The Moon Child

by Cate Cain

  “Only to put them in danger again!”

  “He didn’t know!” Ann turned to Mingan. “You thought you were bringing us to a safe place, didn’t you?”

  Mingan nodded grimly. “I am a man of honour. I would not harm you, any of you. I promised you shelter and to guide you to a ship when the snows end.”

  Jem’s attention was taken by Nadie. The old woman was stroking Ann’s hair and crooning softly. Tolly took a step towards them, but Ann shook her head violently. “Don’t, Tolly. What is the song, Mingan?”

  “The legend of the Moon Child. It is important to our people. When I first saw you on the ship your hair made me think of that story for the first time in many years. You remind my mother of it also.”

  “What is the legend?” Ann turned to allow Nadie to braid her hair.

  “We have come here for hundreds of years to shelter during the time of snow. We did this even during the darkest days because the waters were warm; the lake never froze. The miracle was our secret. This has always been our sacred place – we call it The Lake of the Great Mother.”

  “And the Great Mother is the Moon?” Ann asked.

  Mingan nodded. “Once each month her face is reflected in the water. It is our reminder of her promise. When our people face the greatest enemy we believe the Moon’s Child will sing with the stars and the Great Mother will hear them.”

  Jem thought of the frozen black water of the lake outside. “It can’t reflect anything now, can it?”

  “No, it is dead. Like my village.”

  Nadie broke off from the song and spoke rapidly to Mingan. He shook his head and gave a sharp answer.

  “What did Nadie just say?” Ann asked.

  Mingan was silent for a moment. “My mother says it was my destiny to bring you here, Moon Child.”

  “Destiny!” Tolly snorted and bent to take up his fur cloak. “That’s it. We’re leaving. We have to get you as far away from here as possible, Ann.”

  “Tolly’s right.” Jem flinched as Ann’s green eyes flashed. “If Cazalon really is the Witiko, this is probably the worst place on earth we could have brought you.”

  “I’ve got the right to an opinion too, don’t you think?” she demanded furiously.

  “Please. I did not mean to cause you to argue.” Mingan rose from the furs and raised his hands. “The wise one is right.” He bowed his head towards Tolly. “At first light, you must leave the valley.” He reached for his grey fur and swung it around his shoulders. He moved towards the door, but looked back over his shoulder at Jem and Tolly in turn.

  “I am sorry. I should not have brought you here. Remember my words.”

  Jem sprang to his feet. “Where are you going?”

  “I will stand guard outside tonight. You will be safe. I promise.”

  “We can stand with you.” Jem reached for his own fur and for Cazalon’s staff, but as he took it up, the sound of a hundred of wolves baying filled the air.

  The skin around Mingan’s blue eyes crinkled. “It will not be necessary. Listen – my brothers will be with me.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  “Where has he gone?” Ann turned to scan the ruined village. It was dawn, but as Mingan had said, no birds sang here. It was as silent as the grave. She walked to the edge of the circular lake and knelt to touch the frozen black water. She gasped and swiftly pulled her hand away. “It’s dry, like coal, but so cold that it burns.”

  Tolly crunched forward to stand beside her on the speckled snow and pulled back his fur hood. “There’s nothing. Not a sound, not a movement. Even the trees don’t move.”

  “But Mingan wouldn’t have abandoned us, surely?” Jem glanced at Nadie who was standing beside him at the door of her longhouse. She turned the little carved heart over and over in her hands, her pale eyes locked on the frozen black water.

  “We can’t even ask Nadie where he’s gone.”

  “Tolly could try!” Ann clasped his shoulder. “Perhaps you could look into her thoughts. She must know something.”

  Tolly nodded slowly. “She’s sad and frightened. I know that much already. I’ve felt it rolling from her in waves since we came out here.”

  “Does she know what’s happened to him? Can you tell?” Jem released Cleo. She’d been wriggling and chattering in his arms. She scampered across the snow to the lake’s edge.

  Tolly watched her for a moment and then he spoke. “I was wrong about Mingan. When he said he was sorry last night, he truly meant it.”

  He turned and crunched the little way back to the longhouse. “I hope I’m wrong, but I think he’s just made another mistake.”

  Nadie began speaking rapidly in her language with tears in her eyes. She clutched Tolly’s injured hand, once or twice breaking free to point at the lake. When the old woman finished she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

  Ann put her arm around Nadie’s shoulder. “Tolly?”

  He rubbed his injured thumb. “She is frightened, terribly frightened … she … she wants us to leave, immediately. She promised Mingan last night that whatever happened, she would make sure we left the valley before nightfall.”

  “But what has happened, Tolly?”

  Before he had a chance to answer Jem’s question, Cleo’s frantic squeal made them all spin around. She was about thirty yards away on the snowy edge of the lake, her white-tipped tail thrashing above her head. They ran towards her.

  “What’s wrong? Here, girl, come to me.” Cleo didn’t answer Tolly’s call, but stood alert, her black eyes unblinking.

  “Look!” Jem pointed at the snow in front of her and then turned back towards the longhouse.

  The footprints of a man with a long stride led from the longhouse to the shore where Cleo stood guard, and there they became the deep paw prints of a huge animal.

  “Oh no.” Tolly shook his head. “It’s true then, the great fear I saw in Nadie’s mind. Mingan has gone to save his father from the Witiko – from Cazalon.”

  Ann gasped. “But he doesn’t know what he is – or what he can do.”

  Jem stared at the massive tracks in the snow. “But we do.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Ann pulled Jem’s hood around his head and fastened the bone toggle. “Remember, wait until he goes out to hunt – and then wait some more.” Her voice was small and tight.

  “We’ll be back before sunrise.” Jem wished he was sure of that. He shot an anxious look at Tolly, who was trying to entice Cleo from beneath the folds of his cloak. She was making furious chirping noises.

  “She knows I’m leaving her,” he muttered gloomily. “Are you ready?”

  Jem pushed a wodge of snow-dusted fringe back into his hood. “This is the only way to make sure Ann’s safe. We defeated him before, Tolly, we must remember that. Surely, we must have weakened him?” Jem wished he felt as confident as he sounded.

  “But we could stick with the original plan. Get passage on a ship, get back across the Atlantic – far away from Cazalon.” Tolly fumbled to fasten his own cloak.

  “You know that we can’t let Mingan face him alone. He helped us on the boat and he saved us from Madame on the jetty. We can’t leave him now. And this way, we’ll no longer need to run – we’ll make sure we defeat Cazalon for good. You agree with me, don’t you, Ann?”

  She nodded. “We owe Mingan our help. If he hadn’t found us in the forest we would have frozen to death. Here, let me help with that.” She threaded the bone toggle of Tolly’s fur through a loop and continued quietly. “My grandmother taught me that every choice we make starts a chain, that I must always be careful to make the right choice, even if it is a hard one, because the chain can lead you into the dark or into the light. If we left now, then …”

  “Then it would be the wrong choice,” Jem finished for her. “We are the only people in the world who have thwarted Cazalon. That must mean something. And we have his staff.” He looked into its crystal eyes.

  Tolly sighed and buried his damaged han
d in the folds of the cloak. Since that time in the Fortuna’s hold, he hadn’t touched the staff.

  Jem gripped the shark spine, grateful he was immune to its power.

  He felt someone tug his hand and turned to look down at Nadie’s earnest face. She brought her hand to her heart and reached up to touch his forehead. Then, solemnly, she went to Tolly.

  “She’s thanking us.” Tolly stooped to allow Nadie to gently touch his face. She took a step back and bowed to Ann, murmuring softly.

  Ann caught Tolly’s arm. “I want to come with you.”

  “No.” Tolly pulled the fur hood over his head. “Look, if it really is Cazalon, it’s bad enough bringing you so close. But to actually deliver you to his doorstep would be madness!”

  “But what if you need me?” Ann spluttered out the words.

  “We won’t. This isn’t about magic, it’s about stealth. Besides, you have to look after Cleo. We can’t take her with us – she might give us away. You’re the only one she’ll stay with. Come on, girl.” Tolly delved under the folds of his cloak with his good hand and produced Cleo. The little monkey batted her paws frantically against his arm as he handed her gently but firmly to Ann. “Take care of her.”

  “Of course I will. And you take care of each other.” Ann glanced imploringly at Jem. “Let me come at least some of the way. Please.”

  “You’re not to leave the village – and that’s final.” Jem wiped snow from his face. It was falling again, but not heavily.

  “Listen, we’ll be back at daybreak.” Tolly spoke softly. “But if we’re not, then Nadie will take you to the rest of her people, as Mingan wanted. We’ll join you there.”

  Ann didn’t answer.

  “Promise me you’ll do that?” Tolly stepped back as Cleo tried to catch his cloak.

  Ann gave a tiny nod and he turned to the lake without another word. As Tolly crumped away, Cleo squawked in the girl’s arms.

  Jem flicked his head forward so that the hood shielded him completely, plunged the staff into the snow and set off.

  “Never drop your guard.”

  He repeated his fencing master’s words over and over as he marched through the snow. But William Jalbert had never faced anyone like Count Cazalon, had he?

  They crouched in the deep shadow at the edge of the forest. The silent lake looked like a vast black pit, the shore stained with blood, feathers and rotting animal carcasses. Despite the band of stars twinkling overhead in the slowly clearing sky, nothing glittered or moved in its frozen depths.

  It was almost dark. Jem peered through the trees. Thirty yards away, White Crow’s longhouse was a sprawling, ramshackle affair squatting beside the edge of the lake. There was no mistaking it – there had been no other houses since they left the village.

  Ragged hides flapped on the arched roof and broken branches set at odd angles poked out from its sides. It looked as if it had been flung upon the ground.

  “What now?” Tolly shifted to get a clearer view.

  “We wait until the Witiko goes out to hunt. Once he’s gone, that’s our chance. Can you sense Mingan?”

  Tolly shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. If the Witiko is Cazalon and I open my mind this close, he’ll know we’re here.”

  Jem craned his neck for a better view of the longhouse. “Mingan defeated Madame, remember? We need his help. If he’s a prisoner inside, then we need to free him and his father too.” He paused. “Do you think you could use the staff again?”

  Tolly nodded. “If it’s against Cazalon, I can.”

  “Good.” Jem glanced at Tolly’s face. He knew how much it had already cost his friend to wield the dark power of the staff. “He is weakest by day – that’s what Nadie said. It’s our protection and a weapon.”

  Tolly nodded again, but Jem saw him looking down at the staff. He needed to give Tolly the confidence he didn’t feel himself.

  “Listen, it’s our best chance. When he comes back from hunting it will be almost dawn. If we have Mingan with us and if you use the staff, then we can drive him into the light and defeat him. If it really is Cazalon, we can finish what we started in the catacombs under St Paul’s. And if it’s just a Witiko, well, we’ve taken on worse and won, haven’t we? What do you say?”

  “Just a Witiko?” Jem was amazed to hear his friend laugh for the first time in days. Tolly stifled the sound and clapped Jem’s shoulder. “I say that all sounds deceptively simple, but at least it sounds like a plan.”

  As they waited, the harsh screech of an owl sounded overhead, emphasising the unnatural silence of the forest. Suddenly, there was a sharp cracking noise from close by. A twig broken underfoot?

  Jem spun about.

  “Oh no!” Tolly bent to scoop something from the snow – something that chattered with pleasure.

  “What is she doing here?” Jem whispered urgently as Tolly stroked Cleo’s nose and folded her into his cloak.

  “Shhh.” Tolly tried to muffle her excited chirrups. “It’s always difficult to stop her from doing what she wants. She must have escaped and followed me. Like that time at St Paul’s.”

  “But what if she gives us away?” Cleo’s twitching nose poked out from Tolly’s cloak as Jem continued. “We can’t take her with us.”

  “We’ll have to. I can make her stay quiet. As long as she stays hidden under my cloak … Down!” Tolly hissed the word as the tattered flap of the longhouse door jerked aside and a dark, bent figure came out onto the snow. It straightened up. Jem saw it was tall, very tall, and clothed in a patchwork of mismatched furs, just as Nadie had said.

  But she hadn’t told Mingan about the stench.

  The unmistakable stink of rotting flesh carried down to them on the wind. It was a dirty, pungent smell; a familiar odour, but now a hundred times stronger than the corrupted air that smothered Mingan’s village like a soiled cloak. The hooded figure paused for a moment and then turned slowly in their direction. Jem felt the Eye of Ra burn on his heel and muffled a yelp of pain.

  Tolly pulled his cloak tight around his body and Cleo.

  The fur-clad figure took a faltering step towards them, but then it halted, raised its head and turned to look up at the trees behind the longhouse. It swayed uncertainly from foot to foot and then it started to move again.

  Staggering rather than walking, it lumbered towards the distant trees, gaining speed as it went. After a minute or so it disappeared from view.

  They waited for what seemed like a long time for some kind of sign. Finally, a distant blood-curdling screech made Jem’s scalp prickle.

  “He’s feeding – it’s our chance.” He straightened up and retrieved the staff from the snow.

  “Never drop your guard.”

  He allowed himself a sour smile as he thought of Master Jalbert again. What would he make of a weapon like this? Jem looked at the bird-head. Its eyes glinted eerily in the starlight. He blinked – was there something moving, deep in the heart of the crystal? He held the staff higher. No, he was mistaken. There was nothing.

  Tolly cleared his throat. “The Witiko – he won’t come back, will he?”

  “I don’t think so …” Jem stopped as another piercing animal cry echoed across the valley. “Not yet anyway. Come on.”

  They slipped from the treeline and, crouching low, they loped along the shore until they reached a boulder ten yards from the longhouse. The only sound came from the flaps of hide on the roof – a dry rustling as the east wind caught them.

  “I’ll go first.”

  Jem sprinted out from behind the boulder and Tolly followed.

  At the entrance to the longhouse he held back the flap and called softly, “Mingan?”

  From somewhere inside there was a bumping, shuffling noise and then a muffled voice. Jem called again. “Mingan, is that you?”

  The voice came again, stronger now, and thumping too. Jem turned to Tolly. “He is here. Quickly.”

  Jem ducked through the doorway, Tolly following close behind. But as the fla
p fell back into place behind them, Jem realised they had made a dreadful and deadly mistake.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  A hoarse, horribly familiar sing-song voice rang out across the black-and-white marble-tiled hall. “You are monstrously late. We have been expecting you for so long, it has almost become tedious. But I welcome you to my home once again.”

  Jem could feel the heat of the flames from the fire on his face and the cool, flat precision of the marble beneath his feet. A carved timber staircase rose into blackness from the centre of the echoing chamber. There was no mistake; it was not an illusion.

  But how? Jem looked back at where they’d entered the longhouse. The towering double doors of Malfurneaux Place were closed behind them. He tried to run back to push them open but his feet were rooted to the stones.

  Just as Jem had done, Tolly turned to the door, his eyes round with terror.

  Tolly folded his cloak protectively around his body to shield a keening Cleo.

  Mingan crouched in front of the fire. His body was hunched and twisted as if bound with invisible chains. He made the muffled sound Jem had heard from outside again. The firelight glinted on the little skulls bound into his hair and his terrified eyes darted to the staircase.

  The air was foul. With great effort, Jem bundled the staff into the folds of his cloak, making sure it was hidden from view.

  Though they couldn’t see him, Count Cazalon’s rasping voice came again. “How delightful it is to be reunited with … friends.”

  A dragging, rustling sound from above was followed by a harsh cry. Jem looked up. Osiris, Count Cazalon’s albino raven, circled the chamber. He came to rest on one of the massive carved posts at the foot of the staircase, adjusted his feathers and rolled his ugly head from side to side. Then he opened his beak to reveal a fat yellow tongue that glimmered with slime.

  Kraak!

  Jem tore his eyes from the bird as the rustling came again. There was a creaking tread on the stairs.

  First the trailing tips of pale feathers appeared in the firelight. Then, as the heavy, deliberate steps echoed around the hall, an entire figure, illuminated by the reddish glow, came slowly towards them down the staircase.