by Simon Kewin
“They're funnelling you up onto the Mancunian Way,” said the archaeon. “They will stop others from going on so the road is clear. Then they'll try to stop you up there, out of sight on the overpass.”
Johnny glanced between the SatNav and the road. He had both hands on the wheel, his knuckles white. He was concentrating hard. They weaved through the traffic, veering more and more violently. Horns blared after them as they forced their way through.
“The stingers. How far along the flyover are they?” asked Johnny.
“They do not say,” said the archaeon. “That is the unknown variable in the equation.”
“Unknown? I thought you knew everything, wyrm!” said Johnny.
“Oh no, I merely know more than all of you put together. You have to hope you get far enough along before you hit them. And go faster! You have only sixty-six seconds left before the portal opens.”
The road took them through a short underpass before rising. Up ahead, the ramp climbed onto the Mancunian Way, the short stretch of elevated road that crossed the city centre. All other routes were blocked by vehicles parked sideways across the road junctions. Vehicles around them slowed to a halt, instructed by messages flashing on displays across the tops of the police cars. Only Johnny ignored them. They had to swerve to avoid collisions. Cait's shoulder was repeatedly pressed hard against Danny's, making her gasp.
They hit the ramp at speed, jarring the car with a sickening thump.
“Hold on!” shouted Johnny.
“Thirty seconds,” said the archaeon. “Go faster.”
They hit the main carriageway of the Mancunian Way and accelerated. There were no other vehicles in sight now apart from, in the distance, the flashing blue lights of a line of police cars. Where could this possibly take them? They'd been directed up here for a good reason: they were trapped. There was nowhere to go. There was no sign of any portal, surely no chance of escape.
“Twenty seconds,” said the archaeon.
“Stingers!” shouted Johnny.
Up ahead, a strip of upturned spikes had been laid across the carriageway to burst their tyres. The idea was they would slow down to avoid them or, failing that, lose control and crash.
“The junction we want is just beyond,” said the archaeon. “You'll have to go over the stingers and try to keep control. Don't slow down, go faster! Then at least we'll have the momentum to carry us forward.”
Cait glanced through the side window down at the ground, at the street-lights, buildings and roads flashing by. She felt very exposed. Small groups of people had gathered at the road-blocks, upturned faces watching them as they sped by. What must they be thinking? Dangerous criminals? Terrorists?
“There is no junction!” shouted Johnny. The car's engine was screaming as he pushed it faster toward the line of stingers. “Where do I go? Where do I go?”
“The junction is there,” said the archaeon. There's no sign. There should be a line of cones in the wall. Aim for them.”
“Where does this junction go?”
“Nowhere. They never completed it. It runs for a few metres then stops in mid-air.”
“What?”
“You need to drive off the end! Now! The portal is part-way to the ground. Just do it, human!”
There was a loud bang as they hit the stingers, the car lurching as the tyres blew out, adding a rumbling, flapping sound to the roar of the engine. The car carried on forward but drifted sideways too, as if it was a boat being pushed off course by a strong wind.
“I'm losing it!” said Johnny. His teeth were gritted, a look of alarm on his face.
They nearly missed the line of bollards, but Johnny managed to swerve on line at the last moment. There was an explosion of orange plastic cones, then they were snaking along the slipway, lurching left and right as Johnny struggled to control the car. They were still travelling at over 70 miles per hour.
“Through the barrier and off the end,” said the archaeon.
“Here we go!” shouted Johnny.
There was no way they could survive this. They'd all be killed, mangled in the wreckage on the floor twenty metres below them. It was insane. Cait screamed as they hit the barrier.
They were jarred forward, the seat-belt biting into her, sending another stab of pain through her chest. They left the ground and flew.
For a moment, everything went quiet. The car tilted gently forward. Then the ground rushed up toward them, a road and a roundabout, cars stopped and people standing with upturned faces, open-mouthed.
There was more screaming. Cait closed her eyes and clasped Danny's hand as they plummeted toward the ground.
22. Hedge Witch
The Forest of Dean, on the border between England and Wales
Cait and Danny stood among tall trees. A wooded valley lay before them, the rolling hills a sea of green. Frost gilded the ground but the sky was brightening. Early sunlight flooded the scene with a hazy glow, making the world seem like it had emerged then and there from the mist. Toward the top of the opposite slope, in a clearing, stood a huge chair fashioned from tree-trunks, as if some giant was in the habit of sitting there to survey his lands.
“Are you sure we aren't in Andar now?” asked Cait.
“Sure,” said Danny. “The wyrm said we'd end up here. That's a sculpture. There's loads in the woods round here.”
“Come on, let's get back to the others.”
They headed into the thicker woods. The layer of fallen needles underfoot was soft: a thick, foamy carpet of spikes.
“It's weird this thing with Fer,” said Cait as they walked. “I mean it's all weird, obviously. But the way she looks just like me.”
“Yeah.”
“What do you think of her?”
“Oh, I think she's pretty hot.”
“You!”
She slapped him and he ran off, laughing. She chased after him. They soon came to the small clearing where the others sat or stood around the car. Johnny grinned at the sight of them arriving together, out of breath.
The car had slammed into the ground after falling through the portal. The impact jarring through Cait's body had made her bite her tongue. It still stung. The car was pretty wrecked, its tyres flat, wheels leaning at odd angles, bodywork mangled. Still, they might have tried to get it started if it wasn't for the trees packed around it. There was no way the car could fit between them.
She wondered what people would make of it when they found it. Would they think it was another sculpture? And how would they imagine it had got there, this modern car trapped among trees that were decades old? She would never know.
Her mum and gran sat against a tree, debating something. They glanced up as she approached, and Cait knew they were talking about her. Fer slept on the ground in the shadows of the trees. They were all exhausted but from what Cait could gather, Fer was already weak, recovering from some recent ordeal.
Johnny sat on the driver's seat of the car, the door hanging open. He fiddled with his mobile, pressing buttons and putting it to his ear. There was no sign of Ran anywhere. Johnny noticed her looking puzzled and motioned upward with a nod of his head. There was Ran, high in the branches of a conifer, watching over them. He'd been badly bruised and shaken up by their landing. They all had. But somehow he'd managed to climb the sheer trunk of the tree and reach his vantage point.
“Got it!” said Johnny, standing abruptly. “Been trying to get this thing onto speakerphone. Now the dragon thingy can talk to us.”
The archaeon's voice came from the mobile, tinnier, distorting slightly through the small speaker.
“Listen to me,” it said. “You must get away from here. Nox is searching for you and it's too easy to spot the car from the air.”
“I thought you said they didn't know about the portal,” said Danny, walking up to Johnny.
“In all probability, they do not,” continued the archaeon. “Right now they have no idea where you are. But rest assured they will be looking. Looking hard. Sooner or la
ter they will find you.”
“But where will we go?” Cait asked. “We need to rest. We need to eat. And where is there to run anyway?”
“We'll worry about that later,” said her mum. “First we'll head deeper into these woods. We'll find somewhere secluded and decide what to do. And before all that, we'll get some breakfast.”
“Then eat quickly,” said the archaeon. “And make sure you don't leave this machine I'm speaking from switched on, either. I've obviously made sure they can't trace it but it's on battery now. Preserve the power for when you really need me.”
“You said there was some sort of shop nearby?” asked her mum. “Somewhere we could buy food?”
“There's a lodge half a mile away on the opposite side of the valley. You can't miss it,” said the archaeon.
“Very well,” said her mum. “Johnny, do please switch our esteemed friend off for now.”
Johnny did as she asked.
“Thank goodness for that,” said her gran. “I think it's rather enjoying this whole thing isn't it?”
“It's having a wonderful time,” said her mum. “But it's not the one in danger is it? This is all just a game for it. An interesting experience.”
“So,” said Cait. “We eat breakfast then hike into the woods?”
Her mum glanced at the prone figure of Fer, still fast asleep under the trees. “Oh, I think we can afford to rest a couple of hours first.” She looked at Danny and Johnny, standing together by the car. “Will you two boys go and find this lodge? Buy some supplies? Once we've all had some food we can set out. Things always look better after a rest and a meal.”
“OK, Mrs. W,” said Danny. “Do we have money?”
“No problem,” said Johnny, standing up. “As long as they take plastic.”
“Good,” said her mum. “And don't do anything to attract anyone's attention, yes?”
“We won't.”
Her mum glanced at her gran. “And make sure you bring back at least one cup of tea. It'll be cold by the time you get back but I think I can manage a bit of magic to warm it up again.”
“We will.”
Cait watched as the two of them set off through the trees. “Will they be able to find us again?”
“I'll make sure they do,” said her mum. “I believe you've already seen a werelight in action? I'll send something like that to bring them to us if they manage to get lost.”
“Good,” said Cait. She sat down between her mum and gran, resting against the tree. It was good to be with them again, but she wanted Danny to be there, too. She felt lonely without him.
“Cait, I'm sorry about all of this,” said her mother. “I'm sorry for not telling you about … what you really are. And I'm sorry you're involved and all these terrible things have happened. I hoped you wouldn't have the craft, I really did. I wanted you to be a normal teenage girl. Have unsuitable boyfriends and listen to noisy music. But not this. I would give anything to protect you from this.”
Cait laid her head against her mother's shoulder. “It's OK, Mum. You don't need to keep saying sorry. It isn't your fault I'm involved is it? Just as it wasn't Gran's fault you are. We'll just have to get by.” They were her mother's own words, used often enough over the years.
Her mum laughed lightly and took Cait's hand. “We should get some sleep while they're away. Let's lie down next to Fer. We'll be safe enough with Ran up there.”
“What if Danny and Johnny get lost?”
“Don't worry. If they do I'll know about it. Come on, let's sleep now. All these old needles are soft enough to lie on.”
Cait was tired enough to sleep on concrete. She crawled across to Fer, who slumbered so deeply she was barely breathing. Her mum and gran followed. For the first time in many years, Cait went to sleep with her mother's arm around her.
It was several hours later when her gran woke her by stroking her face. The sun was high in the sky. Cait peered at her watch through bleary eyes. 10:30. Danny and Johnny were arriving, laden with white plastic bags.
“Did you get lost?” she called, standing and hurrying to them.
“Nah,” said Danny. “Had to wait for it to open.”
“Did you see anyone suspicious?” asked her gran, coming up to stand next to Cait. “Anyone taking too much interest in you?”
“There was no one,” said Johnny. “A few cars on the road, some cyclists and walkers.”
“Come on,” said Danny. “Let's eat. We've got cheese sandwiches, ham sandwiches, water and lots of chocolate.”
“And cold cups of tea,” said Johnny.
They sat down to eat next to the car. Her gran shouted to Ran, using words from the language she'd heard Fer use. Presumably Jane had taught her. Saying nothing, the dragonrider half-climbed, half-slid down the tree. They left Fer to sleep. She had still barely moved.
They ate hungrily, in silence apart from the oohs of satisfaction as her gran sipped at the magically reheated tea.
“Better be leaving then,” said Danny after they'd finished.
“I'd like her to sleep as long as possible,” said her mum, nodding her head toward Fer. “She needs it and she'll be able to go more quickly if she's rested.”
“What happened to her exactly?” asked Cait.
“She killed one of the undain.”
“One of those monsters? How did she do that?”
“No one knows. Even she doesn't know. Witchcraft presumably.”
“But the wyrm,” persisted Danny. “It said they'd be looking for us. Shouldn't we leave now?”
“Let's give it another hour,” said her mum. “You two boys can sleep for a bit too, then.”
“Suits me!” said Johnny. He stretched on the ground and shut his eyes. After a few moments Danny, shrugging, did the same.
They finally left after midday. Her mum led the way, followed by her gran. Danny, Johnny and Cait took turns to walk alongside Fer, offering her an arm for support. The Andar witch said little apart from murmuring thanks - one of the few words she'd picked up - whenever someone helped. She walked with her head down, breathing heavily, each step an effort. Ran came last, always wary, peering into the woods.
They worked their way across the side of the hill. A road ran nearby for a time, cars and lorries roaring past. They made sure they stayed out of sight. A twinge of anxiety thrummed through Cait each time she heard a vehicle approach.
They soon left the forest of conifers and began to walk among more scattered trunks of broadleaf trees. There were many old oaks, their bark lined and rough like the hides of elephants, branches stretching out to hold acorns over the ground on delicate twigs. Sunlight shone through the canopy of leaves. The greens of the unfurling ferns glowed. Small birds, robins and little brown ones Cait couldn't identify, twittered and flitted from bush to bush, feasting on berries redder than droplets of blood.
For a time they followed clear lanes through the woods, some wide enough for a vehicle to drive down, some mere paths. They met no one else. They took to smaller paths cutting through the undergrowth, perhaps the tracks of woodland animals.
As she walked, Cait thought about everything that had happened. She'd been so elated at her rescue, at being among friends. Now all she could think about was how hopeless their chances were. They'd be hunted down sooner or later. There seemed no way out of the nightmare. What could they do? They couldn't save the world; they couldn't even save themselves. Not her mum, with all her witchcraft, not the strong, silent Ran, none of them.
And the worst of it was, she was responsible. She'd been asked to destroy the book and she'd failed. Failed badly. Despite all the help given her, the sacrifices of Jane, Danny, her mum and gran. Despite the awakening of her magic and the gift of the dead witch-girl. Despite all that, she'd failed. She'd given them the book. And by doing so she'd doomed everyone.
She ambled along, lost in these thoughts, telling herself how useless she was. The sun drifted higher in the branches, the air warming. They passed a small lake, rippled by a
welcome breeze that made the reflections of the trees dance. Cait barely noticed. But Fer, her arm hooked through Cait's, spoke, the sounds of her language liquid where Gran's attempt had been faltering.
“What did she say?” asked Cait, turning to Johnny who walked behind them.
“She said she didn't think our world would be this beautiful.”
They stopped at the lake, the scene framed by trees growing upon its banks. Four ducks sailed for the far shore, where the woods met the water. Cait studied Fer. She had so many questions she wanted to ask the girl from the other world, but before she could put anything into words, Fer spoke again.
Johnny translated. “She says you're a hedge witch, like her.”
“What's a hedge witch?”
“It's a solitary witch, I think,” said Johnny. “One who does her own thing, goes her own way. Doesn't take orders.”
Cait nodded at Fer. Was that what she was? There was so much she didn't understand.
She was about to reply when a roar echoed through the trees. An engine starting, momentarily loud before settling to a purr. They stopped, looking for the source of the sound.
“Is that a motorbike?” whispered Cait.
There was silence for a time.
“Chainsaw, I think,” said Danny. “Just some trees being felled.” He didn't sound completely convinced.
“Come on,” said her mum. “Let's keep going.”
They left the sound behind them as they pressed on, moving as quickly as they could. The effort of it was clear on Fer's face. The ground rose as they climbed away from the road. Danny took Fer's arm and Cait quickened her pace to catch up with her mother.
“How do you know which way to go?” she asked.
Her mum nodded into the trees. “I'm following her.”
Cait peered into the shadows but could see no one. “Who?”
“Look more closely, love. Not just with your eyes.”
“Or use the stone,” said her gran.
The trees grew closely together, their leaves a million shades of green. There was a bird high in the sky, its cry piercing. But it was circling, soaring on thermals. They couldn't be following that.
