by E. G. Foley
# # #
Meanwhile, Isabelle, Maddox, and Dani ventured out across the moonlit grounds of Merlin Hall to scout out their enemies. They had to confirm—from a safe distance—if the Headless Highlander was still haunting the path in the woods where Jake had seen him before, and if Nuckalavee was still lolling about in the naiads’ stream.
After all, they couldn’t defeat these Bugganes if they couldn’t find them.
Dani had Jake’s telescope. While she scanned the landscape through the night vision lens, Isabelle couldn’t help sending worried glances in Maddox’s direction.
All this talk of war had chilled her to the bone.
He caught her eyeing him nervously and smiled. “Don’t be scared,” he teased in a low tone. “I won’t let the monsters get you.”
She blushed. “It’s not that.”
“Good. I was about to be insulted if you thought I couldn’t keep you safe.”
She suppressed a dreamy sigh at his mild brag, but hesitated to share what was on her mind, since the Bugganes were probably enough to worry about.
He marched on, and she had to walk faster to keep up with his long strides, Dani trailing a few paces behind.
“Maddox?”
“Yes, Miss Bradford?” he answered in amusement.
A sound of distress escaped her. “Are you going to go to the war, if there is one?”
“If they tell me to, of course. Why?”
With the guarded look he gave her, Isabelle wished more than ever that she could read him, but he was a brick wall. It was so vexing! She just had to muddle through like any other girl, bewildered by the stoic silence of boys.
“It’s just—if you had to go and fight, I’d worry so. The Dark Druids, Maddox. They can do worse than kill you. You do know that, right?”
“A Guardian goes where he’s needed, Miss Bradford. Oh, don’t look like that,” he chided softly when he saw her wide-eyed stare.
“I should hate for anything to happen to you,” she blurted out.
“No worries. If it does, I’m sure the healers will fix me right up.” He flashed a smile and chucked her under the chin.
“Maddox! Can’t you just—”
“Isabelle! You can’t ask me not to be who I am,” he said impatiently. “Now, you ladies stay here,” he ordered, making it clear by his tone that this topic was not open to discussion. “I’ll be right back.”
“Shouldn’t we come with you?”
“Nixie said the Scot vanishes if he sees more than one person alone.”
She also said if he sees one person alone, he kills them, Isabelle thought.
He gave her a maddening look of total confidence. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Be careful,” she insisted.
He ignored her, pivoting toward the woods. She stood fretting on the castle’s long driveway while he strode off across the meadow, heading for the opening in the woods.
Toward the danger.
Dani arrived by her side and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “He’ll be all right, don’t worry.” She hesitated. “It’s just a stupid ghost.”
Like the sort Jake faces all the time.
Dani did not need to say that part aloud. They were both thinking it.
Isabelle glanced at her, grateful for the redhead’s sturdy presence at her side. But when Dani met her gaze, she could see the same fear in her eyes, and no wonder. Jake, for all his roguery, had the exact same tendency toward heroics as Maddox. Dani gripped her hand a little harder.
Growing up’s horrid, Isabelle thought. And falling in love with a boy for the first time was even worse.
# # #
Dani shared Isabelle’s tension as they waited for Maddox to come back from the woods. Every second dragged. Isabelle borrowed Jake’s telescope from her but then couldn’t bear to look—and couldn’t bear not to look, either. She was in a bad way, Dani mused, looking askance at the older girl.
For her part, she was finding her gift of common sense to be a bit of a burden right now.
We’re just kids. Why aren’t we telling the grownups? Why do we have to do this by ourselves?
She chewed her lip uneasily and conceded that, of course, the grownups had bigger things to worry about, since they had just found out that they might be headed for a war.
A war! Dani couldn’t even imagine it. It didn’t seem real. Maybe the vampire was just making it up to scare everybody. That sounded like the sort of thing a vampire would do.
As for the Bugganes, Jake had declared that, together, they could take these creatures on, and far be it from the baby of the group to be the tattletale.
Just then, Isabelle gasped, looking through the lens.
“What?” Dani barely got out, when suddenly Maddox came charging out of the woods with a yelp.
“I see it—the apparition!” Isabelle breathed, and Dani did, too, while Maddox sprinted toward them.
But just like Nixie had described, the moment the Headless Highlander realized the girls were there, it stopped chasing Maddox and faded back into the shadows like a wisp of fog, leaving only a long, dire bagpipe note hanging on the night like a warning.
“Holy Mother!” Upon rejoining them, Maddox leaned forward and braced his hands on his thighs for a moment, catching his breath. “Whew. I’m gonna need a bigger sword.”
“Brave warrior,” Dani teased, laughing at how he had bolted in dread just like Jake had. She couldn’t resist.
Maddox sent her a playful scowl and tweaked her nose. “You go talk to him and see how you fare, pipsqueak.”
“Yes, but you see, I’m too smart to do that,” she replied.
Maddox straightened up and shook off his brief fright. “A Headless Highlander! Well, you don’t see that every day.” He seemed quite chagrined at having fled the ghost in front of Isabelle, but of course, she was gracious, as always.
She patted him on the shoulder. “Good work. At least we know now he’s in there.”
“Let’s go find the other one.”
“Nuckalavee.” Isabelle nodded. “It’s supposed to be some sort of animal, so I should be able to read it.”
“You’ll be careful,” Maddox told her sternly. “I don’t want you getting too close.”
They started flirting again. Dani found it a little annoying, even though she knew how happy Isabelle was to have met Maddox.
Ever the loyal lady’s companion, Dani hung back to give the pair some room. She was happy to let them chat together, as long as she was there to act as chaperone.
Heading down the driveway toward the stone bridge, Dani could hear the water nymphs singing along with the frogs and the light babble of the stream. It was very beautiful and made her feel like nothing bad could ever really happen.
“I wonder if the others are making any progress,” Isabelle remarked.
Dani wondered, too.
# # #
Jake did not know how he got stuck with Troll Boy.
Well, actually, he did. Og was about to become his accomplice in a burglary. Which probably meant that an ex-pickpocket wasn’t the best influence on the lumbering, child-like monster…
Nevertheless, as they crept through the zoo, with all its supposed nighttime dangers, Jake was surprised—and a trifle worried—at how quietly the big lug could sneak.
When it came to stealth, Ogden Trumbull was a natural. Disturbingly so, given his rock troll instincts.
Having already dealt with one cannibal today on Caliban’s island, Jake kept a close eye on him as they crept toward the thatch-roofed cottage that housed the veterinarian’s office. He had the Bully Buzzer in his pocket and was not afraid to use it if Og so much as looked at him wrong. And yet…
Poor thing. Og still had no idea why he kept having these painful “fits,” as he called them. For the past few minutes, he had been confiding in Jake about his sudden, inexplicable health problems.
“Maybe I should have Dr. Plantagenet check me,” he rumbled anxiously. “A person sh
ouldn’t be falling down like that for no reason!”
“Aw, I wouldn’t worry him,” Jake assured him in a whisper. “You probably just have a virus. It’ll pass. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Are you feeling all right now?”
Og shrugged. “I think so. Just a little sore from falling off the rocks.”
“See? Maybe you’re getting better already. Right! So, er, there’s the office.” He pointed to the cottage nestled in the landscaping ahead. The windows were all dark. “You said Dr. P. keeps the front door locked, right? So what’s the best way to get in?”
“Shh!” Og froze and suddenly pointed to a particular tree nearby.
Jake squinted at it in the darkness, then glanced at his large companion. “What?”
Og folded his hands together and tilted his head to mimic someone sleeping. Jake’s jaw dropped. He looked at the tree again, more closely this time, and realized, sure enough, it was the Green Man fast asleep for the night.
Dr. Plantagenet had doffed his white lab coat; all his roots and vines were showing. His trunk was covered in bark, and his feet were sunk deep into the ground. Jake’s stare traveled over the Green Man in wonder. His eyes were closed serenely, and his face looked leafier than before.
When he twitched a little at the flutter of a bird amid the branches of his head, Jake ducked down, his heart pounding.
After a moment, he was satisfied that the zookeeper wasn’t going to wake and nodded toward the cottage. He and Og continued on, tiptoeing past the sleeping Green Man.
Their task this night was relatively simple. Archie needed to borrow one of those big sprayer gizmos that Dr. Plantagenet had used to treat the dracosaur, and Jake was going to steal it.
The irony, of course, was not lost on him. Dani and Gladwin had just finished clearing his name of false thieving charges, only to have him go and steal something in earnest.
But, of course, he would return the sprayer as soon as they were done. In truth, the kindly Green Man probably would have lent it to him willingly if he only asked, but they didn’t want adults asking questions. Besides, Dr. P. was sleeping, anyway, Jake rationalized. Why wake him?
More importantly, Nixie had been very firm in insisting that they not include adults in this. Magic meant everything to her, and she was afraid of getting kicked out of Merlin Hall if the Elders heard about her banishing the Bugganes from Castle MacGool—considering that the evil laird had then fallen prey to a lynch mob without his ghouls to protect him.
Not that that was her fault.
To Jake, it sounded like the tyrannical Clan MacGool had brought their fate upon themselves, terrorizing their people. Personally, he was more concerned about Nixie’s safety if the Dark Druids discovered her role in the affair.
If they’d been willing to wipe out half the village with a plague to punish the locals, who knew what they might do to the young witch who had started the whole thing by banishing the Bugganes?
Jake didn’t want to risk it. It was bad enough that the Dark Druids had found out about his killing Garnock. If Nixie could be spared the same fate, they had to try. Otherwise, the Dark Druids would probably come after her, too—whether to kill or recruit her.
Jake shuddered at the thought of those devils winning Nixie over to their side. If they could gain a magical prodigy of her ability as a future member of the Dark Druids, she would be a serious enemy to contend with for many years to come. Jake was not about to let that happen. They were her friends now, and they were going to help her. Show her she wasn’t alone. It was very much the same thing that Dani, Archie, and Isabelle had done for him just a year ago, when he had been a half-feral street kid.
Time I passed on the favor.
At last, he and Og reached the cover of the shadows beside the veterinary cottage. Og pointed to an open window on the upper floor, and then gave Jake a boost up on his massive shoulders. Jake stepped onto Og’s thick head and climbed in the window.
Inside the cottage, he hunted around until he found the doctor’s spare sprayer on the bottom shelf of a rack full of veterinary supplies. Moving silently, he picked it up, slung the leather strap over his shoulder, and glided down the stairs to the front door.
He slipped out, pulling it closed behind him. “Let’s go!” he whispered to Ogden.
“That was fast!”
“Come on! We’ve got to get this to Archie.”
They raced away from the cottage before they were seen. Once they cleared the grounds of the zoo, Jake made Ogden carry the sprayer in case anyone asked about it.
Troll Boy was known for helping Dr. P. with different chores, so nobody ought to think twice about it. However, if they did, Jake did not intend to be the one who got caught with the thing!
Anyway, he doubted anyone would bother them as they hurried toward a side entrance to deliver the sprayer to Archie in the basement.
While they were crossing the broad stretch of lawn between the palace and the zoo, a burst of light suddenly appeared at the waypoint, heralding the now-familiar sight of a portal opening up.
Jake stopped in his tracks as the blue circle of light appeared in the darkness. He still found the whole thing utterly irresistible.
“Look, Og, one of the Lightriders must be coming in off the Grid!”
“So? Hurry up!” Og urged.
“Hold on, I want to see…”
“But somebody’s coming! Look over there, by the bridge!” Og pointed up the driveway.
Jake squinted into the darkness and could just make out three figures, two in dresses. “That’s our friends, you dolt. It’s Maddox and the girls. Don’t worry—”
His words were cut off by a scream from the pair of adults who suddenly staggered through the portal.
A bloodied man hung slumped over, his arm slung across the shoulders of a fierce female Guardian. The woman held him up with one arm around his waist while brandishing a sword in her free hand.
“Help us!” she bellowed, dropping the wounded Lightrider none-too-gently on the grass, and turning to ward off anything that might have tried to follow her through the Grid.
Jake was already in motion, racing automatically to her aid, never mind that he was just a kid. If nothing else, his telekinesis might be of some use, as it had been when Tex had arrived wounded.
“Og, take the sprayer to Archie—now!” he yelled back over his shoulder, pointing toward the palace.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m going to help them. Go!”
Og looked startled but ran off to do as he was told.
In the distance, Maddox must have also seen what had happened and heard the shout for help, because he left the girls behind and sprinted toward the portal, approaching from the opposite direction.
The Guardian woman thrust her sword blade down into the turf, where the weapon stood upright, in easy access for her to grab if she needed it again.
As the boys pounded toward her, Jake shouting for the gnomes, she bent and yanked up the sleeve of the Lightrider’s coat. They could see her urging him to punch in the coordinates.
While the wounded Lightrider struggled to lift his hand to shut the portal using the Flower of Life device embedded in his arm, the woman bellowed toward the palace, “Gnomes! Help! We need a doctor here!”
The Lightrider pressed the crystal chip buttons with crimson fingers, and the Guardian moved her long duster coat back to glance down at her side.
She wore men’s garb—vest, shirt, trousers, boots—and a weapons holster slung around her waist. But it was not her unladylike clothes that caught Jake’s attention. It was the blood seeping through them.
He saw her hands shaking and realized she was badly hurt, as well. The moment the portal vanished, she fell to one knee with an angry sound of anguish.
Glancing furiously toward the palace, she spotted Jake coming. “You, boy! Fetch the gnomes! My Lightrider’s injured. I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“I already did. They should be here in a tri
ce. What happened?”
“We were ambushed, obviously!” she snarled, her face a mask of fury. And then she faltered, cursed with pain, and passed out from blood loss on the grass.
Jake’s eyes widened. Panic filled him. “Gnomes!” He turned around, but there was still no sign of the palace helpers.
Perhaps they hadn’t heard the shouts for help, what with the noisy ball going on inside.
When he spun back around, he was hugely relieved to find Maddox arriving on the scene. “What do we do? They’re both hurt bad. We’ve got to get them inside!”
“Lightrider first,” Maddox clipped out, skidding to a halt by the waypoint.
Jake had never been so glad for the battle training that had obviously taught the future Guardian how to be cool-nerved in a crisis. Immediately, Maddox crouched down by the now-silent Lightrider and felt his neck for a pulse.
Jake held his breath. “Is he dead?”
“Pretty close.”
“What about her?” He pointed at the black-haired warrior woman. “Be careful, she’s mean. Could probably cut your throat in her sleep.” Unconscious—and no longer enraged—she actually had a pretty face. Jake hoped she didn’t die. “She said they were ambushed.”
The boys exchanged a grim glance as they realized the Dark Druids were probably behind this, making good on their promise to punish the Lightriders for him having killed Garnock. Jake flinched with guilt at the thought that the blood of these two agents was on his hands to some extent.
Maddox stepped over the Lightrider’s inert body and grabbed the unconscious woman’s shoulder, turning her over to check her for a pulse.
But the second he saw her face, Maddox drew back with a gasp of alarm.
“What is it?” Jake exclaimed. He had never seen the Guardian kid rattled before.
Suddenly Maddox looked terrified.
“What’s wrong? Has she died?” Jake cried.
Feeling herself being moved had revived the Guardian woman ever so slightly. Her eyes opened to slits; she seemed to be fighting to stay conscious. But the moment she saw Maddox, a soft smile skimmed her lips.
“Oh…hullo, son,” she mumbled, and then she passed out again.
