Fablehaven I (36 page)

stood all around her, yet they seemed unable to reach out

their hands and grab her. They would lift their arms part of

the way and then stop, as if their limbs refused to obey.

Mendigo, bring me the girl, Muriel commanded.

Mendigo shouldered through the imps. His hand

stretched toward her and then stopped, wooden fingers

twitching, hooks clinking softly.

They can’t touch you, Kendra, Grandpa called from

where he hung shackled to the wall. You have caused no

mischief, worked no magic, inflicted no harm. Run,

Kendra, they can’t stop you!

Kendra pushed between a pair of imps, heading for the

door. Then she stopped short. Can’t I help you?

Muriel is not bound by the laws restraining her minions,

Grandpa shouted. Run all the way home, straight

down the road you came by. Do no harm along the way!

Don’t stray from the path! Then get off the property! Ram

the gate with my truck! Fablehaven will fall! One of us has

to survive!

Muriel, clutching her wounded shoulder, was already in

pursuit. Kendra raced up the stairs and dashed across the

chapel to the front door.

Child, wait! called the witch.

Kendra paused at the threshold of the church and looked

back. Muriel leaned in the doorway that led to the basement.

She looked pale. Blood drenched the arm of her gown.

What do you want? Kendra said, trying to sound

brave.

Why rush off in such a hurry? Stay, we can talk this

through.

You don’t look so good.

This trifle? Loosing a single knot will mend it.

Then why haven’t you done it?

I wanted to talk before you hurried away, the witch

soothed.

What is there to talk about? Let my family go!

demanded Kendra.

I may, in time. Child, you do not want to run off into

the woods at this late hour. Who can say what horrors

await out there?

They can’t beat what’s going on in here. Why are you

releasing that demon?

You could never understand, said Muriel.

Do you think it will be your friend? You’re going to

end up chained to the wall along with the others.

Make no speeches about matters far beyond your

comprehension, Muriel snapped. I have made covenants

that will place me in a position of unfathomable power. After

biding my time for long years, I feel my hour of triumph at

hand. The evening star is rising.

Evening star? Kendra repeated.

Muriel grinned. My ambitions extend far beyond

hijacking a single preserve. I am part of a movement with

much broader objectives.

The Society of the Evening Star.

You could never imagine the designs already in

motion. I have been locked away for years, yes, but not

without means of communicating with the outside world.

The imps.

And other collaborators. Bahumat has been orchestrating

this day since his capture. Time has been our ally.

Watching and waiting, we have quietly leveraged countless

opportunities to gradually secure our release. No prison

stands forever. At times our efforts have borne little fruit.

On gladder occasions, we have toppled many dominoes

with a single nudge. When Ephira succeeded in coaxing

you to open the window on Midsummer Eve, we were

hopeful that events would unfold much as they have.

Ephira?

You looked into her eyes.

Kendra cringed. She did not appreciate a reminder of

the translucent woman in the gauzy black garments.

Muriel nodded. She and others are about to inherit this

sanctuary, a vital step toward reaching our ultimate ends.

After decades of persistence, nothing can forestall me.

Then why not just let my family go? Kendra pleaded.

They would try to interfere. Not that they could at

this point-they had their chance and failed-but I will

take no risks. Come, face the end with your loved ones,

instead of alone in the night.

Kendra shook her head.

Muriel extended her uninjured arm. The fingers, red

with her own blood, contorted into an unnatural shape.

She spoke in a garbled language that made Kendra think of

angry men whispering. Kendra ran out of the church, down

the steps, and over to the wagon. She paused to look back.

Muriel did not appear in the doorway. Whatever spell the

witch had tried to cast apparently had no effect.

Kendra raced down the road. The sunset was still fairly

bright. They had been inside the church for only a few

minutes. Tears began to blind her, but she kept running,

unsure whether she was being pursued.

Her whole family was lost! Everything had happened

so fast! One moment Grandma was confidently offering

assurance; the next, Hugo was destroyed and Seth and

Grandma were captured. Kendra should have been captured

as well, except she had been so overcautious since

arriving at Fablehaven that she was still apparently

shielded by the full power of the treaty. The imps had not

been able to lay a finger on her, and Muriel had been too

injured to give proper chase.

Kendra looked back along the empty road. The witch

would have cured the injury by now, but would probably

not come after her until freeing Bahumat, since Kendra

had such a big head start.

Then again, Muriel could possibly use magic to catch

up with her. But Kendra suspected that the urgency of

unleashing the demon would prevent Muriel from giving

chase for now.

Should she turn around and head back? Try to rescue

her family? How? Throw rocks? Kendra could envision

nothing but certain capture if she were to return.

But she had to do something! When the demon was

released, it would destroy the treaty, and Seth would die,

along with Grandpa, Grandma, and Lena!

The only possibility she could think of was returning to

the house and trying to find a weapon in the attic. Could

she remember the combination to the vault door? She had

watched Grandma open it an hour ago, heard her speak the

numbers aloud. She could not recall them, but felt she

might once she saw it.

Kendra knew she was without hope. The house was miles

away. How many? Eight? Ten? Twelve? She would be lucky to

make it there, let alone back, before Bahumat was free.

There were many knots, and it looked like Muriel

could undo only one at a time. Each knot seemed to take

at least a few minutes. But still, at that rate, it would be a

matter of hours, not days, before the demon was free.

At least finding a weapon at the house was a goal. No

matter how desperate the odds, it gave her a direction to

head and a reason for going there. Who knew what the

weapon would be, or how she would use it, or whether she

could even get into the attic? But at least it was a plan. At

least she could tell herself there was a brave reason for running

away.

A Desperate Gamble

Dreading nightfall did nothing to prevent it. The sunset

diminished and disappeared, until Kendra had

only the light reflected from half a moon to guide her. The

night grew cooler, but not cold. The forest was swathed in

gloomy shadow. Occasionally she heard unsettling sounds,

but she never caught sight of what made them. Although

she glanced back frequently, the road behind remained as

empty as the road ahead.

Kendra alternated between jogging and walking.

Without landmarks, it was difficult to discern how much

ground she was covering. The dirt road seemed to stretch

on forever.

She worried about Grandma Sorenson. Since she had

shot Muriel and used Hugo to cripple the imps, there would

probably be no protection for Grandma from similar torture.

Kendra began to wish she had accepted Muriel’s invitation

to stay at the church with her family. The guilt of

being the only escapee was almost too much to bear.

It was hard to calculate the passage of time. The night

wore on, as endless as the road. The moon gradually

migrated across the sky. Or was it the road changing

direction?

Kendra felt certain she had been on the road for hours

when she reached an open area. The moonlight showed a

scant trail branching away from the road. It ran toward a

tall, shadowy hedge.

The pond with the gazebos! Finally, a landmark. She

could not be more than half an hour from the house, and

there was still no hint of dawn.

How long before Bahumat would be set free? Maybe

the demon was already loose. Would she know when it

happened, or would she not find out until she was mobbed

by monsters?

Kendra rubbed her eyes. She felt weary. Her legs did

not want to walk any farther. She noticed that she was very

hungry. She stopped and stretched for a minute. Then she

started jogging. She could run the rest of the way, right? It

wasn’t too far.

As she passed the meager trail branching from the road,

Kendra skidded to a halt. A new thought had occurred to

her, inspired by the irregular hedge looming off to the side

of the road.

The Fairy Queen had a shrine on the island in the

middle of the pond. Wasn’t she supposed to be the most

powerful person in all the fairy world? Maybe Kendra could

try asking her for help.

Kendra folded her arms. She knew so little about the

Fairy Queen. Apart from hearing that the queen was powerful,

she had heard only that to set foot on her island

meant certain death. Some guy had tried it and turned into

dandelion seeds.

But why was he trying it? Kendra did not think she had

been given a specific reason, just that he had a desperate

need. But the fact that he had tried meant he thought he

might succeed. Maybe he just didn’t have a good enough

reason.

Kendra considered her need. Her grandparents and

brother were about to be killed. And Fablehaven was about

to be destroyed. That would be bad for the fairies too,

wouldn’t it? Or would the fairies not care? Maybe they

would just go elsewhere.

Indecisive, Kendra stared at the faint trail. What

weapon did she expect to find at the house? Probably nothing.

So she would most likely end up crashing through the

gate or climbing it to get away before Bahumat and Muriel

caught up and finished her off. And her family would

perish.

But this Fairy Queen idea might work. If the queen was

so powerful, she would be able to stop Muriel and maybe

even Bahumat. Kendra needed an ally. Despite her noble

intentions, she could not see any way she could succeed on

her own.

Kendra had felt a new sensation inside ever since the

idea had popped into her head. The feeling was so unexpected