The bear bobbed his head and gave a little salute.
“What about me?” asked Amy.
“I need you to go with Artan to his tower and wait there to help Ashford when he gets back.”
Amy looked a little reluctant to miss the action but didn’t argue.
“You be careful out there, Al,” she said as she hopped on to Artan’s back.
“Take these,” said Robin, reaching into his backpack and offering Alfie and Amy a walkie-talkie each. “I’ve got three. They still work; I think it’s because they’re all within the mist dome.”
“Let us know when Artan is in place,” said Alfie. “And when he gets back with Ashford.”
“Will do.” Amy clipped the device to her belt.
“Ready, m’lady?” said Artan.
“Yup, let’s go.”
As Artan zoomed away through the castle towards his tower, Alfie heard Amy’s distant voice add, “And don’t ever call me lady!”
Alfie swallowed hard as he looked up and spotted the arrow Merioch had shot through the window and into the rafters. He took a chain-mail tunic from one of the wooden mannequins. “We should put these on,” he told the twins. “The windows are tiny, but the elves are really good shots.”
“Hmph. So are we!” said Madeleine, strapping on an archer’s leather wristguard she had found with the armour.
As they finished pulling on the chain mail, the radio crackled to life.
Amy’s voice came through the walkie-talkie as Alfie picked it up. “Ready when you are.”
“Stand by,” said Alfie. “Ready?” he asked the twins. They both gave him the thumbs up as he silently unlocked the door that led outside.
“Take these with you, Alfie.” Robin handed over his backpack containing the small metal balls. “Iron bombs. For emergencies.”
Alfie took the backpack and crawled out on to the battlements, keeping to a low crouch to remain hidden. About halfway across, he raised his head to peek through one of the gaps. The elves were back around the fire and didn’t seem to be acting with any kind of urgency since their ultimatum. Had they just assumed Alfie would give in? He couldn’t wait to show them otherwise.
Ashford was sitting against one of the fruit trees in the courtyard garden. He seemed too weak to move. The two elves guarding him were paying more attention to a game that involved something that looked like small bleached animal bones than they were to their prisoner.
Alfie turned to the armoury where he could see Madeleine in position at her window. He gave her the OK sign with his fingers. She nodded and released the first arrow.
A piercing screech echoed up from the courtyard, followed by angry cries and scrabbling noises. Crouching close to the floor, Alfie noticed a drainage hole in the stonework and lay down to look through it. The elves were falling over each other to grab their bows and arrows. Several were leaping around brushing the filings off their skin and out of their hair. Three of them raised their bows to point at where Madeleine and Robin were shooting from, but they were too slow. Two more arrows smashed into the wall beside them, the tips exploding into a shower of black dust. The elves dropped their bows and flapped at themselves as if they had caught fire.
Alfie smiled grimly to see the small army in complete disarray as the twins kept the arrows flying. That’ll teach you to invade my castle, he thought to himself. The elves guarding Ashford finally left his side to help the others. Alfie raised the silver whistle to his lips and blew a silent blast on it. A dark shadow swooped over the far wall and down to where Ashford lay.
Alfie held his breath as Artan nudged the butler with his nose. He seemed barely conscious.
“Come on, Ashford,” Alfie whispered, willing him to move before the twins ran out of arrows. Finally Ashford roused himself enough to shuffle on to the bear’s back. Artan tried to take off but the butler slid from his back, unable to hold on with his hands tied. Alfie’s heart was in his mouth as the bear gnawed the ropes that bound Ashford’s hands. The elves were hiding behind trees, planters and stone benches, and still hadn’t noticed Artan freeing their captive. None of them seemed to want to risk being caught in the iron rain. There was no sign of their leader, Merioch, and without him the others seemed unable to take control of the situation.
Ashford’s bonds fell away. As he began to pull himself back on to Artan’s back there was a flash of blue from the oak. Merioch stepped out of the portal, his cold eyes immediately assessing the scene. He darted around the tree as an arrow hit the spot where he had been standing.
“Fools! Look to your prisoner!” he shouted as Artan rose carefully into the air. Ashford was holding on tightly with his one good arm.
“Bring him down!” The elves dashed out of hiding, seemingly more scared of their leader than showers of searing iron.
Artan was moving as fast as he could, but it wasn’t quick enough. He had to keep Ashford from falling. Alfie looked to Madeleine. She pointed to her empty quiver. “We’re all out,” she mouthed.
The elves raised their bows against Artan. An idea hit Alfie as he noticed their backs were to the fire. Reaching into Robin’s backpack he grabbed some of the iron bombs and hurled them down into the courtyard. Two missed, but four landed in the fire, exploding spectacularly. The flames roared up like a gigantic sparkler, spitting masses of flaming sparks at the shrieking elves. Alfie could hardly believe the chaos he had caused. He watched delightedly as Artan whizzed up over the castle’s rooftops with Ashford safely on board.
Undaunted by the flames and stinging iron, Merioch rolled away from the fire to grab his bow. Alfie was suddenly very aware that his head was completely visible. He dropped to the floor as an arrow whistled through the battlements. The elf continued to fire arrow after arrow in rapid succession. They bounced off the stonework, clattering down around Alfie as he crawled back into the tower on his elbows. Madeleine and Robin had pulled back from their posts at the windows. They rushed over to slam the door behind him, bolting it shut as arrows thudded into the woodwork on the other side.
The radio crackled again.
“We got him!” Amy shouted, so loudly that Alfie almost dropped the receiver. The twins let out a loud cheer then dived to the ground as an arrow flew through the tiny window slit, scraping Madeleine’s chain mail as it passed between them.
“Let’s get out of here!” said Alfie, as more arrows clattered off the castle wall just outside the windows.
As they hurried down the corridor to Artan’s tower, the tapestry that covered the entrance swept aside. Amy held it back as Artan floated carefully through the doorway carrying Ashford, his head resting on the bear’s as if it were a pillow. His eyes were open and he smiled weakly to see Alfie and the twins by his side.
“Ashford, it’s really you,” cried Alfie. He clasped the butler’s good arm, trying to hide his shock at his haggard appearance. Ashford’s usually beaming face was drawn and bruised, his eyes bloodshot and ringed with dark circles. “Artan, bring him to my room. He can use my bed.”
Ashford groaned as Artan carefully landed on Alfie’s huge four-poster bed. Alfie and Amy helped to slide him off the bear and propped him up against the pillows.
“It’s good to be home,” he croaked in an attempt at cheeriness as Amy and the twins fussed around him.
“How badly hurt are you?” asked Alfie, his eyes dropping to the stained bandages wrapped poorly around Ashford’s shoulder under his torn shirt.
“I’ll live,” said Ashford, wincing as Amy and Robin helped him off with his tattered shirt and began to unwrap the bandages. “But my wellbeing wasn’t exactly their top priority. They—Argh!” he cried out as the last of the bandages was peeled away from his shoulder. Alfie fought the urge to turn away at the sight and sickly smell of the dark wound.
“That doesn’t look good,” said Amy, glancing at Alfie as Ashford closed his eyes and winced in pain. “He needs a doctor.”
Alfie looked around helplessly and spotted a little pot on his bedside tabl
e. He grabbed it. “This is the last of the ointment that the doctors put on us at Muninn and Bone. Maybe it will help?”
“We need to clean him up first,” said Madeleine, taking charge. “Have you got a first aid kit, and a bottle of iodine? That’s what Granny uses on my cuts. It stings, but they never get infected.”
“I don’t know,” said Alfie, “Maybe in the kitchen?”
“I’ll take a look,” said Amy, hurrying away, as though glad of something to do.
“I’ll get some hot water and bandages,” said Robin, following her.
Alfie was tempted to follow them to avoid looking at the damage to Ashford’s shoulder, but the butler’s eyes were open again.
“Alfie,” he said weakly. “I’m so sorry.”
“What for?” asked Alfie, focusing on Ashford’s gaunt face and trying not to let his eyes slip to the wound, which Madeleine was examining without the slightest revulsion. He was amazed at how little blood seemed to bother her – even Amy had rushed from the room as soon as she could.
“It’s my fault they’re here.” The butler’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke. “I used the portal, twice. I was so careful about it, but they discovered I had been through and the second time they tracked and followed me. I’ve been a fool.”
“But you’re the one that’s hurt,” said Alfie. “We’re fine. They can’t get in, and they can’t keep that mist around for ever, can they? Someone will come for us, eventually.”
“You don’t understand what I’ve done.” Ashford grabbed Alfie’s arm. “They didn’t know the lens was here. When they took me I told them it was in Muninn and Bone’s vaults where they couldn’t reach it.”
“So why are they here then?” asked Madeleine, pausing in her examination.
“It wasn’t deliberate,” said Ashford, his grip on Alfie tightening. “You’ve got to know that.”
Alfie stared back into Ashford’s pained eyes. “You told them?”
“Yes,” Ashford’s voice broke. “They drugged me, and their sprites took on familiar forms so that I hardly knew who I was speaking to: you, Caspian, Emily. When I finally came back into myself, they knew about the talisman and the fact that it was here. I had told them. They had left a sprite on this side in the form of a mouse in case he could find out anything else, but they were sure that it was with Caspian until I told them otherwise, and then they gathered for when the sprite reopened the portal at Beltane. It’s all my fault.”
Ashford seemed unable to meet Alfie’s eyes.
“Even if you hadn’t told them,” Alfie said at last, “they would have found out anyway. The sprite they left on this side disguised himself as you. He saw me wearing the talisman and stole it to open up the portal. He would have taken it through if Madeleine hadn’t snatched it away from him.”
“You see?” said Madeleine. “It didn’t matter that you told them.”
“But I led them through in the first place!” exploded Ashford. “You don’t know Merioch. He’s biding his time until the Queen gets here, then nothing will keep them out.”
“That’s enough!” snapped Madeleine, sounding very much like Granny. “We’re safe for the moment. Let’s not waste time worrying about who’s to blame and what might happen.”
“She’s right,” said Alfie. “Come on, we’ll fix you up, and then figure out a way out of this.”
Robin and Amy reappeared with a large first aid kit and a bowl full of water that smelt like antiseptic. Ashford sank back into Alfie’s pillows, his expression a mixture of guilt and relief as Madeleine went to work on his wounds.
Under the Dome
Alfie’s watch told him it was long after midnight. The powerlessness he felt at the situation his talisman had landed them in grew worse as he watched the twins patching up Ashford. The butler looked as though he hadn’t eaten in days. Desperate to feel useful, Alfie headed down to the undercroft pantry with Amy to find some food. Galileo followed to check whether there were any mice hiding down there.
“Ash doesn’t look good,” said Amy as they raided the pantry. It was upside down after being ransacked by the fake Ashford in his search for the lens.
“I know,” said Alfie, digging out cheeses, chutney and pâté from the jumble of food on the shelves. He had been thinking the same. Ashford’s wound had gone so long without treatment that it must be infected. Madeleine was doing her best with the salve Emily had given them, but Ashford needed a real doctor. “We’ve got to find a way out.”
“It would take a while, but what if we dig under the dome?” said Amy. “Artan could fly us down between the courtyard walls and the mist. They wouldn’t see us, and as long as we’re quiet, they’d never know we were digging our way out.”
Alfie stared at her. “You’re right. I don’t know how far the mist extends, but if we all work together we’ll get out eventually. We’ve even got enough shovels for the four of us in…” he paused.
“They’re in the shed, aren’t they?” said Amy. “The one in the courtyard?”
Alfie sighed. “Well, we nearly had a plan.” He passed her a loaf of bread and gathered up the rest of the food.
“Come on, Leo,” he said to the cat as it scratched the door to the cellars. “There’s nothing for you down there.” Galileo obediently bounded up the stairs to the kitchen in anticipation of being fed. As Alfie followed, he was hit with a sudden thought. Perhaps there was another way under the mist after all. He dropped the food back on to the shelf and unlocked the door Galileo had been scratching at.
“Where are we going?” Amy asked.
“Out.”
Alfie grabbed one of the flaming torches from the wall and led the way through the cellars, pausing briefly to grab a very long coil of rope from one of the rooms on the way. Amy hurried after him as he unlocked a large studded door and followed the stairs down into the cellars below.
Their footsteps echoed in the dark labyrinth as Alfie headed for the central chamber and the strange round pool it held. He had leapt into it once to save Robin, and a strong current had dragged them both out into Lake Archelon. They had nearly drowned that night.
“Give me a hand with this,” he said as they reached the pool. His dad had covered it up with a large wooden lid to prevent any further accidents. With Amy’s help, Alfie slid it aside.
“We’re going out through there?” asked Amy, the dark water reflecting the flickering flames of the torch.
“We’ve got to try something,” said Alfie. He tied one end of the rope to a metal ring on the wall. “There’s a strong current on the way down, so I’ll need to use this to pull myself back up after you get out.”
“Wait, you want me to go – leaving you all here?”
“One of us needs to stay and let the others know, and you’re the best swimmer by miles. If anyone can get out under the mist, it’s you.”
“So you just expect me to clear off and leave you all here?” said Amy sharply. “You think I’d do that?”
Alfie sighed. “It’s not about being brave enough to stay. We need you to tell Dad and Caspian what’s happening in here. Maybe we can all swim out under the mist, but we’d need lots of help to get Ashford out that way.”
Amy seemed slightly mollified, but Alfie knew she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them.
“OK. Let’s get this done then.” She took off her shoes and socks and stripped down to her T-shirt. “I’m leaving my trousers on,” she said firmly as she stood waiting for Alfie.
“Me too,” said Alfie, glad that he could stop trying to remember which pair of underpants he was wearing. He slipped off his chain mail, unclipped his walkie-talkie and tied the loose end of the rope through his trouser loops, knotting it tightly.
Alfie’s breath caught in his throat as they lowered themselves into the freezing-cold water. The strong current of the water flowing beneath the castle dragged at his feet.
“Hold tight to the side,” he warned through chattering teeth. “When we let go, we’ll be sucked dow
n and into another tunnel. There’s a metal grate at the end with a big hole in it. Squeeze through into the lake and we’ll meet at the surface. OK, ready?”
They both took a deep breath and submerged, letting the current pull them down and along. The last time Alfie had done this he had been tumbling after Robin in a blind panic. This time he managed to stay fairly calm, despite the freezing-cold water chilling him to the bone. Amy swam ahead as though she did this sort of thing every day, and had already slipped gracefully through the grate by the time he reached it. He eased himself through, trying to avoid the sharp edges, then kicked off towards the surface of the lake, breaking through a few feet from Amy, who was gazing into the veil of mist.
“I didn’t think this through,” said Alfie, shivering as he treaded water by her side. “It’s pitch-black underwater. We’re not going to be able to see if the mist goes right the way down.”
“Yeah, I realized on the way up,” said Amy. “It’d be risky to swim too deep, but we might be able to see if it goes down below the surface. Come on, let’s take a closer look.”
Alfie swam after Amy, very glad he had thought to bring the rope. There was no way they would find their way back through the inky water to the grate without it.
They stopped at the edge of the mist and bobbed there for a while.
“It sounds weird, doesn’t it?” he said.
“What do you mean? I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly. It’s like its sucking in and blocking out all other noises. Like we’re wearing earplugs or something.” Alfie even felt as though the mist was trying to mute the words coming out of his mouth.
“OK, I’m going under.” Amy took a few deep breaths, and then disappeared below the surface. Alfie counted under his breath as he waited for her to reappear. Faint laughter filtered down from the castle courtyard far above, followed by drums and the start of a song in Elvish. By the sound of the unpleasant laughter that punctuated the verses, he was glad he didn’t understand what they were singing about.
Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief Page 9
