by Michael Kerr
Redwing escorted them along a tunnel to a number of large chambers that the king had decided would be ideal to convert into royal apartments and a banquet hall.
King Ambrose was sitting on a makeshift throne made of beech wood, and was once more wearing the crown that they had recovered from the Black Tower.
The king rose from his throne and flew towards them as they entered.
“Heroes!” Ambrose cried. “You are all heroes, and by returning the crown have saved fairykind from oblivion. We must have as great a banquet as we can manage to lay on in this our new hideaway. And you can tell me all that happened.”
Even after all the horror and danger that they had faced, Sam felt the same as she always did at the end of a holiday she had enjoyed; partly sad at the thought of having to go home, but also happy to be returning to the place that she was so familiar with.
They ate and drank and talked till it was almost sunup. One of the fairies had even tried his hand at making pancakes, and had served them up to Pook with a wooden jug full of rose hip syrup. Pook would have preferred maple syrup, but ate every last pancake, licked the jug clean, and belched loudly as he rubbed his full tummy.
― CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE ―
MEETING THEMSELVES COMING BACK
The sun was high in the sky when King Ambrose hugged each of them and said goodbye with a tear in his eye. “You are always welcome in my kingdom,” he said, and handed Sam a small length of hollowed out reed that was no thicker than a pencil. “This is a whistle, and the sound it makes when blown can only be heard by fairies. Should we hear it, then we shall know that you have returned, and someone will be sent to meet you.”
Fig and Speedy accompanied the others back through the forest to the spot amongst the charred tree trunks where Ben had piled up the stones in a mound.
They all embraced and became teary-eyed, and said their goodbyes, even though there was no sign of the portal.
Fig, Speedy, Gorf, Tommy, Pook and Zoot stood looking at Sam and Ben the way people do when waiting with you at a railway station to catch a train. They would be sad to see them go, wished that they were staying, but in one way would be glad when they were safely on their way.
“Don’t forget to tell my mum where I am and all about our adventure,” Tommy said. “And tell her I’ll visit, if I can.”
“I think you should all head back,” Sam said. “We could be here for quite a while.”
“What will you do if nothing happens?” Fig asked.
“It will,” Sam said. “I can feel something in the air, like when a storm is on the way.”
Leaving Sam and Ben, the others set off back to Cuckoo-spit Gully and, nearly out of sight of them, Tommy stopped and turned to wave to them. They waved back, and he hurried off.
Hours later, Sam and Ben were sitting next to the pile of stones, discussing how they might reach the Crossroads of Time if the portal failed to reappear. They supposed that they could find the underground network of rivers and go to Ujimar by boat, and then find another ferryman to take them to the island.
But they would not have to. With a rushing of wind, the ashes left from the fire began to swirl in the air, and a circle of pink mist appeared three feet above the ground and began to spin like a Catherine wheel.
“Here we go again,” Ben said, and they got to their feet, held hands and jumped through the hole in time and space.
Within a heartbeat, they had travelled from one world to another. Ben staggered a few steps but kept his balance. Sam fell to her knees, but did not hurt herself.
Before they could even properly look at their surroundings, the portal plinked out of existence.
“It’s the only way to travel,” Ben said.
“Only if it takes you where and when you want to be,” Sam added.
They hoped that they were back at the right place. Walking around the corner of the column of rock, they saw the dry lake bed in front of them. And as they set off across it, Sam grasped Ben’s arm so tightly that he yelped.
“Look Ben,” she said, pointing to two figures. “That’s Tommy and me.”
Sure enough, the other Sam and Tommy were heading their way. They reached them, and could not see them, but kept going to where the portal had appeared. And a few seconds later, Ben heard his own voice shout out, before his double ran towards them in pursuit of the other Sam and Tommy.
“What’s happening, Sam?” Ben asked as the other him vanished after the other Sam and Tommy.
“We’ve arrived back a few seconds before we even left in the first place,” Sam said. “It explains why I had the feeling we were not alone when we were looking for the portal.”
Hurrying back to where the three of them had just gone, they were just in time to see the portal shrink and make a fizzing sound as it vanished.
“I don’t understand this time travel at all,” Ben said. “Come on, let’s go home. I need a shower, a change of clothes and about twenty-four hours’ sleep.”
The bikes were where they had left them. They didn’t know what to do with Tommy’s, so left it there in case he changed his mind and followed them.
Back at her house, Sam went up to Emily’s bedroom, took the letter that she had left under her sister’s pillow, and ripped it up. Once more she had been on a long adventure, but had got back on the same day she had left. Now, she had another story to tell. She would spread it out over a week at least, and knew that Em would not believe it was something that had actually happened. Maybe when she was older, Sam would take her to the dry lake bed, and if the portal appeared, then Em would realise that every word she had been told was the truth, and that all the wonderful and frightening and awesome things she had been told about, really existed.
Ben arrived home and tried to act cool when his mother asked him what he’d been doing, and where he’d been.
“Just hanging out with Sam, Mum,” he said. Inside, he was quaking. It would get really heavy when it came to light, soon, that Tommy was missing. And someone was sure to have seen the three of them ride off together. He would have to text Sam. The only sensible thing to do would be to see Tommy’s mother and tell her the truth. But what if she went totally off her head? Tommy had said that he’d told his mum all about the last adventure, and that because his leg was better, she had half believed his story. Ben found himself getting angry. Tommy had been really selfish by staying in Otherworld.
Taking off his fleece, up in his room, Ben heard a clinking sound. Both pockets had stuff in them and were zipped up. He hadn’t noticed in all the excitement. Unzipping one pocket, he pulled out two dog-tags and a rusty penknife. Great! Not! Tommy had sneaked the identity discs of the two American airmen that they had found in the wreckage of the fighter plane into his pocket, along with the penknife that had USAF stamped on it. In his other pocket were the two men’s wallets. Well, he wasn’t going to send them to anybody or ever mention them. There was no way for him to explain having them. He couldn’t say that he’d found them in a parallel world, and that his pal Tommy, who was still there, thought that going through a wormhole or something explained the disappearances of planes and ships in the Bermuda Triangle. He would put the wallets and other stuff in one of his mum’s zip lock freezer bags and bury it somewhere. Maybe somebody would dig the bag up in the future, and then it would be a mystery for them to worry about.
Reaching into his jeans pocket, Ben took out his own souvenir from Weirdworld. It was one of the videocubes from the dream chamber at the place called the Crow Mountain Facility. He turned it over and checked out all six sides. There was a serial number on one face, and a small round hole on another. He looked across at his portable TV with a built-in DVD. Maybe he could somehow link the cube up to it and get it to play. Or should he put it in the bag with the other stuff? He wasn’t sure. He’d think about it for a few days.
As he tried to decide what to do, his mobile trilled. He picked it up from where he’d left it next to his pc. Sam had sent him a text: MEET ME AT TOMMY’S. WE H
AVE 2 TALK 2 HIS MUM B4 SHE STARTS PANICKING & CALLS THE POLICE.
Great! This was going to be seriously uncool. Maybe he and Sam should have stayed in Weirdworld with the others. He couldn’t imagine how they could begin to convince Mrs. Scott that Tommy was fine, but was in another world, living with fairies, Gorf, his teddy bear, that was now alive, and a lizard man. He just knew that she was going to flip. He tapped out a reply to Sam: ON MY WAY. BUT DON’T THINK THIS IS 1 OF YOUR BETTER IDEAS.
Out walking with Pook, Tommy and Zoot in Cuckoo-spit Gulley, Gorf spotted a magnificent yew tree. He climbed high up into it, selected a suitable stout branch and used the razor sharp horg knife to cut it off, while Tommy and Pook explored the area, and Zoot hunted for live food to eat.
Sitting in the shade of the tree, Gorf began to strip the bark off the branch and fashion himself a new longbow. While he worked, he thought of how strange it now felt to not have Sam and Ben with them. He missed the two human children. But he smiled. He had a very strong feeling that they would all meet up again in the near future. He hoped that their next adventure together would not be as dangerous as the last two had been, but couldn’t help but think that it would be.
END
About The Author
Michael Kerr is the pseudonym of Mike Smail the author of several crime thrillers and two children’s novels. He lives and writes in the Yorkshire Wolds, and has won, been runner-up, and short listed on numerous occasions for short story competitions with Writing Magazine and Writers’ News.
After a career of more than twenty years in the Prison Service, Mike now uses his experience in that area to write original, hard-hitting crime novels.
Connect With Michael Kerr and discover other great titles.
Web
www.michaelkerr.org
Michael Kerr’s official site
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKerrAuthor
Kindle Store
http://www.michaelkerr.org/amazon
