“Is he the tall man I saw you talking to earlier? The one who kissed you?”
“That’s the one.”
Stanley pointed out, “Luca is Cassia’s boyfriend. She doesn’t go around kissing everyone.”
Cherry nodded. “I’ll go back to Brimstone right now. Should I tell Blythe about what’s happened too? Isn’t she in charge of your town?”
“She is,” I confirmed, “but I don’t think you’ll get her attention if Quinn Ocean is still telling his stories.”
“I’ll try anyway. I’ll be as quick as I can. Be careful in there.”
Stanley said to her, “And you be careful out there. Golems are on the loose.”
She gave him a startled look before flying away.
I said to Stanley, “The golems could be on the loose further along this cave. They might never have left it. Are you ready to walk into the unknown?”
“Always. Can you use that spell that makes little lights appear? I can see quite far ahead, but I’m not sure you can. And if anyone is lurking in the shadows, I’d prefer to see them clearly.”
“Good idea.” I placed my broomstick down and then cast magic into the area in front of us. Little floating lights appeared in the gloom and instantly cast a welcoming glow. Thankfully, we didn’t see any lurking creatures anywhere.
I picked my broomstick up and said, “Let’s go.”
My legs only shook a little bit as I strode forwards. And I only jumped a small amount when Stanley let out a rumbling noise from his stomach.
He apologised. “I haven’t had anything to eat for hours. Sorry about that.” He rumbled again.
“As soon as we’ve finished in here, we’ll go back to Brimstone and get you something to eat.”
We headed deeper into the cave. The cave narrowed and we found ourselves walking along a rocky path with walls at either side of us. We came to a junction and the path led off in three different directions.
Stanley had a sniff of the ground and said, “This middle path has a stronger scent of clay. I think we should go this way. Look at the ground, Cassia, there’s more sand here. You can see prints.” He gulped. “They look like boot prints. Do you think they belong to the golems? Did they have toes? Were they wearing boots?”
“I honestly don’t know. I didn’t look at them that closely.” I looked at the other entrances. “I wonder where these two lead? We’ll have to explore them later.” I shot more magical lights above the middle path and off we went.
A few minutes later we heard a familiar sound. We both stopped and looked at each other.
Stanley rubbed his ear with his paw. “I think my ears are going funny. I can hear the sound of fluttering wings.”
“I can hear it too.” There was a bend in the path ahead of us. “It’s coming from down there.”
“What sort of creatures would be so far underground?” He shivered. “Bats. Yuk. They’re like flying mice. I do not want to meet any bats. Get ready to freeze them, Cassia. Don’t let them get anywhere near me.”
I rounded the bend and stopped. “It isn’t bats making that noise. Look.”
Stanley came to my side. “It’s butterflies! What are they doing here? I think those are Marbled Whites.”
The butterflies were flying inside a small cave at the side of the path. There were hundreds of them. A quick inspection showed me that none of them had been injured.
Stanley waved his paw at them. “Hello! I’m so glad you’re safe. We’ve been to your town. Everyone misses you. I’m Stanley, and this is my good friend Cassia.”
The butterflies moved closer to the entrance and hovered there.
I said to them, “Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?”
The butterflies gently moved their wings up and down.
“Is that a yes or a no?” Stanley asked me.
“I’ve no idea, but they seem okay. We can’t leave them here. I wonder why they haven’t flown away?” I gingerly moved my hand towards the entrance. I received an electric shock, yelped and pulled my hand back. I said to Stanley, “Magic. It’s trapping the butterflies inside.”
“Then use your magic to free them,” Stanley said urgently. “They’re all squashed in there. They haven’t got enough room to fly around properly.”
“Stand back,” I said to the butterflies. They moved towards the back of the cave. I put my broomstick down and thought of an appropriate spell to use. Gran had told me about a dissolving spell which worked on enchanted doors. It seemed the best one to use. I muttered the words and felt the magic flowing into my fingers. I sent the magic towards the entrance.
There was a blinding flash of blue light. An electric charge shot towards me and hit me in the chest. Such was the force that I was propelled backwards and into the rock face behind me. Pain exploded in my lower back and I cried out in agony.
“Cassia!” Stanley came running over to me. “Are you okay? Is anything broken?”
I winced. “Let me check.” I took a minute to mentally scan my body. I moved my limbs gently and slowly got to my feet. “Nothing broken, but I’m going to have the biggest bruises ever on my back. Let me try a different spell.”
“No, it’s too dangerous.”
“I have to try. I can’t leave these butterflies here. The ones from Speckled Wood could be near too.” Pain shot through my back as I took a step forward.
Stanley patted my leg urgently. “Cassia,” he began.
“Don’t try and talk me out of it. I have to do this.”
He patted my leg more urgently. “Can you hear that noise?” He was looking to the right.
I tilted my head that way. “What noise?”
“The noise of marching feet.” He paused. “Lots of marching feet. They’re coming this way.” His head swivelled to the left. “And they’re coming from that direction too.”
I stiffened. I could hear the sounds too. The ground vibrated under our feet as an army of unknown creatures marched towards us.
“It’s the golems,” Stanley said what I was thinking. “They’re coming for us.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll use my magic on them. It worked last time. Stand behind me, Stanley. I’ve got this.”
A sudden prick on the side of my neck caused me to let out a cry of surprise. A similar sound came from Stanley.
Dizziness flowed over me and I wavered on my feet. My vision darkened and I slithered to the ground. The last thing I was aware of was clay feet standing in front of me.
Chapter 21
I didn’t know where I was when I opened my eyes later. I was lying on something soft and I was in a room. A little warm body was resting against my hand. I rubbed my eyes with my other hand and focused on my surroundings. I soon worked out where I was and who was lying next to me.
I turned over and gently stroked Stanley to wake him up.
His eyes snapped open and he leapt to his paws. “Run! Cassia, run!” His head swivelled left and right. “Where did the monsters go? Where are we?” He blinked. “Are we in Esther’s apartment? In her bed?” He sat down and gave me a quizzical look.
“We are. I don’t know how we got here.” I lifted the bedcover, looked down at myself and pulled a face. “And I don’t know who put me into my pyjamas. I hope it was Gran. Stanley, what can you remember from the cave?”
“I remember the trapped butterflies, and you using magic on them. We heard feet marching towards us, and then something bit me. Or stabbed me.” He put his paw on his neck. “I can’t remember anything else. What happened to us?”
I sat up. “I don’t know. Before I passed out, I think I saw Gran’s face. I saw Blythe’s too. I know there were clay feet in front of us. Those golems are alive.” I shuddered. “There were so many of them.”
“Do you think Esther and Blythe rescued us?”
“It looks that way. Who else would bring us here? And tuck us into bed?” I frowned. “I don’t know who injected us. Have I got a mark on my neck?” I pulled my hair back.
Stanley moved closer and examined me. “Yo
u have. Perhaps it was one of the golems who injected you with something. It might have even been the evil warlock, whoever he is. Esther and Blythe must have appeared in the nick of time to rescue us. It looks like Cherry Dustjewel told them where we were.” He nodded as if to confirm the facts.
“I suppose that does make sense.” I stroked his head. “We’ll speak to Gran and get all the facts.”
Stanley’s stomach rumbled. “Could we have something to eat first, please?” He looked towards the curtained window. “What time is it? Is it early evening? The sun’s very bright.”
I looked towards the bedside table and saw my phone. I picked it up and tapped on the screen. I blinked in surprise when I saw the date and time. “It’s tomorrow. Well, today, if you know what I mean. Stanley, we’ve been out for the count all last night. It’s nine in the morning.”
“Is it?” His whiskers twitched. “We’ve been knocked out for hours. What on earth were we injected with?”
“Something powerful.” I put my phone back on the table. “I’ll make us some breakfast and I’ll have a quick shower. Then we’ll find Gran and Blythe and find out what’s been happening.”
“That’s a good idea.” His mouth moved back in a cute grin. “Perhaps Esther and Blythe have solved our murder cases. Perhaps they’ve found the warlock too and arrested him.” He jigged happily from side to side. “And they will have set those butterflies free. Now everything is back to normal. Phew!”
“We don’t know that yet. Don’t get your hopes up.”
Stanley stopped jigging about. “What other explanation could there be? If the warlock had attacked us yesterday in those caves, he would hardly bring us back safely to Esther’s apartment and put us in bed, would he?”
“No, I don’t suppose he would.” I took in Stanley’s hopeful look. “Perhaps you are right.”
I pulled the bedcover back and got out of bed. I rubbed my neck. It felt sore. I hoped that whatever had been injected into me had now left my system. My head felt heavy as if I was recovering from a hangover.
I went into the kitchen and Stanley padded after me. I left the curtains in the living area closed as I didn’t want the sun streaming in on us yet. It seemed impossibly bright this morning. Or was it because I was feeling fragile?
As I filled the kettle up, a memory flashed into my mind. I switched the kettle on and turned to Stanley. “Did we talk to each other last night? At length?”
“What do you mean? I can’t remember anything after passing out in the cave.”
“I didn’t think I could either, but something just came to me. I feel as if I was talking to someone last night about myself. I went on and on for ages. I couldn’t stop talking.” I tried to explain it better. “In my misguided youth, I would have nights when I drank too much. And then I’d chatter incessantly to my friends and tell them all my secrets. Even though I knew I should keep certain things to myself, the alcohol lowered my inhibitions and I let all my secrets out. Such as they were at that young age.”
Stanley tilted his head to one side. “What do you mean? What were you talking about?”
“I was telling someone about my work as a justice witch. Whoever I was talking to kept asking me lots of questions. They wanted every detail. I couldn’t stop talking. I even told them which spells I’d used.” I tried to focus on the hazy memories. “I don’t know who I was talking to. Or where I was.”
“It could have been a dream,” Stanley said. “We don’t know what substance was put into us. It could have been one of those that brings on hallucinations. We could have been on a trip or something. Is that what it’s called?”
I smiled down at him. “I don’t know. You’re probably right about it being a dream. What would you like for breakfast?”
“Anything. Thank you.”
I prepared food for us. I took our plates over to the sofa and placed Stanley’s dish on the carpet. He was soon munching away. I made myself two thick slices of toast and a mug of tea. I gobbled them up in no time. I didn’t realise I was so hungry.
Stanley finished eating first and jumped onto the sofa. He said, “Do you think Esther has found out who killed Nitoth and Budomm, and why? I hope she has. I still think Quinn Ocean has got something to do with it.”
“We’ll speak to her soon.” I put my empty plate down and picked up my mug of tea. “As soon as I’ve finished this, I’ll have a shower and then we’ll be ready to face the day.”
Stanley yawned and lay down on the cushions. “That food has made me sleepy. I’ll have forty winks while you’re in the shower.” He closed his eyes.
I quickly drank my tea and then headed into the shower. My head still felt heavy and there was pain behind my eyes. I was tempted to take some painkillers but then realised it wouldn’t be wise. I didn’t know what had been injected into me, and it wouldn’t be sensible to put anything else in my body. If the pain persisted, I’d ask Gran to use magic on me to relieve it.
I felt marginally better after my shower. I returned to the living area and found Stanley still asleep. I went over to the curtains and opened them. I looked out onto the town of Brimstone. I pursed my lips. Something didn’t look right out there.
I heard a yawn behind me and then Stanley came to my side. I picked him up and he looked out of the window with me.
“Cassia,” he began in a worried tone, “where is everyone?”
Chapter 22
Stanley and I left Gran’s apartment and went outside. The town was eerily quiet. No leaves moved on the trees. No wind whistled softly through the branches. There was no sound of anyone talking or moving about. Not one chirp or tweet came from the birds.
Stanley said quietly, “It feels like a ghost town. I can’t see anyone. Where are they? Are they hiding?”
“I don’t know.” I picked Stanley up and held him close. I needed his comfort. “Stanley, the Brimstone butterflies have gone.”
“No!” Stanley wailed. “This can’t be happening. They can’t have left us. Am I still asleep? Am I having a nightmare?”
“If you are, I’m having the same one. Let’s check inside the buildings before we start panicking. The residents could be inside for some reason.”
We turned around and looked at the Mooncrest Café. Through the window, we could see that it was empty. I tried the door. It opened and we stepped inside.
Stanley raised his nose in the air. “I can’t smell anything. Nothing at all. It always smells of something delicious in here, but not now. Where’s Gilda?”
I couldn’t answer his question. Panic was beginning to rise in me. I moved over to the cooking area behind the counter and placed my hand on the side of the oven. It was cold. I called out for Gilda, but there was no answer.
We left the café and went over to Blythe’s house. Her door was unlocked too. Just like the café, her house was empty. We checked every room and called out her name into the still air.
Stanley lowered his head and said, “Please wake me up from this nightmare. I don’t like it.”
“Stay strong, there could be a logical explanation for this. Let’s try Luca’s apartment.”
Luca’s door was unlocked, but he wasn’t in. We knocked on other doors in his building, but no one answered. We left Luca’s building and walked silently around the square. We entered many buildings and called out for the residents who lived there. We didn’t find one single being.
Stanley said, “What’s the name of that ship where everyone left mysteriously in the middle of their activities?”
“The Mary Celeste.”
Stanley nodded. “That’s it. Brimstone is like the Mary Celeste, isn’t it? It’s been abandoned. The mystery of that ship was never solved.” He gulped. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re not going to panic,” I told him. “There will be a simple explanation as to why everyone has left.”
We walked to the middle of the square. As if reading each other’s minds, we looked towards the roofs.
Stanley spok
e first, “The gargoyles have gone. Can we panic now?”
I looked away from the empty roofs. “No. We haven’t checked on Dr Morgan yet.”
“If she’s gone too, can we panic then?”
I planted a kiss on his head. “Yes, we’ll panic then. But just for a short while. Where there’s a mystery, there’s always an answer.”
Stanley muttered something about the Mary Celeste mystery never being solved, but I chose to ignore him.
I tried to stay optimistic as we walked into Dr Morgan’s building. There was no one on reception, and no patients sitting in the waiting area. My optimism was draining from me by the second.
The door to Dr Morgan’s office was closed. I hesitated and then opened the door.
Dr Morgan was in her office.
She was lying face down on the floor near the window. There was a patch of dried blood on the back of her head.
“She’s been murdered! No!” Stanley declared. He leapt from my arms and raced over to the still figure. He nudged his nose into her shoulder. “Dr Morgan! Wake up! Don’t be dead! Please.”
I ran over to the doctor’s side and knelt next to her. My hand shook as I reached towards her neck. I placed my hand on the side of her throat and was relieved to find her skin was warm. More relief coursed through me when I found her pulse.
“She’s still alive,” I said to Stanley.
He burst into sobs and rested his head on the doctor’s shoulder.
I gently parted her blood-matted hair so I could examine her wound. I took a sharp intake of breath when I saw how bad it was. I didn’t know whether my magic would be strong enough to heal it, but I tried anyway.
I sent magic into my fingers and aimed them at the wound. I immediately felt a piercing pain behind my eyes. I gritted my teeth and continued to aim more magic at the doctor. The wound closed a fraction. I forced more magic into my fingers. The pain behind my eyes intensified and I couldn’t keep my cry of agony in.
Stanley lifted his head. “Cassia! Stop! Your face is going purple.” He ran over to me. “Stop using magic. It’s hurting you.”
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