Magnus and the Jewelled Book of the Universe

by S. L. Browne

  “Come on, you two,” ordered Magnus. “Let’s see if there’s another way into this mine.”

  They scampered over the grass and rocks to the rear of the mine. A few Hadrosaur dinosaurs lifted their heads from grazing, but seeing that it was Magnus, they calmly carried on chomping peacefully. A large male kept his eye on Moth who was pretending to be scared of Frolic as he launched himself in a revenge attack and clung to the Spinosaurus’ frill, flapping there like an angry feathered flag.

  In the corner of the rocks there was a small crack. Magnus peeped in and saw the workers wandering down with their torches. It was a shallow mine, but quite wide like a large underground room. A few of the workers were chipping away at the rock and the soil, but they didn’t see Magnus. There was a precarious-looking ladder going down from the cavern. Magnus didn’t like the look of it.

  Magnus gazed around. There was a deep pool that Marlo called the Bottomless Lake and as he gazed at it, a perfect plan entered his mind. On the ground he spotted a small nugget of gold. He picked it up and put it in his pocket, then he called to his two dinosaur friends. The Troodon stopped growling and let go of Moth’s frill. He dropped to the floor with a thump and grinned. That had been so much fun.

  They walked back. Magnus was deep in thought. He found Em sitting on the ground outside his house looking at a snail, deep in concentration. Magnus handed her the gold nugget and told her that this little piece of shiny rock was what all the fuss was about.

  Marlo was making mint tea and plum biscuits in the kitchen and as he came out he spotted Magnus.

  “Ah, there you are. I was starting to worry,” he said.

  “I have a plan,” said Magnus and looked at Em, who was studying the gold nugget carefully. “All I need is a small, shallow earthquake.”

  Em grinned at him and passed him the gold nugget. Except it wasn’t a rock any more. Em had formed it into a beautiful star pendant with six points. It glistened in his hand. He was thrilled. She passed him a leather strap like a shoelace and he threaded it through a small hole in the gold star and tied it around his neck. She winked at him as he smiled at her gratefully.

  They tucked into the warm plum biscuits. “You should have been a chef, Marlo,” Magnus said as he wiped the crumbs from his clothes.

  “Well, I was for a while,” said Marlo gruffly. “I was the Wizard Chef. I sold seventy million copies of my recipe book worldwide.”

  “Really? What was the book called?”

  “Environmental Cooking with the Wizard Chef. They gave it five stars in the Guardian,” Marlo answered brightly.

  Chapter 13

  In the night the earthquake came. It rattled the windows and knocked the containers and boxes off the shelves in the kitchen. The growl of the earth grew louder and then it tipped from side to side, knocking Marlo out of bed.

  The Troodon fell on the Spinosaurus, who was cowering in the corner.

  Em sat in her bed, eyes shining, thrilling with the wonder of it all.

  Magnus felt the shakes and dips as he tried to stand by his bed.

  And then it was silent.

  “They’ve closed the mine till the tremors have ceased,” said Marlo triumphantly the next morning. “Luckily, everyone escaped and no one was hurt.”

  “Good,” said Magnus sheepishly. Em just grinned.

  “The factory was damaged, though,” Marlo continued brightly. “The roof fell in. Luckily, it was during the night so no one was there. Thank goodness there were no children in there at the time.”

  *

  It was snowing lightly as Magnus, Em, and the two dinosaurs walked up to the mine, and Magnus noticed immediately that the small crack had widened slightly. Em looked at the crack and then at Magnus and smiled as if she knew his idea. Magnus called out to the Doogers.

  They arrived from the depths of the bushes one by one, bright eyes gleaming in the cold air. Magnus noticed that their feathers were turning white and thickening in anticipation of the colder weather to come. There were suddenly hundreds of them, and they stood, keenly waiting for their instructions. He indicated towards the crack in the rock and he told them his plan. The Doogers clucked and strutted, unaware as to why they had been given this task, but they set to work and began to slip silently through the crack in the rock.

  In the distance they heard Marlo calling them from the top of a hill overlooking the village. Magnus and Em left the Doogers, who were already hard at work chomping small insects and worms that emerged as they dug. They scampered up the hill to find out why Marlo had called to them. When they arrived, they found Marlo looking at the lake and the plain below.

  They looked through the snowflakes as they started to fall and Magnus saw long lines of dinosaurs marching south. He made out the long- necked Brachiosauruses protecting their young. T. Rexes, Allosauruses, and many other types walked along, snapping at the heels of the giants who flicked their giant whipping tails and remained unmolested.

  Magnus heard the sound of honking Hadrosaurs and snorting Diplodocuses; the growls of the predators roared above the deep rumblings of the larger herbivores. Even the Spinosauruses were marching.

  As he watched, he was struck by a question he had been meaning to ask Marlo.

  “How does Murdamond travel between worlds?”

  Marlo was transfixed by the sight of the dinosaurs below, but he shook himself and looked at Magnus.

  “Oh, well, of course he has a method, but it is different from ours. He uses the stones in a different way, I think. He has his own book.

  “There is an ancient agreement not to tamper with the stones and even the humans leave them alone. They even help sometimes by putting the stones back up if they fall down. Stonehenge, for instance, a place of immense power, was destroyed long before we were around, but they’ve put it back. Anything could happen now.”

  “Really?” Magnus was suddenly anxious. “Stonehenge was destroyed on purpose?”

  “Yes.”

  “By whom or what?”

  “I have no idea and neither does Murdamond. There’s a henge like that on every Earth I have visited and they have all been destroyed, except the one on Earth. They have no idea what they are playing with, those humans.” Magnus thought for a while and stared at the dinosaurs. Who and what could have done that? And why would they need to be destroyed?

  The children returned to the Doogers who were still scampering in and out through the crack in the rock. Those emerging were clutching nuggets of gold as they staggered to the Bottomless Lake and dropped each one into it with a satisfying splash. The small dinosaurs continued well into the night and then disappeared into the forest for a sleep. For two weeks they worked endlessly at the same task, quietly and efficiently.

  On one occasion they struggled with a particularly large lump of gold. Magnus stared at it as it gleamed and shone. Magnus imagined a large golden throne with jewels and stones of all description, but he shook his head and cleared it of the image.

  Em stroked the rock and it changed and morphed under her hands. Like liquid, it swirled and rippled into a cube of solid gold.

  “We’ll keep that,” Magnus decided. “It might be useful one day.”

  *

  After lunch on the sixteenth day, the Doogers began to emerge with less and less ore. By dinner time the rocks were merely crumbs and dust. Magnus went over to gaze into the Bottomless Lake. It was black and silent, dark and brooding; the secret horde safe in its depths.

  He thanked the Doogers, who clucked and strutted, now slightly plumper than they had been, thanks to the abundance of grubs hidden beneath the soil and rocks in the mine. They turned and waddled contentedly into the forest, their task complete.

  Magnus and Em went home, the two dinosaurs frolicking happily behind them. They were chilled to the bone, so it was with great pleasure that they tucked into warm mince pies and hot mint tea to celeb
rate the execution of their most excellent plan.

  Chapter 14

  It was one month till the winter solstice and there was little to do in the village. Snow piled up around the small houses, the people inside all trying to keep warm. Marlo cooked and told them stories from his long and incredible life.

  Magnus found out that Marlo had met many famous characters from history, but not many had left a lasting impression on him. Except for Julius Caesar, who, according to Marlo, had enjoyed his cooking immensely.

  He’d stayed away from Henry VIII because the man was “too handy with the axe” and had once boiled a chef alive for giving everyone food poisoning.

  “Boiled alive!”

  “Yes, it’s true. Caesar was more forgiving when the cakes came out wrong.”

  “Who else did you like?” asked Magnus, intrigued.

  “John Lennon was a jolly fellow. He liked my jube jubes. He mentioned them in one of his wonderful songs.”

  “What are jube jubes?”

  “Sort of little cakes with sugar on them.” Marlo started looking through his boxes and pots. “I’ll make you some if you like.” Magnus nodded.

  “I talked to him a lot in his music studio and we changed a few sounds here and there. He put some of our discussions into a song. Imagine, I think he called it.”

  “I know that one! It’s very famous.” Magnus stared at Marlo, not quite sure whether to believe that the old man in front of him had been the man behind the lyrics to Imagine.

  *

  A few days later the mine reopened and Magnus heard very quickly that his trick had been discovered. Finlo had raged and shrieked, but he had no idea how all the gold had been extracted, and so quickly too. How could he tell Murdamond that his best gold mine for thousands of miles had been emptied almost overnight? Then a thought crossed his mind. That boy, what was his name? Magnus, that was it, was probably responsible, but how was a mystery.

  Worse than that, the villagers didn’t seem that bothered about the missing gold. The earthquake had made them nervous to venture underground and Marlo’s new idea of a hot air balloon was far more thrilling.

  Magnus sat with his friends in the village square and tickled Moth behind his frill. The mine was closed and the factory was being dismantled. He felt like he had won a small battle, but he knew that far across to the north his parents were locked in an icy dungeon, freezing and terrified.

  As soon as the spring arrived, he and his friends, including the Triceratops, would have to face the villain Murdamond, and who knew what adventures they would have to face along the way…

  A preview of Book II Magnus and the Lady of the Mountain

  Chapter 1

  On the day of the winter solstice Marlo followed the ancient ritual of his ancestors and he cut the mistletoe from the sacred oak with his golden scythe. The villagers caught the precious pieces before they fell on the dirty ground and lost their powers. Magnus and Em carried home their own sprig and they put it up on the front door to protect them from fire and malicious woodland spirits.

  “It’s all nonsense, though, isn’t it?” Magnus asked Marlo later as they sat by the fire, trying to warm up. The old wizard promptly turned red and choked on his dried plum cake, crumbs flying out, his eyes popping with rage.

  “What do you mean; nonsense!” he exclaimed. “There is nothing nonsensical about this ancient ritual.”

  “But mistletoe is just a parasitic plant,” said Magnus. “It’s been proved. And there are no goblins or witches or fairies, are there?”

  “That’s what you think,” Marlo muttered, picking crumbs out of his beard and flicking them off the sleeping Moth, who was curled up on the floor with Frolic in front of the fire. The Triceratops was snuffling around Magnus, nudging him with her nose for a few bits of cake.

  It seemed only a few days, not months, since Magnus had been transported, via a tornado, with Marlo to the other Earth somewhere in the universe. At first, he had been just another boy who lived with his grandparents in an ordinary red brick house, but they had hidden the truth from him. He was part of something ancient and mysterious. He was part of the Deruweld and he and Marlo were protectors of the other Earths and they had a mission to accomplish. The old Earth was on the verge of destruction, thanks to Murdamond and his evil Manges and their pursuit of money, wealth and fame. And now Murdamond had moved on and sought to corrupt another Earth. He had already started by building a mine and a factory — a plan that Magnus had managed to thwart, but Murdamond would not give up easily. Worse than that, Murdamond had captured his parents and they were in a freezing dungeon, unaware that their son had returned. Magnus knew that when the spring came, they would have to travel north to find Murdamond’s castle, stop the evildoer, and rescue them.

  Magnus had grown fond of the village filled with the strange simple Deruweld folk, who patiently grew vegetables and looked after their world with tender care. And he loved his new dinosaur friends too. The catastrophic event that had killed the dinosaurs on the other Earth hadn’t happened on this one, so the dinosaurs continued happily, looked after by the Deruweld. Spinosauruses existed alongside T. Rexes. Thanks to a feeding and care programme, there had been no extinctions. For a boy who loved dinosaurs, this world was the best place to be, and Magnus was determined that Murdamond and his Manges would not spoil it.

  *

  Meanwhile, far away in a castle that was now two- thirds built, Murdamond could have been reading Magnus’s mind. He stood gazing at his favourite thing in all the universe: himself. Or rather, his own reflection in a beautiful jewelled mirror by a window that looked out on the cold grey sea. Today his long hair was pulled up into a tall point that had the effect of making him appear much taller than he was. He looked rather like a candle because he had dyed his hair bright yellow, and his long white robes looked like melting wax as they flowed and rippled down to the floor.

  Into his yellow pointed hair Murdamond had threaded sparkling yellow crystals and they twinkled and glistened as he admired himself from all angles, grinning through his sparkly yellow beard; he’d dyed that as well, showing his little white teeth. Murdamond was happy with his new look and decided to summon Viper, who arrived almost immediately from his small office where he was doing the most important job of the day: counting Murdamond’s money and placing it into little bags made out of dinosaur skin.

  “Yes, Master,” Viper said, grovelling in his dirty clothes; his slicked back hair looked more greasy than usual.

  “Summon Wretched and get him to bring that pathetic couple from the dungeon. Also, summon Vile and Vicious. I have a job for them. Have you sent the Persuaders?”

  “Yes, Master, but they had to return. It was too cold for them.”

  “Whaaaaaaat!” Murdamond spun around, momentarily distracted from his beautiful image. “Too cold! Too cold! What are they? Persuaders or milk sops? Give them some coats and send them again. My mission will not fail. That gold mine is the best in the area. I will have that gold!”

  “Erm… about the gold.” Viper had been putting off the moment, but he knew he would have to tell Murdamond eventually.

  “What? What about my gold? Have those stupid leaf-eaters done something?”

  “Maybe, we don’t know. It’s very strange, but Figus says that the gold is all gone. He suspects the boy and the old man might have something to do with it, and the girl. There’s a girl, an odd character. Figus thinks she…” Viper stopped mid-sentence. He realised that Murdamond’s face was red and he looked like he was about to explode.

  “My gold has disappeared!” Murdamond spluttered, shaking with fury. All this bad news was seriously ruining what had started out to be a rather good day. Even his yellow pointed hair started to droop and he looked less like a candle and more like a custard-coloured question mark.

  “Get me Vile and Vicious, now! That group of meddling salad-munchers will be plan
ning to rescue the drips I have incarcerated in my dungeon. I know it. That’s it! The gloves are off!” Murdamond raged and stamped and thumped the wall, his hair flopping from side to side.

  Viper was only too happy to leave. Five minutes later he pushed the two suspicious-looking Manges into Murdamond’s chamber.

  “Be careful what you say,” Viper warned them. “Agree to any of his demands. He’s in a terrible mood. He fed his cook to the Velociraptors last week because his cakes had blue icing and no one had told Pestle he had moved into a yellow phase.”

  Vile and Vicious grunted and shuffled into the large yellow room and faced Murdamond, who sat on his shining yellow throne decorated with dragons, unicorns and griffins, trying to straighten his hair, but it just flopped over. It didn’t help his mood, which was turning very black indeed.

  Murdamond glared at his trusted henchmen. Vile stood quite straight, his long, thin white face expressionless. He was tall, very thin and bony, but apart from that he was pretty ordinary looking with long, lank black hair and bright blue eyes. Vicious was short and stocky. He had a tuft of wiry blond hair and he appeared to be chewing gum. Murdamond let that pass; he had to get down to business.

  “I need you for a special mission. I need you to go incognito…”

  “Where’s that?” Viper suddenly looked interested.

  “It’s not a place, it’s a…” Murdamond began.

  “Is it a new kind of travelling machine?”

  “Don’t interrupt!” Murdamond’s voice became shrill and high. “It means undercover, you know, in disguise.”

  “Oh,” chorused the two villains, slightly disappointed. Vicious resumed chewing. For some reason it really annoyed Murdamond and he picked up his golden staff and whacked Vicious smartly on the head. Sparks darted around for a few seconds and a startled Vicious opened his mouth; the piece of chewing gum slipped out over his drool-covered lips and fell on the floor.