Spellbound Chronicles – Blood Line

by Suzanne Maguire

  She stood beside them with Aron and listened to Tiblou’s speech to the assembled crowd, explaining why everyone had been summonsed.

  “Thanks to Larna and Aron’s incredible gift,” he said, “we now have the means to reverse the disease inflicted on us generations ago.” He looked around at the still gathering crowd. “It may not be 100% successful for some of us, but it should halt further mutation. Can I have a show of hands of those who want the antidote?”

  There was an immediate sea of hands and paws and other means of acceptance.

  “Anyone wish to opt out?”

  Not one person. There was an eerie silence which sent shivers of excitement down Larna’s spine. Aron felt it too.

  “Finally, we need to point out that we haven’t had time to test this new serum, so the first person must be a volunteer.”

  The silence deepened. Each person looked to their neighbour to see who would be brave enough to step forward. Some stepped back a few paces amid mutterings. Then Uncle Roger strode out of the crowd and stood in front of Tiblou.

  “I have lived my life like this so far,” patting his chest with clenched fists, “and I fancy a change for the rest of it.” He half turned to the crowd and added loudly, “I’ll be your first volunteer. Go ahead, nephew.”

  He held out his arm, but Tibs shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, Uncle.” Then he drew his wand over the crystal vial and tapped it gently.

  “Hear ye, hear ye,” he chanted,

  “Change all back to what they should be!”

  Lifting his thumb from the flat end of the vial, it opened up allowing a little of the fluid to slowly wind out. Everyone stared in wonder as the fluid doubled, then multiplied itself hundreds of times. The sky was full of spiralling multi-coloured DNA strands. A drop separated from the rest and hovered over Uncle Roger like a brilliant pink raindrop.

  “Take it, it’s yours.” Tibs told him.

  With a final nervous glance at his family, Uncle Roger opened his mouth to catch the drop, and swallowed. Within seconds he fell to his knees, looking upwards to the heavens and the glittering stars. His eyes rolled back. The crowd backed away, making noises of fear and disappointment. Larna and Aron stayed put beside the hotchpotch family and watched in awe as Uncle Roger’s canine ears, nose and the other features slowly disappeared and his eyes returned to normal. He looked up at Tibs, gave a little shake, and calmly asked…

  “Well? Has it worked?”

  “See for yourself, Uncle.”

  An enormous mirror materialised out of nowhere. Still on his knees, Uncle Roger saw himself as if for the first time, slowly running his hands over his face, his head and his ears. He kept repeating, “Oh! Oh!” Then, “I look… like our guests… Normal!” He was fighting back tears of emotion. Standing, he ran his hands over the front of his body, then behind. He stopped suddenly when his tail wagged.

  Larna heard a quiet, “uh-oh!” from her brother.

  “We’ve failed you,” moaned Tibs.

  Pulling himself up to his full height, Uncle Roger laid his hands on the young wizard’s shoulders. “Don’t be silly, young man, I’m thrilled.” He looked round at his tail. “I am disappointed to be left with this … but I can’t thank you enough for the rest of me.” Pausing for a second he added, “I’ll look upon it as a reminder of who I truly am… or rather was. Now, does that put your mind at ease?” He turned and faced the crowd, spread his arms and shouted, “Well, I’m still here. What are you waiting for?”

  A tremendous noise erupted, heralding a sudden stampede for the serum. Tibs held up his arms. “NO!” he yelled. “Please stand still.” He looked at the multitude. “Look to the sky and open your mouth. That’s all you have to do.”

  The crowd hesitated.

  Then the hotchpotch parents lifted the chin of each of their children and gently pressed the sides of their mouth until they opened to receive a drop of the precious antidote. The adults followed suit. And the transformations began. From the ugliest children Larna and Aron had ever seen came twin boys and a beautiful baby girl. All three were perfect. So were their mother and father once their changes were complete. They turned to face the crowd and there was a massive intake of breath. Then all faces tilted skywards, mouths opened, catching and swallowing a droplet of the serum. Almost immediately they too began to experience changes of varying degrees. Some completely, others not fully. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to be happy.

  Chet leaned towards Tibs and said in a low voice, “Well now, Mr Miracle-Worker, seeing as mum and I decided to wait until last in case there wasn’t enough for everybody, don’t you think you’d better give us some of that stuff before it loses its potency?” Tibs looked mortified. “Yes, yes, yes!” He shook the container vigorously, repeated the rhyme and released the last of the serum. The spirals of DNA flew up and hovered over Annie and Chet before dropping into their open mouths. The changes were immediate and Annie hugged both sons, tears streaming down her face. Then they noticed, like Roger, that they too had failed to get rid of their tails. They looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and burst out laughing. Larna, Aron and Tibs couldn’t help but join in. It released the tension and, afterwards, everyone felt much better for it.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  All this time Neve and Violet had remained in the background keeping an eye on the throng witnessing the exhilaration and raw emotion as people changed. Jubilant shouts of everything. With great satisfaction, they’d observed Tiblou’s skill as a wizard and thanks to Tiblou, Aron and Larna echoed in their ears as the crowd gradually began to disperse

  Neve started to move towards her grandchildren. Putting her arms around their shoulders, she asked if there was anything they would like to do before going home. Suddenly Larna felt herself engulfed by an overwhelming sadness as she realised they were about to leave these wonderful people. Aron was not so sensitive. A huge smile split his face, almost ear to ear. “Are you kidding? There’s only one place I want to visit. Roger’s Kitchen Café!”

  Larna was surprised and more than a little humbled at how many people had stayed behind to thank them personally, or pat their backs as they made their way through the woods to the cafe. Most of them left it at that, but others followed adding to the crowd waiting for them inside the cheerful room. Two tall glass dessert dishes filled with miniature balls of rainbow ice cream were ceremoniously placed in front of Larna and Aron. Puffs of strawberry-scented vapour escaped from the top and wafted under their noses, making them both drool. Then they noticed there were no spoons beside the glasses. How were they meant to eat this delicious-looking treat? They were about to ask Uncle Roger for some cutlery when the ice-cream seemed to come alive. It started fizzing about in the glasses and then, with a bang, a multi-coloured ice cream ball from each one shot into the air and hovered above Larna and Aron, waiting for them to open their mouths. When they did, it dropped onto their tongues, filling their senses with the most exquisite flavours. Immediately, they opened their mouth for more and two more balls shot up from the glasses… and continued doing so until they were completely full.

  “Astounding!” exclaimed Larna, licking her lips. “Exploding ice cream!”

  “Can I have a doggie bag to take some home with me, please?” asked Aron.

  “Sorry, my friend,” replied Uncle Roger. “That’s an impossibility. I understand food doesn’t travel, backwards or forwards through time!”

  When the treat was over, Neve appeared at her grandchildren’s side. “Right, you two,” she said in her usual no-nonsense manner. “It really is time to return now.”

  “Can’t we stay the night and go home in the morning?” wheedled Aron.

  “No, we have to avoid being spotted by the tourists visiting Sherwood Forest. Think of the trouble it would cause if we suddenly appeared, from nowhere, as if by magic.”

  “These are Tiblou’s clothes,” said Larna. “Please could we just make a detour via his place? I’ve got to change.”

  Nev
e glanced at her watch. “As you wish. We won’t go the normal way though. Say goodbye to everyone.”

  Those who didn’t shake their hands muttered their grateful thanks. Then, flanked by his customers, Uncle Roger followed them outside. “It’s a shame you can’t take anything back, but I would like you to know that your dessert will now be known as The Gorry Surprise from now on.”

  Before they had a chance to thank him, the two of them were unceremoniously yanked through space and arrived at Tiblou’s house with Neve, Annie, Tibs and Chet.

  “Whoa!” Aron steadied himself on a chair back. “What just happened? That was fantastic!”

  Neve clapped her hands, “Come on, please. Upstairs to collect your gear. Larna, go and get changed and meet me back here as quickly as you can. ”

  Twisting the acorn on top of the newel posts, Larna and Aron sailed upstairs on the step and made their way to the bedroom to fetch their things. But Larna couldn’t find hers. Suddenly she remembered that Annie had bundled her scruffy torn dressing gown and pyjamas down the chute.

  “OH, NO!” she exclaimed.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “When I was brought back from the underworld, the dressing gown and pyjamas Tiblou leant me were ripped to ribbons, so Annie disposed of them.”

  “So? What’s the big deal? We’re returning home in our own clothes.”

  “The clothes aren’t what upsets me. It’s a present Cai gave me on behalf of his father, King Drisco, just before they left me to find a safe passage back underground. It was in the dressing gown pocket. He made me promise not to lose it. And I have! Larna was surprised by how much it upset her. “What’ll I do, Aron?”

  Her brother frowned. “Hang on a minute, he won’t know. There’s no way he’ll find out, is there? And besides, you won’t be going down there again, so you two won’t ever meet, will you?”

  The thought of never seeing Cai again hit her with a thump in her chest. To hide any confusion, she sat on the bed and tried to scratch her legs where the metal calliper was rubbing again. She leant too far forwards and tumbled off. Her yells of pain brought the others racing upstairs.

  “What’s happened now?”

  “It’s alright, Yaya, I slipped off the bed and hurt myself. It’s not so bad now. Honestly.”

  Neve knelt in front of Larna and inspected the metal frames. “We will have to do something about these when we get home. No time now.” She put both hands on the edge of the bed to push herself up. “Just a minute, your knee is bleeding. You’ve cut it on something sharp.” She ran her hand over the wooden floor and found something sticking up between the floor boards. She pulled and waggled it as hard as she could, but it refused to come out.

  “Let me try, Yaya,” said Larna. Without any force, the object came out in her hand like King Arthur’s sword out of the stone. They all gasped. “It’s my present from Cai and his father!”

  “What is it?” asked Aron, curiously.

  “I have absolutely no idea, but whatever it is, I won’t lose it again.” Gingerly running her fingers all over the gold disc, she couldn’t find anything sharp on it. It was as if it was asking to be found.

  In a tremulous voice Annie said, “It is, or it was, a gift from me to my husband, Zebedia.” She held out her hand and, without a word, Larna placed the disc in it. Looking shocked and emotional, the old lady turned to address Tibs and Chet. “I gave this to your father on the day he disappeared.” She pressed a hidden spring and the disc slowly opened, like flower petals unfurling. A beam of light shone upwards and to everyone’s surprise except Annie’s, they saw moving pictures of children playing and laughing in a garden somewhere. The sound effects were a bit tinny at first until the picture fanned out to three times the size of the disc and grew to approximately a foot in height.

  Tears trickled down Annie’s face. Chet and Tiblou just stood and watched, pale and shocked. The others were a captive audience.

  “My boys. When they were very small.” She paused, a tiny smile raised the corner of her lips. “They tormented the life out of me to make this… ”

  “So our father would always have us with him. I remember, mum.” Chet put a comforting arm round his mother’s shoulders.

  Tibs was fascinated and bent towards the picture. “I think I remember it as well. I was about two or three, wasn’t I?”

  A very young Annie entered the frame and encouraged the children to wave.

  “Love you, Papa Zeb,” The children broke into fits of giggles having dared to call their father Zeb. Next moment the light shrivelled back into the disc and the petals closed.

  For a few seconds there was complete silence. Then Annie, Chet and Tiblou began asking questions all at the same time. Neve held up a hand. “One at a time, please, or we will be here all night. Now, Larna, can you remember anything else about this disc? This is very important.”

  “I know. I’m already racking my brains trying… Cai said King Drisco found it in one of the caves. No, that’s not strictly true.” She scratched her head. “Just a minute … he found it in one of the passages leading out of a cave.”

  Chet shook his head in disbelief. “But, how did it get there? We’ve grown up believing Dad went to join the search party for Aunty June when she disappeared. She was never found either.”

  “I know everybody thought the worst. It was years after they went missing that Roger discovered that my sister may possibly be still alive down there somewhere in the underworld.” Annie sighed. “But nobody, not even Balgaire, could find out anything about my husband’s disappearance.”

  Silence again. Violet whispered in the witch’s ear, then raising an eyebrow Neve said quietly. “There might be a way.” Everybody leaned slightly forward, silently urging her to continue, “Follow the disc!”

  “What do you mean?” Larna wanted to know.

  “Use its memory,” Neve said.

  “I don’t understand,” murmured Aron.

  “Zebedia obviously suffered an extremely traumatic experience whilst this photo-disc was in his possession. So let me, Tiblou and Violet see if we can follow its memory-trail. If it has one, that is.” Neve must have thought Annie needed more persuasion. “For instance, old houses supposedly absorb joyful events as well as sad ones. So, maybe it applies to other things as well – like this. Anyway, it’s worth a try. What do you think?”

  Annie’s sad look turned to anticipation. She sucked in her bottom lip. “Oh, yes please. If it works it will bring an end to the awful nightmare of not knowing what happened to my dear husband.”

  Neve, Tibs and Violet formed a triangle, each holding the edge of the disc with their right hand. In Violet’s case, she had some difficulty because of her size but, as determined as ever, she coped. The white witch told them to stand perfectly still and be quiet whilst they concentrated. Annie, Chet, Aron and Larna all looked on with bated breath.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The three holding the disc froze. The rest of them took a massive intake of breath and held it. Even the birds outside the bedroom window seemed to think something momentous might be about to happen and were silent.

  After a few more minutes of nothing happening, Larna’s concentration began to waver. Her legs were ready to give up on her and she was about to fall over when, inside the triangle, a haze appeared. Like smoke, it billowed upwards and began to take shape. Another silent film showed Zebedia accepting the disc and putting it in his top pocket. It wasn’t deep enough, so about a third of the photo-disc remained visible. He bent, patted the children on the head and then gave Annie a big hug. She handed him what looked like a packed lunch. They exchanged a few words then he turned and walked into the woods, joining some others who were waiting for him.

  Deep in the forest, very close to the Dark Side, they must have decided to separate because Zebedia was alone from then on. They could see but not hear him calling June’s name. It was all very bizarre and compelling viewing. Larna recognised the route he’d taken and whispered,
“No, no, no! Don’t follow that path!” But he did, still calling for his missing sister-in-law. Every so often he put a hand to his ear, listened, then charged forward excited by something or somebody he had heard.

  Screwing up her eyes and leaning as close as she dared to her grandmother without touching her, Larna scoured the forest for anything out of the ordinary. And there it was, a shadowy figure darting from tree to tree. Edsel! A very young and small Edsel, moving so fast he was barely visible. Unless you were actually looking for him. The viewers had an idea what was going to happen next and, from then on, they watched with dread. The scene unfolding was almost identical to what happened to Larna. Only this time, there was fruit on the tree, not paper messages. Somewhere en route, Zebedia must have lost his lunch and was very hungry. So he walked to the tree and was about to pick a fruit when the ground opened, took him down and closed on top of him – a terrifyingly familiar sight for Larna.

  They thought that was the end. They stared at the black cloud above the disc, waiting for it to disappear. But it didn’t. Instead, a final fragment of a scene became visible – Zebedia’s hands touching ‘glow’ stones as he pulled himself out of the water. The disc also memorised faint pictures of the dark cave as it moved in Zebedia’s breast pocket with each frightened step.

  “Where are you, Drisco?” was Larna’s silent plea.

  Her heart lifted as lights began to bob up and down in one of the tunnels, getting brighter and brighter. But, instead of the Undines, an army of Boggrets marched into the huge cave. Heading straight for Zebedia. The memory of their stench made Larna gag and automatically pinched her nose against the long-gone smell. Zebedia tried in vain to crawl back into the pool, but must have been hurt pretty badly because he didn’t quite make it. The Boggrets dragged him away from the water, threatening with club-like spears and shoving fire torches in front of his face. Thankfully none touched, but his hair and bushy eyebrows were singed. Becoming bored, their leader – probably Edsel’s uncle, Killian – turned away signalling the end of their sport and that the prisoner was to be taken with them. Alive. Face down, Zebedia was dragged into a tunnel by two Boggrets and along the way the photo-disc fell out of his pocket unnoticed. The final shot was of Zebedia’s heels as they disappeared from view. Then nothing. Had it shut itself down? Suddenly it lit up again. Thousands of dots like tiny stars partially illuminated the cave and captured a dimly-lit figure huddled between two large boulders. There didn’t appear to be any sign of life. Annie’s hands spread out seeking support. She went deathly pale and whispered her sister’s name, “June!”