A Witch In Winter (27 page)

At last there was only five minutes to go, then one minute. The couples drew together unconsciously, and I found Seth’s hand in the crush and held it tighd ht lat. He squeezed back, and I realized there was something I needed to tell him. Something I needed him to know before the end, if that’s what tonight was.

‘Seth, listen,’ I began. He turned to me, his beautiful face warm in the candlelight, his grey eyes golden with reflected flames, ‘Seth.’ I drew a breath, my heart suddenly loud in my ears, ‘Seth, I—’

But suddenly my voice was drowned out by a cheer as the clock-hand entered the last five seconds.

‘Five!’ shouted someone satirically. ‘Four!’

Others joined in.

‘Three! Two! One …’

‘Seth,’ I said urgently, ‘I lo—’ But Seth kissed me. The sounds of the room grew faint and far off, and all I heard was his breath and mine, ragged with adrenaline, the insistent beat of our hearts thudding together with the same reckless anticipation.

‘Midnight!’

There was a burst of nervous laughter and a cork popped. One of Simon’s friends said fiercely, ‘For heavens’ sakes! Will someone tell these young idiots it’s not a bloody party. We need our wits about us!’

At that the noise died away, and there was silence, apart from the sound of wind at the window, and rain lashing against the pane.

Nothing.

I could hear my heart beating in my ears so loudly I wondered if everyone else could hear it too. The seconds ticked past, and there were murmurs from the crowd, and a couple of suppressed giggles.

Still nothing.

‘Bring it on!’ shouted one of the bikers. There was more laughter – guffaws this time.

Then, ‘They’re here,’ Emmaline whispered. ‘They’re at the castle.’

‘What’s happening?’

‘What can you see?’

‘What are they doing?’

Emmaline shook her head frantically, trying to get a clearer picture I supposed, then said, ‘Damn, it’s gone.’

‘I can tell you what they’re doing.’ Maya looked up from her palm. There was a bee there, sitting quietly, its wings glinting in the lamplight. ‘They’ve smashed the harbour protections. The waters are rising.’

There was a hasty discussion over whether to go or stay put, with tayif everyofierce argument from each camp, but eventually most of the group surged out on to the street and began to walk down through the town. Seth and I followed, still holding hands, shielding our eyes from the driving wind and rain. When we reached the foot of the high street we could see the sea was already over the harbour wall and lapping at the foundation stones of the fishermen’s cottages along the quay.

A group of men coming out of one of the harbour pubs did an astonished double-take and almost tripped into the rising waters.

‘It’s flooding!’ one of them yelled over his shoulder, back into the bar. ‘The harbour’s flooded!’

At that, more drinkers came out, and soon the quay was full of people splashing through the water to secure their boats, or hurrying home to dig out long-disused sandbags. Someone in one of the harbour cottages tuned a radio to the forecast and we all craned to listen.

‘Reports are coming in of a freak storm in the Channel, with gales expected in the shipping areas of Sole, Lundy, Plymouth, Portland, Wight and Dover. The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning. On-shore winds combined with rain and high tides may cause localized flooding in coastal areas. Residents are advised to—’

A church bell began to toll in a mournful distress signal, followed by another, and then another, until the town was filled with a discordant clangour that mingled with the wail of the wind to form an eerie lament.

Doors were opening all up and down the row, and I saw a face appear at the window of the furthest cottage. It was a girl – she looked familiar. I squinted through the darkness trying to make out her features. It was with a shock that I recognized her: Caroline. I knew that she’d seen me too, for her face hardened, but she opened the window and leaned out.

‘Seth,’ she cried above the noise of the bells. ‘Seth, what’s happening?’

I squeezed Seth’s hand, pointing with my free one. He looked up and his expression changed.

‘Take your mum to your gran’s, Caroline. You can’t stay here, the waters are rising.’

‘What are you doing out?’ she called back. ‘Didn’t you hear the forecast?’

But Seth only shook his head. ‘Go to your gran’s,’ he repeated.

‘Seth, please,’ Caroline said. ‘I – I’m scared, Seth. Come with me.’

I let go of his hand.

‘Seth!’ Caroline’s voice was low, pleading, but it reached us, even over the sound of the bells. ‘Seth, I still – please …’

Seth turned his back and stared out to sea. Caroline stayed, leaning out over the dark waters, but then her eyes met mherfont colorine and her expression changed.

‘I hope you drown,’ she spat. The glass in the window rattled as she slammed it shut.

‘Seth,’ I said. He turned, but whatever he might have said was interrupted by an almighty splash as one of the drinkers fell over a submerged mooring ring, cannoning into Seth.

‘Sorry, mate. Christ, it effing stinks,’ the man grumbled.

It was true. The water smelled. Not the fresh, clean smell of the sea, but a foetid stench of rotting fish. It was was dark with weed and silt, and there were creatures in it, deep-sea creatures: white, sightless fish, coiling eels and sucking, tentacled things that I couldn’t name. And it was rising all the time. The benches, which had been dry when we first came down to the quay, were half submerged.

I looked round for Maya – and realized with a shock that she was no longer behind me, that there was nothing there but a dark expanse of choppy water. Seth, Emmaline, Abe and Sienna were all with me, so were Abe’s biker friends Bill and Carl. But Simon and Maya were on the other side of the quay with the rest of the group. We’d been edging away from each other, forced apart by the rising water – and now we were cut off by the swirling black mass that was now the quay. We were trapped, and the only way out led up to the castle, to the Ealdwitan.

‘Ma!’ Sienna yelled.

‘Don’t worry,’ Maya yelled back, ‘we’ll find a way round. Just – just stay out of the water … Oh God!’ She recoiled sharply as a thrashing thing darted out of the dark waters. It snapped at her hand, then fell back with a splash. ‘Stay away from the water, do you hear me?’ She was backing away from the rising tide, up the high street. ‘We’ll get the others from the flat and come to find you.’ Her voice was now almost too faint to hear above the rising wind and the tolling bells. ‘We’ll find you!’

And then they were gone, forced round the corner and out of sight by the rising sea.

‘Well,’ Abe said, flatly. He looked at Bill and Carl, and then shrugged.

‘What do we do now?’ Sienna asked.

‘Move up the hill, I suggest,’ Emmaline said distastefully, watching the murky ooze rise closer.

We all jumped as there was an enormous crash and the small hut where the fishermen sold whelks off the harbour arm swept suddenly into the sea. We watched as the sea battered it into shreds of broken planks – then it disappeared beneath the waves. Emmaline looked shaken.

‘Thank goodness we live up the hill, is all I can say.’

‘Grandad,’ Seth muttered.

‘Sorry, what did you say?’ Sienna asked, cupping ske awayher ear against the wind.

‘My grandad. He lives on the Spit.’ He pointed out to sea. Abe, Sienna and Emmaline all looked at each other, and then Sienna turned back to Seth.

‘I’m very sorry.’

Just then Emmaline gave a gasp and staggered, putting a hand to a gash on her cheek.

‘You’re bleeding!’ Abe shouted, over the roar of the wind.

‘I was hit,’ Emmaline said in wonderment, ‘by something hard.’

She looked down at her feet. There was a huge green barnacled crab scuttling away.

‘Time to go, I think.’ Abe jerked his head towards the road. We nodded and began to climb.

It was the route I walked home from school, but the familiar path looked very different in the moonlight, slashed with fallen branches and driftwood. As we walked, straining into the wind, Seth’s eyes kept drifting out to sea, and I knew he was thinking of his grandfather, trapped out there with the rising waters. My heart tore for him – and suddenly my mind was made up.

‘We have to do something,’ I said. ‘We can’t let them destroy Winter like this. The town’s cut off – we’re the only people who can reach the castle now. It’s up to us.’

‘We have to wait for Ma,’ Sienna said. I shook my head,

‘There’s no time. It’ll take them hours to get round the headland to find us. The whole village could be under by that time.’

‘But there’s only six of us,’ Abe said. ‘Seven, if you count the useless one.’ He jerked his thumb at Seth. ‘Emmaline, how many did you see up at the castle?’

‘I only caught a glimpse,’ she said, ‘but at least twenty – more perhaps. I don’t know.’

‘Considerably more,’ said a dry voice and, turning, we saw Mr Brereton in our path. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his glasses were misted with salt, but he was standing upright, in spite of the tearing gale.

‘Mr Brereton!’ I cried, stupidly.

‘I take it, my dear, that you haven’t come to tell us of your change of heart?’ he asked. I shook my head vehemently. ‘Then I’m sorry, my dear, you leave me with no choice.’

Somehow, although his voice was as calm and quiet as ever, he had no trouble in making himself heard above the storm.

‘I command you to stop.’ He held out his hand and suddenly mynd 00000">‘ feet were rooted to the ground. ‘All of you, stop.’

I couldn’t move. I literally couldn’t lift a foot. It was the strangest feeling. I tried pulling cautiously, then harder, and finally I wrenched with all my strength, but it was like my shoes had been glued to the tarmac. My skin might have been part of the road, for all the good straining did. Turning, I could see by the expressions of the others that they’d suffered the same.

‘Mr Brereton,’ screamed Emmaline, ‘let go
now
!’

She flung out an arm, palm outstretched towards him. Mr Brereton staggered; for a moment my feet grew lighter and I almost stumbled forwards – but then he seemed to recover.

‘Ah, Emmaline Peller, if I’m not mistaken,’ he said smoothly. ‘You always were a most unpleasant child. Little girls should be seen and not heard.’

He pointed towards her and she opened her mouth to retort – or tried to. As I watched, her eyes bulged and her face contorted in distress, but she seemed completely unable to open her mouth. Only muted sounds of horror came from her sealed lips as she tore at her face with her hands.

‘You bastard!’ Abe bellowed. He raised his hand and a bolt of lightning struck Mr Brereton squarely on the forehead. He was flung into the air, back towards the edge of the cliff, and before he could rise Abe hit him again with another crack of lightning.

Just as he was about to try a third, Mr Brereton scrambled to his knees and howled, ‘Terrethum!’ Abe tumbled, like a felled tree, and lay on the ground as if stunned.

‘Kveykva!’ Bill drew back his hand and flung a ball of white light. Mr Brereton cowered to the ground, but it passed overhead harmlessly. Then, stumbling to his feet yet again, Mr Brereton drew himself up to his full height and drew a circle in the air. A rope seemed to shimmer there, and he caught both ends in his fist, drawing them tighter, and tighter.

A band of steel closed around my chest. My lungs were being crushed, and I looked around me in panic, but had no breath to call for help, and no one to help me anyway. Beside me Seth was doubled in agony, tiny shallow breaths hissing between his teeth. Emmaline had her arms wrapped around herself and a look of mute terror in her eyes. It was like being held in a vice; with every breath I exhaled the band drew tighter around my ribs until there was no air left at all. Finally I could only heave uselessly, my ribs straining with the effort, but totally unable to get any oxygen to my lungs. There were stars in front of my eyes, and a dull hissing in my ears. My vision grew black, began to fracture. Through the black mist I saw Seth fall to the ground beside me.

As my head spun, I tried to recall the surge of power I’d had before, the surge of rage and love which had let me dive to Seth’s rescue without needing oxygen, without needing anything except magic. I’d done it then, I could do it now.

I summoned all my powers – and took a breath.

It was like silver light gushing through my lungs – a breath so wonderful, so glorious, I felt I’d never take life or lungs for granted ever again.

‘Get off them!’ I screamed at Mr Brereton. He looked round at me, startled. It was almost as if he’d forgotten I was there. Suddenly I could move my feet and beside me Seth, Emmaline and the others were moving too, stumbling forward with choking gasps, inhaling air as if it was the first breath they had ever taken.

‘Get away!’ I thrust my hands out and Mr Brereton staggered back, towards the cliff. ‘You hateful, hateful man!’ He stumbled from my searing rage, shielding his eyes, doubled up against the fury of my attack. ‘Leave them
alone
!’