James and the Changing Red

by J W Cotter

  Chapter 10en:

 

  Ginger Nuts and Broken Glass

  James woke to the horrid smell of bus fumes clinging to his clothes. Lying in his bed he was still dressed and confused. The last thing he could remember was getting off the bus and being greeted by a large man in strange brown garb with a van. Naturally he would have avoided such a creature but Lue knew him and apparently he had been sent to meet them, James wasn’t sure if he was also sent to douse him in sand and send him to a deep slumber. That was exactly what he must have done and James slowly got out of his bed and as his shoes hit the floor beneath a rumble came from downstairs. Suddenly he felt sick, the whole list that his Dad had left out for him, had Pip done it all? If he did, had the dinner given them food poisoning (he didn’t mind that thought much) or had Pip broken something while cleaning and left the blame at his feet? How was he going to explain his absence all night? And as soon as the door burst open and his father stormed in, all words fell from his mouth and he could have easily passed as a life-long mute.

  “So how was the party?” his Dad asked as he opened the window to let some air in. “Those bus fumes are terrible, I would have collected you if you called” he added as he sat down on the end of the bed. “So tell me, how did you get on?” This was strange; Jack never sat on the end of James’ bed and he couldn’t remember the last time the two of them had an actual conversation that didn’t evolve into a shouting match. “Come on, I don’t have all day I’ve work and you’ve school”. It was obvious he was in a good mood, what wasn’t obvious was the reason.

  “Oh the party was good fun, sorry it was a bit short notice and on a school night” as James was explaining the lie he found himself wondering why his father would have allowed him to go to a party, on a school night.

  “It’s good that you’re starting to socialise again, don’t think I haven’t noticed you spending a lot of time wandering around alone” Jack replied, almost sounding concerned.

  “Well I just like being alone”

  “And there is nothing wrong with that, just mix it up every now and again, that’s all I’m saying. You might even meet a nice girl!” Okay now the conversation was getting extraordinarily strange, it was the longest the two had ever been talking without someone else present and it was the longest his father had feigned an interest. “So what time did you get home?”

  “Am I think about….one….thirty?” James replied, not sure whether he was answering or questioning seeing as he had no idea what time he had been left unconscious in his room.

  “Well Miriam and I were out for the count about eleven, not sure what came over us, maybe it was the massive feed we had. I never knew you could cook like that”

  “Oh ya, am, was it okay?” he asked hoping that his father would tell him what Pip had cooked so he could carry on the charade.

  “Bloody tasty is what it was and the dessert, where did you learn all that? Miriam is thinking of putting you in the pub kitchen during the summer holiday” Jack said smiling.

  “Oh, right” James wasn’t sure what to say to that, he would rather march through a field of nettles into a pool of sewage than work in her pub but he didn’t want to spoil what was for lack of a better term, a pleasant interaction. However nice didn’t last too long and soon it descended into the opposite of nice or fantastical.

  “Listen the reason I wanted you to cook dinner last night was that I wanted us all to sit and eat but I’m not angry that you went to a party, as I said it’s important for you to socialise with your friends” James just looked at his Dad and nodded, he wasn’t entirely sure where this part of the conversation was heading, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t like it. His Dad took a deep breath. “I. We had to tell you something, Miriam and I are getting married” he blurted it out quick as if the words would hurt less, somewhat like ripping a band-aid off fast. Nope, hearing them fast or slow or in any combination in between didn’t matter, the words still cut James deep but in that brief instance he wasn’t going to let it show, he would find the exit for the low road at some time. He smiled, shook his father’s hand and congratulated him all the while thinking about how he was going to leave and never cross his father’s threshold again. “Come on get dressed and have some breakfast, I’ll run you to school” he said getting up from the bed, leaving the room more toxic than when he entered. The window seemed to be calling James, he wanted nothing more than to pack a bag right now and climb out and never lay eyes on his father or that woman again but something was stopping him. Not the fact that he’d never see his Dad again; it was the fact that this is where his Mom was buried and where a new life is seeming to emerge, one that could possibly take him away eventually anyway. So he gathered his thoughts, donned his uniform and courteously entered the kitchen. Taking most of his energy not to scream and shout as he gave Miriam a less than enthusiastic hug James took a jammed piece of toast and promptly left, saying that he had to be in school early today. It worked and he found himself walking down the path not daring to look back for fear of insisting some rage that would find him hurling a brick through a window.

  “Well you took your time! Had a nice lie-in did you?” the voice called from the left. James looked and saw Lue, dressed not in her cupid outfit but a more moderate jeans and hoodie. “Been waiting here for ages” she moaned loudly as she strolled down toward him.

  “What happened last night, where are they? What did Ida say?” James started the questioning to which Lue simply rolled her eyes.

  “Relax, relax, relax! Gees you’re like a wound-up toy. Nothing happened last night, they are still sleeping and Ida has been holed up in that cellar with Robert since we got back” she replied peeking up at James’ house.

  “And what did you do to me?” he retorted angrily.

  “I didn’t do anything to you” Lue snapped back. “It was Dave.” James looked at her confused. “One of the sand-people, Ida sent him to collect us and make sure you went home, willingly or no” she added, continuing to look up at the house.

  “Well it wasn’t very nice, I, I, I”

  “You, you, you what?” Lue queried James’ train of thought as it seemed to run out of steam.

  “It wasn’t nice” he said and narrowed his eyes.

  “Am if I was you I’d think of an excuse” Lue smiled.

  “Why?” James asked but before she could answer he could hear the rustle of gravel moving and the arrival of a car coming down his drive.

  “I thought you had to be in early?” his father asked as he stopped his car on the road. James’ head went blank, he couldn’t think of an excuse for his standing in at the side of the road. At least he didn’t have to think of an excuse to explain Lue. “And who’s this, a friend of yours?” he added looking directly at Lue. For a moment James’ heart forgot to beat.

  “Morning Sir, I’m Lue” she said smiling.

  “Morning, so how do you know James?” he asked pulling up the handbrake of the car. He wasn’t going anywhere fast.

  “We’re in school together, I had just met him at the bus stop and he said he could give me one of his school shirts. We were both at the party and I stayed over at Jennifer’s house, but I don’t have my uniform and if I go in without something I’ll be suspended and if I’m suspended my parents will never allow me to go to a party again” she lied, quite easily and brilliantly.

  “And Jennifer doesn’t have any shirts?” always the policeman was Jack.

  “She does in fact she has one for every day of the week and they were all perfectly white and neatly folded in her top drawer. Unfortunately she thought the top drawer was a toilet last night and let’s just say they’re not so white now” Lue again lied.

  “Okay, I don’t think I want to hear anymore of this because if I do I may have to pay a visit to Jennifer’s parents. Go on and hurry up, yee’ll miss the bus if you doddle anymore” Jack replied and he bid goodbye and drove away. At the door they met Miriam who too was on her
way out. They just brushed past her with a brief hello and banged the door shut. A bit frazzled Miriam was about to go back into the house and confront them but she had seen Jack talk to them and she didn’t want to increase the strain the relationship between her and her future stepson.

  “She looks like someone who was chewing a wasp!” Lue remarked as she made her way to the living room and flopping down on the couch, feet up on the cushions.

  “She looks like that most of the time” James replied. Finally he had someone else to speak the words about Miriam that he longed to scream. Sitting down on the coffee table and peering out the window he could see her car pulling away from the house and down the lane and slowly disappearing out of sight. “Okay, what happened last night? What has Ida found out about the three? And what’s the story with Mikel, or the person we thought was Mikel?” James launched the questions like he was the presenter of some quick fire quiz show. Lue wasn’t really taken aback by the onslaught of questions; she merely smiled and straightened herself up on the couch.

  “You know, they’re a lot of answers and might throat is a bit dry” she said before coughing a very dry cough. Rolling his eyes and giving a slight smirk James made his way to the kitchen alone and before he even had the refrigerator door open he could hear the television come on.

  “Orange Juice okay?” he shouted in to the Cupid.

  “That’s perfect” she replied and so James filled a glass and returned. “Thanks so much” she took the glass from James and looked at it curiously. “You haven’t got any ice have you? I like ice with my orange juice”. James took the glass and made another trip to the kitchen where he managed to procure a few lumps of ice and as he dropped them into the glass little drips of orange juice jumped from the glass and landed on the counter. He didn’t bother cleaning them up. “While you’re in there, any chance of a biscuit?” Slightly annoyed James bit his lip and opened the cupboard and pulled out a plastic container. If anyone else was being as demanding as she was James would have just walked away, but following what they went through last night he felt a certain responsibility to be pleasant. Also a bit of bribery wouldn’t do any harm in exchange for answers. “Oh you are a doll” she exclaimed as James once again returned to the living room with the orange juice complete with ice and a plateful of various biscuits. Lue took a drink from the glass and her eyes widened and her lips curved downwards before she spat the drink back out. “Pulp” she shuddered.

  “Well that’s all we have” James replied placing the plate beside her and sitting once again on the coffee table.

  “Oh well, dehydration it is then” she said looking at James, her face mean but her eyes showing she was joking. James picked up the plate and offered it to her. “Ginger nuts, my favourite” she took all five of them off the plate and curled back into the couch, her legs folded beneath her.

  “So, how are Anta, her brother and grandmother?” James asked but all he could hear was the snapping of the hard biscuits as they rolled around in Lue’s wide open mouth. “Hello” he said waving at her trying to get her attention as her eyes had wandered to the large television. “Lue, Lue come on tell me” he moaned again.

  “Ssh, I like this show” she replied, popping another ginger biscuit into her mouth. James got up and calmly walked to the television and pulled the plug from its socket. “Oi, I was watching that” Lue shouted.

  “Yes, was. Now what is happening?” he said again.

  “I don’t know, nobody knows, they’ve been asleep since we arrived at the castle”

  “So they’ve said nothing?”

  “Naaanoooo” she replied lengthening the no like a whiny little child.

  “What about Mikel, or Cerise or whoever it was, what did Ida say?”

  “I’m not a bloody messenger pigeon” Lue snapped not unlike the ginger nut biscuit in her mouth.

  “Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!” James quipped.

  “Well I’m sorry but for someone who seemingly has been thrust into the middle of this, whatever it is, they are being kept very much in the dark”

  “I know, they tell me nothing”

  “I’m talking about ME” Lue retorted. “At least you’re not under their noses when they’re deliberately not telling you things”

  “That must be annoying alright” James said as he watched Lue wipe her crumby hands on the cushions.

  “I mean all she told me was to go to bed last night and then she and Robert disappeared to that underground bunker thing and when I tried to go down to her this morning these big rock monsters came out of the wall, frightened me half to death they did”

  “Been there”

  “Ya and then she berated me for going where I was not needed and told me that if I wanted to satisfy my curiosity then I should pop into your neighbour’s house and check it out”

  “My neighbour’s house! Surely Cerise hasn’t returned there, she couldn’t be that daft”

  “Well that’s what she told me to do I presume to see if they left anything behind them. Will you come with me; I don’t much fancy going in there on my own seeing as I’m not at full strength yet. Why do you think your Dad and Wasp face could see me?” James had forgotten to ask her about that little heart palpitation earlier.

  “Alright, we’ll go together” he said picking up the glass and the plate. Lue reached out a hand and grabbed one of the chocolate digestives.

  “Something for the road!”

  “We’re only going next door” James laughed as he headed to the kitchen.

  “Ya but it could be my last meal” she shouted after him. The two of them left the house and glanced to the right, the top of the house was barely visible as the hedge had grown a bit too high. No doubt Jack would get James to cut it soon. “Right, best not think about it” she said clapping her hands and walking down the driveway with James following after. “A word of warning, any cats and I’m out of there, don’t like mangy cats” she said seriously as James pushed open the gate and the two walked up the concrete path to the front door.

  “Any idea how to get in?” he asked. Lue shrugged her shoulders. “Thanks, great help you are” James left the front door and went to the front windows looking for a way in when he heard glass shatter. Lue had forced a rock through the glass pane of the front door and opened it.

  “See, I am a great help” she smiled. “Beast before the beauty” James just looked at her with severe annoyance.

  “You know my Dad’s a policeman”

  “I had no idea” It was so sarcastic James had to smile. Over the threshold he went and Lue clung to him like a shadow. A horrid smell hit them hard and the cupid not being one to contain her feelings let out a groan of disgust. “What is that awful smell, its terrible” she said pinching her nose, “Oh God I can almost taste it”. James moved closer inward through the long hallway and into the second living room that was at the back of the house. He hadn’t only ever been in this house once when he was younger but the outlay hadn’t changed much.

  “The smells coming from back here” he said walking slowly to the glass door that was banged shut. “Aren’t you coming?” he added looking back at a stationary cupid.

  “No I’m okay here, you take a look and tell me” she replied, her fingers still pinching her nose and every so often she made gagging sounds as the smell reached down her throat. Curiosity getting the better of him, and he did have warrior powers after all, James placed his hand on the handle of the door and pushed down. Lue gave a little squeak of apprehension. If the stench was bad before, now with the door open it was unbearable, so much so that even James felt like he was going to vomit while Lue now had a scarf wrapped around her face.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “On the coat-rack, they’re loads up there I doubt they’d miss one” she answered moving slowly towards James. “So what can you see?”

  “Not much, the curtains are closed”

  “Well then, off you g
o” she said and shoved James into the room. It was not a room anyone would wish to have been shoved into for the smell turned out to be that of a rotting corpse upon the couch partially hidden by a red fleece blanket. James did throw up then but luckily he managed to find an empty flower pot to do so. “Oh God, its Mikel” Lue screamed, tears beginning to drip down her face and into the scarf.

  “The real one?”

  “It’s got to be” she said pulling the blanket up over his head. She turned away from James and wiped away the tears and cleared her throat, she didn’t want to let him see her so upset.

  “I’m so sorry Lue, if there is anything I can do just ask” James said, being considerate but naïve, offering to do anything in this new world could spell more trouble.

  “All I want is vengeance” she said but it was almost as if it wasn’t her that said it, her voice changed, it got lower, meaner but that wasn’t all that changed. In front of his eyes James watched as the gorgeous Lue in her jeans and hoodie morphed into something far from her usual self. Black strands engulfed her hair and her eyes became somewhat soulless. Gone were the jeans and hoodie and in their place a black leather cat-suit that seemed far too tight while across her back was a silver bow and quiver. Smiling and raising an eyebrow she slowly approached James who was standing memorized by the transformation and she kissed him on the mouth with her luscious black lips. “Vengeance will be mine” she whispered seductively into his ear and with that she vanished in a swirl of black dust. He took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the couch before realising who was lying dead on it and he got up with a start and shuddered slightly. Stepping in a pile of black soot like substance, all that was left of Lue, James wondered what to do when a bang from upstairs filled his ears. Lue, he thought instantly and he found himself darting up the stairs. There was only one room with a closed door that turned out to be locked but of course that’s where another bang came from and so with immense ease James kicked it off its hinges and inside wasn’t Lue but an old woman, she didn’t have her floral scarf but James knew who it was, or he thought he did.

  She was tied to the bed, looking very tired and gaunt as if she had been there for a while. A strong smell lingered in the room and there was only a little water left in a jug upon the bedside table, the kidnappers obviously wanted her alive. With her mouth gagged and her limbs bound James cautiously approached the large Queen sized bed. The thought that it could be Cerise attempting to fool him and kill him crossed his mind but nobody would allow themselves to get into this kind of squalor willingly and it was quite obvious from the visible bed sores that the elderly woman had been tied to the bed for a long time. First he removed the tape from her mouth and sadly it caused her to whimper in pain as he slowly pulled it away from the flesh.

  “I’m sorry” he said as he threw the bloodied tape on the floor. She just smiled a feeble smile and James worked on freeing her hands and legs. Undoing the ropes from her wrists he realised how frail she was as once free they flopped to the bed she was momentarily unable to move them. James had to give her water, her lips were chapped and sore but the water did provide some relief to her.

  “Oh my goodness” she finally said in a weak, posh voice. “Please be a dear and open the window” she added pointing to the drawn curtains. James happy obliged and a strong gale of fresh air ripped through the room, cleansing slowly. While he was at the window James spotted Pip sauntering down the road towards the house, whistling as he did.

  “Pip!” he shouted, waving from the bedroom window. Pip waved back and walked up the drive.

  “Couldn’t wait for them to answer the door I see” he shouted up before throwing his chewing gum into a flower pot and entering the house. “And who’s this?” he asked joining James in the bedroom.

  “Not sure, another victim of Cerise?” he replied shrugging his shoulders.

  “Where’s Lue?” Pip asked glancing in the en-suite. James took him by the arm and led him to the bedroom threshold and whispered what had happened moments ago.

  “No freaking way, a Dark Cupid! Oh that’s going to be fun” he replied, looking somewhat happy about the incident.

  “What do you mean Dark Cupid? How could Lue turning all black and swearing vengeance possibly be fun?”

  “Nobody has witnessed a cupid going dark in centuries, there isn’t much known about it other than when you come across one you stay well out of dodge”

  “Why?”

  “Well a normal cupid’s arrow will help you find love, although it looks like you don’t have any problem there” Pip jokingly nudged James with his elbow but was rebuked. “Anyway if someone is struck by a dark arrow it slowly kills you from the inside out, your organs start to fail, your bones become brittle and the pain is so severe you wish for death and just before it arrives you witness three loved ones beginning to succumb to the same, kind of like a vicious ripple effect”

  “So how do we stop her?”

  “We? No dude you’re on your own there! There’s no way I’m taking a dark arrow” Pip said starting to walk away.

  “You’re not going to help?”

  “Nah, we’ll get someone else at the castle, there’s no way I’m putting loved ones in jeopardy”

  “And you think I want to!” James retorted but in that instant he kind of did want it, for a minute he even hoped that the arrow would stupidly deem his father and Miriam loved ones.

  “Let’s just get to the castle and tell Ida, she’ll know what to do!” Pip advised and headed toward the top of the stairs. That left James alone with the woman again; she had managed to get herself out of the bed and was looking out the window, sheltering her eyes from the daylight.

  “I need to go with you to the castle” she said softly when James entered the room.

  “Sorry but I don’t think so”

  “I know all about Ida and her band of cupids and wood sprites and leprechauns or whatever else she has managed to round up from the Neseedja” she retorted rather sharply.

  “Neseedja?” James hadn’t heard of those.

  “Yes, those scaly black bastards that can rip you apart in a second” He hadn’t heard of their name but James certainly had seen them.

  “Kind of a soft name for something so terrifying” he said. She just turned around and looked at him and gave a small smile before taking up a navy shawl, wrapping it around her torso and fastening it with a dazzling brooch that looked so expensive it should belong in a museum, or at least with the Queen of England.

  “Shall we?” she quipped and brushed passed James and moved quite spritely down the stairs and into the hall. Pip was still standing there in silence.

  “Mikel” was all he said. James patted his shoulder in a gesture of condolence. Not everyone was in the condoling mood as the old woman took hold of a sturdy wooden cane with a gold handle and pointed brass end.

  “Shape up, there are casualties in every war” she said sternly, hitting Pip gently on the bottom with the stick and then she was out the door strutting quickly down the drive and out the gate. James and Pip hurried after her, intrigued and partially terrified of the new old woman in the frame. For a woman who had only about twenty minutes ago been bound and gagged to a bed she was making great strides in her journey to the forest.

  “What are we doing? Ida will kill us if we allow her to arrive at the castle” Pip whispered as the two of them pursued the woman, keeping a few feet behind.

  “Oh so it’s an us now is it?” James replied smirking. Pip made a face of playful shock. “Wait a minute, unless she can walk on water we won’t be at the castle for hours, she’s bound to wear out by then” James smiled remembering the time he found himself having to make the walk home from the castle all around the country-side. The two of them were whispering so intently that they didn’t realise the woman come to a complete halt in the middle of the road, James ran right into her, Pip had continued on a few steps before he realised what had happened.

&nbs
p; “Aren’t one of you gentleman going to open the gate?” she asked nodding towards the metal farm gate that kept the cattle in the field.

  “Am Miss” James started before being interrupted by a little chuckle.

  “I haven’t been called Miss in decades, its Ma’am dear boy” Ma’am said with a slap of derision.

  “Okay, Ma’am. If you want to get to the castle, this isn’t the way, the river blocks the path and the nearest bridge is about four miles away”

  “Is that right! Pip is it? Do you think that’s right?” Pip looked at her in surprise, he thought nobody knew.

  “How did you…”

  “Know, dear boy I make it my business to know everything that I need to know, and some things that I don’t, it makes life a whole lot easier when you know what somebody is going to do before they do it”

  “Than how did you not know someone was going to imprison you?” James asked rather cheekily. She turned to him and smiled a wry smile.

  “Well one always meets their match, and I’m no match for an Aeromancer” and with that she headed for the gate and with her stick pushed up the lock and the gate swung slowly open. “Someone close it again, do not want the cows wandering down to the village” and she headed into the field muck and water enveloping her shoes but she continued to tread on, stick in hand. James and Pip again followed still whispering to each other.

  “Where she taking us?” James asked as he narrowly avoided stepping in a large pile of bovine excrement.

  “A shortcut to the castle, a shortcut that no-one is supposed to know about” Pip replied.

  Reaching the edge of the forest all three of them glanced backwards to make sure that they were alone and then they proceeded through the large trees and mucky ground toward the sound of rushing water. Ten minutes of walking and slipping later they finally arrived at the river bank. It was flowing fast and deep like always, the current able to take any man to his death. Across the way through the trees and bushes on the other side was the castle. In the daylight and from a distance it looked even more dilapidated and plain sad.

  “Well boy what are you waiting for, an invitation?” Ma’am snapped as she leant on her stick and took a deep breath. Reluctantly Pip headed in the direction of a cluster of extremely large trees and started to climb the first one. James watched while Ma’am stared at the water. As Pip reached the tip of the first tree he vanished behind numerous leaves that engulfed all the tops of the trees and then slowly a massive boulder began to emerge and bound in ropes it drifted down and by halfway down a massive noise took James’ attention to the water. Something was rising from the bed of the river but he didn’t know what, yet. Once the first boulder hit the ground, another started its downward descent and then the rising object was clearer. It was bridge, more rust than steel but it was still a bridge. As the final boulder came to the ground Pip appeared.

  “Right, better hurry we only have a few minutes before they start to go and the bridge, well you know” he said to James as there was no need to explain to Ma’am, she was halfway across by the time Pip appeared. They ran after her being careful not to slip on the soaked bridge, James accidently kicking a salmon back into the river on his way across. The two joined Ma’am at the edge of the large field upon where the castle stood; she was just looking at it, almost as if she was judging it, or perhaps its occupants. James was looking too but not at the castle, he was looking at the large mounds of bushes and grass that seemed to be dotted around the perimeter of the castle. They were all about ten feet high and four feet wide and appeared rather ominous.

  “Well nothing will be sorted standing here like camels” Ma’am proclaimed and clutching her stick tightly she moved through the grass, the castle in her sights. Before James could move Pip placed his hand across his chest and held him back shaking his head.

  “Watch” was all that he said and he took his hand away and pointed at the closest mound of grass and bushes. James saw it move slightly but he wasn’t sure whether that was the wind but what happened next no gale could cause. The grass and bushes fell aside and out came one of the stone soldiers he had encountered beneath the castle. It charged for Ma’am, a spear clung tightly in its stone hand. James’s heart started beating rapidly and he watched in horror as the soldier closed in on the elderly woman. A sudden need to save the woman rose within him but it was too late; there was no way he would get to her in time. She raised a hand and shouted something that neither of them could hear and the stone began to crumble, the legs went first then the torso until finally only a stone head was left and it rolled along to her feet. Kicking it aside she reached the castle and climbed the steps and pushing the doors open with her stick. James and Pip rushed afterwards and joined her in the foyer.

  “Ida, Ida. I think it’s time for you and I to have a chat. I’ll be in the living room” Ma’am said moving passed a Sand person and into the room. Looking at the state of it her cheeks hollowed and she turned around. “Perhaps I’ll just wait here, seems less filthy” she shouted as she returned to the foyer. “Could you perhaps bring me a chair, possibly one that is remotely free of dirt?” she asked Pip and he quickly obliged. The chair was clean, it was old and the cushioned part in need of repair but it was clean and so there she sat in the middle of the foyer her stick held upright in front and her brooch sparkling. James and Pip remained standing behind her by the door, not quite sure what to do.

  Almost an hour passed by and James’ legs started to ache and there was still no sign of Ida.

  “She does know we’re here doesn’t she?” he asked Pip who was getting increasingly agitated, mainly because he wondered what he was doing still standing in the foyer with the warrior and the fittest geriatric he had ever come across when he simply could disappear into the heart of the castle.

  “She knows” Pip replied yawning.

  “Of course I know; I know everything” Ida said appearing at the top of the stairs. She appeared tired and frail, perhaps the news of the imposter and the arrival of the three last night had finally forced her to confront her age. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to join me up here in my office?” she asked pointing with her cane along the landing.

  “Perhaps not, I’ve just traipsed through muck and other brown unmentionables and that’s after being tied up for the best part of a week” Ma’am sternly said, her eyes never leaving Ida.

  “Very well, as you wish” Ida conceded rather easily, Pip looked worried, he had never known Ida to concede so easily on anything and he knew Ida since he was in diapers for she was his mother’s mother. When his parents died tragically Ida took him to the castle and ever since she had been grooming him to take over as the castle’s guardian, a job that was first destined for his mother. “Pip could you light the fire in the library please, there is an awful draught in the castle today” she asked as she descended the stairs rather slowly.

  “Might I suggest some new windows, one’s without broken panes, maybe then the castle might not be as draughty” Ma’am remarked as she followed Pip and James. Quickly Pip had a fire roaring in the hearth and James had helped Ma’am to a seat by the window. She of course complained that the wind was sure to crack her neck in two by the time they were done conversing so she moved herself to a chair by the fire. Ida entered the room followed by the Bunica who smelt a lot better than she did last night and cleaner too. Anta came with her and then finally her brother Andrei who was still looking a little worse for wear. As Ma’am laid eyes on the Romanians they rested on Anta’s face. “You there, how do I know your face?” she asked pointing at Anta.

  “Am, Am, Am” she was lost for words, Anta had never left her village up to last month, she had no idea how the woman could know her. Embarrassed she moved closer to James and brushed up against him, his skin tingled. A quick glance at each other and both blushed before turning away to the rest of the gathering few.

  “Am, my dear is not an answer, never mind it will come to me” Ma’am sn
eered before prompting Ida to sit on the chair opposite her own with the mucky walking stick. Ida took her seat and the others stood around like they were at a spectator sport. “Goodness were all of you raised by apes, someone get the old woman a chair before she falls down” she snapped as Bunica appeared to get a bit weary. “So it appears we’ve come to a mutual enemy” she started.

  “It appears so yes, but let’s discuss this in private shall we?” Ida softly said.

  “Nonsense, war requires bodies, ones a lot younger than ours I’m afraid, we’re the brains” she laughed, no one else did. “So I’ve been watching you lot for a while and I’ve got to say you’re doing a pretty good job”

  “Thank you” Ida replied before being bluntly interrupted.

  “Well you were doing a good job. That is until you left a warrior walk through the veil and slip through your fingers, I mean the veil hadn’t worked in centuries and the first time it did not one but four people came through and you didn’t manage to keep hold of any of them!”

  “I’m sorry but who the hell are you?” Pip asked getting quite annoyed as she berated his grandmother but before she could answer another voice filled the room.

  “Your Grace” he shouted from the foyer and all the heads turned. Robert stood there, his blind eyes crying. “It is you isn’t it” my eyes aren’t so good but my ears have never been better” he moved closer to the library door.

  “My heavens you did manage to keep one, Robert my dear Robert” Ma’am said getting up from her chair and embracing the blind man. “Robert, where is she?”

  With that question he fell to his knees and took her hands in his and continuing to cry he fought to get the words out.

  “Your Grace…….Your Grace she is dead” Ma’am took one hand back and clasped it over her mouth as if to hold in a harrowing cry. There was no more hope; all of her three children had died. It went against nature that a mother outlived her own children but Ma’am had and she felt the pain of it etch through her body even fiercer as Robert’s words filled her ears.

  “The boy, what about the boy?” she asked wiping away the tears with her shawl. James heart began to beat faster and he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder and by his side was Ida.

  “Warren they called him Your Grace, but I’m afraid” her shriek of horror silenced him. “No Your Grace he is alive and well”

  “Oh bless Leon” she smiled.

  “Yes Your Grace but Warren is not much like his mother, nor any member of the Royal Family”

  “But he is a warrior yes?”

  “Yes Your Grace but a warrior who follows his own path and destroys everything that gets in his way” Robert explained. Ma’am looked relieved, it seemed she didn’t care that her grandson was a maniac. “Your Grace I warn you not to extend an olive branch for the branch and tree will be severed along with the hand”

  “Nonsense, he is of my blood, the blood of Pastorious flows in his veins no harm would come to me from his hand” she replied proudly.

  “Am Warren is Cerise’s soldier, the one who tied you up and left you for dead” Pip interjected. He really shouldn’t have bothered because the tongue lashing in front of everyone wasn’t the nicest and that’s when Ida struck, not literally of course, she was a proper lady after all.

  “That is quite enough from you, now either tell us what you know or go back from where you came” she snapped pushing James behind her so as to almost protect him.

  “Ida you cannot speak to her like that, she is Valonia Vadsaria, Queen Consort to the Valiant King Vance Vadsaria of Nuvarin” Robert barked from the threshold still holding on to his Queen’s hand.

  “Well we’re not in Nuvarin now are we Robert? Here she is nothing more than a pensioner” she quipped forcing their hands apart and nudging the blind man back out of the doorway and slamming it shut. Ida made her way back to the fireplace and she took Madam’s seat. James, Pip, Anta and Andrei remained standing against the wall not quite sure what to do, the fight or flight instinct hadn’t really kicked in. Bunica was seemingly falling in and out of a light sleep and with her head bowed she appeared to have slept through the little spat.

  “So Valonia” Ida started as she tapped the mucky seat with the cane. “Of the Veil if memory serves me right” she nodded. “How very apt”

  “I was actually born prematurely. My mother had gone for a stroll alone in the First Forest and just as she was passing by the Veil she went into labour” Valonia explained as she reluctantly sat on the chair, trying her best to remove some of the muck before she did.

  “How very interesting, now if you don’t mind stating your business” Ida said sternly, her patience was beginning to run thin.

  “You don’t mess about do you? Fine, fine have it your way! Well sadly I am no longer the Queen consort, I am now the Widow Queen” there was a loud cry from outside the door; Robert was still there listening to everything and being somewhat overly emotional.

  “James, if you don’t mind taking him away!” Ida asked and James obliged opening the door and leading Robert away with Anta and Andrei following him. As she left Ma’am looked again at her, her face was extremely familiar. “Pip you may go to if you wish”

  “I’ll stay, there is something I have to tell you” he replied closing the door on the foyer and staying with the three old women, one of which had just woken up shouting the word “Ceai”. His curiosity was itching and it seemed the scratch was forthcoming.

  “As you wish, continue” Ida ordered. She seemed to be able to manage the widow Queen a lot easier now she knew who she was.

  “Well my husband died, and my children died and all that was left to rule was my husband’s great-grand nephew who is nothing more than a unknowing puppet and his mother the sow is enjoying lapping up the good graces that has fallen to her lap so much that she doesn’t even see her own strings. Dangerous people have hold of those strings”

  “And you’re not one of them I take it”

  “Of course not. I was pushed out before my husband was even cold”

  “And you’re looking for a way back to the table”

  “I’m looking for the rightful heir to Nuvarin, my grandson belongs on the throne, not that fool, and with my guidance he could become one of the greatest leaders. Imagine, a warrior King” she said almost salivating at the thought. “No one would dare challenge him”

  “Well it looks like you have it all planned out, what do you want with us?”

  “Help in getting the D’aragon girls out of the way. They present a precarious problem to my plan”

  “Quite a mouthful” Ida remarked slyly. “But what do you mean girls? We’ve only come across Cerise”

  “To be fair she is the worst of the three, a red-headed shrew that can be anyone she wants. Then there’s the youngest, Carmine, a doe-eyed little thing that looks as innocent as a lamb but has the nature of a wolf”

  “And the third?”

  “Coque D’aragon. I only heard about her, she isn’t here I don’t think but from what information my husband had gathered she was an aeromancer. That’s why they’ve been ahead of me every step, that’s why Cerise got the upper hand”

  “My, that’s quite a story”

  “All fact I can assure you”

  “So what do you think their plans are here?”

  “I don’t know, but they mustn’t succeed for no good can come from their achievements”

  “No good for Nuvarin no doubt, somehow I think our world would be quite secure”

  “You cannot know that for certain” Ma’am replied and the two of them locked eyes and stared at each other, neither blinking nor looking away.

  “I nope de reesun weigh the grills here” Bunica said lifting her head slowly. She was awake the whole time and appears listening to every word.

  “I thought you didn’t speak any English?” Ida asked. Before she answered the Bunica clicked her fingers and a little spark o
f green light flashed from the tips. Then Pip started shouting,

  “I’m blind, I’M BLIND” he cried as he frantically rubbed his eyes. Bunica clicked her fingers once more and again Pip shouted, “I can’t hear, I CAN’T HEAR, Gran help me I’m deaf” he shrieked, clearly terrified. One more snap and she was done and Pip shouted again yet this time the words had no volume. His lips parted and his tongue wagged but no sound. Frantic and in a severe tizzy Pip unfortunately ran into a bookcase and crashed to the ground knocking himself rather comically unconscious. Ida was about to get out of her chair to help when she was told not to bother, that it was simply a little curse and he would be fine once he woke.

  “So much for the feeble old spinster charade” Ma’am uttered under her breath.

  “Play the fool and no one suspects you the master” Bunica replied with her words a lot more confident sounding. Standing up she kicked the cane across the room and smiled.

  “Anta and Andrei don’t know a lot of things about me but by the time you get to my age you learn many tongues and many tricks”.

  “Anta, as in Antanasia?” Valonia said her mind racing for more.

  “The one who will be reborn?” Ida added, Bunica nodded. Ma’am’s face drained of colour; she finally placed where she had seen Anta’s face before. In Pastorious there were numerous portraits and sculptures of her.

  “She is the foreseen Jipsey Doppelganger” she exhaled, her whole body weakening at the thought. On that revelation the door of the library started to open. Bunica, this time waving her hands around the room, omitted a little swirl of green light forcing the door shut.

  “The oldest of walls have the best hearing” she explained. It was true, the castle was home to many little corridors and hiding places where just about anyone could be at any time listening to things that were not meant for their ears. A shimmering green light lingered against the walls, windows and the door. There was even a little green barrier around the fireplace; it wasn’t clear whether or not Bunica knew it led somewhere more than just a chimney.

  “What did you just do?” Ida asked standing up and running her hand through the light.

  “A barrier, no one can enter or hear what’s about to be said. For the next few minutes anyway”

  “Why, what’s going to be said?”

  “Oh Ida you really would want to catch up! You seem to have the intuition of a scrub-brush” Ma’am snarled. Ida resisted the temptation to wallop her with her cane, mainly because Ma’am had a stick too and it looked a lot stronger. “Has no one ever told you about the Jipsies of Nuvarin? I find that utterly impossible to believe”

  “Well I don’t really like to associate myself with those types” the words had tumbled out of Ida’s mouth before she realised their resonance for Bunica. “Oh I do apologise”

  “I don’t have time for apologies, these red named sisters are coming for my granddaughter and I’ll die before I let them have her” Ma’am and Ida looked at one another and then Ida took her seat by the fireplace once more.

  “It’s almost like you’ve got hemorrhoids you’re up and down so much” Ma’am smirked.

  “How do you know I don’t” she replied lifting herself slightly in the chair and squirming, giving a cheeky smile to Valonia.

  “Well I honestly don’t know how the guardian of the veiled castle doesn’t know one of the biggest historical aspects of Nuvarin, I bet dear Bunica knows, don’t you dear” she said rather patronisingly.

  “I know one side of the story but I would be interested in hearing your side, and if you don’t mind could you please hurry along” Bunica said pointing to the ceiling where the green light was started to recede.

  “A deadline, how encouraging” Ma’am moaned, Ida just rolled her eyes. “It all happened centuries ago in the city of Pastorious” Bunica tutted and pointed to the lowering green. Even though she was small of statue the woman gave off an intimidating presence which prompted Ma’am to just give the highlights of the legend. “The sons of the King of Nuvarin were duelling over a woman, of course, the duel got so intense that accidently one of them struck their mother and she died soon after. Matricide, even accidental, was a crime that could not go unpunished even for a Prince of the realm so he was banished” Bunica’s face turned rather angry and once again she tapped on her wrist, the part where a watch would normally be tied. “Goodness you’re not one for long stories are you?”

  “Not when everybody is about to be able to hear every word you say, including my grandchildren” she replied as the light moved down slowly.

  “The banished prince was beloved by almost everyone in Pastorious and when he left he took hundreds of citizens with him and gave birth to a new city, Kingsbirth in the largest of the five forests, the third forest, now called of course the red forest. When the King died the remaining prince was crowned and on his coronation his brother crowned himself King of the third forest. Being fearful that his brother might once come for the true throne of Nuvarin he declared war and attacked the forest and killed many which is why it is referred to by most as the red forest. In retaliation the banished prince tried to attack Pastorious but was gravely injured and returned to his decimated city. There it was said he enlisted the help of the Jipsies, a people from beyond all forests, who lived in the hills and mountains of Nuvarin” Ma’am took a breath and looked around the room. “I’m parched” she said but Bunica raised a little grey eyebrow and Ma’am continued her little story. “To save him she had to kill him and bring him back to life with a curse, a terrible curse. They say he had a lust for blood, his skin was cold to the touch and his strength matched that of a warrior. But he could not walk in the sun, nor was he immortal yet no one knew how to kill him so the King fought fire with fire. He enlisted a Jipsy of his own, a more powerful one who captured the Red King, as he liked to be called after his transformation, and buried him in the sinking sands before cursing the south of Nuvarin to two suns, one that will never set. And now she is outside that door, well her Doppelganger at least!” Ma’am finished, just as the green light was almost to the floor.

  “Good heavens and what has Anta to do with any of this?” Ida asked looking from old woman to old woman.

  “According to the legend a curse would always have to have a way to be broken so it was foreseen that when five certain events happened in order then the curse would be lifted” Ma’am explained.

  “Do you know what the five things are?”

  “Dear Ida you must have the memory of a fish, I know everything. The first thing was the birth of a royal warrior, that’s happened. Next was the birth of three gifted sisters, I think it’s safe to say that has also occurred and the third was the death of a King” she said, her voice choking slightly. “The fourth is a little bit tricky and I’m not sure if it has happened or not, the banished prince was to be excavated from his grave by a descendant afflicted by the same curse, but I assume that has happened why else would the two sisters be here” she finished.

  “And what about the fifth?” Ida asked staring intently at Ma’am; she was hanging on her every word. Valonia looked at Bunica who was crying.

  “The fifth thing is the death of the Doppelganger” she softly mumbled through the tears. Ida covered her mouth in shock.

  “Well we won’t let that happen” she said getting up from her chair and embracing the old woman.

  “Of course we won’t let that happen” Ma’am added sincerely, but not sincerely enough that she would get out of her chair. Then the green light came to the skirting boards and then it hit the floor and vanished. Four of them burst in through the door, Robert falling in to the library and hitting the ground but luckily he landed on Pip who cushioned his fall.

  “James could you bring Anta and Andrei to the kitchen and make some tea for us please, and perhaps bring some chocolate digestives, I think Pip may need the sugar” Ida asked as Pip started to regain his composure.

 

 
/>   Chapter 11elven:

  Boiled Milk and the Slow Lane