Glasruhen Gate

by Catherine Cooper

‘It used to have a beautiful feather stuck in the band. I don’t suppose either of you have got a feather to spare?’

  ‘No we have not,’ snapped Camelin. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, can you come up with an answer? We don’t have much time.’

  Peabody put the hat on, sat down on a tree stump and closed his eyes.

  ‘Viroconium you say?’

  ‘Viroconium,’ Jack and Camelin confirmed together.

  Peabody sat and muttered to himself for what seemed like a very long time. At last he stood up and replaced the hat.

  ‘Well?’ said Camelin expectantly.

  ‘I’ve gone through every water nymph I can think of. I only know of three who’ve ever lived west of here. It’s going to be Coriss, Myryl or Uriel. They’re Undines, they prefer wells and springs.’

  ‘Oh great!’ Camelin grumbled. ‘Three of them.’

  ‘Well it’s better than having to go through all the names on Jennet’s list,’ whispered Jack.

  ‘I hope I’ve been of help. You will tell the Great Seanchai how helpful I’ve been, won’t you?’

  ‘We will, but we’d better be going now. Thank you,’ said Jack.

  Peabody led the way back to his new front door and let them out. As soon as the door shut behind them the key was turned and the bolts were slid noisily back.

  ‘You did well,’ Nora said when they told her about their meeting with Peabody. ‘Go and transform now and we’ll all give this a bit of thought.’

  ‘Have you met any of the nymphs before?’ Jack asked Camelin as he dressed.

  ‘Only Myryl, but it was a long time ago now. Come on! Race you downstairs.’

  It wasn’t much of a race. Camelin flew while Jack had to take the stairs. By the time he got to the kitchen Elan and Nora were already discussing the nymphs on Peabody’s list.

  ‘Isn’t Myryl an expert on cauldrons?’ asked Elan.

  ‘You’re right. She’d be the best one to start with, she knows just about everything there is to know about cauldrons. We’ll visit her first, but not until tomorrow. It’s getting late. Jack, you ought to be getting back home. You’ve had a very busy weekend and it’s school tomorrow.’

  ‘But I wanted to go with you.’

  ‘We can’t go without you,’ replied Elan.

  Nora agreed.

  ‘If you’ve given a water nymph something and you need it back, you have to ask for it yourself. You also need to have something ready for the exchange, and it has to something special.’

  ‘What will I give her for the plates? Do you think she’d like some nail varnish too?’

  Nora shook her head.

  ‘From what I remember of Myryl she likes big things, she’s a lot more sociable than Jennet, she likes to talk…’

  ‘And talk and talk,’ interrupted Camelin. ‘She’s as bad as Timmery.’

  ‘Isn’t that good, at least she’ll tell us what she knows, won’t she?’ asked Jack.

  ‘It would be, if she could keep her mind on one thing at a time, but she sort of flits from one thing to another. She gets back to the reason you’ve called eventually, but it can take a long time.’

  ‘At least she doesn’t mind visitors,’ continued Nora.

  ‘I said she was like Timmery,’ Camelin grumbled to himself.

  ‘So what am I going to give her?’

  ‘It will take a bit of thought, but I’m sure we’ll come up with something.’

  ‘If Myryl is an expert on cauldrons we’ll need to offer her something similar,’ said Elan, thinking aloud.

  ‘How about one of those Hallowe’en buckets you can buy? The ones you take round for trick-or-treating to put all your sweets in,’ suggested Jack. ‘We could spray it silver.’

  Camelin’s head shot up and he hopped over to Jack.

  ‘People give you sweets in a bucket? Have you got one of those buckets? When can we go? We can’t give it to Myryl if it’s for sweets!’

  ‘We certainly can’t,’ replied Nora. ‘I know the ones you mean Jack. They’re the right shape but the wrong material. They’re usually black plastic. We need something shiny and metallic. I think the paint would wear off quite quickly under water.’

  ‘A saucepan then, a big one with two handles like they have in the kitchen at school,’ continued Jack.

  ‘That’s a possibility,’ replied Nora. ‘But I still don’t think it would be big enough.’

  ‘How big are those buckets?’ Camelin asked Jack, ‘The ones you collect the sweets in?’

  Jack made a shape with his hands.

  ‘About the same size as a football.’

  ‘That’s not very big, couldn’t we use a dustbin? We’d get a lot more sweets in one of them.’

  ‘That’s a brilliant idea!’ exclaimed Nora.

  Camelin’s beak fell open.

  ‘Do you mean it? You’re going to get a dustbin?’

  ‘A dustbin would be perfect,’ agreed Elan. ‘But not one of those new plastic ones, we need an old-fashioned ribbed galvanised bin.’

  Jack could see what an amazing exchange a bright new shiny galvanised dustbin would be.

  Camelin looked excited. He was hopping from one foot to the other.

  ‘When can we go and get the sweets?’

  ‘What sweets?’ they all asked.

  ‘The ones to go in my dustbin!’

  ‘The dustbin’s for Myryl; haven’t you been listening?’ Nora asked. ‘I’ll go down into the village first thing in the morning and buy one. Then I’ll call in and see your grandad and tell him we’re off on an outing and you’re invited to come along. We’ll pick you up straight after school and make our way over to see Myryl.’

  ‘Is it far?’ asked Jack.

  Elan got Nora’s map down from the dresser and spread it out on the table.

  ‘She lives somewhere around here, in a spring above one of the lakes near the Welsh border. There used to be lots of lakes in that area. People built forts there on the mounds, but that was a long time ago. There’s not much water left now.’

  Jack looked over at Camelin. He’d not been looking at the map.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing.’

  Nora laughed.

  ‘He’ll be fine, once he gets over the loss of a dustbin full of sweets he never had!’

  From his bedroom window Jack watched the sky darken. A storm was rumbling in the distance. He’d expected Grandad to ask him about his weekend but instead he’d told Jack all about the gardening club and what he was going to enter in this year’s competition. Jack was relieved he hadn’t had to say anything about what he’d done. He couldn’t tell Grandad the truth, he couldn’t tell anyone. They’d think he was crazy, especially if he said he’d gone back in time to Roman Britain.

  By bedtime rain was lashing at the windows. Jack wished Camelin was there to talk to, he missed his company, but it was unlikely he’d leave his dry loft on a night like this. A loud clap of thunder rumbled overhead. Orin climbed up onto the windowsill to watch the storm with Jack. She jumped each time lightning flashed across the sky and shook as the thunder exploded. The rain made a deafening noise as it beat against the window.

  ‘Don’t worry, it can’t hurt you,’ he told her as he held his arm out so she could climb up to sit on his shoulder. ‘I hope it’s a better day tomorrow when we go to see Myryl.’

  Jack was just about to get into bed when his Book of Shadows vibrated.

  Elan must have sent him a message. He opened it at the first page and watched as the message appeared. When he saw what it said he smiled. It wasn’t from Elan.

  I hav my own buk to writ in

  we can writ tonit so I wont get wet

  Jack laughed. Camelin might have learnt to read but he needed
a lot of practice with his spelling. He wrote back:

  I’ll see you in the morning.

  He didn’t have to wait long for an answer:

  how many swets do u think I cud get in a dustbin

  Jack laughed and replied:

  It would depend on the size of the bin.

  There were no more messages. Jack lay in bed but couldn’t sleep. He wondered if Camelin was dreaming about dustbins overflowing with sweets. He’d thought it would be easy to retrieve the plates once they’d come back through the window in time. Tonight they should have been celebrating and making plans to go into Annwn. Jack couldn’t help worrying. How was he going to get through a whole day at school? He wondered what would happen when they found Myryl. She had to have the plates. Didn’t she?

  MYRYL

  ‘Over here Jack,’ Elan shouted as she waved from the end of the road.

  Jack made his way as quickly as he could towards her through the other children and parents congregated outside the school gates.

  ‘That was a long day. I thought it was never going to end. Have you got everything we need?’

  ‘We’re ready to go. Nora’s parked just around the corner.’

  Jack got into the back of the car and looked over the seat. A large shiny dustbin had been laid on its side. A long, cloth-wrapped object was beside it. Jack presumed it was one of the cauldron plates.

  ‘Where’s Camelin?’

  ‘In here,’ came a muffled reply from inside the dustbin.

  ‘What are you doing in there?’

  ‘Nora made me get in. I’m supposed to be inconspicuous, whatever that means. I can tell you what I am though. I’m very uncomfortable.’

  Nora laughed.

  ‘You won’t be in there for long. As soon as we leave Newton Gill you can come out. I’ve put a pair of Elan’s old wellingtons in the car for you Jack. I think it’s going to be a bit muddy by the spring after all the rain we had last night.’

  ‘Thanks. Will it take long to get there?’

  Elan passed a road map over to Jack.

  ‘We’re heading north west. It should take about half an hour, but we don’t know exactly which spring Myryl’s going to be in. Camelin can scout around when we get there.’

  ‘Can I come out it’s stuffy in here?’

  ‘Yes, I think it’s safe now,’ said Nora.

  In all the excitement Jack had forgotten to tell Camelin his news.

  ‘I made the choir. We start rehearsals for the end of term concert next week. I’ve been asked to sing a solo too.’

  They all congratulated him.

  Jack woke with a start. He must have fallen asleep.

  ‘You’ve been snoring,’ said Camelin.

  ‘Sorry. I didn’t sleep much last night and it’s hot in the car.’

  ‘You haven’t missed much.’

  ‘We’re almost there,’ Nora informed them. ‘You’ll need to go and have a good look around Camelin. Try the obvious places first. She’s bound to be somewhere quiet. She likes visitors, but not crowds of people.’

  Nora stopped the car by a field. She opened the door and Camelin flew off towards a small mound in the centre that was covered in trees.

  ‘This whole area used to be under water, apart from those two mounds,’ Elan told Jack as she pointed in the direction Camelin had gone. ‘They used to be joined by a raised causeway. The Cornovii lived here, part of the same people who used to live on Glasruhen. It was abandoned round about the time the Romans invaded the area.’

  Jack looked at the small hillock.

  ‘It doesn’t look anything like a hillfort. It should have been called a moundfort.’

  Nora sighed.

  ‘It used to be a magnificent sight. You could see the raised embankment and round dwellings reflected in the water. All that’s left now is one small lake. You’d never know that people once lived here.’

  ‘What’s Myrel like?’ asked Jack.

  ‘She looks like Jennet. Most water nymphs are pretty similar so it would have been easy for you to mistake the nymph you saw in Viroconium for any of them, especially in the dark. It’s a long time since I’ve seen her, but I don’t think she’ll have changed much.’

  Jack wondered if Myryl would be better tempered than Jennet.

  ‘You know I’m not sure Myryl will be able to help us,’ said Elan. ‘I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday. We’re a long way from Viroconium.’

  ‘It’s the only lead we’ve got. We’ll have to wait and see what she says… if Camelin can find her,’ replied Nora.

  Just then Camelin circled above them and croaked: ‘Let’s get started then. I know where she is.’

  They put their wellingtons on. Jack and Elan lifted the dustbin out of the car and Nora picked up the wrapped cauldron plate. Camelin flew ahead to show them the way. They had to walk carefully down a track by the side of the field; it was quite muddy after the rain. Camelin landed in a nearby tree and waited for them to catch up.

  ‘I think it would be better if you hid the dustbin behind that big tree over there, it will only distract her if she sees it straight away,’ said Nora.

  Jack and Elan made sure the dustbin couldn’t be seen, and then followed Nora to the edge of the spring. She knelt down and put her lips to the water. Jack could just make out the words through the sound of the bubbles.

  ‘Myryl, you have visitors.’

  ‘That should bring her out!’ laughed Elan.

  They didn’t have long to wait before the water began to gurgle. Steam burst from each bubble as it rose to the surface. A column of water exploded from the pool then subsided. In its place stood a smiling water nymph. As soon as Jack saw Myryl’s hair he realised his mistake. It was a lot darker than Jennet’s, more of a bottle green, and she didn’t seem to have so many stray bits of weed and twigs attached to it either. She was smaller too and not as slender, but she had the same green skin and strange slanting eyes. The biggest difference was her friendliness.

  ‘Myryl…’ Nora began but got no further before she was interrupted.

  ‘Oh how wonderful, visitors, I love visitors!’

  Myryl nodded to Nora then made an exaggerated curtsey towards Elan. She seemed genuinely pleased to see them. Nora tried again.

  ‘Do you have…?’

  ‘Well how long has it been?’ Myryl said hurriedly. ‘It must be a few hundred years since we last spoke, doesn’t time fly?’

  Nora opened her mouth again to speak but once more Myryl got there first.

  ‘Well this is an unexpected pleasure. The last people who were here started digging up my bog. Stole one of my best cauldrons they did, won’t see that again in a hurry. Never even asked, never even attempted to exchange. So rude! The first I knew about it was when I saw them making off with it across the fields. Now let me see, yes, it must have been about a hundred years ago now. Some others came too you know, they were going to build on the mound. Dropped their bells in the lake when they saw me, I frightened them off good and proper. Never came back. Lovely bells they are too, heavy, nice of them to leave them for me don’t you think? They’re not the same as cauldrons though, didn’t really make up for the loss of my best one. Did I tell you about that?’

  At last she paused for breath and Nora managed to speak.

  ‘It’s cauldrons we’ve come about, we hear you’re the expert and…’

  Myryl looked excited and without waiting to hear what Nora was about to ask she told them about all the different kinds of cauldrons she had in her possession. At the next pause Nora managed to complete her question.

  ‘We were wondering if you had anything like this in your collection?’ she said hurriedly as she unwrapped the package.

  Myryl sniffed the air and thrust her head forward to inspect
the cauldron plate more closely.

  ‘That’s an old one, not worth anything at all, not if it’s not complete. I don’t bother with the bits, only the whole ones.’

  Myryl reached out and ran her long green fingers over the embossed tree. Elan put her hand on Myryl’s to gain her attention,

  ‘Maybe someone gave you three of these a couple of thousand years ago and you’ve got them somewhere in your collection?’

  ‘They wouldn’t have been any use to me. I really don’t think I’ve got any bits but I’ll go and have a look.’

  Myryl disappeared in a fountain of bubbles into the depths of her watery home.

  ‘Do you think she has them?’ asked Jack.

  ‘No,’ said Elan. ‘I think we need to ask her if she’s ever been to Viroconium before we go any further.’

  Nora agreed.

  ‘Did you recognise her?’ asked Elan.

  ‘It’s definitely not her. The one I saw wasn’t friendly. I know it was only for a moment but the nymph in the spring at Viroconium was, well, aggressive.’

  ‘And strong,’ Camelin added. ‘And obviously fond of armour. I wouldn’t be surprised if the nymph we’re looking for has quite a collection of her own. But I bet it’s not cauldrons.’

  ‘You might be right,’ replied Nora. ‘We’ll ask her when she comes back.’

  It wasn’t long before Myryl resurfaced. She had several pieces of metal in her hand, which she tossed on the grass in front of Nora’s feet. They gathered round eagerly to see what she’d brought.

  ‘These are the only bits I’ve got.’

  Most of the metal pieces had been parts of shields. They were rusted and bent. There wasn’t anything remotely like the cauldron plate Nora had in her hand. She carefully put them in a pile and Jack handed them back to Myryl who unceremoniously dropped them back into the water.

  ‘I only like complete cauldrons. Doesn’t matter what size or shape but I must say I do like the bigger ones, you can’t seem to get a good cauldron these days.’

  Before Myryl could take another breath, Elan quickly distracted her and asked about the spring at Viroconium.

  ‘Ooooh no!’ Myryl shrieked. ‘I never went anywhere near that horrible place, those Romans built a whole fortress around the spring in there you know, ruined the view, I stayed as far away from Romans as I could, they frightened all the people off from here you know, I suppose they did me a favour, it’s been nice and quiet since they all left but you just don’t get the visitors anymore, no one throws anything in the spring, my collection of cauldrons is getting worn out.’