, had passed. Further up, Billy and Emma had found one of Charlie’s gang.

‘ALFIE. IT’S ROPER.’ Billy shouted, at the very top of his lungs. Though as loud as it was, Alfie couldn’t quite hear what he’d said.

‘What did he say?’

‘They’ve found Paul Roper.’ Rosie answered.

Alfie got up from his knees, and in the distance further up, he could see people dragging Roper’s body over the top of the bank.

‘What’s happening Rosie?’ he asked, with a distinct hint of anger in his voice. ‘I killed Grave, our mother doesn’t recognise us, and now the Four have been replaced by Charlie and his gang.’

‘I really don’t know,’ she replied. ‘It’s all just so messed up.’

Just then, a bloodcurdling scream came from a woman in the stands. This was swiftly followed by another chilling scream, and then a whole combination of screams. Alfie and Rosie looked over to where they had come from and saw a great deal of unrest in the crowd. They all appeared to be fixated on the three points behind them, so, they turned to look, only to see that their mother floating directly in front of the red triangle. The Four then came floating out of the three points from behind her and swiftly hovered past her to where Grave’s body lay.

Forming a circle in the air above him, they held out their arms with their stone like hands almost touching, and soon Grave’s lifeless, slumped body would float up and hover between them. The Four with the cracked face lowered its head and spread its arms. Grave’s body floated toward him, and once he had absorbed it into him; like he had done with the others earlier, the Four all headed back to the three points. As they headed toward her, Tianirra glanced around at the people in the arena, with absolutely no acknowledgement to her children whatsoever. She gave a loud devilish laugh, turned, and then passed through the three points, with the servants of Grave soon following her.

The very second the Four had passed through, a huge bang, and a bright white light engulfed the three points. An extremely loud sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the arena as the three points smashed into a thousand pieces, showering the ground below. Someone had obviously cast a spell upon it, and the twins looked back to see who it was. A lone horse then came hurtling past the remaining tall standing stone and into the arena. Sat between the horse’s ears and holding his wand aloft was professor Inglebaum. Behind the professor then came two more horses, which were ridden by Reign and Carine.

The professor had caught sight of the twins, and so he headed toward them.

‘What’s going on professor?’ said Alfie, upon Inglebaum reaching them. ‘Rosie killed the Four. I killed Grave. But our mother didn’t recognise us one bit. Did we do something wrong?’

‘You did nothing wrong,’ answered the professor. ‘Your mother will not know of you whilst the Four live.’

Rosie jumped in. ‘But I killed the Four professor. Just before Alfie killed Grave.’

‘I’m afraid it was not the Four true that you defeated, Rosie,’ the professor explained. ‘They were easy to beat were they not?’

‘I wouldn’t say easy, no. But it wasn’t that hard to deflect their spells I must admit,’ she admitted. ‘Well, not as hard as I thought it would be anyway.’

‘The Four are masters of magic, and strong. With such little knowledge, you would not have been able to deflect their spells, least not them all,’ he explained. ‘Thought it is our fortune that Grave overestimated you, and in his fear of defeat would mask them.’

‘I would hardly call it fortunate,’ said Alfie, clearly quite fed up.

‘Fortunate indeed, for your lives would have ended this day if you were to have faced the Four true.’

‘Just like the others from our school, then,’ said Alfie.

‘I do not understand,’ said Inglebaum.

‘Charlie Benson and his gang followed us here.’ said Alfie. ‘They were the ones that must have replaced them. And Rosie has killed them all.’

‘The untrue were not of these lands?’ the professor quizzed.

‘No. Look,’ said Rosie, pointing to Charlie. ‘He’s one of them.’

The professor then ran straight over to Charlie, and with his wand he cast a spell. Charlie’s body was soon covered from head to toe in what appeared to be a large transparent green plastic film. He looked as though he was wrapped in a thin layer of green cellophane or something similar. Then, the professor turned toward the other side of the arena to where Reign and Carine were. Both were on bended knee with their arms wrapped around Annia, who had eagerly run to them upon seeing them. Reign looked over in the professor’s direction, as though he had heard him call. He stood straight to his feet, and with his hand placed on Carine’s back he said something to her, before taking hold of both horses and walking them over to the professor.

‘What are you going to do with him,’ asked Rosie, hoping that he knew some magic to bring him and the others back.

‘He shall be returned to his home. To his family. They all shall.’

‘Is there nothing you can do to save him?’ she asked hopefully.

‘I have no magic for this,’ he answered.

Rosie dropped her head. She didn’t like Charlie and his gang much, but she didn’t want to kill them, they did not deserve that. With guilt-ridden shame, she now had even more reason to detest Grave, as he gad now turned her into a murderer.

‘Why did Grave think Rosie was the last Tanner, professor?’ he asked. ‘He couldn’t have known about me because he said impossible when I cast our spell.’

‘The truth you speak. Grave did not know of your birth. But your answer is not for this moment,’ the professor answered, turning to see where Reign was. Leaving Alfie to ponder.

‘So what happens now then?’ Rosie asked.

‘The Four true will replenish their master, and he shall return,’ he answered. ‘And now that he knows that you are of two, he will surely prepare for you both.’

Alfie and Rosie looked at each other with huge disappointment. They had thought they had done everything they had needed to do to save their mother, along with the magic of the lands, but they had been tricked. All they had really achieved was to expose Alfie as a further Tanner, which meant that they’d lost any upper hand that they may have had. Their task was now even greater.

‘How long before he comes back then?’ Alfie asked.

‘Long enough for you to be able to train,’ answered Inglebaum, before asking a question of his own. ‘Did you find the first?’

‘I did.’ Alfie nodded.

‘Good. This is very good.’

For a brief moment, Alfie actually thought that he had seen the professor smile at being told he had the first. Well, at least it looked like a smile, but it was a bit hard to tell on a squirrel. Reign soon arrived and would acknowledge the twins with a nod.

‘Reign. The boy must go to the gate,’ said the professor, whilst looking at Charlie’s motionless body.

Reign swiftly ran over to Charlie, picked up his lifeless, plastic covered, body, and took him over to the horses, laying him over the nearest. He then turned and walked the few steps to the twins. He kneeled before them.

‘Gratitude for the life of our daughter,’ he said, glancing them each a smile in turn.

‘You’re welcome,’ they answered in unison, returning his smile.

Reign clasped his hands together, got to his feet, briefly placed a hand on each of their shoulders, before turning to attended to the horses.

‘Reign and I shall take this boy and his friends to the land they knew, and then I shall return,’ said the professor.

‘Okay.’ Alfie acknowledged with a nod.

‘Wait. I sent one of them flying out of the arena. Over that way I think,’ said Rosie, pointing in the direction where she thought he went.

‘They shall be found,’ the professor answered, much to Rosie’s relief.

Without another word, Inglebaum swiftly ran to Reign, climbed up his back, and sat upon his shoulder. Together they led the horses to where Paul Roper’s body lay.

Upon spotting people easing Adrian Baker’s body down from the stands near the two stones, Alfie pointed them out to his sister and they watched for a while. Alfie glanced toward the two stones, where Billy and Emma making their way toward them. But theirs wasn’t the only familiar face that he would see because a little way beyond them, in the distance, leant up against the remaining standing stone, was a very familiar face. It was Gilswott, the coach driver, and door runner, who had led them there. Alfie naturally wondered what he was doing there. Unbeknown to him, Gilswott had been called by the professor and was waiting to take Charlie and the others through the archway.

‘So, it looks like we’re staying then,’ said Alfie.

Rosie nodded. ‘Yep, looks that way.’

Billy and Emma soon joined their friends. Without breaking step, Emma threw her arms around Rosie to give her a big hug. Although Emma wasn’t to know, a hug was exactly what Rosie needed right at that moment. Once they’d finished hugging, Emma took Rosie’s wand from her deeper and handed it to her. Billy raised his eyebrows to Alfie.

‘Still no mum then?’

‘No, still no mum.’ Alfie sighed whilst lightly shaking his head.

‘Did you give her that perfume drop thingy?’ Billy asked. ‘Because Emma said that Grave killed her?’

‘Yep, not that it did much good.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well. It brought her back to life and everything, but she didn’t recognise us.’ Alfie replied. ‘Or she did recognise us but didn’t care.’

Billy shook his head. ‘Oh. So what do we do now then?’

‘I really don’t know, Billy.’ Alfie shrugged. ‘Try again, I suppose.’

It didn’t take a genius to work out that Alfie was more than a little disappointed at having to go through all that he had, and still not be able to be with his mother. Billy didn’t really know what to say, so true to form, would attempt to lighten the mood.

‘Still, this place isn’t so bad is it?’

‘What, the arena?’

‘No. Not this actual place,’ said Billy. ‘I meant everywhere. The places we’ve been to.’

Alfie’s response was a quite despondent one. ‘No. I suppose not.’

‘And I’m sure we’ll get to go to Asset Square again, hey?’ said Billy, with a little excitement creeping into his voice. ‘I did like that place.’

‘Yeah.’ Alfie responded, doing his utmost to muster some cheer. ‘We’ll have to make sure we get extra potions next time.’

‘Yeah, and some apple sticks, we definitely need more of those.’ Billy said eagerly. ‘Oh, and some of those burn your tongue chestnuts.’

Alfie smiled half-heartedly, gave a little puff through his nose, and shook his head at Billy. No matter what the situation, Billy always managed to be able to find the positives. To say that Alfie was pleased that his best friend was by his side would have been a huge understatement.

‘I’m so glad you came,’ he said.

‘Yeah, me and all,’ smiled Billy. ‘Ooh. Did you get a chance to tell Ingles about Stinky? Can he help him?’

‘Sorry Billy, I haven’t yet,’ said Alfie. ‘With all that’s happened, I’d completely forgotten about him to be honest. When he gets back, I’ll definitely ask him. I promise.’

‘Yeah, it’s been a rough day.’ Billy nodded. ‘We must ask him, though. Because we don’t know how long Stinky will last.’

‘First thing we’ll do when we see him, I promise.’ Alfie assured.

‘Good stuff.’

‘You want to get out of this place?’ Alfie asked.

‘Absolutely. Where are we going?’

‘No idea. Just somewhere where there aren’t so many people,’ said Alfie, before looking to Rosie and Emma. ‘Are you two coming then?’

‘Where are we going?’ Emma asked.

‘Nowhere special Em, just out of here.’

‘I like the sound of that,’ said Rosie. ‘I’ve had quite enough of this place for one day.’

Together, the four young travellers then walked toward the two stones and the exit. Billy noticed Alfie looking to the ground as he walked, which was always a sure indication that he had something on his mind.

‘We will get your mum back Alfie. You do know that right?’ he said adamantly.

‘Yeah, I know Billy. One day,’ he sighed, before lightly nudging his best friend on the arm. ‘Especially with the help of our new dragon rider, hey Keeper?’

‘Oh, that dragon was the business.’ Billy replied enthusiastically. ‘Although I can’t say I was keen on the falling off part.’

Alfie smiled at Billy’s phrasing. Most people would have said the dragon was excellent, brilliant, or even great, but not Billy; it just wasn’t his style.

‘How on Earth did you manage to catch it though? Much less actually ride it.’ Emma asked, extremely interested in hearing the answer.

‘It wasn’t hard really,’ said Billy. ‘Do you lot remember when I told you about the wizard’s itch?’

‘Oh yeah,’ acknowledged Rosie.

‘Well, me and Ingles stopped off at the first ever wizard’s itch on the way here. She gave me some dragon blood and told me to drink it. So I did.’

‘Eugh!’ said Emma as Rosie screwed up her face, both appalled at the thought.

‘Exactly!’ he nodded. ‘Anyway, after I drank it, I had to go outside and say this funny word. I forget what that was now, Cons? Conser? Oh, something like that. Anyway, after waiting absolutely ages, that dragon eventually came, so I just got on him.’

‘Weren’t you scared though?’ Emma asked, amazed at his bravery.

‘Nah, not after drinking the blood,’ he answered. ‘She told me that dragons never harm one of their own. And with their blood inside me, I’d become one of them, apparently.’

‘What I want to know, is how you actually managed to get on it. From what I remember it was massive?’ Alfie quizzed.

‘Oh, that was easy,’ he said. ‘Once it had landed, it just laid down and spread its wings. So, I just climbed up one of them and held onto one of the spiky things on its back.’

‘But I thought Argyle said that dragons weren’t allowed to land?’

‘Oh, they are when you ask them to.’

‘Never mind how he got on it. Billy drank dragon’s blood?’ Rosie squirmed. ‘That’s so gross.’

‘It was alright really,’ he smiled. ‘It was a bit like tomato juice really, with a much more bitter taste.’

‘Oh my stars,’ said Emma, screwing up her face, and then realising that she still had Alfie’s wand. She placed her hand into her deeper to retrieve it.

‘This is yours, I believe,’ she said, handing him the two broken pieces, along with the oblong piece of wood. Alfie raised his eyebrows upon seeing his broken wand.

‘Thanks, Em,’ he replied. ‘Where was it?’

‘Right where you were earlier,’ she answered. ‘I’d forgotten to pick it up earlier, so went back to get it.’

‘Thanks for that,’ smiled Alfie. ‘Although, I don’t think it’s going to do me much good now, is it?’

‘No. Not really,’ she answered.

‘Oh, well, maybe it can be fixed,’ he said, trying in vain to put the two pieces back together; whilst holding the oblong piece with the two bottom fingers of his right hand.

‘Athough, after what I saw you do today, it doesn’t look like you’re actually going to need a wand,’ said Emma, before smiling.

‘Oh, I think I do Em,’ he chuckled. ‘I have no idea how I did that earlier, and I doubt I’ll be able to do it again. But never mind me, what about you? You were amazing with all those spells, Em. Where did you learn all of those?’

Emma looked a little embarrassed by Alfie’s praise as she gave her answer. ‘Just from that book of spells that I read the other night.’

‘Really? But how did you manage to remember them all? You did so many.’

‘I have no absolutely no idea, because I didn’t think I had a very good memory at all. It must be better than I thought, I s’pose. ’

‘You’re not kidding,’ responded a suitably impressed Alfie.

‘Oh, actually, speaking of books. I have something else for you.’

Alfie looked on curiously as Emma reached into her deeper once more. She soon pulled out a black journal, one that looked very much like Alfie’s father’s. She held it out to him.

‘What’s this then?’ he asked, staring at it.

‘It’s the present I got for you at Asset Square,’ she replied, showing some excitement. ‘Look. It’s exactly the same as your dad’s. Well, except for the shape on the front, they didn’t have one of those because this was the last one they had. I was quite lucky to get it really. I just thought that you might want to write your journey down, you know as your dad did.’

‘I really would, yes,’ he said, gently taking hold of the journal and then flicking through its empty pages; all of which that would turn. He smiled. ‘It really is the same. I love it. Thank you, Emma.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ Emma shyly replied, positively thrilled that her gift had met with Alfie’s approval.

Alfie continued to inspect his new journal as they walked toward the exit. Upon reaching the two stones, they all turned together to take one last look around. Alfie’s eyes were immediately draw to his left, where he spotted Mendrin. He appeared to be talking to a mother and daughter who had their backs turned.

‘Look. There’s Mendrin,’ he said, before calling over. ‘MENDRIN.’

Upon hearing his name, Mendrin glanced over. The moment he had seen them all he raised his arm with his fist clenched, as a mark of respect for the way that they had battled. Alfie, Rosie and Emma returned the compliment, and each raised their arms with clenched fists. They hadn’t noticed, but the mother and daughter who Mendrin had been talking to turned out to be none other than Annia and Carine, complete with the grey sparrow that Alfie had earlier seen now sat on Carine’s shoulder. Upon Annia and Carine seeing them, they began to wave vigorously. Alfie, Rosie, Billy and Emma all waved back.

‘Who’s that man then?’ Billy asked.

‘That’s Mendrin,’ replied Alfie.

‘Who’s Mendrin?’

‘Do you remember the story that Reign told us about Copper Pot?’ Alfie asked. ‘You know, the one about the small boy who they called Copper Top.’

‘No.’

‘Oh, that’s right, you weren’t there, were you?’ said a realising Alfie.

‘No, I wasn’t. But I can see why they call him Copper Top,’ said Billy. ‘He really is ginger isn’t he?’

‘Yeah, he is,’ nodded Alfie. ‘Not to mention absolutely brilliant at magic.’

Some people had already begun to tidy the arena by collecting the scattered debris. Oddly, only some of the debris were lumps of pure white stone, whilst most were just lumps of conjoined clay and rock. Alfie could see a few people taking care of those who had faced the Four before them. The boy he had earlier seen, with his forearm hanging over the bank, had somehow survived and was on his knees being comforted. His three companions, however, were not so lucky, and Alfie witnessed the extremely sad sight of a man sobbing uncontrollably over a woman’s lifeless body.

‘This place is actually pretty scary you know,’ said Billy. ‘Were you lot scared?’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma all responded in an extremely firm tone, at exactly the same time. ‘YES!’

‘Alright, alright. I was only asking.’ Billy jokingly snapped, before looking over at the ruins of the White Circle. ‘So that’s the white thingy then?’

‘Yes. That’s the White Circle,’ said Emma. ‘Actually, I think it was scarier in there than it was out here. Well, for me it was.’

‘Well, it doesn’t look much like a white circle anymore, does it? It looks more like that stoneyhenge place, but with a few more stones,’ said Billy. And, just as soon as he'd said it, a large stone from the top of one of the supporting stones crashed to the ground.

Alfie, Rosie and Emma chuckled at Billy’s mispronunciation of Stonehenge, along with his preposterous suggestion. But, their chuckles would soon ease when they looked over, because whilst the now ruined White Circle did have more stones than that at Stonehenge, it did look very much like it.

‘Actually, he has a point, you know,’ said Alfie. ‘It does look a bit like it.’

‘It really does.’ Rosie agreed. Emma furrowed her brow and looked around the arena. ‘It can't be though, can it? Stonehenge is thousands of years old.’

‘One way to find out, I suppose,’ said Alfie, before trying to get the attention of a man who was walking across the arena nearby. ‘EXCUSE ME SIR.’

The man who was holding a small boulder that he’d taken from the White Circle to keep as a souvenir looked over. Upon seeing who was calling, he swiftly headed toward them. Once he had reached them, his first action was to humbly bow to Alfie.

‘Yes, sire.’

‘There’s no need to bow,’ said Alfie, feeling a little uncomfortable that the man had bowed like a servant would to his master.

‘But sire, you are a Tanner,’ replied the man, lifting his head, and then bowing once more.

‘Seriously, please don’t bow,’ said Alfie, waving his hands in a negative manner in front of him. ‘There really is no need.’

Adhering to Alfie’s plea, the humble man resumed to a standing position, immensely eager to know why a Tanner would give him the time of day.

‘How may I be of service sire,’ he asked, in the politest of manners.

‘Can you tell me where we are?’

‘The White Circle, sire,’ the man replied, slightly confused at the question.

‘Yes, I know that. But what is the name of this village?’

‘Apologies sire. But there is no village, only the White Circle.’

‘Er, okay. So where is the nearest village, and what is that called?’

‘The nearest be Davenry sire, a short path from where we stand.’

‘There isn’t anywhere called Amesbury around here then?’

‘No sire,’ replied the man.

‘Oh, alright then. Well, thank you for your time,’ said Alfie politely.

‘The pleasure is mine to embrace sire,’ replied the man. ‘Shall that be all sire?’

‘Yes. Thank you very much.’

‘Very well, sire,’ said the man, honoured that a Tanner would be thanking him. The man bowed as he backed away. But then he remembered that he was asked not to bow, so he stood upright and then just scuppered off.

‘Ah well,’ said Billy, somewhat disappointed.

‘Sorry Billy, this place might have magic, but you’re not a time traveller yet I’m afraid,’ said Alfie.

‘Shame that. I really thought it was for a minute there,’ said Billy. ‘We’re still in England, though. That I do know.’

‘Really? How do you know that then Billy?’ Rosie asked.

‘Because I saw them white cliffs of clover,’ he answered.

‘Don’t you mean Dover?’ Rosie smiled.

‘Yeah. That’s them.’

‘And how, may I ask, did you manage to see those?’ Alfie asked, whilst Rosie continued to snigger at Billy’s clover mistake. ‘If this was actually Stonehenge, then Dover would be miles away, so there’s no way that you’d have been able to have seen them.’

‘Well, smarty pants. If you didn’t know how to fly a dragon, it would be quite easy actually,’ said Billy. ‘That’s why I was late. I didn’t know how to steer it at first, so I ended up going the wrong way and ended up out at sea, that’s when I saw them. I only got here because I kept shouting white circle at the dragon until he turned around and brought me here.’

‘Oh, so we are still in England then?’ said Alfie.

‘Yep,’ confirmed Billy.

Emma was thinking about how basic everything in these lands seemed to be. She thought about the simplicity of the stalls at Asset Square, about Carine not knowing the word omelette, and of course about magic. She looked around the arena once more. The more she looked, the more she believed Billy could actually be right. The stones did look extremely similar, and were situated perfectly; especially the fallen bluestone behind them. Add to that the high banks, and the moat that ran either side of the long path that lead into the circle. It all looked very familiar. The one thing that did throw her off slightly, was that there were two large stones in the distance, sitting where the heel stone would be, because she only knew of one stone. Though, that wasn’t to say that there hadn’t originally been two.

‘I think this could actually be Stonehenge you know,’ she said.

‘It can’t be Em,’ said Rosie. ‘That place is thousands of years old.’

‘Okay. So, if it isn’t, where else could we be?’ Emma asked.

‘I really don’t know Em,' Rosie replied. 'And, unless someone actually tells us, or we find a crystal ball, I don't suppose we'll never know.’

Rosie’s crystal ball suggestion had Alfie remembering the sheet of plastic his grandmother had put in his rough book. ‘Actually, I might have something better than a crystal ball.’

Billy, Rosie and Emma looked on with anticipation, as Alfie produced the rough book from his deeper.

‘Ah, your rough book. Now why didn’t I think of that?’ said Billy sarcastically. ‘How in the world is a rough book going to be better than a crystal ball?’

‘Of course it won’t,’ replied Alfie. ‘But what’s inside might.’

Alfie then removed the thin plastic sheet from the rough book, held it up directly in front of the White Circle and looked through it. Sure enough, right before him stood Stonehenge, the very same grey stone’s that he had seen hundreds of pictures of. The ruins complete with a group of people that wore twenty-first century clothing walking around them.

‘I don’t believe it,’ he said. ‘I see it, but I really don’t believe it.’

‘Let me see that gizmo,’ said Billy, easing the plastic from Alfie’s hand. He held it up to see for himself, and grinned at the sight. ‘Blimey, his is a bit nifty. And, you know what this means, don’t you?’

‘No Billy, what does it mean?’ asked Alfie.

‘What it means is that I’m a time travelling wizard.’ Billy gloated, passing the plastic to Rosie, who was beyond eager to see.

‘That’s unbelievable,’ she said, lowering the sheet and slowly shaking her head. ‘How is that even possible?’

Still shaking her head, Rosie eased the sheet of plastic to Emma. Emma took a quick look at the stones, but she also chose to look at their entire surrounding, paying special attention to the fallen bluestone. She was positively flabbergasted, yet thrilled that she was now standing in almost the exact same spot that she had once stood with her parents when they had visited; some five thousand years or so into the future.

‘Unreal,’ she said.

‘All that fuss about this place, and it turns out that it was actually us who created it,’ said Billy.

‘No, Billy. We didn’t create it, we destroyed it.’ Rosie corrected.

‘Whatever,’ he said. ‘Actually, thinking about it. It wasn’t us that created or destroyed it.’

‘What do you mean Billy?’ Rosie asked, with a puzzled frown.

‘You lot didn’t really do much did you?’ he said. ‘I was the one with the fireball spitting dragon. So technically speaking, I was the one that created Stonehenge.’

They all gave Billy a blank stare, unable to believe that he was going to try and take sole credit for creating Stonehenge. But Alfie had caught on to what Billy was up to, having spotted that he was doing all he could to keep a straight face by raising his bottom lip to create a frown. Alfie wasn’t about to let him get away with it, and so thought he’d play him at his own game.

‘I’m with Billy on this one because technically he did create Stonehenge all by himself,’ he said, to which Rosie, Emma and even Billy gave him a funny look. ‘But then, technically speaking, he was also the only one who completely destroyed the White Circle, and I’m pretty sure someone is going to have to pay for all this damage.’

Billy’s face swiftly dropped to a look of overwhelming concern.

‘They’re not going to make me pay for it, are they?’ he quizzed, in a high-pitched voice.

Alfie was as desperate as he could be to continue to play along, but seeing Billy’s concerned expression, accompanied by his high-pitched voice, it was just too much for him. He began to laugh, as did the girls.

‘Oh yeah. No. That’s very funny that, Tanner. That’s very funny,’ said Billy, nodding his head urgently whilst providing a look that he was largely unimpressed. ‘You are a laugh a minute you, ain’t ya?’

Still with a smile on his face, Alfie shook his head at his best friend. ‘Come on, let’s get out of this place.’

‘Good idea. Just in case someone does decide to blame me and try and make me pay for it,’ said Billy.

Together they all headed through the two stones, which they now knew were the heel stones. Emma’s thoughts turned toward the dragon that Billy had ridden.

‘Seriously though Billy, you must have been really scared riding that dragon?’ she asked.

‘I was at first, but you soon get used to it Em. And when you do, it’s absolutely brilliant,’ he replied. ‘Although, there was something I didn’t like about it.’

‘What was that?’ she quizzed.

‘My one chance at my big moment was totally spoiled today,’ he replied.

‘Big moment?’ asked Alfie. ‘What big moment?’

‘Well. Before you killed that Grave bloke, I wanted to shout something down,’ he answered. ‘I’d thought about saying it the whole way here.’

‘What were you going to say?’ asked Rosie.

‘Well, what I was going to say was...’ he answered, continuing by desperately trying to sound like his hero. ‘You’re all clear, kid. Now let’s get your mum and go home.’

Alfie, Rosie and Emma glanced at each other, then at Billy. Here he was, still dressed in his Han Solo outfit, desperate to steal a line from his favourite movie; albeit with a slight modification. They couldn't help but laugh.

‘You’re so funny Billy,’ giggled Emma.

‘Sorry. But I don’t see what’s so funny,’ he replied. ‘That Grave fella totally ruined my day by knocking me off like that. Ruined it, I tell ya.’

Alfie did all he could to make a sound like Han Solo’s sidekick Chewbacca, but his impression was so awful, that it instantly took the seriousness off of Billy’s face and have him smiling at his best friend. They continued, not knowing whether to laugh at Billy and what he had wanted to say or at Alfie, for doing such an awful impression. Alfie noticed something, so used it to diffuse any ridicule that he may receive.

‘Have you hurt yourself Billy?’ he asked. ‘You’re walking a bit funny there.’

‘Nah, I’m alright. But you’d be walking funny if you’d spent all night riding horses with no saddles, and then a dragon, that you were thrown off,’ he answered.

Alfie nodded. ‘Yeah, I suppose I would.’

‘Anyway, is anyone else feeling a bit peckish?’ asked Billy. ‘Or, is it just me?’

‘You’re always peckish, Billy,’ said Alfie, nudging Billy’s shoulder with his as they walked.

Billy wasn’t expecting to be nudged, and so was caught a little off balance, which made him very nearly fall into the water that ran either side of them.

‘Careful,’ he protested. ‘I almost went in there.’

Side by side, they quietly continued, amused as usual at Billy and his ways. Rosie had then decided to take off her bracelet. Alfie noticed her putting it away.

‘You shouldn’t be taking that off, you know,’ he said. ‘The woman at Asset Square said that we should always keep them on.’

‘Sorry, and I know it was a gift from dad, but I just can’t wear it anymore, Alfie. I felt like it was messing with my mind. And I really do not like that,’ she answered. ‘When I was angry earlier, it started to make me feel happy. And when Grave asked me to join him, I actually seriously thought for a moment that it would be okay. That was not good.’

‘That’s because the stones have powers,’ said Alfie. ‘They make us stronger and stuff. You really should put it back on.’

‘Maybe I should, but I think I’ll leave it off for the time being. At least until I know a bit more about it.’

Alfie shrugged. ‘Well, that’s up to you, but I’m keeping mine on.’

Rosie nodded. ‘I didn’t say you should take yours off. I just don’t want mine on, that’s all.’

‘So where do we go now?’ asked Billy, doing what he could to ease the slight tension between brother and sister. ‘Is there anything else that we have to do?’

‘I’m glad you asked that Billy, because, there is one thing that we definitely HAVE to do before we do anything else,’ answered Alfie. ‘Something I’ve been thinking about for absolutely ages now.’

‘Oh yeah, what’s that then?’ his best friend asked, with much interest, and a little excitement.

‘Well. The first thing we have to do ─ is something about your curtsy.’ Alfie replied, glancing Rosie and Emma a wink.

‘Yep, no problem,’ said Billy with a nod.

Pausing for a little while, he then turned to Alfie, his face bearing a deeply puzzled look. ‘What’s a curtsy, then?'

Alfie simply raised his eyebrows and shook his head at his best friend. The girls just smiled at each other, thinking that surely Billy must have known what a curtsy was. Or did he?

As they neared the exit of the White Circle, with all of them other than Billy with a smile upon their faces, Alfie lifted his arm to rest a hand on Rosie’s shoulder. The twins had both thought that their journey was over, when in fact it had really only just begun. They had heard from their father and had seen their mother, so that was more than they had before they had got where they were, but it just wasn’t enough, for either of them. Feeling as lonely as they had ever felt, their thoughts turned to home, and at how much they missed their grandmother. They both were wishing that she was there now, to comfort them like she had done on many occasions throughout their young lives.

THE END

... of the beginning.

Thank you for reading the Alfie Tanner and the White Circle.

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L.J. Hodgson

UK: Alfie Tanner and the White Circle

US: Alfie Tanner and the White Circle