The Witch's Revenge (26 page)

“It looks as if it has been closed down. What's happened?”

“I suppose the Eye's influence extended to the Underground, too,” said Bertie miserably as the friends gathered on the platform.

“But catching a train was our only hope,” said Aldiss.

“How will we get Montgomery home now?” added Morag.

“Are you folks trying to get back to Marnoch Mor?” asked a voice behind them.

They spun round to see a man with green skin dressed in a train driver's uniform. He had come from one of the tunnels. Morag didn't have time to ask what kind of creature he was but noticed his badge saying
Marnoch Mor Express
.

“Yes, we are,” Bertie replied excitedly. “Can you tell us when the next train will come?”

“Who knows?” the man replied with a shrug. “The magic's off for the foreseeable future and the whole Magical Underground Railway network is down. The trains aren't
running. Most of them have stopped in the middle of tunnels. The Express I was driving is about half a mile down the track, that way,” he said, pointing.

They all peered, and although they could see no train, several disheveled passengers were emerging from the tunnel. Three witches carrying new brooms wrapped in brown paper came out first, followed by a couple of gnomes in red hats, three horses and a pair of ghostly women with floating white hair.

“This way, please, magic folk!” shouted the driver. “We've terminated at Irvine. Remember, it is a human settlement, so please bear that in mind when proceeding with your journeys.”

They grumbled as they climbed the steps to the cave above and when the last one had left, Morag had an idea. She stopped the driver from following the others by grabbing his arm.

“Could I ask you something before you go?” she said politely. He looked at her expectantly. “Does the train run only on magic produced at Marnoch Mor?”

“I'm not sure,” he replied, scratching his chin, causing little leaves to fall from his cuff. “I've never tried anything else. Why do you ask?”

“I just wondered if another source of magic could get the train going again, that's all,” she answered.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I'm not going to try it! Is that all?”

Morag nodded and the driver turned and hurried up the stairs.

“What were you getting at there?” Shona asked Morag.

“I think I may have a solution to our problem,” replied the girl, her eyes shining with hope. “Come on, let's go and find that train.”

The Marnoch Mor Express was exactly where the driver had said. The door to the last of its three carriages was wide open. They all clambered in, happy to be out of the dark, echoing tunnel. Using the connecting doors, Morag led the band of friends from carriage to carriage until she reached the doorway to the driver's cab. She opened it and smiled.

“Please, can you pass me Henry?” she asked, pulling Mina's tooth from her pocket.

Shona removed the medallion from around Montgomery's neck and passed it to her. Then she carried the wizard to a huge pink seat and carefully laid him down.

Henry looked annoyed at being disturbed; he had been enjoying a little nap in the warmth of Montgomery's sweater. “What now?” he asked.

“I need your magic again,” said Morag, putting him with the tooth and holding them up. “Can you make this thing go?”

Henry's tiny eyes swiveled around as he looked at the train's controls. “I can try,” he said, “but I can't drive the thing. One of you will have to do that.”

“No problem,” said Bertie, producing another jar of Instant Driver from his satchel and handing it to Morag.

“Let's do it,” said Morag.

“How degrading,” sighed Henry as he got himself ready.
“I am a magical medallion of the highest order, not a bloomin' train driver.”

“Oh, stop whining and get on with it,” Morag hissed.

The medallion threw her a dirty look, closed his eyes and concentrated. Channeling the power of the witch's tooth, Henry mustered all his energies into getting the train moving again. As he did this, Bertie took a glass of water from his satchel, dripped it on the dust from the Instant Driver jar and again a gray train driver materialized.

“We'll be moving in just a moment,” Bertie told him.

“Nothing's happening,” whispered Aldiss.

“Shhhh!” warned Morag.

They waited, but the medallion seemed unable to muster enough magic to get the train started.

“Um … Morag!” Shona called from the carriage. “I think you should see this.”

“I can't, Shona,” the girl cried, keeping her eyes fixed on Henry.

“Morag, come here now!” the dragon shouted.

Morag looked round with a frown. “What's the matter?” she called. She put Henry on the dashboard and ran through. The dragon was pointing at the other carriages behind theirs.

“We have company,” she said.

Morag peered through the window in the door at the end of the carriage. Something was moving farther down the train. A group was stalking up the aisles toward them. She could see the unmistakeable form of Devlish with his shock of red hair, the four-armed Kang and Mephista.

“How did
she
escape?” the girl gasped in disbelief. “And how did they find us so quickly?”

“I think your answer is hanging in the air,” the dragon said.

Morag sniffed. A terrible, choking stench was filtering down the train. There, behind the witch, was a scraggy, stinking Klapp demon.

“Tanktop,” spat Morag.

“How did he …? I don't understand,” said Aldiss.

“He must have followed us. They are very good trackers,” said Shona. “Maybe
he
freed Mephista.”

“Oh no! Do you think Kyle is all right?” cried Morag. “And we'll have to hide Bertie's bag. It's the only way to save my parents.”

“I'm sure … What? Your parents?” Shona began, then shook her great green head.

“Never mind, I'll explain it all later,” Morag replied, returning to the cab. “Henry, get a move on, they're coming for us.”

Shona bounded down the aisle. “Hurry!” she shouted to Morag. “Come and help me uncouple the carriage. It's the only way to stop them getting in here.”

As Morag raced over, Henry concentrated even harder on jolting the train into motion.

“Keep going!” cried Aldiss, shaking his little paws in panic.

“This is most worrying,” said Bertie. “Maybe
everything
is running out of magic. Maybe there's no magic left.…” Shona wrenched open the carriage door and looked at
the coupling: two great iron hooks locked together with bolts.

“No way,” said Morag. “We need tools to do this!”

Just then the carriage buckled and swayed. Morag looked up. Kang and Tanktop were bounding toward them with bloodthirsty grins.

“Stand back,” said Shona. “I'm going to smash these things apart.”

“Hurry,” said Morag, voice trembling. Mephista, Devlish, Kang and Tanktop were halfway down the carriage.

“I'm going as fast as I can!” snapped the dragon, tugging and pulling.

“Oh no, Mephista's got her wand back!” Morag gasped, watching as the witch raised it, ready to strike. “Bertie, Aldiss! They're coming!” she screamed.

In the driver's cab, Aldiss was dancing with fear, Bertie was starting to molt and Henry vibrated with strain.

“Henry, we need to go NOW!”

The clang of tearing metal made them jump as Shona fell backward into the carriage.

“Got it!” she panted, slamming the door behind her, just as a bolt from Mephista's wand struck. The fierce sparks exploded against the window, showering them with fragments of glass. Shona fell face-first to the floor, and Morag dove behind the seats as the carriage rocked violently.

“Get up and run!” commanded Shona, crouching against the door. “They're trying to break through. I can hold them back, but not for long.”

An explosion echoed down the tunnel. There was a deafening screech of metal striking metal. The floor of the carriage shuddered and tilted. Shona watched as Morag staggered to her feet on the unsteady floor.

“Are you all right?” the girl called.

“Morag—MOVE!”

But instead of running to the driver's cab, the girl threw herself at the dragon. “You can let go of the door now,” she cried.

“What? But they're right behind us!” said Shona. “Wait a minute. Are we …? We're moving.…”

Morag and Shona peeked out. Behind them the other carriages were out of fading sight. A furious Mephista stood in the doorway of the abandoned carriage, waving her fist as their train sped off.

A loud crack was followed by a rumbling, and they saw the ceiling of the tunnel collapse behind them, obscuring the witch from view. The girl and the dragon looked at each other, shocked. Then, for the first time in days, Morag burst out laughing.

“You were great!” she enthused, leaning in to kiss the dragon. Shona rubbed her jaw.

“You're not hurt, are you?” asked Morag.

“No, I broke a tooth when I fell, but I'll live. Are you okay?”

“I'm okay as long as my friends are,” Morag said, hugging her.

Deep underground, in the cool darkness, the little train and its carriage traveled north.

“What are you looking at?” Morag asked Bertie, who was staring at a grid map. The dodo had plucked a train driver's hat from his satchel and it was sitting at a jaunty angle on his head.

“It's a map of the Underground,” the dodo explained. “I found it under the driver's seat. I thought we could try and bypass Central Station. It would mean we could keep going and not have to change trains. I'm not sure Henry could get another vehicle going.”

They all looked at the medallion lying on the dashboard. His golden face was still screwed up in concentration. On top of him sat the glowing tooth of the dead witch Mina MacPhail.

“We've not found an alternative yet,” he said, breathless with worry.

“What's that?” Morag asked, pointing to a faint trail on the map. It seemed to go underneath Central Station and out the other side.

“We think it's a maintenance tunnel,” explained Aldiss, squeaking with excitement.

“Can't we go through that?”

“We don't know yet,” replied the rat.

They looked at Bertie, who was shaking his head. “We mustn't take any chances. Let's do it properly and stop and change trains.”

“Why, Bertie?” complained Morag. “We're already on a train and we all want to go home.”

“We could at least try,” said Aldiss.

“No, it's too dangerous. We don't know what's along there,” Bertie said.

“But if we stop we will waste more time,” the girl said. “We should keep going, for Montgomery's sake.”

They turned as one and looked into the carriage. The wizard, now looking ancient and white-haired, was lying pale as a ghost across the seats. His face, so lined and gray, was twisted with pain and his breathing was shallower than ever. Bertie gulped.

“We can't risk moving him,” said Shona, who was sitting across the aisle.

“All right, let's do it,” Bertie said.

Stopping temporarily to change tracks, the friends pushed the engine on through the maintenance tunnel. So
far underground, the unused tunnel was even darker and spookier and Morag clung to Shona as the little train continued on its journey. Aldiss joined them. He was convinced the tunnel was haunted, having seen tiny lights flutter about its walls.

“They're just Tunnel Elves,” Bertie explained with a chuckle, but his frightened rodent friend could not be coaxed back into the cab. “Get comfortable, we've got a few hours to go.”

Morag rested her head on Shona's great stomach, and cuddled down. There was nothing more they could do except try to get some rest. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

She dreamed she was back at Murst Castle again, on the seashore next to the wooden jetty. It was a warm sunny day, and standing at the end of the jetty was the dead maid. The girl smiled and waved good-bye to Morag, then disappeared before her eyes. Morag sighed and turned over, content that she would never be bothered by the maid again, but a new dream formed, something more nightmarish. The white face of Devlish was swimming before her eyes. He was trying to tell her something, but she could not hear him. He shouted and he screamed and he tore at his crimson hair, but still she couldn't tell what he was trying to say. At last he gave up and rushed to seize her. Heart beating rapidly, panting for breath, Morag woke up with a jump and looked around. She was relieved to find herself still on the train with no sign of the warlock.

“Are you all right?” the sleepy dragon asked, yawning.

“I'm fine,” the girl reassured her, “just had a bad dream, that's all. Where are we? Have we arrived yet?”

“I don't know,” Shona replied, scanning the dark windows.

The train had come to a stop in a tunnel and raised voices reached them from the driver's cab: Aldiss and Bertie were arguing. Morag stood, checked on Montgomery and then joined them. Before she could ask what the problem was, she saw, standing before them on the tracks, Queen Flora accompanied by menacing guards, their pikes held high. Behind them, enticingly close, she could see the tunnel opening into Marnoch Mor Station.

How did she get back …?
Morag started to wonder, but dismissed the thought. Queen Flora was one of the most influential and talented witches in the magical world. Still, it had been an amazing feat to beat them here.

“What are we going to do?” Aldiss squeaked.

“The only thing we can do,” Morag said. “I'll go and talk to her. It worked with Ivy.”

The others were dubious, but didn't stop her.

Morag opened the driver's door and climbed down to the track. Straightening her clothes and brushing her hair back from her face, she walked in front of the train. Despite her nervousness, she held her head high and stared straight at Flora as she made her way across the tracks. The Queen did not take her eyes from the girl. She stood there, immobile, and waited until Morag was before her.