by Lisa Chitty
‘Of course I will, and who knows, one day you might get to meet her,’ Randall replied.
Caston’s grip on Randall’s hand tightened causing him to wince in pain. ‘Oh, I hope so! I would like that very much.’
Randall extracted his hand from Caston’s with a bemused expression on his face. He was curious as to what had been said about Abi to provoke this reaction in Caston and he made a mental note to ask Sasket at a later date. He rejoined the others and they made their way back to the tavern and Abi to tell her what had been said and where they must now go from here.
Chapter 7
Abi was waiting in the room they had hired with all the packs surrounding her ready to go when the others returned. She was still feeling aggrieved that she had had to be left behind and when they did return she couldn’t help herself. ‘Oh, so you’ve come back to collect the little woman have you? Well, I’ve been very obedient and done everything you asked and we can go when you’re ready to.’ The sarcasm literally dripped from her words as the men entered the room.
Whilst the others looked uncomfortable at Abi’s words, Randall looked at her in amusement and said, ‘I can’t imagine why Caston wanted to meet you. If he saw you now he’d run in the other direction!’
Randall’s reply got Abi’s back up as she replied. ‘Who the hell is Caston? A secret friend of yours?’
‘He’s the armourer who’s told us where we need to be going now. He was quite a good man, you’d have liked him if you’d been allowed to come with us,’ Randall goaded Abi. ‘But of course you weren’t!’
Randall seemed to determined to wind Abi up and she couldn’t stop herself responding to him. ‘Your ego just can’t get any bigger can it? You think you’re so big just because you got to find out where we go next whilst I had to sit here and wait for you. Well just remember, it’s Sasket who got us here and I bet it was Sasket who actually got the information we needed, wasn’t it?’
Abi could see she’d hit a weak spot as Randall’s jaw tightened in anger. He took a step towards her and raised his hand, finger pointing, but before he could say anything, James stepped between them. ‘I think that’s enough don’t you? Randall, stop trying to wind Abi up and Abi, I know you’re pissed off at having to remain behind, but you had to for the safety of all of us.’
Randall and Abi, having been stopped short in their argument continued to glare at each other for a moment, but with James standing between them it wasn’t easy. James was facing Abi as though he wanted her attention and so she broke eye contact with Randall and turned to look at him. All at once her anger disappeared as she looked into his eyes. Whilst right now she wanted nothing more than to get Randall into trouble, she realised that she didn’t want James to get hurt in any way, which he almost certainly would have if she’d gone with them to the armourers. She sighed. ‘You’re right of course James, it was the correct thing to do.’ Abi then turned back to Randall. ‘But you didn’t have to be so nasty about it!’
Randall just laughed and turned away. Abi could feel her anger rising again and was getting ready to have another go at him, when James positioned himself squarely in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘Leave it,’ he said gently. Once again as Abi looked at him she felt her anger disappear, this time to be replaced with confusion. How could James, who she barely knew, have such a powerful effect on her? No one that she knew had been able to stop her before when her temper was aroused, but it seemed that James could stop her in her tracks with a single look.
James dropped his hands from Abi’s shoulders and turned to the others. ‘Now that we know where we’re going shall we make a move?’
They all nodded their agreement and began gathering their things. They quickly sorted themselves out and left the tavern. They continued through the village on the main street and followed it back into the trees. Randall and Abi were being careful to avoid one another. He was walking ahead with Sasket who was again leading the horse, whilst Abi was with James, and Steve trailed behind
Once Abi had judged that they were far enough from the village for them not to be inadvertently heard by anyone she turned to James to speak to him. ‘So, are you actually going to tell me what happened this morning and where we’re actually going?’
‘I’m sorry!’ James was immediately apologetic. ‘I forgot that you don’t know what happened. Although, if you hadn’t been so grumpy when we got back, we’d have told you then and there!’
Abi ducked her head slightly in embarrassment. Her temper had always gotten her into trouble and it seemed that it would be no different here either.
James chuckled at her discomfiture. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he told her. ‘After all, you are known as the Fiery Woman here. You might as well live up to it!’ As Abi smiled at his words, James proceeded to fill her in on what had happened.
They had been walking for a while when Sasket called a halt to their progress. He was staring at the map in his hands and frowning slightly. ‘I’m not too certain of this map,’ he told the others. ‘Can you all just wait here for a moment whilst I go on ahead a bit and check out where we should be going?’
The four of them agreed and as Sasket wandered ahead off up the track, they all took their packs off and grouped themselves around them. Steve, feeling thirsty after last nights drinking, took a flask out from his pack and began to drink from it.
‘So,’ Randall began. ‘Why do we think that our friend here is known as the Rodent in Trelyssia?’ Randall turned and pointed to Steve.
‘Leave off!’ Steve exclaimed. ‘I’m not in the mood for any of your wind ups.’
‘Well, there’s got to be a reason’ Randall countered.
‘It’s easy!’ James replied. ‘It’s like I said earlier, he’s a rat!.’
‘Oh no, not a rat.’ Abi suppressed a shudder. ‘They’re evil animals!’
‘So you’d prefer it if he was a different type of rodent would you?’ Randall asked Abi.
‘Perhaps,’ Abi pondered for a moment. ‘How about a mouse. They’re much cuter.’
Before Randall or James could respond, Steve interrupted. ‘I think that’s enough talk about rodents. Let’s just leave it shall we?’ He then directed his gaze at Abi. ‘A mouse? Really! I think I preferred James’s idea of a rat.’ Steve shook his head and then took another long drink from the flask that he was holding.
At this point Sasket returned and when he saw what Steve was doing a look of horror crossed his face. ‘No! Stop! Don’t drink that!’
Randall, sensing Sasket’s horror called out, ‘Steve! Stop what you’re doing!’
As Randall cried out, Sasket gave a strangled cry and put his head in his hands. ‘Oh no!’ he said softly. ‘What have I done?’
James and Abi caught in the middle of this looked about in confusion. James’s attention was on Sasket and his appearance of complete desolation. However, what was happening to Steve had caught Abi’s eye.
At first, he seemed alright, and as confused as Abi was. But gradually a change seemed to be happening to him. He was getting smaller. Not only that, but his facial features were changing. His nose was becoming more pointed, and his eyes were becoming smaller and more beady. As he got smaller, his clothes overwhelmed him, and soon there just appeared to be a pile of clothes in the middle of the road and Steve was nowhere to be seen.
Randall, James and Abi stared in horror for a moment before Randall reacted. He grabbed Sasket and pinned him up against a nearby tree. ‘What have you done!’ he yelled. ‘What’s happened to Steve? If anything bad has happened to him, you’d better start praying now, because there’s not going to be much left of you by the time I’ve finished!’
Randall had Sasket pinned so tight that he could barely breath, let alone talk, but he just managed to gasp a few words out. ‘Look amongst the clothes.’
Randall continued to hold Sasket up against the tree, so James and Abi poked cautiously amongst Steve’s clothes. As Abi lifted part of his top a small, white mou
se came running out.
‘Stop him,’ Sasket croaked.
Without stopping to think Abi moved quickly and prevented the mouse from running off into the trees and picked him up. Now that Abi had the mouse she turned questioningly to Sasket.
Randall turned slightly to have a look at the mouse Abi was holding. ’That’s what was in the pile of clothes?’ he asked.
She nodded silently.
‘Nothing else?’
James, who had by now thoroughly explored the pile of Steve’s clothes, shook his head.
A look of horror crossed Randall’s face as he turned back to Sasket. ‘You have some explaining to do. But first, is that mouse that Abi is holding Steve?’
Abi gasped as Randall said this and turned to Sasket in disbelief, sure that he would deny it. But she was shocked when he nodded his head.
Randall tightened his hold on Sasket as his anger increased. ‘What kind of enchantment is this and how do we get Steve back? You’d better be able to give me answers!’
Sasket tried to talk but by now Randall’s grip on him was so tight that he couldn’t get any words out.
‘Let him down,’ Abi told Randall. ‘We need answers and Sasket has to be allowed to talk to give those answers.’
Randall turned to look at Abi. ‘I’m not letting him go. He might run off and then what’ll we do?’
‘I didn’t say let him go, I said let him down. Just enough so that he can freely talk.’ Abi then turned to Sasket. ‘I want to find out what he has to say for himself, and then you can do what you want with him.’
Randall seemed satisfied with Abi’s reply and did as she requested but Sasket looked at her in horror. Up until now Abi had been the only one of the four of them who had completely trusted Sasket and for her to turn against him now shocked him.
‘Abi, it wasn’t meant to happen,’ he implored. ‘Please believe me! It was an accident.’
‘So tell us how to get Steve back.’ James was standing beside Abi, absently stroking the mouse whilst glaring at Sasket.
Sasket swallowed nervously before replying. ‘There’s nothing you can do …’
At these words Randall pulled Sasket forward slightly before slamming him back against the tree. Sasket cried out in pain. ‘Abi, James, stop him,’ he begged them.
James and Abi looked at one another. Abi shrugged slightly and then looked away, leaving James to make a decision. He stood silently for a moment. ‘Randall, don’t hurt him. Let him give us an explanation, starting with exactly what happened.’
Randall looked like he was about to protest but realising that right now Sasket was needed in one piece, he relented and released his grip slightly.
‘Thank you,’ Sasket said to James. ‘What Steve drank was a very rare potion that allows the drinker to assume another form. The way the form is dictated is that the drinker constructs an image of what they want to become in their mind. The potion then allows the transformation to happen. It can happen accidentally by just briefly thinking about something else. Where you all talking about mice whilst Steve was drinking from the flask?
‘Yes, Abi did mention a mouse whilst Steve was drinking the potion. But you are not going to put the blame for this on her!’ Randall snarled.
‘No, not at all. Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Sasket replied hastily. ‘But you can’t just get him back. You have to wait for the potion to wear off.’
‘How long will that take?’ James asked.
‘That depends on how much he drank. The more he drank, the longer it will take.’ Sasket spread his hands helplessly.
‘Why did you have it?’ Abi asked.
‘Abraya gave it to me. She thought we might need it. It was never intended for any of you to drink it. It must have got into Steve’s pack by mistake. If anyone was to use it, it was me as I have some experience with it.’
There was a thoughtful silence whilst the three of them absorbed what Sasket had told them. It seemed that they’d get Steve back in his usual form, but who knew how long that would take.
‘When you’ve taken it, how long has it taken you to become human again?’ James queried.
‘Well, I’ve only ever taken a small mouthful and the effect lasts for about an hour to an hour and a half. I don’t know how much Steve drank but it could last a couple of days.’
‘Days!’ Randall exclaimed. ‘We can’t leave him like that, for that long’
Sasket attempted to shrug which wasn’t easy with Randall still pinning him to the tree. ‘There really is nothing we can do. There isn’t anything that can undo it. It’s just a waiting game I’m afraid.’
Abi wasn’t holding on to Steve tightly but he started to struggle in her hands, so she released him and let him run up her arm, until he stopped on her shoulder. Abi reached up to steady him, the last thing they needed was for him to fall off, when unbidden, several images flashed through her mind. Sasket’s medallion, the symbol on the doors of the Great Hall and the carvings on the four poster bed. With out stopping to think she blurted out, ‘it’s made from the plant that is the symbol of your group isn’t it.’
Sasket turned to Abi in astonishment. ‘How can you know that? It’s a closely kept secret what’s in it.’
Realising she might have made a mistake she shrugged, nearly unbalancing Steve, but Randall was intrigued. ‘Tell us more,’ he requested.
‘The plant that Abi referred to is known as The Heart of Trelyssia Rose. It used to grow prolifically around here, but has become scarcer and can hardly be found now. It’s thought that it’s closely linked to the royal family and will bloom all over the land again when the true heir resumes the throne. Everyone knows of it’s healing properties, that’s what was in the drink I gave you at the caves Abi. But few know that it can also be used for various potions.’
Randall regarded Sasket for a moment then let him go and turned his attention to more important matters. ‘What are we going to do with Steve until he changes back. He can’t just sit on Abi’s shoulder.’
‘I know, I nearly threw him off just now.’ Abi paused to think and suddenly hit on an idea. She reached up and took Steve off her shoulder and passed him to Randall. ‘Here, you hold him for a minute. Don’t drop him!’
As Randall took him Abi opened the leather pouch that was on the belt she was wearing and began to empty it, passing the contents to James. ‘Here, split everything between you and Randall’ she told James. Once the pouch was empty Abi turned back to Randall. ‘Give him back to me and I can carry him.’ She reached out to take Steve back but Randall seemed reluctant to let him go. ‘You know, I could get used to him like this. He’s much cuter, handily pocket sized and he doesn’t answer back. Ouch!!’ Randall snatched one of his hands away from where he had been holding Steve and shook it vigorously. ‘He bit me! Look, I’m even bleeding!’
James and Abi looked, barely able to suppress their laughter. ‘Can you blame him?’ Abi said to Randall. ‘You were insulting him. Now give him back to me.’ Randall passed the mouse back to Abi and she placed Steve in the now empty pouch and lightly fastened the top.
‘Right, now we’re more or less sorted we’d better be making a move if we’re going to find the buried treasure.’ Randall turned round to Sasket who was standing a little way from Randall, James and Abi, unsure of how they were going to treat him. ‘You can still come with us,’ Randall told Sasket. ‘You know your way round better than the rest of us, but I’ll be watching you every step of the way. Now, lead on.’
Sasket reluctantly resumed the lead and the others fell in behind him. They carried on like this until it was time to stop for something to eat. As they settled down Abi opened the pouch and let Steve out. Once again he ran up her arm and stopped on her shoulder. As they ate, she broke off small pieces and passed them up to Steve to eat. James and Randall were intrigued by the mouse on Abi’s shoulder.
‘How can be sure that it’s really Steve?’ James asked.
‘How about the fact that he bit Randall?’ Abi rep
lied.
James laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s enough to convince me. He’s probably been wanting to bite Randall for years.’
‘It’s not funny!’ Randall protested. ‘It really hurt. Who knows what disease he might have passed onto me as well. I could have rabies for all you know. I might be about to die a horrible and painful death.’
Abi shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. He didn’t have rabies before he was a mouse so it’s unlikely that he will now.’
‘Hey, if Randall does die of rabies, then we’ll know for definite that it’s not Steve.’ James turned to peer at Randall. ‘How are you feeling? Any pain anywhere, feeling nauseous, got a headache?’
‘Stop it!’ Randall retorted. ‘But just so you know, I do actually have a headache.’
‘Oh God, I really shouldn’t have asked.’ James groaned and turned to Abi. ‘It won’t be long before he’s really convinced that he has got rabies and he’ll delight in telling us about each new symptom that he thinks he’s getting!’
Abi smiled. ‘However amusing this is, it’s not helping us decide if this really is Steve.’ She held up her hand to where the mouse sat. ‘Come here,’ Abi said softly. To everyone’s amazement the mouse immediately jumped into her hand. Abi raised him up so that he was on eye level. ‘If you really are Steve, I want you to run back up my arm, along my shoulders and down the other arm until you’re back in my other hand.’ James and Randall looked at Abi like she was insane, but she was prepared to try. Abi held out both her arms flat, and quick as a flash the mouse did as she had asked and was soon sat in her other hand. ‘Well, I think that proves that. Hello Steve.’ Abi gently stroked him, then placed him back in the pouch. ‘Time for us to be moving on,’ Abi said, getting to her feet.
