The Lost Treasure of Annwn (3 page)

‘Have I done something wrong?'

‘Not at all,' replied Elan, ‘you've been invited to Annwn to learn more about your coronation. You'll have to satisfy everyone you're the rightful king. No one doubts you are – it's just a formality.'

‘Festival,' interrupted Camelin, ‘aw Jack, you know what that means don't you? Sausages!'

‘The invitation is for Jack,' said Nora.

Camelin hopped over and leant against Jack's shoulder.

‘You wouldn't leave me behind, would you?'

‘If Nora and Elan say you can go then it's alright with me.'

‘Hmmm!' said Nora as she drummed her fingers on the table, ‘I'd say it depends on your behaviour from now until then.'

‘When is the Festival?' Jack asked Nora.

‘The First Fruits celebrates the beginning of harvest, it starts in eleven days' time, and will last until all the fruits have been gathered in.'

‘Blackberry pie,' interrupted Camelin and started his shuffle dance.

Nora laughed.

‘We'll make blackberry pie but only if you help pick them and don't eat too many.'

At the thought of blackberry pie, Jack's mouth began to water and his stomach rumbled. Camelin turned and stared at Jack.

‘Was that you?'

‘I missed breakfast.'

‘We could go and have an early lunch in town,' said Elan. ‘I was going to ask if you'd help me do some shopping. I've got a list of things we're going to need to take back with us to Annwn.'

‘I could manage an early lunch,' replied Camelin.

‘Elan was asking Jack,' said Nora. ‘You know they can't take you into town.'

Camelin glowered at Elan before shuffling off to the other end of the table. Jack tried not to laugh as Elan rolled her eyes.

‘I'll have to let Grandad know.'

‘That's fine; we can call in on our way to Newton Gill.'

‘And you can help me with some chores while they've gone,' added Nora. ‘The herb garden needs weeding.'

Camelin hopped onto the floor and mumbled to himself as he waddled onto the patio.

‘Weeding! She could magic all the weeds out but no… they have to be pulled out by hand or beak. I don't know any other ravens who have to do weeding.'

Jack felt bad. He hadn't meant to upset Camelin but he was overjoyed that Elan was back and there were lots of things he wanted to ask her. A walk to Newton Gill would give them plenty of time to chat. Nora gave Elan some money and then put her hand on Jack's shoulder.

‘Don't take any notice of Camelin, he'll be fine, off you go and have a good time.'

As Jack and Elan reached the hedge, Medric flew past them cackling loudly.

‘Three and four have hatched now,' explained Elan.

 

Grandad was pleased to see Elan and was happy for Jack to go to Newton Gill. He fished in his pocket and gave Jack his loose change. Jack and Elan waved from the gate before turning into the back lane. Jack had been to town with Grandad a couple of times but he'd never walked there before. When they reached the stile Jack saw the fairy mound, which lay between the oak, ash and hawthorn trees.

‘Have you been here before?' asked Elan.

‘Only once. There's a talking door knob in one of the tunnels under that hillock.'

‘Ah! The fairy mound. You haven't met the fairies yet have you?'

‘No, only the door knob when I was looking for the Dorysk.'

‘Fairies are fine in small numbers but when they get together they can be really noisy. It's even worse if they lose their tempers. They instantly shape shift into large angry bees and can only change back when they've calmed down.'

‘What do they look like when they aren't angry?'

‘They're like tiny dryads. They don't have wings of their own so if they want to fly they shape shift into a small winged insect. Some prefer to be beetles, others butterflies or damselflies, nothing too big.'

As they climbed over the stile into the field a pale blue butterfly flitted past them.

‘How you can tell if it's a fairy?' asked Jack.

‘You can't, not unless you'd been formally introduced and they decided they liked you. Only those who've eaten fairy food can see them, and only invited guests are welcome to join them for a meal. Once you've been to a feast with the fair folk you can see them in whatever form they may take.'

‘Can you see them?'

‘Oh yes, so can Nora and the Dorysk too.'

‘What about Camelin?'

‘Fairy food wouldn't interest him and he probably wouldn't eat it if they offered it to him.'

‘Camelin! Refuse food?'

‘You obviously don't know about fairy food. It looks revolting and doesn't taste much better. It's a test to see how polite you are. They like people with good manners. The Dorysk doesn't mind what he eats and is quite partial to maggot pie.'

Jack pulled a face. He wasn't sure how polite he could be if he was offered a plate of maggot pie, especially if the maggots weren't cooked.

‘Not far now,' said Elan as they climbed over the stile at the other side of the field. ‘Once we get to the end of this lane we'll be there.'

‘What are we shopping for?'

‘Nail varnish, scrubbing brushes and jam covers.'

Jack looked puzzled. It wasn't the answer he was expecting.

‘Is the nail varnish for you?'

Elan laughed.

‘No, it's for Ember.'

‘Ember!'

‘She's agreed to take part in the festival and I want to give her a surprise. We'll need scrubbing brushes to clean her feet and lots of silver nail varnish to paint her claws. I'm going to make sure she lives up to her name. By the time we've finished grooming her she'll definitely look like Ember Silver Horn the Magnificent.'

Jack laughed. He'd never imagined that he would find himself grooming a dragon.

‘And the jam covers?'

‘They're for Nora, she's going to make lots of blackberry jelly to take with us for the festival.'

‘Jelly?'

Elan laughed.

‘It's not the kind you put in trifle, this is jam with all the seeds taken out.'

Jack thought that was a good idea. It was annoying when tiny seeds got caught in your teeth. He doubted it would matter to Camelin. The only seed he'd ever heard Camelin complain about was birdseed, especially when he'd been expected to eat it.

When they got to the end of the lane Jack froze. On the other side of the road was the goalkeeper he'd met at the field when he'd tried to join in with a football game soon after he'd come to Glasruhen. The boy had called him names. With him was the tall boy who'd had a bloody nose when Jack had accidentally kicked the ball into his face. Three other boys that Jack didn't recognise were walking with them towards the town.

‘What's the matter?' asked Elan.

‘That's one of the boys who pushed me. The one who wrecked your bunch of flowers.'

‘They're not going to bother us, come on, let's go and get some lunch first, I can hear your stomach rumbling again.'

Jack wasn't sure Elan realised how strong the goalie was. It would be better if they could avoid them altogether. He was going to suggest they waited a while till they were out of sight but Elan had already started to cross the road.

‘Come on, it'll be fine, you'll see.'

Jack wished he could feel as confident as Elan sounded but his legs already felt like jelly. He reluctantly followed her into the High Street.

 

 

TROUBLE

Newton Gill was busy but Jack managed to keep the boys in sight. It wasn't too difficult because three of the gang were tall. As Elan stopped to look in the window of a teashop, two older ladies came out through the door. For a moment they blocked Jack's view and when they'd passed he couldn't see the boys anywhere. He scanned the High Street but they'd gone.

‘It looks really busy in there,' said Elan. ‘We could go to the kebab shop across the road or the café in the square. What do you fancy?'

‘We'd better not have a kebab, Camelin wouldn't forgive us.'

‘He'd never know.'

‘He'd smell it. The café sounds better. I've been there before with Grandad.'

They walked down to the town square and stopped outside a black and white timber-framed building. It had several tables outside on the pavement, each with a large green parasol. Elan pulled out one of the chairs.

‘There's plenty of room out here, we can sit in the sunshine.'

Jack would have preferred to be inside and out of sight, but the café was full. It wasn't long before they'd given their order to the waiter.

‘I think we've been followed,' said Elan.

Jack's heart sank. He looked around but couldn't see the gang.

‘Where are they?' he whispered.

‘They? You're not still worried about those boys are you?'

Jack nodded.

‘Who did you mean?'

‘Someone's just landed in the big yew tree by the church gate! Don't let him know you've seen him.'

Jack looked out of the corner of his eye without moving his head. There was a big black shape hiding in the tree.

‘I wonder if Nora knows he's there?'

There was an explosion of laughter from behind him.

‘Would that be Nutty Nora?'

Jack felt a shiver run down his spine as he slowly turned around. The four boys jostled each other as they each grabbed a chair from the next table. They positioned themselves so they could all see Jack. The goalie, the tallest of the group, didn't sit down. Instead he stood behind Jack, put his hands on the back of his chair and started tilting him backwards. His long greasy hair drooped over Jack's face as he spoke.

‘I didn't hear you, Pixie Boy. I said… was that Nutty Nora you're talking about?'

Jack gulped and summoned up all the courage he had to speak.