Firestar

by Anne Forbes

  Chuck whirled round and saw that the magicians had reappeared. Both looked totally outraged and the hobgoblins were shaking with fright.

  “What happened?” he asked, blankly. “Did I make you disappear or something?”

  “More like the or something,” Prince Casimir snapped, controlling his temper with an effort.

  “I’m really sorry,” Chuck apologized, wondering if he were about to be turned into a toad or whatever it was magicians did when they were in a temper, “but I’m not used to your … er, computer.”

  Lord Rothlan saw his point. His rigid expression relaxed slightly and his lips twitched in a smile as he saw the funny side of the situation. It was quite infuriating, of course and what made it even more irritating was that Chuck would never, ever, appreciate the enormity of what he’d done. It wasn’t every day that powerful and important magicians were reduced to the size of grasshoppers. Indeed, he wondered if he’d ever live it down.

  “You didn’t make us disappear,” he said, dryly. “At some stage you must have pressed the wrong keys for you made us grow smaller. We tried to attract your attention but you … er, didn’t look down.”

  “You nearly stood on me,” whispered Rumbletop, looking at Chuck reproachfully.

  “Gee, I’m really sorry,” Chuck said, looking contrite. He knelt down and held the hobgoblin’s tiny hands. “I’m not used to magic yet.”

  Just how unused to magic he was, became immediately apparent. He almost jumped out of his skin as another magician suddenly appeared out of the blue. To say that Lord Dorian was in a temper, is putting things mildly. He was, in actual fact, totally incandescent with rage.

  “What on earth’s going on down here, Casimir?” he snapped at the prince. “Have you all gone mad? Somebody,” he looked round accusingly, “just hexed us and Lord Alarid, let me tell you, is absolutely livid!”

  “Whoops!” Chuck thought.

  “He’s not,” Dorian said savagely, “used to being half an inch high! And what’s more,” he glared at them angrily, “neither am I!!”

  Lord Rothlan put an arm round Chuck who had taken a few steps backwards and was staring apprehensively at this new magician.

  “Meet Chuck, Lord Dorian,” he said, “and say thank you.” He gestured round the suddenly silent hall and for the first time they realized that the sound of the giants’ attack had ceased entirely. “I don’t know how he did it but I think he’s just sorted out the Cri’achan for us!”

  36. Aftermath

  “Hughie’s all right,” Ian Ferguson said, coming back into the kitchen. “He wasn’t worried about the giants. Said that the mountain would look after its own.”

  His wife shook her head at this remark. “Typical Hughie,” she said with some asperity. “And there we were, worrying our heads off about him!”

  “I thought he was cutting it a bit fine, myself,” Ian agreed as he pulled out a chair and sat at the table. “He says he’ll bring Clarissa round tomorrow so that you can take the kids back to Aberdeen.” He smiled at Lewis. “We’ll phone your house this evening, Lewis, just to check arrangements with your mum and dad. Now, is there any tea left in that pot? I could do with a cuppa.”

  The telephone rang and Mrs Ferguson went to answer it. “That was Jennifer’s dad,” she said when she came back. “He drove back to check on their house and he says it’s fine. No damage to speak of apart from giant footprints all over the hillside. And Jenni says to say goodbye to you two,” she smiled at Neil and Clara, “and says she’ll see you at school on Monday, Lewis.”

  “School,” Neil groaned. “I’d forgotten all about it!”

  “I’m not surprised,” Mrs Ferguson laughed. “You’ve had quite an exciting holiday what with the giants and all.”

  The children smiled politely and eyed one another across the room. It was just as well, Shona reckoned, that she didn’t know just how exciting.

  “How about taking a walk before dinner so you can say goodbye to the mountain,” Mrs Ferguson suggested.

  “Great idea,” approved Lewis, “and we can see what’s left of the giants as well.”

  A quarter of an hour later, they left the house and, crossing the burn, headed for the mountain. The scattered remains of the giants littered the slopes in a mess of smallish stones.

  “The landslides are nothing like as big as I thought they’d be,” Neil remarked, casting an eye over the slopes. “When you think of the number of giants there were, you’d think the whole mountain would be covered in debris!”

  “They grew smaller, remember,” Shona said. “Maybe that’s why.”

  Suddenly, Clara grasped at her firestone. “My firestone feeeeeeels heavy,” she said looking at Neil in startled surprise. The words were hardly out of her mouth when she found herself inside the mountain, standing in front of the Lords of the North with Neil, Lewis and Shona, beside her.

  “Bow,” whispered Lewis.

  Lord Alarid beckoned them forward. “Welcome to Morven,” he smiled. “We thought we’d celebrate our victory over the Cri’achan by inviting you to dinner.”

  Everyone was there. Arthur breathed a long sparkling burst of fire as he saw Neil and Clara and Archie grinned and waved.

  It was Chuck, however, who caused the sensation. Lewis saw him first and grabbed Neil’s arm. “Chuck!” he gasped. “Look, he’s over there beside Lord Rothlan!”

  Clara and Shona looked at the two boys in amazement. “Who’s Chuck?” they both asked together as Lord Rothlan, catching Lewis’s eye, brought him over.

  Neil and Lewis had the grace to look slightly ashamed for on their return from the castle, they’d decided not to tell the girls of their visit. Although Shona’s anger at not being allowed onto Morven had drifted from her mind in the excitement of the past few days, it was still, Lewis had felt, simmering beneath the surface. Had Chuck agreed to let her onto the mountain it would have been fine but as he hadn’t … well, neither of them had wanted to stir up old grudges.

  “He’s one of the Americans from the castle,” Neil muttered hastily. “I’ll tell you about him later.”

  “Chuck has been absolutely wonderful,” Lady Ellan said, joining them. “He saved us from the giants!”

  “And managed to zap the virus out of Firestar,” her husband added.

  Chuck gave Lewis and Neil a very odd look. The last thing he had expected was to see them mingling with magicians inside Morven and he said so.

  “It’s a long story,” Lewis admitted with a grin, “and quite unbelievable, really.”

  “Try me,” Chuck answered. “I’m getting used to the unbelievable!”

  Shona, meanwhile, gave a gasp of delight as she saw that Hughie had been invited as well. Indeed, he seemed to have been in the hill for some time as he was deep in conversation with Prince Casimir and the MacArthur. She was just about to rush over to talk to him when Neil grabbed her arm. “Not yet, Shona,” he warned. “Look at their faces. I think Hughie’s telling them about Prince Kalman. If I were you, I’d wait till he comes over.”

  It was then that Amgarad landed, in a flap of wings, on Clara’s shoulder. Lady Ellan smiled as the huge bird bent its head and pulled gently at Clara’s hair. After Lord Rothlan, Clara was definitely his next favourite person.

  “We’re so pleased to see you all,” she said. “We’ve had quite an exciting day what with one thing and another! Did you see the giants?”

  “We were watching from that cliff at the head of the glen,” Shona confessed. “It was terrifying. At one stage we really thought that the giants were going to get into the mountain.”

  “So did we,” Lady Ellan confessed and then broke off as Lord Alarid stepped forward and raised his arms. He murmured some magic words and before them appeared a long table covered in a pure, white cloth. Candles glowed, crystal sparkled, silver shone and a myriad of gleaming dishes appeared, laden with delicious food.

  The Rumblegrumbles served the meal, resplendent in fine new clothes. Their waistcoats and trousers w
ere of shiny silver cloth and they were so happy that Firestar had been sorted out that Clara wanted to laugh whenever she looked at them for they all wore their ridiculous goblin grins.

  After they had eaten, Prince Casimir told them how Chuck had managed to get rid of the virus that it had picked up from Powerprobe. “It was responsible for the rise of the giants and, fortunately for us, he managed to neutralize it.”

  There was an outburst of clapping at this. Chuck stood up and bowed, as it was a real tribute of gratitude for all that he’d done. Prince Casimir caught Lord Rothlan’s eye with a troubled smile. Malfior had gone and the world of magic had been saved but Chuck’s news of Lord Jezail had been devastating.

  By the time they had finished chatting and speculating, it was getting late but Lord Alarid’s magic spell saved them the long walk back as it landed them just outside Glenmorven House.

  “Well, did you say goodbye to Morven?” Helen Ferguson asked as they came into the living room.

  “Yes, we did,” nodded Clara.

  “And we saw what was left of the giants,” added Shona.

  “And what was that?” her father queried, looking up from his newspaper. “Loads of rocks and stones?”

  “No, not as much as I thought,” she said. “I was expecting massive landslides, but there were just drifts of small stones.”

  “It was rather sad, really,” Shona added. “The giants must have been very small when they died.”

  “Well, go and wash your hands, now that you’re back. Your mother’s made you a Chinese stir-fry for dinner.”

  “How lovely,” Shona glanced at the others and, with an effort, managed to look enthusiastic. “My favourite food,” Neil said bravely, eyeing Clara and wondering how on earth he was going to manage to eat another meal.

  37. The MacArthurs

  “I liked your new friends, Clara,” Arthur said as she perched herself comfortably in the crook of his arm.

  Clara smiled. “Mmmm … but it’s nice to be back in Arthur’s Seat with old friends, too,” she said, glancing round the Great Hall where George Tatler and Sir James sat talking to the MacArthur.

  Neil, sitting beside her, nodded in agreement as he held his arm out so that Cassia, a large black crow, could perch comfortably on it. Her mate, Kitor, however, landed in a flap of wings on Clara’s shoulder and nibbled her ear gently with his beak. Hearing of all their adventures up north, he wished that he had gone to Morven with them.

  “Who is Shona again?” John MacLean asked, trying to sort out all the new names in his head.

  “Shona is in Lewis’s class, Dad,” Neil explained, “and Jennifer is a year below them. She lives in the next glen to Shona, that’s how they’re friends.”

  “That was the glen you rescued us from, Arthur.” Clara shivered as she remembered the giants. She looked at Jaikie and Hamish. “It’s a pity you weren’t there,” she said, “for it was the most fantastic thing you ever saw. The giants were chucking huge rocks about like confetti and when they started to grow tall, I thought they were going to reach out and catch Arthur! I didn’t realize he’d put a spell on them.”

  Arthur blew smoke down his long nose as if to say that it would take much more than a giant to catch him. Kitor coughed and flapped his wings. He always kept a wary eye on Arthur who had an alarming tendency to blow fire and smoke at the drop of a hat.

  Archie grinned. “I must say, it’s great to have you both back in Edinburgh. It’s been a bit boring here after our adventure with the giants.”

  “Is there any news from Lord Rothlan?” Neil asked, looking at the MacArthur hopefully.

  “Lord Rothlan and Lady Ellan have already left Morven,” the MacArthur answered. “They’re back at Jarishan now.”

  “Amgarad will be pleased, then,” Clara smiled. “He didn’t like being cooped up in the mountain.”

  “What was it like, Archie, flying with Amgarad?” Neil asked, remembering that Archie had merged with the eagle to fly back to Morven.

  “It was the most amazing thing,” Archie said, his eyes bright with pleasure at the memory. “The strength of his wings was amazing. It was too short a journey, though, for Morven was only a few miles away. It was really a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to fly with the eagles, you know.”

  Hamish met Clara’s eyes and smiled. “We know,” he said pointedly.

  “Thank goodness you managed it, Archie,” Jaikie said. “Maybe you’ll stop pestering us now!”

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” Hamish observed. “Just wait until the next eagle comes along, eh, Archie!”

  Sir James looked at the MacArthur, sitting on his carved, wooden chair and interrupted the exchange with a smile for Archie had already told him several times of his wonderful flight. “Archie’s been telling us about the giants, too, Neil. It sounds as though you and Clara had a very exciting time.”

  “If it hadn’t been for the Americans and their wretched satellite,” Tatler snorted, “the virus would never have got into Firestar in the first place and none of it would ever have happened.”

  “It caused a lot of hardship,” Sir James admitted. “Most of the glens up north have been cleared but it’ll be a while before the Highlands really get back to normal.” He stretched his long legs and relaxed comfortably on a long divan.

  “I see from the newspapers that everything’s been put down to extreme weather conditions,” John MacLean said.

  “Yes,” Neil added. “No mention of the giants these days, which is a bit surprising given the headlines they caused!”

  Sir James looked at the MacArthur searchingly and smiled slightly. “Did the Lords of the North have anything to do with that, by any chance?” he queried.

  The MacArthur nodded. “I should imagine so,” he said. “Such things are best forgotten, don’t you think?”

  Sir James nodded in agreement. “Global warming’s probably as good an excuse as any,” he said approvingly. “But what about the Americans? What are they doing now?” he queried. “Does anyone know?”

  “Prince Casimir tells me that they’re on their way back to the States,” the MacArthur replied. “Powerprobe’s been behaving very erratically and he reckons it won’t be long before they shut the whole project down.”

  “That’s wonderful news,” Tatler sat up and then looked at him shrewdly. “Did the Lords of the North have a hand in that as well?”

  “Well … yes,” the MacArthur admitted, smiling slightly, “but there were other factors as well. Apparently, Lord Robertson saw what was happening on television while he was in Canada and was so upset that he cut his holiday short. The ghosts are delighted to have him back, needless to say!”

  “They didn’t like the Americans much,” Neil said with a grin.

  “Ah, but that was because they wanted to get inside the mountain,” the MacArthur said. “Rory and the MacTavish didn’t approve of that at all! It’s understandable! Now, if they’d been normal tourists, I think the ghosts would have kept themselves to themselves and bothered no one.”

  “Shona will be over the moon to see Lord Robertson again,” Clara smiled, “and she’ll be able to climb Morven to her heart’s content over the summer holidays!”

  Arthur blew a cloud of smoke down his long nose that sent Kitor and Cassia coughing. “Give over, Arthur,” Archie complained, waving his hands around. “The MacArthur’s pipe is bad enough without you joining in!”

  “Come on, you two,” John MacLean said, looking at his watch and getting to his feet. “It’s getting late and you still have homework to finish, haven’t you?”

  Neil nodded guiltily.

  Listening to the tale of their adventures, his father had already decided to give his wife a very watered down version of the whole affair. No need to worry her unduly and the children, after all, were safe and sound. His mind veered towards other things as they called their magic carpets, for his brother, David was still seriously ill and he planned to drive down to the Borders the following morning.


  Clara looked at Neil and sighed; after dealing with dragons, giants and magicians it was a bit much, she felt, to be landed with homework.

  Sir James and Tatler rose to leave as well and as the magic carpets sailed across the Great Hall the MacArthur eased himself back gently in his chair and reached for his pipe. It had been a fairly desperate time but they seemed to have got through it without too much trouble. Firestar was back to normal, the Cri’achan had returned to the mountains and the Lords of the North were safe.

  Nevertheless, he shifted uneasily in his chair. It was the knowledge that Lord Jezail had been mixed up in it all, that worried him. The Sultan, too, had been startled at the news and had already arranged a meeting in Turkey. Maybe Prince Casimir, who had visited Ashgar more than once, would be able to throw some light on the matter. But he doubted it. Jezail had always been a law unto himself. And, as Arthur curled lazily by his side, the MacArthur thoughtfully lit his pipe. More trouble brewing, he mused with a sigh …

  38. Jelly Bean Giants

  “Oh look, Hughie,” Shona said, sitting up in her chair. “There’s a hobgoblin at the door.”

  “It’s Rumbletumble,” Hughie grinned as the little hobgoblin’s head appeared shyly round the kitchen door. “Come in, then,” he said. “Come in. The cakes aren’t quite ready yet so you’ll have to wait for a few minutes.”

  Rumbletumble was followed by Rumbletop and Rumblegudgeon all of whom had sniffed the tantalizing smell of newly-baked cakes from the hillside. Their tiny hooves made a clicking noise on the tiles as they headed for the cushions in front of the fire.

  “Shona,” Rumbletop said in surprise as they crowded round her chair.

  “It’s nice to be able to see you!” Rumbletumble said, smiling.

  “It’s nice to be able to see you, too,” she replied, shaking each tiny hand. “How are you getting on in the mountain?” she asked. “Is Firestar behaving itself?”

  There were enthusiastic nods.