Macy Vickers and the Book of Spells

by Paul R. Melia

  Olivia looked lost and scanned the bedroom. “Do you remember our first night in this bedroom?”

  Macy looked puzzled. “Yes. Why?”

  “Look at your watch. I’ve already checked mine.”

  “What for?” asked Macy.

  “Just do it and you’ll see!” Olivia sounded flustered.

  Macy picked up her watch from the bedside cabinet. “It’s a couple of minutes before ten.”

  Olivia nodded. “Now, look at the date.”

  “Saturday the twenty sixth? But how can that be?” Macy had finally twigged.

  “I don’t know. But going by the time and date on both our watches, it’s as if we’re still on our first night in Torquay!”

  Macy double checked her watch again … stumbled over to Olivia and checked hers. “What’s going on? Are we stuck in a time warp or something?”

  “I wouldn’t say a time warp,” replied Olivia. “But it does feel as though time has stood still.”

  Macy fiddled with her pyjamas and pulled something out from the inside pocket. “Look what I’ve found!” She raised her hands in the air. “It’s the Hat of Invisibility.

  “Do you think it will still work?” asked Olivia.

  “I don’t know. Let’s stick the old bonnet on and see what happens.” She placed the hat on her head and scrunched her eyes up.

  Jack grew impatient and moved further into the bedroom. “Nothing’s happening. This is all weird… But it can’t have been a dream, could it?”

  “Hold your horses,” muttered Olivia. “Give it time. It might need a moment or two to warm up.”

  “Warm up!?” Macy shook her head in disbelief and prepared to remove the Hat of Invisibility. “It’s not a kettle, you know. Anyway, Jack’s right — it’s not working.”

  Olivia grinned innately. “That’s the second time in the past couple of minutes you’ve agreed with Jack... It’s not like you.”

  Macy fired back promptly. “Maybe, because he’s right.” She

  Olivia’s eyes bulged out on storks. “Stop! Leave the hat where it is ... it’s working.”

  Jack looked on excitedly. “She’s right.”

  Macy dropped her hands and placed them at her side. “Can you still see me or not, Olivia?”

  “You’re fading a bit, but not completely invisibly.” Olivia cleared her throat. “Strike that … you’ve completely gone.”

  “This is bonkers.” Jack walked over and touched the Hat of Invisibility. “Hang on a minute ... that didn’t last long — you’ve changed into a hologram...” He took a step back. “…You’re starting to reappear.”

  Olivia plucked the hat off Macy’s head. “Well, at least it worked. Even if it was for just a minute or two. Maybe it’s like a battery and needs recharging?”

  “Recharging? That’s going to be a problem,” said Jack. “Unless we try to get back to Tormencer and find the Spell Keeper, that is. It’s not an iPhone, you know.”

  “I think that’s pretty obvious!” said Olivia sarcastically.

  Macy took the Hat of Invisibility from Olivia’s grasp and placed it in a drawer at the side of her bed. “Who knows. Maybe we might try and make our way back to Tormencer. Just not this summer holiday, though. I’ve had all the adventures I could possibly want rolled-up into one with our little jaunt.”

  Jack latched on to something Macy had just said. “Do you think we will all be allowed to come back to your aunt and uncle’s house next year?”

  Macy let out a yawn. “Hopefully.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” said Olivia excitedly. “Why don’t we go to the Forbidden Garden now, and see if we can find our way back to Tormencer?”

  Macy wasn’t sold on the idea, but Jack was. “That’s one of the best ideas you’ve had in a while,” he smirked. “Count me in.”

  “Haven’t we been through enough already?” barked Macy. “Do you really want to go back again without even knowing how to find our way to Tormencer Castle? It was fine when we were with Romulus and the others — they know Tormencer like the back of their hands. But we don’t.”

  “And?” cried Jack brashly. “We’ll soon suss out how to find our way round.”

  Olivia shook her head knowingly. “Macy’s right. We wouldn’t have a clue where we were going.”

  “So?” interrupted Jack. “We could still try.”

  Olivia pursed her lips. “Mmm… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if we just went to the Forbidden Garden and located the doorway to Tormencer.”

  A look of concern broke-out on Macy’s face. “So, you want to go back to the crypt? And then what? Have a nice chat with the Goblin Soldiers there?”

  “No need to be funny,” retorted Olivia. “We’ve got ears to hear if there are any Goblin Soldiers there, and Jack can shine his torch down the passageway as well.” Olivia shrugged her shoulders and sunk her head into her neck. “If we see any, we’ll just slam the door in their faces.”

  Macy laughed nervously. “And that’s your plan is it? I’m not sure if you’re being serious or not, but if you are, then you need to think of another one.”

  Jack was done talking and had already made his way into the hallway. “Come on,” he whispered. “There’s no harm in taking a look. We don’t have to go inside the passageway if you don’t want too.”

  All the time he spoke Jack had his hands behind his back and his fingers crossed. There was no way he was going to the Forbidden Garden and the doorway to Tormencer, without going inside.

  Although Macy was apprehensive, she eventually relented, and they retraced their footsteps, down the hall and stairs, out the front door and stealthily through the vast ground of Chandler House. All the while Jack was at the helm, lighting up a clear path with his trusty torch.

  Finally, they arrived outside the door of the Forbidden Garden, where they stopped for a recap of what they were going to do next, and to catch their breath.

  It was thought that as they had already opened the door previously, it would be an easy task to enter the Forbidden Garden. But that wasn’t the case. The door was still caked in dirt, and it took just as long, and just as much effort to free the rusty hinges and opened enough of a gap for them to fit through.

  Then came the arduous trudge through brambles, nettles, long grass and a mass of other foliage.

  Jack snagged his pyjama bottoms on a particularly prickly bush and needed Olivia’s assistance to break free. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but it looks like no one has been this way in years.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” said Olivia. “We came this way the last time we were here. But by the look of it, either everything has grown back rapidly, or we have gone back in time.”

  Macy caught them up and took the torch from Jack. “It’s really weird … even the door to the Forbidden Garden looked as though it hadn’t been opened in years. But that’s the way we entered last time.”

  “Give it here!” demanded Jack. Snatching the torch back he moved further forward.

  “Okay, grumpy chops,” snarled Macy. “I was just trying to be helpful. I wouldn’t want you getting caught up in the bushes again.” She held in the urge to laugh.

  Jack caught sight of the door they had been looking for. “Here we go... Now we’re talking... Tormencer, here we come.”

  He had been in such a rush to get too the door that he hadn’t notice a large rock, part hidden beneath the long grass. As he came within touching distance of the door, his foot connected with the rock and his momentum face planted him into a mud pool.

  “Oh, so near and yet so far,” cackled Macy picking the torch up.

  “Leave it out,” snorted Jack. He scrambled to his feet and shook his head. “Look at the state of me!”

  “Come here.” Olivia resisted the urge to laugh and instead grabbed a handful of grass and wiped Jack’s face clean.

  Macy shone the torch over the door and again it looked as though it hadn’t been opened in years.

  Jack cleared the last re
maining blobs of mud from around his eyes and followed the torch beam. “Here we go again.” He knew from the previous experience of trying to open the front door to the Forbidden Garden, that the door leading to Tormencer would more than likely be just as much of a challenge.

  “It feels like someone has nailed it shut!” puffed Olivia as she assisted Jack as best she could in trying to force the door open. Neither of them had shown a moment’s hesitation, but Macy was more cautious and took two steps back.

  “Keep going—” cried Jack, “—it’s moving.”

  Sure enough, as they pulled and tugged for all they were worth, the door suddenly gave way and swung.

  Jack and Olivia hadn’t expected the door to open so quickly and were flung to the side.

  “It can’t be!” cried Macy as she gawked at what appeared in front of her. There were no Goblin Soldiers, or even a dark passageway. Instead, what did confront her was a solid brick wall.

  “What’s all that about?” moaned Olivia as she ambled forward and tapped on it. “That wasn’t there last time! How did it get there?”

  Macy stood at her side. “Who knows? Things just keep getting weirder and weirder.” She put her arm over Jack’s shoulder as he joined them at the brick wall. “Well, that’s it then. Unless Romulus, Hangaku or the Spell Keeper miraculously reappear, we won’t be going back to Tormencer any time soon.”

  Jack was in no mood to walkaway just yet and was determined to see if there was any way they could bypass the brick wall. But after several kicks, huffs and fist pounds, he had to admit defeat. “It’s over,” he said dramatically. “There is no way we are going to break through to the other side.”

  Dejected and downbeat all three of them turned around and in total silence headed back through the Forbidden Garden and out of the front door.

  Macy stood solemnly on the pathway and shone the torch along it. Suddenly, something caught her eye. “Oh, no! It can’t be!”

  “What’s up with you?” asked Olivia.

  “Look!” Macy pointed at the silhouette of Chandler House in the distance. “Someone must be up … I can see a light on.”

  They sprinted down the path, through the grounds and into the court yard. Macy was desperate not to get caught by whoever was up. If it was Aunt Doris, how was she going to explain what they were up to?

  They climbed the marble steps and gently pushed open the front door.

  “Is there anybody there?” whispered Jack as he entered the hallway. He had a grin on his face and wasn’t taking the prospect of being caught by Macy’s aunt and uncle seriously.

  “It’s not funny,” said Macy.

  Just then, the tell-tale sound of the upstairs toilet flush being pulled rang out.

  They moved closer to the staircase and listened intently as the bathroom door opened and closed. Then the upstairs hall light went out and a further door closed.

  Jack snatched his torch back from Macy and tentatively placed a foot onto the first stair run. “Well, whoever it was, they’ve gone back to bed now.”

  Again silence ensued as they snuck up the stairs and into Macy and Olivia’s bedroom.

  Jack stretched and let-out an over exaggerated yawn. “It’s a shame about the entrance to Tormencer. It would have been fun going back a second time.”

  Olivia smirked. “If we do ever go back we’ll need to bring a massive drill or a sledge hammer to knock our way through the brick wall.”

  Jack interrupted her. “So, do you think we might go back?”

  Macy matched the yawn Jack had produced moments earlier. “Hopefully — but not anytime soon. As Olivia said, we’ll need more than just our hands to get through the brick wall. I don’t know about you, but I’m fresh out of power tools.” Again she yawned, though this time with a lot less ferocity. “I’m knackered.” She climbed into bed, placed her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

  Olivia and Jack soon followed suit with Jack returning to his own bedroom across the landing.

  With black still the dominant colour in the sky and all three children fast asleep, it was time for the Grandfather clock in the hallway to speak. A clutch of twelve gongs rang out as midnight kicked in, and … once the last one faded, Chandler House fell silent once more.

  THE END