Grim Hill: Carnival of Secrets

by Linda DeMeulemeester

  Mia put her hands on her hips. “Guess you guys should have listened to me.”

  “Flee, my friends, or we’ll all be arrested.” Lea closed the curtain with a snap. “Run upstairs. I’ll think of something.”

  The derelict living room appeared as if it hadn’t been lived in for years. Lea deepened her melodic voice and said, “Could you please come to the back door?” buying us time and keeping snooping eyes away from the front window.

  Lea then glanced back at me. She gave a slight shake of her head.

  “I know, I know. I’m the one with the old-fashioned clothes,” I said in resignation. “Guess it will be me answering the back door.” As everyone dashed upstairs, I pulled on the dress and yanked the straw hat over my hair. Then I went into the kitchen and opened the door.

  I tried to play it cool “Um, yes, officer? Oh, hello, Clive.”

  “I need to speak to your mother, young lady.”

  Pause. “Um, ah, uh, I don’t think she’s home at the moment.”

  “You’re not sure?” The truant officer frowned.

  “I’m sure now.” I nodded extra hard.

  “But you weren’t sure before?” The officer frowned deeply. This wasn’t going well.

  “She’s just worried. She doesn’t like it when I get into trouble,” offered Clive, coming to my rescue.

  “You’re not in trouble, son. I was only going to ask if there was a reason why you,” then he nodded to me, “… and your sister are not registered in school. School’s been back a couple of weeks since summer holiday.”

  The truant officer glanced over my shoulder and began checking out the cluttered kitchen. Someone had cleaned up the broken jars and set the furniture back up but there was still a matter of the cauldron, and candles, and the gigantic Book of All Magic. The officer had begun scribbling in his notebook. So very not good …

  “Once more, why are you two not in school?”

  Before we could think of a good answer, the officer then said, “You’re new around here, aren’t you. This house has been uninhabited for years.” With a laugh that wasn’t the least amused he added, “Lots of folks think the place is haunted.”

  “We just moved here,” said Clive. I nodded in agreement – maybe a bit too enthusiastically.

  The officer’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re not one of those traveler kids working at the carnival, are you?”

  Carnival? I gasped. Now I knew why we had gone back exactly seventy years! This was the summer Alice had said the carnival came for the Lamas fair. I shook my head “no,” again perhaps too vigorously.

  “I’m afraid I’ll need to talk to your mother or your father.”

  “Ah – our dad’s not here,” said Clive. “And our mother’s at uh, work.”

  “She works and isn’t at home with her children – that’s odd.” But the truant officer’s fierce expression softened, as if he felt sorry for us. “Is your father away?”

  Clive started grasping at straws. “Yes, he’s away because of … of …”

  “He’s away at sea,” I blurted in case Clive hadn’t figured out we’d traveled back in time. It wouldn’t do if he’d said the dad was an astronaut. That would have been my first choice of an excuse for why my dad wasn’t around.

  “Well, that can’t be easy on your family,” the officer said in a much kinder voice. “Where is he sailing?”

  Sweat beaded on my forehead. Geography was not my favorite subject, either.

  Clive’s jumped in. “He runs convoys on the Atlantic ocean. We miss him a lot.”

  I couldn’t believe I’d ever be grateful that Clive got higher marks than me in social studies – except for this moment.

  The truant officer ruffled Clive’s black curls saying, “I bet you do miss your dad, cowboy. You kiddies need to be in school tomorrow. We’ll let the incident ride today. No use burdening your poor mother.” The officer leaned down and smiled at me. “You won’t be giving your mother any trouble will you, kitten.”

  I stared back with a solemn expression. “No sir. I’ll be good.”

  “That’s swell, then. The school here is Darkmont Junior High.” The truant officer opened the back door and pointed down the lane toward the gravel road. “It’s in the center of town, only about a mile and a half away.” He winked slyly and finished with, “Just in case you two are throwing me a curve, I’ll be sure to check at the school tomorrow. After all, I want to be certain you don’t skip school.”

  I quickly drew Clive in the house and shut the door. We exchanged a big sigh of relief. We were so relieved we almost hugged … but I drew back and it felt weird for a moment.

  “Whew, I thought I was a goner,” wheezed Clive finally.

  “Yes, that was brilliant having him bring you here,” I said.

  I called everyone back down while I filled Clive in on what had happened to us and the others. Then I told everyone a carnival was here just like in our time, and somehow I thought it had to be more than a peculiar coincidence.

  Jasper began pacing the floor. “The carnival is connected to Lughnasa and the Lamas fair, and so was the fairy magic Cat tried to reverse. Lughnasa is a month long festival that in Celtic time could last until early September. No one celebrates it now, but it was important to the Celts.”

  “It is a most important time in Fairy,” said Lea. “Fairy’s power waxes stronger as the veil between our two worlds lifts. But if we have any hope of returning,” Lea’s brow furrowed in concentration, “I fear that hope is a ticking clock and time is running out. If it’s early September, Lughnasa will soon be over.”

  “Alice Greystone told Jasper and I the only time another carnival had visited our town was when she was our age,” I said. “She even mentioned a Lamas fair.”

  Lea stopped pacing and stared at me with keen intent. “Did she remember anything particular happening during that fair?”

  I went on. “She said it creeped her out and that the music she was hearing reminded her of those times. She said bad things had happened.” I told them how the young Alice had mentioned the same feelings.

  “All the better to get out of here now,” said Clive. He definitely had a point.

  “So how do we get back home?” asked Amarjeet.

  “Cat will have to choose her words more carefully this time when she’s commanding the Grimoire.” Sookie shot me a pointed look. “And we should still have the three of us join hands as the rest of you make a circle.”

  We gathered around the table.

  “Pay attention, Cat,” said Sookie. “When I open the Book of All Magic, you need to reverse the spell.” This time the air snapped with only the tiniest puff of smoke as Sookie passed her broom over the Grimoire. Nothing happened – unless you counted the lingering smell like burnt matches.

  “What’s wrong with my powers?” Sookie’s eyes widened in alarm.

  “Little Sookie,” said Lea. “You haven’t grown into your full powers yet, remember? You’re a child again.”

  “Drat,” Sookie grumbled. “Look what you’ve done, Cat.”

  I made a note to myself to try and make sure she never got all those powers, and I felt thankful that I’d been given a second chance to save my sister from becoming a witch.

  “Let us help you open the book.” Lea reached over to pry open the Grimoire and the rest of us joined her, but the book opened easily.

  I pulled my feather out of my pocket. “So what do I say, and do I say it normally or widdershins.”

  “Ah, I don’t think that matters anymore.” Jasper gazed down at the Grimoire and the others gasped. For a second I didn’t understand his horrified expression.

  Then I looked down at the Book of All Magic.

  Its pages were the usual yellowish parchment color. But there was no red and black writing on them.

  The Grimoire was absolutely, totally blank!

  CHAPTER 17 Deadly Circumstances

  “This can’t be.” My voice rose in alarm as I flipped the pages in th
e Grimoire. “Where did all the writing go?” Not a single spell, an illustration, or even a page number remained in the magic book.

  Mia asked, “Could the ink be invisible? I had a trick pen once. Oh,” panic edged her voice, “I don’t remember what I did to make the writing show up again.”

  “Maybe we need another spell,” Amarjeet suggested hopefully.

  Sookie immediately began chanting a few words. She waved her broomstick. Then she used more chants and her singsong voice grew strange and eerie. It chilled my blood. The sharp tang of burnt matches filled the air again, but once the smoke cleared, the pages were still blank.

  “Oh, Cat, how will we get home?” Sookie’s anguished plea made my heart sink to my stomach.

  “Lea? Don’t you know any spell to make the words reappear?” I asked.

  Lea’s red rimmed eyes brimmed with concern as she shook her head sadly. “No, but I fear it is worse news than that.”

  “How could it be worse?” Mitch grumbled.

  Lea placed her hands on the Grimoire and closed her eyes. We held our breath, though I don’t know why. Finally she raised her head and declared, “I fear this is not a book of magic at all now. In this time period, it is simply pages and binding.”

  “Now we’ll never get home,” Mitch collapsed on a chair.

  Mia shook her head. “Cat, you should have let us know you were going to do a different spell last night.”

  Amarjeet nodded saying, “It wasn’t right. We didn’t sign up for this.”

  “If you had told me you had a plan to turn Sookie back into a child, I could have researched it more,” Jasper said softly. “Although I might not have found any book that covered time travel spells,” he acknowledged.

  My face heated up while everyone turned against me. But they weren’t wrong – I was. I thought I’d cleverly slip a spell past my sister, and I hadn’t thought once about my friends. Even though all I wanted was to make everybody in town safe from the fairies, I knew better than to mess with magic.

  I was having to swallow a big lesson – trouble can follow even the best of intentions and dig a person in deep.

  “What if Cat had told us?” Clive piped up. “We probably would have agreed to go along with her. We always have before. Sure, maybe she should have let a man be in charge,” he flashed that cocky half smile. “Either way it’s no time to lose our heads.”

  Clive was coming to my rescue. I was so surprised that I didn’t have the heart to ask why letting a boy be in charge would have worked out any better.

  No one said anything for a while. No one even asked why the writing in the book had disappeared, because what did it matter? We were doomed. Wrong, Cat, said that pesky voice in my head. Why it happened matters if you want to figure out the next step. You’re only doomed when you give up. I remembered my mom hugging me only two days ago and telling me how competitive and determined I was, and how I never gave up. I could see her face as she said, “Where’s my girl that scores all those goals?” Even though the others were blaming me, I couldn’t give up.

  A random memory glowed dimly in my skull. Or was it random? Our science teacher had been talking about physics and space and time. I’d been pestering her with lots of questions …

  “Does anybody remember in science when Ms. Dreeble mentioned that if there were time travel, you couldn’t be in two places at once?”

  “Sort of…” Amarjeet looked up from the blank book pages. “I remember the teacher saying that, but I didn’t understand what she meant. Wait – I couldn’t still be in our time now that I’m here – is that what she was getting at?”

  I said slowly, “I think she meant I couldn’t travel back in time and bump into myself.”

  “That would be weird,” agreed Mitch.

  “Right,” Clive jumped in. “What’s the word for that again?”

  “It’s called a paradox.” Jasper shifted his glasses up on his forehead. “So what you’re saying is if the words on the pages disappeared when we traveled back in time …”

  My stomach twisted into a knot. “That means that the Grimoire is already here in this time.”

  “Cat’s right, I fear.” Lea’s grave expression did not match the excited murmurs breaking out amongst my friends. “This book became an ordinary book, because it could not exist in the same time as the real Grimoire.

  Clive smashed his fists together. “Alright then, let’s get it.”

  “I can handle that,” said Mitch. His face finally showed a little color. “Any idea where it might be?”

  I didn’t have an idea. I knew. And that didn’t make it any easier.

  “Last time, I found it in the library at the school on Grim Hill. It’s probably there now.” My voice grew hollow. “I almost didn’t escape with my life the last time I visited the fairy school on the hill. And the fairies had been weak then. This time, they’ll be a lot more powerful and unlikely to let their guard down.”

  Lea nodded. “If they noticed a human in their school, that human would never escape.”

  “I … think it might be a suicide mission trying to steal that book.” I had learned my lesson in not being completely truthful with my friends. They had to know the danger.

  “Then no matter what we do, we will never see our families again,” Skeeter’s voice shook, then broke. Sookie began to sob.

  And their big, hot tears reflected all of our worst fears.

  CHAPTER 18 A Grave Concern

  We all tried to control our emotions and comfort Skeeter and Sookie as we sat around the table and tried to think of a way out of our latest dilemma.

  “You’re a fairy,” Mia glanced hopefully at Lea. “Couldn’t you just pretend you go to school there and slip the book into a sack?”

  Sadness caught in Lea’s throat. “I am a solitary fairy and belong to no troop. I wander the human realm alone. Other fairies would view me with great suspicion. I … I … can’t remember exactly, except I think that’s why I was caught before.”

  I babbled to keep my terror at bay and rally my friends. “We just have to keep a low profile in this world until we figure out a plan to recapture the Grimoire. Then we’re good to go. It might only take a few days. We’ll be home soon.”

  If only the feeling in my heart matched my words.

  We discussed a few more options, but nothing made sense. Hunger gnawed at my stomach and I knew the others had missed supper too. My eyes drooped with exhaustion. Strangely this made me feel better. It took my mind off the big picture. “Does anybody else think we should organize some dinner?”

  “How long has it been since we ate?” Mia turned to Mitch. “I usually count on you to sound the alarm at meal time.”

  “I haven’t been hungry.” Mitch’s voice wavered. He kept checking out the front window as if he expected his house to suddenly reappear.

  “Well, I’m starved.” Amarjeet crossed the plank wood floor and opened Sookie’s dark green cupboards. After rummaging for a few minutes, she slammed the cupboard shut. “You’ve got to be kidding. There’s nothing here but sugary cereal, hot chocolate and …” she sniffed one of the remaining jars of red liquid with white floaty things, “strawberry drink and marshmallows.” She made a face. “If I gobble that junk for dinner, I’ll get a headache – not to mention nightmares.”

  Putting my hands on my hips, I said, “Missy, is that all you’ve been eating lately? What would Mom say?”

  A shadow crossed my sister’s face. My guess was that Sookie would give anything to hear our mom’s voice, including putting up with a lecture.

  “I have some apples in the basket on the counter.” Sookie handed them over and Amarjeet began slicing. Then she went to a bottom cupboard. “Here are some cheese crackers.”

  Those snacks would have to do. I doled out the crackers, and I’ll admit that I didn’t mind finishing the crackers and apple off with a mug of steaming hot chocolate and three marshmallows – at least I felt full.

  After dinner, it became a really dark m
oonless night outside. We’d tidied up the rest of the house – sort of – and I stood in the living room where I lifted the tattered curtain to look out the window. Outside, a man drove up and lit a gas street lamp that flickered up the street. I stared up at the night sky. “You know, there seems to be a lot more stars out at night in the olden days.”

  “There are fewer lights in the town and the nearby city,” explained Jasper. “So it’s easier to see the stars.”

  I was surprised to get any comment out of the guys. They sat around Lea’s feet staring wistfully at her. It wasn’t easy being a sweetheart fairy. I could tell Lea was uncomfortable when she excused herself and said, “My friends, maybe we should all get some sleep.”

  When Lea started upstairs, the guys finally seemed to snap out of their silly trance. Sweetheart fairies had that effect on boys. The problem was if any of them lost their heart to her, or she to them, they’d be doomed.

  The guys began squabbling over who should sleep in the front room in case anybody else came snooping. Even Skeeter demanded a turn at being on guard. We girls decided to let them work it out. Why were guys always fighting like roosters?

  Finally, it was decided. Skeeter stayed with Jasper as Mitch and Clive grabbed some musty old cushions and headed for the den. They would take the late watch.

  “Want to share a room?” Amarjeet asked Mia.

  My two friends didn’t even look at me. It was like I’d turned invisible. I was worried they were still upset about what I’d done.

  “No offense, Cat,” said Mia, “but Sookie will want to come too. And who could sleep with both of you in our room?”

  “Offense is taken,” Sookie said sullenly.

  Noticing my frown, Amarjeet said, “We’ve been your roommates before. Sookie will keep us up half the night chattering, and then you will keep us up the other half of the night talking in your sleep.”

  “I can stay in any room I want,” complained Sookie. “This is my house.” She placed her hands on her hips.

  Then Lea called to me from the top step, “Want to share my room – or, what will one day be my room?”