Seth remembered how Angelique had explained to him how a firefly cage meant someone else could use a sorcerer’s magic. Finally, he understood. That was how Mr Bunn had done magic. That was how he had made Henri’s carved figures come to life. He’d been using the magic in the firefly cage.
Angelique tucked her red cane under her arm. ‘There is no way Mr Bunn could have known what kind of magic he was dealing with.’ She looked around her. ‘If Dr Thallomius’s firefly cage ended up in Wich Wracht’s hands that would explain why there is so much magic around here, how magic has leaked even into the walls. But that leaves us with one big question.’ She pointed to the empty hook on the ceiling. ‘Where is the firefly cage now?’ She went and lifted the tapestry. ‘And where is everyone?’
‘Tiffany’s missing. They all went looking,’ said Seth.
‘Everyone is heading out for something called the glow-worm glade,’ said Pewter, clambering through the tapestry after her. ‘Sounds rather delightful. I suggest we join them.’
‘Let’s hurry.’ Angelique headed for the lounge door at a run. ‘It’s an intensely powerful tool of sinister magic and one of them must have got hold of it. None of them have the faintest clue what they are dealing with.’
Angelique lifted her cane to block Seth’s way.
‘Not you.’ She lifted her dark eyes and looked deeply into his. ‘Stay here. It’s way too dangerous.’ She swung herself out into the darkness.
Seth would have protested, but his mind was already on another plan. Something he really needed to do.
Angelique turned back briefly. ‘Did you really think I’d killed him?’ her voice was heavy with sadness.
Then she started to sprint towards the forest without waiting for a reply and he heard her voice call in the darkness. ‘Let’s just hope nobody else dies.’
46. Who
Seth knew exactly where he was going and what he must do. He felt as if his brain must be making that same ticking noise as came from Angelique’s red cane.
Just for now he would leave Angelique and Pewter to worry about the firefly cage. He was focused on another magical device completely. Something else that had been set up here by Wich Wracht.
He was convinced someone had arrived at the Last Chance Hotel already knowing all about exactly the sort of sinister magic lurking here. Someone had arrived with a plan – a plan of how to get to the firefly cage before Dr Thallomius, get Dr Thallomius out of the picture permanently . . . and how to get away with it all very easily.
As Seth raced up the stairs he realized what a lucky escape he’d had, how close he had come to taking the blame. It had seemed impossible that anyone else but him could possibly have done it. But now he understood everything.
And if he was right, he finally also knew who had done it.
And this was his big chance to prove it.
Seth flung open the door to Room Six. He crossed straight to the desk, searching for the object that would confirm all his suspicions. To prove the truth and finally clear his own name. He knew what he had seen and it had been right here.
Now all he had to do was find it and finally prove his innocence beyond any doubt and he would be free.
‘What are you thinking, Seth?’
Seth swung around and saw Nightshade had padded in silently after him.
‘The pictures in the hotel are set up like a secret passage. You get into it via a magical device called a ruhnglas. It explains the mystery of how Gloria Troutbean saw a grey shape moving in her bedroom she thought was the spectre of Dr Thallomius.’
Nightshade’s whiskers quivered.
‘But more than that, it’s the answer I’ve been searching for from the beginning. The answer to that question I’ve asked myself dozens of times without having a clue of how to answer it – of how someone got into the dining room to put the poison into Dr Thallomius’s dessert. The ruhnglas must be how the murderer did it. But it’s not here.’ He hit the desk in frustration.
‘It was Kingfisher?’ said Nightshade.
‘Had to be. But I have to prove it.’ Seth frantically went through the objects on the desk. But the mirror definitely wasn’t there. ‘When I first saw it I thought it was my mirror. I picked it up. But it must have been a ruhnglas. But it’s not here? How am I going to prove what he did?’ he said in a panic.
Nightshade leapt up on to the desk.
‘He came prepared, didn’t he? Was well informed about this place,’ she hissed. ‘He must have known before he arrived how he’d get the run of the hotel, passing any locked or charmed doors.’
‘I had the answer all this time. I should have worked out it was a magical device because it would sometimes show a view of a different room.’
‘You couldn’t have known, Seth. And you did work it out.’
‘But how do I prove it? Without the mirror, I haven’t a chance.’
‘Don’t worry, Seth, I think I might have the proof you need.’
She moved across the room in one slinky movement and pointed at something pinned to the back of the door. A card, like a playing card, attached with a golden pin shaped like a dagger. On the card was a picture of a red flower.
Seth slowly unpinned it and stared at the card. ‘I know exactly what sort of flower this is. Red Valerian.’
‘Kingfisher is Red Valerian!’
Seth considered bumbling Kingfisher and could not quite picture him as being a master criminal.
‘My guess is Kingfisher was acting under orders,’ said Seth pocketing the card. ‘I can see this was all Red Valerian’s plan to get rid of Dr Thallomius – and get hold of a powerful magical device at the same time. And so far, Nightshade, he’s getting away with it.’
Something strange drew Seth to the window.
‘Kingfisher took charge of sealing all the exits,’ said Nightshade. ‘Think he might have been smart enough to leave himself a way clear for him to escape? He might have gone already.’
Seth’s stomach plummeted. ‘But it can’t be too late. What on earth is that?’
Out of the window and towards the glow-worm glade Seth watched a vast, vivid, almost luminous green glow.
‘What the heck is it?’ said Nightshade.
‘I don’t know, we should find out,’ said Seth, a sick feeling growing. ‘But it can’t be good.’
47. An Unexpected Army
They plunged out in the direction of the forest where the green glow was coming from. Tonight it felt as if the dark forest had crept even closer.
The trees grew so dense that after a while they blotted out even the eerie light they were following. Seth stopped, knowing if you were out in the forest it paid to take a moment to stop, to calm your own breath and the beating of your heart, then you could start to hear things. He paused long enough to let his breath slow, to listen to the whisper of the forest. What was it trying to tell him?
Dunster-Dunstable on his squat little legs, Professor Troutbean with her floaty dress and flappy manner, Gloria and the rest. They were all supposed to be out here searching for Tiffany. He could not imagine them wanting to hang around in a dank forest as the darkness grew, especially as the ground got squelchy and boggy as they went further from the hotel and neared the river.
So where was everyone?
He could hear no searching, no calls.
Everything was dark and eerily quiet. Faintly, in the distance, came another sound Seth recognized. The sound of rushing water carried in the night. He and Nightshade must have run far enough to reach the river. Had Tiffany been found? Had he somehow missed them and they were all in fact back at the Last Chance Hotel, sitting in the squashy chairs in the lounge, drinking tea? But where was the firefly cage?
Then the silence was broken with the piercing note of a terrified scream.
Seth battled onwards, Nightshade by his side, his feet constantly snagging roots in the dark. He almost stumbled over Pewter and Angelique, who were crouched in the thick foliage.
‘What’s happening?’ S
eth demanded.
But when he looked ahead, they didn’t need to tell him. He was looking at a scene that belonged in the middle of a nightmare. Here were the Professor, Miss Troutbean, Master Dunster-Dunstable and Count Marred, along with Horatio and Norrie Bunn and even Henri. They were cowering in a circle, clutching each other, looks of terror on anguished faces that were tinged green from a strange light, but it wasn’t from the glow-worms.
They were surrounded by a collection of what Seth could only imagine had once been Henri’s carved creatures, whittled figures of wood and vegetables. It was exactly like Angelique had described Mr Bunn’s magic, where he had made them come to life.
Only they had grown to become monsters. Gigantic creatures, blind and heavy, with lumbering clicking legs and sightless wooden eyes, their limbs flailing randomly in the darkness, forming a circle in which the small figures of guests and staff cowered in their shadows. One move from any trying to escape the circle would surely end in them being crushed.
Pewter struck up a light in his palm, bright as a match. He nursed the ball of light, cupping his hands as it turned from light to a flame, as if he was assessing what to do with it.
Seth whispered a warning, ‘If you start a fire those things might burn, but chances are everything else will go up like tinder. Those people might be trapped in a wall of flame – and what if it reaches the forest?’
Pewter instantly shut off the fire.
Seth looked at Pewter and Angelique’s faces, which were both tinged with the same reflective green. ‘You’re both magic – can’t you do something to bring those creatures down to normal size?’
‘There’s already way too much magic around,’ explained Angelique. ‘Adding any more is likely to produce something horribly explosive.’
Seth turned and looked beyond the circle of petrified folk, beyond the wider circle of terrifying wooden monsters, into the darkness towards the roar of the river. There had to be a way to free them. He could just make out where the green light was coming from. Where was Kingfisher?
He moved, crouching low, and started to run, skirting the dark trees in the direction of the waterfall, taking advantage of the darkness just beyond where the light spilt, taking advantage of how well he knew this bit of the forest.
But as he got closer, Seth had to put up his arm to shield his eyes, the light was getting brighter, so bright it hurt. But he could just make out a figure. A tiny figure holding up an object that jetted piercing beams of white light. The air was filled with an overpowering smell of burnt oranges mixed with a smell like smoke after a dying fire.
Seth could see that his best chance, maybe his only chance, was to approach from behind, take the figure by surprise. And then they turned and he could see clearly who it was. They were holding a small cage, which had a beautiful golden light spilling from between its bars. The figure holding it aloft was Tiffany.
Her triumphant white face was gleaming in the mesmerizing light that was cascading from the object she was holding.
Seth inched closer. It was clear Tiffany was using the cage to control those monstrous wooden figures. Seth could see that even her parents and Henri were looking on in dread as Tiffany kept up the circle of lumbering tree-like objects, stumbling blindly like zombies, controlled by the beam of light that was being generated by the cage she held above her head.
He moved close enough to spring, knowing he could take her down.
Then out of nowhere, a fist smashed into the side of his face and sent him reeling. He saw stars, but managed not to fall.
‘Seth. Been wanting to do that since we first met.’
48. And I’m Going to Get Away with It
‘If it isn’t my favourite chief suspect. I should have just left you under lock and key. Too soft, that’s my trouble.’
Seth gritted his teeth and tried not to show how much Kingfisher’s punch had hurt him. He knew without a doubt now that Kingfisher had killed Dr Thallomius, but now wasn’t the time to deal with his anger about that, he needed to find a way to save everyone from Tiffany.
‘We need to stop—’ but he got no further.
He felt something grabbing at his legs, holding him. The way Kingfisher stood just a couple of feet away made Seth sure he was being held fast by magic. Kingfisher moved relentlessly closer and seized him in a swift move. He turned Seth around, twisting his arm upwards so that Seth cried out.
‘Thought it would be so easy to get you to take the blame. I should have been out of here yesterday, with you in handcuffs. A job well done. Congratulations all round. You really have been a pain, Seth. Time I caused you some.’
Seth tried to twist away, but Kingfisher held him too firmly. If he didn’t stop hauling Seth’s arm like that he was going to black out any second.
‘You killed Dr Thallomius,’ said Seth, gritting his teeth.
‘And I’m going to get away with it. You can’t stop me. I’ve always been a step ahead.’
‘A step ahead? Then why involve Tiffany? You had to because you were too useless to put the blame on me all by yourself. You failed.’ Seth tried to wind around, but Kingfisher only twisted his arm further upwards at an angle that made Seth fear it would break. He felt the pain and sweat broke out, his vision blurring for a second, but focused on one thing. Kingfisher had killed Dr Thallomius. He absolutely could not get away with it. Seth had to find a way.
‘That’s your trouble, Seppi,’ Kingfisher hissed in his ear. ‘Always getting in the way. It’s because of you I’ve had to scheme and backtrack and I had to involve her.’ He lifted his arm to jab an accusing finger and look at Tiffany.
He was distracted enough just for a second, just a moment, but it was long enough for Seth to seize his chance to bring his booted foot down on Kingfisher’s ankle, causing him to howl.
Seth had never deliberately caused anyone any pain before ever in his life. But he thought of Dr Thallomius and made a fist with his free hand. He knew he had to make this punch a good one. He had one chance. He sent it slamming into Kingfisher’s face.
‘That’s for locking me up in that cupboard,’ he said.
He managed to bring up his elbow after the punch and caught the soft part of Kingfisher’s chin.
‘And that’s for Dr Thallomius.’
He left Kingfisher sprawled on the floor and was free to go after his next target. He sprinted. He knew he’d have only seconds, but he might still have the element of surprise on his side.
He raced towards Tiffany and would have made it if Kingfisher hadn’t recovered enough to yell a warning just as Seth’s spring brought him out of the shadows.
Tiffany turned and caught him at the last second, her face turning from smiling evil triumph to surprise and then shock.
Then the smile returned, an evil leer, as she saw it was Seth.
Seth just ploughed right on.
He didn’t go for the cage, but, using both hands, crashed straight into Tiffany’s middle, sending her staggering backwards, the look of surprise perfect on her flawless face.
She clung on and Seth moved closer, hooking one of his feet around her right leg so that she stumbled backwards and crashed heavily, face first, to the floor.
She dropped the firefly cage.
The instant she let go, Seth spun to look and saw all the wooden figures rolling on the ground, all the shafts of white light simply stopped, as if someone had pulled a switch. The giant wooden figures stopped moving, and were shrinking back to normal size, making their last sways of distorted movement, like snowmen melting.
Tiffany was on the floor and crawling towards Seth, but he saw her and kicked out and ran to grab the firefly cage.
But now all chance to see was fading without the magical light. He could see nothing except vague shadows cast by the moon and stars and the green glimmer of the nearby glow-worm glade.
Something launched itself at Seth from side on, lunging with full force, and it was his turn to crash to the ground, crunching his shoulder into the soft mu
lch beneath his feet. He reached his hand forwards, stretching in the almost blackness, knowing Kingfisher was there, but neither could see in the dark and they scrabbled blindly in the dirt. Because the firefly cage was there too.
Then his fingers found it and he snatched it up and Kingfisher let out a roar of rage as he realized Seth had beaten him to it. He gave a second leap towards Seth, putting his hands around his throat. Seth tried to fight him off, looking into his crazed eyes, starting to choke, the pressure on his neck making the world blur. It was several long seconds before Seth remembered he had something to hit him with and whacked him over the head with the cage.
Kingfisher released his grip and went sprawling and Seth took in gulps of cold air, hoping everyone else was getting away and heading for safety.
Seth, bent double, his arm still aching from Kingfisher’s twisting, his throat feeling like he’d swallowed sandpaper, breathed, and in the darkness saw the flash of a shadow that had to be Tiffany running away.
She was going towards the waterfall. But the river was no means of escape. The rapids here were raging. The air was already filled with their warning roar, but Seth had no choice but to scramble after her. A weak moon had emerged from the clouds, but it hardly mattered as he was nearly blinded by the spray. She was heading up alongside the waterfall itself.
Tiffany began to climb and Seth followed, one hand clutching the firefly cage. The rocks became more slippery as they got higher.
He was grabbed from behind and as he tried to find the last remnants of strength to struggle, he felt the sharp point of a blade at his throat.
‘This is as far as you go, Seppi,’ said Kingfisher, right in his ear, ‘hand it over.’ He had to yell above the roar of the angry water.
As Kingfisher used the blade to prod him closer to the edge, all Seth could do was inch backwards, still clinging on to the firefly cage, to the very edge of a rock that jutted right out over the raging flow. His eyes swivelled to see the fierce swirl of the water rushing from the waterfall.
The Last Chance Hotel Page 16
