The Secret of Grim Hill

by Linda DeMeulemeester

  I held out the other feather I’d taken from the magic grimoire. Then I took a pair of scissors and cut the feather in three pieces. I handed each girl a piece and told them what I’d discovered about Grim Hill. When I finished, I pointed out certain coincidences.

  “Remember your sister’s broken engagement, Mia?”

  Mia nodded. “Yes, she’s been really sad.”

  “Your dad, Emily,” I reminded her. “Remember how after you joined the team, his job sent him up north? How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

  A tear crept down Emily’s face, “A long time.”

  “And Amarjeet,” I hesitated. “Okay, perhaps you don’t miss Punjabi school on Saturdays, but when the place burnt down, someone could have been hurt.”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “There were people decorating it for the Diwali festival, and they barely escaped.”

  “Trust me, none of you wants to win.”

  At first, they all jumped in at once, disagreeing with me and telling me how the sacrifices they had to make in order to be on the team were nothing compared to how important it was to win the game and the scholarship. But slowly, as they held their feathers, they stopped complaining one by one, and listened with disturbed expressions. I briefly explained the grisly facts about dancing in a fairy ring for the rest of our lives in order to provide strength to the fairies.

  “You’re kidding. I don’t believe any of this,” said Mia, but she said it more as if she was hoping none of it was true.

  “There is something wrong with this town,” said Amarjeet. “C’mon, face it, nobody has acted normally for weeks.”

  “And where did Sookie go?” Emily agreed quietly. “What is it you want us to do, Cat?”

  “Listen, we can’t score a goal,” I said. “We have to keep the game tied. The longer no one wins, the weaker the fairy link will become.”

  “We’re in, but what if the Ghosts score a goal?” asked Mia, looking at Emily.

  “Never mind that,” Emily said. “I’ve seen you guys play. We haven’t got a chance.”

  Finally I had everything organized – I hoped.

  CHAPTER 19 The Execution Begins

  ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT, a sickly orange moon rose before the sun went down, and a strange mustard fog wrapped itself around the town, floating up Grim Hill, pointing its foggy fingers at Grimoire School.

  I let out a breath as if I’d been holding it all day. “Are we ready?”

  “Ready,” Jasper and Miss Greystone said in unison as they flashed their feathers, which had now taken on the strange orange moon glow.

  “Timing will be everything,” I reminded Jasper as I bent down and laced my soccer boots for the fifth time.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, trying to smile.

  His expression almost convinced me – Jasper had the heart of a tiger. But even if I wasn’t as confident as my friend, our plan had to work – or soon I’d be dancing my life away along with Sookie.

  “I’d better round up the old folks,” fussed Miss Greystone. “I’ve contacted a sister or brother of every girl on Lucinda’s team. Some of them are even coming from out of town for the game.” Smiling sadly, she said, “Despite our enchantment, I think we always knew a big piece of our lives had gone missing. I had no trouble convincing anyone to come.” Before Miss Greystone left, she turned to face me and Jasper and grabbed our hands, squeezing them gently. “Cat, Jasper – I’m so glad I met you. Even though it’s painful, I’m comforted by the memories of my sister.” She hurried off after saying she would meet up with us later at the soccer bleachers.

  I let out another breath and looked at Jasper.

  “Let’s go,” he said quietly.

  As we climbed Grim Hill to the soccer field, I glanced at the posters we had stapled on every telephone pole.

  “This will work,” Jasper reassured me.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s got to.” An icy blast blew fiercely on the hill, making me shiver and complain about the cold.

  “I read this chill is a gaoth she,” Jasper explained, tugging up his collar. “A fairy wind blasts when a crossing opens up between our world and Fairy. Ancient Celts used to build hundreds of bonfires on Samhain night to battle the wind, so I organized a bonfire of our own.”

  Sure enough, a huge bonfire roared at the top of the soccer field with flames shooting up about ten feet in the air, crackling and spitting. I saw Mr. Chung, Jasper’s dad, feeding the flames with leaves and branches.

  As soon as I joined my soccer team on the field, I slipped my feather into the fold of my sock, securing it behind my shin pad. Mia, Amarjeet, and Emily did the same.

  First the townspeople trickled into the field. Jasper shooed anyone away who tried to sit on the bottom of the bleachers, but when I checked a short time later, the whole field had filled, including the bleacher that Jasper had saved. Now the crowds poured in, bunching up along the sidelines. And everyone wore a mask!

  Ms. Sinster blew her shrill whistle, and as our team formed a line, the Ghosts ran onto the field. I was playing center, Mia, left forward, and Amarjeet played defense. Emily, the Ghosts’ center, stood opposite me.

  The second whistle blew. Both Emily and I ran for the ball and both of us kicked – our feet only brushing past each other and the ball not budging an inch.

  The crowd howled in disappointment.

  Standing in the fog wearing their masks, the townspeople looked a lot more sinister than simply the parents, teachers, and shopkeepers I knew. I shuddered because it was as if I’d time-traveled back to an ancient Celtic village for Samhain. The bonfire that Mr. Chung fed nonstop leaped and cast menacing shadows on everyone.

  “We can’t get a goal,” I said, reminding my friends of our objective. “No matter what, don’t cave in to the pressure.” A shout echoed from the bleachers where I spotted my mother, or more accurately, I recognized her voice under a scary metallic robot mask.

  “Score, Witches, score!” she urged.

  Shaking my head, I reiterated to the others, “We have to keep the game tied, zero - zero. The longer no team wins or pulls ahead, the weaker the fairy link will be.” We watched a Ghost girl stumble over her shoelaces. This shouldn’t be too tough.

  The four of us surrounded the ball, cutting off the other Witch girls, but not pushing forward. A surprised Ghost girl came up from behind and lightly tapped the ball, as if she couldn’t believe it was just sitting there. The ball trickled forward until Amanda, a Witch girl, shot me a disgusted look before giving the ball a hard kick. I raced after my own team’s ball to halt it instead of kick it forward, while Amarjeet and Mia followed behind me. Emily blocked her own team. Both teams were confused. At that point, I overheard the coaches.

  “She knows,” hissed Ms. Sinster.

  “But your whole team isn’t playing well,” argued Ms. Maliss. “The link must be collapsing.”

  “Perhaps,” Ms. Sinster said loudly in an ominous voice that I think she intended for me to hear.

  Our own team now realized they couldn’t trust us; they chased ahead trying to get the ball first. A little too late, I realized a flaw in my plan

  – how hard it would be to keep our own team from scoring.

  Mia, Amarjeet, and I did our best, but our team was good. We quickly became exhausted kicking our ball out of bounds, or running offside. The crowd screamed in frustration, and our own team started yelling at us. Finally, when it seemed Mia, Amarjeet, and I could no longer keep our own team at bay, I walked right up to Emily and shoved her. Emily dramatically tumbled down in a heap. A whistle blew. Our ref, Mr. Morrows, came up to me.

  “Now, Cat,” he said. “I’m sure that was an accident.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Even if he was enchanted, he had to see that was a bad call. Then, right in front of him, I walked over and shoved Emily again. She tumbled down and faked a groan this time.

  “Oh, all right,” Mr. Morrows sighed. “Ghosts get a penalty shot.”

  I knew that Em
ily was getting up slowly so that when she finally got around to taking her shot, she’d kick, miss the goal, and it would be halftime. Then Jasper and I could execute the last half of the plan to destroy the Fairy portal, and the game wouldn’t matter anymore.

  Then the whistle blew for halftime before the Ghosts could take their penalty shot – the coaches and ref appeared to be breaking the rules in order to try and thwart the tied game!

  I began to mention the rule, but before I could get a word out, Ms. Sinster hollered, “You’re benched, Cat!” She stared at me, making me want to shrivel like a punctured balloon until I shrank from her sight.

  Instead, I just said, “Fine.” After all, it didn’t hurt our plan. As we gathered on the sidelines, Jasper came up and grabbed my arm – it was time. He pointed to the school; you could see right through the stone and brick to the orange moon behind it. The fairy link was weakening! It was now or never.

  Behind the lines, Jasper – disguised as a zombie – handed me my black mask, and I led a troop of eleven elderly people up toward the school. Because the whole town was in costume, no one noticed us.

  Our masked troop crept through the long, checkered corridor and up the stairs to the library, until we piled into the dusty, ancient room and stood in front of the empty bookshelves. Suddenly I realized I’d never actually watched the Grimoire girl open the passageway and had no clue what she’d done. I began to sweat.

  “I’m not exactly sure how it works,” I said, approaching the bookcase and trying in vain to shove the huge oak case away from the wall.

  “There’s usually a hidden catch in secret passageways,” mentioned Jasper. “At least, that’s what I’ve read.”

  “He’s right,” said an elderly man in a Frankenstein mask. “I’m a locksmith, so I could help

  – but I can’t see a thing out of these tiny eyeholes.”

  There was one shelf that was slightly out of line with the other shelves, so I fiddled with it, tugging and lifting until I heard a click, then the grind and whirr of gears. “Stand back,” I said as I jumped away from the swinging door.

  Gathering everyone at the top of the passage, I urged, “Whatever you see down there, whatever you do, don’t let go of each other’s hands. Do not break the human chain.”

  The masks of a witch (Miss Greystone) and the other assorted spooks and ghouls bobbed up and down in agreement.

  “When you get to the fairy circle, call out your sisters’ names,” I explained as I jammed a piece of wood that Jasper had brought to wedge the door open. “Lucinda had no trouble seeing through my disguise, and even though you’re all older, I’m sure your sisters will sense you.”

  “Everyone grab hands. Be careful on the first step,” said Miss Greystone.

  “Watch out, those steps are steep … and there might be a few spiders and bats.”

  “Don’t worry, Cat,” Ms. Greystone said. “We are too determined to let a few creepy crawlies get to us.”

  “And I’m in better shape than I look,” mentioned a portly woman in a pirate mask.

  “So are we,” murmured the others.

  At that moment, I heard the crowd on the soccer field roar in delight. The library lit up in an unearthly green glow, and the walls of the school became more solid.

  “No,” I said, realizing that they had resumed the game without me. “Someone must have scored a goal!”

  CHAPTER 20 A Deadly Encounter

  THE CROWD’S CHEERS echoed around the library. Getting everyone out of the fairy hill wouldn’t matter one bit if a new team of slaves was ready to replace the old one.

  “I’ve got to get back to the game,” I said.

  “Then I’d better lead everyone into the passage,” Jasper said as he stared past the steps that spiraled down into inky darkness.

  “Let me find the way to Lucinda,” said Miss Greystone. “You’ve got the other whole feather, so you can lead us out.

  “Either way,” I called after them as I hurried toward the soccer field, “please bring back Sookie.”

  “Count on it,” promised Jasper.

  Whatever happened to me then didn’t matter. Leaving the school, I pulled off my mask, letting the bitter wind blow across my face. I elbowed my way past the crowd.

  When I got back on the soccer field, it became apparent that I hadn’t counted on one thing – one very important thing: In its own way, Grimoire School had started to fight back.

  The crowd of masked townspeople were still cheering. The players had lined up for a penalty shot. Emily’s teammates high-fived her and pounded her on the back. Mia and Amarjeet stared in horror. Emily was crying.

  “I’m so sorry,” Emily wept. “I haven’t been able to kick the ball into the net once this season. I didn’t even aim for the goal and the ball just shot in. I’m so sorry.”

  The tie had been broken. The school pulsed with an eerie green light. Time was running out. We had to score a goal for the Witches – fast.

  “C’mon!” I called to Amarjeet and Mia.

  “You’re supposed to be benched!” screamed Ms. Sinster as I ran onto the field.

  I didn’t listen. Instead, I whispered to another girl that the coach had called her back.

  Mia and I dribbled the ball between us. Amarjeet blocked the Ghosts. Emily blocked her own team. I passed to Mia. She launched the ball and it flew into the Ghosts’ net.

  We tied!

  The crowd screamed and the coaches moaned in disgust.

  Now all we had to do was keep the tie going.

  It was hard to concentrate. I’d always felt the magic of Halloween night, how it curled around my stomach, buzzed up to my ears, and gave me a light-headed feeling of excitement. I guess humans can sense when the veil between our world and the fairy world is thin. But tonight the magic didn’t just buzz – it screamed.

  The cold brace of the gaoth she actually helped clear my head as I tried to focus. The four of us, the best players on both teams, had to watch our own moves and the moves of eighteen other girls. It was like swimming against a tidal wave. I kept the ball from the Ghosts’ right forward and passed to Mia. Amarjeet blocked one of the Witches who tried to take the ball away from Mia.

  None of us noticed the other Witch coming up from behind. Amanda whipped the ball from Mia and ran toward the Ghosts’ net. Amarjeet and I struck out across the field with Mia following close behind. I dodged in front of Amanda, sending her shot wide. The ball bounced off the goal post, hurtled into the air, then hit Mia. Then the ball ricocheted off Mia’s knee and went straight into the Ghosts’ goal.

  The tie was broken. Witches 2 – Ghosts 1.

  The crowd chanted, “Witches, Witches, Witches!”

  The coaches cackled in delight. I suddenly began to feel dizzy and my feet throbbed and my legs wanted to kick and dance. I could see right through the bleachers and masked crowds! Behind them, much stranger looking creatures waited for us.

  Mia stumbled on the field and had a hard time getting back on her feet.

  “I – I see two soccer fields at once,” Amarjeet called out in alarm. “Where are the goal posts?”

  The door between our two worlds had begun to open.

  There was only one thing to do.

  Before anyone else could make a move, I grabbed the soccer ball and yelled for everyone to line up.

  Mr. Morrows appeared confused, but blew his whistle to start the next play. Emily and I faced off. I got the ball and started dribbling it down the field to my own net.

  The crowd and the coaches screamed “No!” and motioned for me to run the other way. The coaches’ howls drove ice through my heart. I kept running with the ball and drove it into the Witches’ net, scoring on my own goal, scoring a point for the Ghosts. Now we were tied again, 2 – 2.

  The queer green light that had been spilling out of the school pulled back. I heard a gigantic pop and the cold, dry fairy wind rushed back up Grim Hill, lifting my hair up off my shoulders, spinning fallen leaves and dirt. I blinked grit
from my eyes.

  The bonfire that had been burning brightly now began to smoke. The smoke formed the most hideous face I had ever seen – it was like a crazed jack-o’-lantern that had begun to rot. It drifted up from the flames and floated toward me, followed by the two coaches, their claw-like hands ready to grab me.

  As the coaches lunged toward me, that horrible pumpkin face grew smoky tendrils of snake-like vines. One tendril brushed against my head. My heart froze and my head ached. The smoke choked me and I couldn’t see. From far away, I heard Jasper shout, “Now!”

  Miss Greystone and ten masked elderly men and women were rushing out of the school. The old people called out the names of their lost sisters.

  “Lucinda, Mary, Mabel, Pearl … hurry!” they shouted. More people were coming out of the school than had gone in.

  The coaches screamed for the other team to stop, but it was already too late. The human chain had worked. Now, because no slaves were left in the fairy hill, the coaches began to fade.

  The green light in the school shattered, rays spiked up to the sky in every direction. Then the light pulled back into a fiery ball that spun around, getting smaller and smaller, until it disappeared.

  Bricks pounded down onto the ground. Dust rose from the heap, and old men and women, followed by a team of girls, made their way from the ruins of Grimoire to the soccer field.

  Strangely, as the girls in the old-fashioned uniforms approached the bleachers, they grew taller. Then as fast as switching on a light, their hair turned gray and they began to hunch over. Their faces wrinkled like apples left in the sun. By the time the girls reached the bleachers, they’d become a team of elderly women. That is, all but one grew old. A little blond girl trailed behind them. Sookie!

  The bonfire sputtered out, and there was no longer any sign of the coaches or the crazed jack-o’-lantern. I ran to my little sister, then I grabbed her and hugged her until she squirmed.