by Anne Forbes
“An energy source of their own!” Tatler looked sharply at Sir James and then nodded thoughtfully. “It makes sense, I suppose. It would explain how they’ve managed to live for hundreds of years.”
“Well, they’ve just had the most tremendous shock. About a month ago, something from our world locked on to Firestar. I don’t quite know what happened but it almost killed them.”
“Locked on?” Tatler queried.
“Apparently, there are hobgoblins in Morven…” He broke off as Tatler raised his eyebrows and gave him a peculiar look. “I know, I know,” he said, “the mind boggles, but there are hobgoblins in Morven and they look after the machine that keeps Firestar running.”
“For goodness sake, James, if I’m going to have to explain all this to the Prime Minister, she’ll have me locked up in the nearest loony bin!”
“No, she won’t,” Sir James grinned, “not after what happened last year.”
“Nevertheless,” Tatler said stiffly, “mentioning hobgoblins is stretching things a bit.”
Sir James persevered. “The hobgoblin that was running the machine said that he saw a man on their screen just before the force attacked them.”
“Is that possible?”
Sir James shrugged. “Firestar is a magic power, remember. I reckon it must have travelled through the satellite to whoever was monitoring it and picked up his image.”
“Satellite,” Tatler looked at him sharply.
Sir James nodded. “Or something similar. My guess is that it’s probably American. It can hardly be a coincidence that shortly after the attack on Firestar, some Americans rented Morven Castle and its estate.”
Tatler raised his eyebrows. “Did they, now.”
“It so happens that Bob Grant is stationed in Aberdeen. You remember him? Lewis Grant’s father?”
“Ah, yes. Lewis was the Black Shadow, wasn’t he?”
Sir James nodded. “Yes, he was the lad that saved all those people from the train wreck on the Forth Road Bridge last year.”
“Yes,” Tatler nodded, “I’d heard that the family had moved to Aberdeen.”
“Actually, Bob’s in the States just now, but his office re-routed my call. He was a bit surprised to hear from me, as you can imagine, but when I asked him if he’d heard of any American activity in the area around Aberdeen, he was a bit hesitant.”
“Hesitant?”
“Yes … turns out that a few weeks ago his wife spotted a young chap in Aberdeen that they both knew from their time in the Middle East. A chap called Chuck Easterman. Bob finds it quite surprising that he didn’t get in touch. And here’s the punchline — he says he’s involved with NASA these days.”
“Does he, indeed,” Tatler said, looking suddenly wary.
“What makes it interesting is that just before I called him, Bob had had a phone call from Lewis, who’s on holiday in Glenmorven with Neil and Clara. They’re staying with friends and Lewis says that he saw Chuck Easterman in Glenmorven. He’s quite sure about it. Chuck used to visit the Grants when Lewis was a kid and apparently he remembers his funny haircut.”
“Interesting!”
“It is, for that isn’t all he told his father. He told him that now that the Americans have rented the Morven estate, it’s out of bounds to everyone in the glen. Apparently Chuck’s been going over the mountain since the day he arrived; taking rock samples and using a Geiger counter. They’ve found nothing, though.”
“And how does Lewis know that?”
“It was the MacArthur that told me the last bit, actually. They’ve got ghosts in the castle as spies so he knows everything that’s going on.”
“Ghosts,” Tatler echoed. “Well,” he shrugged, after a pause, “after all that’s happened, I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised …”
Sir James grinned. “I’ve given up being surprised at anything the MacArthurs come up with,” he confessed, “but this space business is worrying.”
“The satellite theory is interesting,” Tatler said musingly. “I wonder if it could be Powerprobe. It’s the latest one to go up and it’s American.”
“What’s its mission?”
Tatler paled slightly. “I’ve heard that it’s equipped with specially developed lasers,” he admitted. “The Americans are looking for new sources of energy.”
“If it locked on to something like Firestar then the reaction must have been massive,” Sir James looked at him in horror. “No wonder they sent people in to suss the place out!”
“Without telling us,” Tatler pointed out grimly.
“I’d argue that out with them later,” Sir James said, brushing diplomatic niceties to one side. “First things first, for if the Americans lock on to Morven again it might mean the end of the MacArthurs. Not only them but Arthur, Lord Rothlan and Lady Ellan, Casimir … Prince Kalman … the Sultan … Amgarad … and probably a lot of other magicians as well that we’ve never heard of! We just can’t afford to let that happen! You’ll have to do something about Powerprobe, George. Right away!”
17. Hughie’s Cottage
Hughie shut the door against a swirl of driving rain and took their wet coats from them.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Lewis apologized, “but Neil and I felt we had to come and see you on our own. Clara and Shona are helping Mrs Ferguson in the kitchen so we slipped off without them knowing.”
Both boys moved over to the fireplace, holding their hands out to the warm blaze of logs in Hughie’s kitchen.
“We couldn’t tell Shona we were coming,” Lewis confessed, “because she doesn’t wear a firestone and she doesn’t know that you’re … well … magic, like us.”
“So you felt that, did you?” Hughie looked at them shrewdly. “I sensed it in you, too,” he admitted, “and I asked Prince Casimir about you. He told me that you wore firestones and knew Lord Rothlan and Prince Kalman.”
“Prince Casimir?” Lewis looked thunderstruck. “He’s here?”
“Well, he’s in Morven,” Hughie answered.
“But … why would he be in Morven?” Lewis looked puzzled.
“Does Morven have magic people inside it, like Arthur’s Seat?” guessed Neil.
“Well, there are the hobgoblins, I suppose …”
“Hobgoblins?” Neil repeated, startled, as he remembered the little creatures they had seen on Morven.
“Do they have faces like goats and slanted yellow eyes?” interrupted Lewis.
Hughie nodded. “Nice little things,” he said with a smile. “The Lords of the North call them the Rumblegrumbles.”
“So that’s what we saw when we were on Morven,” Lewis said, looking at Neil as another piece of the mystery fell into place, “hobgoblins!”
“What have the Lords of the North got to do with them?” Neil asked curiously.
“Well, they live together in the mountain. Didn’t you know?”
Neil and Lewis looked at one another. “We knew Morven was a magic mountain,” Neil said slowly, “but we didn’t know it was the home of the Lords of the North.”
“Then,” Hughie said, seriously, “you won’t have heard of the attack on Firestar?”
“Firestar?” Lewis looked puzzled. “What’s Firestar?”
Hughie told them and both boys looked horrified as he filled them in on what had happened in the mountain.
“Are the Americans involved?” Neil asked. “Is that why they’re here?”
“Shona took us along the secret passage and we heard them talking,” Lewis admitted, looking slightly shamefaced. “We’ve been trying to find out what they were up to on the mountain.”
“And I saw ghosts,” Neil added. “Two of them. They looked quite … er, fearsome.”
“The Americans were talking about the giants,” Lewis continued. “They wanted to use them as an excuse to blow up Morven.”
“Shona,” Neil said with a grin, “was furious.”
“Aye, she would be,” Hughie answered, “but you don’t need to worry about that,�
�� he smiled. “It’ll never happen. The ghosts you saw — Red Rory MacGregor and the Black MacTavish — they passed the news on to Prince Casimir. So if, by any chance, the Americans do try to blow up the mountain, they’ll find that their explosives won’t work. The hobgoblins told me that Prince Casimir’s hexed them already.”
“Cool,” Lewis said, grinning at the thought of the useless explosives.
“But what was it that attacked Firestar?” Neil asked.
Hughie frowned. “It seems to have been an American satellite that did the damage,” he observed, “but from what the ghosts say, they don’t think the Americans know that what they did harmed anybody. They want to get into Morven to find out what’s inside it. They never will, of course. The Lords of the North put a protective shield round it that they’ll never be able to break … unless …”
“Unless there’s another attack on Firestar,” finished Lewis.
Hughie nodded. “And there will be,” he said gravely. “Quite soon, too. The ghosts say that the Americans are waiting for their satellite to lock on to Morven again and the Lords of the North aren’t sure if Firestar will be able to withstand another attack. It’s quite an anxious time for them.”
At that moment, there was a tap on Hughie’s kitchen door. Lewis and Neil looked up as it was pushed open and two little hobgoblins trotted confidently over the tiled floor towards the fire. Then they saw Hughie’s visitors and froze, their tendrils curling out from their heads.
“It’s all right, Rumbletumble,” Hughie smiled. “Lewis and Neil are wearing firestones and they can see you.”
The hobgoblins tendrils positively shot out of their heads at this alarming news and it was only when Hughie rose to his feet and took their hands in his that they trotted forward and bowed gravely, still looking apprehensive.
“You’ve arrived just in time to have some tea and cakes with us,” Hughie smiled, laying a couple of cushions on either side of the fire. This was obviously their favourite spot and as they plumped themselves down and warmed their little hands, they looked at him expectantly, smiling with funny, toothy grins that made Neil hide a smile.
“We saw you on Morven, didn’t we?” Lewis said gently for the hobgoblins looked so nervous that he thought they might take to their heels and run if he spoke any louder. Their attention, however, was fixed on Hughie as he brought over a plate of tiny cakes and laid it between them. Their eyes positively shone and, oblivious to everyone else, they started to eat the cakes, taking little, delicate bites to make each one last longer.
Hughie regarded them with an indulgent smile, knowing that until they finished, conversation was impossible.
“Well, now,” Hughie asked, once they’d worked their way through half the plate, “what’s the gossip from the hill?”
“There’s just been the most awful row at the castle,” Rumbletumble said, gleefully.
Hughie raised his eyebrows. “What about?” he asked, interestedly.
“Shane wants to go on a giant hunt,” Rumbletumble said excitedly.
“They want to go into the glens to find the giants and see what they’re made of,” added Rumbletummy, words spilling out of him. “They’re all mad keen on the idea — except Chuck, that is. He thinks it’s too dangerous!”
“And,” Rumbletumble added excitedly, “they’ve just this minute left the castle. It’s true, Hughie,” he assured him. “Red Rory MacGregor and the Black MacTavish have just finished telling Prince Casimir so we came down to pass on the news. They say that Chuck’s as mad as fire!”
Lewis looked at Neil at the mention of Casimir’s name and fingered the magic ring that Casimir had given him in Edinburgh. It’d be great to see him again …
“I think the scientists have been a bit bored,” Rumbletumble explained. “They’re more or less just hanging around waiting for their satellite to come back again.”
“They’re really excited about the giants, though,” Rumbletummy pointed out. “They didn’t believe in them at first, but now that they’re in all the newspapers … well, they’re determined to go out looking for them. You should see the Great Hall. The dining table is covered with maps and they’ve been glued to the radio all day. Shane’s worked out that the giants will appear in Glen Crannach next.”
Neil and Lewis looked at one another in horror for Glen Crannach was very near Jennifer’s glen.
“I don’t think I’d like to go out on a night like this with giants around,” Neil shivered. “It’s pouring with rain and the thunder’s dreadful.”
Hughie frowned. “It’s stone-giant weather! Just the kind they like!”
18. Old Friends Meet
Lewis listened absent-mindedly to Neil’s excited remarks as they walked back along the country road that led to Glenmorven House, turning over everything Hughie had said in his mind. Chuck was in the castle … Chuck was involved in all this … but why?
“What gives, Lewis?” Neil sounded exasperated. “I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said.”
“Sorry,” Lewis admitted, coming to a quick decision. “I’ve been thinking and … well, there’s something I have to tell you, Neil.”
Neil looked at him in surprise. “Shoot,” he said, wondering what it was that had brought such a serious look to Lewis’s face.
“Remember when I fell off the stone in the secret tunnel?”
“Yeah … I nearly fell off it as well when I saw the ghosts,” Neil grinned.
“It wasn’t the ghosts that gave me the fright — although they were scary enough.”
Neil looked at him. “What was it then?”
“I recognized one of the Americans,” Lewis admitted. “The one with the spiky haircut.”
“I saw him,” Neil answered. “He looked … well … a bit out of place, somehow …”
“Don’t let the haircut fool you,” Lewis said seriously. “According to my dad, he’s got an absolutely brilliant brain. His name’s Chuck and my mum and dad knew him when he was in the Middle East. His company was building an Earth Satellite Station or some such thing.”
“That would fit in with what Hughie was talking about.”
“I just can’t believe he’s involved in all this,” Lewis muttered, shaking his head. “I hero-worshipped him! I was a kid at the time but he wasn’t too grand to get down on his hands and knees and help me with my Meccano set.”
“So?” Neil queried.
“Well, according to the ghosts,” Lewis pointed out, “Chuck is on his own in the castle just now. The others have all gone out hunting giants … so, I was thinking that it might be …”
“… a good time to pay a visit?” Neil finished the sentence for him.
“Yeah! What do you think? How about it?”
Neil frowned. “Shona said that they keep the castle gates closed.”
“Yes, but I don’t think they’ll be locked. There’s no one around here that would pinch anything and to actually lock the gates would cause comment. I mean, people would wonder what they had to hide.”
As it happened, the gates weren’t locked and as the two boys slipped through warily, they fervently hoped that Shane and the others had already left the castle grounds. Lewis, certainly, didn’t fancy meeting them in such a lonely spot for the curving driveway was a secretive, gloomy place. Aware that they were on someone else’s land they kept guiltily to the trees at side of the road where banks of snowdrops and daffodils sagged limply in the rain.
It was only when they scrunched across the gravel to the massive main entrance that Neil wondered how they were going to attract attention.
“There doesn’t seem to be a bell,” he whispered.
“I’ll knock,” Lewis said, thumping loudly on the heavy door. Nothing happened and they were just about to repeat the process when the door opened and Chuck stood there in a heavy sweater and a pair of disreputable jeans.
“Chuck!” Lewis beamed delightedly. It was as though all the pleasant memories of childhood had returned in a single swoop. He
forgot about the satellite, Morven and Firestar in his delight at seeing an old friend.
His pleasure was totally disarming and no one, least of all Chuck, could doubt that it was real.
Chuck stared at him and then recognition dawned. “It’s Lewis, isn’t it,” he grinned. “Well, well, who would have thought it — after all this time! You’ve grown a bit since I last saw you.”
“This is my friend, Neil MacLean,” Chuck introduced him. Neil shook Chuck’s hand and saw puzzlement flare in his eyes. He’s wondering how we knew he was here, Neil thought and wished that they had talked things through before embarking on this somewhat dangerous escapade.
“Come in,” Chuck ushered them inside. He really had to, thought Lewis. He couldn’t keep them standing outside in the cold without seeming rude.
The hall of the castle was pleasantly warm and they headed automatically for the fireplace where a huge fire blazed up the chimney.
“I know it’s a bit early in the day to light a fire,” Chuck said, “but castles aren’t famous for their central heating.”
The two boys smiled politely but their faces changed as they saw the ghosts. Chuck noticed and wondered what was wrong. As far as he could see, their eyes seemed focused on a display of swords, cutlasses, claymores and other weapons of war that decorated one of the walls, but why they should exchange worried glances was beyond him.
It so happened that both Lewis and Neil had forgotten all about the ghosts and the knowledge that every word of their conversation would be sent back to the Lords of the North, wasn’t lost on them.
“Have a cola?” Chuck offered, producing two cans and a couple of glasses. “Sorry, things are a bit basic here.”
They accepted the drinks and for a few moments there was an awkward silence broken only by the gurgle of cola splashing into their glasses, the gentle hiss of flames and the odd crackle from the burning logs.
After asking about Lewis’s parents and hearing about his new school in Aberdeen, Chuck came straight to the point. “What puzzles me, Lewis, is how you knew I was here at all,” he said, his brown eyes alert. “I haven’t been around a lot since we got here and I haven’t met the Fergusons, the family you’re staying with …”
