by Anna Dale
‘Priceless heirlooms … irreplaceable …’ muttered Lodestar grumpily.
‘We only just managed to save the right powders and whatnot before the walls caved in,’ said Dimpsy. ‘If she had left it a minute longer to tell us what she needed to undo the spell …’
‘It doesn’t bear thinking about,’ said Huffkin with a tremulous sigh.
‘Don’t blame me. I thought you were bluffing,’ snapped Lodestar irritably. ‘A flood in the tunnels? Whoever heard of such a thing? Preposterous load of old twaddle, that’s what I thought it was and anyone else with a shred of good sense would have made the same assumption.’
‘Everybody could have died,’ Athene said.
‘It might have been the best outcome,’ said Lodestar melodramatically. ‘Who knows what horrors are waiting for my tribe Up There. Once the Glare get hold of us, they’ll probably tear us to pieces.’
Resisting an urge to let go of the Chief and leave her to flounder in the water on her own, Athene gave an angry tut. ‘Oh, don’t be so ridiculous!’ she said. ‘They’ll have a marvellous time Above. It’s a paradise compared with down here. The Glare aren’t going to hurt you. I’m one myself, as I’ve told you before.’
‘Pah!’ said Lodestar. ‘That’s poppycock, that is.’
Athene did not think that there was any point in arguing. She was just about to ask if the women had seen her brother and could confirm that he had escaped when a stout sort of stick hit her right in the face. Athene raised her hand to brush it aside, but changed her mind and seized it instead when she realised that it was a rope. There were more slaps on the surface of the water as another two ropes were thrown down to them.
‘Humdudgeon! Humdudgeon!’ called Huffkin excitedly. ‘We’re here. There are four of us. I think we’re the last!’
The answering shout came immediately. ‘Huffkin! Thank the moon and stars! I’d almost abandoned hope. Is Athene with you?’ He cheered when she answered in the affirmative.
‘Tie the ropes around you! We’ll pull you up!’ he yelled.
‘There are only three!’ called Huffkin.
There was a change of mood at the bottom of the shaft when they were told that three ropes were all that Humdudgeon had.
Huffkin set about tying a rope around Lodestar and another around Dimpsy; then while the two Gloam were being hoisted from the water, Athene and Huffkin argued over who should have the third rope. Each thought the other deserved the right to be rescued first. Meanwhile the water rose up past Athene’s chin.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ said Huffkin. ‘Why don’t we go together? Neither of us is exactly fat. I’m sure Humdudgeon’s team of rescuers will be more than capable of lifting us both.’
As quickly as they could, they tied the rope around their chests and tugged on it to show that they were ready. Then they heard a chorus of voices shouting, ‘1 … 2 … 3 … Heave!’ and they were lifted from the water. Athene was not worried about being suspended in the air. It was thrilling to be minutes away from freedom.
Then disaster struck.
Instead of rising upwards they dropped sharply, and dangled for a second or two. Huffkin gasped and Athene feared the worst. There came a cracking sound as the rope snapped in two and they fell.
Athene could have cried with disappointment. Her body was not the only thing to tumble downwards. Her heart was also plummeting at the thought that in a second or two she would be plunged into the water again.
Then something punched her in the belly and she felt all the wind knocked out of her. She struggled as a scabby arm slithered round her waist and tightened its grip.
‘What is it?’ she said, then shuddered with horror when she realised that the ‘arm’ around her waist was a rubbery old tree root. She heard Huffkin give a shriek, and knew that the same thing had happened to her.
‘Nasty old tree! It’s going to take us back down,’ said Athene, striking the roots with her fists. ‘Its horrid roots will probably hold us under the water and drown us!’
‘No! You’re wrong. It’s taking us up!’ said Huffkin in an awestruck voice, and Athene stopped attacking the tree when she became convinced that her Gloam friend was right. The root that gripped Athene raised her up and released her at the very same moment that another root took hold of her.
‘Didn’t I tell you that I’d never met a bad tree?’ said Huffkin, laughing with relief.
The safe deliverance of a Gloam and Glare was the very last gesture that the tree ever made, for as soon as Athene and Huffkin had been dropped on to solid ground and had staggered out of the gash in the hollow tree’s trunk, it gave a terrible groan and began to lean to one side. It was night-time Above, but the dawn was close to breaking and the sky was just light enough for Athene to glimpse the huge hollow tree begin to keel over. Slowly, and with dreadful cracks and creaks, it toppled to the ground. Athene heard the thumping sound of people running across the grass. There were screams and someone shouted, ‘Watch out, Scabbler!’ The roots were ripped from the earth and shivered for a moment before becoming still. Then the titanic tree met the ground with a reverberating thud.
‘Well done, Humdudgeon,’ she heard someone say. ‘You saved that foolish fellow’s life, though why you bothered to risk your neck for a Low Gloam is beyond me … Yes, that’s right, madam. Humdudgeon pushed that silly chap out of harm’s way, but it’s what I would expect of him. He’s the bravest Gloam in my tribe, you know …’
‘Pucklepod, is that you?’ said Athene, squinting at the features of the man who had just spoken.
‘Indeed it is,’ he said, and she felt her hand being shaken. ‘What an achievement, Athene! My, my … but we’re proud of you. We’ve kept a watchful eye on this tree ever since you disappeared into it and I’m jolly glad we did. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this moment. It’s an historic day! Have you ever seen so many Gloam together in one place? Tribes have come from far and wide to see this spectacle.’
It certainly seemed as if news had travelled fast. Athene tried to estimate the number of Gloam who had gathered in the field. There were too many pairs of gleaming eyes to count so she gave up. Among the tribes were some who had come to greet their long-lost members who had been incarcerated in the ground for months and, in some cases, years. Pucklepod pointed out the various huddles. ‘See, there’s the Nimble tribe and those hefty-looking chaps are Horny-handed, and the lanky lot by the hedge are the Gargantuan …’
‘It’s like a great big Gloam jamboree!’ said Athene, grinning widely. She tried to seek out Zach and her friends in the melee, but without her Goggle Drops she could not manage it. She had fleetingly smiled at Humdudgeon, but just as she was about to speak to him he was whisked away, hoisted on to someone’s shoulders and paraded around the field as a hero.
‘I must find Zach,’ said Athene determinedly, but before she could take a single step she felt someone tugging on her sleeve.
‘Hello dearie,’ said an elderly voice. ‘I see you’re wearing my what-d’you-call-it. Tell me, was it of any use?’
‘Yes, Dottle,’ said Athene, squeezing the old woman’s arm and smiling. ‘It was a lifesaver, actually.’
‘In that case, dearie, you had better keep it. I don’t quite know what went wrong with the spell, but the result wasn’t quite what I’d intended. It turned out to be too bolshie by half. I never could get on with it.’ Dottle patted Athene’s cheek. ‘I’m pleased for you, dearie. Never doubted you for a second. The Low Gloam were no match for a young lass with spirit, eh?’ She grinned, dug her walking stick into the ground and hobbled away.
‘Why did you save the Low Gloam?’ asked Pucklepod, drawing Athene to one side. ‘Why didn’t you leave them down there, the vile, inhuman wretches?’
Athene tried to explain to Pucklepod that there were good and bad amongst the Low Gloam, as there were good and bad in every tribe and in every nation in the world – as there was good and bad inside herself. No one on the escape committee had even thought to suggest that th
e Low Gloam would not be allowed to escape with all the rest. Pucklepod stroked his beard, but said nothing. Then Huffkin appeared at Athene’s side.
‘They’ve lost their home,’ said Huffkin to her chief. ‘They’ll need our friendship from now on, not our enmity.’
‘Oh, very well,’ said Pucklepod, scratching his head and frowning. ‘I suppose we can offer them a place to stay until they can find somewhere new to settle down – but just don’t expect me to be nice to them.’ The two Humble Gloam began to discuss where the Low Gloam could be housed and Athene seized the chance to drift away and look for Zach.
During her search, she happened upon Shoveller who was trying to avoid having his head bandaged by a well-meaning Gloam. When Shoveller saw Athene, he gambolled over to greet her (nearly knocking the Gloam first aider flying).
‘We did it!’ he said. ‘Got everyone out – even Midget the beetle! Just take in a snoutful of that air. Doesn’t it smell amazing?’
Athene enjoyed the sensation of a cool breeze on her face. ‘Sweet and heavenly,’ she said. ‘You were right.’
She moved on to talk to MacTavish who was leaping around like a puppy. When he heard that Athene was looking for her brother, he offered to help in the search.
‘But then I must be off back to my folks,’ he said. ‘They’re early risers, the Winstanleys. Won’t they get a surprise when they hear me barking outside their back door?’ Envisaging this happy scene clearly brought the dog much joy. His tail was causing such a draught that Athene was certain that her damp clothes would be dry in no time at all.
Eventually, with the terrier’s help, she found her brother amongst the Low Gloam. He was sitting contentedly on Tippitilda’s lap. He looked bright-eyed and full of life, and the instant he caught sight of Athene he sprang to his feet and took her hand.
‘I’ve been ever so worried,’ he said. ‘I thought you might not find me. Tippitilda said I wasn’t to go off by myself. It would cause too much bother. She said you’d come if we sat in one place and waited.’
‘She’s a very wise person,’ said Athene, smiling warmly at the woman who had taken such good care of her brother for the past two weeks. The part of the field to which she had come was filled with Low Gloam. They stood very quietly with stunned expressions on their faces and looked about them in wonder. Athene remembered that Above was an unexplored world to them; a place that they had never set eyes on before.
‘It’s too big,’ said one.
‘I like it,’ said Tippitilda.
‘It’s not at all how I imagined,’ Dimpsy remarked. ‘It’s a hundred times cleaner and a thousand times more beautiful.’
Lodestar was the most dumbfounded of them all. She sat on the ground with her feet stretched out in front of her and stared and stared. From the look on her face, Athene guessed that the Chief was both perplexed and enthralled. She did not appear to be angry any more and neither did she seem to remember that she had threatened to scold Athene in front of the entire Low Gloam tribe.
As the sky grew lighter, the animals peeled away from the crowd. Shoveller trundled off to Moggy Wood, excited to hear about his new relatives (‘I’m a great-grandpa, am I? Well, fancy that!’); Rusty and Fleet slunk away to find a home which would be the right sort of environment in which to raise a litter of cubs in the spring; Coney and Kit and the other rabbits disappeared into the hedge and started work on their new burrow and the little mole dived underground, happy in the knowledge that he could resurface any time he chose.
The number of Gloam dwindled too. They left the field in gaggles until only the Humble and the Low tribes were left. The sky was getting lighter with every minute and at any moment the first rays of the sun would filter past the horizon. Athene realised with a sinking heart that the time had come to say goodbye to Huffkin and Humdudgeon.
They were all too upset to say very much. There was lots of sniffing and brandishing of handkerchiefs and lingering looks and suffocating hugs.
‘We’ll be back next summer,’ Athene promised them.
She and Zach stood side by side and watched their friends rush off to catch up with the tribes who were walking together across a distant field. Huffkin ran with a light step as if her toes were barely touching the grass and Humdudgeon sprinted beside her with only the merest remnant of a limp.
The last two Gloam to cross the country lane and join their tribe were two Low Gloam and, in the stillness of the early morning, Athene caught a snatch of their conversation. ‘She really is a Glare, you know,’ Athene heard one say, and she breathed in sharply as she recognised Lodestar’s squat, dumpy figure and short, ash-white hair, ‘and they’re not so very evil as we all thought they were.’
‘Time for us to wend our way, too,’ Athene said to Zach.
They walked across the fields, safe in the knowledge that the compass would keep them on course. Zach thought that its voice was hilarious and deliberately strayed from their path so that the compass would be rude to him. After such an eventful night, it wasn’t long before he started to drag his feet. ‘I’m tired, Eeny,’ he said.
The old Athene would have grabbed his hand and pulled him along impatiently, deriving pleasure from making him wail in protest. She shuddered at the memory of her former self. Feelings of hatred no longer flooded through her veins. She felt as if a curse had finally been lifted.
Athene stopped and gave Zach’s hand a squeeze. ‘Want a piggyback?’ she asked him.
With Zach’s arms draped around her neck, they made their way homeward. Dawn broke as they walked. Having been confined to a monochrome world in which colour had no place, the burgeoning hues of pink and peach and brightest blue were breathtaking.
‘Will Mum and Dad still be there?’ said Zach.
‘Yes,’ said Athene. ‘They leave this morning. Pucklepod sent a Humble Gloam to lift the spell that they cast on them. They won’t even know that we’ve been missing. It’s been quite a holiday, hasn’t it, Zach?’
‘Oh, yeah!’ he said. ‘It’s been the best.’
Athene was still laughing at her brother’s assessment of the most dramatic two weeks of their lives when they turned into the driveway of Freshwater Farm. Crumbs, the Stirrups’ tabby cat, who’d been sitting on a fence post, jumped down and ran towards them.
‘I wonder what she’d say if she could speak,’ said Zach. ‘“Where on earth have you two been?”’
‘“Hurry up and give me my breakfast,”’ said Athene, ‘probably.’
By the Same Author
Whispering to Witches
Dawn Undercover
Also by Anna Dale
To order direct from Bloomsbury Publishing visit www.bloomsbury.com/annadale or call 020 7440 2475
www.bloomsbury.com
Also from Bloomsbury
To order direct from Bloomsbury Publishing visit www.bloomsbury.com/gennifercholdenko or call 020 7440 2475
www.bloomsbury.com
Also from Bloomsbury
To order direct from Bloomsbury Publishing visit www.bloomsbury.com/blart or call 020 7440 2475
www.bloomsbury.com
First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
36 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QY
This electronic edition published in October 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Anna Dale 2008
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise
make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means
(including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying,
printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the
publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages
A CIP catalogue record of
this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9 781 4088 1868 8
www.bloomsbury.com
Visit www.bloomsbury.com to find out more about our authors and their books
You will find extracts, author interviews, author events and you can sign up for newsletters to be the first to hear about our latest releases and special offers
