Colin and The Rise of The House of Horwood

by M. E. Eadie

  ***

  Melissa found some chalk and busied herself by drawing a keyboard on the floor of their bedroom then she crossed her legs in front of the chalk piano and began to play. Spike, who was jumping up and down on the canopied bed, fell to his stomach and rolled to the edge to get a better view of what she was doing.

  “What are you playing?” he inquired.

  Melissa, not bothering to look, made a motion in the air with her fingers, imitating the playing of a piano.

  “No, I mean, what are you playing?”

  She shrugged, her fingers continuing to flutter over the keyboard, pressing gently in some places, and more firmly in others.

  “You mean, something like the tune you played on the piano yesterday, except that this one isn’t so sad, but happy?” asked Colin, watching her play.

  Melissa nodded.

  “Happy? How can you say happy? We’re locked in our room for the rest of the day--and night--and morning--and…” complained Spike, rolling onto his back and staring hopelessly at the ceiling.

  “Listen, she’s bound to let us out, eventually,” said Colin who was sitting on the windowsill staring out past the statue block. He could just make out the vehicles going by outside the front gate. “Wait a second!” he said, turning to Melissa and hopping down from the windowsill. “I can hear it!”

  “Hear what?” asked Spike.

  “The music, the music Melissa is playing. Listen…”

  Sure enough, running across the floor were the growing melodious strains of music that spun and jumped and took flight into the air. It emerged from silence, but soon filled the room with its essence and power. The strange music sparkled and swirled about them, taking on myriad colors. Colin and Spike watched in amazement as the glowing colors found and sheathed their legs. Then, quite independently, their legs started to twitch and move as though they were puppets. Before they knew it they were capering around the room, doing jumps and clicking their heels. Melissa, looked up when Spike crashed into the wall and fell. His legs flailed about trying to get him back up onto his feet. Finally Melissa looked up, shocked at the two prancing boys and stopped playing. With this the spell broke and they regained control of their legs. She scowled at them.

  “Don’t look at me,” defended Spike. “We weren’t making fun of you.

  Spike and Colin lifted their legs, testing them, seeing if the music had truly left them.

  “What happened?” asked Spike staring at Melissa. “What did you do?”

  Her eyes were wide with astonishment; she put a hand in front of her startled mouth and shrugged. She had no idea what she had done.

  Just then they heard Ofelia singing out a hearty welcome downstairs as she opened the front door for someone. Horwood House had a visitor? Colin and Spike dashed to the window. Of course they couldn’t see who was at the door, but they could see a red car parked at the front gate. Someone was waiting in the passenger’s seat of the car.

  “Melissa, come over here,” instructed Spike.

  There was no answer.

  The boys turned around to find Melissa gone. Frantically, Spike looked under the bed, while Colin checked the door, which was still locked.

  “Melissa, come out, quit hiding. I’m not angry with you,” called out Spike continuing to search.

  A muffled cry came from within the fireplace at the end of the room. In front of the fireplace’s black mouth was the white stick of chalk Melissa had been using. Spike picked it up and stepped into the fireplace, and promptly disappeared, while Colin, stunned by Spike’s disappearance, froze in place. He could hear Spike and Melissa within the fireplace, almost as if within the sooty depth there was another side. He bent down and peered in. He was careful not to touch any part of the blackened brickwork, but there was something strange at the back. Something shimmered, as though the bricks there were not entirely real. He placed his foot onto the old ashes and tried his weight. Nothing happened.

  “Spike? Melissa? Where are you?”

  Spike’s muffled voice said, “Come on through, Colin.”

  “Okay, I’m coming in,” he said warily, entering the hearth. Standing up in the chimney flue he was able to better examine the wall. Ever since leaving the Park his ability to see things, or at least how they worked, was increasing. It was similar to when his aunt had fixed the lock at the gate. He could see how things could change. Maybe the same type of thing was happening to Melissa and Spike that they all were going through some type of metamorphosis. The wall at the back of the fireplace was not solid; it was made of a type of thick gas that hung there stationary, like a curtain. Putting out his hand, he cautiously touched it and felt a cold tingling sensation as his fingers slid right through. He withdrew his hand quickly, making sure the ends of his fingers were still there, and then, quickly, with one bold motion, stepped through the curtain.

  “Cool, eh!” exclaimed Spike in the dark.

  Colin tried to look around, but the inky depths of darkness concealed everything. He held his hand up in front of his face, but couldn’t see his fingers. Spike was just a disembodied voice.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t see a thing.”

  “I can. It’s like seeing by the light of a full moon. I can’t see any colors or anything, but I can see stuff.”

  Melissa reached out feeling for Spike’s hand in the dark.

  “Don’t worry; I won’t let anything happen to you. I think I see a ladder over here.”

  Led by Spike, both Melissa and Colin plodded along blindly through the darkness, shuffling their feet. It felt awkward, putting their trust in someone, who was, at the best of times, rather impulsive.

  Let’s climb them, see where they go!” said Spike excitedly ready to hurtle head long on what he hoped would be an adventure.

  Colin cleared his throat, not entirely sure about this. “No, you go ahead, we’ll stay here. Listen, if it goes somewhere we’ll follow.” He reached out and found Melissa’s trembling hand.

  “All right,” said Spike who promptly began to climb, one rung at a time.

  His shuffling steps filled the space above them with the constant muffled sounds of his progress. Then there was a pause. “I found something! I think it’s a trap door. I’m going to try to move it.” A shower of dust and dirt fell on Colin and Melissa, making them cough.

  “Hey!” complained Colin brushing the dirt out of his hair.

  “Sorry,” replied Spike. “I should have it in a bit.”

  After a series of grunts and pants, the hatch broke free from whatever was holding it and swung open. Shafts of light stabbed down at them, dissipating the dark, causing them to shield their eyes. They saw Spike, his head and arms silhouetted against the opening, waving down at them.

  “You’ve got to come up here. This is great!”

  Melissa hesitated.

  Colin urged her. “You go first. Then, if you slip, I’ll catch you.”

  Somewhat mollified, but still not entirely sure, she started to climb. After a few halting moments, where she froze, and had to be calmly talked up, they eventually reached the top. They stepped out onto the flat roof of a round crenellated turret into the waning light of the late afternoon, and the fresh autumnal air.

  Spike was already at the edge resting on the battlements and surveying the view. “You’ve got to see this! It’s great!”

  Colin and Melissa joined him.

  They could see the tops of all the trees around Horwood House, their leaves rustling in the breeze, full with a rich redolence. It was hard to tell there was anything beyond the stone wall around the perimeter of the estate. From their vantage point, Horwood House was one world, while the flicker of cars rolling by the distant gate belonged to another.

  “Look, down there,” said Spike gesturing. “There’s the red car parked by the gate, and someone is beside it. What was the name of the girl at soccer?”

  “Rhea,” answered
Colin, wondering what Rhea had to do with the distant person. At this distance it was hard for him to see anything.

  “Bright orange-red hair, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “She has freckles, you never told me she had freckles, or maybe she’s sick or something.”

  “Get out, she has freckles, but how can you see that? I can only make out the car, and a person, but no detail.” Colin looked hard, and after a long moment, he saw a person moving beside the car. Not wondering further about how Spike could see, his heart leaped. One of the big motivators for going to school that morning had been the hope of seeing Rhea. Now she was here, outside the gate.

  “You can actually see her freckles?”

  Spike shrugged nonchalantly, “Yeah, can’t you?”

  “No, I can’t!”

  “Hey!” yelled Spike, waving his arms, not thinking that he might alert his aunt, “Up here!”

  The girl looked up, hesitated, and then waved back.

  “She sees us!” said Colin. He called out to Rhea, “It’s me, Colin!”

  The wave took on a more friendly motion. She slipped through the gate, disappeared beneath the canopy of the trees, but soon appeared moving quickly across the yard to the base of the turret where she stared up at them, a broad smile on her face.

  Spike, who was now exploring the circumference of the turret, shouted from the other side. “Colin, tell her to come around here; there’s another ladder over on this side!”

  Sure enough, a black iron ladder ran down the outside of the stone work, out onto the sloping shingled roof, and down the side of the house, where they hoped it reached the ground. Colin slipped over the side and began to descend. Spike, beaming, turned to his sister; his legs already swung over the side.

  “Coming?”

  She shook her head, no.

  “Smart choice,” he said trying to quell his own fear. Just keep a look out; if you hear anything just throw something at us. See you in a bit.”

  Melissa hazarded a look over the edge and watched Spike and Colin making their way across the roof. They looked like two spiders, and then her adroit ear caught the soughing music of the wind moving in the leaves, demanding her full attention.

  Colin, followed by Spike, dropped the last two meters because the ladder didn’t fully reach the ground.

  “I didn’t know you lived here! Hey, school has been in for almost a week. Where have you been?” Rhea said to Colin, her sparkling green eyes alight with mischief. She looked at Spike and thrust out her hand. Spike took it hesitantly and shook it. “Hi, I’m Rhea.”

  “Spike—Spike, Pine,” he said clumsily, not in the habit of making introductions.

  “Yeah,” she said, her eyes drifting warily over the stonework of the house, “so, where have you been?”

  “Moving in,” answered Colin.

  “Yeah, I can see, but why here?”

  Colin shrugged. “Why not?”

  “Why not?” she grabbed both their arms, pulling them close into her confidence. “You mean to say you’ve never heard about Zuhayer Bombast Horwood?”

  Both Colin and Spike shook their heads in the negative. Colin said, “Should we?”

  “Yeah!” she said, nodding incredulously, “He used to own this town -- and everybody in it -- but that was years ago . . . but people still remember. I can’t say much right now because my mom is inside. I don’t want her to catch me. I promised to stay by the car. I can tell you tomorrow, at school, if they’ve got the fire sorted out.”

  “Fire?” said both boys simultaneously.

  “Yeah! We heard that some kids started a fire in the principal’s Office. I’d hate to be them.”

  Colin and Spike looked chagrined and glanced away.

  “No!” said Rhea, obviously pleased with her discovery. “You two?”

  “No,” said Spike feigning offense, “Melissa was there too.”

  “Sorry,” she said, suddenly compassionate. “I suppose that’s why my mom is here.”

  “What do you mean, that’s why your mom is here?” asked Colin charily.

  “My mom is an educational psychologist. They send her out when the board of education,” she shrugged apologetically, “has to deal with kids like you. She’s probably trying to set up some type of assessment before they let you into school.”

  “Good luck,” groaned Colin. “Our aunt doesn’t want us to go to school.”

  Rhea looked appalled. “She can’t do that! It’s against the law.”

  “Ha!” guffawed Spike, “They don’t know our aunt, now do they! If she says we’re not going to school, we’re not going to school!”

  In the quickly fading light, the boys had two simultaneous feelings, one of being watched, the other of being stalked. The first would have been enough to cause the hairs on their skin to prickle, but the two sensations together made them tingle uncontrollably. They looked around, unable to locate the source, then stared haplessly at each other. Something was about to happen and the heavy feeling in the pits of their stomachs indicated that it wasn’t going to be good.

  “You remember on the soccer field, after our last game, there was that shadow that grew?” asked Rhea, her voice becoming stealthily quiet.

  Colin nodded, scanning the grass around them, searching for a black dot. Spike began to fidget, moving his weight restlessly from one foot to the other.

  “It’s the same feeling, isn’t it?” Rhea continued.

  “Yeah, but I can’t see where it’s coming from. You should be able to see it grow. That’s its behavior. It grows from a dot, but it only grows if you see it,” explained Colin.

  “Maybe it has changed. After all, I mean, we’re changing,” said Spike. “Maybe it’s not going to let us know it’s coming anymore.”

  “What is it?”

  “Nixes,” whispered Colin, “Shadow Nixes.”

  From high up on the roof, Melissa had a perfect vantage point. Although Spike, Colin, and the girl were now out of view, she had a perfect line of sight of the tree, the statue block, and the expansive front yard. Two things alarmed her. First, she saw a black squirrel scampering adroitly along the ridge cap of the roof, its black, bushy tail flouncing high in the air. There was nothing unusual about that; black squirrels were common in Rivertown. What was unusual was that the squirrel had green, glowing eyes. She could tell this because, as the squirrel was passing over the roof, it stopped and quickly turned to stare up at where she was. Fortunately, she ducked down keeping out of sight before being spotted by it. Cautiously, she ventured another peek over the edge, just in time to see the squirrel leaping from the roof’s ridge cap into the bushy crown of an oak tree -- the oak tree right above her brother! Melissa had the distinct feeling that the black squirrel was spying. Then a black spot forming at the base of the statue tore her attention away from the squirrel. At such a distance, it must have been quite large. The shadow expanded, changing, taking on the form of a large dog sniffing the air. Then it bounded off in the direction of Colin and Spike. If she didn’t warn them, they wouldn’t have enough time to react. Frantically she began groping about desperately; her hand came in contact with a little stone. She picked it up, drew back her arm and threw it out into the air. Gazing down at her necklace, she noticed that not only was it glowing, but it was vibrating as though something was trying to get out.

  “Ow!” said Spike, his hand going to the top of his head, “What…” then he remembered their predetermined warning signal and saw the pebble that had just hit him. He looked at Colin who was thinking the same thing.

  “Melissa!” they said together.

  Rhea looked at them and nodded. “You’ve got to go. Listen, can you get away from here tomorrow evening, about the same time? If you can, meet me at the library; there are some things you need to know about Horwood House. And you can tell me more about the Nixes.”

  Colin agreed and ran to the fire escape. He jumped, caught t
he bottom rung, and with a series of grunts, pulled himself up. Spike wasn’t so lucky. A little bit shorter than Colin, he kept missing the bottom rung.

  “Just a minute,” said Rhea coming up behind him. “Here, step in my hands. I’ll give you a boost.”

  Spike stepped placed the sole of his right foot into Rhea’s clasped hands, and grabbed for Colin’s hand, caught it, and dangled, his legs flailing about. Rhea, from below, tried to push up on his feet, and caught a flailing leg against her head.

  “Hey!” she complained.

  “Sorry,” apologized Spike who continued to swing about.

  As this was happening, they didn’t see the fully developed Shadow Nix dog loping around the corner ready to spring at them. Looking up, Spike saw Colin’s eyes widen, but that was all the warning they had.

  Just as the Shadow Nix was about to fall upon them the sound of rushing wind and feathers intercepted it. A huge black raven dove, its scimitar-like beak flashing. Barely missing Colin’s head, it veered away causing him to release his grip. Both Spike and Rhea fell to the ground. The Raven dove again and again, its talons visibly raking the smoky dark outline of the Nix dog, creating tears in it, causing it to retreat. The battle continued around the corner of the house and out of sight.

  “What was that?” asked Rhea.

  Neither Colin nor Spike uttered a word. They had never seen anything that could affect a Nix like that. The Raven, feather’s bristling victoriously, a blue light flashing in its dark button-like eyes, landed on a branch above their heads and regarded them considerately. Then giving a rich, musical, croaking call, flapped into the air and without announcement attacked a black squirrel sequestered in the tree. The squirrel’s desperate chatters were lost beneath the humorous laughter of the Raven.

  “Something tells me we better get back to our room, fast!” said Spike, reaching for Colin’s waiting hands.