Fablehaven: The Complete Series (29 page)

“Could something have happened to him?” Seth asked.

“A golem may seem like little more than animated matter granted elementary intelligence, but most creatures on this preserve fear Hugo. Few could harm him if they tried. He will be our chief ally in rescuing your grandfather.”

“What about Warren?” Kendra asked. “Will he help too?”

Grandma frowned. “You have not met him because his mind has been ruined. Dale has remained on this preserve mainly in order to care for him. Warren is lost in a catatonic stupor. Fablehaven has many stories. His is another tragic tale of a mortal venturing where he did not belong. Warren will be no help to us.”

“Anybody else?” Seth asked. “Like the satyrs?”

“Satyrs?” Grandma exclaimed. “When have you met satyrs? I may have some choice words for your grandfather when we find him.”

“We met them by accident in the woods,” Kendra assured her. “We were taking stew from what looked like a well, and they warned us that we were actually stealing from an ogress.”

“Those rogues were protecting their underhanded operation more than you,” Grandma huffed. “They have been pilfering her stew for years. The scoundrels didn’t want to have to rebuild their thieving device—probably sounded too much like work. Satyrs live for frivolity. The ultimate fair-weather friends. Your grandfather and I share a mutual respect with various beings on this preserve, but there is not much more loyalty than one would find out in the wild. The herd looks on as the sick or injured are brought down by predators. If your grandfather is to be rescued on such short notice, it will be our doing, with none but Hugo to aid us.”

* * *

It was late afternoon when they reached the yard. Grandma stood with her hands on her hips, taking in the scene. The ruined tree house. The damaged furniture strewn about the garden. The gaping, glassless windows.

“I’m afraid to go inside,” she muttered.

“You don’t remember how bad it is?” Kendra asked.

“She was a chicken, remember?” Seth said. “We ate her eggs.”

Creases appeared on Grandma’s brow. “It feels like such a betrayal to have your home violated,” she said softly. “I know sinister evils lurk in the woods, but they have never crossed that boundary.”

Kendra and Seth followed Grandma across the yard and up the porch steps. Grandma stooped and picked up a copper triangle, attaching it to a hook hanging from a nail. Kendra remembered noticing the triangle dangling among the wind chimes. A short copper rod was linked to the triangle by a chain of beads. Grandma clanged the rod noisily around the inside of the triangle.

“That should bring Hugo,” Grandma explained. She crossed the porch and paused in the doorway, staring into her home. “It looks like we were bombed,” she murmured. “Such senseless vandalism!”

She roamed the gutted house in a somber daze, occasionally pausing to pick up a damaged frame and examine the torn photograph inside or to run her hand along the remnants of a beloved piece of furniture. Grandma climbed the stairs and went to her room. Kendra and Seth watched her rummage through the closet, finally withdrawing a metal lunch box.

“At least this is intact,” Grandma said.

“Hungry?” Seth asked.

Kendra slapped him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. “What is it, Grandma?”

“Follow me.”

Downstairs in the kitchen, Grandma opened the lunch box. She removed a handful of photographs. “Help me lay these out.”

The photos were of the house. Each room was shown from several angles. The exterior was also displayed from multiple perspectives. In total there were more than a hundred pictures. Grandma and the children began spreading them across the kitchen floor.

“We took these pictures in case the unthinkable ever occurred,” Grandma said.

Kendra suddenly made the connection. “For the brownies?”

“Clever girl,” said Grandma. “I’m not sure whether they will be up to the challenge, considering the extent of the damage, but they have worked miracles in the past. I’m sorry this calamity befell us during your stay.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Seth said. “It happened because of me.”

“You mustn’t assume all the blame,” Grandma insisted.

“What else can we do?” Kendra said. “We caused it.”

“Kendra didn’t do anything,” Seth said. “She tried to stop me. The whole thing is my fault.”

Grandma regarded Seth pensively. “You did not mean to harm Grandpa. Yes, you made him vulnerable through your disobedience. As I understand, you were commanded not to look out the window. Had you heeded the order, you would not have been tempted to open the window, and your grandfather would not have been taken. You must face that fact, and learn from it.

“But the full blame for Stan’s predicament is considerably more guilt than you deserve. Your grandfather and I are the caretakers of this estate. We are responsible for the actions of those we bring here, especially children. Stan allowed you to come here to do your parents a favor, but also because we need to start selectively sharing this secret with our posterity. We will not be around forever. The secret was shared with us, and a day came when the responsibility of this enchanted refuge fell on our shoulders. One day we will have to pass the responsibility on to others.”

She took Seth and Kendra by the hands and fixed them with a loving gaze. “I know the mistakes you made were not deliberate or malicious. Your grandfather and I have made plenty of mistakes ourselves. So have all the people who ever lived here, no matter how wise or cautious. Your grandfather must share the blame for placing you children in a situation where opening a window with kind intentions could cause such harm and destruction. And clearly the fiends who abducted him are ultimately the most culpable.”

Kendra and Seth were silent. Seth scrunched up his face. “If it wasn’t for me, Grandpa would be fine right now,” he said, fighting hard not to cry.

“And I would still be a chicken in a cage,” Grandma said. “Let’s worry about fixing the problem instead of the blame. Don’t despair. I know we can set things right. Take me to Dale.”

Seth nodded, sniffing and rubbing his forearm across his nose. He led the way across the back porch, weaving through the garden toward their destination.

“There really aren’t many fairies,” Grandma said. “I’ve never seen the yard so devoid of life.”

“There haven’t been many around ever since they attacked Seth,” Kendra said. “Since Grandpa vanished there have been even fewer.”

When they stood over the painted, life-size metal statue of Dale, Grandma shook her head. “I’ve never seen this particular enchantment, but that’s certainly Dale.”

“Can you help him?” Kendra asked.

“Perhaps, given sufficient time. Part of counteracting an enchantment is understanding who placed it, and how.”

“We found tracks,” Seth said. He showed Grandma the print in the flowerbed. Although the impression had faded a bit, it remained recognizable.

Grandma frowned. “It doesn’t look familiar. Many creatures run wild on festival nights that we otherwise never encounter—which is why we take cover indoors. The print may not even be a relevant clue. It could belong to the perpetrator, or to the mount the perpetrator rode, or it could belong to something that just happened to step there sometime during the night.”

“So we just ignore Dale for now?” Kendra asked.

“We have no alternative. Time is short. We can only hope that by rescuing your grandfather, we can shed more light on what caused Dale’s condition and find a way to reverse the curse. Come.”

They returned to the house. Grandma spoke over her shoulder as they mounted the stairs to the second floor. “There are a few special strongholds within the house. One is the room where you have been staying. Another is a second room on the other side of the attic.”

“I knew it!” Kendra said. “I could tell from outside there had to be more to the attic. But I could never find a way in.”

“You were probably searching in the wrong place,” Grandma said, leading them down the hall to her room. “The two sides of the attic are not interconnected. When we get up there, I’ll fill you in on my strategy.” Grandma crouched and picked through a broken nightstand. She found a few hairpins and used them to pile her hair into a matronly bun. Searching more, she located a key. She led them into the master bathroom, where she used the key to unlock a closet door.

Instead of a closet, the door opened to reveal a second door, this one made of steel with a large combination wheel. A vault door. Grandma began spinning the wheel. “Four turns right to 11, three left to 28, two right to 3, one left to 31, and half a turn right to 18.”

She pulled a lever, and the heavy door clacked open. Carpeted stairs led up to another door. Grandma went up first. Seth and Kendra joined her in the attic.

This side of the attic was even larger than the playroom. Grandma flipped a switch, and several lights dispelled the dimness. A long workbench dominated one side of the room, the wall above it covered with tools supported on pegs. Handsome wooden cabinets lined the other walls. Various unusual objects littered the room—a birdcage, a phonograph, a battle-ax, a hanging scale, a mannequin, a globe the size of a beach ball. Trunks and boxes were arranged in rows on the floor, leaving just enough aisle space to access them. Heavy curtains concealed the windows.

Grandma motioned them over to the workbench, where they perched on stools. “What’s in all the boxes?” Seth asked.

“Many things, most of them unsafe. This is where we guard our most prized weapons and talismans. Spell books, ingredients for potions, all the good stuff.”

“You can tell us more about Grandpa now?” Kendra said.

“Yes. You heard Nero say that Stan and Lena are being held in the Forgotten Chapel. Let me summarize some history to bring the ramifications into view.

“Long ago, this land was possessed by a powerful demon named Bahumat. For centuries, he terrorized the natives who dwelt in the region. They learned to avoid certain areas, yet even with these precautions, nowhere in the vicinity was truly safe. The natives made whatever offerings the demon seemed to require, but still they lived in fear. When a group of Europeans offered to overthrow the demon in exchange for a claim to the lands it haunted, the incredulous local leaders consented.

“Aided by mighty allies and potent magic, the Europeans successfully subdued and imprisoned the demon. Some years later, they founded Fablehaven on the land they wrested from Bahumat.

“Years passed. In the early 1800s, a community comprised chiefly of extended family had developed on this preserve. They built a number of dwellings around the original mansion. This was before the current house and barn were constructed. The old mansion still stands deep within this property, though most of the flimsier structures around it have been swallowed by time and the elements. Although their homes are gone, they did construct one lasting structure—a church.

“In 1826, thanks to human frailty and foolishness, Bahumat nearly escaped. It could have been a serious disaster, because none who remained on the preserve possessed the resources or knowledge to contend successfully with an entity of his power. Although the jailbreak was prevented, the experience proved too unnerving for most who lived here, and the majority departed.

“The prison that held the demon had been damaged. With outside help, Bahumat was moved to a new holding area in the basement of the church. Meetings there ceased a few months after that, and in the intervening years it has become known as the Forgotten Chapel.”

“So Bahumat is still there?” Kendra said.

“Believe me, we would know if Bahumat had been loosed. I doubt anyone in the world has the capacity to recapture that fiend if he were to get free. His kind have been absent for too long, imprisoned or destroyed. Those who knew how to defeat such a foe have passed on, with none to replace them. Which brings me to my greatest concern: that Muriel might try to release Bahumat.”

“Would she do something that stupid?” Seth cried.

“Muriel is a student of evil. She was originally imprisoned for tampering with such things. If she reaches the Forgotten Chapel first, which she may have already done, assuming her imps have apprised her of the situation, we will have to neutralize her in order to save your grandfather. If we allow her enough time to release Bahumat, we will all need saving. That is why I must try to stop her immediately.”

“Not just you,” Seth said.

“Hugo and I will handle this. You kids have done enough.”

“What?” Seth exclaimed. “No way!”

“Retrieving your grandfather should not be too difficult. But if the worst-case scenario transpires, and I fail, Fablehaven could fall. Bahumat never agreed to the treaty that protects this sanctuary. None of his kind would. He has a claim to this land and is a being of sufficient power to overthrow the treaty, plunging the preserve into endless darkness. Every day would become like those fearful festival nights, and this property would be forever uninhabitable for all but the denizens of shadow. Any mortal trapped here would fall prey to horrors too terrible to contemplate.”