Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief (14 page)

“Shut up, idiot!” growled a voice close to his ear.
Amy?
Seconds later he was out of the mist and bobbing in the clear water where they had first emerged. The fuzziness that filled his head was clearing as everything became glaringly clear. He had failed.

“Follow me,” hissed Amy, swimming towards the cliff face that dropped down from the castle. Alfie swam after her, following the cliff around until they were out of sight of the courtyard walls.

“
Did I make it far?” asked Alfie, between chattering teeth.

“Far? You only got a couple of metres in before you started swimming in circles and trying to drown yourself. Luckily I was able to grab you from the edge when you got close enough, but even there I could feel it starting to affect me.”

“So, there's really no way anyone is getting in or out,” said Alfie, his heart sinking into his stomach as he stared out at the dome. This was happening because of his inheritance. He felt the weight of that fact like an anvil tied to his feet, dragging him down. “It's up to us.”

He turned and began to paddle in the direction of the underwater entrance. “Come on, let's get back inside. Ashford might have a better idea.”

Amy grabbed his arm.

“Alfie, we can't go back.” Her face was pale in the moonlight as she held up her empty hands. Alfie stared at her and finally realized what she was telling him. The rope. It had gone.

“It wasn't long enough. I had to let it go when I swam over to get you. It sank.”

Alfie stared. He couldn't blame Amy. He would have drowned if she hadn't come after him, but if they couldn't get back into the castle the others
would
think that the elves had taken them – they might even surrender. He had to get back inside, but without the rope there was no way to find the grate and swim against the current that flowed through the tunnel under the castle.

He looked up at the castle high atop the cliff. He could see the window to Artan's room.

“We could try climbing up there,” said Amy, following his gaze.

Alfie had visited a climbing wall many times with Amy when he had lived in the city. The cliff was craggy and didn't look too difficult to climb, but the smoother castle stonework was a different story.

“Impossible.” He shivered. His hands and arms were starting to feel numb.

“So we just hang around down here?”

“Unless you want to climb the hill and shout over the walls for them to lower the drawbridge…”

Amy slapped her hand over his mouth. “Move,” she whispered urgently before swimming swiftly towards the cliff. Alfie followed. They pulled themselves up on to the rocks near the base of one of the narrow waterfalls that cascaded down from the castle moat and crawled quickly into a hollow behind it.

Amy
pointed out at the lake as Alfie wedged himself into the hollow with her. He strained his eyes to see what had startled her. Something dark was skimming across the surface of the lake.

“What is it?” mouthed Amy.

It was difficult to make out the shape in the dark as they peered through a gap in the flowing water. Whatever it was, it seemed to be criss-crossing the lake, searching for something.

“Do you think they sent it? Do they know we're out here?”

“Maybe,” whispered Alfie, but as the shape did a little flip before circling around again, Alfie's heart leapt. He let out a low whistle.

“What are you doing?” whispered Amy, slapping her hand over his mouth again. But she was too late; it turned and shot towards them. Alfie felt her grip on his wrist relax as she finally recognized the looming creature.

“Artan!” she cried as the bear splashed through the cascading water to join them in the little hollow.

“Funny time to go swimming,” he boomed as he shook himself, showering them with water.

“
How about we all stick together and not enact any daring missions without talking to each other first?” said Ashford.

“Agreed,” said Alfie. He was sitting next to Amy in front of a blazing fire Robin had lit in the Great Hall fireplace. They were both still shivering, despite being back in their dry clothes.

Ashford was sitting rather stiffly in one of the armchairs, Madeleine cross-legged by his feet, keeping an eye on him as she stroked Galileo, who had stretched out in front of the fire as though he didn't have a care in the world.

“You're lucky we found Galileo yowling in the undercroft,” said Robin. “He was scratching at the door to the cellars. When we realized you'd gone through there we figured out what you were trying to do. I hung around the pool for a bit, and when you didn't come back up we sent Artan to search for you.”

“Thanks, Rob,” said Alfie. He patted Artan's head, which was resting on the bench next to him.

“Next time you do something daft, take my whistle with you!” said the bear.

“I take it you didn't find a way out?” asked Madeleine.

“We couldn't get through the mist,” said Alfie.
“
It kind of dulls your brain the second you enter it. It makes you imagine things.”

“The mists of forgetfulness,” said Ashford. “Which I
could
have told you about
if
you'd spoken to me before heading off on your own. They border the elven realm. The elves can harness them, to an extent. You're lucky you didn't get far. Even if you had managed to journey through it – an almost impossible task – you would have come out the other side unable to remember even your own name.”

Alfie shuddered despite the warmth of the fire.

Robin had collected up the food Alfie and Amy had left in the cellars and laid it out on the huge oak table. Ashford stayed in the armchair as they went over to eat.

“Are you sure you don't want anything?” asked Amy, pouring out glasses of apple juice. Ashford didn't answer. He was already asleep, lying against the wing of the chair.

“Is he going to be OK?” Alfie quietly asked Madeleine as he idly crumbled the crackers on his plate.

“I did the best I could with the wound,” said Madeleine. “The salve seemed to help, but…” she turned to make sure Ashford was still asleep.
“
It's bad. He's covered in bruises. I think he has a couple of broken ribs and maybe blood poisoning. He needs help. Soon.”

They finished their meal in near silence, sharing worried glances every time Ashford made the slightest noise in his sleep. As the clock ticked past four o'clock, no one had come up with an even slightly workable escape plan. Alfie was fighting to stay awake and Madeleine's yawning was infectious.

“Maybe we should catch a few hours sleep,” suggested Robin.

“I guess there's nothing else we can do,” Alfie sighed.

They grabbed cushions from the Abernathy Room and made makeshift beds on the rugs in front of the fire. No one wanted to be alone.

Alfie lay awake long after Amy and his cousins had joined Ashford in sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the elves in the courtyard. They had invaded his home, hurt his friends, and cut him off from his family. As tiredness overcame even his worries, he promised himself one thing – they wouldn't get away with it.

The Siege of Hexbridge Castle

A loud trumpeting rang through even the shuttered windows, wrenching Alfie from dark dreams. They had slept well into the afternoon.

“It's
her
!” Ashford pulled himself to his feet, groaning with pain. “They won't wait any longer, not now that she's here. Quick, put your chain mail back on.”

“But they can't get in. So we're still safe – aren't we?” asked Robin as they hurriedly pulled on the mail shirts they had discarded before going to sleep. Ashford's face answered the question.

“We need to see what she's doing,” he said
quickly.
“Alfie, have you ever found anything that looks like a black mirror?”

“Yes. Just the other day, how did you—”

“Get it for me please.”

Running through the entrance hall and up the stairs to the library, Alfie could hear loud chanting creeping into the castle as the elves welcomed their Queen.

The mirror was where he had left it, in a hidden compartment in his four-poster bed. Clasping it to his chest as he hurried downstairs, he wondered how Ashford could possibly know of its existence. He stopped as a terrible thought slunk into his mind. What if Ashford
didn't
know? Could they have been fooled by the same trick twice? He slipped the mirror behind the bottom of a tapestry before heading back to the Great Hall.

“Do you have it?” Ashford asked eagerly as Alfie returned. Alfie sat down across the table from him.

“How did you know about the mirror?” he asked. A strange look passed fleetingly over the butler's face.

“That doesn't matter right now,” he said quickly. “We need to see what they are doing out there. I need that mirror.”

“
And I suppose you want the talisman too, for safekeeping or something like that?”

“What's going on in your head, Alfie?” asked Madeleine. “I cleaned that wound on his shoulder. It's real.”

“That doesn't mean he's really him though,” said Alfie, watching Ashford for anything that would give him away as an imposter. “Maybe it's another sprite doing a better job of imitating him this time.”

“Oh, come on, Alfie!” said Madeleine as the elves began their drumming again in the courtyard. “We need to know what's going on out there.”

“It's OK, Maddie,” said Ashford touching her arm gently as he gazed back at Alfie. “He's right to be wary. It would take too long to explain how I know about the mirror right now, so ask me some questions instead. Things that others wouldn't know.”

Alfie thought quickly. “What happened in the cellars during the Christmas play?”

“Murkle and Snitch, your teachers, attempted to burn open the seal that Orin set above the place where dragons sleep,” said Ashford without a moment of hesitation. “I stopped you from running straight towards them, but they had heard you. I
became
careless and was knocked unconscious. You had to deal with them yourself.”

Ashford looked away from Alfie as he said this. He either felt guilty over it, or he was a very good actor.

“OK, he proved he's him.
Now
will you get the mirror?” said Madeleine.

“One more thing,” said Alfie. Madeleine let out an exasperated cry. “Emily Fortune. What is she to you?” Ashford met his eyes again.

“Everything.” Alfie could see the same look in Ashford's eyes as he had seen in Emily's when she talked about him. No one could ever fake that. He ran back and grabbed the mirror from its hiding place.

“Courtyard,” said Alfie firmly. He placed the mirror on the table and everyone gathered around. The black surface flickered to life, revealing the formidable woman they had seen at Muninn and Bone standing on one of the stone benches in the courtyard garden. Merioch stood on her right as she addressed around forty elves kneeling before her.

“What do you think she said?” asked Amy as the elves jumped up, thumped their fists to their chests and held their bows aloft. Their cheers could be heard through the castle doors.

“
I don't know,” said Alfie as the elves parted to create a path for the Queen as she strode towards the castle. “But I don't think she was telling them to go home.” Alfie picked up the mirror and they rushed to the entrance hall, listening for a pounding on the door.

“What is she doing?” asked Madeleine as the knock they all expected didn't come. She pulled at Alfie's arm so that she could look into the mirror.

“Let go, Maddie. I can't see.”

“Tilt the mirror,” said Ashford, “You can use it to look around, like an eye.”

Alfie tilted the mirror around until he could see the Queen standing before the door, surrounded by elves nocking arrows to their bows. She raised her hands and placed one on each of the huge doors.

“Is she trying to push them open?”

“Wait, what's happening around her fingers?” said Robin.

Alfie stared hard at the tiny figure in the mirror. Something was happening to the wood around her hands. The door began to groan and creak in its frame. Shoots and leaves were beginning to sprout from the ancient dead wood. A leaf unfurled from the keyhole. More and more sprang from every crack as the wood came back to life.

“
She's coming through!” said Ashford. “We need to hide. Now!”

“Where?” cried Madeleine, looking frantically around the hall. “The cellars?”

“They'd find us,” said Ashford. Roots began to crawl from the base of the door, tearing up the mosaic floor tiles.

“Orin's study!” said Alfie, clutching the talisman around his neck. “We'll be safe there. They can't get in without this.”