by Bentley, Sue
Lorna hid a smile. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Flame was a royal prince!
Lunch was delicious. Aunt Marie had even remembered to put in a little packet of dry cat food. Flame munched it happily. Afterward Ruth, Callum, Lorna, and Flame went with Hugh to check out the ledges and cliffs for nesting birds. Lorna put Flame back inside her shoulder bag as they clambered over some extra-big rocks at the base of the cliffs.
As she climbed down the steep rocks onto a stretch of beach, Lorna spotted a brightly colored dinghy on the pebbled part of the shore. Two boys were sitting nearby, fishing.
“See that dinghy? I said it would be okay to row over here,” Callum said pointedly to his dad.
Hugh ignored him and strode over to the boys. “Hey, you there! Do you realize this is a nature reserve? I hope you have fishing permits,” he called.
The boys stood up and turned around. Lorna recognized them now. It was Sam and Larry. Catching sight of Callum, the older boys waved.
Callum looked sheepish and pretended not to notice. He kicked at some sand with one sneaker and then turned his back.
Hugh gave Callum a sharp look and then turned to Sam and Larry. “Hello, boys. What are you up to?”
“Just fishing, Mr. Neel,” Sam said politely. “We usually fish over on the other side of the island. We didn’t know we had to have permits for here.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. But we haven’t actually caught anything yet,” Larry said glumly.
“Fish not biting, huh?” Hugh said. His face softened slightly. “Well, you don’t seem to be doing any harm. I’ll forget about the permit, just this once. Make sure you keep away from any nests and young birds and clean up after yourselves, all right? We’ve had some problems with broken fishing line being left around.”
“Well, it wasn’t ours. We always take our trash home,” Sam said indignantly.
“Glad to hear it. And be careful in that dinghy when you go back, boys. A storm can blow up quickly on that narrow stretch,” Hugh advised as he walked away.
“We will!” Sam and Larry chorused. “Thanks, Mr. Neel.”
“Just listen to Dad, giving orders!” Callum muttered, red-faced. “Why does he have to be so embarrassing?” Clenching his fists, he stomped back across the dunes toward their picnic site.
Ruth frowned as she watched her brother go.
Later that afternoon, back from their trip on Seagull, Lorna, Flame, and Ruth searched for unusual shells. Hugh had gone off to check another area of the reserve, Callum was nowhere in sight, and Lorna’s mom, dad, and aunt were on the beach, reading and sunbathing.
“Look at this one!” Lorna exclaimed, bending down to pick up a large pebble. “It looks just like a curled-up sleeping kitten!”
“Oh yes,” Ruth agreed. “It reminds me of Flame. Look, it’s even got amber-and-white marks on it.”
To her delight, Lorna saw that Ruth was right. She slipped the pebble into her jeans pocket. After another ten minutes, she pushed a lock of damp red hair off her forehead. “I’m really hot now. Let’s go for a paddle in this rock pool,” she suggested.
Ruth nodded. “Great idea!”
Flame sat on a rock as Ruth and Lorna rolled up their jeans, took off their shoes and socks, and padded over to the pool. “Phew! This stuff is smelly,” Lorna said as her foot squished in some seaweed.
Ruth wrinkled her nose. “You’re not kidding!”
Once in the water, they forgot about the smelly seaweed. They sloshed around, enjoying themselves. Neither of them noticed Callum, Sam, and Larry creeping up on them.
“Got them!” called a triumphant voice.
Lorna whipped around to see Sam waving their shoes and socks in the air. “Very funny. Give them back!” she demanded.
Sam threw one shoe across to Larry, who caught it and grinned. “If you want them back, you’ll have to come and get them!”
Lorna put her hands on her hips. She knew just where this was going to end up, and it was too hot to chase the boys all over the beach as they threw the shoes and socks to each other. “Oh, why don’t you grow up!” she shouted crossly.
Sam’s eyebrows drew together in a scowl. “I’ve had just about enough of that snotty kid! I don’t care if she is your cousin!” he grumbled to Callum. Lifting his arm, he went to throw the shoes and socks into the pool.
Lorna felt a familiar warm tingling down her back. Now you’ve really done it, Sam, she thought.
She heard a faint crackle of sparks from behind a nearby rock. With a whooshing sound, a sharp breeze lifted all the stinking seaweed into the air. The whole slimy mess shot toward Sam and splattered onto his head and shoulders.
“Argh! Mnnff!” Sam gave a muffled cry. Dropping the shoes, he stumbled around, clawing the seaweed off.
“He looks like that shaggy old mop Mom uses on the floor!” Ruth said, giggling.
“Look out, Sam!” Callum shouted, but it was too late.
There was a huge splash as Sam toppled into the pool right next to Lorna and Ruth, soaking them both. Moments later, he jumped up, furiously spitting out water. Despite being soaked, Lorna and Ruth fell over laughing, and even Larry and Callum were biting back grins.
“That was a freaky breeze! I’ve never seen it lift up seaweed like that before,” Ruth said when she could speak again.
“Mmm,” Lorna agreed. She winked at Flame as he jumped out from behind the rock and stood there twitching his tail. “That’ll teach those mean boys to mess with us!” she whispered to him while everyone was still looking at Sam.
Chapter
* SIX *
Over the next few days, the weather was dull and rainy, but the big storm that everyone had been expecting seemed to have passed by Craggen.
At first, Lorna didn’t mind it being gloomy. It was fun exploring the local market with her cousins. Even sheltering under an umbrella was okay with Flame tucked under her arm.
Another day, Lorna’s parents drove them all to the ferry, and they went to the indoor roller rink on the mainland.
“This is great, isn’t it?” Lorna whispered over her shoulder to Flame as she zoomed back and forth on her Rollerblades.
Flame was peering up out of her backpack, his front paws clinging on tight and his eyes bright with excitement.
“I like it when we go really fast!” he mewed happily.
But by the third day, when an angry gray sky hung over the farm and surrounding hills, Lorna found herself longing for sunny weather. “I’m sick of shopping, and we can’t go to the beach. What should we do?” she asked, glancing at the rain running down the living-room window.
Ruth thought hard. “How about watching TV? Or I could get out my old Barbie dolls?”
“TV or dolls?” Callum said disgustedly, just coming into the room. “I’d rather eat my own leg! Wait here, you two.”
Lorna smiled to herself. Callum had been great for the last few days, away from Sam and Larry, and now it looked like he might be having one of his brainstorms.
Callum reappeared minutes later with an atlas of the world, a pen and paper, and his dad’s stopwatch. Lorna and Ruth waited, intrigued.
“Okay. This game is called Race the World,” Callum explained, spreading open the atlas. “It works like this. We all make a list of towns from the index. It’s fun if you can find really weird-sounding ones. And then we take turns searching for them.”
“What’s the watch for?” Ruth wanted to know.
“Everyone gets five minutes to find as many towns as they can. That’s why it’s called a race. Whoever finds the most towns by the end of the game gets this!” He held up a bag of lemon drops.
Lorna’s mouth watered. “Sounds great,” she said eagerly. “Can I have the first turn at making a list of towns for you two to find?”
“Okay,” Ruth and Callum agreed.
Flame folded his front paws beneath him as he watched from the sofa.
It was very fun, finding really weird-sounding towns and then racing to find them in the atlas. Lorna and her cousins were soon squealing with laughter. An hour passed by, unnoticed. It was Lorna’s third turn. She was about to turn a page, when suddenly a tiny fluffy shape leaped onto the atlas. “Watch out, Flame! You’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!” she said, spluttering with laughter.
As Flame blinked at her with big innocent green eyes and then began washing himself, Ruth started giggling. “I think that’s Flame’s way of saying that he’s bored!”
Callum grinned and reached over to stroke Flame’s fluffy fur. “Okay. Have it your way, Flame. Game’s over. I vote we share the candy.”
“Fine with us!” chorused Lorna and Ruth.
They were all munching lemon drops when the phone rang in the hall. Lorna heard her uncle pick it up and start speaking. His voice sounded serious.
“Uh-oh, sounds like trouble,” said Ruth to the others.
When Hugh came into the living room a couple of minutes later, he wore a serious expression. “That was the local police. Someone reported seeing smoke coming from the reserve on Seal Island. They went to investigate and found Sam and Larry. They’d lit a fire and had been pouring all kinds of stuff on it to keep it going.” Hugh shook his head. “I can’t believe they were so stupid. And after I let them off about the fishing permit.”
“Sam and Larry are okay. They were just messing around,” Callum said. “It’s no big deal.”
“I’m afraid I can’t agree with you,” his father replied soberly. “Who knows what would have happened if it had been a hot day? Fire can easily get out of control and cause terrible damage to wildlife. Besides, Sam and Larry could have burned themselves badly. I’m sorry, Callum. Those boys are trouble. I want you to stay away from them.”
“But Da-ad! We were going night fishing tomorrow . . . ,” Callum burst out and then stopped guiltily as he saw Hugh’s set look. “I was going to tell you about it, honest! I can still go, can’t I?”
Lorna couldn’t help feeling sorry for her older cousin. It was clear that Uncle Hugh wasn’t going to change his mind.
Callum had realized that, too. “You never want me to have any fun, do you?” he shouted tearfully at his father before storming out. Ruth ran upstairs after her brother, but Lorna heard the bathroom door slam.
“Poor Callum. I hope he’s okay,” she said to Flame as she cleaned up the remnants of their Race the World game.
Flame nodded sympathetically. “Perhaps it is best if he stays away from the older boys.”
Lorna remembered how Sam and Larry had almost run Flame over with the shopping cart, and she had to agree.
That evening, Lorna and Ruth were sitting in Ruth’s bedroom listening to music. Lorna was holding the pebble shaped like a curled-up kitten and running her fingers over it.
Callum appeared in the open doorway. He glared straight at Lorna. “You put Dad up to this, didn’t you?”
Lorna gaped at him. “What do you mean?” she asked, puzzled.
“I’ve been thinking about it. You must have blabbed about what happened in the parking lot. That’s why Dad went ballistic at me. It couldn’t have been just ’cause of Sam and Larry lighting fires!”
Ruth rushed to Lorna’s defense. “Stop it, Callum. Lorna doesn’t tattle; she wouldn’t!”
“Huh! And I’m supposed to believe that?” Callum sneered.
Lorna swallowed. She knew that Callum was angry and upset, but he didn’t have to take it out on her. “You can believe what you like! You’re just trying to find excuses for your horrible friends. It’s Sam and Larry you want to pick a fight with, not me!” she said furiously.
Callum looked at her closely and seemed to be satisfied. “Whatever! Anyway, I don’t care what anyone says, I am going night fishing with Sam and Larry, so there!” He turned away.
Moments later, Lorna and Ruth heard his bedroom door slam.
“Do you think he meant it about going night fishing?” Ruth asked worriedly.
“No. He’s just whining. He wouldn’t dare, not after what Uncle Hugh said.” But in her heart she wasn’t so certain. She’d never seen Callum so upset.
Chapter
* SEVEN *
The following day, Aunt Marie had to take some of her woven blankets to a store on the mainland. Lorna, Flame, and Ruth went with Marie, while Lorna’s parents went off to shop for some local treats.
Uncle Hugh was working on the farm, and Callum was helping him. After delivering the blankets, Aunt Marie took Lorna, Flame, and Ruth to the movies. “I think we should leave Flame in the car. He might be scared by the loud noises,” she suggested.
Lorna looked down at Flame, who was curled up in her lap in the backseat. She saw him give a slight shake of his head. “I think he’ll be fine, Auntie. I can always bring him back out if he seems upset,” she said.
“All right, dear. I’ll leave it up to you,” Aunt Marie said, smiling.
In the movie theater, Flame seemed spellbound by the big screen with its larger-than-life actors and bright colors. The film was an exciting sci-fi adventure. Lorna smiled as Flame twitched his ears and put his head to one side, enjoying the amazing special effects.
She wondered if he’d been to the movies before. Perhaps this wasn’t the only time he’d visited this world. Lorna felt a flicker of pride that Flame had chosen her for his friend.
After the movie, they met up again with Lorna’s parents. As Aunt Marie drove back across Craggen, dark clouds hung low over the mountains. “Looks like there’s still a chance of us having a storm,” she commented. “I’d better make sure the animals are all safe tonight.”
When they arrived at the farmhouse, Callum and Uncle Hugh still were out checking on the sheep.
“Can me and Lorna help make supper, Mom?” Ruth asked.
Marie smiled. “What did you have in mind?”
“Cheese-and-potato pie?” Lorna suggested. Her mom had shown her how to make it.
“Sounds good. Let’s see what I’ve got to go with it,” her aunt replied.
Lorna and Ruth tied on aprons and got to work. Lorna didn’t notice Flame glancing warily over his shoulder before slinking out of the kitchen and running upstairs.
Just as supper was ready, Hugh and Callum appeared.
“Something smells good. I’m starving,” Hugh said.
“Me too,” Callum agreed.
“It’s cheese-and-potato pie, with sausages and beans. Ruth and I made it,” Lorna said.
Hugh made a face. “I think I just lost my appetite.”
“Hey!” Lorna said, grinning and nudging her uncle in the ribs.
Supper was a great success, and Lorna saved a small dishful for Flame, who hadn’t appeared for dinner. She felt happy and relaxed. Callum was his funny, playful self and even told one of his terrible jokes. That evening, they all played Callum’s Race the World game. This time they played in teams. Hugh tried to cheat, but he was so bad at it that everyone noticed. Lorna laughed so much her stomach ached.
By the time she went up to bed, Lorna was tired but relaxed. She was really glad that Callum seemed to have made up with his dad and forgotten all about going night fishing.
She saw the tip of Flame’s tail sticking out from under her pillow. “You must be extra sleepy to have missed dinner,” she teased, slipping her hands beneath it to pick him up, but he shied away. She frowned. He’d never done that before.
Her face dropped as she realized that the tiny kitten was trembling all over. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Flame flattened his ears and crawled beneath the comforter. “My enemies are near. If I stay quiet and still, they may pass me by,” he told her in a muffled little whine.
Lorna woke up with a start. Sh
e sat up, staring into the darkness of Ruth’s bedroom, wondering what it was that had woken her. She listened carefully and heard a dull thudding sound.
Her first thought was that Flame’s enemies had found him. She felt a flicker of alarm for him, and her heart missed a beat, but then she felt the kitten’s warm little body move close to her. A wave of relief flowed over her. Flame hadn’t needed to leave, so he must be safe for now.
“Can you hear that thudding?” she whispered to him.
“Yes. It sounds like a door banging,” Flame mewed softly, jumping off the bed.
Lorna frowned, her heart beating fast. She slipped out of bed after him, crept out of the bedroom, and went slowly downstairs. The farmhouse was creepy in the darkness, but she didn’t feel frightened as long as Flame was padding along beside her.
As Lorna went into the kitchen and turned on the light, she saw that the door to the back porch was open. As each gust of wind hit it, it banged back and forth on its old-fashioned latch.
“That’s weird. I know Aunt Marie was really careful to lock up—” she began, when suddenly a jagged flash of lightning lit up the darkened window. A massive crack of thunder followed immediately.
Lorna almost jumped out of her skin. The storm that had been threatening for days was finally here. She listened for any movement from upstairs, but no one stirred, not even when the thunder rolled around for a second and third time. “They must still be asleep. I guess they’re used to storms on Craggen. And Mom and Dad always say that they could sleep through the end of the world!”
Flame’s furry brow wrinkled in a frown, and his hackles stood up. “Perhaps someone has tried to get in.”
Lorna thought that wasn’t likely. The farmhouse was well hidden in the hills and very hard to find. A dreadful suspicion shot into her mind. “What about if someone was going out, not trying to get in? Come on!” she hissed to Flame, already racing back upstairs.
