Something Wicked This Way Comes

by Roger Hurn

  ‘That’s as maybe,’ replied Ezra. ‘But we’ve got you.’

  Celandine breathed in deeply and then let out a long sigh.

  ‘Well, it looks as though the good people of Elfhame can sleep soundly in their beds tonight now the wicked Lady Celandine has been caught by the big brave bloods.’

  ‘Save the sarcasm for the Wraith Pits, Celandine. You’ll need a sense of humour in there.’ Ezra sounded merciless and Celandine’s show of bravado crumpled. Her lips trembled and her brilliant sapphire eyes dimmed with tears. She looked as lost and lonely as an abandoned child. In spite of everything, Lizzie felt a pang of pity for her and wished that Ezra didn’t have to be quite so macho. This girl is seriously sick, she thought. She needs help big time.

  Celandine shuffled meekly towards the chronomages with her head bowed and her hands held out for the cuffs. Lizzie felt the tension in the air fade as the bloods relaxed. Then, just as one of the mages reached out to snap the chains on her wrists, Celandine spun away in a blur of quicksilver movement. Suddenly, Lizzie found herself with her arm wrenched halfway up her back and a dagger at her throat. Celandine was holding her tightly.

  ‘Drop the cudgels, bloods, or you’ll be seeing little missy’s blood and I’m sure you don’t want that.’

  The chronomages glanced uncertainly at one another.

  ‘Do as she says.’ Ezra’s voice cracked out like a whip. The weapons clattered to the ground.

  ‘Ah, how pleasant it is when everybody decides to be sensible,’ said Celandine merrily. ‘Now move back out of our way. We’re leaving and I don’t expect to be followed. If we are then I’ll have no choice but to waste the half-life. Do I make myself understood?’

  ‘Perfectly.’ Ezra stared at Celandine. ‘We won’t stop you from escaping but you must agree to let the human child go free.’

  ‘Oh Captain, you’re not really in any position to make demands,’ said Celandine.

  ‘I’m warning you, Lady. If you …’

  ‘I know the speech, Captain. If I harm one hair on her head blah, blah, blah.’ Celandine sounded as carefree as a lamb on a spring morning. ‘But as I believe you actually mean it I give you my word I’ll release her alive and well – only at a time and place of my choosing, not yours.’

  ‘Swear it by something even you hold dear,’ demanded Ezra.

  Celandine pursed her lips while she thought. ‘I swear it on Loki’s head,’ she said at last. ‘Now, with your permission, Captain …’

  Celandine and the captive Lizzie eased past the helpless chronomages and into the mirror maze. A thin trickle of blood ran down Lizzie’s throat from where Celandine’s dagger pressed against it.

  Ritchie tried to stagger after them but Ezra held him back. ‘We have to let them go for now,’ he said. ‘But they won’t get far, we’re not called the bloods for nothing. We’ll soon pick up their trail.’

  ‘You’d better,’ muttered Ritchie, ‘or I’ll never see Lizzie alive again.’

  ***

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  As they approached the exit to the House of Mirrors, Celandine breathed into Lizzie’s ear. ‘The knife’s going back in my pocket now girlie, but if you even think about running it’ll be sticking out from between your shoulder blades before you’ve gone five paces.’

  Lizzie didn’t doubt it for a second. Together they stepped out into the swirl of the carnival crowd. Celandine draped her arm over Lizzie’s shoulders and hurried her past the sideshows and attractions. They soon came to the scrubby grassland at the carnival’s edge that served as a car park. Celandine put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. Loki swooped down and stood before them. It twisted its head so one bright, intelligent eye was focused directly on them.

  ‘Watch her Loki,’ commanded Celandine. The bird stretched out its wings and cawed. Then it hopped up onto Lizzie’s shoulder and dug its claws sharply into her flesh. ‘Move and he’ll have your eyes out,’ said Celandine cheerfully.

  Most people with young families had gone home for tea and, as the early evening crowd hadn’t yet arrived, there weren’t too many vehicles about. Celandine scanned the area then found what she was looking for. She strolled over to a young man who was leaning against a car emblazoned with stickers and go-faster stripes. He offered Celandine a cigarette and soon they were chatting and laughing together. After a couple of minutes, Celandine pointed to Lizzie and the man glanced across at her and nodded. Celandine gave him an air kiss then called out, ‘Come on sweetie, Tony here’s going to give us a lift home.’

  When Lizzie didn’t budge the raven gave her ear a spiteful nip with its beak. ‘I’ll have your eyes,’ it croaked. This was enough for Lizzie who jogged over to the car and scrambled into the back seat deliberately dislodging Loki as she did so. The raven croaked angrily and flew off.

  ‘Here,’ said Tony, ‘You’ve lost your pet.’

  ‘It’s not my pet,’ muttered Lizzie.

  Tony looked relieved. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘’Cos I didn’t fancy having to clear up any bird droppings from the upholstery.’

  Celandine was already sitting in the front and Tony slipped into the driver’s seat next to her. ‘OK Tone, let’s see what this motor of yours can do,’ she said. ‘I like a guy who drives fast.’

  Tony gunned the engine, spun the wheels and fishtailed away out of the car park with Celandine whooping encouragement.

  At first, Lizzie thought Tony must be a friend of Celandine’s but as they drove along she realised that he was just another dim male captivated by her pretty face and spellbinding sapphire eyes. It dawned on her that she had a chance to scupper whatever it was Celandine was planning.

  ‘She’s kidnapping me,’ she blurted. ‘You’ve got to help me.

  ‘You what?’ Tony shot a look over his shoulder at Lizzie then glanced sideways at Celandine. ‘What’s she on about?’

  Celandine shook her head. ‘Ignore her. She’s just mega fed up with me because she wanted to stay late at the carnival but mum said I had to bring her straight home after the Randy. I’ve already let her go on loads of stuff but she’s never satisfied.’ She batted her thick black eyelashes at Tony and gave him a ‘what can you do?’ shrug.

  ‘Liar!’

  Celandine opened her eyes wide. ‘Oh she’s a right little madam when she’s got the hump I can tell you. And she’s in a real strop now.’

  ‘She’s lying. She’s not my sister,’ spat Lizzie. ‘You’ve got to take me to a police station.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ Celandine glared back at Lizzie. ‘I mean I wish I wasn’t your sister but I am - so live with it.’ She sighed. ‘Look, sorry about this, Tony.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Tony. ‘I don’t need any trouble, right.’

  Lizzie reached out and tugged at his shirt. ‘Well, you’ve got it, mate. Celandine’s trouble with a capital “T”. Now drive me to the nearest police station - please!’

  Tony shook her hand off and hit the brakes. The car behind blasted its horn. ‘You’re a flaming menace, pal,’ the driver called as he swerved past him.

  Tony gave him the finger and said, ‘OK girls - out you go.’ He looked hungrily at Celandine. ‘You’re a real babe but your sister’s doing my head in. Sorry.’

  Tony was talking to thin air as Celandine was already out of the car and wrenching the back door open. She reached in and grabbed Lizzie’s arm.

  ‘Mum’s going to kill you when I tell her about this,’ she shouted as she dragged Lizzie, who was still pleading with Tony to help her, out of the car.

  Tony revved the old car’s engine and, as soon as Lizzie tumbled out onto the pavement and Celandine slammed the door, he raced off.

  ‘Nice try, kid,’ hissed Celandine through gritted teeth. ‘You saved his life but that loser was never going to save you.’

  There was the familiar sound of flapping wings, a whoosh of air and Loki landed next to them. He hopped from claw to claw cawing throatily. Then he took off again in a flurry of beating wings and flew towards th
e harbour. Celandine snatched up Lizzie’s hand and yanked her forward. ‘Come on, sweet thing. You know the saying time and tide wait for no woman? Well it’s true so let’s move it.’

  Celandine took Lizzie down to the harbour-side where they found Loki perched on the bow of a small boat. Celandine produced her dagger and made Lizzie scramble onto the little vessel. Then she leapt aboard.

  ‘The bloods can’t track across water. It upsets their sense of smell,’ she said cheerfully as she started the outboard motor and eased the boat out of the harbour and into deep water.

  When they were about a mile out to sea, Celandine cut the engine. The small craft rocked on the choppy surface and Lizzie clung on to the wooden seat. She felt sick with anxiety and the motion of the boat was only making her feel worse. Celandine and Loki watched her like two ferrets with a cornered rabbit.

  ‘What’s going on?’ said Lizzie when she could stand it no longer. ‘Why have we stopped?’

  ‘Because I’m going to keep my promise to that handsome and oh so tough chronomage Captain,’ replied Celandine. ‘I said I’d let you go at a time and place of my choosing and this is the time and place I choose.’

  ‘But we’re out at sea,’ protested Lizzie. ‘We’re miles from land and there aren’t any other boats around.’

  ‘Full marks for observation. Oh, you’re such a clever girl, Lizzie.’ Celandine applauded her sarcastically. ‘I’ve enjoyed our little heart to hearts and I’m truly sorry to lose such a sparkling companion. But, when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.’

  Celandine advanced on Lizzie with her dagger held out before her. Lizzie jumped up and struggled to keep her balance.

  ‘Give me her eyes,’ cawed the raven.

  ‘Sorry Loki my love, but not this time. I said we wouldn’t kill her and we won’t. You see, I’m going to feed her to the fishes instead.’

  Lizzie stepped back and felt the side of the boat at her knees. There was nowhere left for her to go. She opened her mouth to plead with Celandine but one look at the murderous spark of madness burning in the other girl’s eyes made Lizzie realise that her only hope was to fight. She tensed her muscles ready to leap at Celandine but Loki was already in flight. He hurtled past his mistress with his talons outstretched. They caught Lizzie’s hair and the raven’s momentum pulled her over the side of the boat. She hit the sea with a tremendous splash and Lizzie felt an explosion of panic surge through her as the icy waters closed over her head.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Lizzie was terrified. She felt the weight of her carnival costume pulling her down into the chilling and inky depths of the sea. An iron band of fear tightened across her chest, threatening to squeeze the air out of her lungs. Lizzie’s plight was hopeless. Despair gnawed at her resolve like a rat and she almost gave up. Then a spark of anger ignited in her brain – Lizzie was damned if she would drown just because it suited Celandine! She kicked with her legs and clawed her way back up to the surface.

  Lizzie thrashed about in the water coughing and spluttering. The little motorboat containing Celandine and Loki was already about a hundred metres away and neither of them was looking in her direction. Not that they would have done anything to save her even if they had been. Lizzie cried out in fury but a wave slapped into her face, filling her mouth and nose with salty water. She choked and went under again.

  Once more she battled to the surface and this time she tried to relax and tread water. She was a good swimmer but the nearest land was at least a kilometre away and the current was already pulling her further out to sea.

  ‘I’m not giving up,’ she told herself. ‘All that swimming round the sports centre pool in my pyjamas for the ASA bronze award must count for something. And anyway someone’s bound to come sailing along and see me before long.’ She scanned the horizon anxiously but, apart from Celandine’s rapidly disappearing boat, the sea was deserted.

  ‘Perhaps that’s a good thing,’ she said to herself. ‘I mean if one of the big ferries puts out from Yarfleet the chances are nobody would spot me and I’d drown in its wake for sure. No, what I need is a couple of old geezers in a dinghy fishing for mackerel.’

  The sea remained stubbornly empty of fishermen.

  ‘OK, so I’ll settle for a friendly dolphin,’ Lizzie muttered in desperation.

  It didn’t take long for Lizzie’s anger to burn itself out and her feeble attempts at keeping her spirits up were failing miserably. She continued to tread water for a few more minutes before silent tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks as the sheer unfairness of life in general, and her situation in particular, overwhelmed her. The chilly sea was sapping the heat from her body and both her strength and her will to keep fighting were fading fast. She found in harder and harder to keep her head above the water. The effort just didn’t seem worth it. Eventually, she slipped beneath the cold green waves for the third time and this time it felt like the end.

  Lizzie’s water sodden clothing wrapped itself round her like the embrace of a corpse eager to drag her down to the bottom of the ocean. Lizzie no longer cared. It was easier to stop struggling and give in. A warm feeling of lethargy oozed into her mind, lulling her into sleep and unconsciousness. Her mouth fell open and the last of her air bubbled away.

  Then Lizzie realised something hard and sharp was jabbing into her knees. Her oxygen starved brain whispered to her to forget it, that it didn’t matter and that soon nothing would matter ever again - but not knowing what was scraping against her irritated Lizzie. Instinctively, she grabbed at it. The thing that was annoying her seemed to be entangled inside her apron. She forced her hand into the pocket of the garment and found Bogan’s flute! Lizzie had put it there after she’d used it to shatter the infinity mirror and, in all the excitement, had totally forgotten about it. Her fingers gripped the pipe and hope surged through her veins. If she could only play the tune that opened the gateway between the worlds, she knew the flute would take her back to Elfhame and safety.

  Again she fought her way back up towards the air and the light. Her head broke through the waves and she retched violently. But now she had a real chance to survive and the adrenaline rush made her feel invincible. She bobbed up and down like a cork.

  ‘I’ll show you, Celandine, and that mangy bird of yours, that you don’t get rid of me so easily.’ Then she wished she hadn’t actually shouted, as her throat was raw from vomiting out the foul tasting salt water. She clamped her mouth and eyes shut just in time as another wave reared up and hit her full in the face. But this was not the worst of her worries. Her fingers were growing numb with cold and a stab of panic speared her stomach as the flute slipped from her grasp. Luckily one of its keys snagged in the rough material of her dress and she clutched at the instrument before it could fall away into the depths.

  Lizzie’s heart was fluttering against her ribs like a wild bird trapped in a cage. ‘Please don’t let the water have damaged it,’ she prayed as she put the flute to her lips and blew. With enormous difficulty she made her fingers, now stiff and unreliable, work the keys until a ragged tune wheezed asthmatically into the air.

  At first, the feeble notes seemed too weak to do anything other than float away ineffectually on the evening breeze but then Lizzie felt a strange force pulse through the pipe making her fingers dance nimbly over the keys. Now the melody rang out as pure and clear as the song of a skylark in summer. The flute gave off a dazzling silver light and it seemed to Lizzie as if her brain was being turned inside out. Suddenly, the light and the sea were gone and Lizzie was pitched into a whirlpool of darkness.

  ***

  Chapter Forty

  Celandine nosed the motorboat close to the shore of the deserted pebbly beach. She put the gear stick into neutral and the motor kept chugging away as the bottom of the hull scraped on the shingle. Celandine took off her shoes, rolled up her jeans and vaulted into the shallow water. She pushed the boat’s prow round until it was facing back the way it had come.

>   ‘Do it, Loki,’ she said.

  The raven reached out with one of his powerful claws and pulled the gear stick into drive. The little craft moved forward. The raven fluttered up to the steering wheel, grasped it with his beak and steered the boat so that it moved in a straight line back out to sea.

  ‘That’s my clever boy,’ cooed Celandine. ‘Take it out to the middle of the channel then come back to me. When the half lifes find the empty boat they’ll think little Lizzie and I have both fallen overboard and drowned so they’ll call off their search.’

  She hugged herself with glee and continued talking even though Loki was now out of earshot. ‘Everyone will believe it was a silly prank that went wrong - an impression that’ll be reinforced when the brat’s body is washed ashore.’

  Celandine sighed. ‘Sadly, of course, they never will find mine.’ She shook her head. ‘Ah, what a cautionary tale it will be - two bad girls stealing a boat and then coming to a sticky end.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Though I’m sure they’ll blame me for leading Lizzie astray.’ She giggled at the thought. Then her face grew thoughtful.

  ‘Ritchie could tell them the truth but he won’t be able to. If he did they’d say he was mad.’ A flush of anger passed across Celandine’s pale cheeks as she recalled the part Ritchie, Lizzie’s brother, had played in ruining her plans to steal the Crystal Beast.

  ‘Ah yes, dear Ritchie. I haven’t forgotten you, my darling.’ Her voice was soft but it carried an edge like a shard of broken glass. ‘We’ll meet again and when we do I’ll pay you back and that’s a promise.’

  Celandine peered through the gathering dusk and out at the little boat. It was now well away from the shore and she knew that the tide and currents would catch it and sweep it out to sea. She chewed her lip and frowned. ‘Of course the Bloods will think it’s all a bit fishy when it’s reported that I’m lost at sea.’ She winced at her unintentional pun. ‘But that’s their problem. Mine is to disappear without a trace while trying to find some way of escaping from this wretched world and going home to Elfhame.’